Remarks at a Reception in Lubbock for West Texas President Ford Committee Volunteers

Thank you very much, Deana. I thank all of you. This has been a wonderful, wonderful opportunity to be in Lubbock, to go to Texas Tech and meet so many of the fine young students and others at the university. And it has been a great pleasure to have an opportunity to shake hands with so many of you and to say hello and to indicate to you my appreciation for the tremendous job that has been done.

You know we are just about 30 hours down to countdown, to the final whistle, so to speak. I know you have done a great job--phone banks and every other way to get out the maximum amount of votes that we can get in this area.

I am tremendously encouraged by not only the quality of people I see here but the energy and enthusiasm. When we came here first about 3 weeks ago and I spent a few days in Texas, came back, I had the feeling that we were definitely an underdog. But as I have gone from Longview, to Tyler, to Fort Worth, to Houston, to Dallas, to Conroe, here to Lubbock, and we are leaving shortly to go to Abilene, I get a totally different feeling.

We have the momentum going, and we believe that it is going to be a very nip and tuck, very close contest.

But with the momentum that we have, with the kind of leadership that we have under your great senior Senator John Tower and the quality and the energy that all of you have, I think the basic programs that we have both domestically as well as internationally and militarily, we are going to come right up to that edge and we can tip it over if we make a maximum effort between now and when the polls close tomorrow night.

Let me just say this: This administration, from the very outset, has adopted one very basic policy. We would promise only that which we believe we can deliver and we will deliver everything we promise. That is what the American people want, and that is what this administration will do for the next 4 years, just as we have done it for the last 20 months.

Now, let me talk for just a minute about some of the sales pitch that I think you can honestly make as you talk to your friends, whether it's by phone or otherwise. Just refresh your memory a minute back to August of 1974. At that time, we Were suffering inflation of about 12 percent or more. The reports came out just a week or so ago which indicated that the rate of inflation, for the first 3 months of 1976 was under 3 percent. That's a 75-percent reduction in the rate of inflation, and that's a darned good record, and we ought to be proud of it.

If you will recollect, just about a year ago today the unemployment was high, employment was falling, but in the last 12 months, we have increased employment in this country by 2,600,000 people. The net result was for the month of March, we had an employment record of 86,700,000. More people were gainfully employed in the United States in the month of March than at any time in the history of the United States. That is not a bad record, either.

Probably the most significant factor as we take a look at what we are trying to do to get this economy on a healthy, permanent basis--a year ago the consumer confidence in America was at an almost all-time low, but because we had some sound policies, because we pursued them with persistence and diligence, today the consumer confidence is more than double what it was a year ago.

In other words, people are now beginning to feel that they have confidence in investing in a new car, a new home, or investing in America, period. This is the basic reason why I am absolutely confident that this movement in the economy is all for the plus and it is going to be a sound, constructive economy, not just one of these peaks and valleys.

So, we can say with confidence that the Ford administration's policies were right. We stood off the Congress when they wanted to load up the Federal payroll, when they wanted to spend more and more money. We have vetoed 48 bills, they sustained 39, and the net result is we have saved the taxpayers of this country $13 billion. That is not a bad record, either.

Let me indicate also that I think this administration can be given a very high mark for decisive action. First, we had the courage as well as the wisdom to veto the so-called common situs picketing bill, and that is progress, in my judgment. Then I think it is well to point out when we were faced with a challenge by a nation that seized one of our merchant vessels just about a year ago, the Mayaguez, this administration took firm, decisive action and we recaptured the Mayaguez as any good, strong country ought to.

So, I think we are on the right track both domestically and internationally. And I think we can go out in good conscience and sell what we have done and what we will do for the next 4 years.

Thank you very, very much.