 That would match for everybody so that she could be here and she was terribly disappointed because she is really the person Who makes all of this possible here in this house? And so if you like it and you think it's pretty you can thank the first lady There is someone here that you should meet that you won't have a chance to meet otherwise However miss the first lady and I took a little poll upstairs and we decided there was definitely one person you want to hear from today and it wasn't us and So it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you your host for the luncheon this afternoon the president of the United States Thank you very much. Thank you Well good afternoon and welcome to the White House and it's good to see so many old friends and Westerners to boot and Have the opportunity to make new ones friends. That is not Westerners and Of course, I have been introduced by one of my two favorite women and she's explained to you why there's only one of them here You've all heard that politics make strange bedfellows. Well, I found out they kind of works in reverse So she's in Houston and I'm in Washington But I want to thank all of you for what you're doing to advance the ideals and the goals that unite us We've journeyed far. I think in these three years But it never would have happened without the drive and the energy and determination of office holders in State capitals and communities all across America America's future looks bright and you've made the difference Our economic recovery is bringing new hope and opportunity to our people Inflation is plummeted by two-thirds to about four percent The prime rate is almost half what it was when we took office three words describe our recovery program jobs Jobs and jobs and last long month alone 700,000 more Americans were found on the payrolls and We've had the steepest drop in the unemployment rate in over three decades And I meant the 700,000 in just that one month from the previous month The overall in unemployment rate is down to seven point seven percent and Among adult women the rate has dropped from nine point one to six point nine Since the beginning of the dramatic upturn 15 months ago nearly five million four point nine million People have gone back to work in the United States and more people are working than ever before in our history But we can't rest until every American who wants a job has found one All the leading economic indicators suggest that our economic growth will continue The failed policies of higher taxes bigger government soaring inflation and runaway spending haven't disappeared In fact, they're lurking not far away as anyone who had time to watch the debate last night would know Right now those failed policies are on the stump just a few hundred miles south of here The federal government and the budget must be brought under better control Deficits remain a problem, but the biggest problem is the size of the government's claim on our economy I'm dead serious about negotiating a down payment on the deficit, but common sense Not partisan politics should govern the deliberations so that we can protect the interests of the American people The starting point is to cut out the waste in spending and believe me we've discovered there's still a lot of waste in spending Personal tax rates have been reduced. We passed an historic tax reform indexing so that government Will no longer be able to use inflation to profit at your expense But those in government who have a stake in bigger government don't want you to have indexing The billions in tax and spending increases that these spenders are pushing would not reduce the deficit They just reduce the recovery We want to go forward not backward and America will go forward if we simplify the tax system and reduce tax rates further Republicans want to build an opportunity society We can all be proud that we're putting America's future back in the hands of the people and Proud that we're working to strengthen our social institutions the bedrock of our society and our freedom But important challenges remain We can start by letting our children have the right to call on a little help from God at the start of the school day if they so choose When 80% of the people want voluntary prayer back in our schools I think it takes a lot of gall to tell them they can't have it Well, if enough of you make your voices heard we can restore the right of voluntary prayer in the classroom Education is another idea or another area where we're the ones with the courage to call for basic reform Excellence in education means getting back to fundamentals Working from the bottom up providing local leadership and thinking smarter and I think our support for basic reform is starting to pay off When our administration took office only a handful of states had task forces on education today They all do and reforms are being adopted in academic standards discipline curriculum and basic values For example, 44 states are increasing graduation requirements 42 are studying improvements in teacher certification and 33 are considering or have enacted legislation for master teacher type programs So it's up to us to make the sure the momentum continues in connection with this whole thing in education I just had a chore this morning that was most pleasant you know this partnership thing that is sweeping the nation of various business firms or organizations or groups and labor unions and even some of our professional athletic teams have Formed partnerships with local schools and they help they're going to field trips and going there lecture Whatever they can do to help well the White House adopted a school here in town Congress Heights school and I was out there this morning and was taking questions from the students there and meeting them The most humbling experience was in the kindergarten The kindergarten computer class I don't know the first thing about those things But those five-year-olds did there they all sat in front of their computers Finally the one I was sitting beside said well go ahead and push the button. I was scared to death but a third important challenge is to restore the proper balance to our criminal justice system We came to Washington determined to crack down on habitual criminals organized crime and the drug pushers and in 1982 Crime went down 4.3 percent and that's the biggest decline in 10 years But too many law-abiding citizens are still being harmed or killed While dangerous criminals get off scot-free The long overdue reform that we need must begin with passage of our comprehensive crime control act The most important anti-crime legislation that's been introduced in more than a decade It was approved by the Senate last month You can imagine why and who has the majority there But now the bill is being bottled up in committee by Democrats in the house and I'm very disappointed in their attitude When it comes to putting criminals behind bars when it comes to keeping the American people safe There should be no Republicans or Democrats just Americans Now if they continue to refuse In you and I not only have the right we have the obligation to hold their feet to the fire And just as we're strengthening the basic values which made America great There's a new sense of purpose and direction to America's foreign policy 37 