President Reagan's Remarks at Bowling Green State University, September ...

Yeah.

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Ladies and gentlemen the President of the United States thank you.

With a.

I thank you thank you my good friend Delta fellow congressmen were here Ralph regular and Mike oxley the administration the faculty and you the students going green.

It's an understatement for me to say at this moment that is great to be here.

Your football team and I've had readings personal greetings from the coach of your women's hockey team and your basketball coach and I want to congratulate you again on beating the Miami women how your generation is really something you.

You've made love of country fashionable again you've revived the American traditions of hard work and decency and a good-natured faith in the future and I just thank you for helping turn our country around I want to talk to you about something that I no concern to all of you.

Peace and the prospects for peace our views on peace and how we mean which even the wisest thing ever said about peace was also the simplest was when football the six spoke before the united nations in nineteen sixty-five and he said no more war war never again.

I have seen four wars in my lifetime I've lost friends in those wars and the sons of friends.

I've gone to school with the children of men who are still over there under those white crosses.

We can't hear the words of Pope Paul was six without saying a heartfelt.

Amen but how to achieve peace well first we must define exactly what it is we want in our case we in the United States passionate desire peace with our neighbors our allies are adversaries with our neighbors and allies we made ourselves open to dialogue and eager to be of assistance on a NATO allies having problems we discuss it with them we try to help them or make some compromise if that's what's called for when our Caribbean neighbors tell us that piece is threatened to that peaceful part of the world we have helped by rooting out the war makers as we did in Grenada and we try to be what Franklin Roosevelt declared us to be a good neighbor to our adversaries -.

We must remain open but they're an additional element is called for firmness.

So that our adversaries neither miscalculate our responses nor misjudge are resolved so much whoa has been caused by miscalculation and so many wars World War one.

The war of my early boyhood can be described as one long miscalculation.

It's been called the war no one wanted but I believe that during the past few years we've once again shown our firmness and steadiness and this has had a stabilizing effect on the world peace will not move forward unless effort is extended and ideas are put forth and so we've made proposals for peace and put them on the table for all the world to see.

We have to begin with put forth one of the most extensive arms control programs in history in Vienna last spring we put forward new proposals on reducing the conventional military forces in Europe in Geneva we put forward ideas for a worldwide ban on.

Chemical weapons which have been used in Afghanistan and campus here at the conference on Disarmament is Stockholm is an intermediate-range missiles nuclear whistle missiles and the INF means the intermediate-range missiles that the Soviets have targeted on the countries of Europe we propose seven different initiatives trying to meet their their queries and their protests on some of the issues.

None of them were offered on a take-it-or-leave-it basis we were flexible.

The Soviets walked away from the bargaining table.

We hope they'll return we've told them this and we'll tell them again.

As a matter of fact on friday i'll be telling one of them again.

Clean.

We're prepared to negotiate on nuclear arms reductions tomorrow with the Soviets so choose I have had the privilege of appearing before the parliaments the diet's the Congress's of a number of countries in Europe and Asia and in every instance i told them at one point or another in my address a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.

We are ready to discuss a whole range of issues of concern to both sides such as the relationship between offensive and defensive forces and space arms control we've made new economic agreements with the Soviets we've improved the communications instruments that link our capital and there's in the meantime we must consider what will make our defense our ability to deter aggression more stable and effective.

We work hard with our friends and allies to see that they feel safe and secure and we work with scientists on the possibility of a non-nuclear defense system to see if it isn't possible to create a system that will neutralize the nuclear threat rather than rely on the threat of nuclear retaliation as our main option and we continue to reach out to those with whom we have not been friends before logic and experience might suggest that China would be not be our friend.

But China is and our mutual friendship may be the most significant global achievement in the last decade.

It shows our willingness to improve relations with countries that are ideologically very different from our own and the impact of this friendship as a rippling effect here at Bowling Green you have an exchange program with food and university in Shanghai China.

Well.

I met the food and students a few months ago in Shanghai and they desire peace.

Every bit as much as we do i did a question and answer session with them.

You'd be surprised how much they wanted to know about you the world is a dangerous place we try to be a good neighbor but we must be strong enough and confident enough to be patient when provoked.

But we must be equally cleared that past a certain point our adversaries push us at their peril.

