 Mr. President, none of us will be here today if we're not for your inspired leadership and the belief in the private sector and the true fiber of our great country, our citizens. No one ever said that putting our shit and state back on course would be easy, but turning it is thanks to you. Our thrust is to support you, our country, and our people. In eight short weeks we've shown in Harris County that a voluntary coalition can be put together and that it works. Over a thousand physicians with the aid of their auxiliary represented here by Mr. Schoenberger, over 300 pharmacies represented by Mrs. McKee, and most of our hospitals represented by Mr. Jerry Brooks, are providing free medical care to thousands of our needy citizens. Madam Secretary, I know you're just getting settled down on what is an awesome job, but I would hope that you would recognize that physicians from one end of the country to the other are ready, willing, and able, and indeed are already quietly giving of themselves as they always have. I submit that this may be one of the finest chapters in medicine service to our country. I would like to read you a little message to give you some of the tenor that's happening in the medical profession in response to this, that we received it on a calling card from one of our Massachusetts colleagues just Friday. He said, I thought you'd be interested that we are following your lead. In 188 years we've never had such excitement. He also sent a clipping which I would like to pass on to you. I would submit that laws and regulations aren't always the best way to get things accomplished. Mr. Coyne, your job of promoting the private sector from which we've now had two experiences. Our first initial program working with you was in Lending a Hand to Jamaica. Through that we've seen tons of medical supplies and teams of volunteer physicians assist that country. Our Recession to Stress Patient Program also falls in your private sector initiative effort. And we salute your interest in your help and your talent and charity. And Helping Hands will assist you to aid our country. President, I would like to introduce Dr. William Ryle, President of the American Medical Association. Mr. President, Mr. Bush, Ms. Heckler, ladies and gentlemen, I wish to join all of you in congratulating the Harris County Medical Society for its effort in making its emergency indigent patient program possible. That is only one example of the kind of thing being done throughout the country to meet the needs of the people who are without work, without health insurance protection. I'm pleased to present to you, Mr. President, this report which was prepared by the American Medical Association listing similar programs being carried out in many different communities, involving many different professionals, institutions, and services in the medical and healthcare field. I believe it is tangible evidence of what the national volunteer week stands for in this nation. Well, I thank you very much. And it really is inspiring to be here with a group like this. You know, I just can't help but remember that back in a previous life of mine, there was a playwright named Moss Hart and he had a failing that I think many of you were too familiar with. Whether it was a social gathering or wherever it might be, when he heard the word doctor, he suddenly had something to complain about. In the cocktail party one night he was introduced to a Dr. Jones and he immediately started to discuss a little back pain that he had and the man introduced him and embarrassed him. And Moss, Dr. Jones is a doctor of economics. And Moss was stopped about once at least a second then he said, I wasn't stopped. It is inspiring to be here with a group like this. Over the last two years, we've been encouraging individuals, organizations, and businesses to get more involved in their communities. And we've had many groups into the White House but few have handed me a report which said, look at what we've already done. And I thank you, Dr. Ryan. I can assure you I'll take a good look at this report. You know, I believe in the power of private sector initiatives, almost as much as some of those old helm remedies that my mother used to use. And they really worked. And I'm sure that local efforts such as those that I've just heard about can help tremendously in curing the ills of our country. I think what the Harris County Medical Society and the other groups represented here today are doing is simply remarkable. Dr. Reed, I was told about the woman who called your service and said she had sold her wedding ring to buy and pay for her husband's emphysema treatments. But when the money ran out, she didn't know what to do. I'm glad you were there to help. I apologize that your effort was initiated on February 14, Valentine's Day, for what you're doing is truly a giving of time, talent, and heart. This week is National Volunteer Week. In communities across the country, volunteers are being saluted for their selfless giving to others. They comprise a volunteer corps of more than 84 million strong, contributing an estimated $64 billion worth of time and talent each year. I wish we could bring each and every one of these 84 million Americans to the White House and celebrate their efforts during this week, but of course that's impossible. What we've tried to do instead is to honor some of the outstanding volunteers in this country and to recognize new initiatives such as yours that are helping the unemployed, the elderly, the disabled during our country's economic recovery. And this is the time when we must all pitch in to help each other. Last week I had the privilege of presenting the National Volunteer Awards. The dedication of those honored individuals, organizations, and corporations in these service of others is phenomenal. Many such as Frank Ferry have spent a lifetime of helping those less fortunate. What you, the doctors, pharmacists, hospital administrators, suppliers, and