THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON

July 16, 1979

Dear Friend:
Enclosed is a text of the President's

speech to the nation last evening,
and a fact sheet describing the energy
program he announced. I hope the
information will be helpful to you
as we move forward with these
initiatives.

Needless to say, the President is
counting on your help in the weeks
and months ahead as we continue to

deal with the energy crisis.
Warm regards.

Sincerely,

J^ck H. Watson, Jr.

Enclosures

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jfj

■FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
..

JULY 15/

1979

OFFICE OF THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY

THE WHITE

'

HOUSE

REMARKS' OF THE PRESIDENT

IN HIS ADDRESS- TO THE NATION

The Oval Office

10:00 P.M.

EDT

Good evening.

This is a special night for me.
Exactly three years
ago on July IS,, 1976, I accepted the nomination of" my party
to run for President of the United States.

I promised you a President who is not isolated from

the people, who feels yoiir pain and who shares your dreams and
who draws his strength and his wisdom from you.
During the past three years I have spoken to you on many
occasions about national concerns, the energy crisis, reorganizing
the government, our Nation's economy and issues of war. and
especially peace.
But over those years the subjects of the
speeches, the talks and the press conferences have become
increasingly narrow, focused more and more on what the
isolated world of Washington thinks is important. Gradually you have heard more and more about what the
government should be doing and less and less about our Nation's
hopes, our dresuns and oior vision of . the future.
'

1

Tan days ago I had planned to spea.k to you again about

a very important-s.xibject — energy. For the fifth time I would
have described the urgency of the problem and laid out a series
of legislative recommendations to the Congress. But as I was

preparing to speak, I began to ask myself the same .question that I
now know has been troiibling many of you.

why have we not been- able

to get together as a Nation to resolve our serious energy problem?

It is clear that the true problembof our Nation are
much deeper — deeper than gasoline lines or energy shortage's,
deeper even than inflation or recession.
And I realize more than
ever that as President I need your help.
So

I decided to reach out and to

listen to the voices of

America. ■ I invited .to Camp David people from almost every, segment
of our society — business and labor, teachers and preachers.
Governors, Mayors and private citizens, • And then I left Camp David
-to listen, "to other Americans," men "and. women like you.
It'has been

an extraordinary ten days, and I want to share with you what I have

heard.

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Page 2

First of- all, I got a lot of personal advice.

quote a few of the typical comments that I wrote down.

Let me.

This from a Southern Governor;

"Mr. President, you are.not leading this nation— you are
just managing .the government."
"You don't see the people enough any more."

"Some of your Cabinet members don't seem loyal.

not enough discipline among your disciples."

There is

"Don't talk .to us about politics or the mechanics of

government, but about an understanding of our common good.
"Mr. President, we are in trouble.

Talk to us about

blood and sweat and tears."

. "If you lead, Mr. President, we will follow."

Many people talked about -themselves and about' the
condition of our Nation.

This from a young woman in Pennsylvania: "I feel so far
from government.' I feel like ordinary people are.excluded from
political power."

■ '

And. this from a young Chicano: "Some of us have suffered
■from recession all our lives."'

"Some people have wasted energy, but others haven't

had anything to waste."

.

And this from a religious' leader;

"No material shortage

can touch the important things like God's love for us or our love
for one another."

And, I like this one particularly from a black woman who

happens to be the Mayor of a small Mississippi town:
The big
shots are not the only ones who are important- Remember, you can't
• sell anything on Wall Street unless someone digs it up somewhere
else first. "•

This kind of summarized a lot of other stat^eints;

"Mr. President, we are confronted with a moral and a spiritual crisis."
Several of our discussions were,on energy andI have a

notebook full of comments and advice.

I will read just a few..

"We can't go on consuming 40 percent-more energy-than we

produce. ■ When, we import oil.we are also importing inflation plus
unemployment."

.

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Pa^ 3
"We have got to use what we have. The Middle East
has only five percent of the world's energy, hut. the United States
has twenty-four percent."
And this is: one of the most vivid statements: "Qiir
neck is stretched over the fence and OPEC has the knife."

"There' will be other cartels and o'ther. shortages.

American wisdom' and courage right now can set a pa-th to follow
in the future."

n.

.

This,was a good one:
meJce mistakes, but we

"Be bold, Mr; President.

We may n .

ready to experiment."
*

And this one from a labor leader got to the heart of-^
it:

"The real issue is freedom.

