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May I salute Secretary Ed Derwinski, Reverend Morgan, and most of all, fellow veterans. From this sacred ground near the waters of Pearl Harbor, we remember the moment when the Pacific Ocean erupted in a storm of fire and blood. We remember a morning when America, where some thought isolation meant security, awoke wounded, and reeling, plunged into a desperate fight for world freedom. I remember the crackle of the radio and the voice of our President. We are going to win the war, FDR told us, and we are going to win the peace that follows. We won the war and secured the peace because American men and women responded bravely and instinctively to their Nation's call. They fought for their family and friends, defending the land they loved. When torpedoes crippled the U.S.S. California's ammunition hoists, Warrant Officer Thomas Reeves stood in a smoke-filled passageway and organized a human supply chain to move the ammunition. He worked with all his might till the smoke overcame him. He died that day aboard California, and he rests today in this cemetery. During the attack, Chief Boatswain Eddie Hill of the U.S.S. Nevada swam from the dock back out to his ship, ignoring the bombs falling all around him. He, too, died in the attack and rests here. The Bible says, Love is strong as death. that is the truth whispered by these rows of markers. I remember Ernie Pyle, and I will bet everybody behind me and in front of me remembers Ernie Pyle, too. The greatest of war correspondents, he fell to the enemy machinegun fire on Ie Shima. He lies here in this cemetery among the GI's he loved and honored so well. His plain-spoken news dispatches from the front reminded us that behind the battle statistics were true-life stories of how boys became men and men became heroes. He told us what was happening in the war, how our men were fighting. And by telling the stories of our servicemen to their hometowns and neighborhoods, he helped us understand why we were fighting, how our men at arms defended with all their hearts America's deepest ideals. Americans did not wage war against nations or races. We fought for freedom and human dignity against the nightmare of totalitarianism. The world must never forget that the dictatorships we fought, the Hitler and Tojo regimes, committed war crimes and atrocities.

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Our servicemen struggled and sacrificed not only in defense of our free way of life, but also in the hope that the blessings of liberty some day might extend to all peoples. This ground embraces many American veterans whose love of country was put to the test unfairly by our own authorities. These and other natural-born American citizens faced wartime internment, and they committed no crime. They were sent to internment camps simply because their ancestors were Japanese. Other Asian-Americans suffered discrimination, and even violence, because they were mistaken for Japanese. And they, too, were innocent victims, who committed no offense. Here lie valiant servicemen of the 442d Regimental Combat Team and of the Military Intelligence Service, Americans of Japanese ancestry who fought to defeat the Axis in Europe and in the Pacific. Among these, the late Senator Spark Matsunaga, a combat hero and survivor who went on to help lead postwar Hawaii to American statehood. I remember sharing danger and friendship in these skies and on this ocean. Some of my closest friends, like many people here, your closest friends, never came home. Perhaps because of this experience, I can better understand what you survivors of Pearl Harbor are sensing and feeling here today. As all the veterans here know, when a friend or comrade in arms falls in battle, war grabs a part of your soul. My roommate aboard the carrier San Jacinto, CVL - 30, was a guy named Jim Wykes. And as we were about to go into combat for the first time, a strike over Wake Island, Jim Wykes and his crew were sent out on a search mission from which they never returned. Many more from our little torpedo squadron were to give their lives. And the names of many of these, and more than 18,000 other World War II servicemen lost in action in the Pacific, are engraved in the walls of this magnificent memorial. During every passage of my life, I have often thought of those who never returned. Some left children behind, and today those children, like my own kids, are raising children of their own. And thank God, each surviving generation has honored the memory of our heroes of the Second World War. Each new generation has risen to meet the challenge of winning the peace. After vanquishing the dictators of Japan and Germany and Italy, America's war generation helped those countries rebuild and grow strong in the exercise of democracy and free enterprise. They affirmed again that our quarrel had not been with races or nations.

