78-08-A7
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Russia[edit]
Transcript[edit]No one can make a headline by proclaiming that "travel is broadening". But in the sense of adding to ones knowledge and understanding it really is. Congressman John Wydler (WIDE-LER) of New York just possibly has re-discovered the truth of the old adage. Recently, he returned from a trip to the Soviet Union and has told his constituents the trip was an eye-opening experience. When Congressman and Mrs. Wydler arrived in Moscow, American officials there gave them a kind of checklist. It was a security briefing that told them a great deal about life in the worker's paradise. There were five specific points. Number one - All telephone calls, they were told, were monitored by the Soviets. Number two - They were to assume that all rooms have electronic eavesdropping equipment, and that all conversations will be monitored. Number three - Assume that all drivers understand English and are required to report all conversations. Number four - Assume that any luggage or briefcases in your rooms will be searched while you are absent. Number five - Assume all trash thrown in wastebaskets will be examined. The Wydlers had an experience that made them believers in the check list. They returned to their hotel room one day to find that all the window drapes had been removed. Mrs. Wydler pointed out to her husband that there was no way to cover the windows and have any kind of privacy. The Congressman turned toward the chandelier and yelled - Quote - "Bring back those drapes - right now" - Unquote -. And they did. Now you know that would be a funny scene in a movie; the door bursting open with a half dozen people rushing to the window, hanging curtains as fast as they can. That part of the checklist having to do with drivers who all understood English reminded me of an experience in Sacramento a few years ago. A delegation of Soviet journalists was touring America and our State department called to say they wanted to interview me. We had a kind of press conference with an interpreter translating their questions to me and my answers to them. I got a little curious so at one point I told a joke. About two-thirds of them laughed before the interpreter opened his mouth. Another Congressman returned from Russia with a little "travel-is-broadening" experience he related to the American Security Council. John Breckenridge told of a meeting with Soviet deputy defense minister N.V. Ogarkov (OH-GAR-KOFF). The Marshal told him, - QUOTE - "Today the Soviet Union has military superiority over the United States and henceforth the United States will be threatened. You had better get used to it." - UNQUOTE - Congressman Breckenridge told the Council: - QUOTE - "The United States - not its people - in spite of an economy unmatched in the world has either accepted or bungled into a position of inferiority predicated on budgetary insufficiency." - UNQUOTE - This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening. |
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