United Steelworkers of America Remarks by Telephone to Delegates Attending the Union's Convention in Los Angeles, California.

THE PRESIDENT. Hello, Lloyd McBride?

MR. McBRIDE. Yes, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT. You got anybody there with you?

MR. McBRIDE. We're all here, and we're anxious to hear from you. Our convention has overwhelmingly endorsed the candidacy of you and Vice President Mondale, and we are going to work awfully hard to see that you get elected. Our delegates are assembled, and they'll be most happy to hear from you.

THE PRESIDENT. Lloyd, that's some of the best news we've had lately. In fact, the news has swept Washington, and all of the White House staff and all my Cabinet members are very grateful. I want to say, first of all, to all the members of the Steelworkers of America and also to our friends from Canada how deeply grateful I am and how proud I am to have your almost unanimous, maybe unanimous, endorsement for me and Fritz Mondale. We've got a big job to do together this fall, and I don't have any doubt that we'll be successful.

I know that Ed Muskie has talked to you about the critical absence in the Republican commitments to a balanced program on foreign affairs. Ray Marshall has outlined to you, also, what the Democrat and Republican Parties stand for and the differences between them. And of course, Pat Harris discussed several things with you, I think, including some endorsements as well.

This is a critical election. It's more than just a choice between two men. In fact, it's more than just a choice between two parties, as important as that is. This election in 1980 can determine, and probably will determine, what our Nation will be the rest of this century. Together, Fritz Mondale and I, in an active, day-by-day way, will get out and fight, and we will win this election.

We're going to talk sense to the American people. We're going to tell them the truth. We're not going to underestimate the intelligence of those who will be observing the candidates this fall. We're not going to underestimate the courage of Americans. And in the process, we're going to make the Republicans stand up and show their true colors.

If you think I've had a few things to explain this week in the press conference, take a good look at the Republican platform and the Republican statements of their candidates for the last few years. They really have a lot of explaining to do, and they'll never be able to do it to the satisfaction of the working people of the United States of America. Before this campaign is over, we're going to make sure that this country knows what the Republicans do stand for, or either we're going to make them admit that they don't really stand for much of anything that's important to the future of this country.

I remember early this year, when I had very difficult decisions to make, sitting here in the Oval Office, where I am now, after the Soviet Union military forces invaded Afghanistan. I remember, too, that the steelworkers stood with me. Where were the Republicans that now want to lead this country? They stood foursquare for some kind of tough response just so long as nothing about it was controversial and as long as they didn't lose any votes. They were against the trade embargo. The Republicans were against the Olympic boycott. The Republican leaders were against draft registration. I think they underestimate American young people. They underestimate American athletes. They underestimate American farmers and American workers and the American public.

Where do the Republicans stand on the economy? That's important to every one of you listening to my voice. They talk different now, just before the elections, just as they always do every 4 years. But I'll tell you what they're for. They're for the Reagan-Kemp-Roth tax plan, perhaps the most inflationary piece of legislation ever to be seriously considered by the U.S. Congress.

This is a program to rob working people and reward the rich. Someone who makes $200,000 a year, in the Reagan-Kemp-Roth plan, would get 35 times more benefit than someone that makes $20,000 a year. And they ask the American people to believe that they're going to balance the budget, have massive increases in defense spending, and cut taxes by hundreds of billions of dollars all at the same time. That's nonsense. You know it, and I know it. And together, you and Fritz Mondale and I this fall will make sure that the American people know what the Republicans are trying to do.

We have paid a terrible price recently with unemployment and inflation, because the tough decisions were not made while the Republicans spent 8 years in this office. The American people were not told the truth. Nothing was done to prepare us for the energy crisis that we've had to face during this last 12 months. We're still paying that price, but we are making some progress.

Our energy program is just about ready. The Democratic Party has made courageous decisions. We will have intact a comprehensive national energy program or policy for the first time. As you all know, the inflation rate is turning down, interest rates have dropped sharply, home construction is turning up, automobile sales, turning up. We've reached a time where we can begin to build upon the difficult, controversial, sometimes painful decisions that we've had to make during these last 3 years.

We're going to present to the American people not an election-year economic gimmick, but a well-considered, workable economic renewal program—a program to put Americans to work without reigniting the inflation fires that we've been fighting so hard against the last few months, a program to put Americans to work to modernize our industrial capabilities in all kinds of industries throughout our country, a program which will put Americans to work by stimulating research and development, a program to put Americans to work by expanding and modernizing our transportation system, and a program to put Americans to work by building the facilities that conserve or save energy and to develop alternative sources of energy.

You and your leadership, particularly you, Lloyd, will have to play an important role in the next few weeks, as we make these final decisions on this enormous, beneficial program to millions of Americans. You'll play an equally important role in helping me to present this program to the American people this fall and to the Congress next year. And the American steel industry will play an even more important role in implementing that plan in the years to come.

This is an exciting, challenging, wonderful time for Americans to face in the 1980's. We've never failed to meet every challenge presented to us since this Nation was formed, if we could understand the problem and unite ourselves in a common commitment.

I deeply appreciate the help and support you've given me in the past. I thank you for your vote of confidence and support today, and I look forward with determination and confidence to what we will do together in the future. This next few months is going to bring a tremendous victory to the Democratic Party, to Fritz Mondale and me, to the Steelworkers of America, and to the entire Nation. We're partners. We're in it together. We will not lose.

Thank you. Good evening, and God bless all of you.

MR. McBRiDE. Thank you, Mr. President, and good luck to you.

THE PRESIDENT. Thank you, Lloyd.