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The American victors welcomed the new leaders of Japan and Germany and Italy into alliances that won the cold war and helped prevent the third world war. America and our wartime allies joined hands with the liberated peoples of our former foes to create and nurture international organizations aimed at protecting human rights, collective security, and economic growth. The cause of harmony among nations is not a call for pacifism. We avoided a third world war because we were prepared to defend the free world against aggressors. The Pearl Harbor generation saw its younger brothers go to Korea, its sons to Vietnam to resist communism. Pearl Harbor's grandchildren answered the call to the Persian Gulf to reverse Saddam's aggression against Kuwait. How fitting it is that this great cemetery holds so many who died for the cause of Korean and Vietnamese freedom. How honored we are to stand on this ground, consecrated with the remains of Marine Lance Corporal Frank Allen of Hawaii, who gave his life just 10 months ago in the battle to free Kuwait. Every soldier and sailor and airman buried here offered his life so that others might be free. Not one of them died in vain. Our men and women who served in Korea and Vietnam, whose sacrifices too often have been forgotten or even reviled, are nearing their day of greatest vindication. For I have confidence that the tragedy of totalitarianism has entered its final scene everywhere on this Earth. This morning's sun will course the Pacific skies and illuminate the lands of Asia. And just as certainly, the movement of human freedom will supplant dictatorships that now hold sway in Pyongyang and Rangoon and Hanoi, and yes, in China, too. For a billion yearning men and women, the future means freedom and democracy. This fair December dawn breaks on a world ready for renewal. A high tide of hope swells for those that are committed to peace and freedom. The nations pushed by tyrants into war against us half a century ago join us today as free and constructive partners in the effort for peace. The Soviet Communists' designs for world domination have collapsed before the free world's resolve. We have reached this morning because generation after generation of Americans kept faith with our founders and our heroes. From the snows of Valley Forge, to the fiery seas of Midway and Pearl Harbor, to the sands of Iraq and Kuwait, Americans lived and died true to their ideals. They have prepared the way for a world of unprecedented freedom and cooperation.

monologic

Well, now I am a little embarrassed to come up here after all those wonderful things were said about me, because I happen to think that we have a very wonderful Ambassador and his wife here representing the United States in this nation. And I also happen to have had the chance to observe and know what a wonderful staff there is in this Embassy, also. But the reason it makes it a little difficult is because I know how much we upset the routine when we drop in. Nancy and I want to thank Ambassador Price, his lovely lady, and all the members of the Embassy staff for your extraordinary efforts to assure the success of this visit, as you have done so before. This, as you have been told, is my third visit to London and probably my last as ENTITY, and I know how much time and hard work must be devoted to a presidential visit. I also know that a visit like this is an exceptional one, one that takes you away from your day-today business. And let me express my deep appreciation for the work you do to represent United States interests in the United Kingdom. I know you spend long hours working to secure our foreign policy objectives, to strengthen our economy, to enhance our national security, and to protect United States citizens overseas. And I know the many times when you have been called upon for some individual citizen to overcome something that is upsetting them at the time when they are far away from home and here in this land. Your work here in London has proven invaluable in ensuring that the special relationship we enjoy with Great Britain continues to bear fruit. Nancy and I wish to thank you, all the men and women of the Embassy, not just the American employees, but also the Foreign Service nationals without whose hard work and support this visit and the execution of our foreign policy would not be possible. And, Charlie, I just-there are no words to express the appreciation that we have. You have a great staff, and now it is coming time for me to say so long. I have to tell you, though, I want to tell you one little incident that occurred recently in my meeting with the General Secretary over there. And knowing, of course, that officially their nation is atheist, and we know that ours is based on the Judeo-Christian religion, and I could not resist one day-I told him that I was looking forward to having prepared the greatest gourmet dinner that anyone could ever think of, the most wonderful and delicious foods, and having him to that dinner.

