 Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States, escorted by Frank Berenkoff and Keith Brown. Ladies and gentlemen, I know many of you have had the opportunity, particularly during the President's State of the Union address, to observe him as he yearly honors heroes of our country. He usually has them sitting in the balcony and he points them out and tells their story. I have the pleasure of introducing the President to you this evening and I thought there's no better way to express it than to say to you that tonight I give you the most valuable asset and hero of the Republican Party, the most valuable asset and hero of the American people, the most valuable asset and hero of every person on this planet who loves freedom and democracy. Thank you all very much, but I really think in view of what all of you have done and are doing, are the things we believe in, I should be cheering you. And if you were in the balcony and I had the Congress here in front of me, I'd point you out. And that would keep faith with what I've always believed about them. You don't try to make them see the light, make them feel the heat. Before I get into my remarks, I know that Don Regan, this earlier today, told you about the Iceland trip that's coming up now as a result of getting an American citizen home. He's well on his way. In fact, I think he's probably arrived. I know I'm going to be seeing him tomorrow, Nick Daniloff. There seems to be some effort already to try and portray it as that we made a trade, him for the spy. That's not true. We traded the spy for somebody else. But we got all of those things done only because Mr. Daniloff came home. And they knew in advance that everything was on hold until he came home. But now, grateful as I am for all you've done, you know, I've been here too long. I'm going to ask you for more if you just... And not of what you've been of that same thing. But there's a little matter of a veto that I put on the other day on the sanctions bill. The House of Representatives has already voted to override the veto. Our fate lies with the Senate. And if any of you just happen to be talking to some of our Republican senators and lean on them a little bit about voting to sustain that veto, I'll be very, very grateful. Because things don't look too bright right now from here. And we haven't been able to, I guess, convince enough of them that the sanctions that they have voted and are imposing are going to hurt the very people that we're trying to help. And I think they're apt to open the doors to all kinds of radical factionalism over there. And we were in our making some headway. I received a letter one day from Boutelezzi, the leader of the Zulus, the biggest grouping in South Africa. And it was the most statesmanlike letter that I've ever read. And he, speaking for six million of those persecuted blacks, told me that all of them said no to sanctions, that this would destroy everything that they're trying to gain. So if you just happen to meet a senator. But now enough of that. Thank you for being here with you and having this opportunity to express my appreciation for all that you're doing for our party and for our country. The Eagles program is now in its 11th year. And since its inception, it has raised $55 million for the cause. You Eagles have been the backbone of the Republican Party. Your generosity, sense of responsibility have been crucial factors in the success that we've enjoyed, especially in these last five and a half years. As a story, you know, about a chicken and a hog. They both decided to go to town, thought they might like living in the city, and they spotted a sign on a restaurant that said, ham and eggs, a dollar and a half. And the chicken suggested they go in and apply for a job in there. And the pig declined. He pointed out to the chicken, he said, for you, going in only requires a contribution. He said, for me, it's a total commitment. All of you can be assured that your total commitment is much appreciated by this president and by the many others in our party that you've helped over the years. This year, of course, is a make or break year. And I hope you'll join with me in pulling out all the stops to make certain that we retain control of the United States Senate. In these last five and a half years, we've managed to pull America back from the edge of an economic catastrophe. We kicked the tax spend and inflate crowd out, set our sights on growth opportunity and freedom. But the old liberals are waiting in the wings, ready to undo everything we've worked and sweated to accomplish. The Republican National Committee, which is a major recipient of your support, has embarked on a campaign this year that is unprecedented in the history of American politics, spending five million dollars to identify, contact, and deliver the Republican vote across the country. In cooperation with the Senatorial Committee, the RNC is sending out 12 million pieces of mail and making 10 million phone calls, as well as making sizable contributions to selected races. If no one has told you yet, I have an allergy in Washington next to Sacramento. It's the allergy capital of the world. But in cooperation with the Senatorial Committee, the RNC is, well, I've told you that, they wouldn't be able to do this without your support. So thank you. And a special thanks to Keith Brown, who both as an Eagle and as Finance Chairman serves above and beyond the call of duty. I also want to mention how pleased I am that Frank Ferenkoff is going to seek re-election to a third term as National Party Chairman. I don't know whether it did help a little. Well, we all know what an outstanding job he's done, and I believe it's in the best interest of our party that he stay on as Chairman and continue the programs that he's begun. I hope that this year, as important as it is, each of you will make it a special point to get personally involved in at least one Senate race. You can make the difference. And this year, that means you will determine if our country continues to make progress and move forward or is pulled back into the muck of collectivism and redistribution. Some of our incumbents, public officials who anyone should be proud to support, are in close races. The other side is throwing everything into the battle. Doesn't it ever make you wonder why big contributors on our side are labeled fat cats? And when they're on the other side, they're called public-spirited philanthropists? I think we can all be encouraged that at long last the American people are waking up to some fundamental values. Few, if any, for example, still