 speaking that you never want to be on time and I'm not so I apologize for being late but it's a great pleasure to see you here in a special greeting to Jack Hume for founding this great organization and to Jack Stevens your executive director and welcome here because since the founding of the citizens for America your group has been a faithful soldier in the revolution that we're waging here in Washington and party organizations that support our common agenda for stronger, prouder and free America because you alone have a grassroots organization media attention in over 80 percent of the country's congressional districts because I've often said when you're dealing with Congress make them feel the heat whenever you hear me say that on television or radio you'll know I'm thinking of you because when it comes to making them feel the heat citizens for America is our movements in front now I know that you're having changing the guard right now Lou Lerman has stepped down as national chairman Lou is not only an outstanding leader he's one of America's most thoughtful voices his writings on monetary reform and anti-communist freedom fighters and on many other issues have been among the most important in our time and let me tell you I have a feeling as we ain't heard nothing yet about a great job he did before that he was our first head of the general services administration which would one of the toughest assignments we had to give when we first came into office the gsa that jerry took over was an example of all the serious corruption bloated payrolls wasting a lot of gsa he left four years later was widely hailed as one of the best run federal agencies I saw a story a while back that jerry told a reporter on how he did it since many of you are in for the karmann treatment in the months that you thought it just sort of gets you ready just after he'd been appointed as the people in charge wasn't that a pretty poor warehouse hundred thousand dollars jerry said to a few years you've helped make the to the freedom fighters and the clarification when they take all the forms of the smart money versus the people my friends our challenges are just beginning last week senate election was of course a disappointment let me say a word or two about that this november we were bucking a trend as old as the republic the party in the white house is always lost across the board in elections held in the sixth year of a president's term in the senate we came within a hair of reversing that pattern a change of only 29 000 votes spread over five cliffhanger races and we would still be controlling the senate and our key losses were not in the farm states where we split the close races or in the heavy manufacturing states where we did well but in states where the economy was strong and the democrats ran on me too platforms one democratic candidate actually was going around getting introduced as a man who supports the president i hope he remembers that one oh so we did better than any party has done in his sixth year in the white house since 18 the governor's races well that is that is strong most weak as they have for the last six years we're tough on crime they want us to continue to build a strong defense a defense that means strengthening our own armed services as well as supporting our democratic allies and friends throughout the world and they want us to continue with work on a strategic defense against ballistic missiles so that we can ones that the real america stands for and then they just seem to fade a bit and start to say things they heard in imperialism's youth and a few even talk as if they want to go back to the days of the smooth holly trade barriers in an army that drills with bloomsticks well i know you'll help us make sure they know that the real america continued to build an opportunity society the kind that is more americans that work today than ever before in history there's a figure that was new to me and maybe it would be new to you and i'm just going to stick it in here i never knew that in the figuring statistics and labor they treat as the total employment pool in america everybody male and female from 16 years of age up and today 61.3 percent of that pool is employed and that's the largest percentage in the history of our nation toward the goals that you and i share four words about army just begun so thank you all and god bless you and i understand there's a fish bowl some questions November 13th in 1979 i announced i was going to run for the press that's right by linden johnson to believe do you believe you can establish a similar relationship with senator burton gonna be easy we made to correct our trade imbalance will we streamline and modernize our approach to trade we've been doing that as a matter of fact and you know the our problem with the imbalance of trade has been on the import side and probably do a great part to the value of the donor because we're still exporting just about the same as we've been exporting all along it's the imports that have increased now there is one thing about that trade balance that's always bothered me they do not include service I mean today has vastly increased service industry services brought also but that does not show up the return for that in the the trade balance that is only based on product and but this thing about what we are doing we're the first administration that has ever actually brought up 301 cases instead of waiting for a particular industry to bring it up you know that's the one where they claim unfairness in the forum competition and then wants some action taken on that well we haven't waited for the businesses to do it we've been looking at where we think there's unfair trade practices on the part of our trading partners and we're bringing those and bringing those cases up ourselves and we're going to continue we have gotten after several years of trying in the economic solids finally in Japan this last year we persuaded them to join in a whole review of the GATT