monologic

It is wonderful to have you here and to see you joining in this important step forward for America. runaway government spending, double-digit inflation, record high interest rates they'd just hit 21 1/2 percent the worst tax burden in peacetime history, and high unemployment With support from the American people we put in place a program that was designed to cure this raging economic disease which had been ignored for too many years. Little more than a year's passed since our program went on the books, but already we have made solid progress against four of the five problems that we inherited. We have cut the growth of spending somewhere around in half, and we have reduced high inflation, high interest rates, and taxation. But let me just say something here about interest rates, which I will expand on in my speech to the Nation tonight. The very sharp and heartening decline that we have seen in interest rates brings us one step closer to the dream every American shares, which is lasting recovery. But let us understand that what brought, for example, Government-backed home mortgages down to 12 1/2 percent, the lowest level in 25 months, was not a quick fix, but our progress against inflation. The decline in inflation led directly to the fall in interest rates during the last several months. The Federal Reserve Bank announced last week that it was lowering its discount level to 9 1/2 percent. That is the first time this key interest rate has been a single digit since 1979 and the fifth reduction in the rate in 4 months. The Fed's lower rate shows its confidence that inflation and market interest rates are continuing to fall. The Federal Reserve has been pursuing a steady policy of trying to reduce inflation, and we have been supporting the Fed in that policy. And the Fed will continue to aim its policy at bringing inflation down further in the future. And that will continue to mean lower and lower interest rates as well. As I said, we are solving four of the five worst problems that we inherited. But unemployment, always the lagging indicator, remains too high, and clearly, our most urgent priority today is to create lasting, private sector jobs. I am not going to rest until every American who wants a job can find a job. Unemployment is a tragedy for all Americans in every region, every city, and every line of work. We need the strength of every back and the power of every mind to lift our nation from the economic swamp to higher ground.

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We must not waste the energy of one citizen who wants to work. All of us are moved by the plight of millions of our people who cannot find jobs or provide for their families. Perhaps the cruelest trap of all has caught the legions of our youth. As they stand on the threshold of the American dream, far too many find the door of opportunity slammed in their face. Two out of every five people out of work-two out of every five are between the ages of 16 and 24. We continue to push for enterprise zones in our inner cities, a program to attract new businesses and jobs to areas of highest unemployment. It is tragic that this enterprise zone proposal has been bottled up in committee by the leadership of the House. I remember what it was like to be 21 years old and looking for a job in 1932. And I know how it feels when your future has been mortgaged by the generation before you. Today's young people must never be held hostage to the mistakes of the past. The only way to avoid making these mistakes again is to learn from them. It is estimated, for example, that at least 20 million American workers now rely on skills that will not be needed within 20 years. The government has trained thousands more in skills that already are not needed in their communities. Still others have been steered into make-work government for our young people. And that is why I am proud today to sign into law the Job Training Partnership Act, a program that looks to the future instead of the past. This is not another make-work, dead-end, bureaucratic boondoggle. This program will train more than one million Americans every year in skills they can market where they live. It will make a difference on Main Street. It will provide help, bring hope, and encourage self-reliance and personal initiative. State and local government officials, business and labor leaders, and other members of the private sector will plan area programs in private industry councils. Local people will decide at the grass roots level what opportunities are available in their communities, and then match real jobs with needed skills. And here is something else that makes this program different from many past failures. At least 70 percent of the program funds will go to actual job training. We are eliminating the bureaucratic and administrative waste that has marked so many so-called job bills in the past. It is based on a tried and tested concept.

monologic

Before my remarks, I have a brief announcement. Anyone that has not gotten his cuff links or tickets to the Kennedy Center, please see Max Friedersdorf. Well, ladies and gentlemen, members of the Cabinet and staff and all of you who are here, I do not think the East Room has ever seen exactly this kind of meeting here before. And I think last week we saw an extraordinary example of cooperation between the legislative and executive branches of government, and I want all of you Members of the House to know how deeply grateful I am for what you did last week. During these past 112 days we have worked well together, and I think we have made a little history. Thanks to you, we have made it clear that spending can be controlled and that our system works. The voice of the people can be heard here in the Capital, and in so doing, we have restored their confidence of our people in their government and in the institutions of this Government. I know that what we did was only the first step, but I have confidence that in the weeks and months ahead we will continue to put country ahead of partisanship. Yes, we have a big job ahead of us putting tax cuts into effect that are really the other half of returning America's prosperity. I believe the reduction in the tax rates, as I know I have said to many of you, is essential to restoring the spirit of enterprise. You know, some years ago there was an economist at Harvard, now deceased, Sumner Schlichter. And he said once that if a visitor from Mars came to Earth, he would conclude that our tax policy had been created to make private enterprise unworkable. And, you know, maybe what he was talking about, sometimes in a business or a sports team or an army, will outperform its competitor even though the material assets of the two seem to be roughly equal. Now, some academicians have commented-well, they have referred to this as the x factor in human affairs, a confidence or a spirit that makes men and women dream and dare and take greater risks. Well, for too long a time our tax structure has stifled that x factor and that spirit of confidence and daring in our economic doings here in our land. Those who have the means to invest have sought tax shelters instead. And workers have been discouraged from saving or even trying to increase their earnings by increasing their productivity.