Uncle Sam is a friendly old main but he has a spine of Steel give to give peace a chance to grow and settle in we must remain strong.

Our military strength is one part and illustration of our resolve and one part a means of deterring aggression.

There is great talk these past few years of the lessons of this war that what we should have learned here or there well we should remember the central lesson of World War two Art route.

I lies tried very hard for peace to the point of outright appeasement.

If only they'd shown Germany early on that they would pay any price bear any burden to ensure the survival of their liberties then written might not have known the Blitz and president might not have known the flames from our earliest years our presidents have stretched the crucial role of strength in promoting stability.

George Washington said there is nothing so likely to produce piece as to be well prepared to meet the fall.

He said we should remember the timely disbursements to prepare for danger.

Frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repeal it closer own times John Kennedy said the primary purpose of our arms is peace not war our preparation against danger is our hope of safety well we live in the age of nuclear arms.

The question of what to do about nuclear weapons is deeply frustrating for Americans we are a nation of problem solvers and here we are faced with a problem that so far has resisted our best efforts some proposed unilateral disarmament we determine the hope the other side will follow.

Well there are great Saints and great sinners and.

This historically unilateral disarmament has never worked it is only encouraged aggressors it's frustrating but here is the truth of the nuclear age there are no cheap solutions no easy answers the only path to progress on this is the open door.

The honest proposal and such a path takes patience patience isn't inappropriate.

Each day the world turns completely.

Each day the world is reborn possibilities that yesterday didn't exist emerge and startled asst we hold on.

We remain prepared for peace we know that we have an absolute moral obligation to try and try we know that in the quest for peace the work of man is the work of god and he will bless us and bless one of our efforts and make our prayer of peace come true.

I've heard I've heard there's a fellow going around the country that says that I don't answer questions.

And.

I understand that now i'm going to have an opportunity randomly selected 14 students to participate in the question and answer session and we simply passed out 3 by parts and through 14 days.

So the first question will come from this side.

Great.

My name is Lisa Mecca mr. president I'm a senior I'd like to know if you feel that the current turmoil and I'm special America has a possibility of turning into another Vietnam no I don't believe that we we have we have never had any any thought in mind of armed aggression in the air or moving troops as a matter of fact with the memories of days gone by and done both diplomacy our friends and neighbors in Latin America would be the first to say no to them and they have all of those said to us we need your help that is in training and supplies and so for them but not your manpower weary dictatorships now a democratic government in El Salvador.

We at the same time have seen by outside interference.

Cubans and the Soviets a totalitarian power on the mainland of the Americas nicaragua the revolutionary forces the sandanista were only a part of the revolution that overthrew the dictator somoza all the wanted democracy join together and then the Sandinistas did what.

Castro did when he took human they once they were in they got rid of the other elements of the revolution.

They sent the leaders they exiled him they jailed them many of them are now what we call the conference and they gave their promises however during the revolution to the organization of american states that they wanted democracy human rights the right to vote right to join unions freedom of the press and so forth but once in they took over and they have a totalitarian form of government they are also aiding the people who are trying to overthrow the democratic government of El Salvador and we have been trying to be helpful but it is not at the risk of are intervening there with military force I better answer these shorter I won't get all 14 0.

You see how difficult it is for me to turn to the left mr. president david theta what do you hope to accomplish what is your specific goals that you hope to accomplish with mr. Gromyko the Soviet Union it is my hope that while we have been a number of times of I mean are people who have been in contact and all that maybe we can open up a dialogue about the suspicions that exists in both our countries they charging that we intend war against them we feel and I think with better reason that they really do have been great aggressive intent against us but maybe a chance to open up a discussion and clear the air some one of those suspicions and then decide that here we are the two superpowers in the world the only to destruction and is time for us to sit down together and recognize our joint.

Responsibility.

And his chance to present in the embassies around the world you got security and yet.

Let me call your attention what the real choice comes down to is there any security that can make you a hundred percent safe against a suicide.

Who is intent on bringing in that destruction of the cost of his own life as they have done in these bomb type explosions remember an embassy is not a bunker.

You can't build a fortress and hunker down.

You were there to do business with the people of that country this last tragedy occurred at an embassy building that is on a on a residential street.

