 My fellow Americans, you've probably heard that some of our political opponents are very concerned about the state of our economy. And I have to tell you, I don't blame them. If I were in their shoes, I'd be worried too. You see, April marks the 65th straight month of the longest peacetime expansion in U.S. history. In that time, we've created nearly 16 million jobs. They're better and higher paying, too, which is one reason why the real income of the average American has been rising steadily for the last five years. The percentage of Americans employed is the highest in history, and the unemployment rate continues to drop down to its lowest level since 1974. Since 1980, U.S. manufacturing has increased its productivity almost three times as fast as in the seven previous years. Inflation remains low, while the gross national product growth this year and last has exceeded even our own optimistic expectations. Somehow, our opponents have convinced themselves that this record growth, vibrant job creation and more productive economy is bad news, and they say it's all the fault of Reaganomics. Well, I'd love to take the blame or credit as the case may be, but that just wouldn't be fair. All we did was get government out of your way. We cut taxes, inflation and regulations, and we let the American people take back their own economy and run with it. In their effort to prove that this economic boom we're in is really a bust, our opponents have had to weave some pretty tall tails. One of those they tell about America is that we're threatened by foreign investment. Would a paraphrase what Joe Friday used to say in Dragnet, let's just look at the facts, ma'am. Yes, foreigners now hold about 12% of U.S. public debt, but that's down from 16% in 1978. Foreign resources also accounted for 10% of total credit market funds last year, exactly the same as in the mid-1970s. But even so, foreign investment isn't something to be scared of. It brings us a host of benefits, including jobs and lower interest rates for all Americans, whether they be home buyers, small businessmen, consumers or farmers. Writer-economist Warren Brooks makes a very good point. What difference does it make, he asks, whether a Japanese company owns a factory in Detroit or in Marysville, Ohio? Does someone seriously think they might dismantle it brick by brick and ship it back to Japan in the middle of the night? I wonder if the workers in those plants think foreign investment is such a bad thing, more than nearly three million other Americans employed by foreign firms in the United States, whose payrolls add up to more than $70 billion and that pay about $8 billion in income taxes to the United States Treasury. The fact is we live in a global economy. We can be glad people in other countries choose to invest in the vibrant and growing U.S. economy rather than their own nations. I don't blame them. I think America's a pretty good investment, too. Right now, however, there's a trade bill working its way through Congress that could go a long way toward making America's bad investment for Americans and foreigners alike. At this moment, we've not seen the final bill, but from what we already know, we still have very underlined, very serious reservations. We'll continue to work with the full conference and the congressional leadership to clear up these problems, but the bottom line is this. I will veto a bad trade bill before I will let a bad trade bill veto our economic expansion. Another important matter facing the nation today is the INF Treaty, which I signed with General Secretary Gorbachev at our Washington Summit meeting last December. This treaty will, for the first time, eliminate an entire class of U.S. and Soviet missiles. We called this the zero option when I first proposed it in 1981. The treaty also requires the Soviet Union to make far greater reductions now in its missile systems to reach equality with us. This is an historic precedent, and we will apply it to other arms negotiations as well. Finally, the treaty has the most comprehensive verification regime in arms control history. This too is an important precedent for other negotiations, particularly those on strategic arms where an even more elaborate verification regime will be required. In sum, this treaty represents what can be accomplished when we negotiate from a position of strength. And on it is now up to the United States Senate, which must give its advice and consent to ratification. I hope it will be given expeditious consideration by the full Senate, and I urge all Senators to provide their advice and consent without reservation. It is a solid treaty, and it enhances the security of our country and our allies. Until next week then, thank you for listening, and God bless you. That's the first time in all these years it was broadcast that I have ever had clear my throat. Mr. John Gagan, you know. Mr. President, nice to see you again, and I'm Agency Secretary Frank Walton's old job. Oh. But I also was Director of the Department of Commerce the last two years of your administration at Sacramento, so it's great to see you. Good to see you. You look great. Well, I feel good. Better than I should, I