University of Virginia Library

Tower Defends Nixon's Economic Policies

Says 'Congress Must Order Priorities'
To Avoid Future Presidential Intervention

By LIBBY WITHERS

Sen. John G. Tower of Texas

Viewing the current
confrontation between the
President and Congress over
the state of the U.S. economy
as being serious, Sen. John G.
Tower (R-Tex.) last night said
that "Congress must learn to
order its priorities if it doesn't
want the President to."

He called President Nixon's
economic policy a sound one
but cited two factors that
"contribute to the steady
debasement of the buying
power of the dollar–trade
deficits and instability at
home."

To correct these problems,
he said, the President withheld
funds from such programs as
"organized labor that operates
behind a statutory wall."

The constitutionality of
such actions can be raised, but
the only alternative is tax
increase," Mr. Tower said.

"I'm guilty of being less
than fiscally responsible," he
said. "I have supported
measures simply on their
merits without considering the
cost or the impact on the
budget."

Time For Debate

With the end of the
Vietnamese War, Congress has
more time now for debate and
"collective decision-making to
solve domestic problems, Mr.
Tower pointed out.

"The divisiveness of our
people has mitigated–we can
clearly see popular consensus
forming" with regard to
government programs and the
question of their existence, he
said.

He said he still hopes that
the United States will maintain
a certain level of defense
posture to "keep our guard up
to be in a favorable position to
negotiate with the Soviets."

Citing the volunteer service
that becomes effective in June
as another reason for
maintaining an adequate
defense budget, he said that
Congress "would have great
difficulty in making extensive
cuts" because a huge amount
of the budget is reserved for
personnel.

Volunteer Army

Mr. Tower is a strong
supporter of the volunteer
army and expressed the hope
that "every effort will be made
to make it work."

When asked about tax
legislation at the national level
for 1973, he said he
anticipated no tax increases or
extensive tax reform.

"We need a ceiling on
spending to prevent tax rises,
but the Gross National Product
should be pushed as high as the
genius of the American people
can push it," he said.

Mr. Tower views European
currency flotation as a short
term arrangement which will
ultimately become a more
flexible system.

'Favorable Climate'

"The U.S. has to try to
create a more favorable climate
in foreign markets and also try
to get reinvestment of the
dollar back into this country,"
he said.

He speculated that "we
may even have to consider selling
some of our monetized gold."

He stressed America's duty
to "defend the free world" and
to try to understand that less
democratic countries are not
competent of
self-determination or self
government. He said they "are
not aggressive and we must
support them."

"Politically immature
people can't establish and
function in a democratic
system as the U. S. does – we
can't expect it," he said.

When asked if he would
support former Treasury
Secretary John Connally as a
Republican and as a
Presidential candidate, the
Senator lightly passed off the
request by saying, "If I
answered that question, I'd be
one of the dumbest politicians
I know."