Good morning every one. It looks like the vagaries of the TMA election cycle have once again blessed me with opportunities for some presidential firsts. As TMA's first 21 st Century president, it's only obvious that I now have the chance to deliver the first presidential report of the new millennium. And as I said in San Antonio three months ago, we must look to the past to know the present and influence the future. We need look back now about 27 years, to November 3 rd and 4 th in 1973, to find the first time that this House assembled between annual sessions.
Today marks another first, of course.
The first combination of those two events into what we are calling the TMA Summit. A recognition that even a great and mighty society like TMA must look for budgetary savings in every possible corner. This new format may seem strange at first to those of us who grew so accustomed to the old. But it won't take us long to adopt new customs and appreciate the value in what we've created here today. So, we must look to the past to know the present and influence the future.