Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico Remarks on Arrival.

New Mexico is indeed one of the most beautiful places on Earth, and I am very glad to be back here with you.

New Mexico is not only beautiful, but you have superb leaders in Bruce King, Mayor David Rusk, and others who have served and are serving with them, among people who are also so friendly that I'll never forget the first time I came here.

Bruce was talking about the 3 inches of snow that I just left in Washington. The first time I came to Albuquerque, I was going with Alice King to the State Fair, and it rained 3 inches on us and she and I had to swim out of the State Fairgrounds' gates. That was all the rain you got that year in 1974. It came on me in one afternoon.

This is an airport full of New Mexico hospitality. And I'm here to meet with the Governors of the Western States, with Bruce King as the host, to talk about some issues that are very important to everyone here. We're going to talk about a way to preserve the quality of life of the people who live in this beautiful State, not only now but throughout eternity.

I believe in the preservation of the beauty of your State, and I believe in the purity of air and the quality of water. And I'm convinced that this Nation, working with you here, can have prosperity, stable but steady economic growth, a cooperation between local and State and Federal employees and leaders and people and, at the same time, tap the tremendous offerings that you have for yourselves and for the rest of the country.

This is the land of opportunity. You've been blessed by God not only with beauty but with great human and natural resources, with oil, with coal, with gas, with uranium, and with the greatest of all, the Sun. And how this great treasure is utilized by people now and in the future will be primarily up to you.

Your choice of wise leaders, your working closely with them, your demand that we maintain the highest possible standards of service and accountability to you will determine whether our decisions are wise or ill-considered. We're determined to make the wise decisions. And I'm glad that you've got forceful leaders like Bruce King that will speak up when there is a danger to what you hold to be so precious.

Our country faces difficult challenges, tough problems, confusing issues, hard questions to answer—but we've always had within us a strength and the courage and the unity when it was needed to meet any challenge, any threat to our country successfully.

We now face a threat to our own Nation's security that's very serious and about which all of you should be aware, and that is the threat of overdependence on imported oil for our country. We now import half the oil we use, and along with all that oil that we import, we also import inflation and we import unemployment.

Next year we expect to spend on foreign oil $70 billion—money that we could use here in our own country to give us a better life, to correct the defects in our society, and to let us have confidence and vision for the future. We must finally address this difficult issue, and that will be the main subject of discussion tonight when I meet for 2 or 3 hours with the Governors representing the Western States.

I have no doubt that we can meet this challenge successfully if our country is united and if we don't forget our great heritage and the great promise of the future.

I'm very proud also that we have common goals and common purposes and common standards, ethics, morality, religious beliefs, of which we can be truly proud.

Many things change in a modern technological world. Sometimes those changes are so fast, so rapid that it disturbs our lives. But this past week with the visit of Pope John Paul, we were reminded vividly of things that don't change—love, honesty, families caring for one another-these things don't change. And I think the tremendous reception that we gave to this distinguished and beloved visitor is a true picture of the character of the American people.

We've got a wonderful country because of you, because of our people, and because of the character that we have always exhibited in a moment of test or trial. And I hope that you will stand united and never lower your standards and never forget that our Nation is, our governments are what you are and what you demand. Together, all of us, we can make the greatest nation on Earth even greater of the character that we've always ex-what I pray for. And I know you join with me in this hope and this dream and this expectation.

Thank you very much. God bless you all.