 Ladies and gentlemen the president of the United States and mrs. Reagan and the vice president of the United States and mrs. Bush Mr. President Mrs. Reagan Bush Distinguished went for the purpose of making a very important introduction. I am pleased to introduce Maureen Reagan six years ago America began a path into a future a future of prosperity a future of opportunity a future of economic freedom and away from a past because of one man Who led our party out of the wilderness and into the next century? He sees in America and in all of us The very best that we can be And he is so intense in his belief in us That he makes each of us want to be what it is he sees and That's because he's the best Ladies and gentlemen the president of the United States Thank you all very much Thank you Thank you. Thank you all You know in light of some things that Jack Gavin set up here about the vicissitudes of this particular job and so forth I have to tell you that sometimes and quite a bit recently I've found myself thinking about the farmer that was driving a His horse and wagon into town for a truckload of grain and had a head-on collision with a truck and He was lying there injured and some that were going to be Permanently disabling he claimed and Subsequently there was the legal things that took place and the insurance company involved in all and he was on the witness stand and the lawyer said to him isn't it true that When you were lying there At the scene of the accident someone came over to you and asked you how you felt and you said you never felt better in your life We said yeah, I guess I remember saying that No further questions Well a little later another lawyer on the other side had him on the stand and said to him when you made that statement about how you felt What exactly were the surrounding circumstances? Well, he said I was lying there and he said a car came up a deputy sheriff got out He said my horse was nae and kicking he'd broken two legs and the deputy sheriff drew his revolver and put it in the horse's ear and pull the trigger And he said then my dog was whining with pain he'd broken his back and went over to him and he put the gun in his ear and killed him He says then he started toward me and he says now how are you feeling? But let me say right now. I I can't tell you how proud I am of the job that Maureen is doing at the RNC Before I go any farther. There are a few other people. I want to give special greetings to One is a distinguished former ambassador who got his start in the same line of work that I did Tonight's co-chairman. I've just mentioned ambassador John Gavin And then there's the chairman of our party no history of our times and what we've done these last six years to set America back on track Will be complete without noting the monumental contribution of Frank Ferenkoff And the same is true of the man who's helping to lay the financial foundation for the party Keith Brown I hope you'll forgive me if I'm a little nostalgic for a moment That's what happens when you get to be my age And besides getting together with the Eagles always seems to do that to me You've been with us every step of the way as we've worked to bring America back You were with us as we worked to bring down interest rates and inflation from historic highs To get ahead of steam back into America's economic locomotive and to stop the decade-long drop in the American's family's real income It's hard to remember those days when our nation's leaders talked about no growth the era of limits and that other term malaise That seems a long time ago now that we can look back on 50 months of economic expansion on 13 million more jobs on more new businesses than in any comparable period in our history on Manufacturing productivity that's going up at the fastest pace in more than 20 years and On a stock market that has gone up farther in the last four years than it had in the nearly two centuries since it was founded Yes in just six years We've left malaise in the dust and now all around the world and in every language There is a new way to spell opportunity and that is USA And that's not all In the last six years America has begun to rebuild its defenses We are once again standing where we should be around the world with those who put their lives on the line to fight for freedom And as long as I've got this job, there's no way we will abandon them not in Afghanistan not in Angola Not in Cambodia and not in Nicaragua Today we're giving the world a new hope that just a few years ago. It didn't even dare to dream about But the hope of the genius of American technology will soon lift from the mind of man the fear of ballistic missiles Whether missiles launched in a war that cannot be won and must never be fought or missiles launched in some horrible accident Yes, we've given mankind a new hope for peace and security a strategic defense initiative And when the time has come and the research is complete Yes, we're going to deploy Now as you know even as we've been doing all this there's been a chorus off to the left singing various songs of gloom First it was that we would ruin the economy And then it was that the recovery wasn't real and now with America having gained more Manufacturing jobs in the last four years than either Europe or Japan. It's that America is de industrializing Well forgive me, but when I look back on 12 months in which that chorus of glooms singing loudly all the time We enacted aid to the freedom fighters in Nicaragua Got going on the first real attack on the federal deficit in years and Gave America a tax reform package that