Remarks of the President and Mrs. Nixon on the First Lady's Departure for Peru.

MRS. NIXON. I am really excited about it. I have been looking forward to representing all of the American people who are so interested in the welfare of the people of Peru.

THE PRESIDENT. It is a very fine symbolic gesture to point up the fact that while our Government, of course, has provided aid to the Peruvian people, that the people of the United States, individually in their various volunteer capacities, also wanted to participate. I think that something that comes directly from people to the people of another country, particularly when they have suffered such a terrible disaster, means far more than when it comes from the government.

Our Government has done a great deal and we will always, as a government, be willing to help in such cases. But what really distinguishes America is that when something like this happens anyplace in the world, and particularly here in what we call the American family, that all over the country organizations, individuals, want to help.

These two planes are only a small portion of the enormous amount of help that is coming from individuals and it is a message of sympathy and affection and respect from the people of America to the people of Peru and the people of the whole hemisphere.

I think Mrs. Nixon's going down there symbolizes that. I think it is actually better that she is going than if I did because that leaves all of the official context out of it. This is a people-to-people operation. As you know, Mrs. Nixon has been very active in that kind of work here in the United States, and therefore she is the representative of our country in this field. She knows more about it than I do.