 Good morning Good morning, and thank you all and say you're a better dressed bunch than usual What brings that about I think before we say anything else Paula, welcome back. God bless you. We're very happy to see you You know some call the Senate the most exclusive club in the world an Insightful remark. I think to the extent that it suggests the sense of the camaraderie that the Senate at its best so often displays There's nothing truly exclusive about the Senate or the house for that matter or the White House On the contrary the will of the people always seems to have a way of making itself felt indecisively so Take tax reform Recent months there were moments when I think all of us would have been tempted to paraphrase Hennie Youngman and say take tax reform Please All that's changed What happened when tax reformary was moved to the Senate something of a miracle took place Bob Packwood and the others on the Senate Finance Committee had learned from what happened in the house and Bob you correct me afterward if I'm wrong, but I believe that you concluded something like this if Marginal rates were set too high every lobbyist in Washington would insist on retaining deductions Well And if that were the case then maybe America itself was telling Washington that marginal rates had to be kept down way down So you lowered them dramatically eliminated deductions and reported your bill out a committee by the astonishing margin of 20 to 0 Quite apart from tax reform itself this represents a political triumph After the loss of faith in government that took place during the 70s in recent years commentators have begun to say kind words about The institution of the presidency and now you're demonstrating that the Congress too retains a vital aptitude for political initiative In helping to restore faith in our fundamental institutions. You deserve the gratitude of the nation At this historic tax bill moves to the floor I stand with you in wanting to see the package win the support of the entire Senate Something else something perhaps of even greater importance. I'm committed to keeping this issue bipartisan And I hope you all are Tax reform is simply too important and frankly too fragile to be used by anyone for short-term political gain So I urge you to act on this bill in a spirit of unity and with all reasonable speed There's no reason the triumph in the finance committee cannot become a triumph for the country itself from a top personal income tax rate of 70% just five years ago to a top rate of only 27% From a complex and cumbersome tax code to a sweeping simplification From a tax system that discourages initiative and innovation to one that encourages lasting economic growth I've said as you know a number of occasions at last April 15th when they brought me my tax Form already made out and all I had to do was sign it. I looked at it all completed and still didn't understand it And now I'd like to ask senators dole bird pack wood and long to say a few words Oh Thank you for your hospitality this morning. We appreciate it very much. This is I think probably 70 some senators here a good bipartisan group of equal number of republicans and democrats and We're here to suggest that this is a bipartisan measure Obviously, we want to demand the leadership those senators said back within long others on the committee on both sides But I think you've indicated that we do have an opportunity now We did tax reform yesterday. We have a senator on that We had 10 of the speeches on tax reform In the old days you'd have to if you could drag to over there But now something's happening in the Senate here lately and we find more people willing to speak That's why we're all dressed much better to notice with red ties and everything else, but seriously we We're going to pass the tax reform bill as quickly as we can we had to interrupt it today and tomorrow Hopefully complete the supplemental Corporations tomorrow because a moderate credit corporation female I think Senator third indicator other agencies are out of money But tax reform is the number one priority It'll be back in the Senate floor. I think Senator Packwood has indicated this will get members Today tomorrow the weekend to take to read the little volume they all have And hopefully be prepared on Monday to stay on the tax bill until it's finished. Mr. Presley, thank you for your leadership There were times when the tax bill was essentially dead. I can recall. I think one meeting the finance committee where You did everything to pronounce it dead Back and with them back and try to radical new approach Here's a piece of legislation went from the immovable to the unstoppable in a period of two or three days We thank you very much for inviting us and I can indicate it on our side It's going to remain bipartisan. There are few people around Seattle with their Others worry about iris and things and of course, there will be a amendment to offer This president I Say on behalf of all of my colleagues in a very bipartisan fashion that we thank you for your hospitality and having us out to this very good breakfast May I say also to that there should be no concerns about this being a bipartisan effort. I Was born in the administration of Woodrow Wilson and he was the first president to begin a process which carried on through Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy and now through Ronald Reagan, I believe I have to say that Mr. President you're the first Republican president that I can remember whoever really got behind tax reform And I am and I congratulate you But You need to have no fear about this bill passing the Senate and it will have a very strongest bipartisan support build Bradley in our Senate has been championing tax reform a broader base and lower rates for years and The house has already of course passed a tax reform bill, but you get out there and championed it championed it Over the country and you're to be congratulated But it came out of this committee by a vote of 20 to nothing every Republican and every Democrat on that committee voted for it and under the leadership of Bob Packwood the chairman and Russell Long the