IV 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 638 
Commemorating President Gerald R. Ford and the invaluable impact of 
his service to the United States in honor of the 40th anniversary of 
his Presidency. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 23, 2014 
Mr. HUIZENGA of Michigan (for himself, Mr. BENISHEK, Mr. BENTIVOLIO, 
Mr. CAMP, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. LEVIN, Mrs. MILLER of 
Michigan, Mr. PETERS of Michigan, Mr. UPTON, Mr. WALBERG, Mr. 
ROGERS of Michigan, Mr. KILDEE, and Mr. AMASH) submitted the fol-
lowing resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and 
Government Reform 
RESOLUTION 
Commemorating President Gerald R. Ford and the invaluable 
impact of his service to the United States in honor 
of the 40th anniversary of his Presidency. 
Whereas on August 9, 1974, Vice President Gerald R. Ford 
takes the Oath of Office in the East Room of the White 
House becoming the 38th President of the United States; 
Whereas in his swearing-in remarks, President Ford an-
nounces ‘‘In all my public and private acts as your presi-
dent, I expect to follow my instincts of openness and can-
dor with full confidence that honesty is always the best 
policy in the end. My fellow Americans, our long, national 
nightmare is over.’’; 
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Whereas following the ceremony, President Ford goes imme-
diately to work meeting with Congressional leaders, sen-
ior White House staff, senior economic advisors, and for-
eign emissaries; 
Whereas on August 19, 1974, on his first Presidential trip 
outside of Washington, DC, President Gerald R. Ford de-
livers an impassioned speech to the Veterans of Foreign 
Wars Convention in Chicago; 
Whereas President Ford announces his policy for the ‘‘earned 
re-entry’’ return for Vietnam Era draft resisters to the 
mainstream of United States society; 
Whereas ‘‘earned re-entry’’ requires two years of performing 
alternative public service and President Ford also creates 
a clemency board to review previous related cases; 
Whereas on August 22, 1974, President Gerald R. Ford, 
along with First Lady Betty Ford, announces his support 
for the Equal Rights Amendment; 
Whereas Mrs. Ford is a strong proponent of the Equal 
Rights Amendment and actively joins in the nationwide 
movement by speaking about women’s issues, lobbying 
Congress and participating in public appearances; 
Whereas the following year, President Ford signs an Execu-
tive order establishing the National Commission for the 
Observance of International Women’s Year (1975); 
Whereas on September 2, 1974, President Gerald R. Ford 
signs the Employee Retirement Income Security Act 
guaranteeing the pension rights of 23,000,000 people in 
the United States; 
Whereas appropriately, President Ford signs the ERIS Act 
on Labor Day 1974 which establishes minimum stand-
ards for pension plans in private industry and provides 
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for extensive rules on the Federal income tax effects of 
transactions associated with employee benefit plans; 
Whereas on September 26, 1974, through September 28, 
1974, President Gerald R. Ford stands strong by his be-
loved wife First Lady Betty Ford as she courageously 
and openly battles Breast Cancer; 
Whereas Mrs. Ford says, ‘‘Lying in the hospital, thinking of 
all those women going for cancer checkups because of me, 
I’d come to recognize more clearly the power of the 
woman in the White House. Not my power, but the 
power of the position, a power which could be used to 
help.’’; 
Whereas the national coverage of Mrs. Ford’s public recovery 
leads to greater awareness and years of future research 
that will save thousands of lives; 
Whereas on September 30, 1974, after the White House con-
venes the ‘‘Summit Conference on Inflation’’, President 
Gerald R. Ford creates the Economic Policy Board to 
bring balance and vitality to the economy; 
Whereas the Board’s mission is to oversee the formulation, 
coordination and implementation of all economic policy of 
the United States to help with rising grocery prices, erod-
ing purchasing power because of inflation, rising costs of 
business, and thousands of unemployed who want work; 
Whereas on October 15, 1974, President Gerald R. Ford 
signs the Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments of 
1974, which seek to regulate campaign fundraising and 
spending; 
Whereas this is the most significant attempt at campaign fi-
nance reform since the 1920s; 
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Whereas President Ford approves congressional revisions in 
the Federal Elections Commission and Federal Election 
Campaign Act to permit resumption of Federal check-off 
subsidies for all Presidential campaigns; 
Whereas on November 23, 1974, and November 24, 1974, 
President Gerald R. Ford and General Secretary Leonid 
Brezhnev meet in Vladivostok, U.S.S.R.; 
Whereas during this meeting, they confer on and sign a joint 
communique´ on the limitation of strategic offensive arms; 
Whereas by the end of their discussions, President Ford feels 
confident that ‘‘as soon as technicians had ironed out the 
few remaining problems, we would sign a SALT II ac-
cord’’; 
Whereas this accord would continue the tradition of arms 
limitation set forth by the SALT I accord signed in May 
1972; 
Whereas on January 1, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signs 
the Privacy Act of 1974, ensuring individual privacy for 
Americans which established a Code of Fair Information 
Practice that governs the collection, maintenance, use, 
and dissemination of personally identifiable information 
about individuals that is maintained in systems of records 
by Federal agencies; 
Whereas on January 15, 1975, in his first State of the Union 
Address, President Gerald R. Ford announces bluntly 
that ‘‘the state of the Union is not good. Millions of 
Americans are out of work. Recession and inflation are 
eroding the money of millions more. Prices are too high, 
and sales are too slow.’’; 
Whereas to remedy these problems, President Ford proposes 
tax cuts for United States families and businesses and 
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also strongly advocates for the reduction of government 
spending; 
Whereas in April 1975, President Gerald R. Ford orders the 
emergency evacuation from South Vietnam of children in 
Operation Babylift which results in the adoption of over 
3,000 children throughout the world; 
Whereas President Ford greets a planeload of orphans at San 
Francisco International Airport upon its arrival in the 
United States; 
Whereas President Ford also oversees the evacuation of 
7,000 United States personnel and high-risk South Viet-
namese nationals as Saigon falls to Communist forces in 
Operation Frequent Wind; 
Whereas on July 26, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford departs 
on a trip to Europe for visits to West Germany, Poland, 
Finland, Romania, and Yugoslavia; 
Whereas in Helsinki, President Ford joins leaders from 34 
nations in signing the Final Act of the Conference on Se-
curity and Cooperation in Europe also known as the Hel-
sinki Agreement; 
Whereas the Helsinki Agreement ratifies post-World War II 
European borders and supports human rights; and 
Whereas the Helsinki Agreement’s human rights provisions 
greatly help Eastern Europeans seeking an end to their 
communist regimes: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives com-
memorates the Presidency of Gerald R. Ford and the ex-
traordinary contributions he made to the United States. 
Æ 
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