Action with great regret because it is clear the massive deficits our government runs is one of the root causes of our profound economic problems. Too many years, this process has come too easily for us. We have lived beyond our means and then financed our extravagance on the backs of the American People. A clear message i received in the Election Campaign is that we must gain control of this inflationary monster. Let me briefly review for the American People what we have already done. Within moments of taking the oath of office, i placed a freeze on the hiring of civilian employees on the government. Two days later, i issued an order to cut down on government travel, reduce the number of consultants to the government, stop the procurement of certain items, and call my employees to exercise restraint in their own offices. Yesterday, i announced the elimination of remaining federal controls on marketing p at today, i am announcing two more actions to reduce the size of the federal government area first, i am taking major steps towards the elimination of the council on wage and price stability. This council has been a failure. It has been totally ineffective in controlling inflation and impose unnecessary burdens on labor and business. Therefore, i am now ending the wage and Price Program of the council. I am eliminating a staff that carries out its wage pricing activities and i am asking congress to rescind budget, saving the tax payers. Key federal to freeze pending regulations. I want to start a new Regulatory Oversight process and prevent certain lastminute regulatory decisions in the previous administration, the socalled midnight regulations from taking effect without proper review and approval. All of us should remember that the federal government is not some mysterious institution. The people are the government. What we create, we are to be able to control. I do not intend to make wildly skyrocketing deficits and runaway governments simple facts of life in this administration. As i said, our ills have come upon us for several decades and they will not go away in days or weeks or months but i want the American People to know that we have begun. Now, i will be happy to take your questions. Will your posture towards iran be one of revenge or reconciliation . You approved of most of that during the campaign. Pres. Reagan i am certainly not thinking of revenge. I dont know whether reconciliation will be possible with the presence of a government or absence of a government in iran. I think that the United States will honor the obligations. As a matter of fact, the most important of those were put into effect in negotiating the release. We are however studying. There were four major agreements and nine executive orders, and we are studying thoroughly what is a pretty complex matter we discovered with regard to whether they are in keeping with International Laws. So i will not be able to really answer your questions on specifics until we completed that study. The treasury secretary said the budget cuts would of a much higher magnitude than most well thought they would be. You said they would be across the board. Did you say where these cuts will be made, what program will fill the cuts the most . Pres. Reagan they will be made every placed had what we meant by across the board was the wrong decision. It describes it. What i meant was no one is exempt from being looked at for areas in which we can make cuts in spending. Yes, they probably are going to be bigger than anyone has ever attempted because this administration did not come here to be a caretaker government. We hope they can go along the same way and do it better. We think the time has come where there has to be a change of direction of this country and it is going to begin with reducing Government Spending. Mr. President , in your welcoming address to the americans, you sounded a warning. What kind of action are you prepared to take to back up this hard rhetoric . Pres. Reagan well, that is a question i do not think you can or should answer. As to specifics. This is a big and powerful nation. It has a lot of options open to it. And to try and specify just particularly what you should do i think is one of the things that has been wrong. People have gone to bed in some of these countries that have done these things to us in the past, confident they can go to sleep, wake up in the morning, and the United States would not have taken any action. What i meant by that phrase was that anyone who does these things, violates our rights in the future, is not going to be able to go to bed with that confidence. Reporter mr. President , you campaigned rather vociferously against the salt to treaty, saying it was slanted toward the soviet union. I noticed your secretary of state seems to suggest that for the time being, the United States will abide by the limits of the treaty and he hopes the soviet union will, too. How long do you intend the United States should abide by the terms of the salt agreement which you consider inequitable and what you consider its great inequities to be its greatest inequities to be . Pres. Reagan the treaty, first of all, i think permits a continued buildup on both sides of Strategic Nuclear weapons. In the main thing, it authorizes an immediate increase in large numbers of soviet warheads. There is no verification as to the number of warheads on the missile. I do not think that a treaty means strategic arms limitation. That actually, it permits a buildup on both sides of Strategic Nuclear weapons. It can probably be called that. I said that when we can, and i am willing for our people to go into negotiate discussions leading to negotiations, that we should start negotiating