Richard Nixon

I am reminded of what Benjamin Franklin replied when a balloon was first floated and someone said to him, 'What possible use could there be for that?' And Franklin's advice was, 'Well, what use is a newborn baby?'.

We can--and we will--deal effectively with piracy in the skies today.

I strongly endorse the Commission's primary recommendations that:--The commemoration be national in scope, seeking to involve every State, city and community;--The Bicentennial be a focal point for a review and reaffirmation of the…

As I stated in October, for the first time in the history of this government, we have recommended a national policy of permanent sharing of the Federal income tax revenues with the States and lesser political units of the country.

I agree. There can be no single Bicentennial city.

This, then, is a time to face such issues. As president, I have sought to do so.

I concur with the Commission's concept of a Bicentennial Era with its focal point in 1976.

I am directing Chairman Mahoney to begin a series of meetings with Mayor Washington, the National Capital Planning Commission, Chairman Mark Evans of the National Capital Historic Region Bicentennial Committee, Counsellor to the President…

I will refrain from making commitments to any particular project recommended by the Commission until timing and cost data are submitted and studied.

The first principle of reform is that government programs and institutions should be effective.

Our ability to change this system in time for the 1972 elections is a touchstone of the impulse to reform in America today.

Unfortunately, although hearings have been held in both the House and the Senate, neither body has acted.

The menace of air piracy must be met--immediately and effectively.

I am now instructing the Secretary of State to proceed officially with appropriate registration procedures with the Bureau of International Expositions for an international exposition in Philadelphia in 1976.

I hope that foreign visitors and visiting groups, including artists and performers, will travel to every corner of the nation and participate in as many Bicentennial events as possible.

Given the system of 'checks and balances' built into our government, it would be reasonable to predict that in such a situation the institutions of the Presidency and the Congress would thwart one another, and that stalemate would ensue.

In the name of the 'urban crisis,' for example, the 1960s saw the Federal government increasingly caught in issues of municipal housekeeping that are most appropriately the business of a city council.

Improving the quality of life is, in a sense, a more compelling concept in this era of advanced technology than it was in the time of Jefferson.

In foreign affairs I have held out the hope that if our new policies succeed America may have the best chance since World War II to enjoy a generation of uninterrupted peace.

I am asking Chairman Mahoney to meet with Director Shultz and to recommend to me a plan for future Commission organization and funding.

I invite the Bicentennial Commissions now formed or forming in each of the fifty States, along with Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and the Territories, to share in a special effort to ensure active and nationwide participation in…

Yet, until now, no President has felt it possible to propose revenue sharing, no Congress has made any move toward enacting it.

I congratulate them on their appointment and welcome them to this challenging new responsibility.

For this reason I have today appointed five young men and women to become full participating members of the President's Commission for the Observance of the Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the United Nations.

The past informs, but does not dictate our vision of the future.