Statement by the President Reviewing the Work of the 88th Congress.

TODAY the 88th Congress of the United States had its final session.

After almost 10 months of hard, painstaking work its members are going home. Some will campaign for reelection. Others will talk with the people they serve--learning about their problems and telling about the work of this Congress.

They have a wonderful story to tell.

I spent 30 years in the United States Congress. I know of no Congress that has done more for the Nation.

The majority of its members have spent long days and many hours considering the most important needs of America. They have put aside private interest and sectional interest to meet the urgent needs of the entire Nation.

On many important matters, leaders have worked together, submerging partisan difference in the cause of building America and keeping the peace.

Most Congresses deserve praise if they pass a handful of major bills. This Congress has passed more than 50.

Most Congresses would find a place in history if they made an important contribution to a single major area of American life. This Congress has moved far ahead in half a dozen areas.

As bill after bill has come to my desk for signature, I often remarked that this Congress would be known for that particular piece of landmark legislation.

I said it would be known as the "Education Congress," as the "Health Congress," as the "Conservation Congress," and then as the "Full Prosperity Congress."

But its accomplishments are limited by none of these.

This is simply the Congress that has done more for America. Its achievements reach into every city and every home of our Nation. It has broadened the horizons and improved the life of every citizen. And they have made the future brighter for every family in this land.

They have done this because they worked at it--because they were not afraid to tackle difficult problems--because they hammered out differences with careful debate--and because most of its members always put America first.

As a result they have:

--improved the Nation's economy and the Nation's security.

--improved the Nation's use of its resources.

--improved the Nation's education.

--improved the National health and well-being.

--improved the Nation's capacity to provide equal opportunity for all its people.

There are very few bills which can truly be called milestones in the history of public policy. There are not many pieces of legislation which impart new direction and force to American progress. Often many years and many Congresses go by between such acts.

This Congress has passed three bills of such shaping importance.

One was the tax cut. That bill will ultimately produce $11 billion of increased purchasing power--putting it into the hands of American consumers to buy more of the things they need. It will help create more than 2 million jobs. And it has already given the economy a substantial upward lift. It represents almost the first successful effort to use fiscal policy to prevent a recession before it started, and to make a growing economy grow even faster.

A second was the poverty bill--the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. This was our country's declaration of war on poverty. It expressed our national determination to eliminate poverty for the first time in the history of any nation. It does this, not through charity or handouts, but by attacking the poor health, the poor education, the poor homes which are the cause of poverty. Its aim is to help people lift themselves from the ranks of the poor.

A third was our civil rights bill. This bill was supported by the leaders of both parties in both houses of Congress, and by the majority of Members from each party. It represents a fundamental American commitment to ensure all our people their full constitutional rights, and equal opportunity to share in the blessing of American life.

These bills alone would make this a Congress to be long remembered.

But this Congress also took enormous strides forward in several areas of urgent concern to all Americans.

The first was education. It enacted five major pieces of education legislation. A Higher Education Facilities Act will help our colleges construct the facilities they need to meet a growing demand for knowledge. The expansion of the National Defense Education Act will allow more of our young people--through fellowships, grants, and loans--to go to college on the basis of ability rather than income. Other legislation will train more workers in new skills, more doctors for growing population, more expert teachers for our young.

The second area was the protection and development of our natural resources. This Congress passed more than 30 measures to preserve the natural abundance which God has granted this Nation.

Among the highlights was the wilderness bill to set aside threatened areas of natural beauty so that our children might enjoy them as we have.

--a Land and Water Conservation Fund Act--to help cities and towns create areas for recreation and the enjoyment of nature.

--dozens of new national park areas, four national seashores, a bill providing for research into ways to meet our exploding need for water.

The third area was the health and well-being of our people.

One bill attacks the growing pollution of the air we breathe. Another makes our first large scale effort to help parents prevent mental retardation, or care for children already retarded.

We have provided for the training of nurses and doctors, increased construction of hospitals, new research into basic diseases and afflictions--such as heart and cancer-which menace the well-being of all our people.

These are some of the major areas. But hardly any important aspect of American life has been left untouched.

In our cities new legislation attacks the problems of mass transportation and the need for better housing.

Among the underprivileged a new food stamp program helps ensure that none go hungry in a land bulging with food surpluses.

Among our farmers new feed grain and commodity programs help ensure that those who feed the Nation will get a fair reward for their labor.

Among those who serve the Nation a military and civilian pay bill has helped soldiers and Government employees keep pace with the rising cost of living--and made it more possible to attract the best talent to the affairs of the Nation.

These are some of the highlights of one of the most productive Congresses in American history.

But no story of this Congress would be complete without praise for a monumental product of bipartisan statesmanship--the treaty banning nuclear tests in the atmosphere. This single act virtually ended the radioactive poisoning of the atmosphere-a threat to the health of every child on earth--and brought the world one step closer to lasting peace.

The majority of the members of the 88th Congress have supported much of this progressive legislation. They have acted wisely and after careful consideration. They have been selfless and untiring--compassionate and constructive--resolute and unafraid-alert to the needs of all the people.

They have served their Nation well.

And a grateful Nation is proud of what they have done.