Addresses to the Nation Defense establishment reforms-443 Addresses and Remarks Foreign and domestic issues, remarks and a question-and-answer session with the American Society of Newspaper Editors- New Orleans, LA, informal exchange with Air Force Department, Secretary—449 Board for International Broadcasting, Defense Department, Assistant Secretary Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation, member of the Board of Trustees-446 Justice Department, Community Relations President's Commission on Executive Associate Counsels to the President-448, Deputy Counsel to the President-448 Communications to Congress Compact of free association with Palau, proposed legislation to approve the Generalized System of Preferences, letter-471 Communications to Congress-Continued International activities in science and technology, transmittal of annual report— International labor standards convention, Merchant ship standards convention-467 Radiation control for health and safety, transmittal of annual report-470 Letters, Messages, Etc. Wednesday, April 9 (No. 35)-458 Cancer Control Month, 1986-446 Generalized System of Preferences_471 World Health Week and World Health Day, Contadora negotiations with Nicaragua-449 Supplementary Materials Acts approved by the President-481 Checklist of White House press releases-480 Digest of other White House announcements— Nominations submitted to the Senate-479 Published every Monday by the Office of the Federal Register, The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents is pub- tions prescribed by the Administrative Committee of the Federal Register, approved by the President (37 FR 23607; 1 CFR Part Distribution is made only by the Superintendent of Docu- ments, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents will be furnished There are no restrictions on the republication of material ap- Week Ending Friday, April 11, 1986 New Orleans, Louisiana Informal Exchange With Reporters. March 27, 1986 Q. Mr. President, are you hyping up those stories about troops in Honduras? The President. What? Q. Are you hyping up those stories about troops in Honduras? The President. The White House is giving you the truth, as I think all of us know. Q. How bad was this invasion? We hear there weren't as many people. The President. All that I can understand is that we knew there were two battalions. Now, you're talking of rough numbers of a battalion. Maybe those battalions were under strength or over strength, which we don't know on that as to the exact numbers. But there were two battalions which could number around 1,500. Q. What do you think about going after American targets in Libya? They're talking about going after American targets? The President. Everyone understands now the exercise is over. Note: The exchange began at 12:20 p.m. upon the President's arrival at New Orleans International Airport. Following the exchange, the President went to the New Orleans Hilton Riverside and Towers to address a fundraiser for Congressman W. Henson Moore, the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate. The transcript of the exchange was not received by the Office of the Federal Register in time for inclusion in the issue of March 31, 1986. Defense Establishment Reforms Radio Address to the Nation. April 5, 1986 My fellow Americans: I will soon send a message to the Congress asking your Senators and Representa tives to join me in reforming the Defense Establishment. That includes my office, the Defense Department, the Congress, and industry. The changes our administration will request are based upon the recommendations made in February by the Packard commission, a bipartisan group that spent months. studying ways to give our nation stronger defenses more economically. Earlier this week I ordered implementation of those recommendations that can be made without congressional action. Now, with congressional support, we'll be able to put into effect perhaps the most thoroughgoing reform of our Defense Establishment since 1958. This new effort takes place against a background of national defenses that have already grown much stronger. When we first took office, we inherited a navy that had shrunk from nearly 1,000 ships to less than 500 and planes that couldn't fly for want of spare parts. My predecessor had called attention to this and had proposed a 5-year expansion of the defense budget. Well, now our rebuilding program has added ships to the fleet, put planes back in the air, and, perhaps most important, boosted the morale of our men and women in uniform by giving them the training and pay they deserve. Much still needs to be done, but today the United States has substantially reestablished the strength and self-confidence it needs to perform its role as the leader of the free world. As we rebuild our strength, we've made strides in marshaling the defense resources of the Nation with increased efficiency. Before we came into office, the costs of major systems had been escalating at an annual rate of 14 percent. With lower inflation, Defense Secretary Weinberger got that crazy spiral under control. Indeed, for the last 2 years cost increases have fallen to less than 1 percent. That's lower than the rate of inflation. This one achievement alone has saved billions of dollars. Yet, despite these successes, Secretary Weinberger and I knew at the beginning