 Well, thank you. I'm delighted that all of you could be here today. And I'd like to thank Senator Rudy Boschwitz for the excellent leadership that he's given the National Republican Senate Committee and his first five months as chairman. I'd also like to thank you for the, you are the Senatorial Trust members for your generous dedication of time and resources on behalf of both Republican members and candidates for the U.S. Senate. Hi, Jim. You know, Douglas MacArthur once said that the history of lost battles could be summarized in two words. Too late. Too late to see the looming danger, too late to make adequate preparation. Well, the fact all of you were here today is proof positive that you understand the meaning of that warning. I don't have to tell any of you that things have been a little tougher this year without a Republican Senate. Howard Baker can certainly testify to that, too. In earlier years, it was obviously easier to make the kind of changes we needed to end the years of malaise and economic stagnation that we inherited and to put America back on the road to economic recovery and a strong presence in the world. But you know, there's a bright side to it. First, the American people now have some firsthand experience of what it's like to have those other folks controlling the Senate. They've heard all about the new spending schemes. They've seen the unrelenting opposition to judges who are constitutionalists and tough on crime. And they know about the desire to make dangerous cuts in our defense budget. And you know what? I think the American people are a little shocked, and I also think they aren't buying any of it. Second, we need to remember we aren't talking about huge majorities. We're talking about five seats. Five seats that make the difference between going forward with our country's economic boom and a strong America abroad or returning to the days of high taxes and spending and to feeble international leadership. Now back in 1986, we knew we had a tough job ahead of us. It was an off-year election. The historical trends were against us, and it was just plain difficult to generate the kind of interest that could get voters out to the polls. And the truth is that a mere switch of a total of 42,000 votes nationwide would have kept Republican control of the Senate. But let's remember that 1988 will be a very different political year. In a presidential election, we can count on emotions being higher and the issues being more sharply defined. Issues like higher taxes and spending, like growth and opportunity, issues like stopping the construction of a Soviet colony on the Central American mainland, or keeping America a strong presence in the world. And with an election like that, one with sharply defined issues that that sparks national, broad national interest, we have a tremendous advantage and a tremendous opportunity. An opportunity to return the United States Senate to what it should be, an ally of limited government and economic prosperity at home, and of the march of world freedom all around the globe. So that's the challenge before us. I said the other day in front of the Jefferson Memorial that it's our job now to institutionalize the gains that we've made to make sure that future generations of Americans are never again shackled by a huge national debt, punitive taxation, or unnecessary government intrusion into the marketplace. I also said that we won't be content to make this a caretaker in administration, that we're going to move forward with the exciting agenda embodied in our economic Bill of Rights. This Bill of Rights puts new limitations on government's attempts to take from the people the fruits of their labor. In addition to the balanced budget amendment and the line item veto, we're asking for a super majority in the Congress for passage of tax bills. Now that has caused some squeals of protest from up there. What's wrong with it requiring more than 50% plus one to make such a move as taking more money out of your pockets. And I was governor of California. We required a two-thirds vote of the legislature just to pass the budget. And then to pass a bond issue, it took 60% of the voters to get that done. And that's true in a lot of the states. And you know the federal government would be a lot better if it had to take a look at what's going on in some of the states and copy them. That's what our country is all about, a federation of sovereign states. Well, we're also demanding new truth in spending provisions so that the Congress will be forced to acknowledge the cost of what it legislates and account to the people how it expects to pay for any new program that it's proposes. This is a strong program and it's a strong message. And if we can get it to the American people, we'll win the victory that we need and seek. And that's where all of us come in. By starting early with your candidates and our organization, you're helping to get that message to the American people. You're making it clear how vital it is that the next Republican president has a Congress he can work with. And that means a Republican-controlled Senate. I said something else out of the Jeffers Memorial that these issues were worth fighting for and that I intend to devote the rest of my public life to that effort. In the next several months, I need your help in two important areas. One is the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Robert Bork. Judge Bork is recognized by his colleagues and peers as a brilliant legal scholar and a fair-minded jurist who believes his role is to interpret the law, not make it. I hope that we can keep politics out of the confirmation process. The American people deserve a Supreme Court with nine justices operating at full strength. Incidentally, I'm sure that many of you know now that as in the highest court of appeals in the land, he had submitted decisions to the Supreme Court, 100 of them, and not one of them was ever overturned by the Supreme Court. So I think he's qualified to be there. Seriously, I want to reiterate my opposition to any tax increases. Congress insists on sending me legislation for tax increases. I will veto any bill that comes across my desk with that provision in it. You know, all this talk about that I'm responsible for the deficit now because of the cut in taxes in our economic program that has created in the last five and a half years, 13 and a half million new jobs, among other things. And if by Thanksgiving we're still having a recovery and expansion, it will be the longest expansion in our nation's history. Well, let's see what cutting taxes did do. 1981 total revenue from the income tax was $289.1 billion. By 1985, you remember that our tax cuts were phased in over a couple of years, so it was about 1983 before they were fully effective. And by 1985, the revenue from the income tax wasn't $284 billion. It was $328.7 billion at the lower rates. Reminds me one of my favorite philosophers of all time was a man named Eben Kaldun. A few hundred years ago, I don't know what else he said, but I do know this. He said, in the beginning of the empire, the rates were small and the revenues were great. In the end of the empire, the rates were great and the revenues were small. Well, we're not going to make that mistake. But so in addition to telling all of you that I'm grateful to you for what you're doing, I also want you to know that I'll be with your body and soul in 1988. And I'll do everything in my power to ensure that a Republican president is elected and that we regain a Republican majority in the United States Senate. As we take our case to the people in 88, believe me, I'll be there with you at your side. So let's remember something else that Douglas McArthur said. There is no substitute for victory. Now, do you want to know what's important in this and what you're doing? Do you realize that in the last more than half a century, there have only been a Republican majority in both houses of the Congress four out of that more than 50 years? And only two of those four were for a Republican president. Every Republican president until I got here has, except for that two years during Eisenhower's term, has served with a Democratic Congress majority in both houses. And the Democratic presidents have all had Democratic Congresses in both houses, except for one two year period in Truman's regime. Now, since I've been here, I've had one house for six years, but now we're back to two houses the other way. And that's the way that will finish out my term. So in something like 56, seven years, only six years of both houses of the Congress being Republican. Now, I don't think that's what the Constitution means by checks and balances. I think it's about time we educated the people that the only two people in Washington that are chosen by all the people are the president and the vice president. And after the people choose them, don't you think they ought to be reminded that they ought to give them a Congress not to hinder them in what they're going to do, but to help them? Well, I can't wait to get back out there in a mashed potato circuit. Well, listen, God bless you all and thank you all. And they've got me a little heavy scheduled, so I'm not going to be able to stay and read all of you's I'd like and have to make my way upstairs for a change of uniform and beyond my way again. But God bless you all. You're very special in what you're doing.