US Presidency
1964

I told Senator Byrd that we are going to do everything possible to hold down the regular seasonal increases in employment which occur in the spring of the year as outdoor work opens up. I am determined to hold Federal employment to the minimum required to conduct the public business effectively. I have asked the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior, who normally employ a good many people at this time of the year, to be very careful in the people they put on in the next few months. I have met in the last few days with key leaders of business and labor, as you know. I am pleased with the gains made by both groups, not at the expense of each other, but as the result of our record month, $ 108 billion expansion of gross national product. We have a higher productivity. We have lower taxes.