Remarks to Employees at the Department of Commerce.

Mr. Secretary, ladies and gentlemen:

In my visits to the various departments I have been impressed by a number of the facilities and by lots of the personnel.

The Secretary told me just before we came into this auditorium, "We have the best auditorium in town." I am sure you have.

He also told me that it was filled with the best people in town. That, of course, is something I am sure we shall all look forward to observing in the years ahead.

In coming to this Department, I first want to say something about Secretary Stans. Everybody here knows of my long, personal association with him, when he was Director of the Budget during the Eisenhower administration, and then he was director of the budget, in effect, for me in my political campaigns. He has been, incidentally, a director of the budget when we lost a campaign in California and when we won one in the country-and that is pretty good, 50 percent. We won the big one, in any event.

I, of course, in all of those activities, learned to not only know him but to respect him and to admire him for his immense capability. When we were able to get him to come into the Cabinet in this position, I think the administration acquired one of the top people for this Secretaryship that we have had in many, many years. That is no reflection on those who have had it before.

I might indicate, too, that when we consider the various Cabinet appointments, this is one that through history has always rated very high.

When Herbert Hoover became Secretary of Commerce he was given his choice, I understand, of any department of the Government. He could have served in almost any of them, except Attorney General--he was not a lawyer--because he had great foreign policy experience during World War I and had experience in a number of other areas.

He chose the Department of Commerce because he thought at that time, in the twenties, that this was the Department where more could be done for the progress of the Nation than anywhere else.

It is also significant to note that the last Cabinet officer to go from the Cabinet to the Presidency was Herbert Hoover, so you see what is in store, possibly, for the Secretary here.

But looking at the Department of Commerce today, I want to emphasize this point: We are thinking of it not simply in terms of the past and not in terms of the traditional activities which are assigned to you, but in terms of new responsibilities that will be given to this Department. This is not the time to discuss those responsibilities.

The Secretary, in the months ahead, will indicate them to you, as I will, in various directives. But it seems to me that the times have changed very greatly since this Department was founded in 1913 and even since the time that Mr. Hoover was Secretary of Commerce.

At the present time we are thinking not only of the traditional functions, the functions in the field of business here and our international trade, but we are thinking also in terms of the role that this Department can play and the major problem that every American is concerned with, that of dealing with the crisis in our cities.

I am very delighted to learn that your new Secretary is one who understands those great forces that are at play in our cities, and also in the country for that matter, and one who recognizes the part that this Department can play.

I am glad that he is one who recognizes that when we speak of business--and the Department of Commerce, I suppose, is the department of business in this country more than any other--that when we speak of business, no longer can we think of it simply in terms of just big business.

We, of course, have never really thought of it only in those terms, but even primarily in those terms, this no longer is possible or is it right. What we must recognize is that every American must know that he has a chance, if he has what it takes, to have a piece of the action.

You will recall during the recent campaign I referred often to the necessity to build bridges to human dignity. By that I meant in providing for all people in our society the chance not only to be workers, but the chance to become a manager, the chance to become an owner. This does not come overnight. We all know that having an opportunity is not just enough. The individual must be qualified. He must have the training. He must have, certainly, a lot of other activities which are related to the whole problem of becoming a successful owner or manager of a business.

But I want the members of this Department to know that, in addition to all the other many line responsibilities that you have and traditional responsibilities, we are going to look for major leadership, major leadership in building bridges to human dignity and providing opportunity for people to move up and to become-if they have what it takes and if this is what they want--to become owners and managers in this great private enterprise system of ours.

I think one thing we are really fortunate about at the present time is that we have been through an era, I think---I think we have been through it--in which it was not fashionable to be what we call "pro-business."

At the present time I would say the great majority of Americans recognize what a significant part that private business enterprise plays in this Nation. I think that all of us recognize, the great majority of Americans certainly do recognize, that as business becomes more effective in meeting its challenges, this means a better life for all of us.

But, at the same time, we must recognize that we have a responsibility, a responsibility which goes beyond simply "business as usual," a responsibility to see to it that in this Nation everybody has that equal chance---the equal chance at the starting line, the incentives, the motivation to go up, and then the opportunities, the opportunities once he does go up, to go to the very top.

I mention this only because in your departments you perhaps may not have specific assignments as yet in this field, but I mention it particularly because the Secretary of Commerce has spoken to me on this point, quite eloquently. This Department will have a major role in this field and I know you will meet that role and meet it effectively.

One other point I wish to make very briefly: In this room are the top executives of this Department. Immediately in front of me in the first two or three rows are the ones that I appointed, the new, I suppose we call them, political appointees, the ones that change with each administration.

I realize that the success of this Department and the success of this administration will depend, in large part, on the leadership of Secretary Stans and the political appointees who are here. But I also know that they will not be able to succeed unless they have the cooperation and the support of the thousands of career people in the Department who, whatever happens in the top echelons of the Department, are here because they have dedicated their lives to Government service.

I want all of you who are in this room to take this message to heart--and will you carry it back to everybody in your office right down to the secretaries and those who bring the mail in and do all of what are considered to be the rather menial and sometimes boring tasks? In this administration we want the support of the career service.

I believe that every individual should be proud that he works for the Government of the United States. The way that we make him proud is to give the kind of leadership that he can respect, leadership that he will work with rather than against.

I feel, as I talk to you, that we are going to have a successful administration, because I know the dedication of the men and women at the top whom I may have appointed.

But I also believe the administration can be successful, because, as I have moved from department to department, I have been really gratified and it has been most heartening to me to shake hands with and meet hundreds of top career employees of the Government and to have them go through that line and to say, "Well, we have a new administration and we are going to give everything that we can in terms of dedication and hard work to see that it is a successful administration."

If this message could get through that as far as the career servants in this Government, we recognize their importance, they have our support and we want theirs, I think it can have an immense effect on the productivity and on the efficiency of every department of Government.

So, with that, I will just close my remarks with one personal reference. I am proud of all of the members of my Cabinet. I am particularly proud of your Secretary for reasons that I have mentioned, because of our close political association.

Also, I should make mention of one fact for which he, I think, will be famous the rest of his life, and certainly the rest of mine. I always thought that the medium of television was very powerful. I never knew how powerful it was, however, until the name Maurice Stans became a household name because I did not mention him on television.