ISSUE ALERTS: MARCH 26 AND MARCH 30 1984

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86M00886R001900160020-6
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 27
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 8, 2008
• Sequence Number: 20
• Publication Date: April 11, 1984
• Content Type: MEMO

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THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
CABINET AFFAIRS STAFFING MEMORANDUM
Date: 4/11/84 Number: 168956CA Due By: wU
Subject: Issue Alerts:
ALL CABINET MEMBERS
Vice President
State
Treasury
Defense
Attorney General
Interior
Agriculture
Commerce
Labor
HHS
HUD
Transportation
Energy
Education
Counsellor
USTR
GSA
EPA
OPM
VA
SBA
REMARKS:
March 26, 1984
March 30, 1984
RETURN TO: ^ Craig L. Fuller
Assistant to the President
for Cabinet Affairs
456-2823
CEA
CEQ
OSTP
Selected Agencies
Baker
Deaver
Darman (For WH Staffing)
Jenkins
Mc Farlane
Svahn
CC Gunn
CCEA/ er
CCFA/
CCLP/Uhlma
a
CCMA/Bledso
CCNREi
^ Katherine Anderson ^ Don Clarey
^Tom Gibson ^ Larry Herbolshe,mer
Associate Director
Office of Cabinet Affairs
456-2800
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March 26. and March-30, 1984
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White House Office of Policy Information
ISSUE ALERT
Washington, D.C. Number 22
DRUG ABUSE IN AMERICA: PRESIDENTIAL STATEMENTS AND ACTIONS
Background
President Reagan has identified drug abuse as one of the
nation's most pressing health and criminal concerns. In his 1982
Federal. Strategy for Prevention of Drug Abuse and Drug
Trafficking, the President outlined a comprehensive program to
combat drug abuse that combined strong law enforcement with
international initiatives to reduce the availability of illicit
drugs. Simultaneously, the Administration has taken major health
initiatives to discourage the abuse of drugs, including marijuana
and alcohol, and to prevent drug abuse in future generations of
Americans
'This Issue Alert provides the President's major statements on
drug abuse and summarizes Administration actions taken to fight
the problem.
Analysis
-- Presidential News conference March 6, 1981:
QUESTION: In light of what appears to be a growing concern
about the drug abuse problem, especially among teenagers,
what will your priorities be and specifically, do you expect
to have a White House policy on drug abuse?
PRESIDENT REAGAN: Yes, I do. In fact, it can be stated as
clearly as this: I think this one of the gravest problems
facing us internally in the United States. I've had people
talk to me about increased efforts to head off the export
into the United States of drugs from neighboring nations...
It is my firm belief that the answer to the drug
problem comes through winning over the users to the point
that we take the customers away from the drugs, not take the
drugs, necessarily -- [we will] try that, of course -- you
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don't let up on that. But it's far more effective if you
take the customers away than if you try to take the drugs
away from those who want to be customers.
-- Radio Address to the Nation by the President and First Lady,,
October 2, 1982:
I've heard time and again of children with excellent
grades, athletic promise, outgoing personalities, but who
because of drugs became shells of their former selves. I
won't burden you with all the terrifying statistics, but
there's one that's especially troubling. While the health
of most Americans has been improving, young people between
15 and 24 have a higher death rate than 20 years ago. And
alcohol and drugs are one reason for this.
-- Remarks by President Reagan Regarding the Drug Abuse
Program, June 24, 1982:
As in other areas of this Administration, I want to
seek new approaches. I want to get away from the fatalistic
attitude of the late '70s and assert a positive approach
that involves as many elements of this society as possible
-- state and local governments, volunteer groups, parents,
teachers, students, independent agencies, and law
enforcement officials. ...
Drugs already reach deeply into our social structure,
so we must ... let kids know the truth, to erase the false
glamour that surrounds drugs, and to brand drugs such as
marijuana exactly for what they are -- dangerous. ...
We're rejecting the helpless attitude that drug use is
so rampant that we're defenseless to do anything about it.
We're taking down the surrender flag that has flown over so
many drug efforts; we're running up a battle flag. We can
fight the drug problem, and we can win. And that is exactly
what we intend to do.
o Statements.
-- Remarks to the International Association of Chiefs of
Police, September 28, 1981:
One of the single most important steps that can lead to
a significant reduction in crime is an effective attack on
drug traffic. Let me outline the major points 1.n our
narcotics enforcement strategy:
o A foreign policy that vigorously seeks to interdict and
eradicate illicit drugs, wherever cultivated, processed or
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transported. This includes the responsible use of
herbicides.
o A Special. Council on Narcotics Control consisting of the
Attorney General and the Secretaries of State, Defense,
Treasury and others to coordinate efforts to stop the drug
flow into this country. ... [and] ...
o A border policy that will improve detection and
interception of illegal narcotics imports. This will
include the use of available military resources for
detection when necessary.
o A domestic policy that will more effectively coordinate
efforts among Federal. agencies as well as between these
agencies and those at the State and local level.
-- Remarks to Miami Citizens Against Crime and the South
Florida Task Force, November 17, 1982:
For the first time, we have brought together resources
of many agencies of the Federal Government, from Customs to
the DEA to the FBI and many others, to assist [you] in a
coordinated and concentrated attack on the powerful, highly
organized crime rings that deal in the illegal drug trade.
We have also mobilized Navy, Army, Air. Force and Coast Guard
resources to assist in the interdiction of these drugs.
o Actions:
-- The Reagan Administration has encouraged and supported an
aggressive national Domestic Marijuana Eradication/
Suppression Program. The program, coordinated with the Drug
Enforcement Administration, has expanded from 7 states in
1981 to 40 States in 1983.