on the basis of trying to affect an actual reduction in the numbers of nuclear weapons. That would then be real strategic arms limitation. And i happen to believe also that you cannot sit down at the table and just negotiate that unless you take into account the consideration at that table, all the other things going on. I believe in linkage. Reporter mr. President , what do you see as the longrange intentions of the soviet union . Do you think the kremlin is bent on World Domination that might lead to a continuation of the cold war or do you think that under other circumstances, detente is possible . Pres. Reagan so far, detente has been a oneway street. The soviet union has used it to pursue their own names. Its own aims. I do not have to think of an answer as to what i think their intentions are. They have repeated it. I have no leader of the soviet union since the revolution that has not more than once repeated in the various communist congresses they hold. Their determination that their goal must be the promotion of World Revolution and the one world socialist or communist state, whatever words you want to use. As long as they do at and as long as they have the same time have openly and publicly declared that the only morality they recognize is what will further their cause. Meaning they reserve under themselves the right to commit any crime, to lie, to cheat in order to attain that, and that is moral, immoral. And we operate on a different set of standards. I think when you do business with them, even at a detente, you keep that in mind. Let me take someone. Reporter mr. President , what is your opinion of American Companies that want to resume business with iran . Pres. Reagan my opinion of American Companies that want to resume business with iran, i hope they are going to do it by long distance. [laughter] pres. Reagan we would not want to go back to having just a different cast of characters but the same show going on. I can understand that, particularly in the field of energy, them wanting to do that. But we are urging the people think long and hard before they travel to iran because we do not think their safety can be guaranteed there. Three americans are still incarcerated in vietnam. Can you tell us the status of their cases and whether the administration is doing anything to get them back . Pres. Reagan i have told our people about those three. They knew about them of course. I told them that yes, we continue. We want to get them back also. I know i have been down front here too much. I can look at the back roads. Reporter mr. President reporter mr. President , some administrative officials have promised adherence to the civil rights laws which are on the books, but there has been considerable discussion about dismantling the affirmative action aspect that gives those laws and some people greater meaning. I am wondering, mr. President , if there will be a retreat in the federal government on the governments affirmative action programs generally and in federal hiring of blacks and hispanics specifically. Pres. Reagan there will be no retreat. This administration is going to be dedicated to equality. I think we have made great progress in the civil rights field. I think there are some things, however, that may not be as useful as they once were or that may even be distorted, such as some affirmative action programs becoming quota systems, and i am old enough to remember when quotas existed in the United States for the purpose of discrimination. I dont want to see that happen again. Reporter how will you seek to take control of National Gas Prices . Pres. Reagan we have not dealt with that problem yet. We thought oil would do for a starter, but i cannot really answer your question. That will be a matter for discussion in future cabinet meetings. Reporter mr. President , during the campaign, you repeatedly talked about the unfairness of the grain embargo as you saw it. Do you have second thoughts now or will you lift the grain embargo . Pres. Reagan with the grain embargo, my quarrel was that i thought it was asking only one group of americans to participate, the farmers. It was not you only have two choices. You either lift the embargo or broaden it. We have not made a decision except that at the request of secretary of agriculture, john bloch, i have taken the matter of the embargo out of the discussions of the National Security council, and next week is going is on the agenda for a full cabinet meeting. As to what our course will be, so i cannot answer what we do about it until next week. As i say, it was asking one group of americans to bear the burden. I have always thought that was more of a kind of gesture than it was something real. Reporter mr. President , what will you do to honor the request by federal officials, atlanta officials for you and the federal government to intervene in the atlanta case of 17 missing black children . Pres. Reagan just a few minutes before i came in here, that message was handed to me that the Atlanta Mayor wanted to talk, and we are going to get someone in touch with him immediately. You recognize of course that possibly civil rights would be the only basis upon which we could have any jurisdiction down there. For fbi, for example, on any other thing. There is no evidence of crossing state lines or anything. Yet we want to be helpful because that is a most tragic case and we will be meeting on that very shortly. Mr. President , when the jamaican Prime Minister was here yesterday, he suggested publicly that now might be a good time for you, as the new president , to have a Foreign Policy initiative for latin america and for the caribbean. Do you intend to follow that suggestion, and if so, how