years ago today President Truman addressed the American people before a joint session of the Congress in The closing of that speech which later would be known as the Truman doctrine He said the free peoples of the world look to us for support in maintaining their freedoms If we falter in our leadership We may endanger the peace of the world and we shall surely endanger the welfare of this nation Well back in the late 70s some had lost sight of mr. Truman's wisdom We had an uncomfortable feeling that we'd lost respect overseas and we no longer trusted our leaders to defend peace and freedom Today the world knows once more that America can be counted on to defend freedom peace and human dignity and believe me That makes the world safer for all of us Now let me say a few words about El Salvador a new democracy that is struggling to protect itself from extremists of the right and the left El Salvador will be holding elections at the end of the this month But if they're to succeed they must take place in a climate of security We know that Cuban supported guerrillas plan to disrupt these elections just as they tried and failed to do that two years ago When they held their first elections But the Salvadorans are out of US military aid Assistance funds because my original request was not fully funded by the Congress El Salvador Their army trying to protect them against these guerrillas will soon be out of ammunition Supplies and funds for US training support as a matter of fact shipments of medical supplies have already had to be stopped Without these supplies and training support El Salvador cannot hold secure elections or defend their country Therefore I've asked the Congress to approve an emergency short-term military assistance package To tide the situation over until the Congress acts on the recommendations of the bipartisan Commission on Central America This package is early urgently needed and I urge its rapid approval by the Congress Democracy in El Salvador depends on it and to those who maybe question whether they really are achieving anything in democracy two years ago Observers from our Congress went down to observe those elections 83% of the people turned out we haven't turned out 83% of the people for an election in years and years and They actually saw some of these congressmen and talked with a woman who was standing in the lines for hours waiting to vote Waiting her turn had been shot wounded by the guerrillas and Refused to leave the lines for medical attention until she had been allowed to vote This is what we're trying to defend down there and protect and I think they deserve our help after 400 years Two months ago that bipartisan commission submitted its report they called on our government to substantially increase economic and military assistance to Central America Between two-thirds and three-fourths of that assistance will be economic and social not military And although the region is vital to our national interest and the situation increasingly urgent the Congress has not acted As a nation we can't afford to let this issue drag drag on while people die in Central America We can't afford to let political partisanship Jeopardize our security interest or undercut the opportunity for El Salvador to build its democracy The bipartisan Commission gave us a formula which should be acceptable to all So let's use it and get on with it When historians write about these years, they'll find that very skilled and talented women Played a key role in putting America back on her feet and here in Washington We're calling on the talents of Women and the leadership of women in a big way for the first time in history three women are on the cabinet at the same time UN Ambassador Jean Kirkpatrick Secretary of Health and Human Services Margaret Heckler Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole Ambassador Faith Whittlesey has brought her talent and skill to the White House staff and all told more than 1,400 women who hold policymaking posts in our administration and a number of them are here in the room today with you We couldn't get all 1,400 in but several others that are in here and I Won't try to name All of them, but I can just tell you believe me they are serving and we are dependent on them And I say that with one my own girl Friday is sitting over there Kathy Osburn and She keeps me on track Well One of my proudest days was when Sandra Day O'Connor became the first woman justice in the history of the Supreme Court That's the tradition of the Grand Old Party Even before women, maybe you don't know this had a right to vote our party became the first party to elect a woman to the United States Congress Today the only women in the Senate are Nancy Casabalman Paula Hawkins Republicans and of course we have nine outstanding Republican Congress women including Barbara Vokanovich Who is here with us today? Now don't you think it's about time that we give them some more company? But just as important thousands of able Republican women like you are Serving in public offices all across America. We want to see the numbers grow. We want to see See them grow here in Washington for sure and here in Washington and in every American community Sunday, and I hope it's sooner rather than later Women's good to have my job Our job is to make sure she's a Republican We have good reason to approach this election year in high spirits We can be confident that the American people share our values, but we cannot afford to rest There's too much that remains to be done. So with your help with your frontier spirit We'll get the job done and we'll make 1984 a great year for the Republican Party All right. Thank you all for being here and God bless you all and now the words you've been waiting to hear Let's have dessert There is a there is one rule that prevails here go on with your dessert and go on eating You can talk with your mouth full from here on but we thought there might be a few questions I know that you've had extensive briefings and yes Alright, there is right away We're exploring that we I couldn't give you a Definite answer on that Vice president George has had an opportunity to meet with him and was impressed by some of the things that Janenko said he and I have exchanged messages and We are very seriously exploring it because we believe that the peace of the world rests between the two superpowers and We know they're never gonna like our system and we're never gonna like theirs But we're in the same world together and we think we ought to be able to find a way to get along You are helping but we've been talking over here my own my own table about and It's up to us to see that you get All the information that is needed, but I'm a great believer in word of mouth advertising It used to sell pictures And that is Some of the best kept secrets Are in the country today are some of the things that we've been doing here and some of the things we've accomplished and We need everyone out there spreading the word As to what it is that what we have done and that would be The biggest help that we could have Is real or not real and if it is real should that not become our first priority? I wish I could give you a definite answer on that I can only tell you that The this whole idea of In the environment and the the greenhouse effect and all the