 I think you're going to see him come in this door in about one minute. He's on his way over. Why don't everybody sit down for a second. Actually, I should be applauding you. Well, good morning. It's a pleasure to see all of you here at Christmas time. A time for giving. You know, when I told some members of Congress that I believed Christmas was a time for giving, they got all excited until I had to explain that actually I wasn't talking about a tax increase. These days, I don't even have to play the tough guy about tax increases. There's another tough guy in town. I just say, hey fellas, I'm sorry to disappoint you yet again, but didn't you read George Bush's lips? Seriously, I'm very pleased to have an opportunity to say goodbye to all of you. I don't mean that saying goodbye is a happy thing, but I would have hated to leave without being able to. You're all noble warriors in perhaps our most crucial battle these past eight years. The battle to reduce the growth and increase the efficiency of the federal government. When we came into office, the idea that the government serves the people had been lost in the shuffle, the paper shuffle. So nearly seven years ago, I called upon you, you answered the call by becoming members of the Grace Commission. You put aside personal, profession, and political rivalries to come to the aid of the American people and their government. You formed 36 task forces, and over 2,000 more volunteers pitched in to come up with your mind-bogglingly, thorough recommendations, 2,478 in all. And all of it done at no expense to the taxpayer. Not only that, but not one of your deficit reduction recommendations included an income tax increase. And what did you tell us? Well, let's look at a few examples. You recommended that our cash management systems be improved. The American people, you said, deserved better than the smash the piggy bank philosophy that is so thoroughly mismanaged our nation's cash flow. In 1980, you pointed out the federal government had almost 400 different accounting and financial systems. 400. By the time I leave office, we will have cut the number of accounting systems by more than two-thirds because of your recommendations. And almost 80 payroll personnel systems have been eliminated or consolidated. By the end of 1992, we'll be down to an even dozen across the government. We're now at long last actually screening applicants for federal credit. It's amazing to think that before 1980, not even the simplest credit check was run on applicants for federal credit, nor was any effort made to determine whether the applicant was already in default on other loans. Soon because of your work, no further loans, guarantees, procurement contracts, or grants will be made to those who have previously defaulted or have defrauded the federal government unless they have resolved all problems beforehand to our satisfaction. You told us that the federal government had little business being in business, so we sold Conrail for $1.9 billion. We've made dramatic gains in identifying and then contracting out federal responsibilities that can be performed better by the private sector. And since 1981, we've saved over $3 billion, almost $1 billion of that, in 1987 alone. According to the Office of Management and Budget, this year's budget would have been $41 billion higher had it not been for the Grace Commission. And Peter, it looks like we may finally get to close down some of those congressionally mandated military bases we no longer need just as you suggested years ago. Unfortunately, not all of your ideas have been tried, but I can assure you that George Bush, who was no slouch in the paperwork slashing department himself, is firmly committed to our goals. The platform he ran on states, and I quote, the Grace Commission report must be reexamined and its recommendations given a high profile by public policy officials, to which I can only say amen. In a few weeks, it'll be time to submit next year's budget proposal to the Congress. This budget will not only recapitulate former initiatives, but I hope it will also serve as a guide for the federal government through the 1990s. You've just heard from Ken and Joe Wright. We'll give you some more. No, you've heard from Ken. I read that wrong, and Joe Wright will give you some more details about the budget in a few minutes. But let me just say this. I believe that this year, of all years, this Congress must vote on a budget and live within its guidelines. And our budget is the right budget. It brings the deficit into the double digit at long last on a track that could take us to solvency by fiscal 1993. And I'm proud to say it does so without tax increases and without reducing benefits for the needy. I know the American people will understand that if this budget is accused by liberals in Congress of being, quote, dead on arrival, unquote, which all of mine have been up till now, they're the ones who'll be trying to kill a truly responsible and truly viable budget proposal. But I sense a genuine spirit of cooperation on the Hill, and I hope that this time we'll really get it done. What I called the other day, the Iron Triangle, liberal members of Congress, the media and special interest groups, will make this job as difficult as ever. But George Bush comes into office knowing more about the federal budget than any president in memory, and he knows what we all know, the time for this crazy way of doing business is at an end. We don't have deficits because taxes are too low. Federal revenues have grown, and this I don't see why on how the people with knowledge in government can keep on talking about the need for an increase. Because as a result of the decrease in taxes, federal revenues have grown by $375 billion since 1981. But spending has grown by $450 billion, and only a third of the increase is attributable to defense. Next year we expect revenues to grow by another $80 billion. So the challenge before us is setting spending priorities, deciding where to spend some of that additional revenue, but not spending it all so that we can reduce the deficit. Now let me conclude by praising