1、尼克松演讲6. Richard Nixon - CheckersMy Fellow Americans,I come before you tonight as a candidate for the Vice Presidency and as a man whose honesty and integrity has been questioned.Now, the usual political thing to do when charges are made against you is to either ignore them or to deny them without gi
2、ving details. I believe weve had enough of that in the United States, particularly with the present Administration in Washington, D.C. To me the office of the Vice Presidency of the United States is a great office, and I feel that the people have got to have confidence in the integrity of the men wh
3、o run for that office and who might obtain it.I have a theory, too, that the best and only answer to a smear or to an honest misunderstanding of the facts is to tell the truth. And thats why Im here tonight. I want to tell you my side of the case. Im sure that you have read the charge, and youve hea
4、rd it, that I, Senator Nixon, took 18,000 dollars from a group of my supporters.Now, was that wrong? And let me say that it was wrong. Im saying, incidentally, that it was wrong, not just illegal, because it isnt a question of whether it was legal or illegal, that isnt enough. The question is, was i
5、t morally wrong? I say that it was morally wrong if any of that 18,000 dollars went to Senator Nixon, for my personal use. I say that it was morally wrong if it was secretly given and secretly handled. And I say that it was morally wrong if any of the contributors got special favors for the contribu
6、tions that they made.And now to answer those questions let me say this: Not one cent of the 18,000 dollars or any other money of that type ever went to me for my personal use. Every penny of it was used to pay for political expenses that I did not think should be charged to the taxpayers of the Unit
7、ed States. It was not a secret fund. As a matter of fact, when I was on Meet the Press some of you may have seen it last Sunday Peter Edson came up to me after the program, and he said, Dick, what about this fund we hear about? And I said, Well, theres no secret about it. Go out and see Dana Smith w
8、ho was the administrator of the fund. And I gave him Edson his Smiths address. And I said you will find that the purpose of the fund simply was to defray political expenses that I did not feel should be charged to the Government.And third, let me point out and I want to make this particularly clear
9、that no contributor to this fund, no contributor to any of my campaigns, has ever received any consideration that he would not have received as an ordinary constituent. I just dont believe in that, and I can say that never, while I have been in the Senate of the United States, as far as the people t
10、hat contributed to this fund are concerned, have I made a telephone call for them to an agency, or have I gone down to an agency in their behalf. And the records will show that, the records which are in the hands of the administration.Well, then, some of you will say, and rightly, Well, what did you
11、 use the fund for, Senator? Why did you have to have it? Let me tell you in just a word how a Senate office operates. First of all, a Senator gets 15,000 dollars a year in salary. He gets enough money to pay for one trip a year a round trip, that is for himself and his family between his home and Wa
12、shington, D.C. And then he gets an allowance to handle the people that work in his office to handle his mail. And the allowance for my State of California is enough to hire 13 people. And let me say, incidentally, that that allowance is not paid to the Senator. Its paid directly to the individuals t
13、hat the Senator puts on his pay roll. But all of these people and all of these allowances are for strictly official business. business, for example, when a constituent writes in and wants you to go down to the Veterans Administration and get some information about his GI policy items of that type, f
14、or example. But there are other expenses which are not covered by the Government. And I think I can best discuss those expenses by asking you some questions.Do you think that when I or any other Senator makes a political speech, has it printed, should charge the printing of that speech and the maili
15、ng of that speech to the taxpayers? Do you think, for example, when I or any other Senator makes a trip to his home State to make a purely political speech that the cost of that trip should be charged to the taxpayers? Do you think when a Senator makes political broadcasts or political television br
16、oadcasts, radio or television, that the expense of those broadcasts should be charged to the taxpayers? Well I know what your answer is. Its the same answer that audiences give me whenever I discuss this particular problem: The answer is no. The taxpayers shouldnt be required to finance items which
