 citizens. Today sales are up. That message called on us to resist quick fixes and to oppose legislation for bailouts throughout the industry. We agree. Over 600,000 real cars stood with it. Support here in Washington throughout the city. That was no less than we expected from individuals who have independent business in America. The principle of private property and its relationship to personal liberty is not theory with you. It's everyday business. Small business today, as it has always been, is the main stream of American will. And he decided to order a floral decoration for the occasion. When he got to the opening, he was shocked to see that the inscription on the floral flower had rest in peace on his half-billed house on two poles. The ribbon was 250 feet long. You know all about that. During the last decade, we strayed far from the principle to build our great nation. At the end of the 1970s, we were overtaxed and overrated. The policies that tax rate was shooting through the roof at 21.5%, knocking the legs from under our basic industries. Being in the industry you were in, I don't have to remind you of that. When we got here, we're here together, standing together. We will, and we can't, keep on the shining light of liberty and opportunity that God has to give. Last and best of all, thank you for having me with you. Would you like to go and take a look at the deficit? You're going to have as much success. I don't know anything that has ever taken off with such an impact around the nation. And I have gotten around, and if you don't participate in the number of seminars that have followed your program or your report that came in and how widespread at the local level, without suddenly a federal program with a few billion dollars and so forth, that no, the people just heard, they read, and they took off. And I just finished in the other room, talked to some columnist here, this general subject, and said that I indicated that I never had done a service such as you've done. I've been able now to see the fruits of your efforts so quickly, a little bit. We'll be out in the South Lawn and we'll be giving rewards to individual students. But to see this so rewarding, all that you've accomplished and what I told the columnists in there is I now look and I'm going to think it'll happen in the very near future that we will see the colleges and universities cancel their bonehead courses. We had a devil of a time, finding a time, when they could come over here, the team, and allow me to honor them here at the White House, because he would not allow them to cut any classes. He insists that they are students first and basketball players second. Mr. President, we have, as you recall, you were going to make an award to the Chairman and then afterward after the President leaves, I wrote to the others. And so maybe we could have that presentation, if that's okay. And you're the last to see it. Well, I don't know whether you threw a bomb or created a miracle or part of the waters, but something has happened in America and I want to leave you because I guess we're all going to meet up on that. Sounds on there, in honor of 757 students nationwide. Nice weather for these things so you can have a good time while you're cutting school. We did a little checking the other day and found out that this is the 43rd time that I have spoken on education in the past three and a half years. And that doesn't include such things as what Teddy Roosevelt said was the bully pulpit of this office. The modern de Tocqueville came searching for the heart of this country today. I would tell him to go to those junctions where family church, town, and school meet. That being that education was the key to the options because the commission is right here. You did just that. Whereas 21 states are reviewing steps to make textbooks more challenging. Eight states have lengthened the school day and seven have lengthened the school year. I've heard about one such case in Indiana. The local school board wanted to encourage high school attendance, so they offered a $100 reward for any student who graduated with a perfect attendance record. They've seen your year. Well, work and the kids stopped cutting classes and now the school board has found that close to 200 students made perfect attendance records and they'll have to come up with $20,000 before graduation day. I've been watching our young students making is that education is back on the agenda all over this country. There has been a renaissance of interest in Dr. Gardner as head of the National Commission on Excellence in Education. I just want to say and now and a few years later, President Johnson followed up that concern by creating the president's physical fitness award. Well, this year we instituted the president's academic fitness award and I am pleased to announce that more than 220,000 graduating high school seniors are recipients of the first awards. First of all from Alabama, Charlene Williams is profoundly deaf and in spite of that handicap she won this award and so I especially want to salute Stephanie as she comes up to receive Arkansas Lewis Soloff. Mr. President from Connecticut hasn't been in this country very long as the valedictorian of her class Rosette Nugent from the District of Columbia, Lara Collins and Sean Shears from the District of Columbia from Florida also from Florida Luella Jennings and from Georgia Raymond Randall Weiss from Hawaii, Miley Jean Lue from Kentucky, Kathy Rowland, Stephen John Snyders from Minnesota, Cynthia O'Prenivich.