 Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States and Mrs. Reagan. Thank you very much. I appreciate, and I know Nancy does, too, this opportunity to be with you. I guess we're going to be going steady for a few more hours now. That is after I get out of a brown suit. Well, I want each of you to know how grateful we are for your generous support to our cause. When we get to the dinner, you will hear me give credit for all that's been accomplished as a team effort. And each of you is an indispensable member of that team. And under the leadership of Boone Pickens, our your efforts have made the dinner tonight an unparalleled success. And I don't know whether I'm jumping the gun or not, but if it is finally official and the last thing has been tallied, I'm expecting tonight that they will tell us that last year we set the record for a political fundraising event. And tonight we're going to break that all-time record. I think we should take this opportunity to recognize our star players, except that Guy Vanderjack isn't here. He's held up on the hill for a vote. I assume he's voting the right way. But we have the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee in him. And historically, elections in the sixth year of an administration are a disaster for the party in power. The fact that we held our own suggests our Republican cause is still very much alive. And I appreciate all the work that Guy has done in heading up that committee that kept us in the game and will carry us on to victory the next time around. I know a lot of people like to talk about it having been a defeat because we lost the majority in the Senate. But they don't pay attention to the fact that we lost that majority in the Senate by fewer votes than I think has ever been done. And with regard to the House, we had the smallest gain by the Democratic Party that has ever been done in that off-season election in the second term. And I know that with us here is the newly elected chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Senator Rudy Bosch, which where are you? Don't tell me they've got him up on the hill for a vote too. I've never, huh? I've never known him to vote so. Her work so hard. Well, incidentally, that Senate and losing control of that Senate this time, we lost that Senate by one percent of the total vote. In reality, we got a higher percentage of the overall vote for the United States Senate in 1986 than we did in 1980, which was considered a banner Republican year. So we're still in competition. And under Rudy's leadership, I think we can commit ourselves right now for the next time around. We're going to win back that Senate in 1988. And while I'm belaboring you with statistics, I think you ought to know also that more than 50 percent of the people in the United States now live in states with Republican governors. And that was a gain. But if our opponents think that our loss of the Senate has unnerved us or weakened our resolve, where do they get the word about this gathering? I'm told that this function has raised an enormous sum as I told you before. And I think that the American voters not only understand the issues, but they know where the polls are. We're going to drive them, if we have to, to get them there. And I firmly believe, as Thomas Jefferson once said, if you ever give the people the facts, they'll do what's right. Well, that's our job. And looking around at the goodwill and unity so apparent at this occasion, I'm more confident than ever that our cause will prevail. You know, I'm sort of – I got a story I hope I haven't told you before. But I just can't resist telling about that fellow that farmer he was driving his wagon to town, horse and wagon, for a load of hay and a load of grain, and hit on collision with the truck. And he sustained injuries, some of which he claimed were permanently disabling and so forth. And there, then, followed the usual thing in the courtroom and the litigation. He was on the stand and a lawyer said to him, when you were lying there at the scene of the accident, isn't it true that someone came over to you and asked you how you felt and you said you never felt better in your life? And he said, yes, I said that. No more questions. Well, the lawyer for the other side came up and he said, when you made that statement about how well you felt? He said, what were the surrounding circumstances? Well, he said I was lying there and he said an automobile came up and stopped and the fella got out. He was a deputy sheriff. And he said my horse was screaming with pain, had two broken legs and he took out his gun and went over and put the gun in his ear and put him out of his misery. And he said then he went over and my dog had a broken back whining with pain and he put the gun in his ear and shot him. He says, then he turned and says, and how are you feeling? Well, with all of us working together, I think there's still ample reason for confidence. And again, I thank each of you for doing the yeoman work on behalf of our party and our cause. It's tough enough raising political funds in an election year but to do it in an off year and the way it has been done. Thank you and God bless all of you. And you and I better get our clothes changed. And that's what we'll do. Thank you very much for coming.