think. This is Mr. John Gagan. That's your Executive Staff. Nice to see you. This is Secretary Treasurer of the Association, Mr. Larry Slycord. Hello. Nice to see you. Of course, you know Barney. I know him. Who's the guy in here? He keeps hanging around, right? I haven't seen him so clean since I've been here. There you go. There you go. That's a rough work, though. Governor and Gloria Duke-Majin send you their best, and they wanted me to tell you that he's not looking for a house in Washington. Mr. President, the purpose of this gathering here today is to present the first badge of the American spirit. You've been chosen as a recipient of this badge because of your personal commitment to patriotism here in the United States, for your commitment to our armed services, and making sure that they're the strongest fighting forces on the planet. The fact that we can now negotiate for peace from a strength of undeniable, or from a position of undeniable strength. We appreciate your personal courage, the fact that you recovered from the bullets of an assassin. You've recovered from your battle with cancer. And truly, you've been an inspiration to Americans everywhere, and it's been the spirit of freedom here in the United States. I'd like to read from the medal now honoring Ronald Reagan's statesman for his creative ingenuity as manifested in his inspirational leadership of this Republic as 40th President of the United States, and in his contributions to the rebirth of the founding father spirit of American patriotism. My goodness, I am greatly honored, and I thank you all very much. I'm most appreciative of this. What I'd like to do now is to take the medal out of the cover here. On the front of this badge is American Eagle, which reminds us that it flies best on its own wings in the spirit of freedom. And on the back, you have the logo of the California Association of Highway Patrolmen, and the logo for Pacific Bell, whose grant made this medal possible. Well, I'm deeply grateful and most honored to have this. You know, I'm really doing it looking at it this way so she can get a picture in front of it. Well, I want to thank you all, and I want to also tell you, I'm sure you're probably aware of this already, that in all the eight years here as Governor, there's nothing in the whole job that I was any more proud of, or as proud of as I was at the California Highway Patrol. You are an exceptional body in law enforcement throughout the nation. And going across the country to the other job, I found that out. Thank you very much, Mr. President. Mr. President, we have one more presentation. I understand, Mr. President, that you have one of our commemorative revolvers from our 50th anniversary. A year ago, a little over a year ago, almost two years ago, we came out with another edition of a commemorative revolver, which is the revolver that we carry on duty every day. And what we'd like to do today is present you, not only with a revolver, but with a belt buckle from the California Association of Highway Patrolmen in the presentation case. Well, thank you very much. Use you know, I sort of got a firmness for it. Whoops. Yeah, that's a very, very clean weapon. I'll leave it there just permanently. No. I was just, I just did that to take a look and make sure. Oh, oh my god. That's the standard service weapon, not a, not a specially made up one. Nothing fancy, it's the exact one that we carry except for the inscription, of course, on the barrel. Well, I'm very pleased and proud to have this. Thank you. You're very welcome. Well, I should have said this, I should have said these. Well, we hope that you display them in with pride. Yes. It's a matter of fact, I just have a sink here, kind of a feeling that, I'm not sure about the gun as I am about the other, that the presidential library, where they're projecting advanced crowds will be going through. Great. I think it should be on display there. That would be the perfect spot. We'd love to see it there. Love to see it. It shouldn't be. You may never get it back. Barney's got one of his own now. He doesn't need that one. Yes, if I could, I'd like to get some pictures with, with our entire group here if we could, or individually, whatever you would like to do. Maybe we'd better move around where we are then. Well, let's do it here, because the sun's getting bright and the people laugh. Oh, well, I was afraid about shooting into the sun. Can we, John, can we maybe set that somewhere and give that to someone to hold? Do you want me to do it on the end? I'm going to put you in here. I've got pictures already, so I can stand behind you. I'm going to look kind of short at you, because I'm standing downhill from you. Okay. Yeah, I like this picture. Oh, the bi-fi got me. Want to have a five now? Good. You know, that's another funny thing of nature. It was about the second or third day that we were here. Not a nap in the, in the next morning. The weather. Yeah. They, they're where they come from. The interstices on that, the bark of the oaks. They're in there. That's where they kind of remain through the bad weather and everything. And then it really became spring, and all of a sudden here they were. We