Remarks in Middletown, Ohio

Thank you very, very much, Tom, Governor Rhodes, Senator Bob Taft, Congressman Chuck Whalen, and all of the local officials and distinguished guests, but, most importantly, all the wonderful people from Middletown who have done a superb job in coming out here and welcoming me on this occasion. I can't thank you enough for your help and assistance come tomorrow.

Let me tell you why I think I deserve your vote and why I will do what is good for this community, for this State, and this country in the months ahead.

First, we want to talk about jobs. I want to thank Bob Taft, Tom Kindness, and Chuck Whalen and the others for consulting with me and urging that I impose a quota system on stainless steel so there will be more jobs at the ARMCO plants in this community.

Let me make an announcement, if it hasn't been announced already. Yesterday, before I took off to come to Ohio, I signed the necessary document that imposes the import quota on stainless steel,¹ and it will go into effect, period.

But let's talk just a minute or two about the overall. When I became the President 22 months ago, this country was in tough shape. The people had lost confidence in the White House. We were suffering inflation at a rate of about 12 percent. We were on the brink of a serious economic recession. Our allies abroad were very, very apprehensive about the will and the strength of America, and our adversaries could have been tempted to undertake some action against this country.

But in the last 22 months we have restored honesty, trust, and confidence in the White House, and I'm darn proud of it. But everybody here is equally concerned about inflation and jobs. What have we done there? It is very simple 12 percent when I became President, it is now 3 percent or less. That is progress, and we are going to do better in the months ahead.

In the last year from the depths of the recession, we have increased total employment in this country 3,600,000 more jobs, 300,000 more jobs in the last month. It was announced by the Department of Labor just last Friday that 87,700,000 people have jobs in America, an all-time high. And we're going to do better than that in the months ahead.

Let me make this commitment to you. I will not be satisfied as your President until every person who wants a job has a job in America.

Let me make one final comment. This country is a good country. This country is the kind of a country that our forefathers established so they could give to us the opportunities and the blessings that we have. Every one of us has a stake in making this a better country. Can I ask for your support so that I have the opportunity for the next 4 years to make this country a better place for all of us, but particularly these young people here who want the opportunity to do better than we have? I ask for your help. We've got to win, and we will.

Let me make this observation. You want Bob Taft as your next United States Senator, reelected. You want Tom Kindness, Chuck Whalen, Bud Brown, the rest of the delegation. President Ford can win in November, and President Ford can make certain that Bob Taft wins, Tom Kindness wins, that Chuck Whalen wins, that Bud Brown wins.

We don't want a repetition of the debacle that took place in 1964. We want a ticket from the courthouse to the White House that can win for the kind of America that's good for all of us. I ask for your support. I have done a good job, and I want your help.

Thank you very, very much.