Now we have put blocks up at the FD corners of that particular block there to try and slow down and check on vehicles coming through but we can't close off the street.

It isn't hard our country and there are as I say people living there.

The real protection and where we're feeling the effects today of the near destruction of our intelligence capability in recent years before we came here the effort that somehow to say well spying is somehow dishonest and let's get rid of our intelligence agents and we did that well.

Extent your biggest protection is too and we're trying to rebuild our intelligence to where you will find out and know in advance what the target might be and be prepared for it but again i have to say this for our Foreign Service personnel they know their mission they know they have to be there such courage they're not in uniform they're not fighting people but their courage because the other alternative would be to simply close down our embassies worldwide and come back here to fortress America and have no representation there and that we cannot do that would give the terrorists of victory that we're not going to give them and I don't think anyone should.

I'm mr. president my name is back a whole sure.

And I just like to say look great thank you thank you do you feel that the people of the United States and the Soviet Union have a common goal in the meaning of the word peace it with regard to peace.

Yes with regard to the people unfortunately the two societies are so different that the people of the Soviet Union only hear what their leaders want them to hear we try with voice of america a few things and know that we have some listeners in those countries although they have to probably go to the basement put all the blinds before they can listen to you have her radio the people of Russia above all one piece there's 20 million people in World War to their country has been invaded time after time even before the Soviet regime and there is a real built-in desire on their part 4 of 4 piece and we know that we wanted we wanted because peace in America is such an attractive way to live that a war is a terrible interruption one of the one of the things we would like would be to have more of an exchange of people so that person to person.

Ivan could meet Sam and Bill and Johnny over here and vice versa and we can learn more about each other as people.

The president i'm dan mcpharlin junior here I'd like to know if you foresee the continued growth in the economic recovery - I foresee growth continued growth yeah yes as long as we can continue with the help of people like dell latitude whose name was on there with Bill Graham on the dip the gram lat bill which was our economic recovery.

We've had opposition to that in the.

My own degree was in economics so i can speak harshly about economist and some of their predictions that have been wrong but back around the turn of the century it was a classical economic belief that when we had business cycles and head what they called hard times in those days no one thought of the word recession or depression the classic economist at that time said that it usually followed when the government went beyond a certain level and the amount of money.

It took out of the private sector well I believe that our problem today.

The problem we talk about the problem of the deficit but the deficit is a result not a cause it is the result of government taking too much money from the private sector.

The philosophy of our program is a reduction in the cost of government.

So far we've cut the increase in cost in government in half for more and at the same time that through continued economic recovery with a tax policy that offer stimulant two people incentive to people to go out and produce and to business also that then the growth in the economy will increase the revenues the government gets without increasing the rate of tax on the individuals and thus we will have continued growth because we will bring government back down to size.

Thank you thank you.

Morning mr. president all I'm Jeff Frederick and I'd like to know that when your out of office.

What do you want the American people to remember most about your presidency.

You know if I could sum it up in one sense of it could be very complicated answer to that one sentence that would sum it up is if they'd just be able to say i gave the government back to the people.

My name is Robert Rothman senior member of the US Army National Guard and my question doesn't regard to foreign policy it's why advice do you have for the college students gathered here today.

What advice for the college students gathered here today yes sir.

Well first of all to believe in yourselves and believe in what you express your belief in the answer i just gave to that other question but to recognize that this system the founding fathers were a unique group that came together in one period of history and this system was built on the belief for the first time in the history of mankind that government derived its power from the people our Constitution says there are other constitutions say a lot of the same things are to make the same promises are do except the difference is so great that it's almost unobserved those other constitutions say we the government grant you these rights are says We the People grant government the following rights.

Member.

Remember that over this last half century where we've gotten in the habit of turning more and more to government for help and turning every time you get help from government you must give up certain element of freedom now sometimes it's worth it we give up the right to drive ninety miles down a crowded Street 90 miles an hour because we want to safety for ourselves and others but always way government's offer and remember that the system was built to be run on the level of government closest to the people the local community for so much of what controls our lives then this counties in the states and finally only those things should be done by the federal government that are the federal government's proper province and when it does things it shouldn't do it can't do any of them as well as the private sector can do a peaceful solution in Lebanon.

