 a estos temas se acordó por los dos presidentes firmar en esta oportunidad un acuerdo entre los Estados Unidos y América y México sobre cooperación para la protección y el mejoramiento del medio ambiente en las zonas fronterizas. Se acaba de celebrar la firma de este acuerdo entre los dos países. El secretario Schultz y yo mismo teníamos la esperanza de presentar a la consideración del presidente de la Madrid y del presidente Reagan el comunicado resultado de las conversaciones de esta mañana. Sin embargo en virtud de que está en proceso de terminación mecanográfica este documento le rogamos su paciencia, lo habremos de entregar apenas esté listo y por ende daríamos por concluida esta ceremonia con la presencia de los dos presidentes. Muchas gracias. Bueno, el presidente del Espanyol de la asociación profesional de la Nación de la Nación, Mr. Paul Avila. Bueno, la asociación de la Nación de la Nación de la Nación de la Nación de la Nación de la Nación proporciona una incoherencia similar en la cambio social, cultural y de los áreas de negociación y promocionando las comunidades creadas entre México y los Estados Unidos y más específicamente el sol, a cada uno de ustedes por estar aquí hoy. Me agradezco especialmente al presidente del presidente nos memberó de este tiempo, incluyendoった магаз часов al mes de hoy con nosotros balmando problemas que tienen un gran interés y de gran importancia, no solo a nosotros española pero a los m laughes deauft a América y todos Britishos, y por lo tanto te agradezco por estar aquí, por ayud Doing Salud criteria para decironte a las personas intrigued para ella, que haga eso loudly ese 흛ays verdad – Thank you. Having the distinct privilege of this afternoon of introducing our keynote speaker, is the president of the American Foundation. Introduce our president. I would like to draw some historical parallels. Permit me to present to you the honorable Ronald Reagan, the president of the United States of America. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Tony. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Toastmaster, presidents and officials of the organizations represented here and you ladies and gentlemen. I'm a little handicapped right now with your remarks about the three essential languages. I only know one of them. I had an occasion to regret that once I was in Mexico, speaking to an audience there and then sat down to very scattered and unenthusiastic applause. And I was embarrassed, of course, and more so when the next speaker started speaking in Spanish, which I didn't understand, but was being interrupted almost every other sentence with applause. So to hide my embarrassment, I started clapping before anyone else and clapping longer than anyone else and louder until our ambassador leaned over to me and said, I wouldn't do that if I were you. He's interpreting your speech. But it's great to be back in California, speaking to businessmen and women who are on the front lines of economic progress in America. If our country is to move forward, if our people are to improve their standard of living, if we're to meet the challenges of world competition, it will depend in large measure on you, your skill, your faith and your dedication. Businessmen and women make decisions every day that direct the resources and energies of our country, making investments and taking risks and putting in that extra effort that makes all the difference between success and failure. This is what made our country a miracle of efficiency in the envy of the world. Now, of course, it's possible to have too much of a good thing. There was a small town on a lake and a young man there named Elmer, who went into business for himself selling fish to the local restaurant. No one could figure out how Elmer managed to catch so many fish every day and deliver them on time to the restaurant. So the game warden asked his cousin, who happened to be the sheriff, Elmer's cousin, to look into the matter. So the sheriff just one day asked Elmer, he says why don't you take me out with you when you go fishing? Figured he'd find out where this fabulous fishing hole was and they rode out to the middle of the lake. The sheriff cast in his line, Elmer reached down in the tackle box and came up with a stick of dynamite, lit the fuse, threw it into the water. And after the explosion, of course, the fish by the hundreds belly up and floating to the surface. Well, the sheriff looked at his cousin and said Elmer, do you realize you just committed a felony? Elmer reached into the tackle box, came up with another stick of dynamite, lit it, handed it to the sheriff and said, did you come here to talk or to fish? You business men and women of Hispanic descent stand for much more than efficiency. Being back here in California I feel very much at home but there's something else that makes me feel comfortable and that is being among men and women like you who exemplify the values I admire. There are people in America today who feel that expressions of love for country and family are old fashioned. They squirm and get uneasy when we talk about pride in our neighborhood or our work or speak of religious values. Yes, there are people like that but you won't find them in the Hispanic business community. To every cynic, to every cynic who says the American dream is dead I say look at the Americans of Hispanic descent who are making it in the business world. With hard work and no one to rely on but themselves, entrepreneurs of Hispanic descent are not just building corporations they're building a better America for all of us. Inspirational examples of individual accomplishment abound. Recently the Hispanic business magazine in the Los Angeles Times featured stories about a junior high school dropout named Manuel Caldera, a veteran who later earned his GED degree. He went on to become an electronic technician and then an engineer. And with money he saved and with help from a minority loan program during the Nixon administration he started Amex Systems, a company specializing in the development and manufacture of electronic equipment. Today his company does more than support his family. His company supports 700 employees and earns some $62 million a year in sales. And then there is Xochitl Galvan, born in Mexico, a country without a word of English. She and her husband Ramon worked as laborers and in 1960 the family pooled their savings and with a private loan they started a small restaurant