We must deal with the energy

problem on a war footing."
And' the last that I will read:

"When we enter the, moral

equivalent of war, Mr. President, don't issue us BB guns."
These, ten days confirmed my. belief in the decency and
the s-treng-th and the wisdom of the American people, but it also
bora out some of my longstanding concerns about our Nation's
underlying problems.
1, know, of course, being.. President, that government

.actions and legislation can be very important. That is why I .
have worked hard to put my. campaign promises info law —.-.and-I
have to admit, wi-th just.mixed sUccess.
But after listening to -the American people I have-'been

reminded again that all. the legislation-in the world can't fix
what is wrong with America. So I want to speak to you first
tonight about ,a subject even more serious- than energy or inflation.
I .want to talk- to you right' now about a f-undamental threat to
American democracy;

I do not mean our political and civil liberties.

They ,

will endure. And I do not refer to the outward s-trength of America,
■a Nation that is at peace tonight e-verywhere in the world,..with
unmatched economic power and military might.

The threat is nearly invisible

a crisis, of confidence.

£n ordinary, ways . It is

It is a crisis- -that strikes at the very

heart' and soul and spirit of our na-tional will. We can see this
crisis in -the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives
and in the loSs of a unity of purpose for bur Nation.
The erosion-of our confidence in -the future is

threatening to des-troy the social and the political fabric of

America.

The confidence -that we have, always had as a people is
not .simply someromantic dream, ot a,.'.proverb in. a dusty book, that,-

we read-just on •-the, 4-th of July.

It is -the idea, we founded our'

Nation on and it- has gu-ided our, development as ■a'-people;

Confidence

in the future . .has supported everything else -—.'public institutions

and private. enterprise; our own families, and,the>e^ Constitution .

of the United .'States.

Confidence has- defined'our course/and has;

.served as; a.link between'generations. , We"have/always believed in
something called-progress.
We have always had, a faith that the
days of"our children would be better-than our-own.
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Our. people are losing that, faith, not only in
governinent itself ,, but in the ability as citizens to serve as the
ultimate rulers and shapers-of our democracy. As a people
we know our past and we are proud of it. Our progress hasbeen part of the living history of America, even the .world. -- We always believed that we were,part of a great movement of
humanity itself- called^democracy, involved in the search,
for freedom and that belief has always strengthened us in

our purpose.

.But,-just as ve are losing our confidence

in the future, we are also beginning to close the .door on^
our past.

.

..

. In a nation that was proud of hard work, strong
families, close knit communities, and our faith in God,

too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and.
consumption. Human identity is ho longer defined by what
one does, but'by what.-one owns.

But we have discovered that owning things and consuming
things does not'satisfy,our longing for meaning. We have

learned that piling up material goods cannot fill the emptiness
of lives which have no confidence- or purpose.

The symptoms of this crisis of the American spirit are
all around us. -For the first time in the history of-our country

the majority of our people believe that the next five years
will be worse than.the past five, years.
Two^thirds of our people do not even vote.

The

productivity of American .workers is actually dropping and
the willingness, of Americans to save for the future has fallen
below that of all other people in;the Western world.
As you know, there is a growing disrespect for
government and for churches and for schools, the news media,
and other institutions. This is not a message of happiness
or reassurance, -but it is the truth and it is a warning.

These

changes did not happen overnight. , They have come upon us
gradually over the last generation, years that were filled

.

with shocks and tragedy.

We were sure that ours was a nation of the ballot,
not the bullet, until the, murders of John Kennedy and Robert

Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. We were taught that our
armies were always invincible and our causes were always
, just, only to.suffer the agony of Vietnam; •

We respected the Presidency as a place of honor . .
until the shock of Watergate. .

We ;remember when-the-.phrase "sound .as a dollar," was

an expiressiori-of- absolute -depend'abiiity, until'10 years

of inflatioh'began to, shrink our dollars and our savings.
We believed ■that, our nation' s resources -were limitless,

until 1973 when We had to face a growing dependence on foreign:oil,
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Page 5

These wounds are still very deep.

They have never

been healed.

Looking for a way out of this crisis, our people have
turned to the Federal Government and'-found it isolated
from the mainstream of pur nation's life. Washington, D.C.,

has become an island. The gap between our citizens and our

government■has never been so wide.

The people are looking .

for honest answers, not easy answers, clear leadership,
not false claims-and. evasiveness'and politic- as usual.

What you see top often in. Washington and, elsewhere
around the country is a system of government that seems

'

incapable of action. You see a Congress twisted and
pulled in every direction by hundreds of well-financed
and powerful special interests.

