 Thank you very much, and this cause I think could be summed up, and maybe it might be handy for you to use sometime. late Will Rogers once said that the people that are elected to office are no better and no worse than anyone else. But they're all better than those who don't vote at all. You know when I was a child, my father was a shoe salesman, and my family at times lived above the store. And here I am still living over the store. It's a pleasure having you and all your colleagues here today, and I just want to take this opportunity to salute each of you for participating in a nonpartisan program aimed at strengthening the fundamental underpinnings of our democracy. The corporate community's leadership in this effort and the service that your companies are providing is good citizenship at its best. I've spoken about the Vote America program before, so you may be aware of how I feel about it. The goals of Vote America, while ambitious, are doable. And making sure that our future leaders, whether political, corporate, academic, athletic or otherwise, are involved, informed and responsible, is something we simply must achieve. And with your help, I think we can. This current generation of young Americans is one of the best this country's ever had. I've met them at community rallies, in schools, at military bases, and in workplaces across America. I know them, as you know them, to be active, concerned, and strangely enough vary now after a pause when it was otherwise very patriotic young adults. It's a generation that's bright with hope, filled with energy, and ready to make a difference. They're not only talented, but optimistic, and they're anxious to get up and get going. Like every new generation, this group of youngsters depends on us, the older, or should I say more mature, generation, to pass on those values at the heart of our society. Civic responsibility is high on the list. Our 18 to 24-year-olds have shown us they're ready to carry the torch if we're ready to pass it. And yet, as an age group, they have the lowest, as Pat said, percentage going to the polls. Part of the process of passing the torch is making certain that they understand the dynamics of a free society. And today I hope that each of you will leave here with a renewed commitment to bringing our young people into full citizenship. Instead of a program, we're looking for a movement which can spread across the country. Vote America should be a symbol of the aspirations and dreams of young Americans. I urge you to put your creative genius to work. Nancy and I have an occasional night off, and when we do, we see your advertising, promotional ingenuity on television. If you have any more nights off between now, or we have any more nights off between now and November, we'll look forward to seeing vote America themes in your commercials. Your many innovative private sector initiatives have demonstrated what the business community can accomplish when it gets motivated. I sincerely hope the project is put on the front burner. The future of our young leaders represents the future of America. And since this is a priority of mine, I want to express my personal thanks to you. However, beyond my personal interest, the country also owes you a debt of gratitude for your dedication to our younger citizens. I know it's just a case of them overlooking it. They obviously are patriotic. We can see this in those who choose military careers now to such an extent that we don't have to go begging. We find we've got a surplus each year that wants to get into the service. And yet this simple feature of voting that seems so unimportant. I don't know whether anyone said a day, but as I understand it, the polls show that only 51% of them are registered, and only 41% of that age group voted in the last presidential election. And again, as I say, I just think it hasn't been presented to them. And you think back just a few years when finally democracy came to El Salvador. That tortured country and the communist guerrillas who were still busy there, they were going to have their first election in many, many years. And the guerrillas threatened death to anyone who would try to vote. And we had a number of people down there as observers and saw these long lines that waited out in the sun for hours. And these lines to get to the voting place and get their turn to vote. And one woman, a grandmother, explained to some of the guerrillas when they threatened her, she said, you can kill me. You can kill my family and friends. You can't kill all of us. And there was another woman in San Salvador that stood there in the line for I don't know how many hours. They had shot her. She was wounded. She refused to leave the lines to get her wound tinted until after she had voted. And when it was over, almost 90% of the people under those threats had voted. I don't know if that's a gimmick that maybe we should threaten their lives if they try to vote or not. Just get contrary and decide to. But I think it is a measure that here after year, there has been a steady decline in the percentage of people who vote in our country. I sometimes think that maybe part of that is that an election year is a kind of an emotional experience. And now we have so many. We're never free of the front page having to do with elections. First we have every four year elections, but then every two years you've got congressional elections. Then in the meantime you've got state elections and community or city elections and so forth. Maybe we've worn them out a little. So we've got to turn around and tell them, well, this one really starts at the top. Get that one decided right. And maybe all the way down the line things will come out all right. But I'm so grateful to you for all that you are doing. And I think that all of us do understand the very vital importance of this, that there shouldn't be a little handful of people that decide how the elections are going to turn out, knowing that the others won't even participate. So I thank you and God bless you and now I'm going to go next door into the red room and then at least have a chance now to say hello and shake hands with each one of you and we'll have a picture taken when we do that. So thank you all for being here. I'm going to exit and I know you're going to follow.