On October 14, 1982, the President announced the Organized
Crime/Drug Enforcement Task Forces as part of a major
program headed by the Attorney General to combat drug
trafficking and organized crime. The Task Forces are now
operational in 12 key areas throughout the country to
investigate and prosecute major organized criminal groups
involved in drug trafficking.
On March 23, 1983, the President established the National
Narcotics Border Interdiction System, and appointed Vice
President George Bush to chair its Executive Board. The new
system will combat drug smuggling around the borders of the
United States from six regional offices.
-- The Attorney General has established Law Enforcement
Coordinating Committees in 91 of the 94 Federal judicial
districts. The committees consist of Federal, State and
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local prosecutorial and law enforcement agency heads who
work together to focus all available resources on the most
serious crime problems in each district.
-- The Administration granted to the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) concurrent jurisdiction with the Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA) on investigations regarding
illicit drugs. By combining and coordinating their forces,
the two agencies have achieved more effective
investigations. This is reflected in the total number of
joint efforts: in July 1981, there were 12 cooperative
FBI/DEA investigations,.compared to 737 today.
o Statements.
-- Remarks to the International Association of Chiefs of
Police, September 28, 1981:
Now, let me also emphasize that our efforts will not be
confined to law enforcement. The problem of drug abuse is
one that reaches deeply into American society. We need to
mobilize our religious, educational and fraternal groups in
a national education program against drug abuse...
This Administration will do all in its power to
encourage such efforts. Let us recognize that important as
intercepting the drug traffic might be, it cannot possibly
equal the results in turning off the customers, the users,
and making them take a different course in deciding to no
longer be customers.
-- Remarks to the National Forum on Excellence in Education,
October 8, 1983:
We must end the drug and alcohol abuse that plagues
hundreds and thousands of our children. Chemical abuse by
young people not only damages the lives of individual users.
It can create a drug culture at school. We need to teach
our sons and daughters the dangers of drug and alcohol
abuse, enforce the law, and rehabilitate the users.
Whatever it takes, we must make certain that America's
schools are temples of learning, and not drug dens.
-- Remarks to the National Religious Broadcasters Convention,
January 30, 1984:
And if we could get God and discipline back in our
schools, maybe we could get drugs and violence out.
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-- Remarks at signing ceremony for National Drug Abuse
Education Week, November 1, 1983:
Nancy has told me so many times that few things in her
life have frightened her as much as the drug epidemic and
this is something she's living with daily by virtue of her
work with those who are endangered by drugs. She's told me
many personal stories of grief. The hard statistics are
there, as well. The numbers on drug abuse are terrifying.
These statistics virtually overwhelmed us for the past two
decades, paralyzing our will. It was as if the problem was
so large that we couldn't do anything about it.
But today, as never before, American's children are
getting help in the battle to keep their minds free of
drugs. We're making progress against drugs because parents
and other adults finally decided to do something about it.
No longer do we think of drugs as a harmless phase of
adolescence. No longer do w'e think of so-called hard drugs
as bad and so-called soft drugs as being acceptable.
Research tells us there are no such categories; that the
phrase 'responsible use', does not apply to drug
experimentation by America's youth. And as far as the
'recreational use' of drugs is concerned, I've never in my
life heard a more self-serving. euphemism by those who
support drug use. There is nothing recreational about those
children whose lives have been lost, whose minds have been
ruined. If that's somebody's idea of recreation, it's
pretty sick. Too often we've fallen into the trap of using
nice, easy, pleasant, liberal 'language about drugs. Well,
language will not sugarcoat overdoses, suicides and ruined
lives.
One of the biggest indicators. that America is awakening
to the harm of drugs is the wonderful outpouring of people
who will launch the Chemical People project tomorrow evening
on the Public Broadcasting System [1 hour segments aired on
November 2 & 9, 19831. That's the project combining
community action with the power of television. ...
Simultaneously, there will be local community meetings,
thousands of them all across America, in all 50 states, the
District of Columbia and Guam. There are more than 10,000
task forces out there to assist mothers and fathers who,
unfortunately, have felt for too long that they were alone
in the battle against drugs. Over 50,000 volunteers and 35
national organizations have dedicated themselves to making
this project a success.
Throwing taxpayers' money at a problem, sitting back
with smug looks of self-congratulation, has been tried and
it didn't work. Business leaders recognized this and are
lending a helpful hand. For example, the Keebler Company
teamed up with Warner Communications last spring and they
come forth with a comic book approach to getting the right
kind of information about drugs into the hands of kids in a
readable wavy. Other companies are coming forward, as well.
The effort against drugs is coalescing with parent groups,
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government, business and now, in the case of the Chemical
People project, the media in involved, as well.
Progress is begin made, but it takes time to erase 20
years of lax attitudes. I'm confident we're on the right
track and that education, not scare tactics, will be
effective.
-- The personal involvement and leadership of the President and
First Lady have played a large role in encouraging concerned
citizens from every segment of society to participate in a
national effort to combat drug abuse.
* Parent and community groups, peers, school officials and
health care professionals -- those closest to users and
potential users and who have the greatest impact -- have
become much more active in drug education and prevention.
* Organized parent groups, working to promote an environment
in which children are discouraged from using drugs and
alcohol, have grown from approximately 800 in 1980 to more
than 4,000 today.
* Congressional Families for Drug Free Youth has been
established to assist education and prevention efforts in
the Congressional Districts.
-- The President's commitment to fighting drug abuse has
generated anti-drug programs throughout the federal
government.
