Excerpt of President Nixon's remarks before a student-faculty convocation at the University of Nebraska, January 14, 1971.

President Nixon's remarks before a joint session of the Iowa State Legislature, Des Moines, Iowa, March 1, 1971.

President Nixon's remarks to farm media representatives on domestic programs following the legislature presentation, Des Moines, Iowa, March 1, 1971.

President Nixon's remarks upon the signing of his message to Congress concerning the proposed rural revenue sharing March 10, 1971.

President Nixon's message to Congress regarding special revenue sharing for rural development, March 10, 1971.

Senator DOLE. Everyone on this committee is aware and I know, after serving on the House Agriculture Committee 8 years and this committee 3, that we have spent a lot of money on farm programs, good farm programs, probably billions of dollars in the past 30 or 40 years. We have not checked the migration from rural America to urban and suburban America. In the last 10 years we have lost an average of about 100,000 farm people per year, and this of course has not only increased the problems in the cities, but increased the problems in the small town and rural America everywhere in rural America.

This is a bipartisan, or nonpartisan, or all-American problem.

President Nixon created a task force in 1969 to look into rural development. The task force made a report and they defined what rural development is and what it is not. I would only cite a few examples, and I quote from that task force report:

Rural development does not give people anything except the encouragement and tools to work together in the promise that their effort will be rewarded.

Rural development is not a new Government agency, a new appropriation to spend money in rural America, a new set of directives from the Federal Government, a program handed down and run from above. Rural development is, however, many things. Rural development is aimed at those with low incomes and the underemployed. Rural development is a people program. Rural development is aimed at job creation. It is aimed at improving rural America. Rural development is built on local initiative. It is aimed at a better quality of life. It is aimed at population and industrial dispersion. It is not just a land policy or settlement program.

So it is a combination of specific programs directed toward a broad horizon. Those of us who are fortunate enough to live in rural America appreciate many of the problems but we also envision many of the great possibilities and the great potentials in rural America.

In my own State of Kansas we found many problems, but we also found new initiatives to correct those problems in rural areas. In the aerospace industry in Wichita, we found many of the workers are part-time aircraft workers and part-time farmers. We think we have some background and some knowledge in this field.

Mr. Chairman. To make the record complete and to indicate the complete bipartisan nature of the hearing, I would like first of all to include in the record at this point title 9 of the 1970 Agricultural Act on rural development

Senator HUMPHREY. It should be printed at this point in the record.

Senator DOLE. (continuing). Which I have the honor of cosponsoring with the distinguished Senator from Georgia, the chairman of our committee, Mr. Talmadge.

In addition I would like to submit for inclusion in the hearing

records:

An excerpt of President Nixon's state of the Union address pertaining to revenue sharing, January 22, 1971.

Comments by President Nixon on programs for rural America upon his arrival at Grand Forks International Airport, Grand Forks, N. Dak., October 19, 1970.

Excerpt of President Nixon's remarks before a student-faculty convocation at the University of Nebraska, January 14, 1971.

President Nixon's remarks before a joint session of the Iowa State Legislature, Des Moines, Iowa, March 1, 1971.

President Nixon's remarks to farm media representatives on domestic programs following the legislature presentation, Des Moines, Iowa, March 1, 1971.

President Nixon's remarks upon the signing of his message to Congress concerning the proposed rural revenue sharing, March 10, 1971.

Senator HUMPHREY. Without objection those will all be included in the record.

(The documents are as follows:)

[Excerpt From President Nixon's State of the Union Address, Jan. 22, 1971]

REVENUE SHARING

The fifth great goal is to strengthen and renew our State and local governments.

As we approach our 200th aniversary in 1976, we remember that this nation launched itself as a loose confederation of separate States, without a workable central government. At that time, the mark of its leaders' vision was that they quickly saw the need to balance the separate powers of the States with a government of central powers.

And so they gave us a Constitution of balanced powers, of unity with diversity--and so clear was their vision that it survives as the oldest written Constitution still in force in the world today.

For almost two centuries since-and dramatically in the 1930s-at those great turning points when the question has been between the States and the Federal Government, it has been resolved in favor of a stronger central government.

During this time the nation grew and prospered. But one thing history tells us is that no great movement goes in the same direction forever. Nations change, they adapt, or they slowly die.

The time has come to reverse the flow of power and resources from the States and communities to Washington, and start power and resources flowing back from Washington to the States and communities and, more important, to the people, all across America.

The time has come for a new partnership between the Federal Government and the States and localities-a partnership in which we entrust the States and localities with a larger share of the nation's responsibilities, and in which we share our revenues with them so they can meet those responsibilities.

