Press conference as president on january 29th, 1981, nine days into his presidency. This was half an hour. How do you do . I have a brief Opening Statement here before i take your questions. Yesterdays secretary of the treasury Donald Reagan sent to the congress a request to raise the debt ceiling to 985 billion. This represents a dramatic jump of 50 billion over the previous debt ceiling. The administration took this action with great regret because its clear that the massive deficits our government runs is one of the root causes of our profound economic problems, and for too many years this process has come too easily for us. Weve lived beyond our means and then financed our extravagance on the backs of the American People. The 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 weve already done. Within moments of taking the oath of office, i placed a freeze on the hiring of civilian employees in the federal 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 called on my appointees to exercise restraint in their own offices. Yesterday i announced the elimination of remaining federal controls on u. S. Oil production and marketing. Today im announcing two more actions to reduce the size of the federal government. First, im 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 its imposed unnecessary burdens on labor and business. Therefore, im now ending the wage and Price Program at the council. I am eliminaing the staff that carries out its wage pricing activities, and im asking congress to rescind its budget saving the taxpayers some 1. 5 million a year. My second decision today is a directive ordering key federal agencies to freeze pending regulations for 60 days. This action gives my Administration Time to start a new Regulatory Oversight process and also prevents certain last minute regulatory decisions of 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 comprised of buildings, files, and paper. The people are the government. What we create we ought 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 ive said, our ills have come upon us over 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 ill be happy to take your questions. Helen. Will your policy toward iran be one of revenge or reconciliation, and will the United States honor the recent commitments to iran especially since you approved of most of them during the campaign . Well, im not certainly not thinking of revenge, and i dont know whether reconciliation would be possible with the present government or absence of government in iran. I think that the United States will honor the obligations. As a matter of fact, the most important of those were already put into effect by the preceing administration in negotiating the release. We are, however, studying because there were four major agreements and there were nine executive orders, and we are studying thoroughly what is a pretty complex matter weve discovered with regard to whether they are in keeping with international and our own national laws. And so i wont be able to really answer your questions on specifics until weve completed that study. Mr. President , the treasury secretary said monday that your budget cuts will be of a much higher magnitude than most people thought they would be, and you said they would be across the board. Now that youve had some time to study the budget, can you say where these where these cuts will be made . What program will feel the cuts the most . Theyll be made every place. What we meant by maybe across the board was the wrong decision, although it describes it. What i meant was that no one is exempt from being looked at for areas in which we can make cuts in spending, and yes, they probably are going to be bigger than anyone has ever attempted because theres this administration did not come here to be a caretaker government and just hope we can go along the same way and maybe do it a little better. We think the time has come where there has to be a change of direction of this country, and its going to begin with reducing Government Spending. Mr. President , in your welcoming address to the freed americans, you sounded a warning of swift and effective retribution in future terrorist situations. What kind of action are you prepared to take to back up this hard rhetoric . Well, thats a question that i dont think you can or should answer in as to specifics. This is a big and its a powerful nation. It has a lot of options open to it, and to try and specify now just particularly what you should do i think is one of the things thats 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 and wake up in the morning confident the United States wouldnt 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. Walt. Mr. President , you campaigned rather vociferously against the treaty saying it was slanted towards the soviet union, and yet i noticed your secretary of state mr. Hague now seems to suggest for the time being the United States will abide by the limit of the treaty. How long the United States abide by a term of the salt agreement which you consider inequitable and what do you consider its greatest inequities to be . Well, the salt treaty first of all, i think permits a continued buildup on both sides of Strategic Nuclear weapons. The main thing authorizes an immediate increase in large numbers of soviet warheads. There is no verification as to the number of warheads on the missile. I dont think that a treaty salt means strategic arms limitation that actually permits a buildup on both sides of Strategic Nuclear weapons is can properly be called that, and i have said that when we can and i am willing for our people to go into negotiate or let me say discussions leading to negotiations that we should start negotiating on the basis of trying to effect 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 cant sit down at a table and just negotiate that unless you take into account and consideration at that table all the other things going on. In other words, i believe in linkage. Stan. Mr. President , what do you see as the longrange intentions of the soviet union . Do you think, for instance, 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 . Well, so far detente has been a oneway street the soviet union has used to pursue its own aims. I dont have to think of an answer as to what i think their intentions are. They have repeated it. I know of no leader of the soviet union since the revolution and including the present leadership 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 a one world socialist or communist state, whichever word you want to use. Now, as long as they do that and songs they at 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, not 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 young lady. Mr. President , whats your opinion of American Companies that now want to resume business with iran . My opinion of American Companies that want to resume business with iran, i hope theyre going to do it by long distance. We wouldnt 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 theyre wanting to do that, but we are were urging the people think long and hard before they travel to iran because we dont think their safety can be guaranteed there. Mr. President , we americans are still incarcerate instead vietnam. Can you tell us the status of their cases and whether the administration is doing anything to get them back . I have told our people about those three. They knew about them, of course, but ive told them that, yes, we continue, and we want to get them back also. Now, i know ive been staying down front here too much. Ive got to prove i can look at the back rows there. Mr. President oh, im sorry. Youll be next. Oh, okay. 