* The Department of Education has developed and and is now
maintaining alcohol and drug abuse prevention programs in
over 4,500 schools and communities.
* The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
is cooperating with the National School Boards Association
to provide school-related delinquency prevention programs,
including drug and alcohol abuse prevention. The two
groups are also helping communities, families, volunteers,
education and youth-serving agencies by identifying,
cataloging and disseminating information.
* The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
has implemented innovative programs which emphasize to
employers and employees their own responsibility for
ensuring safe and healthful working conditions, including
a drug- and alcohol-free workplace.
-- Service organizations and other groups in the private sector
are playing a significant role in the President's drug
awareness campaign. Among the efforts being undertaken by
the private sector are:
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* Xerox Education Publications is sponsoring a Weekly Reader
survey of children's attitudes on drugs and alcohol;
* Drug awareness comic books, designed for 4th, 5th and 6th
grade students, have been sponsored by DC Comics, the
Keebler Company, and IBM in cooperation with the National
Federation of Parents for Drug Free Youth, and the
National Soft Drink Association;
* McNeil Pharmaceutical has prepared "Pharmacists Against
Drug Abuse," an anti-drug abuse brochure available at many
drug stores;
* Professional sports organizations are participating in
"Team Up Against Drugs," a campaign to use athletes as
positive role models warning young people against drug
abuse;
* In the entertainment industry, concerned celebrities and
representatives from television, motion pictures, radio,
popular music, professional sports, and the written media
are sponsoring the Entertainment Industry Council for a
Drug Free Society, which will raise funds for anti-drug
programs, produces public service announcements, and
coordinates speakers;
* The American Medical Association has formed the Steering
Committee on Prescription Drug Abuse, which is studying
the problem of miswriting prescriptions for legal. drugs
and educating doctors to the problem;
* The American Academy of Pediatrics is sponsoring an
awareness program concerning "look-alike drugs" -- those
illegally-sold substances that appear to be certain types
of drug but which are not;
* The International Association of Lions Clubs has made drug
abuse prevention one of their major community service
objectives by sponsoring the "Lions' War Against Drugs"
campaign;
* NBC is sponsoring the "Don't Be A Dope" television
campaign; and
* The National Association of Independent Insurers is
continuing their ten-year-.old impaired driving prevention
campaign.
-- The national prevention effort is beginning to pay
dividends. Although drug and alcohol abuse levels remain
high, the trend is down instead of up.
* According to the. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)'s
annual poll of'high school seniors, the number of seniors
using marijuana at least once per month had fallen from
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37% in 1979 to 27% in 1983. This is the lowest rate since
NIDA took its first poll in 1975.
* The same poll showed that daily use of marijuana had
fallen from 10.7% in 1978 to 5.5% in 1983.
Other polls show that teenagers are becoming more aware-of
the danger of drug abuse.
* According to the Gallup Poll, 35% of teenagers in 1983
said drug abuse is the biggest problem facing their
generation, compared to only 27% in 1977.
* The Gallup Poll also reported that in 1983, 80% of
teenagers opposed legalization of marijuana, compared to
62% in 1978, and that 70% opposed decriminalization of
marijuana, compared to 40% in 1978.
* In 1983, only 4% of the Who's Who High Achievers said they
were using marijuana, compared to 8% in 1979.
o Statements.
Presidential Proclamation for National Drunk and Drugged
Driving Awareness Week, 1982, December 12, 1982:
Seventy times a day -- once every 23 minutes -- a life
is taken somewhere on our streets and highways because
driving skills and judgment were impaired by alcohol or
drugs. Too often, a repeat offender is involved and, too
often, society has looked the other way.
Collisions involving drunken drivers are the nation's
single greatest killer of young people...we can give our
children a great gift by doing everything we can to keep the
drinking driver and the drug-user off our roads. Let its all
observe safety and celebrate safely, and let us remember
that the safety belt in our car can be our best defense
against drunken and drugged drivers.
Presidential Proclamation for-National Drunk and Drugged
Driving Awareness Week, 1983, December 13, 1983:
The most serious problem on our Nation's highway is drunk
driving. Drunken drivers kill and injure more people on the
roads than any other cause. The cost of this slaughter is
staggering. ...
The drunk driving problem has stirred outrage among
citizen groups, which have succeeded in arousing national
interest in the problem. In response to these concerns,
many States have set up task forces to examine their drunk
driving laws. Several States have already enacted
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amendments to strengthen their laws. To encourage these
efforts, I established the Presidential Commission on Drunk
Driving in April 1982. That Commission successfully
completed its work and has prepared a landmark report of its
findings.
There is also a generally unrecognized menace in a
category akin to the drunken driver: the drugged driver.
The drugged driver is also a public hazard, perhaps less
recognized because the cause of the individual's behavior
may be less apparent. The driver who operates a motor
vehicle while under the influence of mind-altering drugs
also presents a significant danger on the roads. The
program of the drugged driver is growing, and the American
people must become more aware of this added threat...
I ask all of us to be mindful of the dangers of driving
while drunk or drugged.
-- Remarks at signing ceremony for Drunk and Drugged Driving
Awareness Week, December 13, 1983:
Drunk or drugged driving accounts for annual costs of
over $20 billion in medical and rehabilitation costs,
insurance payments and lost production...
Each year drunk or drugged drivers cause half of all.
the highway fatalities, and injure some 700,000 men and
women and children...
A drunk or drugged person behind the wheel of an
automobile isn't a. driver; he or she is a machine for
destruction. The American people have paid the bills, seen
.the damage, and felt the heartache, and I think they're
saying, 'Enough.'
