US Presidency
1967

But let us resolve that this is to be the Congress that made our draft laws as fair and as effective as possible. We should protect what Justice Brandeis called the right most valued by civilized men the right to privacy. We should outlaw all wiretapping public and private wherever and whenever it occurs, except when the security of this Nation itself is at stake- and only then with the strictest governmental safeguards. And we should exercise the full reach of our constitutional powers to outlaw electronic bugging and snooping. I hope this Congress will try to help me do more for the consumer. We should demand that the cost of credit be clearly and honestly expressed where average citizens can understand it. We should immediately take steps to prevent massive power failures, to safeguard the home against hazardous household products, and to assure safety in the pipelines that carry natural gas across our Nation. We should extend Medicare benefits that are now denied to 1,300,000 permanently and totally disabled Americans under 65 years of age.