 Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Well, thank you all very much. And let me say welcome to Randolph and Rosalie and all of the Hearst family. William I know couldn't be here today. And to all of you who have come here today, welcome to the White House complex. That's because nothing in Washington is ever simple. There's the fifth time that I've spoken to a class of the Senate Youth Program, which gives you an idea of how much I think of the program, and of you who've been selected for it. I know that all of you serve in some student body or class office. I've found that those offices are all like the Army. They're a great place to start, at least in politics and public service. That's how I started, class president when I was in college. In school my big loves were football, dramatics, student government, girls, not necessarily in that order. I have to confess that hitting the books finished some place back in the field, which has often made me wonder if I'd really put my mind to it and studied harder and gotten some A's. I wonder sometimes what I might have achieved. Good night. But I did learn some valuable lessons in school government. Lessons about leadership, about getting people to pull together to put their whole hearts in a thing. And I'll let you in a little secret. What works when you're leading a student body is exactly what works when you're leading a nation. Respect people, listen to them, base your decisions on the merits and stick with them. If things don't work out, stand up and take the tomatoes. If they go well, don't worry too much about who gets the credit. That's what leadership is all about. I have a little sign on my desk that I try to heed. You can accomplish much if you don't care who gets the credit. Well, that's what leadership is all about. Of course, as you may have heard, that's a little different from the way things are normally around Washington. In this town, the slogan too often is, it doesn't matter if you win or lose, it's who gets stuck with the blame. One thing I like about your program is the focus on the Senate. I can't think of any institution that better shows the ideals on which our founders built this nation. I have big disagreements with many senators and some disagreements with almost every one of them. But there isn't a single senator who doesn't have my respect. Yes, many of us share a similar view of what's best for our nation and then many of us have different views. But we're all seeking to do what's right as God gave us the ability to see the right. That's the ultimate truth that I've learned in my years in politics. God has given us each a different view of the truth. Maybe he's given us each a little piece of it. And he expects us to come together to fight and squabble and somehow out of all of that to figure out what each of our little pieces mean and how the pieces all fit together into something bigger that really is the whole truth. And it's time to learn that secret. People can tell you about it, but somehow in the end you have to learn it for yourself. No one can really teach it, at least not well. Well, the great thing about our constitutional system is that nobody can foul it up alone. So we all have a chance to learn its truths and contribute to its successes. And that's what you're doing in the Senate Youth Program, learning truths like that so you can help build our nation's future. I just would like to add that that's one thing that we've been having a program called federalism. That's one thing that I think we started years ago, some years ago, to drift away from. And that is the secret of the greatness and the power of this nation. That is, we are a federation of sovereign states. And those states have rights and powers under our constitution. And for a time it looked as if we were trying to make the states just administrative districts of the federal government. They are not at all. And I think as long as we keep our country that way, our country will remain great. Well, let me wrap it up just here. And I know that we're all pressed for time and I've probably used up all of mine already, but I can't resist. I only have time maybe for one, and if you don't make a speech with it, maybe two questions. And I know that everybody does have questions. All right, the young man right there. Mr. President. Here's the first hand that went up. Mr. President, my name is Willie Epps Jr., Senate Youth Program Delegate in the state of Missouri. Sir, you've had a great eight years in Washington. I would just like to know what you plan to do after you leave the White House. Thank you. Well, for one thing, just like next week I'll go to the ranch. We don't live there, but I like to go there a lot. But I'll tell you, I hope to remain active. There are some things that I believe strongly in, and I think as a citizen that I can go out and campaign for them now that they will no longer give me any advantage. For example, I have come to believe that the constitutional amendment that limits the president to two terms, so I won't ask for this while it could benefit me in any way, I am going to go out and see if the people wouldn't like to rally to get rid of that amendment because I think it is a restriction on the democratic rights of the people. They should be allowed to vote for whoever they want to vote for and for as long as they want to vote for them. Every other office in the land, we have congressmen and senators that have been there 40 years. And I think it was kind of a, and it was my own party that did it. In passing that amendment was a kind of a grudge reaction because of the four terms that Franklin Delano Roosevelt had been elected to. But if you stop and think about it, it should be your right to choose who you want to live over the net public housing across the street. For as long as you want them there. So I'm going to start campaigning for that. I think there are also some other things I'd like to do. I would like to see us maybe take a look at extending the life of congressmen or the term of congressmen to maybe four years instead of two. I think this is one of the reasons why the percentage of people voting continues to shrink. That we just were never free of an election. And elections are a kind of an emotional thing with people and pretty soon you get a little jaded. But also I think that the members of the House of Representatives find themselves almost forced to be campaigning all the time they're there because of the narrowness of that two-year term. Well those plus a balanced budget amendment and getting presidents in the future the right to align item veto, which I had as governor and which 43 governors do have. And just to explain to you what that means, a bill is sent to you. And let's say it's an appropriation bill but all of a sudden you look in and you say well this bill is necessary and all of that except that this thing in here is extravagant. This is just a piece of pork. It should be eliminated and so forth. Well as governor I could pick that out and veto it, send it back. And then the House of Representatives would have to vote on that all by itself. You see some of those items are buried in other bills so that the people won't notice whether the congressmen are voting for that particular measure. I found that out when in my eight years as governor of California I vetoed line item vetoes 943 times and was never overridden once. They would vote for it when it was hidden in a package. They wouldn't vote for it if they had to stand up and vote for it all out there by itself. Well is there one other young lady there? Hi, I'm Wynn Smith from North Dakota and I want to ask you what is your number one legislative goal for the rest of your term? Number one legislative goal for the rest of my term. Oh my goodness. I've got a program of several things and first of all I want to see us and we're making some progress on this. Correct the budgeting process in Washington. I don't think there's a state in the Union that would put up with the Mickey Mouse arrangement that we have go to budget process here in Washington and then set us on the road to balancing the budget and eliminating the deficit spending and then start paying off on the national debt. That comes very large. I still think also and right now currently and God bless the Senate for its vote last night that we continue to do something to bring peace and democracy to Central America and let the people of Nicaragua have a voice in changing that Sandinista government which is a communist totalitarian government imposing on their freedoms. A few years ago Nicaragua only had two prisons. They now have 16 filled with thousands of political prisoners and so that looms very large also. Peace of course is a great, great target but I could think of other things but I think we're running out of time and I shouldn't do that. I wish I had time. I shouldn't have said these things. I should have let you start asking questions to begin with but again thank you all for being here and I know that this is a, well I think I'll just wrap it up here and say God bless all of you and thank you for being here and I hope you have a good time and do some learning here. You may see some things you don't like and that's alright too. That's what our country is all about. Thank you. Happy birthday to you. Mr. President, in honor of your upcoming birthday the United States Senate Youth Program delegation would like to present you with our card that we have made for you with our 104 signatures. Well thank you. We would like for you to know what a fine leader we think you are for our great country that we want you to know that you provide our greatest source of inspiration and most of all Mr. President we want you to know how much we love you. Before I present you with the card I would like to present, I would like to bring attention to one very special delegate Kelly Carlson from Alaska right there who helped design and did the majority of the design for our front cover of our card. Well thank you. Mr. President Reagan happy birthday. Well thank you very much. Can I with that day coming up tomorrow give you a little tip for some day when you're approaching say about the same one in your life? It isn't really my birthday it's the 38th anniversary of my 39th birthday.