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 of that gives those laws to some people greater meaning, and im 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 . No, there will be no retreat. This administration is going to be dedicated to equality. I think weve made great progress in the civil rights field. I think there are some things, however, that have that may not be as useful as they once were or that may even be distorted in the practice, such as some affirmative action programs become quote assistance. Im old enough to remember when quotas existed in the United States for the purpose of discrimination, and i dont want to see that happen again. Mr. President , when and how will you seek the decontrol Natural Gas Prices . Well, we havent dealt with that problem yet. We thought oil would do for a starter, but i cant really answer your question. That will be a matter for discussion in future Cabinet Meetings. Lou. 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 . Well, with the grain embargo, my quarrel with it from the first was that i thought it was it was asking only one group of americans to participate, the farmers. It was not you only have two choices with an embargo, you either lift it or you broaden it, and we have not made a decision except that at the request of secretary of agriculture john block, i have taken the matter of the embargo out of you might say the discussions of the National Security council and it next week is going to is on the agenda for a full Cabinet Meeting as to what our course will be, so i cant answer what we do about it until next week. It as i say it was asking one group of americans to bear the burden and ive always thought was more of a kind of gesture than it was something real. Yes, maam. Mr. President , what will you do to honor the request by federal officials well, from atlanta officials for you and the federal government to intercede in the atlanta case of 17 missing or black children . 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. Now, you recognize, of course, that possibly civil rights would be the only basis upon which we could have any jurisdiction down there in this for fbi, for example, on any other thing theres been no evidence of crossing state lines or anything, and yet we want to be helpful because that is a most tragic case, and so we will be meeting on that very shortly. Mr. President , when the jamaican Prime Minister was here yesterday, mr. Ciaga 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 former president carter . Well, i think weve seen a great reverse in the caribbean situation, and it came about through Prime Minister ciagas election. It was the turnover or turn around of a nation that had gone certainly in the direction of the communist movement, kind of a 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 Prime Minister ciaga. Mr. President , i think you met caribbean in that last answer. Whatd i say . Mediterranean. Oh, i meant caribbean. Im sorry. What do you intend to do, mr. President , about the draft registration law that was passed during president carters administration . And in view of your opposition to it in the campaign, how is that consistent with your avowed intention to strengthen our National Defenses . Well, to answer the last part first, i just didnt feel that the advance registration on all the evidence we could get would materially speed up the process if an emergency required the draft. It did create a bureaucracy. It caused certainly some unrest and dissatisfaction, and we were told that 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 than we would be able to if there was no registration at all. We this is one thats something to be looked at further down. Ive 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, meet with that, and make a decision on what to do with it down the road someplace. Gary. Mr. President , speaking of your economic package, could you give us your thoughts on an Effective Date for the tax cuts that you plan to recommend in your economic Recovery Plan and specifying whether you prefer one Effective Date for business and another for personal cuts or whether youd like to combine them . Id like to see it all go forward all at once. As to date, i know theres been talk about whether it should be retroactive back or whether it should be as of that minute. That to me isnt as important as getting for individuals the principal 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, and were going to strive for that, and i cant really answer you about what the date will be until we submit the package. Mr. President ill take you next. Mr. President , you said no, the young lady. Mr. President , i know you said earlier that you were not thinking of revenge toward iran, but does that preclude any punishment whatsoever for what theyve done . Well, again, i have to ask your forbearance and wait until weve finished our study of this whole situation as to what were going to do. I dont think any of us have a friendly feeling toward the people that have done what they have done, but i think its too complex for me to answer until weve had time to really study this. Just one followup. Would you go so far as to encourage american businesses to resume commercial trade in iran . At this point, no. Mr. President ill go back there in a second. Mr. President , do you intend to follow through with your campaign pledges to abolish the departments of energy and education . I have not retreated from that at all. Yes, the process, how far, that i have asked for is for both secretary bell of education and secretary jim edward of energy to reorganize, to produce the most effective streamlining of the department, of their departments that they can, in education to look at the appropriate role of federal government in education if there is one, and to report back, and then we will decide 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, im determined that and i believe that it was wrong to have created the two agencies to begin with. Now there. Mr. President , during the campaign, your chief arms spokesman