believe that taxes can be raised and only the other guy will pay. You know, that Rob Peter to pay Paul. Peter went bankrupt a long time ago. Few, if any, for example, still believe that taxes can be raised. As I say, somebody else will pay and candidates who offer something for nothing and quick fixes are being met with skepticism. We've made enormous progress since the days when government spending was in many minds synonymous with job creation. Our economic recovery program has already created over 11 million jobs since November of 1982. Now that's what I call a Republican jobs program. We share a vision of a strong growing opportunity filled America. Young people are filling our ranks and all the rallies that I've addressed in this campaign so far, wherever, out in the country I've gone, it's just wonderful to stand up and see how many youngsters, young people, are out there in those crowds. People from the other party, finding the leadership of their party is totally out of sync with the rank and file, are changing registration and joining our camp. There's a story you may have heard, a political story about a young boy was selling puppies outside a Democratic fundraising dinner. And he held up a puppy as the guest filed out after the dinner and gave his pitch Democrat puppies for sale. Anybody want to buy a Democrat puppy? Two weeks later at the same restaurant, the Republicans were having a fundraiser and the same kid was there trying to sell the same pups when he was called on Republican puppies. And a reporter who'd been at the other dinner too said, how can you do that? He asked him, he said, you had these same pups here two weeks ago and now they're Republicans and they were Democrats then. Kids just said, now they have their eyes open. Well, between now and election day we got to make certain that we open the eyes of the American people and get our people out to vote. This is a watershed year. If we keep control of the Senate, our cause will be on the offensive for a generation. So now's the time. And I know I can count on you. And I thank you for all you're doing for our party and for our country. And I'm not going to leave you without one more story though. It's one that I've been telling, if you've been to some of those fundraisers I've been doing, you've already heard it. I've been using it. I like to describe the leadership of our opponents. It's like the three fellows that came out of the building to their car and found they locked themselves out of the car. And one of them said, oh, somebody get me a wire coat hanger. I'll straighten it out and I can hook the handle. And the second was, you can't do that. People will see and they'll think we're trying to steal the car. And the third one said, well, we better do something quick. It's starting to rain and the top's down. Thank you very much again. Mr. President, we thank you very much. We ask our Eagles to submit questions, written questions. And I'm going to draw them out of the box here and you may or may not want to answer them. I just want to assure you that Frank and I wrote any question that's in this box. The first question is from Mr. K. R. McDonald in California. He wants to know, short of a depression, is there any way to stop government spending? Yes, there is. And we've been trying for it and we've come close. The first step is something that 40, let me see. There's 43 governors have and I had as governor of California. Line item veto for the president. Right now they're up there. I haven't had a budget since I've been here. We sit around the cabinet table for hours and hours. It's our job. The people that run the programs, we decide on a budget. They're the ones that run the programs that the Congress has passed. They say they can do it for this figure. We send it up to the Hill and the Democratic leadership boastfully says it's dead on arrival and puts it on a shelf and then they start out and we wind up with a continuing resolution. Now that is where they pass a bill that's supposed to for either part of the year or the whole year. And in it, they put all the appropriation bills. You don't get a chance to vote on a single bill and say no to this. They dump them all in but then they add in all the things they want to do. And this bill, this continuing resolution that's before the Congress now I'm sorry, at midnight tonight the government is out of money. There is no way I can sign that bill. It would be so destructive and so many of the things that we've tried to do that have nothing to do with budgeting. But that and then once that is passed an amendment for a balanced budget for our Constitution. 49 of our states have that in their Constitution that the budget must be balanced. And this time when it was proposed this time it lost by one vote in the Senate. So here again those two things because I'll give you an example and I'll try to make the answer shorter but when I was governor of California with the line item veto they put things in there that can't stand the light of day. So they're hidden in there and you vote for the whole package. In eight years I vetoed 943 times on line item veto and was never overridden once. Now in California it takes a two-thirds majority to send the budget to me and it only takes a two-thirds majority to override my veto but they didn't dare when those items were out there all by themselves and they had to apparently be voting for that particular item. 943 times. Give us those and I guarantee you we can get back to where the government isn't spending so much money. The next question is from Dieter Meyers Gonzalez also from California. This isn't rigged. Is it true you'll be residing at Pickfair when you retire to California? Then he goes on and says seriously do you believe that the new tax bill is truly a blessing and a benefit for corporate America and why? Oh boy. Ignore the first book. I do believe and I won't be living at Pickfair. I do believe that it is a benefit for the nation. When I was in Hollywood making all that if money most of the time that I was making it I was in the 90% bracket and I know how many times a script had come and I was awfully tempted but I'd say no. I'm not going to go out there and make another picture for ten cents on the dollar. I'm already in that other bracket and this happened to an awful lot of people and I think that now this is the first common sense in a long time. We wouldn't need some of the loopholes that they all were created because they had to be some answer to the high brackets of the old tax system but now 28% top tax and I know that there have been some things