 Signed letters in here every day, I don't know what you're all doing. Why don't you order a food, then? A sense of deja vu. Greg, I'm just over the front here. Okay. I mean, you're a candidate, Mr. President. In the eyes of the law. Pardon? In the eyes of the law. Preserve what's called widow room. Have you made up your mind? Thank you, Mr. President. Since it's the first pin that I've used to sign six words. God bless you. Thank you. When do you think you'll formally announce Mr. President? Whether I'm going to or not? Well, I haven't set that date, but I know that. Possibly. We can assume otherwise. We can assume you're a candidate. I've been slugging for you ever since I met you. I don't know. Honestly, you can do it. No, that's right. I saw you at the game. Didn't you stop in? The first game. Right. The dinner that I had was fantastic here. Two weeks ago I met Ginny Rogers, John Hayes, and Martha Gratton. I've been studying dance for 14 years, and meeting her was meeting a legend, and I'm sure it is. And Halston offered me clothes, and if I wanted them, so, when I go to New York, I'll be able to get some clothes from him. Well, good luck. Thank you very much. Thank you for taking time. Hopefully, maybe one day I'll be able to come back and perform for you after the series over. I'll come and sing and dance or whatever you like. Okay? Alrighty. Okay, great. Thank you very much. Have a nice day. Creating what he called oxymorons, but your contradictions and terms. His favorite with me was an intelligent Marine. That's not even funny. I think it's all right. So, this point, thank you for your naval service. All of us mayors, I think, are the two correspondents there. We print letters about oxymorons and people sending in their ideas and letters, what one is, and all of these, and he responds. Mr. President, there's several things this morning on the agenda. K. Otega, who is our new treasurer, replaced by David Cannon. K. is a new girl in the block. This will be her first savings bond campaign and she tells me that she's resolved that she's going to make it a great one. So, Roger, watch out. I think that's great. Thanks. Later. Luncheon. We'll probably be paying somewhere around nine and a quarter starting November 1st. And nine and a quarter compares very favorably with most MNDAs or any other type of bank account. Of course, that's the health of five years, but even five years CD. Somewhere in that neighborhood. So it's really a competitive product at this point. Thanks for this year, but we're going to come after you, John. I think you guys can reach out down there. Thank you. Thank you. I was trying to explain to them something that they'll explain on the air tonight. What was that? How do we cure deficits? Do we cure deficits by taxing or cutting spending? We cure deficits by cutting spending. That's right. And if you find out after you get recovery that you did something in which the percentage of revenue taken by the government is 100% for lean and efficient government, then you adjust. But do you know that? We stay the course. It's pretty big down there. Well, listen, I want to thank all of you. I know I've only got a minute or two here. I'm still trying to find that person who puts that paper in front of me every night and tells me, we better do the things to have. They don't allow travel time between places. But I do want to thank all of you. I think this is a great and traditional example of the private sector working with government to perform a very necessary task and wouldn't be performed successfully without your help. And Roger, thank Jim for what you have done and are doing here. And they told me that I was just supposed to communicate and try to express my thanks and get out because they got something else for me. How about a little support for the product? With the savings going around the rate. Incidentally, we think the rate will probably be nine and a quarter around that starting November 1st. So we think we've got a very competitive instrument with other things. Sales last year under Jim did very well about four billion in sales last year. And Roger's promised that he's going to up it this year. If we get you our backing, Mr. President, that's all we need. You had my backing. I'll get the team here to do the job. And all I can tell you is that the team at this end that usually gathers around this table is going to do everything you can to make sure that you're selling a bond based on a solid structure. I used to hear about the first product and we merchandised that all across the country over and over. So maybe even this year you can increase it. You move over a variable in a way. I've got that secret trust. Where I don't even know what I've got. But if merchandising can help, at least I can certainly do so. If you're paying with payroll deduction, then you never feed it. You don't even have to go through a change, which has your message going on, which is great. We appreciate your support. You realize, of course, that the dichotomy here and the job that I'm in, I'm really trying to put the whole thing out of business today when we don't have to sell bonds. I'm sure you wouldn't quarrel with that either. That's the final report for 1983, succinctly stated. God bless you. Thank you again for what you're doing. Congratulations to you. Distinguished guests, and I could properly use that term here today, ladies and gentlemen. Today we're honoring a giant in the field of American intelligence. Richard Helms, one of America's highest decorations, will receive the National Security Medal. This National Security Medal was established by Executive Order of President Truman in 1953. It will be a child of the time. It recognizes persons who have performed exceptionally meritorious service in a position of high responsibility and who have made an outstanding contribution to the national intelligence effort. Presenting this award to you, Dick, is fully appropriated and long overdue. Your career has exemplified the key standards of the intelligence officers to the difficult mission. Discipline, dedication, discretion and honesty. You are one of those rare men who continues to seek ways to help your country at all stages in your life. Whether it's CIA, Ambassador