thought they were the political cat-flowers. No. As a matter of fact, so far I've only got one more day here to keep my record. But every time, every vacation that we've had here, I managed to swallow one before. So I'm wondering if I'm going to break the habit. Mr. President, I'm sure everybody wants to impose upon you, but my hero, Barney, is around here somewhere. Here he is. And I wonder, could I get a picture with you and Barney? You sure could. Okay, I'd appreciate that very much. This, come in here. You can be sorry. Oh, no. He says he's my mentor. He tied many years ago. I've been with him for 12, 30 years, but good. I don't ruin the camera by going all out. Thank you, sir. I appreciate that very much. Barney, thank you. Yeah, you bet. Commissioner, fine. I'm sure maybe John, or maybe... Mr. President, go ahead. When you move back to Southern California, how much time do you think you'll be spending up here? Well, I have a hunch that Nancy and I'll be arguing about that. And we'll compromise somewhere between... Well, we'll be regular business when we... Before I went there. I'll answer that as much as you can. We used to come up for several days, and frequently, you know, we didn't live here. We'd come up at the rest of the time as in town, and usually I was out of town making speeches someplace, but, you know, I figure it'll be that way. Probably several days every month. Yeah. Come on. Beautiful spot. Well, I claim it casts a spell. Mr. President, in 1975, I had the honor of receiving the Medal of Valor from you when you were governor of the state of California. And at the presentation, they took pictures of my wife, myself, and you. And if you would autograph these for me as President of the United States, it'd be a great honor. Well, I'd be very pleased to. I don't know if this will write on there or not, but if not, I'll leave them with you and you can send them to me after they're autographed if you would prefer to do that. Right. But it would be a great honor for me. Well, now, what are both your first names? Well, Tom and Chris. Tom and Chris, C-H-R-I-S. C-H-R-I-S, that's correct. It's not going to write on there, I don't think. Yep, there it goes, I think. Oh, okay. That's fine. I believe anybody has a felt. I didn't. I had one and it's in the car. Here's yourself, Beth. Great. Oh, boy. That's even better. Yep. There you go, sir. Oh, thank you. That was in, when was that? 1975. 1975? So, 15 years later, you got a autograph, right? That's exactly right. He hasn't changed a bit. No. Well, Tom's changed a bit. I'm not the president. I'm in that suit anymore. Oh, you don't have that suit anymore? I don't believe it. You've never been in your suit. Yeah, they're all for, if you would. I wish, I hate to impose upon you, but it was a very special day of my life and as is this. Well, it was a little different. There we go. These, this picture is of Dian Lanza who was our commissioner at that time. And, of course, there's Frank Lawton at the Long Sideburn. That's exactly right. Remember those years? They just do. What, what, what have they, we both, the names, they say, how do you want this one done? Yeah, just the same way. It would be fine, Mr. President. Just Tom and Chris. All right. Back when I was still doing movies and television and everything, I was walking down Fifth Avenue in New York, street crowded and people back and forth, and all of a sudden, about 30 feet ahead of me, a fellow stopped, pointed his finger at me, and he says, I know you. I see you in that movies and all of this, and everybody stopped and they kind of formed two lines. And he came down the middle, fumbling in his pocket there, and I'm standing there, waiting for him and he's going on to me about pictures and the television and everything. Gets right up to me and sticks out the pen and a piece of paper and says, Rameland. So I signed Rameland. Oh, that's great. You have to take a picture of your picture here. Oh, gosh. Did we get a picture with just Larry, Bob, and I'll stand here in the back. That's okay. This is my executive board. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Mr. President, you've been more than gracious. Well, listen, I certainly appreciate this opportunity and this audience. You've honored me greatly. The board. Well, I couldn't go to anybody. Mr. President, last time I shook your hand, you were Governor, and Harold Sullivan was the commissioner. I was his assistant. You remember Harold? Oh, my gosh. Yes. And that was, I think, 1970. Yeah, around in that period of time, I would think. But it's so good to see you again. Last time I shook your hand, you signed the legislation that has made the highway patrol salaries right up there a period of maybe a long, long time. You did that at the ground break. You're always welcome to come back. The academy is complete. We'd love to have you as a guest up there. We're very proud of it. We'll never get the chance. Ed Meese told me, well, last time I saw him back in Washington, he said he wanted to come. He was there at the ground break. And he said, when I got Sacramento again, I want to come out and see it, so. Don't let him feed you lunch there, though. Thank you.