17、are not official business but which are primarily political business.Well, then the question arises, you say, Well, how do you pay for these and how can you do it legally? And there are several ways that it can be done, incidentally, and that it is done legally in the United States Senate and in the
18、 Congress. The first way is to be a rich man. I dont happen to be a rich man, so I couldnt use that one.Another way that is used is to put your wife on the pay roll. Let me say, incidentally, that my opponent, my opposite number for the Vice Presidency on the Democratic ticket, does have his wife on
19、 the pay roll and has had it her on his pay roll for the ten years for the past ten years. Now just let me say this: Thats his business, and Im not critical of him for doing that. You will have to pass judgment on that particular point.But I have never done that for this reason: I have found that th
20、ere are so many deserving stenographers and secretaries in Washington that needed the work that I just didnt feel it was right to put my wife on the pay roll. My wifes sitting over here. Shes a wonderful stenographer. She used to teach stenography and she used to teach shorthand in high school. That
21、 was when I met her. And I can tell you folks that shes worked many hours at night and many hours on Saturdays and Sundays in my office, and shes done a fine job, and I am proud to say tonight that in the six years Ive been in the House and the Senate of the United States, Pat Nixon has never been o
22、n the Government pay roll.What are other ways that these finances can be taken care of? Some who are lawyers, and I happen to be a lawyer, continue to practice law, but I havent been able to do that. Im so far away from California that Ive been so busy with my senatorial work that I have not engaged
23、 in any legal practice. And, also, as far as law practice is concerned, it seemed to me that the relationship between an attorney and the client was so personal that you couldnt possibly represent a man as an attorney and then have an unbiased view when he presented his case to you in the event that
24、 he had one before Government.And so I felt that the best way to handle these necessary political expenses of getting my message to the American people and the speeches I made the speeches that I had printed for the most part concerned this one message of exposing this Administration, the Communism
25、in it, the corruption in it the only way that I could do that was to accept the aid which people in my home State of California, who contributed to my campaign and who continued to make these contributions after I was elected, were glad to make.And let me say Im proud of the fact that not one of the
26、m has ever asked me for a special favor. Im proud of the fact that not one of them has ever asked me to vote on a bill other than of my own conscience would dictate. And I am proud of the fact that the taxpayers, by subterfuge or otherwise, have never paid one dime for expenses which I thought were
27、political and shouldnt be charged to the taxpayers.Let me say, incidentally, that some of you may say, Well, thats all right, Senator, thats your explanation, but have you got any proof? And Id like to tell you this evening that just an hour ago we received an independent audit of this entire fund.
28、I suggested to Governor Sherman Adams, who is the Chief of Staff of the Dwight Eisenhower campaign, that an independent audit and legal report be obtained, and I have that audit here in my hands. Its an audit made by the Price Waterhouse & Company firm, and the legal opinion by Gibson, Dunn, & Crutc
29、her, lawyers in Los Angeles, the biggest law firm, and incidentally, one of the best ones in Los Angeles.I am proud to be able to report to you tonight that this audit and this legal opinion is being forwarded to General Eisenhower. And Id like to read to you the opinion that was prepared by Gibson,
30、 Dunn, & Crutcher, and based on all the pertinent laws and statutes, together with the audit report prepared by the certified public accountants. Quote:It is our conclusion that Senator Nixon did not obtain any financial gain from the collection and disbursement of the fund by Dana Smith. that Senat
31、or Nixon did not violate any federal or state law by reason of the operation of the fund. and that neither the portion of the fund paid by Dana Smith directly to third persons, nor the portion paid to Senator Nixon, to reimburse him for designated office expenses, constituted income to the Senator which was either reportable or taxable as income under applicable tax laws.(signed)Gibson, Dunn, & Crutcher,by Elmo H. ConleyNow that, my friends, is not Nixon speaking, but thats an independent au
copyright@ 2008-2022 冰豆网网站版权所有
经营许可证编号:鄂ICP备2022015515号-1