to Iran, member of the Scowcroft Commission or a distinguished private citizen, it's a pleasure to be able to present you with this award in recognition of what you've done and what you continue to do. Major Drannan, would you read the citation? Richard Helms' distinguished career in intelligence and extraordinary service to this great nation span four decades and three wars. From the 1940s, when he served as a naval officer attached to the office of strategic services, through his exceptional tenure as director of the Central Intelligence Agency, which ended in 1973, Richard Helms exemplified the best in our intelligence services. He served in the Central Intelligence Group, which preceded the formation of CIA, and joined the agency at its inception in 1947 as a specialist in Eastern European Affairs. His subsequent career in the agency was typified by brilliance, exceptional motivation, and keen administrative ability. From January 1953 until January 1962, he served as chief of operations for the office of special operations. From February 1962, he became deputy director for plans, and in April 1965 was made deputy director of Central Intelligence. He was appointed director in June 1966, or he served until his 60th birthday in February 1973. Richard Helms' notable concern for his colleagues and his dedication to building a professional service devoted to the security of our nation are reflected in his development of an agency-wide career system, the training of agency personnel in specialized fields, and the establishment of the existing agency administrative system. Throughout his long career, he consistently displayed an extraordinary and comprehensive ability to organize and supervise clandestine services operations, possessed a unique ability to deal promptly and efficiently with a vast flow of detail, and was widely respected for the quality of his professional judgment. During his term as director, he enhanced public understanding of and respect for the importance of the role of intelligence in the conduct of our foreign relations. He enjoyed the highest respect and admiration of his colleagues and other senior government officials who benefited from the quality of his service to the United States. Richard Helms was recently awarded the William J. Donovan Medal and was previously presented with a distinguished intelligence medal, CIA's highest award. To these and many other recognitions is now added the award of our country's highest medal in the national security field, the national security medal. On this, for me, happy occasion, I am only saying that Scoop Jackson could not be here with us. He was a long time friend and ardent supporter of American intelligence. It is not difficult to divine why this distinction means much to me. Including my service in OSS, I spent 30 years in intelligence work. This included 25 years helping to establish and build the Central Intelligence Agency. Much of this time was in work with Frank Wisner, John Bross, and many others developing ways and means for our clandestine service later to become known as operations. During this period, we felt ourselves to be pioneers which in one sense we were. But later research made it clear that irregular activities were well known too and practiced by our forefathers. At Monticello recently, I made a talk to a group of distinguished Virginians about the presidency and American intelligence. I introduced my remarks by quoting from a letter with Thomas Jefferson when he was Secretary of State wrote to James Madison on May the 27th, 1793 I quote from this letter. We want an intelligent and prudent native who will go to reside in New Orleans as a secret correspondent for $1,000 a year. He might do a little business merely to cover his real office. Do point out such a one. Virginia ought to offer more loungers equal to this and ready for it than any other state. As for a different kind of special activity, one can cite another example from Jefferson this time during his presidency. He received intelligence from France suggesting that Napoleon would be willing to coerce Spain into yielding the Florida to the United States for $7 million, with Napoleon pocketing most of the money. Jefferson sought and in secret session the Congress appropriated and even greater secret discretionary fund, $2 million to start negotiations from which Napoleon later backed out. Intelligence has always been peculiarly a presidential responsibility. Not only does the Director of Central Intelligence report directly to you, Mr. President, but the protection of the agency, indeed of the entire intelligence community, rests in the hands of the President. It must count on support as well from both sides of the aisle in Congress. Intelligence has no political constituency. It is therefore most reassuring denotement that you have been fully supportive of Director Casey and that you are providing him the people and the money to enable the agency to perform the multitude of tasks which a complex interdependent world foists upon it. The country will be well served by a strong intelligence organization dedicated to the proposition that it constitutes our first line of defense. May I also thank you, Mr. President, for the opportunity to work on the Commission on Strategic Forces. As you well know, a commission can readily become a loose cannon on the deck of the ship of state. In this case, however, it was bipartisan in character and this behavior was responsible to a marked degree. It demonstrated the sophisticated concentration on the complexities of an arcane subject in the interests of the public welfare can assist the President in the difficult tasks of developing national policy. Your graciousness and flexibility, Mr. President, in accommodating your views with the concerns of Congress and the work of the commission have led to an American position on the start negotiations which has achieved wider domestic and international support. This has been a shift without undermining your dedication to peace through strength, a conviction with which some may disagree but which appeals to many as the only safe path yet devised. Again, thank you, Mr. President and thank you, Mr. Vice President, for your presence here today.