December 10, 1953
JFK SAYS FEDERAL PROGRAMS & UNFAIR PRACTICES HARM NEW ENGLAND INDUSTRY
Chattanooga, Tennessee (JFK+50) Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts, speaking here in the South today, addressed the issues of industrial development & migration.*
JFK said that it is an "unfortunate fact" that industry is leaving New England & heading to the South.
Senator Kennedy proposed these two major reasons for this phenomenon:
1. The influence of Federal programs such as TVA which receives a 'disproportionate share of government contracts, tax amortization certificates, & federal construction projects & grants.'
2. The cost differential resulting from unfair and substandard practices permitted by Federal law.
As examples, the freshman Massachusetts senator cited the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act that allows the South to bid on Federal contracts despite paying lower wages than those in the North & the Labor Relations Act which permits employers to oppose unionization of their industries.
Senator Kennedy closed his speech in Chattanooga with these words:
"It is a common goal--the expansion & prosperity of every section, not the ephemeral aggrandizement of one at the expense of another through the exploitation of...self-destroying values."
*JFK began his speech by saying "It is a great pleasure to be here...in Tennessee & to be better acquainted with your famous & justly celebrated state."
He also recognized Tennessee's Democratic Senators Estes Kefauver & Albert Gore, Sr. Ironically, Kefauver would defeat JFK for the VP nomination in 1956 due to Gore's decision to support his fellow Tennessee senator.
Chattanooga, Tennessee
View from Lookout Mountain
January 1, 2012
Photo by Thomsonmg2000
