 thing without the kind of support of the President of the United States. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much. I learned once to sit down, please. I learned once very in public speaking class that you should never open any remarks with an apology. But I had to apologize practically every time I've come into a meeting of any kind here in the White House since January 20th because I haven't been on time since January 20th. Somehow that schedule just doesn't have any cushion in it at all. And well, as one government employee to some others, welcome to the White House. As all of you here today know, government service is a partnership that depends on solid working relationship between political leaders and career employees. In other words, a relationship between those who do the talking and those who do the work. But you, the individuals that we're honoring today with the Presidential Rank Awards are among the very finest career executives in the federal government. And you are the people who assure the success of the day-to-day operations of all of those that we call the United States government. And as hard as some of you work for the country, I think you must practice reverse flex time. You come in early and leave late. I understand there are nearly 7,000 people among the ranks of the senior executive service. It's a genuine honor for you to have been chosen from among all of those for this year's awards. You should be proud of your accomplishments. You've made all sorts of contributions to this nation, from doing medical research to adopting management practices that save the taxpayers' money to helping get the space program off the ground. I wish we had the time so that I could just go down the list and tell what each of you has accomplished. But I want you to know your fellow citizens deeply appreciate your efforts on their behalf. In just a few months, we'll mark the 100th anniversary of the Civil Service System in the United States. Throughout our history, this nation has been fortunate to have talented and dedicated individuals like yourselves. And I'm confident that as the Civil Service System enters its second century, we'll continue to find the high caliber of government employees that you represent. And now, I think we have some awards to give out and I want to get my picture taken with each of you so that Ed Meese will know I wasn't just goofing off. I think I go over here. Thank you very much, Mr. President. It's my honor to introduce to you the top career civil servants in the federal government. The first honoree is Percy Brewerton, Jr., Deputy Manager for Products, Director of the Sinch River Breeder Reactor Plant Department of Energy. Second, Dwight O. Calhoun, Assistant Administrator, Community Programs, Farmer's Home Administration, Department of Agriculture. Third, Kee Suk Chung, Chief Engineering Division, Pacific Ocean Division Department of the Army. Sally H. Christensen, Director of Budget Services, Department of Education. Thomas R. Clark, Deputy Manager, Albuquerque Office, Department of Energy. Joseph P. Kribbins, Special Assistant Chief Aviation Logistics Office, Department of the Army. Aaron Cohen, Manager, Space Shuttle Orbiter Project Office, NASA. Walter Reed Dowlill, Director, Senator for Infectious Diseases, Assistant Director for Science Center for Disease Control, Department of Health and Human Services. Robert L. Fairman, Assistant Secretary for Administration, Office of the Secretary, Department of Transportation. William D. Goldsbury, Regional Administrator of the Chicago Region Security and Exchange Commission. F. Eugene Hester, Deputy Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Robert M. Hillier, Technical Director, Naval Weapon Center, Department of the Navy. Richard R. Height, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Policy Budget and Administration, Department of the Interior. Jack E. Hobbs, Deputy for Management and Programs, Assistant Secretary for the Army, Department of the Army. Raymond A. Klein, Deputy Administrator, General Services Administration. Henry L. Longus, the Second, Director, Office of Water Program Operations, Environmental Protection Agency. John M. Melchner, Director, Defense Audit Service, Department of Defense. James H. Michael, Principal Deputy Legal Advisor, Department of State. Jerome A. Miles, Deputy Chief Administration, Forest Service, Department of Agriculture. Fetola Mustafale, Chairman, Center for Advanced Pathology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Department of the Army. John F. Murray, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Tax Division, Department of Justice. Richard S. Nicholson, Acting Deputy Assistant Director for Mathematical and Physical Science, National Science Foundation. James I. Owens, Deputy Commissioner, Internal Revenue Service, Department of the Treasury. George F. Page, Director of Shuttle Operation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Janus Shimenevsky, Senior Dean of the Air Force Institute of Technology, Department of the Air Force. Stuart E. Shifter, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division, Department of Justice. Elizabeth E. Smedley, Deputy Director of Budget, Department of Energy. Louis Sokoloff, Chief Laboratory of Cerebral Metabolism, Public Health Service, Department of Health and Human Services. Dorothy L. Starbuck, Chief Benefits Director, Veterans Administration. Charles O. Starrott, Jr., Director, Defense Contract Audit Agency. Phillip H. Stoddard, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Current Analysis, Department of State. Clarence A. Silvertson, Director, Ames Research Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Robert L. Trachtenberg, Acting Director, Office of Community Services, Department of Health and Human Services. Beatrice N. Vakara, Director, Bureau of Industrial Economics, Department of Commerce. John B. Walkman, Jr., Director, Center for Material Science, National Bureau of Standards, Department of Commerce. John R. Wakefield, Deputy Project Manager, Attack Submarine Acquisition Project, Department of the Navy. James E. Williams, Jr., Deputy Assistant Secretary, Department of the Air Force. Michael Yaknes, Chief Engineer, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Department of the Navy. That represents the honored award ease today, Mr. President. Well, I think they all deserve a good hand. Thank you all very much. And now, as the little girl in the letter said to me, I'll get back to the Oval Office and go to work. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you, Mr. President, for coming.