acid rain situation. We're continuing to study because We don't believe that anyone Has the final answer on those things as yet and before we suddenly plunge into some great programs based on The findings of one group we want to make sure that we're going in the right direction and that It does warrant that action the hardest one was with the acid rain on that because it seems so evident and yet the Cures are going to be so drastic that we want to make absolutely sure that We will find there as a result if we go ahead As far as Well for one thing there's no question But agriculture is slower coming back than many other businesses and industries first of all They were the hardest hit by the cost price squeeze the increased cost of production and Would have no relationship to the to the crop prices With the PIC program we did get rid of some of that surplus which automatically brought up an increase in the prices We are working as hard as we can on trying to restore Overseas markets because the a good percentage of our farm produce now is is for export The customers abroad have been hit by the same recession that we were hit with They're beginning to come back, but not as swiftly as we have but as they do they'll be better able to buy and The height of the dollar in relation to their own currency has been another thing that militated against us, but we We're very much on top of that and I wish Jack Block were here. I'd call on on him but we are understanding of that problem and We're going to be as helpful as we can and I think there are Well for one thing there's been a 30% drop in the cost of production for the farmer now So with the handle on inflation. This is this is bound to benefit us I think I better let me come back. I better I look like I've been favoring this side of the side of the room Story that you shared some time ago with me about the I can philosophy That's the way it comes out I can Yes And it is I listened to the debate last night and I Didn't hear anything that matches what we are able to say and what we are saying and It is that it's more than just these last few years If we go back what we have to look at is all the great problems of this country the Distortion of the balance between the levels of government All of this has come about over a period of a half a century and when the war was over since then There's only been one two-year period When well three years now of one house of the Congress that we control But other than that there's only been one two-year period out of some 45 years in which the Republicans had control of both houses of the Congress and for about 45 years the Democrats have been in complete charge They have controlled all the taxing policies They've controlled all the spending programs all of the things that they're now complaining about and during all that time They practice deliberate Deficit spending which they insisted was necessary to maintain prosperity now suddenly The deficits are supposed to be ours and we're responsible for them And I told ladies at our table here earlier speaking of things that you can say if we had stuck with the projected Deficits of the previous administration. I mean budgets of the previous administration The deficit today would be a hundred and ninety-one billion dollars bigger than it is So We have helped you by sending you for two senators and two representatives to help you cut the deficit They've been trying in that now we'd like to know as a state official what we might do to help you Well, we will we're hopeful that very shortly we with our Republicans in the Congress and With the Senate leadership where we have the majority will be coming forth with a program of That will include some tax reforms and loophole closings but will also include domestic spending cuts and even some changes with regard to defense and That we will be able to present a sizable down payment on the next couple of years Deficits and then at the same time we realize that once past this Election year when the Congress can settle down to business We have to look at many important areas of government for For structural reforms that must take place or we will go right back into the pattern that we've known for these last 50 years, but we're going to We're going to do that half of the deficit has been structural Caused just by built-in increases that they don't have to pass every year there They are and the other half was the recession now that half has been going down drastically as people go back back to work For 15 months. We have been adding 300,000 average of 300,000 people a month To the employment roles, which we think is a pretty sizable recovery And you want and you want equality Well, since she was on her feet could I take that one Mr. President, I'm Harriet Weider from Reagan country Orange County, California I'm chairman of the Board of Supervisors there in as much as the media as We were told this morning and it was not new to many of us They've been Helmetic you well to destroy always the presidency the office of the presidency Which we all agree is totally unamerican Do you have any suggestions as to what those of us? Politico's out there in the hinterlands can do to turn that around They're talking about the media turning I Don't honestly know you know that we keep being told that somebody that buys newspaper pulp by the ton We shouldn't get into an argument with them But there is no question But that a lot of Well, I I told and I'll tell it I told it on the air so I can tell it to you. I told it in my radio program Saturday There was a survey that was printed in the Wall Street Journal that was taken with regard to the economic news And then the last six months of 1983 there were a hundred and four releases made stories made of The improvement in the various indicators as to inflation coming down unemployment going down Personal income going up Productivity going up and all of this a hundred and four of them 95% of all of such stories economic stories were positive on the upbeat The way they were played on the three national network news Station or news programs 86% of them were portrayed negative They would give the positive figure and immediately switch to something saying the opposite And the last one just happened the other day when unemployment went down to seven point seven percent from the previous month and That came on the air seven point seven percent a drop in unemployment almost back to where it was when we started and immediately switched to a map of the United States with all the states and then said but and then started showing the states where there were Pockets of poverty and where unemployment was not down to seven point one, but was still higher and it was typical of what's been going on All through this this recovery. I don't know whether Leaning on them or asking or calling their time I know this letters to the editor They aren't a bad idea. They're they're read more than the editorial through red and I've often thought that and I've often thought if we could get our friends on some of the talk shows whether they're local or national on the talk shows Let's us be the ones that call in With the right questions So now I know I've never tried to find out what it is if I wait for the third notice We are going to meet all of you in the other room