 Well, my apologies, I learned in public speaking you never should have opened any remarks with an apology but I got a phone call and I'm not used to those and I held me up a little bit. Well, first I want to welcome your President Bob Georgine and all of you, the members of the building and construction trades, to the White House today. For the past two years I've been a guest at your annual convention so I'm especially glad that I have the opportunity to welcome you here as my guest. And for me and I'm sure for you, whether you've been here before or visiting for the first time, it's still a thrill to walk these halls and where Jefferson and Lincoln, Roosevelt walked and pondered on what was best for our country and there's more than the facts of history in this house. I think the house is a kind of a focal point for the American saga of our national heart breaks and our national triumphs. It's a symbol of the dreams and the hopes that have inspired the American experience. And because we're just the current tenants, Nancy and I are fully aware that there is no one with a greater claim to this house than the people like yourselves who with your hands and hearts have built America and go on building her. You have political power too. In fact, whenever the word goes out that a President or some other political figure is going to speak to you, believe me, there's a lot of advice from all the smart operators in town about what to say. Mentioning the improvement of the economy was at the top of the list given me so you can see that the advice isn't always bad. I agree it's important to remember that this administration inherited inflation at 12.4%. Prime interest rates at 21.5%, growing business failures, increasing unemployment and federal spending and taxing that we're heading right through the roof. As I warned the first day that I spent here, it hasn't been easy to get ourselves out of this mess. But now we are turning things around. Inflation is down from 12.4% in 1980 to less than 4%. In 1982, and for the last six months, it's been running at a rate of four-tenths of 1%. Prime interest rates have come down 11 percentage points. Housing starts and permits in the first quarter this year at the highest level since the third quarter of 1979. Prices for March are 75% higher than at the same time last year. Sales of existing homes are 24.1% higher and sales of new homes are 48.8% higher than in February of last year. Even in the employment area, which has traditionally been the lagging indicator when you're coming out of a recession, there have been dramatic improvements. The private sector, encouraged by I think some of our initiatives to improve productivity and growth, is leading away. Industrial production rose 1.1% in March. It's already 3.1% above its November low. And payroll employment is up 290,000 since December. That still leaves us with a long way to go. Of course, the job retraining bill and the highway construction bill, I think, will help that unemployment picture. But I believe we've created a climate where American businesses can not only recover but sustain the recovery for many years. And as Samuel Gompers, the first president of the American Federation of Labor, put it, the worst crime against working people is a company which fails to operate at a profit. All of this isn't just good news for you and me, it's good news for the whole country. And I guess it's smart politics to talk about all of these things with you. But you know it always puzzles me that the professional advice givers in this city frequently miss the most important point of all about you. Your interest in economic matters is only a reflection of a much deeper interest in the kind of lives that your children will someday have in the drama of the American dream itself. So I wanted to say just a few words today, not about budgets or taxes, but about something even more important. So let's talk for a few minutes about this much-loved country of ours. Let's talk about America. I know it's a pretty important subject to those of you in the building and construction trades. After all, who can ever forget those patriotic marches through Wall Street or the flags that still hang from half-built skyscrapers and cities around our country? Just think back to the days of the invasion of Afghanistan, of the hostages in Iran, of a critical new threat to our mid-east oil supply, to the failure to respond to Soviet adventurism in Africa and Central America, to the insults and diatribes from petty dictators and merciless totalitarians. Think back to the days of national malaise when we were told the American dream was over, that we had to withdraw and retreat and lower our expectations and tell our children not to dream as we once had dreamed. And together, and I really mean together, we've changed all that. We've begun the process of rebuilding our nation's defenses. We need your support to continue that vital project. But not only do foreign nations respect us again, we've been able to pursue arms negotiations aggressively while reminding the world of the crucial distinction between democracy and totalitarianism. There's a feeling at home to a growing belief that we're on the road back and that America is the leader again and that we're cutting back on governmental burdens while we prepare the way for an era of prosperity. You feeling that once again the nation must keep alive and hold in sacred trust mankind's age-old dream of peace and freedom and a better life for our children. Others of you in the construction and building trades can take a special pride in your contribution. During the past few years you've been particularly hard hit by recession and economic hardship. And if you think I've got a frog in my throat I have, but I've been told that the pollen is very bad and I have hay fever. You didn't lose faith. You kept that optimism about the future that's been the trademark of America and especially her working people. I've always felt there was a special destiny marked out for this nation. Here it is between the two oceans. It had a weight to be found by people from every corner of the world. I've always believed that whether we like it or not, history has called America to great things. We must never forget to the Polish workers of solidarity, to the brutalized people of Southeast Asia, to the aspiring people of Central America, to all who yearn to be free. We are the greatest symbol of hope in the entire world. We've kept the American dream alive despite all the terrible problems that we've had to face. With your help we've come a long way. All of us feel better about America. All of us can see a brighter future for this young and confident land. Why shouldn't that be so? Just the other day in meeting with heads of state that have come here from other lands just a few of them in the last couple of weeks and all of them have without any self-consciousness spoken out that we are the nation that can lead the world out of the recession that it's in. It must be us that they can't do it unless we take that lead. Well, as I said in the day of my inaugural, we have every right to dream heroic dreams, to believe in ourselves, in our capacity to perform great deeds, to believe that together with God's help we can and will resolve the problems which now confront us. And why shouldn't we believe that? We're Americans. In saying that, I think you've said, I've said enough. And that's all we need to know, and we'll do what has to be done. And again, I don't know of anything that's made me happier than to see your particular end of industry and the business in this country out there really in front now in the comeback that's being made. So God bless you, and I'll get down off of here, and I know I'm going to have a chance to meet each one of you individually down the hall.