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White House Office of Policy Information
ISSUE ALERT
Washington, D.C. Number 23
ARE YOU BETTER OFF NOW THAN YOU WERE WHEN RONALD REAGAN BECAME
PRESIDENT?
Background
In 1980, Ronald Reagan asked the American people if they
were then better off than they had been four years earlier when
Jimmy Carter has assumed the Presidency. For millions of
Americans, the answer was an unequivocal "no." Inflation had
reached double-digit levels, interest rates were soaring,
unemployment was on the rise, and U.S. security and respect for
America in the international community were at dangerously low
levels.
President Reagan's three years in office have brought an end
to the economic decline that occurred in the United States during
the late 1970s, and most Americans are now better off in a number
of important ways than they were in 1980. President Reagan has
also restored overseas respect for the United States and enhanced
the country's security through a stronger national defense.
This Issue Alert answers the key questions that gauge
whether Americans are better off now than they were three years
ago.
Analysis
INFLATION
o Is it easier for Americans to pay their bills?
-- In 1979 and. 1980, the inflation rate rose 13.3% and 12.4%,
respectively. Many families were finding it nearly
impossible to keep up with rising prices.
* For example, in just two years, (December 1978 to December
1980) the price of a gallon of gasoline increased from 69
cents to $1.27 and the median price for a new home jumped
from $55,700 to $63,000.
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-- Since Ronald Reagan became President, most prices have
increased much more slowly. Some have even declined.
* In 1983, the overall inflation rate was only 3.81'.
* For example, a half gallon of milk, which would have cost
$1.35 in December 1983 had inflation continued at the 1980
rate, cost only $1.12. A pound of chicken, which would
have cost $1.25 under the old rate, cost only 81 cents,
and a dozen eggs cost $1.00 instead of $1.41. In all, the
average weekly family food bill came to $93 in November
1983 compared to the $115 it would have been under the
1980 inflation rate.
* Some prices have even declined. A gallon of gasoline,
which cost $1.27 in December 1980, cost $1.19 in February
1984.
o Do workers' paychecks go further than they used to?
-- By 1980, the earnings of the average production worker, as
adjusted for inflation, had fallen for two consecutive
years. In December 1980, the average gross weekly paycheck
was an inflation-adjusted $172.17, down from $189.00 in
1977.
-- The general slide in weekly earnings that began in 1979 was
finally reversed in 1983. By February 1984, the average
gross weekly paycheck had climbed to an inflation-adjusted
$174.63 (or $291 in non-inflation-adjusted dollars), the
first such rise in four years.
* With inflation under control, workers have begun to get
more out of their pay. The purchasing power of the average
production worker's hourly wage increased for the second
year in a row in 1983.
-- Americans are able to work more hours under President
Reagan. The manufacturing workweek was 41 hours in February
1984 -- the longest since January 1967 -- and up from 39.1
hours in July 1980. Moreover, average factory overtime
reached 3.6 hours in February 1984, the highest level in
five years.
o Do taxes take less out of Americans' paychecks than they used
to?
-- By 1981, the average American's tax burden had become nearly
unbearable.
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* The income tax on the median-income two-dependent family,
which had been $916 in 1972, or 8.2% of its income, had
risen to $2,755, or 11.3% of the family's income in 1981
-- a 40% increase in just nine years. And this trend was
accelerating because inflation was forcing all lower- and
middle-income families into higher tax brackets.
President Reagan cut tax rates.
* Since 1981, the annual income tax on a four member family
that continued to earn $20,000 has been reduced by $464.
* Put another way, the median-income family that paid 11.3%
of its income in Federal income taxes in 1981, will pay
only 9.7% in 1984.
* Even more important, President Reagan's proposal to index
tax rates to inflation, which will take effect in January
1985, will protect all families in the future from being
pushed by inflation into higher tax brackets.
President Reagan is committed to protecting the tax rate
cuts won by the American taxpayer.
* He knows that attempts to reduce the budget deficit by
raising tax rates will actually do little to close the gap
between federal spending and federal revenues and may, in
fact, actually increase the deficit by choking off the
revenue-producing recovery. Moreover, if past performance
is repeated, Congress could use the tax increase as an
excuse to raise spending again, further enlarging the
deficit.
* Moreover, any significant tax increases would necessarily
fall upon lower- and middle-income people because 90% of
all personal taxable income is generated below the level
of $35,000 per year.
UNEMPLOYMENT
o Is it easier for Americans to find jobs?
-- President Reagan inherited an economy that had stopped
growing.
* The unemployment rate, 5.6% in May 1979, began to increase
during the 1979-1980 recession, and was at 7.5% when
President Reagan came to office. And by the time the first
part of his economic. program took effect in October 1981,
unemployment had risen to 7.9%.
* Because the high-tax, high-inflation, and high-interest-
rate policies of the previous four years had severely
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weakened the economy, further economic contraction could
not be headed off before the President's recovery program
was in place. The economy was thus saddled with a deep
recession rooted in the failed policies of the past.
* However, since November 1982, when the 1979-1982 recession
ended, a record 4.9 million Americans have found jobs;
more Americans are working now than ever before in
history.
* Unemployment fell from 10.6% in December 1982 to 7.7% in
February 1984 -- the sharpest drop since 1950. In
addition, there are more jobs now in most sectors of the
economy, including 200,000 new jobs in the auto industry,
400,000 new construction jobs and over one million new
jobs in the service sector.
* Furthermore, the economy is still expanding -- the Gross
National Product increased 6.2% in 1983 and.7.2% in the
first quarter of 1984. As a result, even more Americans
will go to work in the coming months.
-- The President has also worked to ensure that unemployed
Americans without job skills receive the training they need
to find productive jobs.