of our second term that still more needed to be done. So, last summer I appointed a bipartisan commission to study the management of our defenses. To chair the commission I chose Dave Packard, an entrepreneur who started a company that had become one of our country's leaders in high technology, famous the world over for its management techniques and efficiency. He was joined by 16 outstanding Americans, Republicans and Democrats, who represent the best of the business, defense, and academic communities. In February the Packard commission submitted its recommendations. Now the time has come to put them into effect. Some recommendations can be acted upon without congressional approval, and under Secretary Weinberger's leadership this is taking place. This week I signed a directive that will enhance coordination between the two sides of the Pentagon budget process: the one that says what we need and the one that says what we can afford. In addition, the Pentagon is streamlining its large procurement structure, and it will begin to give experienced managers more leeway for using their own good judgment in the purchasing process. But certain steps that would make the Department of Defense even more shipshape can take place only with congressional approval. You know, it's as if the Pentagon can swab the decks on its own, but only the Congress can grant permission to polish the brasswork. Well, it's to get this permission that I'm sending my message to Capitol Hill. The Packard commission report urges the Congress to make a number of improvements in the way it deals with defense. The commission suggests, for example, that the Congress move from a 1-year, to a 2-year budget cycle. It also urges the Congress to better focus its consideration of defense matters. Today there are some 40 congressional committees and subcommittees, each of which has some jurisdiction over defense. And the Packard commission points out that many of these committees duplicate each other's efforts. And friends, we can all agree with the Packard commission: There must be a better, more efficient way. Other recommendations that Congress must approve include moving from year-to-year to multiyear procurements of weapon systems in order to make the acquisition process more stable; the rewriting of procurement laws to eliminate redtape; and the budgeting of major programs according to milestones within the programs themselves, not the dictates of the calendar year. In the coming weeks the Congress will have before it proposals that would both strengthen our defenses and make the Department of Defense, itself, more completely the servant of the American people. The Packard commission has made its recommendations; now it's time for the administration and the Congress to act upon them. Until next week, thanks for listening, and God bless you. Note: The President spoke at 9:06 a.m. from Rancho del Cielo, his ranch near Santa Barbara, CA. International Terrorism Statement by the Principal Deputy Press Secretary to the President. April 5, 1986 First of all, the President is deeply concerned about the increasing number of terrorist incidents that are affecting Americans in Europe and worldwide. He has instructed his top administration officials to stay on top of it, to provide him with an early assessment of the latest outbreak this week and to-I think that's about all we ought to say. Certainly the President expresses his condolences to the families, and he wants to see that we do everything possible first to apprehend and prosecute those who are responsible specifically and those who perpetrate these types of incidents. The second thing he wants to do is to take every measure in concert with the allies in order to prevent terrorist incidents. He believes that it is a worldwide problem and that every nation has a stake in this and every nation must do its part to prevent terrorism and to isolate those, condemn them, and to bring an end to these individuals, groups, or nations, in some cases, who sponsor terrorism. Note: Larry M. Speakes, Principal Deputy Press Secretary to the President, read the statement to reporters assembled in the Cantina Room at the Sheraton Hotel in Santa Barbara, CA, during his daily press briefing, which began at 10:03 a.m. The latest terrorist incident referred to in the statement was the early-morning bombing Saturday, April 5, of the discotheque La Belle Club, in West Berlin, in which an American serviceman and a Turkish woman were killed and 204 persons were injured. Sixty-four Americans were among the injured. World Health Week and World Health Day, 1986 Proclamation 5454. April 7, 1986 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation World Health Day, which marks the founding of the World Health Organization, serves to remind us that good health is a priceless treasure and that recent advances in the sciences of medicine, nutrition, hygiene, public health, and immunology make the possession of that treasure possible for more people than ever before. The theme for World Health Day 1986, "Healthy Living: Everyone a Winner," emphasizes the positive steps that individuals and communities can take to protect and promote health. In furtherance of the global goal of Health for All by the Year 2000, the World Health Organization and its member governments are stressing the benefits that come from