 You ever have one of those feelings, you've done this before? Well, and with the same people, and it's wonderful. It is a real pleasure to welcome you to the White House. Drew Lewis, for two years now, you've done a great job of chairing this event. Ted Welch, this year you've been an outstanding Deputy Chairman, just as I'm sure you'll do an outstanding job next year when you move up to Chairman. And I want to give my heartfelt thanks to all of you in this room. Your hard work and determination are what make it possible for us to put our beliefs into practice here in Washington and across the country. And because of you, we carried the day in 1980, and I have a hunch that if you have anything to say about it, we'll do it again in 1984. The past few years have been quite an education for me. It's the first time in my life that I've seen Democrats pretend to be worried about balancing the budget. I'm sure that you understand I don't have anything against actors in politics. I can't stand politicians who start to be actors. Let's look at the fact. Back when the Democrats were in control, the cost of living rose 30 percent in three years. Interest rates hit the highest level since the Civil War. Since 1980, we Republicans have cut inflation by nearly two-thirds. Chop prime interest rates down by 9 percentage points. And while under the Democrats, federal spending rose by 17 percent a year, that was in 1980 alone, we Republicans have cut that in half. Under the Democrats, the American people were taxed at the highest peacetime rates in our history. And we've given Americans an across-the-board tax rate cut of 25 percent. As a matter of fact, in a five-year period, just before we got here, they raised taxes higher than had ever, biggest raise that had ever been made. And the deficits went up by $560 billion in those same years. So I think we can claim that deficits weren't new with us. But do you remember when they created the Misery Index in 1976? They added the unemployment rate to the rate of inflation and then said it came to 12 and 1 half percent. And they said that Jerry Ford had no right to seek reelection with a Misery Index of 12 and 1 half. And then in four years, they took it up to 19.8. Well, today it's back down just a little under 12. So forgive me, but the next time the Tip O'Neill comes to the Oval Office to advise me on the economy, sure, and I'm gonna tell him when I reach meant to another to get lost for this one. Just as we put the economy back on course, we Republicans have begun rebuilding our nation's defenses and giving our foreign policy a new sense of direction. And I think the world knows again that America stands for the political, religious, and economic freedom of mankind. We still have a lot to do, and that's why your support during this campaign is so vital. This year, we must keep the White House, retain our majority in the Senate, and increase our seats in the House. You know, I was just doing some figure in the other night, beginning with President Eisenhower, 32 years until the end of this year. Of those 32 years, 20 years, the American people have chosen a Republican president for 20 years, including this present year. But in those same 20 years, there was only one two-year period. In all of the 32 years, there's been only one two-year period in which a president, Democrat or Republican, had a majority of Republicans in both houses, and that was two years at the beginning of the Eisenhower term. And then for these four, of course, we've had a majority in one house, but they've had the majority in the other. And I just think it's time to say to the American people, look, if you really mean it when you elect a Republican president, why don't you at the same time send a team up there with him? Takes more than one man to win a ball game. But only if we do that and increase, as I say, what we have, can we take the steps from tax reform to a firm defense of liberty in our hemisphere that our country will need in the next four years? Churchill once said something to the effect that Americans did not cross the ocean, cross the mountains, and cross the prairies because we were formed out of sugar candy. Well, he was right. And in the next four years, let's show the world we're made of sterner stuff that Churchill was right. So again, thank you and God bless you and now you and I got to change our clothes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you all very much, thank you for being here.