* The new Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA), signed into
law by the President in October 1982, will train more than
1.5 million disadvantaged Americans each year and give
them their first real chance at permanent employment.
* Unlike the discredited Comprehensive Employment and
Training Act [CETA] program, which, spent only 18% of its
resources on actual job training, the JTPA requires that
70% of its funds be spent for training.
o Have the prospects of poor Americans improved?
-- In 1980, the poor had seen no real improvement in their
plight for more than a decade, despite massive spending
increases in government social programs.
* The poverty rate, which had declined from 33% at the end
of World War II to 12.8% in 1968, had remained virtually
unchanged throughout most of the 1970s. In fact, by 1980,
the percentage of Americans in poverty had actually
increased to 13.0%. This was largely due to the economic
stagnation of that decade -- the slower growth in the
economy, the periods of high inflation, and the rising
joblessness.
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* Government spending on welfare programs was soaring when
President Reagan came ?'to office, having increased
two-and-a-half times, in inflation-adjusted dollars,
during the 1970s. Yet this poorly-targeted aid was going
to many non-needy recipients who were becoming dangerously
dependent.upon government assistance. Moreover, because of
inflation,' those recipients in real need were actually
receiving less assistance then they had in the 1970s.
Indeed, the real value of AFDC benefits had declined by
30%.
* Federal jobs programs were not providing the kind of
training needed to help unemployed Americans find
permanent productive jobs. The CETA program, for example,
spent $54 billion but found private sector jobs for only
15% of the participants.
President Reagan has worked to make America into an
opportunity society that would: provide aid to those who
truly need it, reduce dependency, eliminate quotas, and
foster a vital, innovative economy that rewards all
Americans according to their talent and hard work.
* Under President Reagan, federal assistance has been
redirected to the neediest Americans, away from those who
are well above the poverty line. And to ensure that poor
Americans who need assistance actually do receive it,
President Reagan has provided higher levels of assistance
than any other President. Spending on safety net programs
(AFDC, SSI, Child Nutrition, Food Stamps, Medicaid, and
housing assistance) rose from $63.2 billion in 1981 to
$73.5 billion in 1984.
* For those unemployed Americans lacking marketable job
skills, the President supported and signed into law the
Job Training Partnership Act, which will help train more
than 1.5 million Americans each year for productive,
private sector jobs.
* But most important to those working to lift themselves out
of poverty, the President has supported policies that have
sparked a resurgence of economic growth. Since December
1982, nearly 5 million Americans have found jobs. At
present, 105.6 million Americans are working -- more than
ever before in history.
* Moreover, the purchasing power of the poor has increased,
thanks to President Reagan's success in reducing
inflation. Since 1980, the purchasing power of a
poverty-level family of four has increased $700.
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o Can Americans look forward to retirement with greater security?
-- In 1980, America's elderly and near-elderly faced an unsure
economic future. Social Security was rapidly running out of
money and inflation was eating up savings and depreciating
the value of fixed-income pensions.
-- President Reagan has helped secure the economic future of
elderly Americans.
* Thanks to a compromise plan worked out by the President
and Congress, Social Security has been put back on a firm
financial footing.
* Under President Reagan, the average Social Security check
has increased from $341 to $440.
* Inflation has been reduced from double-digit levels to an
annual rate of 3.8%. This is making it easier for the
elderly to buy the necessities of life and to live in
dignity.
* The President's Economic Recovery Tax Act vastly expanded
the availability of Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs),
tax-free savings accounts which generally enhance the
ability of Americans to plan for their retirement.
ENERGY
o Is is easier for Americans to pay the cost of energy?
-- Before President Reagan came to office, energy prices were
soaring.
* Home heating oil prices were rising steeply, increasing
from 40.6 cents per gallon in 1976 to 97.8 cents in 1980.
* Unleaded gasoline jumped from 61 cents per gallon in 1976
to $1.22 per gallon in 1980. Moreover, motorists often had
to wait in long lines to buy fuel.
-- Under President Reagan, energy is more plentiful and, in
many cases, actually less expensive than in 1980.
* The price of home heating oil has nearly stabilized,
rising an average of only 3% per year between 1980 and
1983.
* Retail gasoline prices fell from $1.27 per gallon in
December, 1980 to $1.19 in February 1984. Taking inflation
into account, gas prices have declined a full 20% and
gasoline lines have become a thing of the past.
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HOUSING
o Is it easier to buy a home?
-- Interest rates and the prices of new homes were soaring when
President Reagan came to office.
* The average mortgage payment increased more than 300% from
1977 to 1981, putting the dream of owning a house out of
the reach of many families.
* Not surprisingly, with so few families able to afford
mortgage payments, construction of new homes was
declining. In 1980, national housing starts slumped to 1.3
million new units.
Because interest rates have declined under President Reagan,
more families are able to buy homes.
* Mortgage rates, which reached a peak of 18.5% in November
1981, have come down 5 percentage points since then. As a
result, the monthly mortgage payment on a $50,000 home
loan is now about $160 less than it would have been at the
higher rate.
* Home builders have responded. Construction starts of new
homes rose 29% between December 1980 and January 1984, to
a seasonally adjusted annual rate of nearly 2 million
units -- the highest level in five years -- making it
easier for Americans of all income levels to buy a home.
o Is it easier for Americans to start and operate a business?
When President Reagan took office, high interest rates,
federal overregulation, and rising taxes were discouraging
entrepreneurs from going into business and making it very
difficult for existing owners to remain solvent.
Under President Reagan, the business climate has improved
dramatically.
