I wish to emphasize my strong belief that during these proceedings the Vice President is entitled to the same presumption of innocence which is the right of any citizen and which lies at the heart of our system of justice.

This is an objective with which the Forest Service concurs, and I endorse it.

The price of economic growth need not be the deterioration of our lives and our surroundings.

I HAVE received today the findings and recommendations of my Advisory Panel on Timber and the Environment.

Our country has been greatly blessed in natural resources, through a combination of temperate weather and fertile land.

In addition, this bill would slow the Federal Government's ability to respond to disasters by creating an administrative nightmare for those agencies charged with providing assistance.

The net result would be greater Federal assistance for the well-to-do than the needy, and an even larger bill for the general taxpayer.

In the meantime, ongoing programs will continue to be of assistance to disaster victims and will not be affected by my disapproval of S. 1672.

As a result of those discussions, I ordered a thorough review of all Federal disaster assistance programs, and earlier this year I proposed legislation that would fundamentally restructure them.

While we cannot precisely forecast future costs, we do know that if our disaster experiences in the next 12 months are the same as last year, this bill would add $800 million to the Federal budget.

Unfortunately, this legislation is also burdened with several extremely undesirable features--provisions which would represent a backward march for the Federal Government's disaster relief programs-and for that reason, I am compelled to veto it.

The proposals I sent to the Congress earlier this year are designed to insure that the sincere compassion felt by all Americans for disaster victims can be translated into the most rapid, effective and equitable form of disaster assistance possible.

In fact, this bill would reopen a leaky financial tap in the Federal Treasury which the Congress itself closed last April.

I am returning today without my approval S. 1672, a bill to amend the Small Business Act.

The Federal Government has a clear responsibility to help disaster victims who cannot help themselves, especially low-income families, but those who have their own resources should not use the general taxpayer as a crutch.

The fight against sickle cell anemia continues to be a high priority for our Government

President Nixon assured Prime Minister Bhutto of strong U.S. support for Pakistan's independence and territorial integrity, which he considered a guiding principle of American foreign policy.

President Nixon took the opportunity to congratulate Prime Minister Bhutto on the progress Pakistan has made over the past twenty months.