 You saw this tape in the record when I was in jail. And finally, right in the first place, we could do things more. Because when they took the pictures, all the way, I was like, oh, it's going to go away. Here in the back. Yeah. That's it. That's what we do, right, Professor? Mr. President, some of the Democrats say that Contra is as finished as the fourth nomination. What's your reaction? That the one? That Contra has as little chance of passage as Judge Ford's nomination. Well, I would expect that from some of those people up there who have been hostile to everything we've tried to do in this regard. We will still maintain our support for our friends in this effort to bring about peace in Central America. Now, I violated a rule here. I'm not supposed to answer questions, but I thought that questions had to be answered in view of our guest here. Will you hold a news conference soon to answer more questions, Mr. President? I understand one is being scheduled. Lastly, do you want military aid for the conference, Mr. President? You still want military aid? I think the Secretary of State's request explained what it was for and how it could be restricted. Of course, there was a great deal of human aid. And also that if peace could be obtained, then turn those funds to helping the installing of democracy in Nicaragua. Right. This way, please. I'm really broken rules. Yeah. Yeah. The cameras. Let's talk about that in a larger meeting in there. Yes. Right now, you see, I'm deeply concerned about that. And I think we're at a critical juncture now with Nicaragua. Human rights in El Salvador. Your visit today is our way of celebrating El Salvador's democracy and your achievements. Your government has laid the foundation for the consolidation of democracy. Our country, I want you to know values, our friendship with your government, and we're due personally. Happily there is a consensus within both the administration and the Congress for continued assistance to El Salvador. We do our best to help you, even while funds are getting tighter here in our situation. We look forward to closer cooperation in the future. As I told you, we must stay united in our quest for freedom of democracy. We cannot allow the Sandinistas to consolidate their tyranny. And we must carefully verify that the Sandinistas comply with their promises, including prompt negotiations. A ceasefire there to be the national resistance. But now that we have turned to other subject concerns, I should ask Secretary Schultz to open our discussion. George, you're going to lead off. Or did I take you by surprise? I thought you took me by surprise. That kind of an experience really makes strong friends can work with each other. Of course, now we're not only going to struggle for democracy in El Salvador. 14 October 1987, arrival of President Duarte of El Salvador at the North Portico for the state dinner. It's been a pleasure to have you, President and Mrs. Duarte, and all of you as our guests this evening at the White House. This year is the 200th anniversary of the Constitution of the United States. It's appropriate then that we have as our guest an elected leader who has laid the foundations for freedom in his country and whose courage and strength of conviction are an inspiration to us all. President Duarte, having fought the brutality and repression of left and right, has come to symbolize the struggle for democracy in this hemisphere. I have little doubt that our forefathers who sacrificed so much to secure the blessings of liberty for the United States would see President Duarte as one of their own. Thomas Jefferson, who walked these very halls, once described what it is all about. Freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus and trial by juries, impartially selected, he wrote, these principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us. Well, this is the same bright constellation whose majestic light President Duarte would shine on El Salvador. As our founding fathers came to know, winning liberty and establishing democratic institutions are not without great personal sacrifice. In 1972, President Duarte won an election but was prevented from assuming the office and forced into exile. Years of frustration followed. Then there was the immense pressure President Duarte found himself under when he returned to his country in 1979. It would have broken a lesser man. One of the most moving moments of my presidency was the visit to the Oval Office made by President Duarte and his daughter, Ines, shortly after her release from kidnappers two years ago. This terrible travail was part of the personal price President Duarte has paid to help secure the freedom of his country. Yet tonight, can anyone doubt, President Duarte has not only survived, he has triumphed. He's proven himself one of those rare individuals who will be remembered by his people and by people throughout the hemisphere as a hero of freedom. In the last century, another such hero was Jose Simeon Canas, champion of Salvadoran independence, the Abraham Lincoln of his country. This moral giant, seriously ill, made an impassioned speech against slavery to the Salvadoran Congress. In it he said, even if dying, he had to speak out for powerless people. I ask, he said before everything else, that all our brethren be declared free. This is the kind of spirit I see in President Duarte. It's been my honor over these years to have known him and worked with him, to have assisted where possible his efforts and those of the brave Salvadoran people to win peace, establish democratic institutions, and before anything else, to declare all our brethren free. President Duarte, God, unity and freedom, the spirit of El Salvador, the spirit of all the citizens of the hemisphere. So I ask all of you to join with me in toasting President Duarte, Mrs. Duarte, and the people of El Salvador. When you were telling Mr. President all those beautiful things, what you have value that we're doing in our country, and when I was enjoying this wonderful dinner tonight, I was seeing that picture there, the picture of Abraham Lincoln. And I wonder why he has his hand here and his face firm. What was happening in his own heart when he was the president of a country who was struggling? He was seeing not only slaves, he was seeing war, hate in their heart. And this wonderful man had love in his heart. He never hate anybody. He wanted to have his country free, and he even gave his life for that. That picture to me is a symbol of this country. It's a symbol of you, Mr. Reagan, the president of the United States, the president of this country who is doing the best so that other countries can also have what you have dear in this country, which is freedom and democracy. Let me be simple and ask you to just raise your head and give a pray for my people of my country, for the poor people, for the suffering people of my country, and also for the soldiers who died and the guerrillas who also died. We all are Salvadoranians and we all want peace. So, Mr. President, let me raise and ask you to raise your hand with me to a toast to President Reagan, to Mrs. Reagan, and to a toast to the American people. Mr. Lionel Hampton. For being here tonight, Mr. President, I thank you so much for inviting me to come here tonight and also Mr. Reagan. You know, I've been a Reagan fan for a long time when you was governor in California. And I still say you're the greatest president the way I've ever had. And I want to say that we're reminiscing tonight. We have a coach, I got a big 25-piece band, but we decided that we'll come in with a few old-star guys reminisce from the days that I used to play with the Dominican Quartet. And we have some outstanding guys here, such as Sam Turner, one of the greatest Congo players in the business, playing the Congo, and also Sonny Igo at the drums, one of the great drummers. We got a lead that was a music director for the great Louis Armstrong for many years. He's one of the greatest jazz piano players of the day. I'm talking about, yeah, I don't play these guys every night. Michael LaFoyle, you know what I'm talking about. And also, the guy that you heard a lot of times and he's always knocking you out with his great bass playing, I'm talking about milk hitting at the base. We like to play a tune for the great president from down the foreign countries down there. I know Mr. President Duté and Mr. Duté, I know you heard this song many times in your country and we want to dedicate to you. And it's a tune called Wave. I can't. And, Elias, think without any belief, and I'm not saying the truth, I am speaking for everyone here when I thank you and your men for a most wonderful entertainment. You know, they don't write them that way anymore. But as long as Lionel Hampton and his group are playing them, they'll always be remembered. You know, this is almost a three-president evening. It's myself and President Duarte and the vibes president of the United States. He's won so many honors and so many degrees and so forth that there's no way that I could recite them up here. But I just know that everyone here is grateful and you've made America a happier place and a richer place because of your music over the years, some six decades of it. And again, just a heartfelt thank you on behalf of everyone here for what you've done this evening.