 You the host for your luncheon this afternoon the president of the United States Thank you very much Well I'm delighted to welcome you here and to see so many good friends and to have a chance to make some new ones It's always a special occasion when I can be judged or be joined by two of the most important women in my life Nancy and my daughter Maureen and I Give you let you have a little secret even though. I go to work and come home from work in an elevator This is about the only time we get to have lunch together but And we're also pleased to have the vice president and Barbara Bush with us as well as some of the women in the White House staff Now before I say anything else. I want to give you my heartfelt thanks for all the time and effort that each of you has given to the cause that unites us When all said and done what really counts is drive and energy and determination And that's what makes it possible to put our beliefs into practice It's you office holders in communities throughout our land who Demonstrate the deep Republican commitment to American women on the way over here I remembered a story that made me think of all of you and If you've heard of the floor pretends you haven't I know my own people have heard it before because you've got to remember that when you Life not only begins at 40, but so does lumbago and the tendency to repeat the same story But this is story about it was an automobile accident There was a man stretched out there and a woman was bending over him trying to give some aid and crowd had begun Together and a man elbowed his way through the crowd shoved the lady aside and and said let me add him I've had first aid training and she meekly stepped back and he went to work All the things that he'd learned and then at one point she tapped him on the shoulder and said when you come to that part about calling The doctor I'm right here Women have increasingly taken on new roles in society and the Republican Party has given them solid support It was the GOP that gave its backing to women's suffrage And then our party became the first to elect a woman to the United States Congress And I think I'm indebted to Maureen for a little research on this and that was before women were allowed to vote And we're the only party ever to elect women to the United States Senate who were not first just filling out an unexpired term Today our party is building on that tradition The only two women in the Senate Nancy Casabam and Paula Hawkins are Republicans and there are nine outstanding Republican Congress women Including Marge Rockman Claudine Schneider who are with us today The in our administration we've appointed many women to important positions of top responsibility Women like Ambassador Jean Kirkpatrick Secretary of Health and Human Services Margaret Heckler Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole and right here at the White House Faith Whittlesey and One of my proudest days was when Sandra Day O'Connor became the first woman justice on the Supreme Court And believe me, I've had many reasons to cheer her appointment ever since But just as important is the fact that there are thousands of able Republican women like you serving in public office All over the country whether it's in the legislatures or in other state and local offices You're on the front lines of democracy. You're making the difference and What I want to see is the number of Republican women office holders grow Here in Washington and in every American town city and state like they did in Rhode Island last year when eight Eight Republican women won state Senate seats the minority leader of the Senate is here at my table and Together we Republicans are working to reshape America's destiny When historians write the story of these years They'll find that very skilled and very talented women played vital roles Three years ago this week in my first address to the nation. I reported on the state of our economy. I Told the American people they wouldn't like the news But that we had to face the truth If we were going to turn the economy around the federal budget was careening out of control And we faced the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression Our economy was broken and women were hit especially hard The majority of elderly Americans living on fixed incomes are women and double-digit inflation was Destroying their purchasing power Homemakers found it harder and harder to pay bills the thousands of women who wanted to start their own businesses saw 21% interest rates Slam shut the doors of opportunity With Republicans in control of the Senate We made a new beginning and believe me if we didn't control one house of the Congress We wouldn't have been able to get the job done We can be proud of the results Inflation I know you've been told already and I'm plowing plowed ground here But down to three point two percent the prime rate knocked nearly in half Four million new jobs last year alone personal income tax rates reduced and Indexing beginning next year which means government can no longer use inflation to profit at the people's expense and Thanks to the hard work of the vice president We've reduced the growth of government regulations by 25 percent and cut well over three hundred million Hours of government required paper burnt. We're taking it off the backs of the people and that's 300 million hours each year now to Help all Americans achieve economic equality. We reduced the marriage tax penalty We almost doubled the maximum child care credit We increased the limits for IRA and Kio Contributions and we've eliminated estate taxes on family farms and businesses for surviving spouses and our workers continuing to ensure women's rights Provide for equitable treatment in pension benefits and iris to facilitate child and dependent care and to enforce delinquent parent support payments From solid growth in housing to new frontiers and high technology and from a healthy recovery in Real wages to the sharpest drop in unemployment in nearly 33 years America is moving forward and getting stronger Have we made a new beginning? You bet we have today our nation. There's one big program to help every American Man woman and child. It's called economic recovery Maybe the eight Democratic candidates still haven't heard about it There they're still talking doom and gloom Well, good news might not always make news But today we've got more good news. I think someone has indicated that to you. I hope they haven't given all the news away last month total unemployment dropped again to seven point nine percent and Among adult women the unemployment rate is seven point one percent And that's and that's down from nine percent in the past year and the jobs are getting better and better last year women felled 73% of all the new jobs in managerial professional and technical fields, but there's still work to be done Unemployment is still too high and I'm not going to be satisfied until everyone who wants a job can find one We need basic budget and tax reforms like the line item veto a constitutional amendment mandating a balanced budget and tax simplification Reforms that can ensure the progress that we're enjoying will continue for our children and even our children's children and Just as we've turned the economy around There's a new sense of purpose and direction to American foreign policy Back in 1981 We had an uncomfortable feeling that we lost respect overseas Some questioned whether we had the will to defend peace and freedom With three years later the world knows once more what America stands for Freedom for mankind from Central America to Africa to the Middle East We're working hard to support democracy and to build peace in Lebanon the peaceful process has been painfully slow, but we have made genuine progress in Europe the NATO alliance has remained united and strong our relations in the far east have never been better in Our relations with the Soviet Union by strengthening our defenses and making clear our determination to negotiate We have laid the foundation For meaningful agreements and a safer more peaceful world On an island in the Caribbean We rescued Americans and set a nation free All of us share a dream It's a dream. I think of a world at peace and it's a dream of a broad and open land That offers opportunity and prosperity to all It's a dream of a land where every citizen is judged only on merit a Land where every woman and man is free to become all that she or he can And I'm sure that one day One of you may have this job my job and And I think The only thing we have to worry about is to be sure she's a Republican All of us are Laboring in the name of that dream and there's a lot of work yet to be done But if we have the courage to continue the good fight We'll get it done and we'll achieve great good at home and throughout the world and I can't Close for dessert here for a moment without mentioning it. I don't know whether she's been introduced to you've met her or not But we have here a visitor. We're very proud to have who was closely aligned with us In the recent rescue mission in Grenada Prime Minister Charles of Dominica. Let's have dessert