 Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States and Mrs. Reagan. Well, Nancy and I are always delighted to see all of you from Citizens for the Republic. And first of all, I know I'll get a chance to see Lynn Knopfziger and find out what I'm doing wrong. There he is. Actually, Lynn never lectures me. Well, almost never. But he's a dear friend and one of my longest-standing political associates. That came home painfully just around the corner one day when Lynn and I and a few others were crowded in the little elevator that Harry Truman installed here in the mansion. And Lynn was talking about something that happened long ago in California days and I couldn't resist saying, she just think, Lynn, I knew you when you were young. And without missing a beat, he said, sorry, but I can't say the same. And you know, I pride myself on rejoiners to Lynn. Believe me, it's the Lord's work. But all I could do was wince and say after that last one it hurt. But it is wonderful to see so many old friends like Lynn and of course Wendy Borcher your executive vice chairman and most of you know that Citizens for the Republic was founded back in 1977 right after our presidential campaign. And the idea at that time, just as it is now, was to demonstrate that the things we believe in have a life of their own. They don't end with one presidential campaign or even one president. A few of you can remember that not many people back then rated our prospects for success very high and it's been a long struggle. Yet so much of what we could only dream about in the old days has now been achieved. Freedom is on the march and conservatism is in vogue. Our economy is moving or booming again. Our defenses have been rebuilt and our international prestige and power restored. Even now we think we're on the verge of another historic legislative victory. A tax reform bill that can permanently alter the economic climate and bolster our economic growth for many years to come. Now it's true that on some issues there's work left to do. We haven't quite gotten over the top yet on the contra aid. And yes we're worried about the budget. Those defense figures are too low and the spending cuts that we've asked for haven't been made. But these are issues we can take to the American people and win. And that brings me to my point today. When things have gone well for a while there's always a perfectly human tendency to get comfortable. To take success for granted to forget the feel of hard work and the long road that brought us to where we are today. So yes while the long-term picture is encouraging and the historical trends are moving in our direction let me tell you candidly that I'm worried about the short-term picture. I'm worried that our movement might grow soft with victory and in a moment of dreadful folly throw away all we've gained. And then believe me it's back to ground zero, back to picking up the pieces and starting if not from scratch at least from a position of weakness. I'm talking of course about the upcoming elections and the importance of not only holding on to but increasing our conservative majority in the Senate and then constructing a new conservative majority in the House of Representatives. Believe me this year the Liberals know its breakpoint that if they don't do well it's very likely that conservative candidates will start to dominate not just the Republic but the Democratic Party as well and that everyone running for president in 88 will be sounding conservative themes and then the liberal hour will be over and their power gone for good. So the Liberals are pulling out all the stops this year. They're going to try to reverse all that you and I and CFTR have worked so hard to accomplish. They know how close we are. One push and maybe just maybe we're over the top. Think about it. CFTR has a remarkable record. You've done an enormous amount to elect senators and congressmen who want to move forward with our agenda. You were cited by the Federal Election Commission as the multi-candidate political action committee that contributes the highest percentage of its dollars to campaigns. And as this record of success I'm asking you to build on especially this year not only to win in the Congress but to pick up gubernatorial seats too and to make permanent that trend we're seeing of 18 to 24 year olds voting Republican for a fellow who's burned in effigy on every campus in California. I want to tell you it's a big thrill to go in front of them today and see all those young people on our side. I don't know whether I've ever told you or not but when I reached enough maturity to quit being a Democrat and joined the Republican Party and started doing Republican fundraisers and so forth I went home to Nancy one night and I said told her about all the young people that were there at the meetings. No I didn't. I was remembering the young people I used to see at the Democratic meetings and I went home to her and said I'll get it straight yet and said the only young people there looked like they couldn't join anything else. But not anymore. They're ours and they're out there and they're a great bunch of kids. So let's all of us work and struggle and pull together as strongly as we did back in the old days. I guess I'm hoping we can revive our spirit of 76. I've vowed that historians will not write that these last few years were characteristic of take it easy or caretaker presidency and I think that's your aim too. So with your help we're going to keep it going we're going to win the crucial victories in the next few months and years and we're going to end this decade with a new birth of freedom bringing us close to bringing true mankind's age old dream for freedom and peace among all the peoples of the world. And now I'm going to quit talking because Nancy and I are going to go over here in the blue room and we're going to looking forward to getting a chance to see each one of you separately and shake your hand. But again thank you all for what you're doing and remember way back when we talked about prairie fire starting in California and sweeping well we've got it. Thank you.