process that's the you know the treaty and tariff process to a reordering of that if necessary because as we've said we believe in free trade but it's got to be fair trade and the playing field's got to be even and we're we're not going to stop until we get that done and where there is an uneven playing field we're going to play rough is it too is it brash to expect a major military breakthrough by the democratic Nicaraguan resistance before the end of 1987 adds I believe that it is vital yes it is vital and this is one of the things we regret about losing the one the majority we had in the one house it's going to be that much more difficult to overcome those who just for some reason have dug in their heels with regard to the so-called contra aid we believe in the Contras gold is not overthrow the Contras gold they were part of the revolution against so-and-so and they have insisted all they want is the communist organization the Sandinista organization was also part of the revolution and that then took over and expelled the rest and made it one a totalitarian communist state not Nicaragua they want them to restore the original goals of the revolution of pluralistic society a democracy and that's what they're fighting for is not to march in someday and throw the other fellows out and we feel that it's just more a sound for us to be supporting them because of that goal if you aren't aware during the revolution the revolutionaries ask the organization of american states to appeal to some those that have stepped down so the killing and the organization of american states said what are the goals of your revolution and in writing the goals were presented democracy freedom of speech freedom of trade unions of free press all the other things of pluralistic society and then the Sandinistas just threw that out the window when they got in and with the utmost violence eliminated as many of the leaders as they could that had been their companions in the revolution so i think it's morally sound for this country to be giving those freedom fighters a chance to restore those original goals immediately and let technology fill in the gaps after your decision just as president kennedy made the decision to send a man to the moon in 1962 and let technology fill in the details so that the dream was filled in 1969 we are not going to trade away the sdi as long as i am here for all that lives here with the knowledge that somebody can push a button dual Gorbachev was that my dream of sdi is that we keep on and when and if we know that we have the workable program that can be the shield against nuclear ballistic missiles we complete that you there may be a madman like a Hitler come along that would start making we'd always have to wonder whether they really had done away with all of theirs but by total will that we have totally eliminated the ballistic missile thought is that if we started to deploy while we still had offensive weapons we would be at risk because before we could get it deployed they would have to see that this would give us the capacity for a first strike if we could defend against them without retaliation and we had the offensive missiles so rather than that because we don't want to that first strike capability i said that this is what we would share now if the day comes that we've got that and uh even with the offer of sharing exhausted every effort to bring about this whole fulfillment we'll deploy of it is that it can be the means of eliminating the nuclear threat world to president how can we as individuals best help you to accomplish the best and most for the continued and future sex success of our country particularly in the area of judicial appointments in the economy well just exactly what you're set up to do we have the legislature against us as we do in both houses they're going to be times we have to go to the people and we have to be able to stand not alone as a president against the congress majority but as the president and the people and i'll tell you that vision that's in my mind is something that happened when i was governor because i had the same situation there we in my second term constructed the greatest welfare reform the most comprehensive welfare reform that has ever been put in place in this country i was running into trouble with the we quietly got people like yourselves out in the country to in counties to the welfare reform and one day i was sitting in my office and the door opened and the speaker of the assembly walked in hands above his head cards and letters got the welfare reform so this is where you come in and that's what we'll have to do is take our case many times i wanted i know i'm going to have to take the case to the people night on veto and i don't think we're going to get control of the budget until we have it 43 governors have it why shouldn't the president of the united states be able to lie night on veto then it goes back to the congress and if they can override his veto but you know something in california i line item vetoed 943 items out of the budget 943 times in eight years was never overridden once now in california takes two-thirds of the legislature to pass the budget and they had passed it and only takes two-thirds to override my veto but those poor barrel things that had been buried in the budget when they were exposed and had to be voted on on a veto vote one at a time no one would vote to override that's what i think the president of the things they should learn in other words he doesn't treat him like 12 professionals just want this a great game i was the last question let me just say i know that all of you are sitting here filled with some questions about oh there have been some delicate hints in the press media uh these last several days about having to deal with the middle east and iran and uh hostages and so forth all of it has been as phony as a three-dollar bill and tonight at eight o'clock if you have an opportunity i'm going on the air and tell what really was happening