would your policies differ from those of president carter . Pres. Reagan i think we have seen a great reverse in the caribbean situation, and it came about through the Prime Ministers election. It was the turnover, turnaround, of a nation that had gone certainly in the direction of the communist movement. It kind of was a protege of castro. And his election was greeted by me with great enthusiasm because it represented the people by their vote, having experienced that kind of government, turned another direction, and i think this opens the door for us to have a policy in the mediterranean of bringing them back in those countries that might have started in that direction or keeping them in the western world and the free world. And so, we are looking forward to cooperation with the Prime Minister. Reporter i think you meant caribbean in that last answer, not the mediterranean. Pres. Reagan i meant caribbean. Reporter what do you intend to do about the draft registration passed during president carters administration and in view of your opposition to it and the campaign, how has that assisted with your intention to strengthen our National Defenses . Pres. Reagan to answer the last part first, i just did not feel the advanced registration and all the evidence we could get would materially speed up the process if an emergency required the draft. It did create a bureaucracy. It cost some unrest and dissatisfaction. And we were told it would only be a matter of several days if we had to call up in a draft that we could do that several days earlier with the registration and if there was no registration, at all. This is one that is something to be looked at further down. I have only been here nine days and most of these nine days have been spent in cabinet meetings on the economy, getting ready to send our package up to the hill, and so, i just have to tell you that we will be dealing with that and make a decision on what to do with it down the road someplace. Gary. Reporter speaking of your economic package, can you give us Effective Dates for the cuts and specifying whether you prefer one Effective Date for business and another for personal cuts or whether you would like to combine them . Pres. Reagan i would like to see them go forward all at once. I know there has been talk about whether it should be retroactive and whether it should be as of that minute. That to me is as important as getting for individuals the principle of a 10 cut for each of three years in place and the business taxes also so that we can all look forward with some confidence of stability in the program. We are going to strive for that and i cannot really answer you about what the date will be until we submit the package. Mr. President. Mr. President. Mr. President , i know you said earlier that you are not thinking of revenge towards iran, but does that preclude anything whatsoever for what they have done . Pres. Reagan i have to ask your forbearance and wait until we have finished our study of this whole situation as to what we are going to do. I dont think any of us have a friendly feeling towards the people who have done what they have done. But i think it is too complex for me to answer until we have had time to really study this. Would you go so far as to encourage american businesses to resume commercial trade in iran . Pres. Reagan at this point, no. Reporter mr. President , do you intend to follow through with your campaign pledges to abolish the departments of energy and education . Pres. Reagan i have not retreated from that at all. Yes. The process, however, that i have asked for, is for both the secretary of the secretary of energy to reorganize to produce the most effective streamlining of the department, of their departments, that i can. In education, to look at the appropriate role of the federal government in education, if there is one, and to report back, and then, we will decide on making our recommendations. Much the same thing holds true with the department of energy. The reason for this being that while they were new cabinet level agencies, they incorporated government functions and programs that had been going on in them when they came under that umbrella, and we have to find out which of those functions that have been a federal government function continue, and where they would best fit. But yes, i am determined. I believe it was wrong to have created the two agencies to begin with. Mr. President , during the campaign, your chief arms spokesman put you on record as continuing the price support level where it had been. Your budget director and your secretary of agriculture indicated the Dairy Program is too expensive and should be cut back. You reconcile those differences a report for us . Pres. Reagan i can only tell you that this again is something to wait for the next cabinet meeting. All of these things are worked out between the appropriate cabinet members and our director of omb, and then they come to the cabinet for full discussion so that others who have an interest in this can have their input, so that has not yet come to the cabinet. Reporter iran share a long border. Stability of the world. Given the antiu. S. Sentiment, how do you think the united dates can control the stability of the region United States can control the stability of the region . Pres. Reagan between iran and the soviet union . I think one of the first things that has to happen is for stability. It has got to be in iran itself to establish a government that can speak as a government for iran, and part of our problem, in all these long 444 days, has been the inability of anyone seemingly to speak for that nation. To have a government. Now, i think that any country would want to help