monologic

The Secretary General and I have now completed almost 2 hours of hard work with this brilliant and dedicated staff of the Strategic Air Command. I think that both of us have gained fresh understanding of the intimate relation between the strategic strength of the United States and the defense of the North Atlantic Alliance. We have had presented in some detail the military facts and figures which support the great and simple political reality that is set forth in our treaty, namely that the defense of one is the defense of all. We have learned again what we already knew, that the strength and the skill of this Command are absolutely vital to the peace of the Atlantic world. We recognize that the mission of this Command is peace. And we had related to us this afternoon the capacity, the numbers, the procedures, the overall plans, and the great amount of thinking that has gone into accomplishing that mission, namely preserving the peace. This day has thus brought new encouragement to me, and I hope also to my friend, the distinguished Secretary General. So we are grateful to all of you and to the State of Nebraska for all that we have seen. We also thank you for your distance from Washington. On the plane ride out and back, Mr. Brosio and I are finding a chance for some quiet conversations together concerning the future needs and the future hopes of our great alliance. The success of NATO is evident in every member country, in peace and prosperity, and in confidence in the future. Yet our very success creates new problems for tomorrow. The work of freedom is really never done, and as we go back to these discussions let me thank all of you again for this very profitable afternoon in Omaha. I have been here several times during the 13 years that General Power has been connected with the Strategic Air Command, and I have had numerous briefings from him and from his staff. I feel as I believe most Americans do, deeply in his debt, and the debt of the dedicated men who serve with him, for their love of country and for their proficiency to accomplish the mission assigned them. I want to thank the members of the families of the men assigned to this Command. They are called upon to make many sacrifices, and just as their men's mission is peace, I guess they sacrifice with a smile, because wherever I go and I see the Strategic Air Force, I am stimulated and inspired. Since General LeMay is here with us today, all of you really represent a great monument to his thinking and to his planning.

monologic

Now that we realize the proof of the pudding is in the eating and you have preserved the peace now for almost 20 years, I think you can return to your homes this evening with a proper and justified well done from your Chief. Incidentally, just to show you that I really mean it, I added a good deal to my budget this year by insisting on a pay raise for all of you. Perhaps my colleague, Mr. Brosio, would have something that he would like to say to you now. The President spoke following an inspection with Manlio Brosio, Secretary General of NATO, of SAC Headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base, Omaha, Nebr. His opening words referred to Gen. Thomas S. Power, Commander in Chief, Strategic Air Command, and Gen. Curtis E. LeMay, Chief of Staff, Department of the Air Force. Thank you. I want only to say that I am very happy to be back in Omaha again. I have been here a few years ago, that is in 1957, when General LeMay was still Commander here. I have seen new, interesting things; I have learned a lot. But I am above all very deeply honored to have had the opportunity of coming tonight on the invitation and in the company of the President of the United States. I have seen really the contribution to the defense not only of the United States, but also of Europe by this central base and Command of the Western World which is absolutely indispensable and decisive. That convinces me and convinces all Europeans, I think, of the absolute necessity of continuing the close links which tie us in our essential Atlantic Alliance. I also share entirely what the President of the United States has told you just now, that all this huge preparation which needs an enormous amount of intelligence, of skill, of patience and of courage, is intended only to defend peace, is intended primarily to prevent war. And in these 15 years of life of the Atlantic Alliance, thanks to this preparation, thanks to our unity and solidarity, peace has been preserved. I am sure we will be able to preserve it with the same methods and with the same spirit for the future in the interest of the freedom and the welfare of the people of the United States and Europe.