put you on record as favoring for the time being continuation of the dairy price support level where it had been. Within the last couple of days your budget director and your secretary of agriculture have indicated that the Dairy Program is too expensive and should be cut back. Could you reconcile those differences of approach for us . Well, i could 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 office 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 and so i cant answer you because that has not yet come to the cabinet. The young lady. There were two young ladies. All right. Iran and the soviet union share a long border in a region vital to the stability of the world. Given the antiu. S. Sentiment there, how do you best think the United States can ensure the stability of the region . Of the you said iran, the border between iran and the soviet union. Well, i think one of the first things that has to happen is for stability. Theres 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 them in that regard, but until such a thing appears apparent there, i dont know that theres anything we can do. But yeah. Young lady. Mr. President , if its your intention to signal the world that this country will respond with swift retribution in cases of International Terrorism in the future, why is it your policy not to retaliate against iran . Well, what good would just revenge do, and what form would that take . I dont think revenge is worthy of us. On the other hand, i dont think we act as if this never happened, and id rather wait until, as i say, we complete this who said i know ive been on this side too long, but someone said por favor. What . That was you . Mr. President , still i are impressed when i listen the other day viva la roja la blanka is it true when hispanics are given the opportunity to serve this country, they serve the country with in view of this undisputed fact, when are you going to appoint hispanic american to serve in your administration . I want an administration that will be representative of the country as a whole, and please dont judge us on the fact that we have only picked 100. There will be 1,700 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, so dont judge us now by the tip of the iceberg. Wait until its all in. Mr. President , yes, thank you. Mr. President , the chairman of the Federal Reserve board has been implementing policies that are exactly opposite in basic thrust from what you recommend. He has been squeezing the productive sector of the economy in favor of the speculative sector. Now, i mean, frankly, mr. President , there are important sections of the American Economy that are about to go under and wont even have an opportunity to benefit from the programs that youre putting forward because of the Federal Reserves policy. I have a twopart question. First of all, do you think that objective Economic Conditions justify the Interest Rate levels that we now have, and i dont mean for your answer to imply criticism of the fed. Its just objective question. And 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 . No, im not concerned that there sabotage, ive met with mr. Volker. It is an independent agency and i respect that. But i think that we have to face the fact that Interest Rates are not in themselves a cause of inflation. Theyre 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 there that way, there is no question that Interest Rates are going to have to go up and follow that inflation rate, and 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 weve spoken of to bring down inflation, and youll 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, but i dont think that the fed just deliberately raises Interest Rates. The reason that weve got to tie taxes and we have to cut tie spending together is we for all these decades, weve talked and weve talked about solving these problems and weve acted as if the two were separate. One year we fight inflation, and then unemployment goes up, and the next year we fight unemployment and inflation goes up. Its time to keep the two together where they belong and thats what were going to do. Mr. President , a number of conservative leaders among them some of your staunchest and most durable supporters are very concerned about some of your appointments. The basis of the concern is that many people who have been longtime reaganites and supporters of yours do not be able to get jobs like bill van cleave, whereas other individuals who have not supported you throughout the years or your philosophy like mr. Terrell bell, the secretary of education who was for the establishment of the department which youve said you want to abolish, and mr. Frank carlucci, deputy secretary of defense, who is not a supporter of yours, they have gotten jobs. My question is why are these individuals in your administration . Why isnt mr. Van cleave, and how much of a problem do you think this conservative dissatisfaction with your appointments is . The only problem that ive had that is more difficult than knowing which hand to raise to point to here and believe me, it bothers me. I go home feeling guilty on all the hands that i couldnt point to. The only problem greater ive had is in the selection of personnel. Now, in many instances some of the people who have been mentioned, whose names have been mentioned by others did not want a position in the administration, helped, worked very hard and wanted nothing for it, but you also have to recognize there arent that many positions. After all, look how many votes i had. You cant reward them all. But thank you. Dont feel guilty. Those who asked a question like the new system. Those who didnt hate it. Weeknights this month were featuring American History tv programs as a preview of whats available every weekend on cspan3. Tonight we look at the life and legacy of john f. Kennedy, university of Mary Washington history professor e mertous william crawly discusses kennedys presidency and the myths around him. Thats at 8 00 p. M. Eastern. And enjoy American History tv every weekend on cspan3. Youre watching American History tv every weekend on cspan3, explore our nations past. American history tv on cspan3 created by americas Cable Television companies. And today were brought to you by these Television Companies who provide American History tv to viewers as a public service. Coming up on American History tv, Reagan White House political director Frank Donatelli and conservative historian Craig Shirley discussing Ronald Reagans 1976 campaign are where he challenged gerald ford for the republican nomination. Thank you for being with us. This is the first ever reagan on Leadership Class at the baton school at uva. This is our second class. Its a five week course, graduate one, youre joining john meacham, john morris. Steven hayward. Always wanted to make grad school, so. And you finally did. I did. Just for i didnt get a a