you for your more significant accomplishments. You formed a government commission, you did your job, and you didn't become part of the permanent government establishment. Like the citizen soldiers who come to the aid of their country in the time of crisis, you served and then returned to your businesses. But thankfully you chose to keep the spirit alive in the private sector by forming citizens against government waste, a private group with a very public agenda. And Peter, I want you and the citizens against government waste to hold the beacon high and guide us along the way, because you know as well as I that there will always be those who will be willing to settle for less than a government for and by the people. Let the word go forth Peter, that you are still and you will continue to be on the job. I can't help but just concluding here with giving you a couple of examples that helped strengthen my view about government and how much less efficient it was than the private sector. This isn't original with me, but I know some time back at least one man, one president, was exclaimed, if we think that the people can't manage their own affairs, where do we think we can find that little tiny group who can not only manage theirs, but everyone else's? Well, the one story that I'd like to tell you about was back during the war. I was flying a desk for the Air Force. Actually I was an officer in horse cavalry but they didn't have any horses. But there was a warehouse full of filing cabinets with records and we didn't believe those records were important and there was no place for the continued filing of the ongoing records and we sent on up through the channels, endorsing as it went through every department and level. We sent a request to destroy those files which had absolutely no historical reason for existing and certainly served no purpose in what was going on. And then back it came from way up on top, endorsed all the way down and we received it, permission granted, provided we made copies of everything we destroyed. I thought that was a pretty good example. The other example that I had of government was in that same post where I was working for the Army Air Corps. We couldn't get civilian help and we weren't allowed to because we were under Air Corps intelligence so everybody had to be in uniform and we really needed it for the type of work we were doing. We didn't have all the clerical help and so forth that we should have and then one day a couple of men called on me and said they were from personnel in Washington and they were coming here to survey the post for civilian, well I said we can't have it, we've been told that we're not, they looked at each other and they said you'll have it. And that was when the government ordered the military to stop with the draft and so forth hoarding manpower and that the civilian manpower had to be reduced at the military basis so that it could go to work in airplane factories and things like that. Well we didn't have any of those but then one day a man arrived and told me we were going to have them and it seemed that every military post had been ordered to reduce the number of civilian employees and by the time the reductions were all completed the military had more civilian employees than when it started because posts like ours received an order military or civilian personnel coming to work there. Now for a time before I became adjutant I had been in charge of the personnel department for 1200 men and officers and all military personnel working in that department. When the civilian arrived there were about 150 of them in the post they created their own civilian personnel department for the civilian branch. It had 40 employees. So when it was all done as I say the government had more civilian employees than when they started. If you'll let me I know I'm talking too long but I do have one more and then you can get on with your lunch. This is one of you haven't heard me tell it about my new hobby of collecting stories that are invented by and told by the Russian people among themselves. They got a great sense of humor and these are their stories that they tell to each other and this one story has to do with the fact that to buy for a civilian to buy an automobile in the Soviet Union you have to wait 10 years for delivery but you have to put down the money first and so this fellow had finally gotten the money together and he went in to buy his car and signed all the papers and everything and then laid out the money and the man behind the counter said all right come back in 10 years take delivery and he said morning or afternoon and the fellow behind the counter says well that's silly what difference does it make morning or afternoon 10 years from now well he said the plumber's coming in the morning that's government when you turn it loose well thank you all very much for all you've done and for putting up with me and God bless you all. Mr. President you should never have thanked us it was the greatest honor and it was the greatest joy to do the job because we knew what you've done in California that's the first thing you said to me 120, 222 million as I remember it wasn't it the saving out there from 100 private sector people and we felt you said well you thought there was waste in California but you said I never saw anything like it I found down here and so to work for a man like you a man who has done so much you came in the interest rates were 22% our company is not a bad company we were paying 22% interest you added 18,700,000 jobs since you've been in office you're the greatest thing that's ever happened to this country and one small detail you gave us Janet Coulson from your own staff Janet stand up here and say hello to the President Janet was on your staff she came from the Hoover Institute Mr. President and you gave her to us she was the hardest working member of the whole bunch she's back in California now but she came East and all I can say is you just have done so much for this country that we're honored and privileged to have any association with your presidency we thank you, we thank you, we thank you