* The prime interest rate, which stood at 21-1/2% in
December 1980, has been cut nearly in half. This makes it
much easier for entrepreneurs to borrow capital needed to
keep their businesses operating.
* The President's Economic Recovery Tax Act (ERTA) contained
many important tax changes that have stimulated business
activity. For example, ERTA accelerated and simplified the
system businesses used to depreciate their assets. ERTA
also created a special small business depreciation
deduction for new businesses, allowed a 25% tax credit for
new spending on research and development and provided for
expensing of $7,500 in capital investment per year. Most
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important, the 25% reduction in marginal individual tax
rates has benefited partnerships and proprietorships that
file personal rather than corporate income taxes.
* The Reagan Administration has reduced the federal
paperwork burden by 300 million hours each year, giving
owners more time to spend on productive activities.
Entrepreneurs have reacted by going into business in record
numbers: 66,000 new businesses were started in the first
nine months of 1983, compared to 59,000 during the same
period in 1980. Moreover, the total number of American
corporations, partnerships, and sole proprietorships climbed
to 17.3 million in 1981, up from 16.8 million in 1980.
Investors have also shown their confidence in the business
climate. Venture capital rose to 84 billion in 1983, four
times what it was in 1980.
o Are federal regulations less burdensome?
Before President Reagan came to office, the government each
year was imposing new regulations on the public and
requiring more time to be spent filling out federal forms.
* In fact, by 1980, federal regulations were costing
individuals and businesses more than $100 billion
annually, or about $1,800 for a family of four.
* Although many of these regulations were necessary, others
were counterproductive, driving up prices without
achieving their objectives.
The burden of federal regulation has declined under
President Reagan, thanks to the President's Task Force on
Regulatory Relief, which reviewed and worked to eliminate
unnecessary rules.
* The Task Force saved Americans more than 300 million hours
filling out paperwork.
* These changes also saved Americans from $15 billion to $17
billion in one-time capital costs and $14 billion in
annual costs. These savings will result in lower prices,
greater productivity, and more jobs.
* To guarantee that the government continues to ease the
regulatory burden, the President has instructed the Office
of Management and Budget to review all proposed
regulations and make sure they do not unnecessarily hamper
the public.
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* The most dramatic proof that the President's deregulatory
program is working is that for the first time since the
Federal Register commenced publication in 1936, the size
of the Register has been reduced for three consecutive
years. New regulatory proposals are down by more than
one-third -- and many of these proposals are to revise or
eliminate obsolete rules.
o Are Americans safer in their homes and workplaces and on the
roads?
-- In 1980, despite four years of increased regulatory burdens,
the government had a mixed safety record: many work-related
death rates were declining, but traffic-related deaths were
climbing, having risen from 45,000 in 1976 to 51,000 in
1980.
-- Under President Reagan, the industrial workplace is safer.
* Although millions of dollars have been saved through the
streamlining of Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) rules, work-related injuries are
still declining. In 1982 there were only 7.7 injuries or
illnesses per 100 full time workers, compared to 8.7 in
1980.
* And even with record numbers of Americans in the
workplace, the number of work-related deaths has declined
since 1980. The National Safety Council estimates 11,200
workers died in 1983, compared to 13,200 in 1980.
* For example, in the coal industry, work-related deaths per
100 workers decreased 17% from 1981 to 1982, despite an
increase in coal output.
-- Auto deaths have also declined under President Reagan, down
from 51,000 in 1980 to 42,500 in 1983.
* With only 2.6 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles, 1983
was the safest year for motorists since fatality figures
were first collected in the early 1920s. This represented
a 21% decrease in fatalities since 1980, when 3.3 people
died for every 100 million vehicle miles.
* Alcohol-related traffic fatalities dropped by about 5,000
per year from 1980 to 1983. To preserve and promote this
decline, the President, in April 1982, established the
Presidential Commission on Drunk Driving to study the
tragedy of alcohol-related deaths. The Commission's
findings, issued on December 13, 1983, are now under
review.
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EDUCATION
o Has the quality of America's schools improved?
-- In 1980, many parents were losing faith in the public
schools.
* Since 1963 college board math and verbal scores had fallen
by about 50 and 40 points respectively.
* Thirteen percent of American 17-year-olds could be
considered functionally illiterate and most high school
seniors were doing less than an hour of homework each
night.
-- Since 1980, President Reagan has mobilized the public to
reverse the decline in American education.
* His blueprint for reform has been the report of the
National Commission on Excellence in Education, which was
established in August 1981.
* That report stressed the need for renewed excellence in
the schools through stronger discipline, more homework,
more basic courses, and more performance-based teachers'
ay.
-- Since the President began his campaign to improve education,
the American people have demonstrated a renewed enthusiasm
for educational reform. Communities across the nation have
responded by lengthening the school year, increasing
graduation requirements, insisting on student disciplinary
codes, and increasing homework assignments.
-- The Reagan Administration has also proposed new programs in
areas of special need, such as math and science. For
example, he has proposed a $50 million per year block grant
program in the Department of Education that would help train
some 10,000 new math and science teachers every year.
CRIME
o Can Americans feel safer on the streets?
-- Violent crime was on the rise when President Reagan came to
off ice.
* Lax enforcement of existing laws, court decisions that
unnecessarily tied the hands of the police, and the
persistence of the liberal myth that criminals are somehow
not responsible for their crimes all contributed to a
climate in which crime apparently did "pay."
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* As a result, reported violent crimes were 33% higher in
1980 than in 1976 and a sizable number of Americans lived
in constant fear of crime, virtual prisoners in their own
homes.
-- President Reagan has made fighting crime a high priority.
