 Which is really running the government learned a great deal in the in the two and a half with that I'm going to pause because I think in the not-too-distant future our first our first speaker will be arriving Thank you very much for joining Thank you Well Thank you all for coming this afternoon and seeing you here reminds me that we've Put together a team of pros of top-notch professionals professionals and your talents and energies are Getting the business of government back on track We haven't been in Washington a long time, but I think we've accomplished a great deal Nowhere is this more true than here at home America's economic pulse is getting stronger and steadier every day Inflation which had hit double digits when we took office is Running at the lowest annual rate in more than 15 years 2.6% for the last 12 months and that translates into real savings a medium-income family Income of $25,000 has about six hundred dollars more in purchasing power today than it had in 1980 and There's even good news at the supermarket Food prices not only has stopped rising they stopped that last month, but they're actually have declined You know for a time there when you went to the market to buy food it looked as if it might be cheaper to eat money But the prime interest rate is less than half what it was the GNP is growing faster than most economists dreamed it would Personal income is up production is up factory orders are up retail sales are up and we've heard once again today Housing sales are still going up in the months ahead I think we'll see more evidence and that even that last dragon unemployment Has started to wilt Now I have a feeling that a lot of you are just as familiar with all these things that I've just said as I am But the plain truth is I just like the sound of them so much that I wanted to say it out loud again. I Have a story about that. I don't know whether Jimmy Stewart would object to my Repeating his remarks when we were campaigning together and he would introduce me at the various banquets out there in the campaign trail And every time they talk about the MC and introducing him would talk about his Great stardom in pictures and all and then each time I would get up and think it was only fair Apologize to the MC for correcting him would say in addition to that His war record and the Jimmy Stewart not only flew the Hamburg run, but he's a major general in the Air Corps Reserve and One time after several of these situations The master ceremonies did refer to his military record and then said Brigadier general Jimmy Stewart So when I got up, I apologized to the MC again and said it's major general Jimmy Stewart And I'm thinking about this when I think about saying these things over again that night when we got back to the hotel Jimmy said Iran He said that that fella tonight. What was right? He says He says it it is Brigadier general he says I just never corrected you before because it it sounded so good So I think the statistics sound good and we can all talk about them some more We've done good teamwork and I think we can all be proud With the cornerstones of our economic program in place It's time to shine the limelight on another mammoth challenge that we also undertook in the early days of the administration Our attack was on waste and fraud in the federal government We came here Vowing to rein in the unwieldy federal bureaucracy and get this government running as honestly and efficiently as any successful American business We've been making some pretty good progress on that and I've invited you here today to enlist your further help in Expanding our reach and making our improvements permanent I'm proud to report that through the strike force efforts of our departmental IG offices 29.3 billion tax dollars have been saved or put to better use so far The government has collected three and a half billion dollars in debts that otherwise wouldn't have been collected The paperwork burden has been cut by 20 percent Our plan to reduce non-defense federal employment is ahead of schedule We've cut the cost of federal publications by a fifth travel by 16 percent and audio visual projects by 15 percent over at the Veterans Administration As Harry Wander's and Everett Alvarez can tell us we've set up a computer matching system that stopped a phony benefits Check scheme and save some seventy thousand dollars in VA benefits just in that At the GSA Jerry Karman has really turned things around. He's got work in progress Timed down from 30 days to seven days while absorbing budget cuts of 20 percent and the attrition of 7,000 employees and over at the Pentagon Cap Weinberger and our service secretaries along with many others had have identified nearly 16.1 billion dollars in savings on our cost avoidances on waste and fraud and During the next seven years Multi-year procurement and other acquisition initiatives will save us almost 30 billion dollars There's much more that we've done But there's still much more to do Another major initiative undertaken by this administration is our private sector survey on cost control Which was established a year and a half ago to identify waste and inefficiency in the federal government under the chairmanship of Peter Grace The survey already has issued 37 reports containing over 2,000 recommendations Which could result in cost savings and revenue opportunities totaling as much as 300 billion dollars over the next three years the survey will issue more reports during the next several months which should point out even more opportunities to Cut corners and save I expect to receive their final summer report early this fall But as important as whistleblowers investigators and surveyors are What our government needs most are good managers on the front line, and that's why I need you And that's why I'm calling on you on all program managers in every agency of the government to find more efficient ways of carrying out their programs Last fall I asked Joe right to hit up the reform 88 program And he's coordinating our effort to achieve lasting savings by changing financial and information management systems in every department and agency Our management improvement initiatives will expand the goals of our earlier efforts to streamline and reorganize the processes that control the money information Personnel and property of the federal government These new initiatives will bring us closer to fulfilling a promise that we made to the American people To limit government to its proper role and make it the servant not the master of the people There's not a lot of glory in our task, but I'm determined that when this administration leaves the stage The American people will have a federal government that operates on a business like many Now that means providing high quality essential public services as efficiently as possible and it means that by reducing the money lost to boondoggles More money will be available for a legitimate government programs by cutting waste and abuse and Through better targeting of aid we can ensure that those Americans who need and deserve our help can get it I know we share the same goals and that I can continue to depend on you for your help We have a chance to leave our permanent stamp on the executive branch Together we can do it and if we succeed we'll leave behind a better government and a better nation I thank you all for what you've done already and For all you're about to do for the good of our country and the generations who will follow us Again, good luck and God bless you