 Mr. President, on behalf of the President of the United States, we want to thank you for your time here today. And for a chance to sit down and share some ideas, one thought I wanted to live you with today is that you know the cup's open today. The cup's open today. That was a pretty good record. But we want to thank you. Well, welcome to the White House. Maybe some of you don't know the reason for that. Mr. President, you mentioned there used to be a sports announcer who broadcasted the cup games. Well, I'm glad you were able to join us here during the spring conference. And, George, I'd like to congratulate you on your excellent leadership as chairman of the National Conference of Lieutenant-General for your contribution toward making the Illinois Export Development Authority such an innovative and effective export program. Thank you. Mr. President, Steve, I understand that you're a chairman-elect of the conference, and I'm confident you'll serve your colleagues well when you take over the chairmanship. It sounds like you have an exciting program theme, International Competitiveness, the Challenge to the States. As you know, in my 87th State of the Union address, I outlined a competitiveness initiative which included comprehensive trade law reform and established a national goal of ensuring American competitive preference into the 21st century. Already, U.S. competitive misses on the rise. There was significant improvement in manufacturing output and employment in 1987 resulted in a realignment of international currencies and the rapid rise of productivity improvements on the industrial sectors of the economy. Even as we sit here, negotiations continue on the trade bill pending in Congress. The answer is not more trade sanctions. The answer is fair and open markets on both sides of the oceans. I want to sign a trade bill that would open markets and improve America's international competitiveness. I'm only to work toward reaching an acceptable bill that will accomplish these goals, goals which are the responsibility of every American because we all stand to benefit. I hope that all of you as leaders in your respective states will continue playing active roles in helping businesses to develop overseas export markets for their products and services. And I commend you for choosing this important subject as the focus of your meeting. You've done so much already. The figures that I've seen indicate that states have been opening overseas offices at a phenomenal rate. The date 39 states have offices at 105 locations in 20 countries, and this makes good business sense. The Canada Free Trade Agreement has been another positive step toward open competitive world trading and emphasizes the importance of U.S.-Canadian relations as those of you who share a border with Canada well know. I urge all of you to support it. Actually, one of the biggest trading partners in the world, commerce between us. While I have a captive audience here, let me also take a moment to mention the superconducting supercollider. Its goal is to promote the scientific and technological competitiveness of this great country and place us at the forefront of change. Last year, we committed ourselves to building the world's largest particle accelerator to maintain our leadership in high-energy physics research. Again, I ask you to support this national project which transcends state boundaries and encouraged Congress to support this important project. In closing, I want you to continue your close working relationship with your fellow state and local elected officials in helping your state take initiatives and promoting exports and finding new markets for products. And I look forward to hearing about what interesting ways you can come up with to promote America. So, thank you for being here and God bless you all. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. I've got a chance to talk a little about the trade that started on that level. The rest of it, we have some problems and some things are behind that.