And in 1982, the rate of serious crimes fell 4%, followed by
a 5% drop during the first six months of 1983.
* During this period, murders fell 6% and rapes declined
25%.
-- The President also established a tough anti-drug program to
keep drugs off the streets and away from youngsters.
* The Reagan Administration created a new border
interdiction program to combat the problem of illegal drug
smuggling. As a result of this effort, the federal
government seized nearly 20,000 pounds of cocaine in 1983
-- almost four times the amount captured in 1981. Seizures
of other drugs have also increased dramatically.
* New task forces aimed at fighting drug gangs indicted more
than 1,300 persons in 1983 alone. In fact, since 1981, the
number of drug convictions has increased 40%.
HEALTH
Are Americans healthier?
-- Since Ronald Reagan became President, the health of the
American people has continued to improve.
* Americans are living longer. Life expectancy in 1982
increased to 74.3 years, up from 73.8 years in 1980.
* The infant mortality rate has dropped steadily, declining
from 12.5 deaths per thousand in 1980 to 11.9 deaths per
thousand in 1981, 11.2 in 1982 and, according to
provisional data, 10.7 for 1983.
-- The Reagan Administration has worked to bring hospital costs
under control by implementing important Medicare reforms.
* When President Reagan took office, health care costs were
nearly out of control, having risen 522% (or six-and-a-
half times the rate of inflation) since 1966. These rising
prices had become a real threat to the health and
financial security of the American people.
* Under the new system of fixed prospective payment costs,
hospital reimbursement rates are set for each diagnosis
and institutions with costs lower than the established
rates can keep the difference. This replaces the previous
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inflationary system of reimbursing the hospitals for
virtually all charges, regardless of cost, and should help
hold down health costs.
* At the same time, the President has protected aid to the
needy. Forty-nine million elderly, poor and disabled
citizens are Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries -- three
million more than in 1980.
DEFENSE
o Is America more secure?
-- During the 1970s, America's conventional and strategic
defenses had been allowed to deteriorate.
* In constant, non-inflated dollars, defense spending
declined in 8 of the 10 years.
* Military pay had not kept pace with inflation and
experienced personnel were leaving the armed forces at an
alarming rate. Moreover, the services were not attracting
the high-quality recruits they needed.
* The military's conventional forces -- planes, tanks, and
ships -- were aging, in poor condition, and sometimes even
spare parts were unavailable.
* America's Strategic Triad of land-based missiles,
submarine-launched missiles, and bombers was aging and in
severe need of modernization.
* Defense spending, which had comprised more than 45% of the
federal budget in the early 1960s, had fallen to less than
24% by 1980.
-- Since 1981, President Reagan has been restoring the
credibility of America's deterrence, both strategic and
conventional, thus improving the. chances for a more lasting
peace.
* The President increased military pay by 14.3% in FY 1982,
helping all four services meet their recruitment
objectives by signing on 338,000 quality recruits. Better
educated people are joining and staying in the service.
For instance, more new recruits are high school graduates
than ever before. And so far this year, 68% of those the
services hoped to retain have re-enlisted, compared to
only 55% in 1980.
* The President established readiness as a top military
priority. The Defense Department has also significantly
increased its spending on spare parts, munitions
procurement, and operations and maintenance.
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- Flying hours for American tactical and fighter pilots
increased steadily between 1981 and 1984. It is expected
that in 1984, Air Force, aircrew flying hours will have
risen to more than 19 hours per month, up from 16 hours
per month in FY 1981.
- In shipbuilding, the Navy will build 121 new ships under
the President's budget, thereby moving toward the
Administration's goal of a 600 ship Navy.
- The number of procured tactical aircraft will increase
37% from 1982 to 1984.
- New land force systems will be introduced, including the
M-1 Abrams tank, the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, and the
Sergeant York air defense gun.
- Procurement of repair parts will have almost doubled
between 1981 and 1984.
- Purchases of munitions and spare and repair parts for
sustainability programs have nearly doubled since 1981.
* The President has also begun modernizing the nation's
strategic nuclear forces, further deterring the Soviets
from ever considering an attack on the United States.
- To strengthen deterrence, the President has called for a
limited deployment of MX Peacekeeper missiles in
Minuteman silos. In addition, the Air Force is
developing a smaller and more survivable ICBM that will
further strengthen deterrence against Soviet attack.
- The construction of Trident submarines is continuing,
and a more accurate sea-launched ballistic missile --
known as Trident II -- will be developed and deployed on
Trident submarines, starting in 1989.
- One hundred B-1 bombers will be operational by 1988,
when they will replace the 20-year-old B-52s, which are
nearly obsolete.
- The Administration has approved a new initiative to
address strategic defensive technologies and provide new
deterrence options in the future.
* The Administration is cracking down on all waste in the
government, including waste in the military. In April
1983, the President appointed the first Department of
Defense Inspector General. Among the abuses uncovered by
the Reagan Administration were well-publicized
overpayments for certain spare parts..
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o Are the chances for peace greater?
-- During the 1970s, the United States restrained from
modernizing its nuclear forces and actually reduced the size
of its warhead arsenal. The Soviet Union, on the other hand,
relentlessly built up its strategic offensive forces far
beyond what was needed to defend that country.
* By the end of the 1970s, the Soviet Union had surpassed
the United States in total number of systems, total number
of ballistic missiles, and total destructive potential.
Furthermore, the Soviet Union introduced a new class of
intermediate range nuclear (INF) missiles in Europe, thus
gaining an INF monopoly on that continent.