To achieve this goal, I propose to the Congress tonight that we enact a plan of revenue sharing historic in scope and bold in concept.

All across America today, States and cities are confronted with a financial crises. Some already have been cutting back on essential services-for example, iust recently San Diego and Cleveland cut back on trash collections. Most are

caught between the prospects of bankruptcy on the one hand and adding to an already crushing tax burden on the other.

As one indication of the rising costs of local government, I discovered the the other day that my home town of Whittier, California-with a population of only 67,000-has a budget for 1971 bigger than the entire Federal budget in 1791.

Now the time has come to take a new direction, and once again to introduce a new and more creative balance in our approach to government.

So let us put the money where the needs are. And let us put the power to spend it where the people are.

I propose that the Congress make a $16 billion investment in renewing State and local government-with $5 billion of this in new and unrestricted funds, to be used as the States and localities see fit, and with the other $11 billion provided by allocating $1 billion of new funds and converting one-third of the money going to the present narrow-purpose aid programs into Federal revenue sharing funds for six broad purposes-urban development, rural development, education, transportation, job training and law enforcement-but with the State and localities making their own local decisions on how it should be spent. For the next fiscal year, this would increase total Federal aid to the States and localities by more than 25 percent over the present level.

Th revenue sharing proposals I send to the Congress will include the safeguards against discrimination that accompany all other Federal funds allocated to the States. Neither the President nor the Congress nor the conscience of the nation can permit money which comes from all the people to be used in a way which discriminates against some of the people.

The Federal Government will still have a large and vital role to play in achieving our national purposes. Established functions that are clearly and essentially Federal in nature will still be performed by the Federal Government-such as those I have urged tonight in welfare and health-will be added to the Federal agenda. Whenever it makes the best sense for us to act as a whole nation, the Federal Government will lead the way. But where State or local governments can better do what needs to be done, let us see that they have the resources to do it.

Under this plan, the Federal Government will provide the States and localities with more money and less interference and by cutting down the interference the same amount of money will go a lot further.

Let us share our resources:

To rescue the States and localities from the brink of financial crisis.

And to give homeowners and wage earners a chance to escape from everhigher property taxes and sales taxes.

Let us share our resources for two other reasons as well.

The first of these reasons has to do with government itself, and the second with the individual.

Let's face it. Most Americans today are simply fed up with government at all levels. They will not-and should not-continue to tolerate the gap between promise and performance.

The fact is that we have made the Federal Government so strong it grows muscle-bound and the States and localities so weak they approach impotence. If we put more power in more places, we can make government more creative in more places. For that way we multiply the number of people with the ability to make things happen-and we can open the way to a new burst of creative energy throughout America.

The final reason I urge this historic shift is much more personal, for each and every one of us.

As everything seems to have grown bigger, and more complex; as the forces that shape our lives seem to have grown more distant and more impersonal a great feeling of frustration has crept across the land.

Whether it is the working man who feels neglected, the black man who feels oppressed or the mother concerned about her children, there has been a growing feeling that "things are in the saddle, and ride mankind."

Millions of frustrated young Americans today are crying out-asking not what will government do for me, but what can I do, how can I contribute. how can I matter?

Let us answer them. To them and to all Americans, let us say: "We hear you and we will give you a chance. We are going to give you a new chance to have more to say about the decisions that affect your future to participate in

government-because we are going to provide more centers of power where what you do can make a difference that you can see and feel in your own life and the life of your whole community."

The further away government is from people, the stronger government becomes and the weaker people become. And a nation with a strong government and a weak people is an empty shell.

I reject the patronizing idea that government in Washington, D.C., is invitably more wise, more honest and more efficient than government at the local or State level. The honesty and efficiency of government depends on people. Government at all levels has good people and bad people. And the way to get more good people into government is to give them more opportunity to do good things.

The idea that a bureaucratic elite in Washington knows best what is best for the people everywhere and that you cannot trust local government is really a contention that you cannot trust people to govern themselves. This notion is completely foreign to the American experience. Local government is the government closest to the people and most responsive to the individual person; it is people's government in a far more intimate way than the government in Washington can ever be.

People came to America because they wanted to determine their own future rather than to live in a country where others determined their future for them. What this change means is that once again we are placing our trust in people.

I have faith in people, I trust the judgment of people. Let us give the people a chance, a bigger voice in deciding for themselves those questions that so greatly affect their lives.