another if they really showed an intent to have a government that would abide by International Law and do what they could to help in that regard, but until such a thing is apparent, i dont know if theres anything we can do. Young lady. Mr. President , is it your intention to tell the world this country will respond with retribution in cases of International Terrorism in the future . Why is it your policy not to retaliate against iran . Pres. Reagan what good would just revenge do . What form would that take . I do not think revenge is worthy of us. On the other hand, i do not think we act as if this never happened. I would rather wait until, as i say, we complete this pit i know i have been on one side for too long, but someone said por favor. Reporter mr. President , i mentioned the other day, [speaking spanish] mr. President , is it true that given the opportunity to serve this country. When are you going to appoint a spanish american to serve in your administration and policymaking positions . Pres. Reagan we are definitely recruiting and definitely trying to do that. I want an administration that will be representative of the country as a whole. Please do not judge us on the fact that we have only picked 100. There will be 1700 positions to fill in the executive branch in the white house senior staff and staff. And the Personnel Committee in our administration that is talent hunting and looking for these people contains members of the minorities, hispanics, and even a majority of women, and we want that very much. Do not judge us now on the tip of the iceberg and wait until it is all in. President , the chairman of the Federal Reserve board has been implementing policies that are exactly opposite in basic from what you recommend. The productive sector of the economy in favor of the speculative sector. There are important sections of the American Economy that are about to go under and will not even have an opportunity to benefit from the programs that you are putting ours because of the Federal Reserve policy. I have a twopart question. First of all, do you think that objective Economic Conditions justify the levels that we now have . I dont mean for your answer to imply a criticism of the fed. The second question is, are you concerned that there might be a sabotage so to speak of your policies by programs that the Federal Reserve might be putting forward . Pres. Reagan i am not concerned there might be sabotage. It is an independent agency and i respect that. I think that we have to face the fact that Interest Rates are not in themselves a cause of inflation. They are a consequence. And when you have, as we have had, doubledigit inflation back to back for two solid years now, the last time that happened was in world war i. And when you have doubledigit inflation, that way, there is no question that Interest Rates are going to have to go up and follow that inflation rate. So, the answer to the Interest Rates is going to be our program of reducing Government Spending tied to the reduction of the tax rates that we have spoken of to bring down inflation. You will find that Interest Rates come down. We do want from the fed and would ask for a moderate policy of money supply increasing relative to legitimate growth. All of these things have to work together. I dont think that the fed just deliberately raises Interest Rates. The reason we have got to tie taxes and spending together, for all these decades, we have talked and talked about solving these problems, and we act as if the two were separate. One year, we fight inflation, and and then unemployment goes up. It is time to keep the two together where they belong and that is what we are going to do. Yes, sir . A number of conservative leaders, among them, some of your staunchest supporters are very concerned about some of your appointments. Many people who have been longtime reaganites and supporters of years do not seem to be able to get jobs. Whereas other individuals who have not supported you throughout the years or your philosophy the secretary of education was for the establishment. When the deputy secretary of defense who was not a supporter of years they have gotten jobs. Why are these individuals in your administration. Why isnt mr. Family . Mr. Vanfleet . How much of a problem do you think it is . Pres. Reagan the only problem i have had that is more difficult than knowing which hand to point to. It bothers me. I go home feeling guilty, all the hands i could not point to. The only problem greater i have had is in the selection of personnel. In many instances, some of the people that have been mentioned, whose names have been mentioned by others, did not want a position in the administration. They worked very hard and wanted nothing for it. But you also have to recognize there are not that many positions. After all, look how many votes i had. Cannot reward them all. But thank you. All right. Thank you. [laughter] the president from Public Affairs available now in presents and ebook biographies of every president organized by their ranking by noted historians from breast to worst. And features perspectives into the lives of our nations chief executives and leadership styles. It our website cspan. Org the president to learn about each president and the historian featured. Order it wherever books and ebooks are sold. Historian Margaret Mcmillan is the author of paris, 1919. She examines the 1919 paris peace conference, which sought to hammer out a peace conference for world war i. And adequately punished germany for its wartime actions. The National World war i newseum and memorial in kansas city hosted talk last november. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. What a day