 to a President just back from the South and just off of last night's wonderful presentation, probably tired, and to Nancy, who is doing this superb job out there, let me simply now introduce to you the President of the United States and the First Lady, Nancy Reagan. Thank you, thank you for that welcome, Mr. Vice President. I thank you from what I was hearing on the other side of the curtain there, more than I can say. Senator Laxalt, Frank Ferenkoff, Mike Kerb, Carolyn Dever, members of the Cabinet, members of the Congress, the event chairman, and ladies and gentlemen. I appreciate you coming to Washington to commemorate this occasion. We don't get a chance to see each other as often as we should. I'm still looking for that fellow that's someplace there that puts a piece of paper on my desk every day and tells me what I'm going to be doing every half hour. This gathering is, yes, a celebration of the inauguration. It's also recognition that we, all of us, are part of a team. It's been a team effort from the first days of the 1980 election to the present moment. And I see so many here with whom I have a real sense of camaraderie. Politics isn't that way for everyone, of course. Sometimes when the pressure's on, the ties that bind wear a little thin. It's sort of like, you know that's a cue line to a story. Two hikers that were out in the woods hiking and suddenly over the rise in front of them, they saw a grizzly bear coming. And one of them dropped his pack, knelt down in as fast as he could, dug in the pack, and got it up here at tennis shoes and started to put them on. And he said, what are you doing? You can't outrun a grizzly. He says, I don't have to outrun a grizzly. I just have to outrun you. But I think the goodwill among us runs deeper than that. So we've proven it in these last three years by working together. We've turned around a situation that was threatening the American way of life. We inherited economic stagnation, inflation that was undermining the standard of living of every American, especially the poor and the elderly, the middle class, taxing and spending seemed out of control. There was a sense of hopelessness. We were hearing the refrain that America was in decline. On the international front, our prestige was thinking. Our military might have been permitted to erode and wither our influence over world events, and that began to wane. Morale on the armed forces was at a low ebb. We couldn't keep those who had been listed in the service, and everyone was saying we were going to have to go back to a draft that we just couldn't count on getting enlistment. Non-commissioned officers were leaving to take jobs in the private sector. Well, perhaps our biggest job in the year ahead will be to jog the voters' memory. Listening to the other side, one would think that all of America's woes started on January 20th, 1981. Everything was paradise until then. I don't think the public is going to buy that. They may have short memories about some things, but they don't have amnesia. Still, though, it won't hurt for us to remind them. We can ask with confidence, as what George said a moment ago, are you better off than you were four years ago? And we're also going to ask, do you think America is better off than she was four years ago? The mess we inherited, an astute politician called it a malaise. He knew there weren't too many that knew French. It was not a result of some uncontrollable cycle like the wind or tide. It also wasn't a manifestation of my predecessor's personality. Instead, it was the predictable outcome of bad ideas that had been put into practice over the years. The private sector was overtaxed and overregulated, and government was overspending, and the years of tax and tax and spend and spend came home to roost. The goose that lays the golden eggs had been plucked, cooked, and was about to be devoured, and yet the political pluckers seemed astonished when there were no more golden eggs to invest in the economy. America was less secure, and that was no accident. In trying to appeal to those who blame America for every evil in the world, politicians neglected our defenses. Then they acted surprised when adversaries ignored us and friends openly questioned if we could be trusted. I think that all of us can be proud that together we've reversed trends set in motion by decades of liberal folly. Perhaps if we jolt their memory, the voters will appreciate what they don't have right now. They don't have 12.5% inflation. They don't have 21.5% prime interest rates. They don't have taxes that are doubling every five years. They don't have economic stagnation. They don't have a Soviet-controlled Central America. And I'm sure we're all proud to say they don't have American medical students held hostage on Grenada. Now there remains the serious problem of the deficit and what to do about it. Let me just add on this point, raising taxes is an easy out. The reason America sank into serious economic trouble in the 70s was that too many so-called lent leaders took the easy way out. The 1980 election was a mandate to make America strong again. Raising taxes will serve only to sap America's strength. And I will not undermine our recovery by increasing taxes and draining the life out of our economic system. The answer is getting serious about cutting spending. And if the 1984 election is decided on any issue, let it be whether the deficit will be brought under control by raising taxes or by cutting spending. And I'd like to argue on that subject anytime our opponents want to argue because I stand for lower tax rates and less government spending as an answer to the deficits. You know one reason that we've had problems is that we're playing catch up with the Soviets making up for an neglect of over the decade for the military needs of our country. In 1980 we promised to make this country strong again, to make it more secure, to keep us at peace. America today is more safe and secure because of what we've done. Peace through strength is not a slogan and it is not what Mr. Andropov said that what we meant