healthful patterns of living, with particular attention to exercise, nutrition, and the avoidance of such destructive habits as smoking and the abuse of alcohol and drugs. In recent years, health leaders and private physicians in the United States have emphasized how much each person can do to maintain good health by a regimen of good diet, proper exercise, and the avoidance of substance abuse. This campaign is beginning to bear fruit, and the United States is experiencing encouraging reductions in the incidence of heart disease and stroke. It is appropriate that as all member governments commemorate World Health Day, we should join other members of the World Health Organization in promoting healthful living and physical fitness and in pledging our continued support to improving the health of all the people who inhabit this planet. The Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 226, has designated the week of April 6 through April 12, 1986, as "World Health Week," and April 7, 1986, as "World Health Day," and has authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of these events. Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, PresiIdent of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the week of April 6 through April 12, 1986, as World Health Week, and April 7, 1986, as World Health Day. I call upon the people of the United States to observe this week with appropriate programs and activities and by resolving to attend to personal health through good nutrition, appropriate physical exercise, and the avoidance of such unhealthful practices as smoking and abuse of alcohol and drugs. In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this seventh day of April, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and tenth. Ronald Reagan [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:58 a.m., April 8, 1986] President's Export Council Appointment of Two Members. April 7, 1986 The President today announced his intention to appoint the following individuals to be members of the President's Export Council: Paul Robert Locigno, of Virginia. He would succeed Henry Zenzie. Mr. Locigno is director, Office of Government Affairs for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 1983 to present. He graduated from Case Western Reserve University (B.A., 1976). Mr. Locigno resides in Lorton, VA, and he was born September 17, 1948, in Cleveland, OH. Marina Von Neumann Whitman, of New Jersey. She would succeed Robert G. Schwartz. Dr. V.N. Whitman is vice president and chief economist with General Motors Corp., 1979 to present. She graduated from Radcliffe College (B.A., 1956) and Columbia University (M.A. and Ph.D.). She is married, has two children, and resides in Princeton, NJ. Dr. V.N. Whitman was born March 6, 1935, in New York, NY. Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation Nomination of Richard J. Fitzgerald To Be a Member of the Board of Trustees. April 7, 1986 The President today announced his intention to nominate Richard J. Fitzgerald to be a member of the Board of Trustees of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation for a term expiring December 10, 1991. This is a reappointment. Judge Fitzgerald has been serving on this Board since 1982. He is currently the presiding judge of the criminal division of the circuit court of Cook County. Judge Fitzgerald graduated from St. Louis University School of Law. He is married, has two children, and resides in South Holland, IL. Judge Fitzgerald was born January 23, 1914, in Hammond, IN. Cancer Control Month, 1986 Proclamation 5455. April 7, 1986 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation This Nation's investment in basic cancer research has led us to an unprecedented understanding of the cancer cell. With this new knowledge, we are undertaking major efforts to prevent cancer; to reverse the process once it starts; to find ways to activate the body's own immune system; and to treat the disease and its symptoms more effectively. Our scientists are giving us an abundance of new information about behavior and precautions we can take to help protect us against cancer. Much evidence suggests that diets high in fiber and low in fat may reduce cancer risk. We can adopt a daily diet high in fiber by choosing plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain breads and cereals. We can reduce animal fat intake by choosing lowfat and lean foods, and by using low-fat cooking methods. Smoking-related cancers are the most preventable. This past year, new data showed that the incidence of lung cancer in white men decreased significantly for the first time in at least half a century. This decrease comes 20 years after men began to stop smoking in substantial numbers. This proves that individuals can successfully reduce their cancer risk by not smoking. This message is especially important for women, whose rates of lung cancer show no signs of leveling off or decreasing. In fact, lung cancer is expected to surpass breast cancer this year as the leading cause of cancer deaths among women. Rates of lung cancer are also high for black men. The growing popularity of smokeless tobacco products among our youth, particularly teenage boys, is of great concern. Early this year, medical experts concluded that there is strong evidence that such forms of tobacco cause cancer of the mouth. |