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from the nation's capital. In the public service, we join an informal press conference with Senator George Smathers reporting to the people of Florida this week. Senator, you and some other congressional leaders met with President Kennedy at the White House. Can you tell us generally what you talked about?

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Well, one thing We agreed at those conferences that there would only be one statement that would come out, and that would be a statement prepared by the president through his press secretary. However, I think, inasmuch as that was the first one and most everybody has talked a little bit about it, even though there are only six of us there, I can tell you that we discussed essentially and basically the president's State of the Union message what he should say and what he should talk about.

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And the consensus of opinion was that he should just lay it on the line, the American people, and tell them. But the facts really are, as he finds them, with respect to our economy, with respect to the textile industry, with respect to the steel industry, respecting the unemployment picture with respect to the flight of goal, all of which I regret to say, is considerably more aggravated and more serious than it was recently represented to be.

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So the new president indicated that he hated to start off with such a gloomy type of report to the Congress and the American people. But we all agree that it would be much better to acquaint everybody with the absolute facts and thereafter Proceed from there. Well, Senator A few weeks ago, President Eisenhower, before he left office, send up to the Congress a budget message, and he showed that we'd have a balanced budget.

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Well, let me just say this. That budget, which he sent up, which was imbalanced by $200 million showed expenditures of about 82 billion and an income of about 83. However, you must remember that was based on the fact that the Congress he expected the Congress to raise the tax on gasoline expected the Congress to raise the post office rates.

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He expected the Congress to repeal certain dividend credits and things of that character, which would bring in more revenue. And it was based on the assumption that we were going to have a maximum revenue and a very high prosperity and the foreign program would be such that maybe the weather would be bad in the farm area and we wouldn't have a big surplus.

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Now there's a lot of Presumptions, which we had back in 1958 when he submitted the budget showing it in balance. And yet we had the biggest deficit in peacetime. We've ever had a little over $12 billion. Now I'm afraid that this particular budget, which he proposed that the day was based on these the news re Presumptions, I would hope that they would work that way.

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I personally will support some of the recommendations, which he made any, but it's a very it's far fetched to think that is going to turn out that way. Senator, are you generally pleased with the appointments that President Kennedy has made so far? Well, I would say I'm generally pleased.

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Yes, I think most of them have been grabbed, and I must say that I've been tremendously impressed with the fact that this administration Sheldon Kennedy, they have gone out to get in the major offices, the very best men they could get, and I think it's rather evident that he's not putting his friends in the jobs because McNamara, who's now the secretary of defense, he had never seen him before.

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I put Dean Rusk, the secretary of state, My candidate was Senator Full Bank. He passed him over and he being rushed, whom he had never met before, but solely on the recommendation of this committee, which he had set up to find him, as he put it, the most qualified man that he could find in America to do the job.

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So I think overall the appointments have been good, I wouldn't go so far to say that I have approved of every one of them. Well, Senator, has anybody been appointed to big spot from Florida? And you expect any? Well, no, not yet. We have not had any from Florida.

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I think that as time goes on, we will have some, however, most of our very qualified people in Florida not looking for any type of political assignment, all fortunately doing so well in that business that they don't want to leave their business and come to Washington.

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I do think that time shortly coming, however, where we're going to see some of the Florida men who are already in government takes some rather important position. Gentlemen, our time is up. Thank you all very much for being here. And thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for looking in.

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Senator, would you and the other congressional leaders have any further meetings at the White House with President Kennedy? Yes. We're going to have one every Tuesday morning at 8. 45. I presumed through the balance of this congressional session. At least they are now scheduled. So I guess we'll be over there every Tuesday.

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Do you think you're going to have any opportunity at these meetings to present some of the major Florida problems to the president? Well, sure, I will have the opportunity to do so. Those meetings, of course, are not held for the purpose necessarily talking about one state's problems.

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But the president is greatly interested in Florida. And every time I see him, he's always talking about when can we return to Florida? Uh huh. Rand, of course. What I mean by that when a vacation time comes, he's anxious to go back, so there's no problem in bringing up to him.

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Florida problem. That needs attention, Senator. You sat on the platform at the inauguration have a good opportunity to hear the president's inaugural address. What did you think of it? I thought it was a tremendous speech. I thought it was stirring and challenging and filled with hope, filled with the kind of ringing a leadership that I think American people like.

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I think it was the kind of bell ringing that the American people need and the American people want. And I particularly was impressed when Kennedy finally said that the question is not what your country can do for you, but what can you do for your country?

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I really believe that most American citizens I want to feel that they're making a contribution to the strength of their country and they want to do something for it. They realized that under this system that we've had the greatest freedom and the greatest blessings that ever been experienced by any peoples on the face of the Earth.

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I think most people understanding that would like to feel more of a part of this government, more a part of preserving the things which benefit them so, and I think that when Kennedy hit that particular note, I think that he struck a very responsive court. And I just hope that that he can devise some way where everybody can play a major part, and I think that can be done.

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Senator. In his inaugural speech, he specifically mentioned the Western Hemisphere. Did his comments seem to you a reaffirmation of the Monroe Doctrine? I think it was a modern version of the Monroe Doctrine. Absolutely, I think, when he said and again, rather clear and precise language that the Western Hemisphere will remain the master of its own problems.

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I thought that was a reaffirmation of the Monroe doctrine, just about as clearly as it could be reaffirmed. Do you feel that he starts out his administration with the people behind him, even those who opposed him during the election? Well, I think so, because I think most Americans understand that this country of ours is in very serious difficulties, not only from within, but primarily and fundamentally from without, and that it didn't make any difference who finally won the election.

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We were all after the election was over with. We were all going to have to get behind the man who was president because he's going to be everybody's president in the United States, and I'm sure that 99 9 10% of the American people want President Kennedy to succeed, just as they would have wanted Nixon had he been elected president.

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Because we cannot afford to carry on the division in this country, a political division in these very dangerous times. And I think most American people understand that, Senator, you're a member of the Senate Finance Committee. Do you see any chance for an income tax cut this year?

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No, I don't see any. Naturally, I would be 41 I would like one. We pay taxes here. A lot of people don't think we do, but we pay taxes just like everybody else does. And we paid the same amount and at the same place and in the same regularity.

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So naturally I would like an income tax cut, and I'm sure everybody else would, too. But on the other hand, we're faced with such problems that we're not going to be able to have one. I think that if we can ever somehow bring about a disarmament program, a meaningful, carefully supervised disarmament program where we can reduce the budget in the defense picture by some.

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It's now 40 billions of dollars. If we can reduce that a billion dollars or two, we could have a tax cut. And I think that attacks could actually would be very stimulating and very helpful to our economy. I think you would encourage people to spend and buy, and I think that you'd see goods flowing, and I think you would altogether b help helpful tourists.

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But the way things stand right at the moment, I don't believe we'll have one. Gentlemen, I see our time is up. Thank you very much for being here and asking me the question, Gentlemen. Thank you, Bob.