venerable Former chairman and now ranking member all of those members rallied behind it It's going to pass the Senate There will be some amendments offered. They may be adopted. They may not be adopted, but that's the legislative process And I think we have to expect it but Those who may have feared of filibuster as I said yesterday There's a biblical passage which says the wicked flee when no man pursue it So there's nobody talking nobody talking about filibuster yet there just one final note and that is that I remember back in 1907 Seeing the headlines about Lindbergh It's a flight to Paris and the story began by saying something to the effect that Lindbergh flew over New York City at terrific speed of a hundred miles an hour Well, this bill came out at committee at the terrific speed of a hundred miles an hour I'll be very much surprised if it doesn't pass the Senate one hundred to nothing. Thank you Folks what can I say other than I am very very Proud of the Senate clearly from the statement yesterday Bipartisan statements liberal statements conservative statements from from all wings and all philosophies this bill is going to pass I'm fully aware of the problem of the iris that many of you have mentioned in the variety of solutions that some of you have Suggested coming up to solve it Although I've yet to hear a solution that I think on balance would get the votes To pass I don't know but apart from that You're all well aware. There's not another serious political problem in the bill not capital gains Not the ITC in terms of the trade-off or the lower rates and when this bill passes and it will This body can be so damn proud of what we have done and the momentum is with us And there's plenty of parents to claim credit for the momentum whether it's the president or Bradley Gephardt or Kemp Kassen or a hundred others who've been pushing this idea Including Treasury one. There's plenty of parents, but when it goes to conference, it's going to be the Senate bill and The momentum is so great and the rates are so sacred including the corporate rate as far as I'm concerned We're going to win this in conference and we're going to win it big And it's going to be to our credit in the Senate and our glory and we don't get that opportunity very often Mr. President members Many years ago our period on a panel discussing a flood control project in Louisiana 17 speakers and since I was the ranking person there. They saved me for last Well, I got started making my speech some fella got up in the rear and said why don't you just shut up? It's all been said before Before I could finish my speeches back on his feet again What you're saying now has been said ten times. Why don't you just shut up sit down? Well, I managed to wind the speech up in a hurry The mayor was a perfect toast. He said Russell. Don't you get upset about what that man said? That man doesn't mean a word of that. He is the town idiot All that man is doing is just repeating what people around him are saying Now Mr. President doesn't know point me saying this is a good bill. I think I should say that I've been on the Senate Finance Committee for 33 years and This is the best piece of Fiscal legislation I've seen reported by the committee in 33 years The dear friend of mine Court of Appeals federal judge who I thought was the best tax lawyer in Louisiana Recently wrote me a letter about this bill that we voted to report it and that's what he said He said this is the best piece of legislation that any committee of the Senate has reported in tax terms As far back as that man could recall and he's in my age bracket The bill will definitely pass when you can report a bill By a unanimous vote out of the Senate Finance Committee My impression is From my 33 years experience they can't keep you from passing the bill I thought I would let you get it before the Senate is before the Senate. So the bill will pass Bob bird predicted it might well pass by a margin of 100 to 0 I think that'd be a great thing if it did it'd be a Great credit to all those who've labeled in this vineyard. I for one have been trying to get rates down for 33 years since I went on the committee back when it's 90 percent 92 two years later But the president I've been trying to get rates down on that tax law since you were playing football for Notre Dame But It remained up to nine to get them down where they ought to be to the 27 percent and I hope very much that this initiative in the Senate Thanks to Bob Packwood To make this a top rate of 27 percent can remain a part of this bill Because I don't think anything will appeal the American people as much as a broader base and a lower rate And if we can get it there and keep it there, I think it'd be a great credit To everybody who had anything to do with it. Thank you very much Well now we have a few minutes I know we're running a little late, but we have a few minutes here that maybe the floor is open for some questions or something I can anticipate one maybe I had it already from some of your colleagues on the plane yesterday And that is did I have any tips about for television? Yes, I have a couple Learn your lines. Don't bump into the furniture and in the kissing scenes keep your mouth closed Anyone have anything yes When is mr. Gorbachev going to stop waffling about a summit I Don't know he has sent Surreptitious messages that he wants the summit but so far the date has not been set and In view of all of this we're we're a little Fearful having suggested a date once and immediately they felt there out to be another date and when they suggested was impossible So we're kind of feeling our way as to how we get around to saying well, okay when but we're hopeful that Maybe when the election is out of the way Before the end of the year where we can have that but he has expressed to in different ways that he really wants to have the summit I've got to find out something too about him someone who's a master of the Russian language was in the office the other day and Before I could say his name. They said his name and I found out that if they're right and they understand Russian completely We've all been wrong in a