in Santa Monica. With hard work and an eye on quality their business expanded and eventually they opened nine restaurants in the Los Angeles area. In 1980 they moved to San Diego and today they've opened four Casabonita restaurants there. This is the success story of a husband and a wife business team but it's also a warm human story. While making her mark in the business world Xochitl raised eight fine children her seven lovely daughters take after their mother all of them along with their brother are deeply involved in the family business. The strength and dignity of Hispanic women cannot be underestimated and are characteristic of all of which you should be very proud. I know Robert Alvarez agrees with that. He and his wife Marguerite are another husband and wife team with a dream. In 1949 Robert saved $700 he earned as a laborer. Bought some produce and started selling it from the back of a truck in San Diego. He operated that way for several years till he figured out that his paperwork wouldn't be that much greater if he expanded his operation. So he set up an office and started to deliver to stores. En 1962 his wife joined in and so did the children. By 1972 Marguerite was elected president of a growing concern. Today Coast Citrus Corporation is a multi-million dollar business and the whole family plays a part. Success didn't come easily for any of these people. Sometimes there were failures along the way. Julio Rivera, who immigrated from Colombia 18 years ago began as a repairman and then tried to start his own mail sorting business. He wasn't successful in that first try but it was just a first try. He reorganized, brought in some partners, worked hard and operated with no frills and today has an up and coming bulk mail company that employs 84 people. Now these few that I've mentioned and others of you right in this room offer us a vision of progress and hope. You prove that freedom of enterprise with it come values that make America more than a rich country. They make us a good country. I don't have to tell you that the Mexican and American Foundation named Robert Alvarez Man of the Year for 1983 and Robert congratulations. But Robert was honored for more than his business accomplishment. He and Marguerite have used their success to help others providing scholarships for young Americans of Hispanic descent and giving generously to religious and humanitarian efforts. Through the Mexican and American Foundation they've given over $10,000 in the last few years to a home for orphaned girls in Tecate, Mexico. Manuel Caldera provides scholarships so students of Hispanic descent can study engineering and science at Whittier College. The Galvan family contributes to a school for retarded children in Tijuana. In Washington we call these things private sector initiatives. I hope I get this right in my pronunciation. Americans of Hispanic descent call it curasun. Curasun. To any Anglos who didn't understand that it means heart. These are not unusual stories. They are instead a byproduct of our freedom that is always present but often unnoticed. Respect and concern for others. Business professionals realize that success depends on fulfilling the needs of others and doing it courteously and efficiently and by doing for others you're also achieving for yourself. This system of ours in the United States based on that principle has produced a better quality of life and more freedom than any other country has ever known. We're a people blessed with abundance and we're a compassionate people. We came here from every corner of the world, from every ethnic background and every race and religion seeking a better way of life. Our history isn't perfect but we can be proud of our country and our citizens of Hispanic descent can be particularly proud of the contributions that they have made and are making to the health and vitality of this nation. All of us share a sacred responsibility to maintain the opportunity and freedom we've been given and to pass it on to future generations. In a free society the future is in the hands of the people that means us. In recent years our task has not been easy. We're now emerging from an economic crisis so severe that had we not taken the necessary steps to correct it it would have robbed our children of the America that we know and love. Three years ago pessimism totally inconsistent with our national character had spread across this land. I think you'll remember the world seemed to be counting us out suggesting that America's best days were past that even our leaders were throwing up their hands talking of national malaise and saying that our problems were unsolvable. Well at first the challenge seemed overwhelming. It's taken patience and hard work just as it does for any enterprise. What was needed was not slight alterations but basic change. I'm pleased to report to you today that after a long period of stagnation and decline this great nation is moving forward again and we're not turning back. When we got to Washington inflation was running at double digit levels and had been doing so for two years straight. Long range investment and planning were useless. Capital flowed into nonproductive inflation hedges instead of job producing investment. A senior citizens helplessly watched as the value of their savings eroded. Poor and middle class working people saw their real wages and their standard of living begin to shrink. Well together we've linked inflation and we're never going back to the policies that unleashed this monster on the American people. Inflation was only part of the picture. Two and a half years ago the prime interest rate hit 21.5%. Today the prime stands at 11%. There'll be slight fluctuations but if the congress acts responsibly interest rates will come down some more and soon. And here again there are individuals that don't wait. In fact the security savings and loan association in Milwaukee, Wisconsin has just made $100 million available for home mortgages at a 9.9% interest rate. I like to talk about that because I hope some others will get the same idea. The basic reason for our economic troubles troubles from which we're now just emerging is that for years government was spending too much and taxing too much and I don't have to tell you in the business community if more and more resources are channeled into the government bureaucracy consumers will have less and less to spend and business will have less to invest and create new