would serve as co-chairs of the fundraising committee for the Rockefeller Center for the Social Sciences. On August 16, 1981, while speaking to the Louisiana Retail Food Dealers Association, Ford stated the prosecution of the 12,000 striking members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization for criminal contempt would be overzealous on the part of the Justice Department. In October 1981, Ford joined President Reagan and Bob Hope for a Washington event commemorating the fortieth anniversary of the United Service Organization. On March 14, 1982, following a visit to Kuwait and attending a board meeting of the Santa Fe International Corporation, Ford stated that he was willing to meet with Yasir Arafat on the condition that Arafat "recognize that any such meeting would mean an admission on his part that Israel would be recognized by him and his people." Ford also clarified that he would not be representing the United States. In April 1982, during an appearance at the annual meeting luncheon of Fidelity Trust Company of Toronto, Ford stated that he was convinced the United States would assist Great Britain in the event that the invasion of the Falkland Islands resulted in war and voiced approval for the US's role in the conflict as a way of "exerting maximum effort to avoid a military confrontation." Ford founded the annual AEI World Forum in 1982, and joined the American Enterprise Institute as a distinguished fellow. He was awarded an honorary doctorate at Central Connecticut State University on March 23, 1988. During an August 1982 fundraising reception, Ford stated his opposition to a constitution amendment requiring the US to have a balanced budget, citing a need to elect "members of the House and Senate who will immediately when Congress convenes act more responsibly in fiscal matters." Ford was a participant in the 1982 midterm elections. In March, Ford endorsed Connecticut Senator Lowell P. Weicker Jr. and raised US$50,000 for the Weicker campaign in addition to attending a fundraising dinner that was noted as allowing Weicker to counter claims by his opponent Prescott Bush, Jr. that he was without proper standing within the Republican Party. In October, Ford traveled to Tennessee to help Republican candidates in the state. Ford spent part of that month campaigning for Jon S. Fossel and criticized the record of his opponent Richard Ottinger as being indicative of wanting massive spending on the part of the government. He