You see every extreme position defended to the
last vote, almost to the last breath by one unyieldinggroup or another.

You often see a balcinced and a fair approach
that demands sacrifice, a little sacrifice from everyone,

abandoned like ah orphan without support and without
friends.

drift.
do?

Often you see- paralysis and . stagnation.and

You don' t■ like' it,, and neither dp I.

What can we

,

First of'all, we must face.the truth and then we

can change our course. We simply must have faith in eachother, faith'- in our ability to govern ourselves and faith
in the future of this nation.

Restoring that faith and that confidence to. America

is now the most important task we. face.
It is a true
challenge of this generation of Americans.

One of the visitors to Camp David last week put

it this way:

"We'have got to stop crying and starting sweating,
stop talking, and'start walking, stop cursing and start

praying.

The strength we need will not come from.the White

House-but from every house.in America."

We know the . strength of America. " We are strong.- We

c-an regain our unity. ■ 'We^Pan'regain our confidence. We
are the heirs pf generatiPns who survived threats much more

.powerful- and • awesome" than thos.e'^^Vt challenge us now.

Our

.fathers■and mbthers were strong-.nen and-women who .shaped a

new .society during .the Great Depression, who fPUght. world wairS
and .who carved' out - a .new charter of peace for the' world.
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Page 6

We.ourselves are the same Americans who just 10 .

years ago put a man on .the moon. We are the generation that
dedicated our society to the pursuit of.human rights and
equality. And we are the generation that will win the war on
the energy problem and in that process rebuild the"unity and
confidence of America. .

'

We are at a turning point in our history.. .There
are two paths to choose'. One is a path I warned about

tonight, the path that, leads to fragmentation,and selfinterest.

Down that road lies a mistaken idea of freedom,

the right to grasp for ourselves some advantage over others.
That path would be one of. constant conflict between narrow
interests ending in chaos and immobility. It is a
certain route to failure.

All the traditions of our past, all the lessons
of our heritage, all the promises of our future point to
another path, the path of common purpose and the restoration
of American values. That path leads to true freedom for
our nation and ourselves.

We can take the first steps

down that path as we begin to solve our energy problem.
Rnergy will be the immediate'test of our ability to
unite.this nation and it can also be the standard around
whdcii we rally.

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Sage 7

On the battlefield of energy we can win for our Nation
a new confidence and we can seize,control again of our common
destiny.

In little more than two decades we have gone from a
position of energy independence to one in which almost half the/
oil we. use comes -from foreign countries, at- prices that are going
through the.roof. Our excessive dependence on OPEC has already
taken a tremendous toll, on our economy and our people.
This is the direct cause of the long lines which have

made.millions of you spending aggravating hours waiting* for

gasoline. It is a cause of -the increased inflation and unemploy
ment that we now face. This intolerable dependence on foreign
oil threatens our economic independence and the very security ofour Nation.

The energy crisis is real.. It is worldwide. It is a
clear and present danger to our Nation. These are facts and we
simply must face them.

What I have to say to you now about energy is simple
.and vitally important.

Point one: I am tonight setting a clear goal for the
energy-policy of the United States. Beginning this moment, this
■Nation will never use more foreign oil than we did in 1977 '— never.
From now on, every new addition to our demand for energy will be
met from our own production and our own conservation.
The

generation-long growth in our dependence on foreign oil will be

stopped dead in its tracks right now and then reversed as we move
through the 1980s, for I,am tonight setting the further goal of .
cutting pur dependence oh foreign Oil by one-half by the end of
■the next decade — a saving of over four and a half million
barrels of imported per day.

Point two:
To ensure that we meet these targe*ts> I will
use my Presidential authority to set- import quotas.
I am

announcing tonight that, for -1979, and 1980, I will forbid the
entry into this country of one drop of foreign oil more than
these'goals allow. .