jobs. And in control of spending and taxes was priority number one when we got to Washington government spending was growing at an annual rate of 17%. We have cut that by nearly 40%. Paying for all that spending doubled the federal tax take in just 5 years between 1976 and 1981. Now there's an old saying that in levying taxes as in shearing sheep it's best to stop when you get to the skin. By the end of the 1980s the tax rates were or the 70s I should say the tax rates were making a lot of us bleed. Average working people were being taxed at rates that only a short time before had been reserved for the wealthy. We've managed to put in place a tax program that cut personal income tax rates across the board 25%. And soon they will be indexed so the federal government will never again profit from inflation but from inflation at your expense. And under the direction of Vice President Bush we freed the business community as well as state and local government from 300 million man hours of needless paperwork. This will save Americans billions of dollars. Now it's taken time for our program to take hold but the cumulative effect of our efforts is just beginning to be felt when the signs are good. Consumer spending is up Productivity is up Industrial production Retail sales auto sales Housing and construction are all up since the beginning of the year. Last quarter the economy grew by 9.2%. They first reported that as 8.7% and then had to make a correction it was really 9.2 a much bigger jump than anyone had expected. The leading economic indicators have been on the rise for a full year now. The best indicators to turn around of course has been unemployment. The suffering of the unemployed is a deep concern to me and don't let anyone tell you differently. But let me ask you do you think that going back to the policies that dragged our economy down and set fire to inflation will really help the unemployed? Or would you agree that the best way to help all Americans is to continue the reforms that have brought down inflation interest rates, taxes and unemployment which last month dropped by a half percent the biggest monthly decline in almost 24 years? Our economy got into trouble because past leadership permitted our country to drift away from some of the fundamentals with the basis of our progress and freedom. We were headed toward a society where the power and decisions would be in the hands not to view the people but of a faceless central authority. While giving such power to the government and blindly hoping that it will benevolently watch over our interest is not the American way and besides it just doesn't work. We believe in the dignity of work we believe in rewarding it we want everyone to succeed. Your four organizations prove that by working as independent forces in the community and working together you can help others succeed. I know for example of the Business Association sponsorship of the Silesian Boys Club in East Los Angeles helping promote skills and healthy self-images at an early age in order to open new horizons for tomorrow. I know of the trade fairs and the training seminars conducted by the Hispanic Business and Professional Association of Orange County and the Inland Empire and Ray Nahara has told me of the professional guidance of the scholarship and loan fund of the Hispanic Business and Professional Association of Orange County and the Mexican and American Foundation. All of this activity is aimed at building strong and independent people individuals who can contribute and earn their own way in doing so. Your organizations are providing technical assistance and contacts so Hispanic businesses can compete. With this kind of effort going on all over the country no wonder in five years the number of Hispanic owned firms has leaped 65% to some 363,000 businesses generating about 18 billion dollars in sales per year. I want to take this opportunity to applaud those in the American corporate world who've seen the potential of the Hispanic community and invested in it. You can count on me to encourage them to do that more. This administration remains firm in its commitment to expanding minority owned businesses. Through the strong efforts of the Small Business Administration which has as its deputy administrator Eddie Herrera and through our commitment to minority procurement we've put our money where our mouth is. Let's make one thing clear our goal is not welfare or handouts it is jobs and opportunity. And if we can keep on course and not be maneuvered back into the policies of tax, spend and inflate policies that are root cause for the economic turmoil we've been through we'll be on our way to a new era of growth and expansion that will better the life of every American and looking around me today I predict Americans of Hispanic descent will be leading the way. What we're what we're working for is much more than wealth one need only look at a map to see the relationship between economic freedom and the other freedoms that we hold so dear. Nations with centralized government controlled economies usually have government controlled speech, religion and press as well. They are countries with neither freedom nor material well being. Nations that erect walls and barbed wire to keep their people inside. Much of the world is in turmoil with a mass of humanity living in wretched conditions suffering deprivation and tyranny. I know that you agree with me I'll be so grateful for this blessed land God is placed in our hands the responsibility of watching over it I thank you for all that you have done. Together we will keep America the land of the free and the home of the brave a land that still offers that last best hope of mankind Vaya con Dios Buenas Ladies and gentlemen Muchas gracias Thank you very much for taking time out this afternoon to attend this historical event and I want to key on that historical event. The reason is the balance of power is in your hands and to quote the president to the corporate America it is good business, Hispanic business Mr. President it gives me a great pleasure and honor to present this award on behalf of the four associations and to thank you for taking time out of your vacation to attend this afternoon Thank you Thank you all very much and I didn't really take time out of my vacation this was a pretty good part of my vacation Ladies and gentlemen please remain at your seats until the president Reagan and his staff has exited the dining area