 You could take them all at that time and put them in a phone booth and have room left over And he had the temerity to tell me he was going to run for the state Senate Well, I counseled him wished him well and thought that would be the end of chick-hack That was a beginning of my underestimating chick-hack Before we knew it. He was all over Clark. Thank you for those wonderful remarks Although I was standing outside the president and I enjoyed every moment of it I value your friendship very very much And your loyal dedication To our great state of Nevada and to the united states of america Mr. President I'm a businessman and in business Excuse me. We always say what the bottom line is Your administration has done so much to improve the economy of america A strong defense The defend sdi strategic defense initiative and you have saved social security I am proud to be a part of your accomplishment Mr. President I want to thank all these people out here For all the work they did and the tremendous tremendous efforts on so many people I was just told out in the hall that we will exceed over 400 000 tonight and quite possibly with our pledges 500 000 Again my thanks to all Thank you very much. Thank you It's good to be here and to see one of my oldest and truest friends A former senator and a former governor but always a current statesman paul axolt Are both both paul and me one of the highest priorities of this election year Is to make sure that another Old and true friend stays where he belongs In the united states senate And of course i'm talking about senator chic hecht Now we're all together on that that's why we're here And don't think i'm not aware of and don't appreciate what each of you is doing To help chic and I just heard This evidence of what you've done Well, I am and I do Chic is going to have a tough race. We all know that But he's a scrapper Time and again his opponents as well as the press have underestimated him Giving him up for goners Only to see him out ahead of the pack on election day This year They've been writing him off again As you were told You didn't know you were using a couple of my lines He was 30 point 31 points down in the poll just a while back and that didn't phase chic and Just as he's got to work announced the opposition that's sweating And he's narrowed that gap as you've been told to just seven points and he's closing fast That's the kind of spirit I like Reminds me of reading a poll about another candidate in january 1980 Taken at a national press club luncheon here in washington on the eve of the primary season Those in attendance were asked who would be the next president of the united states Jimmy Carter got a large number of votes and so did teddy kennedy There was one candidate in the republican side who got so few votes from the wise men of washington That it wasn't even reported in the lineup Like chic I've had a career of being underestimated Started a number of years back I was under contract to warner brother studio And when I announced that I was running for governor Somebody told jack warned that jack thought a moment and he said no Jimmy steward for governor reagan for best friend So I have a hunch that being underestimated will turn out to be chic's secret weapon Chic's going to be reelected because he stands for the kind of principles nevada wants an american needs Representative the principles that brought so many of us here to washington seven years ago And brought chic to join us two years later Through three congresses chic and I've worked together for lower tax rates and tax reform For strong measures like gram rudman to put a collar on congressional spending For a strategic defense against ballistic missiles For judges and justices who would return the tradition of judicial restraint to the american judiciary For a strong defense and to support those brave souls fighting for freedom in our hemisphere and around the world But we began working side by side long before chic came here to washington chic joined with me in three presidential campaigns spanning two decades To bring our principles here to washington And once he made it here himself He stood with me more often than all but a handful of senators as paul has told you Yes, we believe in the same things for which i'm grateful I sure wouldn't want to fight against chic hecke too often He's got a stubborn independent streak He's the kind of senator who doesn't make a lot of noise. He just gets things done for nevada and the nation And more often than not he comes out on top nevada may be the silver state But chic hecke has gone for the gold medal among senators and so far as i'm concerned he's won it Now i'd like to turn to a matter that shows just how critical it is to put chic and men and women like him in the next congress I'm talking about central america and the situation in nicaragua Last week sandinista attack on honduras Was greeted by too many in congress Not as the proof that funding the freedom fighters is the one way the only way To get the sandinistas to the peace table and keep them there No one senator spoke for too many when he shook his head about the political mistake of those in managua As if they'd stumbled in some primary or caucus Well, maybe if these critics thought for a moment, they'd just see what the nature of this so-called mistake really was troop movements small team reconnaissance missions The position of positioning of fuel and supplies In short the logistical preparations for the incursion began just after congress voted to reject Our package of aid to the democratic resistance We saw it happening This was a precise and carefully prepared operation That showed the influence of outside advisors and must have required several weeks to plan It was not some spontaneous sunday afternoon outing In other words counting back to when we first saw logistical preparations commence And before that to when planning would have had to start This invasion was beginning or underway even as in late february A group of liberal house democrats sent a letter to anti-aid lobbyists Saying that in their words quote nothing Will bring peace faster than destroying contra hopes for more military aid end quote This was the same period in which we were warning that an end to Congressional aid would set back not advance The cause of peace and democracy in nicaragua Preparations for the incursion were continuing when sandanista mobs were breaking up peaceful demonstrations in managua Something they'd eased off on as the congressional vote on aid to the freedom fighters approached But this time their attack showed a savagery that had rarely been displayed before As thugs pounded demonstrators with clubs and metal bars And believe me they did not just do this to their fellow men They did it to groups of women and ladies who were simply walking in the streets and protesting various things the sandanistas were doing The stage for the attack was set Even before daniel ortega fired the peace mediator cardinal obama we bravo and boasted he was going to crush the contras Well now we know he had reason to believe he could The attack he knew was approaching involved multiple combat battalions Thousands of troops and the close support of m1 17s and mi 25 attack helicopters Soviet craft the Signs of danger ever clearer Yet throughout this time Our critics were saying over and over That only by stopping aid would we give the peace process a chance I'm not questioning the sincerity of our critics only their judgment And i'm saying that we need American needs more men and women on both sides of capitol hill with the good judgment of chic hecht He's understood what's been going on in central america from the first And as on so many matters i've always found him to have a cool clear head And i know that others have recognized these qualities in chic as well He's been endorsed by the chamber of commerce And i understand that he just received the coveted watch dog of the treasury award You know he told you he was a businessman and he is and you know Principles of the kind that are just commonplace Out in the private sector and in the business world Are still in great need In our nation's capitol I like to tell a little story about a community That decided they were going to raise their signal sign or traffic signs and Street signs and so forth from only being five feet high to seven feet high so they would be more visible to drivers in automobiles And the federal government came in and said oh we have a plan we'll do that for you We'll lower the streets two feet America america needs chic hecht and Sincerely i hope the next president Of there will be a republican and that he'll need him too So i know what you're going to do and thank you and god bless you A young man from the university of nevada los vegas just before we came in Presented me with this my name on it. It's for those running rebels