These quotas will ensure a reduction in imports even below
the ambitious levels we set at the recent Tokyo SummitPoint, three:

To give us energy security, I am asking

for the most massive peacetime commitment of.funds and resources

in our Nation's history/to develop .America's own alternative

sources of fuel — from- coal,- from oil,shale> ■from plant'
products, for gasohol,' from uncon*ventional gas, frOm the..s^^n.•

I propbse^the creationof an.Energy Security .Corporation
to lead this effort to replace two and,a half million barrels
of * imported oil per day by ,19-90. The. .corporation will issue up
to-$5 billion'in energy bonds, and*1 especially want them to
be' in small denomination's 'so. that average Americahs-can invest

directly-in- America's energy security.
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Just as a similar synthetic rubber corporation helped
us win World War II, so will we mobilize American determination and

ability to win the energy war. Moreover, I will soon submit
legislation to Congress calling for the creation of this Nation's
first solar bank which will help us achieve the crucial goal of

20 percent of our energy coming from solar power by the year 2000.
These efforts will cost money, a lot of money, and

that is why Congress must enact the windfall profits tax without
delay. It will be money well spent. Unlike the billions of
dollars that we ship to foreign countries to pay for foreign
oil, these funds will be paid by Americans to Americans. These
funds will go to fight, not to increase, inflation and
unemployment.

Point four:

I am asking Congress to mandate, to

require as a matter of law, that our Nation's utility companies
cut t.heir massive use of oil by 50 percent within the next
decade and switch to other fuels, especially coal, our most
abundant energy source.

Point five: To make absolutely certain that nothi.ng
stands in the way of achieving these goals, I will urge Congress
to create an Energy Mobilization Board which, like the war
Production Board in World War II, will have the responsibility

and authority to cut through the red tape, the delays, and the
endless roadblocks to completing key energy projects.

We will protect our environment. But when this Nation
critically needs a refinery or a pipeline, we will build it.
Point six:

I am proposing a bold conservation program

to involve every State, county and city and every average American
in our energy battle. This effort will permit you to build
conservation into your homes and your lives at a cost you can
afford.

I ask Congress to give me authority for mandatory
conservation and for standby gasoline rationing. To further
conserve energy, I am proposing tonight an extra $10 billion
over the next decade to strengthen our public transportation

systems, and I am asking you for your good and for your Nation's

security to take no unnecessary trips, to use car pools or
public transportation whenever you can, to park your car one
extra day per week, to obey the speed limit and to set your
thermostats to save fuel.
Every act of energy conservatign

like this is more than just common sense

act of patriotism.

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^ tell you it is an

Page 9

Our nation must be fair to the poorest among us, so

we will increase aid to needy Americans to cope with rising
energy prices. We often think of conservation.only in terms
of sacrifice.

In fact, it is th^ most painless and

immediate way of rebuilding our nation's strength.

Every

gallon of oil each one of us saves is a new form of production.
It gives us more freedom, more confidence, that much

iTore contro 1 over our own lives.

So the solution of our energy c-Isis can also help
us to conquer the crisis of the spirit ij our country. It
can re.kindls our sense of unity, our con:j.dence in the
future and give our nation and all of us individually a
new sense of pxirpose.
You know we can do it. We have the natural resources.
We have more oil in our shale alone' than several Saudi

Arabias. We have more coal than any nation on earth. We
have the world's highest level of technology. We have the most
skilled work force with innovative genius and I firmly believe
that we have the national will to win this war.

I do not promise you that this struggle for freedom
will be easy. I do not promise a quick way out of our
nation's problems , then, the truth is that the only way out
is an all out effort.

What I do promise you is that I will lead our
fight and I will enforce fairness in our struggle and I
will ensure honesty. And above all, I will act.

We can manage the short-term shortages more effectively

and we will, but there are no short-term solutions to our long-

range problems.

There is simply no way to avoid sacrifice.

Twelve hours from now I will speak again in Kansas
City, to expand and. to explain further our energy program.
Just as the search for solutions to our energy shortages

has now led us to a new awareness of our nation's deeper probleiM,
so our willingness to work for those solutions in energy
can strengthen us to attack those deeper problems.
I will continue to travel this country, to hear the

people of America.
for the 198QS.

together.

You can help me to develop a national agenda

I will listen and I will act.

We will act

These were the promises I made three years ago and

I intend to keep them.

Little by little we can and we must rebuild our
confidence. We can spend until we empty our treasuries and we

may siimmon all the wonders of science, but we can succeed only
if we tap our greatest resources -— America's people, America's
values, and America's confidence.

Page 10

I have seen the strength of America in the inexhaustible
resources of our people.

In the days to come, let us renew

that strength in the struggle for an energy-secure nation.
In closing, let me say this: I will do my best, but
I will not do it alone. Let your v6iC8 be heard. Whenever

you have a chance, say something? good about our country. With
God's help and for the sake of our nation it is time for us
to join hands in America. Let us commit ourselves together
to a rebirth of the American spirit.

Working together

with our common faith we cannot fail.

Thank you and good night.

END

(10:32 P.M. EDT!