that have been taken away that business things might be detrimental and yet the National Chamber of Commerce has endorsed us and wants the program and there's not enough being said that from 46% in the corporate tax it's going down to 34% so I think that some of the so-called tax shelters or tax breaks can be done away with and we'll all be better off and I know this that our tax reduction in 1941 that was passed is the biggest single factor in the recovery had and at the lower rates the government is getting more money in total and there was a fellow named Eben Caldoun back several hundred years ago who said in the beginning of the empire the rates were low and the revenue was great at the end of the empire the rates were high and the revenue was low. This next question is from Nelson Texas. Dear Mr. President are you aware that an increasing number of young couples cannot get a stake in America by owning a home of their own what should our national policy be to give more of our young people a better opportunity to own a home of their own? Well we know that the present average price of a home has been made because of the years of inflation and we took it down from more than two double digits down to where it is for the last 12 months I guess it's been about 1.6 and I hope we can eliminate it entirely then the interest rates that we're making it impossible for them to own a home we have brought those down to the lowest that they've been in a few decades and they've got to come down even further and then I think that they will be able to to buy a home because for the most part wages and salaries and income has kept up with that high inflation and it's not going to go back down just because now we're ending the high inflation to stay where it is but he's right about that that's one of the most basic things in our society is the ability of people to own that piece of ground they stand on next question when do you plan to sign into law the tax reform bill submitted by Joseph Gildenharm all I'm waiting for now is after they pass it then they have to put it through the legislative council and all they have to make sure that all the words are correct in it and it all has to be drawn up and it's a rather thick bill and I'm just sitting with a pen open already on my desk for it to arrive alright so this is the last question submitted by Carol Alicio San Diego California do you feel the Soviets are behind the drug infiltration into the United States my father had captured a German officer 1942 he said the Russians will be our real enemy and destroy our country from within through our children and with drugs I know that probably the press would sound off and go into fits if somebody suddenly came out and accused them of this right now but I also know that some years ago in California someone had obtained a textbook that was used in the geopolitical institute in Russia where they train their agents and where to go out into the other the rest of the world and try and influence it to communism and one page of that was so telling that that page was reproduced and delivered to the Los Angeles County school board and it was made public in most of the schools at that time and the page was telling the agents that they were training that they must they could win by just getting the teenagers one generation and if they could get one generation they would have that country forever and some of the things they said were that they must take away from the young people allegiance to family or to community or to their school they must empty them of anything that they could believe in and then when they had them in that condition then they would give them a cause to believe in their cause socialism and they said to do this they must use everything they must use sex they must use drugs and that was they had quite a few lines on that all of these things to get our teenagers and so I can't help but believe that they must at least be encouraging however they can the flow of drugs not only to this country but to the other democracies in the world but certainly to this country I tell you Nancy for five and a half years has been working so hard on this and has mostly been with the young people but she has come home in these later days just horrified at how far down the age group is and when she told the story to me of a fourth grader who is not only a user is a pusher and believe it or not he's in the classroom with a beeper and when it beeps he excuses himself because that beep means outside he's got a customer now the stories are horrifying of all of this on the other hand and this is why we launched the crusade the other night Nancy was talking to a bunch of students just kids in Oakland California and one of them asked a question and said well what can we do they start telling us and asking us to use drugs and Nancy said well just say no well today there are over 10,000 just say no clubs in schools across the United States but I if I would just add one more convincing thing to that specific question I have just been meeting with and talking today to one of our neighbors in the American country and as so many of those countries are they they have a guerrilla force in their country that is fighting against the existing government and he told me that increasingly they have found that there is a tie in now between those guerrillas and the international drug network that one funds the other and the guerrillas then have bodyguards and so forth and they make sure that the flow of drugs can get out of there and head for our country so yes and I could think of a lot more bad things that the communists are responsible for but I just I'll finish with another story then I have to leave the I have a new hobby now I have found that many sources like our diplomats and all stories that are told by the citizens in the Soviet Union about their own government which reveals how cynical they are about it and the latest story that I learned was the one of they came to Gorbachev and the Kremlin and they said there's a woman here and she says she will not leave the Kremlin until she sees you well he said bring her in so they brought her in and she said was communism invented by a scientist or a politician and he said well I suppose it was a politician she said that explains it the scientist would have tried it on mice first thank you sir I'm I'm sure that everyone in this room will join me and not only in thanking the president but bringing back to the White House a message to Nancy that we love her and we're so proud of the job she's doing for the young people of this country