* During the 1970s, arms control agreements negotiated with
the Soviet Union, such as SALT I and SALT II, did not
reduce nuclear arsenals; instead these agreements merely
established ceilings on future nuclear arsenals that
allowed for ever-higher levels and greater destructive
potential.
-- Without abandoning his realistic appraisal of the Soviet
Union as an aggressive and expansionist power, President
Reagan has sought, in arms control discussions and in public
statements, to make Soviet understand that deep cuts in
nuclear arms are in the best interests of both superpowers.
Pursuing this objective, the President has presented the
most comprehensive and meaningful arms reduction program
ever offered by any government.
* In 1982, the President initiated the Strategic Arms
Reductions Talks (START), in order to produce mutual,
verifiable reductions in the size of American and Soviet
intercontinental nuclear forces to equitable levels.
Throughout these negotiations, the President has consulted
closely with the Congress, in an effort to develop a
national bipartisan consensus.
* The President also proposed the "zero option" for the.INF
Nuclear Forces in Europe, which would banish from the
world that entire class of nuclear weapons. When the
Soviet Union refused to consider this offer, the President
gave U.S. negotiators new flexibility to explore equitable
interim solutions. NATO remains solidly behind the
President's approach to European security.
* At the same time, the President opposes a "nuclear freeze"
at existing levels because this would lock the U.S. and
NATO into a position of unacceptable military disadvantage
and vulnerability. Moreover, such a freeze would make
significant arms reductions more difficult to achieve, as
it would take away the incentive for the Soviets to
negotiate.
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* The President is also seeking to ban all chemical weapons.
U.S. negotiators have introduced to the 40-nation
Committee on Disarmament in Geneva a basic set of detailed
views that can assist the committee in reaching a chemical
weapons ban.
* To reduce the number of conventional forces in Central
Europe, the President, along with the European Allies,
have sponsored a fresh approach to the Mutual and Balanced
Force Reduction (MBFR) talks in Vienna.
* In a speech to the American people on January 16, 1984,
the President reiterated his desire to resume arms
reduction talks and told the nation he would meet the
Soviets "halfway" in restoring substantive discussions.
Is the United States more respected overseas?
-- In the late 1970s, America's reputation aboard as a reliable
ally and a responsible superpower was deteriorating. Many
world leaders believed the U.S. would ,not act decisively in
response to aggressive acts. As a result, the world was a
more dangerous place: the Soviets had reacted to America's
unilateral military restraint with a massive military
build-up of their own and an unprecedented display of
international adventurism perhaps best symbolized by their
invasion of Afghanistan.
* President Carter himself admitted on January 23, 1980 that
"The implications of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
could pose the most serious threat to peace since the
Second World War." Clearly, the foreign policy of the
previous administration had made America less safe.
-- The foreign policy of the previous administration also saw
the taking of American hostages in Iran, and the
installation of Soviet-backed regimes in Nicaragua, South
Yemen, and Ethiopia. America seemed to be on. the retreat
throughout the globe.
-- However, since 1981, America has demonstrated a new resolve
and a new commitment to freedom and democracy.
* America's relationships with her allies are stronger than
they have been in years. The President's personal
diplomatic efforts at the Williamsburg Summit and his
historic East Asian visit resulted in greater cohesion in
our world-wide economic and security relationships.
- The NATO nations have demonstrated cohesion by ending
the Soviet monopoly on INF nuclear weapons in Europe
through the deployment of Allied missiles, while, at the
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same time, seeking an arms control agreement with the
Soviets.
- The U.S. and the European Allies reached agreement in
several areas on the security implications of East-West
trade, in order to prevent the Soviet Union from.gaining
one-sided benefits from trade with the West. These
involved Allied agreement to: end preferred terms for
credit to the U.S.S.R.; 'restrict the flow-of equipment
that could be used by the Soviets for military purposes;
limit dependency on . Soviet energy; and upgrade
substantially NATO's attention to the security
dimensions of.East-West economic relations.
- The President also established an agenda with Japan that
will seek a more stable trading and economic
relationship between the U.S. and Japan.
- President Reagan has also increased U.S. emphasis on the
dynamic ASEAN nations of Southeast Asia, in order to
build upon their economic development through trade and
investment.
* By rescuing the U.S. medical students on Grenada, the
President demonstrated that the U.S. will not hesitate to
act boldly and decisively when American lives are at
stake.
- That rescue mission also thwarted Cuban and Soviet
attempts to establish another foothold in the Caribbean.
- Moreover, thanks to the President's actions, democracy
will be restored to the Grenadan people.
* President Reagan has developed a new approach to
assistance to developing countries.
For example, the recently-enacted Caribbean Basin
Initiative, which seeks to foster economic growth in the
developing nations of the Caribbean Basin, mixes
components of trade, aid, and U.S. investment.
The President's National Bipartisan Commission. on
Central America issued a report in, January 1984 which
found that the root causes of turmoil in Central America
are economic and social, that U.S. funding levels must
be increased, but that economic, social, and political
reforms cannot take place in a climate of violence. The
President is working to implement the Commission's
findings.
- As part of an overall approach to help troubled debtor
nations implement economic reforms, the President led an
effort to raise the resources of the International
Monetary Fund by $8.4 billion.
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* President Reagan has worked to nurture the growth of
democracy throughout the world and to defend those
aspiring democracies whose existence is threatened daily.
- Because of the Reagan Administration's assistance, the
people of El Salvador were able to vote in a free and
fair Presidential election on March 25, 1984.
* The President announced a major Mideast peace initiative
in September 1982. The Administration remains committed to
the search for a lust and lasting peace in that troubled
region, and continues to believe the President's
initiative provides a sound basis toward achieving this
important goal.
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