others in the health services field are doing is making a direct personal response to community needs. You're already in the tough position of being in the business of healing sick bodies, but I'm sure that efforts to provide free healthcare to those in need must help also to soothe some worrying minds as well. It's vital that the private sector assume a more active role in solving community problems whether the field is health, housing, or education. In this way, we can restore proper balance between private and public responsibility. But I believe that by working together, government and the private sector can accomplish far more than I can working alone. What is amazing about the efforts of doctors and others to provide healthcare to the unemployed is that they're not only working in big cities like Houston, Detroit, Cleveland, but also small towns like Massive and Ohio and Alec Whipper, Pennsylvania. I commend you for what you're doing, but I also want to encourage you to do more. I'd love to see programs like the one that Dr. Reed has spring up in other cities across the country. I know it has in some, but I'd hope that local healthcare partnerships would form where physicians, dentists, pharmacists, hospitals, suppliers, and drug companies would all work together to meet the full range of healthcare needs of those who are having economic difficulties. I've only challenged the associations represented here today to get your membership excited about how they can help move our country, as well as its citizens, further on the road to recovery. Publicize the efforts that have already taken place in your newsletters, bring the partnership concept up at your conventions, share successful models with those interested in starting local healthcare initiatives. I hope that you'll report back within a few months with an addendum for Dr. Riles' report, an addendum which will reflect the efforts of all the talent and imagination that is represented here today. From a partnership on the national level, a form of partnership I should say to see that those efforts are encouraged and coordinated, the poet William Wordsworth once said that the best portion of a good man's life is his little nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love. I'm sure I speak for all Americans when I say that those acts, especially during National Volunteer Week, should not go unnoticed. America is truly grateful for the continuing bounty of volunteer generosity. Let me just tell you of a little incident yesterday in the Rose Garden. Some family members were present, family members of Peace Corps volunteers who were abroad doing their bit. One Mem Actual Peace Corps member, an elderly sister, Sister Madeleine, was there. Her duties were in Ghana. She came back for the ceremony and everyone was quite intrigued because as I handed her her certificate, she was observed to whisper something to me. And I whispered back and everyone, very curious, what was the sister doing? Well, she was still working at her volunteer job. She told me that they were desperately in need of flour at their canteen because of the great hunger. She's the one that you medical profession might be interested in knowing that is doing so much with regard to the apparently newly discovered monkeypox, which is so akin to smallpox. And so I whispered back, I'd look into it and see what I could do. And that was in the afternoon, early afternoon. Before the afternoon was over, James Coyne had been informed of the sister's request. And before the afternoon was over, the seaboard company was sending 3,000 pounds of flour to the sister's canteen there in Ghana. And we found that this is true all over. I think America has been hungry for this. We used to do it all the time. But I make just one last point. I have a hunch that all of you in this room join me in a great aversion to socialized medicine. I think wherever it's been tried in the world, it has become the most costly medicine in the world and has a failure. And it becomes rather inhumane in many respects also. People beyond a certain age that need desperately some rather costly and ongoing, you might say, catastrophic treatment in too many countries are just people on a waiting list. Let nature take its course before their name comes up in a waiting list. Things of that kind. Well, could I point out that maybe with all this altruism, you might be striking a blow for freedom also. Because what is this problem right now that we're trying to solve? A number of people laid off and unemployed, formally covered by employer type medical insurance, are now without that health care. But suddenly there's a great stirring. And I'm tired of hearing some representatives from the Hill get on the air and talk about the 30 million Americans who are without medical protection today. Well, a good portion of that 30 million must be people who don't have to have insurance. They can afford to take care of their own medical problems. Yes, there are some among the unemployed today and they have a desperate problem, which many of you now are setting out to help. But I see some of them, because I know the side they've been on before, overly eager. We now have the people in welfare covered with one program. We have the elderly covered with another. If we're down to where there's only out of 220 million people, the total number they say, and you boil that down to the total number who would have some trouble affording medical care right now, aren't what they're suggesting right now is another costly filling of that last gap in there to where we wake up to the fact that we have what they want to go this time. And what you're doing is giving an answer to them that it isn't necessary. We can take care of that problem between us. And I mean when I say between us, between government, between all of you and what you're doing voluntarily. So keep up the good works. Thank you for coming here today and congratulations. Here's your lady.