Richard Nixon

I AM today suspending the provisions of the Davis-Bacon Act which require contractors working on Federal construction projects to pay certain prescribed wage rates to their workers.

And I do hereby suspend until otherwise provided the provisions of any Executive Order, proclamation, rule, regulation or other directive providing for the payment of wages, which provisions are dependent upon determinations by the…

The results of this inflationary situation are felt in every part of our society.

The action I have taken today is based on the principle that Government programs which contribute to excessive wage and price increases must be modified or rescinded in periods of inflation.

I have noted that in the 182 years since Washington was President of the United States, that 50 percent of the time people who have been Governors have been President of the United States.

I have asked American youth to respond affirmatively to the challenge and pledged that we will do our best to keep faith with their hopes.

I have called for an alliance between the generations.

I ask each of you to assure the full participation of your organization, to help make this summer the most fruitful ever in terms of nurturing better understanding between young Americans and their Government.

I want America to have the finest health care in the world--and I want every American to be able to get that care when he needs it.

Nineteen months ago I said that America's medical system faced a 'massive crisis.'

Good health care should be readily available to all of our citizens.

When we know one another, we cannot hate one another.

We recognize that in this world today, we have no better friend than Italy.

In an HMO, in other words, cost consciousness is fostered.

That is why I am calling today not only for new programs and not merely for more money but for something more--for a new approach which is equal to the complexity of our challenges.

What I am striving for above all else, what this Nation is striving for in all that we do, is something that America has never experienced in this century: a full generation of peace.

It is a very great honor, Mr. Prime Minister, to welcome you, both as the representative of a nation with which the United States has such close and friendly ties, but also to welcome you as a personal friend.

We cannot simply buy our way to better medicine.

I believe that right now is the time for us to learn to walk in peace.

We could never agree to that, because the United States couldn't bear to part with New York.

Our entire society, then, has a direct stake in the health of every member.

It is, after all, a sign of our success in achieving equal opportunity, a measure of our effectiveness in reducing the barriers to care.

In fact, Mr. Prime Minister, I understand there are more Italians living in the United States than there are in Rome.

Our efforts to reform health care in America will be more effective if they build on this strength.

Italy and America are friends. We are partners together in the great Atlantic Alliance.