pronunciation because they were pronouncing it Gorbachev Instead of Gorbachev so I'm gonna See if I can't find another Russian and pin it down as to whether Just which one is the right pronunciation One problem we've got is the fiscal side, and I just saw a story last week Going to be higher than the deficit last year So we're still up above the $200 billion deficit range And if you look at the Senate budget package and the House budget package, we're not accomplishing working on that They both have a revenue component. I know you feel strongly Contrary on that But one of the concerns that I think many of us have is Is the tax change once we pass this bill? Is this going to leave us with the worst deficit problem further down the line? We're having a hard time getting estimates on that, but in any event I think it would be worth our while not necessarily a new setting But before we finish this tax bill to make sure we haven't made the deficit problem worse And I'm concerned about it I don't think we have with this bill and I would like to call to your attention that every Tax program back over the years that has resulted in lower rates has also resulted in Increased overall revenues for the federal government simply due to the fact of more incentive Produces more effort and thus more money upon which to pay taxes but the I Think frankly we still have not done all we should to come to meet the problem which is excessive spending and We've got to still deal with that if we're to stay on this pattern of a declining Deficit to the point of a of a balanced budget, and I think it's essential that we stand together and get that get that done But I am confident that we're going to see as a result of this tax program It's a thing that everyone hesitates to make a projection about But I am convinced that if we look at what happened in the last one The 1981 tax program that we're going to see a further stimulant to the economy That's going to be from top to bottom if this program is passed Someone else you mean none of you have ever sat around said cheese. I'd like to ask that guy Well What no Well, well if there aren't any then I'll Just switch to a subject here and go without Waiting for answers or giving answers. It's a second vital issue an issue. You've scheduled a deal with this very afternoon Each of you knows that the Middle East is tremendously complicated that it's not just a question of Israel against the Arab states, but that the Arab states themselves are divided between moderate and radical nations American influence in the region. I think is absolutely vital to world peace If we're continue if we continue to be seen by them and held up as just simply an ally and friend of Israel Unable to be fair with regard to Their problems on the other side then we have no leverage at all Our proposed arms sales to Saudi Arabia will increase the Saudi is ability to withstand the threat from radical Arab states It'll in no substantive way disrupt the balance of power between Israel in the Arab world and just the opposite I'm making the region more secure. It will make Israel more secure For the sake of our own national interest and of security in this vital region Indeed for the sake of world peace itself. I ask you to permit the arms sale to go forward the I know that there are some things and but That are visible and that you think and think and say about the Saudi Arabia's in the other hand In the area of diplomacy. There are some things that just should not be talked about They've got a political problem with the radicals in their own midst and the radical Arab states around them but I can only tell you that they have been most supportive and in a quieter way and They cover it with these other things they say for an obvious reason, but they have been supportive And we have had for more than 40 years now a Relationship and an agreement mutual security agreement with the Saudi Arabians and it has been beneficial to both of us and So I repeat I hope that we can make this go through first of all They're going to have arms whether we do it or not, but when they have them from us There are restrictions on their use of them and that they are restricted to using them defensively or Then there are things that we will do in return But there's now one final matter on my mind, and it's a matter of giving honor where honor is due Russell Long was elected to the United States Senate in 1948 and almost four Decades later in early 1987. He will retire and go back home to Louisiana The state he loves so deeply and has served so well For 15 years Russell, you served as chairman of the finance committee Dominating that body by dint of your intelligence and utter mastery of its subject matter Political scientists have found it difficult to place your economic beliefs to find a unifying thread in the positions that you've taken It's simple Russell Long believes that society is best served when people work for their income when there exists a clear connection between effort and reward And by clinging to this view senator you've done your state in the nation immense service Four decades in the Senate Russell. That's a fifth of the entire life of our nation Four decades of relative peace and peace that you helped to keep Four decades of economic growth and growth that you championed Four decades during which you work to keep the United States strong and good and free And so on behalf of a grateful nation I commend the senator's senator And Russell I have a presentation to make if you'll join me up here About coming here this morning a lot of came. Thank you very much Well, Russell, I hope you'll convey that message once more if the amendment tree starts getting filled up I'm sure you all read it and you all know don't tax you and don't tax me tax that fellow behind the tree That's conveyed there Well, this may be the only nation on earth where a hundred people of such different viewpoints can sit down to Breakfast in a spirit of goodwill and agree to work together. I value your political skills that your friendship perhaps even more so I Won't send you a bill for breakfast and thank you and God bless you