 individual meetings. Mr. President, Mrs. Reagan, members of parliament, good morning to all. Mr. President, American Ambassadors here often talk about the special relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States. The members of parliament we have with us are symbolic of that relationship. They share our common goals of human liberty in a peaceful world, and today, on the anniversary of D-Day, we are very aware of these goals. Their spokesman is Peter Viggers, a respected member of the House of Commons, Mr. Viggers. Mr. President, this delegation of young parliamentarians would like to present to you a letter of welcome and support. We remember with gratitude your countries' sacrifices and staunch friendship for us in the past. Today, we are conscious of the need for proper defence and deterrence to maintain peace and freedom. For this reason, we welcome your efforts to strengthen Western defences and your country's strong support for NATO as the basis of the security of both our nations. We are conscious that the unity, strength and confidence of our alliance provide the best hope of achieving equitable and verifiable arms control on an agreed and multilateral basis. We believe that these principles are well understood in this country as they are in yours. Mr. President, may I hand to you this letter which has been signed by the members of parliament present as a token of our country's support for these principles. Well, meeting with conservative MPs, I thank you, Mr. Peter Viggers, and I thank all of you for your kind words and for your strong support for our efforts to preserve peace with freedom in our troubled world. Your remarks are particularly timely today, being the 40th anniversary of D-Day, as the Ambassador said. In all the 20th century, D-Day stands as the shining example of what free nations can do when united and inspired by mankind's highest ideals. I understand that your group is composed of members of parliament who were elected for the first time last June. And please accept my congratulations on the honor you've been accorded in joining the mother of parliaments. As younger members of the House of Commons, you've reached maturity in a divided world. You may have heard that I come from a slightly older generation. Ours lived as adults through the most severe test in history for freedom-loving people. So I'm very gratified to see that those vital lessons learned by my generation, lessons about the wisdom of collective defense and about the need for allied strengthened unity to defend free institutions, have been learned as well by all of you. Today in Europe, peace through strength is not a slogan, it is a fact of life. There is another important lesson we've learned. While we remain strong, we must always be ready for reconciliation, ready to resolve differences with our adversaries, and resolve them peacefully at the negotiating table. I want you and your fellow citizens in Britain to know the United States is seeking, and we will continue to seek, cooperation with the Soviet Union to make our world a safer place. Continued public support for collective security in all NATO countries is absolutely essential. I thank you for all that you're doing to foster that support. You can be proud that you're members of a fraternity within the free nations who have assumed the heavy burden of working for both peace and liberty. Just recently in Washington, I met with 16 foreign ministers that make up the Alliance, and I couldn't help but think as we sat around the table. There has never in history been such an alliance dedicated to the preservation of peace and freedom. With wisdom and courage, peace and freedom will not be lost again. They can and will be preserved. We can live up to Winston Churchill's vision of freedom in 1941. He looked at the past and saw a light which flickered. He looked at his time and saw a light which flamed. But he looked at the future and saw, quote, a light which shines over all the land and sea. He had another statement. He said that when great forces are on the move in the world, we learn that we are spirits, not animals, and that there is something going on in time and space and beyond time and space, which whether we like it or not spells duty. Well, I thank all of you very much, and I feel greatly honored. And bless all of you. Let me recount if I may a couple of the things that happened here. Initially, we were supposed to land on the cliffs at 8 o'clock, but due to a navigational error, we've upped the beat. As a consequence, we had to proceed along the coast of a couple hundred yards offshore with the Germans shooting us all the way. And by the time we finally got to the cliffs, it was 40 minutes after 8 o'clock, and then the Germans were out ready to greet us in mass and give us a welcome. Had we been here at 8 o'clock, the battleship Texas noticed the Navy destroyers were firing on the point. We hoped we could have suspended cliffs before, but then as further as the compound fell in, the beaches were so eroded that we had to stop the amphibious vehicles that had ladders, hundred foot ladders attached that would go up. And had machine gunners at the top that were going to cover the tops of the cliff. They couldn't make that a foothold on the beach. And the final irony of the whole thing, the bitter swell of walls, when we did get to the top, that the German guns weren't there. We broke each platoon with a sign of different missions. And some of the people moved on straight out towards the road. One of our missions were to cut off and create a roadblock. Another mission, of course, was to knock out all the guns. And we had to at that time, because of the guns being removed, we, and the losses we suffered to set up a perimeter to defense some of the men from all three companies traveled on further inland, which was rather fortunate because they did find the guns about a mile inland and they were thermite-generated and put out of action. We started out at 225, we ended up about 80 or 90. I know that the records will show that we had the longest engagement of any of the troops that landed. We were pinned down for two and a half days before our relief came. They're supposed to be through in about three or four hours and they arrive two days later. The initial plans, and I don't know whether they've been published or anything else, were to have the ENF company secure the top, knock out the guns, and once secured, set up a signal which would then have A and B companies of a second range of battalion and all of the second range of battalion come in here on the cliffs to secure it, set up the roadblocks, and then tie in the Brigadier General of Dakota, who was to be the commanding officer of the high-to-fire power, fast-moving team, and there was to be a cavalry unit and an infantry unit attached to it, so that we would be able then to move in any direction, primarily behind the enemy lines. If that had happened, I think some of this would have changed altogether. Can you pick up the hook, please? Thank you very much. I certainly appreciate your coming here. Can you pick up the hook, please? I can't say it's a pleasure. All of the Rangers here, past and presently represented by the Rangers on the platform there, very proud and honored to have you here. Thank you. I haven't seen one of those in 40 years. I'm going to steal it. Thank you again, Mr. President. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Why do you think of it? What? Quite a feat. Yes, it is. I've just been hearing the story of it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you very much. In the spirit of reconciliation, in truth, there is no reconciliation we would welcome more than a reconciliation with the Social Union. So together, ladies and gentlemen, can we please rise for a moment of silence?