We have been trying for a long time and that was even part of our Marines bearing being there in the first place part of the multinational force Lebanon as we know for a number of years more than a decade has been torn in revolution and it has factions in which the leaders have their own militias their own military throughout the country but then we've had the invasion by other countries the Israelis felt justified in going in when they did because of the Palestinian refugees were using their position in Lebanon to launch terrorist attacks across the Israeli border we what we're trying to do is negotiate between Syria between Libya are not Libya between Lebanon and the the Israelis at the same time that we try to bring the influence of the other Arab states to bear in there and we've made great progress with that right now our ambassador Murphy is there he is commuting between Beirut and Damascus and tel aviv and we've had before him several other representatives and they all want our present there I proposed a plan and sep tember of 82 that basically to get down to me if we can mediate and help bring about the kind of peace between Israel and the Arab states that was brought between Israel and Egypt one of those states in other words have more Egypt then we can bring peace to the Middle East and that is the underlying problem.

The reluctance of the Arab states to recognize the right of Israel to even exist as a nation and this we're going to continue to try to do we brought our Marines out after the terrorist attacks actually because they had only been sent in the multinational forces of peacekeeping force while we helped Lebanon restore its government which was.

Non-existent.

They have a government now help train their military and we had the hope that then they could begin to take over those parts of the country now held by these militias that I spoke of and the multinational force would be there behind the lines to maintain order.

Well with the conflict that came up that peacekeeping force search or was no longer viable to practical and that's why we came home.

Thank You mr. president mr. president there will be one question but I i said there will be one final question this is the last one all 14 I have I i haven't been counting mr. president my name is Laurie Smith and I'm a senior and I'm honored to be speaking to you right now my question is what was the basis for your recent decision not to impose barriers to foreign steel and what do you feel will be the effect on the u.s. steel industry.

Well the u.s. steel industry is doing a job of rebuilding at the management level.

Labor is contributed by taking some cuts in the previous standards that they had in pay and benefits and so forth but the problem has been there is an overproduction of steel in the world.

Everyone seems to want to be in that business and a number of the countries have made us a dumping ground for steel and that they do this by subsidizing the cost so that it can be sold at a competitive price here against our own producers now those who advocated protectionism quotas shutting down high tariffs and so forth that's a two-way street and it is counterproductive if we had established this on steel in those other countries would have retaliated by for example of shutting down on our.

Agricultural products we were able to find out that we would destroy more jobs in America by then then we would protect by the protectionists thing but we haven't just said we're not going to do anything.

We are now embarked on a program of dealing.

With our industrial partners and others in the world that are sending steel here to make sure that it cannot be subsidized it cannot be dumped on our market and we're going to try to work out we want free trade but we want fair trade.

So we have a program that is it work right now and the steel industry is satisfied with it they believe that this is giving them the breathing space they need to continue their modernization we were victims of some of our own generosity after world war two when we went out with the marshall plan to help countries restore their industrial capacity.

Why they build on the basis of the latest technology in the field.

Well we still had old-fashioned mills and so forth that had not come up and modernized and then under the competition they didn't get they couldn't earn enough money to modernize so sometimes our opponents have our technology modern means of production and we haven't caught up now the steel industry is doing that and believes that there in fact before i leave your state i'm going to be visiting the at captain the temp can plant that.

They have invested what amounts to a third of their full third of their total capital capacity in this new plant in this new technology and believe me it won't have to worry about competition from anyone it can hold its own.

So this was the reason every time we tried protectionism it it just as it's a two-way street and it ends up with is hurting ourselves and in fact hurting the whole world economy recovery so that isn't the answer back I'm a veteran I was looking for my first job back in the Great Depression 1932 and that worldwide depression really was prolonged and brought on by a thing called the smoot-hawley tariff which thought that through a kind of general protectionism and we could help ourselves and we didn't the only thing that finally ended the Great Depression was world war two and I don't think that's a very good way of ending recession or depression thank you very much.

Thank You mr. president and thank you very much for coming to Bowling Green State University on behalf of our student body.

Our mascots Freddie and Frieda have a gift for you.

Well thank you very much but i want to abuse it could I just say thank you to all of you thank you for this and I want you to know that I'm ready I i played guard right card and I thank you and I thank all of you you have no idea how heartwarming this has been ladies and gentlemen.