Senator George Smathers Radio Broadcast 149

back 11 47. On today's report from Washington, Senator Smathers discusses domestic and foreign problems of interest to the people of Florida and the nation. Now here is the first question. Well, senators matters just come from the Senate floor. After having voted for the passage of the conference report on the tax bill briefly, how soon are we going to feel the benefits of that?

Well, the president is due to sign it tonight. Senate passed it as you know, 74 to 19. The provisions in the bill says that if we will reduce the amount of withholding from 18% to 14% within the a week after the president signed the bill, so presuming that the president does sign the bill, that would mean that week after next it would be something like $200 million additional would be turned out to people who are now undergoing withholding.

So the effective it will be felt almost immediately. I understand that you were invited to witness the signing of this bill tonight, but I was wondering where this little virus you have here, whether it's wise to go well, it's probably not wise to go, but I'll probably try to go.

Everybody seems to be up here suffering from this virus, and it's too bad we all can't get down to Florida and getting the sunshine and get away from it. But anyway, I'm gonna try to go now. We have looking us in the face, so to speak, the farm bill, which I understand you and the leadership are going to try to get through before we really go into civil rights.

We're trying to bring up the farm bill. We think that we need to farm Bill very badly for cotton and wheat, particularly because they're going to start planting wheat here very shortly. And cotton market has dropped way down and the textile people are hurting very badly, and we've got to do something about it.

But we have a very difficult time. Agreeing is what kind of a farm bill We ought to have the American Farm Bureau, which is a very powerful organization and made up of some very successful and respected farmers. They take the position that the government should not grant any subsidy or anything of that character.

On the other hand, the other group of farmers and the farmers union and most independent farmers. They I still believe that subsidy is the only way that they're going to keep the farmer alive. That is, a smaller farmers, small farmers. Now, of course, the population, the farmer has decreased enormously.

We have very few farmers left, as a matter of fact, but we do want to keep those farmers that we do have going. And we don't want every farmer to have to become a great big mechanized farming. We're gonna try to pass a bill. I think we're going to have it up and finish it.

The farm bill this week. I hope we can. Before we move in the civil rights debate, do you feel you'll get the civil rights possibly early in March? Yes, we'll get several rights not only early in March, but early in April, And I'm afraid early in May we're going to have civil rights with us for just about My judgment would be that it's Hubert, Humphrey said.

It's going to be weeks, Mansfield said. It's going to be months. I'm inclined to agree with Mansfield. I think that the civil rights bill that is now being considered is so severe and goes so far that we who don't approve of the letting the federal government takeover and when everybody's business, we're going to oppose it, it will go on for three months.

I'm sure I like your comment on the action taken by O S. Oh, yes, In regard to Cuba, they found them guilty. I believe they found him guilty, and I think that that was a correct finding. And I think now that the United States must take leadership in the Organization of American States and invoke sanctions against Cuba and try to get to the other states, the other nations to join with us in this particular sanctions and see if we can finally squeeze off help to Castro so that we can topple the rumors that there's a possibility of closing the Sanford base.

There are any other bases in Florida involved. Every base is being considered very seriously as a prospect for being eliminated in an effort to cut the size of the budget. Sanford. We've had more publicity about that than any other a base in the state, but it's my judgment that at least it will go on for another year without any threat whatsoever.

Thank you very much, Senator George Smathers. I'll return you now to your station announcer. Senators matter. Some groups and individuals seem to becoming more vociferous on their statements that Senator Jeff President Johnson is not solid in his foreign policy Now. Is that a political move, or is it actually based on fact?

Well, the first thing is, is that foreign policy is obviously a very complicated affair. Were given aid to some 80 plus nations around the globe. We'll have diplomatic relations with over 100 and something is always breaking out here or there and particularly where you have a communist infiltration in some of these countries who try to stir up and are successfully stirring up the students.

Or maybe the disgruntled and the unhappy with the result that in a world as complicated as that in which we live, you're always going to have some fire brush for our breaking out somewhere or not. President Johnson's had the other day over there one of these breakfast, he said.

If anybody's looking, if for a job that will continue to keep them constantly busy, said this is it because there's nothing but peaceful. Uh, that is a sustained Peacefulness about it. So first place and answer to your question, I would say that no pressure I know of since I've been here in Washington has not had some prices on his hand of some major degree at one time or another in every month.

That goes by. And President Johnson is no exception. Uh, with respect to how much he knows about foreign policy, I think he knows as much about it as most anybody that we've ever had in government. And certainly he's got a very confident secretary of state being rushed.

Former Uhh, More of Georgia boys born in Georgia, His father was a Presbyterian preacher, and then he went off north, got educated and everything, but he's a He's a real solid citizen, and he's smart as he can be, and he's highly respected, and he's most confident, man.

But yet some are saying that his position and his power has changed since President Johnson has been in the White House. I think that it has, I think, that his position in power has improved and increased since Johnson has been in the White House. I think that that There's less reliance on fellas, the academicians who was brought in, Ah, like Slesinger and other fellas who had been brought in to advise President Kennedy.

Uh, and they went around rust considerably. Now Rusk is doing the job, and Johnson has unsatisfied total and complete confidence in. He's a very Johnson. I mean, Rusk is a very competent man if he's allowed to act as when he is acting as the secretary of state.

Well, now I'd like to get your feelings to the general overall picture of President Johnson because you have been so close to him in the past and I presume, still are. Well, I think the Johnson is doing very well. I think that first, I think we've seen the Congress react rather strongly and vigorously at his importuning.

We've passed a lot of legislation already. We're going to pass a lot more. He knows in many respects how to deal with the members of the Senate and the House because he spent so much time over here 32 years over here with us. He knows how to get legislation through the Congress, and I think that he's going to get it to all except the civil rights bill, and that remains to be seen now his overall.

How he's doing otherwise. I think the Gallup Poll shows that he's getting acceptance all over the country wherever he goes. He has large crowds and enthusiastic crowds, and I'm happy to see that the Gallup all said that 81% of the people certainly they approved of his conduct of the economy of this country and they felt that he is totally in charge of it.

We're going to have a favorable economy. So I think overall, Johnson looking better. And most people even thought he was going to look, although he came into this office with as much experiencing as much background as much desire to do a good job as any man who ever came into the office.

The outflow of funds to foreign parts in the way of stock and investments and so forth has been very important and difficult to this country. Is your committee on finance going to do anything about that we're considering at the present time bill to and we will pass this bill, which will put a tax on income realized from foreign stock investment and I think it will see that it will slow down considerably.

The outflow of capital. Thank you very much. Senator George Smathers. I return you now to your station announcer. Mhm.