President Nixon: Hello.
Operator: Congressman Frank Bow [R-Ohio] for you.
President Nixon: Hello? Hello?
Frank Bow: Yes, Mr. President.
President Nixon: I was just thinking you and I get on that SST [supersonic transport] and go over to China one day.1
Bow: I'm in favor of that. Let's go any time. [Unclear.]
President Nixon: That's right. Well, anyway, that's a great job. And a great--”
Bow: I tell you--”
President Nixon: I just want to thank you and all your team for . . . and incidentally, Frank, for God's sakes, can--”if we can get a strong enough bunch of conferees, the Senate can't back you down completely, can they?
Ford∇: No, no. My only problem is two of my conferrees voted against it. That's [Representative Silvio O.] Conte [R-Massachusetts] and [Representative Parren J.] Mitchell∇ [D-Maryland].
President Nixon: Yeah.
Bow: And I just gave them hell.
President Nixon: How many do you--”how many conferees will you have?
Bow: Well, I'll have on my side, I'll have Edwards is with us.
President Nixon: Yeah.
Bow: And then the others will be up with us on the Democrat side. I think we can hold up [unclear].
President Nixon: Right. Well, will you have a majority? Well, of course the conferees--”
Bow: We'll have a majority.
President Nixon: The conferees have to take the House position, and you're not about to recede and--”
Bow: Right.
President Nixon: But of course we're going to try on the Senate to swing--”it's awful tough there, of course, to get those people to turn around.
Bow: I read into the record today a statement [Senator William] Proxmire [D-Wisconsin] made back in --˜65.
President Nixon: Oh?
Bow: In which he talked about the [unclear: gold flow?] and the advantage of SST. And I think we can shove that right down his throat.
President Nixon: Well, I think, frankly, if we could, apart from him, if we could just--”we've got to get this [Senator David H.] Gambrell [D-Georgia] ought to shift, [Senator John V.] Tunney [D-California] ought to shift, and [Senator Alan] Cranston [D-California] ought to shift, because they don't do this, they aren't going to get Lockheed.
Bow: Right. If those three people [unclear] they can't have Lockheed.
President Nixon: Well, you really played it, and I appreciate it. Now take a good rest.
Bow: Thank you, Mr. President.
President Nixon: Bye.
Bow: May I, while I have you [unclear] something.
President Nixon: Yeah, sure. Sure you can. Sure.
Bow: I would like so very much if you could come to the enshrinement of the Hall of Fame this year. You need that in Ohio.
President Nixon: Oh, in Ohio. Oh, the enshrinement of the Hall of Fame.
Bow: Yeah.
President Nixon: Oh, the football.
Bow: There'll be a football game.
President Nixon: Oh, I see.
Bow: They're going to enshrine Vince Lombardi this year. And I can arrange to have you do that. I think it's very important. I'm going to send something down to [Congressional Liaison Clark] MacGregor∇ and [Congressional Liaison] Bill Timmons.
President Nixon: Well, send it down, will you? Yeah.
Bow: Take a good look at it.
President Nixon: What time of year would it be?
Bow: It'd be in July. The latter part of July. And I think it's very important.
President Nixon: Yeah. Fine. We'll take a look at it.
Bow: I'll get it to you.
President Nixon: I'll take a look. Fine, bye.
Bow: Thank you, Mr. President. Bye.
1 The House had voted 201--“197 to resume financing the supersonic transport. New York Times, 13 May 1971, --œRoll-Call Vote in House on Financing of SST Project.-- (↑)
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