all the inside the Beltway pundits said was an impossible dream You know when I look back on all that I just keep thinking It's not bad for a disengaged lame duck And now they're saying that after the last elections in the Iran controversy, we've run out of steam Well six years ago. They were saying I was too old Now they're saying our administration is too old You know, it reminds me of this story about that cub reporter's first assignment Was to go out to the senior citizens home where there was a gentleman that was just approaching his 100th birthday and he arrived and Introduced himself and said you're mr. Brown. He said yes, and naturally the first question was to what do you owe your longevity? And the old boy said well I never drank I never smoked I never ran around with wild women And just then there was a big crash up above their head in the next floor and the kid said what was that? The old man says oh hell that's dad. He's drunk again You know, I Can't help noticing that the people who say that our revolution is over All we seem to be the same people who wished it had never begun But what? But what they don't understand is we came to Washington to do a job And I believe the American people want us to finish it in November We did something unprecedented for a party in its sixth year in the White House We held our own in the house And lost far fewer Senate seats than is normal in a second-year off-term election in fact Lost fewer than has ever been done. We lost the Senate in five cliffhanger elections And they turned on a cumulative margin of a total for all five of only 29,000 votes and We picked up governorships was it eight I believe In fact, we now have governors in states that give us a majority of the electoral vote No party has ever done that well overall in the sixth year of a single administration So the American people spoke loud and clear as November as they have for the last six years They want us to continue to keep taxes down. They want us to continue to appoint judges who are tough on crime They want us to continue to build a strong defense They want us to continue to fight for the basic values and rights that our families our neighborhoods and our nation have been built on including the right to life and They want us to continue to work for a world without nuclear missiles and in which nuclear missiles are obsolete That's what the American people Want us to do and that's what we said we were going to do And that's what we will do We have a long unfinished agenda in just two years left Just two years to change our welfare system from a trap that drags people into dependency To one that is a ladder on which they can climb out into productive lives Just two years to make America more competitive so that American business and the American worker can meet and beat Any international competitor anywhere in the world Just two years to set the world economy on a path that will carry all nations to the highlands of lasting prosperity I mean a world of fair and free trade and Just two years to set aside our nation's biggest obstacle to the second or the secure future of growth and jobs By moving toward a balanced budget The Liberals are talking now of repealing Graham Rudman Hollings and raising taxes You know the way they misread what the American people want Reminds me of another story Three fellows went into a restaurant and they were giving their orders the one fellow said to the waitress I was here last week, and I got a dirty glass And then he ordered a glass of milk and he says but make sure it's in a clean glass this time Well, the other two fellows ordered milk also And when a waitress came back she had the three orders of milk and she's now which one gets the clean glass My friends our unfinished agenda is not just a Reagan agenda and not just a Republican agenda Our agenda is America's agenda. It's been our guide on our journey for these last six years And now we're at a fork in the road Our path carries us back down to the dismal stagnant swamps of the nearly forgotten past Toward a place where government can do anything except adequately defend our country The other path the one we want Continues us up toward the mountain meadows toward the snow-capped peaks from where we can look out onto a future of growth and opportunity for America Freedom for those struggling against totalitarian oppression around the world and peace for all mankind If America is to continue to follow the rising path it will need strong climbers And that means you eagles Think of how far America has come in the 12 years since the eagles began The hardest journey is behind us the greatest adventures are yet to come Let us join together to keep America climbing that mountain path Let us do it not just for ourselves But for our children and their children and for the generations to come Thank you and God bless you Thank you, mr. President Maureen and I as Co-chairmen of this event tonight Want to thank you mr. President Nancy mr. Vice President Barbara all of you All of you who are here for being here with us tonight Again to thank the vice chairman that particularly to thank all of you eagles who contributed and who more than importantly Contributed by your presence and by your support. I think we also should thank They're not up here with us our spouses my wife Connie and all of the other spouses of the vice chairman are over there at at that part of the of the audience and finally We would like to say to you that this party goes on till one o'clock You're invited to dance till then have a wonderful time and then go home safely