by that was that we wanted to be so strong we could go to war with them and make war. No, we've got a lot of catching up to do after their great military buildup. What we require and what we're getting is a deterrent that will make them recognize that if they're thinking about war the price is going to be too high. This peace through strength is a fact of life. Morale in our military is high. Our allies in NATO are demonstrating new resolve. They've held fair firm in the face of threats and bellicose rhetoric from the Soviet Union. Perhaps most important, the American people are demonstrating again a willingness to meet the heavy responsibilities on our shoulders. If freedom is to survive, not just here but throughout the world, it will depend on what we do. The American Revolution was brought about by a team not so different than our own. Thomas Paine, whose writings lit a flame in the hearts of American colonists, once said, those who expect to reap the blessing of freedom must undergo the fatigue of supporting it. It's a grueling task but also a noble one, and together we've accomplished much. Together we're making certain that the America passed on to our children will be as free, prosperous, secure, and as filled with opportunity as the one that we were given. Now, I can't quit. I know that there are some here in the rostrum who have heard this particular story, but a moment ago, when I said that morale is high in our armed forces, I have a story, maybe I've shared it with some of you already, but I want to share with all of you. We had a young marine pilot, a first lieutenant, flies a cobra down in Grenada, and then when they moved on as the replacement force to Beirut, he went on to Beirut. And then he wrote back to the Armed Forces Journal, and he said that in Grenada, he had noticed that the press in every story never missed saying Grenada produces more nutmeg than any other spot in the world. And he decided it was so regularly placed in the press that it was a code, and so he had set out to break the code, and he had done it in six steps, and he sent them back here for our edification. Number one, Grenada does produce more nutmeg than any other spot in the world. Number two, the Soviets and the Cubans were trying to take Grenada. Number three, you can't make eggnog without nutmeg. Number four, you can't have Christmas without eggnog. Number five, the Soviets and the Cubans were trying to steal Christmas, and his number six was, we stopped them. I'll just finish with one more thing. When we get out and we start talking, visiting with friends, and there's no advertising greater than the word of mouth, and we all have to be purveyors of what we've done and why our friends and neighbors and even those in the Democratic ranks should decide to vote with us and to do as George said, to augment that House of Representatives and to make sure that we still have that majority in the Senate, we never could have accomplished what we've done if we did not have that majority in the Senate. But we've got a lot of arguments on our side. For example, when I said a few moments ago, maybe some of you thought, well, our tax is partly a way that we can lower the deficit. The latest poll, the Worthland poll shows 83% of the people in America believe that the answer to the deficits is to reduce government spending, not to raise taxes. Some of the things that I said last night in the speech, more than 70% of the people in almost every poll that has been taken want line item veto for the president. And the same percentage in those poll want a constitutional amendment to balance the budget. So I think that all the arguments are on our side and I just feel sorry for some of those Democratic congressmen who have to go home at night and try to get a good night's sleep and then they have nightmares that the money they're spending is their own. So God bless you all. Thank you very much. I couldn't help but think in listening to these two fine men to appreciate how much the Republican Party in this great country is blessed to be led by the likes of Ronald Reagan and George Bush. Mr. President, you were great as usual tonight but I must confess that you weren't as great as you were last night. Wasn't that an absolute masterpiece? I was fairly sure of this but it was confirmed for me this afternoon when I ran on the Senate floor into one Senator Barry Goldwater. Now Barry's at the point in his life where he can be brutally honest and candid and he doesn't throw compliments around, believe me, but I must tell you Mr. President that he confided to me that he has heard 17 State of the Union messages and yours by far was the best. I must confess as your chairman though that listening to you tonight I'm just a bit disappointed. I kept listening anxiously to hear whether or not in this intimate family gathering you might say yay. I have every suspicion as the vice president indicated that when the moment comes Sunday night that this very great president of ours will tell all of us that he will be a candidate for reelection. And let me tell you this Mr. President as your friend if the answer is no your chairman is going to retreat to the comparative safety of the Beirut bunkers. Tune in Sunday night who shot JL? Just in the remote event however that the answer will be yes. Let me pledge you this as chairman of this party. Never in all the years that I've labored in the Republican vineyard have I seen a more united party, a more effective party. Today was the record fundraising event in the history of the Republican Party. So let me pledge on behalf of the party that you and George Bush C. Fitzgerald that we're going to present to you the most effective, the most dedicated, the most hardworking Republican party in the history of the land and we will ensure for you a glorious victory in November of this year. Now I'd like all of us to raise our glasses and I noticed there aren't too many around but nonetheless I'd like all of us to raise our glasses in a toast to our great president and his beautiful first lady. What happens now like