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@center(Suggestions for State of the Union)
@flushleft(Miro:)

	It is possible that the President and his speech writers will want
something shorter than your draft.  Here is something shorter and also
that may fit better with what I imagine may be a rather upbeat message.
The numbers come from Tom Connolly and so does the phrase "too incompetent
or neurotic" which I hope you will include in what you transmit, since the
President does very well with concise statements.  The percentage increases
refer to the first six months of 1984 as compared to the corresponding
period of 1983, but I didn't see how to say that compactly enough.
Our meeting included Tom, Rudy Sher, Elliot Bloom, Karl Cohen and myself.
Edward couldn't make it.
@newpage         
@center(Suggestions for remarks on nuclear energy)

	The economy has now entered a period of growth that all
Americans hope and expect will be sustained.  Planning for the
future by both industry and all levels of government must take
this growth into account in order to avoid supply crises in
the future.  If our own recovery is followed by an equally strong
recovery in the other industrial democracies in Europe
supplies of oil and other commodities may be tight and
prices may rise.

	One of these possible future crises is the supply of
electricity.  Already since the start of economic recovery in 1983
the use of electricity has grown 8.4 percent in a year and our import of
foreign oil has increased by 38 percent.  By 1990 we may find
ourselves experiencing shortages of electricity in some parts
of the country.

	While conservation measures reduced the demand for electricity
somewhat, the main cause was recession.  This reduced demand
coupled with excessive regulation and excessive lawsuits has
put our electricity industry in a serious economic position
that jeopardizes its ability to meet our future needs.

	The problem is particularly acute with regard to nuclear
power.  Plants are being completed more slowly and expensively
all the time, and completed plants that cost several billions of
dollars are being prevented from going into operation in several
states.  The utilities that built these plants are partly at fault
but so is the campaign against nuclear power that has expressed
itself in innumerable lawsuits and demonstrations.

	There are 300 nuclear power plants operating in the world,
and their safety record is outstanding compared to other means of
generating electricity and other industrial activities.  America
was the pioneer in nuclear energy, and American designs
have been adopted all over the world.

	Because of our problems in completing and operating plants,
other countries that started far behind us have caught up and passed
us in the fraction of their electricity generated by nuclear energy.
Twelve percent of our electricity is nuclear.  In Japan which started
much later, it's twenty, and France, using American-licensed designs,
is this year producing more than half its electricity from nuclear
sources.  Moreover, in these countries each successive plant has been
cheaper and quicker to build than the previous plants.
@i(I cannot believe
that Americans are too incompetent or too neurotic to do as well).

	In order to get this important source of energy moving again,
I am appointing a bipartisan commission chaired by xx [Senator Howard
Baker would be good] to study how we can remove the obstacles to the
successful, safe and economical development of nuclear energy.
Their recommendations may call for action on the part of the Federal
Government including the Congress, the NRC and the Department of
energy, by state governments, by the companies that build the plants
and the electricity industry that operates them.  One possibility for
reducing the amount of regulation is to separate the industry into
companies that generate electricity and that can compete among themselves
and the companies that distribute it to homes, industry and commerce.
@newpage
@begin(flushleft)
5.9 percent in last year
improvements over last 4 years,
energy use
attack on antis

Baker appointment

to determine if Americans are too incompetent or too neurotic to
do as well as the French and Japanese.
@end(flushleft)