 Thank you. Thank you very much. It's a pleasure to be with you. A few weeks ago, the word was out that tax reform was dead, loop-hold to death. Today, thanks to the work of Bob Packwood, Russell Long, and some other fine senators, we're on the edge of a fine step forward. I would like to acknowledge the core group of senators who have committed themselves to protecting the tax bill on the Senate floor. Some of them are here this morning. That's those fellows I was shaking hands with. Without the help and commitment of Senators Dole, Simpson, Packwood, Long, Danforth, Chaffee, Wallop, Goldwater, Thurman, Quail, Durenberger, Warner, Bradley, Moynihan, Mitchell, Hart, Biden, Kennedy, Rockefeller, and Eagleton, this bill might soon fall prey to the special interests. I want each of you to know how grateful I am for all that you're doing to ensure that this initiative is not sidetracked and that America does indeed take this step forward. What we do will determine what headlines are written about tax reform. I know that some of you are no beginners when it comes to writing headlines. Reminds me a little bit of a Cub reporter. You knew that something would remind me of a story. A Cub reporter whose first solo assignment was interviewing a fellow who was just going to have a birthday that made him the oldest person in town. And he got to the address. It was an older building out in the outskirts of the city, and elderly gentleman ushered him in. He sat down and the reporter determined he was the man, and he said he was there for the interview, and he led right to the matter about how old are you when the man said 96. He said, to what do you attribute your longevity? And the fellow said, I don't smoke, drink, or run around with wild women. And at that moment, there was a crash from upstairs, and the reporter looked up, and he said, what was that? The old boy said, oh, that's dad. He's drunk again. Well, if we work together, we're going to give the journalist and his story and something to write about. The current tax code of the United States is an antiquated relic of a bygone era. The blatant unfairness of the code, loaded to the brim with special interest provisions, contributed to the general cynicism and economic stagnation that prevailed not so long ago. It doesn't take a PhD to know something is fundamentally wrong when neighbors who weren't sent can easily be paying phenomenally different tax bills. And how does a corporate head feel about bearing the burden of a heavy tax load when he discovers his competition is legally paying next to nothing? We've got a chance to clear up many of the inequities and bring down the tax rates of most Americans. And by now you know that what we're proposing is a tax code with two rates, 15 and 27 percent. 80 percent of the people will be paying either no tax or the lower rate. Maybe we should have said there are three brackets, zero, 15 and 27. Most Americans will enjoy a reduction of their total tax obligation. The least fortunate will be taken off the rolls altogether. They'll be in that zero bracket. But the business community, our tax program, represents a pathway to sanity. The current code is a bizarre menagerie, one that runs counter to the interests of good management and the sound economy. It encourages people to channel their resources into tax shelters rather than economy building investment. Businessmen spend too much of their time, effort and creative genius maneuvering through the system rather than planning for efficient production, distribution and sales. Our plan is to bring the maximum corporate rate down from 46 percent to 33 percent. At the same time, we'll be closing off many of the special tax benefits built into the system at the behest of this or that industry. We want to level off the playing field and make it fairer for those who compete in one industry and fairer for those segments of our economy which compete with each other. It wasn't a good idea for government to take sides in the first place. I've always felt that the best thing government can do for our men and women of enterprise is to get out of their way. Obviously this bill will not solve all the problems but it will be progress with a capital P and we've come a long way in these last five and a half years. We brought inflation and interest rates down. We turned our country away from decline and pessimism and put it on the road to growth and prosperity. But there's an old saying, if you stop moving forward, you will start falling back. Now is the time to vigorously and energetically push ahead as never before. New horizons are just beyond our sight. We've already enjoyed three and a half years of economic growth. We can, with the passage of this tax reform program, catapult America into the 21st century with the same optimism and unlimited potential with which we entered the 20th century. Now in regard to what you've heard, I wasn't around then. Seriously though, Council of Economic Advisers suggests that this bill will add tremendous incentives and efficiencies to our economy. We could well increase our country's growth rate nearly 10% over the next decade, putting as much as $800 to $900 more in real income into the pockets of each household each year and creating as many as 4 million additional new jobs. These results are worth every ounce of energy that we put into tax reform. What we're doing is reaffirming the viability of our system of government. During the last decade, there were some who seemed to have their doubts. Well, we've proven the naysayers wrong time and again. America works when we work. I've had many wonderful experiences during my time in office, but the greatest thrill has been meeting and getting to know this generation out there of young Americans. I've met them on the campuses, in high schools, in churches, in factories, and just last week at a marine base in South Carolina. They're the best darn bunch of kids we've ever had. And what we're doing now is for them. We're going to pass on to them a free, prosperous, and secure America. That's what this is all about. And after what I've seen of them, they'll take darn good care of it when we do. Well, I thank you for all you're doing, and I certainly thank these gentlemen here behind me, these senators, for what they're contributing to all of this and what they have brought forth. So thank you all. God bless you. Mr. President, on behalf of the CEO tax group and Americans for Tax Reform and this 1527-33 coalition, it's my great honor to present you with a scroll, which I am told is 60 feet long, containing the names of all of the members of this great coalition. Thank you, sir. The man goes on for 60 feet. That's what I'm told. We'll let it roll. He's not fooling. Shall I roll it up? I'll take care of that. Thank you very much. That will be in a presidential library in the next few years.