Lyndon Johnson

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen: We are delighted to have you here to visit with General and Mrs. Westmoreland before they return to their service area.

We hope, as we begin this new week, that we can have a renewed determination and a united America supporting the forces of free men in Vietnam.

That message is this: You are our best.

My talks with General Westmoreland have confirmed the conviction that: -- the United States has never had a more efficient and courageous fighting force in the field than the men who are serving us at this hour in Vietnam;

They know why they are there.

As Commander in Chief, I have a very strong desire, as well as a need, to review directly with our field commander the military operations in that most crucial conflict.

General Westmoreland, I want you to take back with you my personal message to all of our men in Vietnam.

The need for financial protection against flood losses to private property is widely recognized.

And we are doing it without spending a cent of appropriated taxpayers' money.

The measure that I am about to sign will raise by $1 billion the limit on the amount of revenue bonds which TVA may have outstanding.

If you give people cheap electricity, they'll pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.

We estimate that the power requirements of the Tennessee Valley region are going to double in the next 10 years alone.

This morning we are helping to guarantee the future of nearly 6 million of our fellow citizens.

So we have come here this morning to do more than salute the past.

Today I am transmitting a report from the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, entitled 'Insurance and Other Programs for Financial Assistance to Flood Victims.'

We have come here to try to ensure the future.

Additional study is required before final judgment can be reached on the design of a national flood insurance program.

This morning was devoted to the subjects I have discussed and each of these men can explain their review to you.

This morning we had a Cabinet meeting that began at 12 o'clock.

Peace--real peace--is meaningful only, as your Association's history states, if it is achieved 'without compromising the principles of America.'

It has been our policy to have Cabinet meetings where specific members have been asked to report on our conservation policy, our resource policy, Vietnam, or the Alliance for Progress, for example.

So long as aggression continues in South Vietnam, we will turn it back.

We have had various presentations ranging from discussions on the domestic economy to international matters involving monetary policy, balance of trade, and a discussion by Secretary Fowler on fiscal developments.

Education for world responsibility is no longer an option. It is rather a necessity.

I accept this award with gratitude and with renewed commitment to the cause it represents.