[Excerpt From the President's Remarks Upon Arrival at Grand Forks International Airport, Grand Forks, Ñ. Dak., Oct. 19, 1970]

Let me say another thing: You live here in North Dakota and I know you are aware of the fact that under the latest census something has happened, something that, incidentally, to me, is not welcome in this country. It is a shift in population. North Dakota may lose one Congressman. The reason that it will lose one Congressman, as you know, is simply that because farm production has become more and more efficient, there is going to be a movement from the farms to the cities. That is why this administration has an exciting new program, a new program in which we recognize that what was once the old frontier of America, this great Midwest with all of its hope and its promise and its beauty and its strength becomes a new frontier.

You know what it is? It is North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, and all the rest. This is good country. It is beautiful country. It is great country to raise a family in. And we ought to have programs that will provide the jobs that will bring new people into this country.

That is what we are for . . . a program to revitalize rural America, to see that the counties of America that are emptying out of people and promise, then attract by reason of the fact that they offer those job opportunities to the people that would like to live here if they had the chance. That is way in the future in this administration as we locate airports, as we locate defense installations, as we locate government buildings, as we do the planning that could have effect on development in this country, rather than concentrating it more and more in great cities which are already too overcrowded, we say go into rural America and build it up and that is, I think, a program that you in this great State will appreciate ...

[Excerpt From the President's Remarks Before a Student-Faculty Convocation at the University of Nebraska, Jan. 14, 1971]

Consider the problems of rural America. We are a nation not only of cities but of towns, of villages and farms. In the soul and substance of rural life in this country the most abiding values of the American people are anchored. Rural America, too, needs our attention. We must create a new rural environment, a new rural prosperity, which will not only stem the migration from rural areas to the cities, but which will bring people back to the heartland of America.

Consider the problems of overpopulation, the problems of education, the problems brought about by technology, the problems of achieving full and equal opportunity for all of our people, of health, the problems of prosperity, itself, of poverty in a land of plenty. Those are just a few of the challenges that face us.

We must face them together. There can be no generation gap in America. The destiny of this Nation is not divided into yours and ours. It is one destiny. We share it together. We are responsible for it together. And in the way we respond, history will judge us together.

There has been too much emphasis on the differences between the generations in America. There has been too much of a tendency of many of my generation to blame all of your generation for the excess of a violent few. Let me repeat what I have said over and over again during the past 2 years.

I believe one of America's most priceless assets is the idealism which motivates the young people of America. My generation has invested all that it has, not only its love but its hope and its faith in yours.

I believe you will redeem that faith and justify that hope. I believe that as our generations work together, as we strive together, as we aspire together, we can achieve together-achieve great things for America and the world.

[From the President's Remarks to a Joint Session of the Iowa State Legislature, Mar. 1, 1971]

Governor Ray, Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, Members of the Legislature, Members of the Supreme Court, Senator Miller, all of our distinguished guests on this very special occasion:

As Governor Ray has indicated, this is my first visit to Iowa as President of the United States. And I am honored that it takes place here in an address to the Legislature of the State of Iowa.

I should point out that Vice President Agnew has made a visit to Iowa since we came into office. You may recall that in a speech that he made in Des Moines on November 13 [1969] he received quite a bit of national publicity. I was talking to him on the phone yesterday about my pending visit to Iowa and he suggested that if I really wanted to make major news that I might address myself to the subject of the news media when I appeared before this group. As a matter of fact, that's the most risky idea the Vice President has advanced since he invited me to play golf with him a few weeks ago.

I want you to know that I appreciate this invitation both to share with you a few of my thoughts about America's future and to reaffirm my own strong conviction that in the State capitals of America there is a wealth of wisdom and compassion and understanding of the great needs that confront our Nation's people.

This is my first appearance before a legislative body since I delivered my State of the Union before the Congress of the United States-and I am especially pleased that it is before this legislature, which I note was recently cited by the Citizens Conference on State Legislatures as one of the best in the Nation. I congratulate you for getting that kind of recognition.

In that address, I outlined six great goals for America, and I urged the Congress to join in bring about a New American Revolution-a peaceful revolution, in which power was turned back to the people, in which Government at all levels was refreshed and renewed, and made truly responsive to the people of this country.

It is especially appropriate that that appeal to the Congress should be followed by this, the first appearance as President of the United States I've had an opportunity to make before a State legislature. For as we consider the changes that are needed in American Government, we must remember that we have not one Chief Executive in America, but many; not one legislature, but many-and that each of these is a vital part of the American system.

One of my key proposals to the Congress is that we make a $16 billion investment in renewing State and local government by sharing Federal revenues without the cumbersome restrictions that now follow Federal funds. I have noted that this legislature has already expressed its support for the principle of revenue sharing. I have also proposed a sweeping reorganization of the Federal Government itself to make it more responsive to the needs of the people.