monologic

It is wonderful to be here at Kenmore. And I want to first of all thank our principal, Mr. Dr. John Word Doctor; Superintendent of Arlington Public Schools Patrick Murphy. There they are over there, all doing great work. We have got your own Congressman, Jim Moran, here in the house. And we have got somebody who I believe is going to go down as the finest Secretary of Education we have ever had, Arne Duncan. Now, before I begin, let me just say that like all Americans, I continue to be heartbroken by the images of devastation in Japan. And I know all of you, young and old, have been watching the full magnitude of this tragedy unfold. I want to reiterate America's support for the people of Japan, who are some of our closest friends and allies. And I have said directly to the Prime Minister of Japan, Prime Minister Kan, that the United States will continue to offer any assistance we can as Japan recovers from multiple disasters and we will stand with the people of Japan in the difficult days ahead. Now, I just had a chance to talk with some of your teachers as well as some students, who told me about your all-school project that is weaving the life and music of Duke Ellington into your classes. And by getting students engaged in learning, you are teaching the kinds of skills about how to think and how to work together that young people are going to need in college and beyond. That is what all of our schools need to be doing. And in an economy that is more competitive and connected than ever before, a good job and a good career is going to demand a good education. Over the next 10 years, nearly half of all new jobs are going to require more than a high school diploma. So if you want a bright future, you are going to need a college degree or advanced training. And as Arne mentioned, unfortunately, too many students are not getting a world-class education today. As many as a quarter of American students are not finishing high school. The quality of our math and science education lags behind many other nations. And America has fallen to ninth in the proportion of young people with a college degree. And turning these statistics around is not just the right thing to do for our kids, it is the right thing to do for our economy, because the best jobs program out there is a good education. The best economic policy is one that produces more college graduates.

monologic

And that is why for the sake of our children and our economy and America's future, we are going to have to do a better job educating every single one of our sons and daughters, all of them. Now, that responsibility begins not in our classrooms, but it begins in our homes. It begins with parents who are instilling in their kids not only a love of learning, but also the self-confidence and especially the self-discipline and work ethics that are at the heart of success in school and success in life. Young people, I am talking to you. I have got a couple of them at home. And the truth is, the world's going to be more competitive, and nobody's going to just give success to you. You are going to have to earn it, and that means you have got to apply yourself. So that you are going to learn at home, first and foremost. All of us have a responsibility not just as parents, but as citizens for giving our kids the best possible education. Now, for a long time we were not sure about how to give our kids that kind of education. Some people thought, if you just put more money into education, that would solve the problem. And then on the other side thought, money does not matter, what we need is reform. In fact, there were those who argued that we should just dismantle the public education system altogether. Rather than working together, both sides remained locked in this stalemate year after year, decade after decade, and nothing much changed. And then something began to happen in States and local school districts. Instead of getting caught up in these old, stale debates, people began to agreeing to agree that, you know what, we need both more money and more reform. We need more resources for the schools, but we have got to reorganize how our schools are doing business in order to assure success for our young people. People began coming together parents, students, teachers, administrators, reformers, local officials and we started witnessing amazing success stories all across America. There is a school in Denver, Bruce Randolph School, that went from being one of the worst schools in Colorado to graduating 97 percent of its seniors last May. In Cincinnati, Taft High School went from handing out only one diploma for every five students to graduating 95 percent of its seniors and preparing them for careers in technology. So our goal as an administration, my goal as President, has been to build on these successes across America.

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trying to figure out how do we incentivize success by starting something a competition called Race to the Top. Prove you are serious about reform, and we will show you the money. And because it is a competition for less than 1 percent of what our country spends on education each year, Race to the Top has led over 40 States to raise their standards for teaching, learning, and student achievement. And these standards were not developed in Washington, but they were developed by Republican and Democratic Governors all across this country. So we have made enormous progress. As Arne has said, this is probably the most significant education reform initiative that we have seen in a generation. But we need to make sure we are reaching every child in America, not just those in States or districts that take part in Race to the Top. And that is why not only do we need to continue this competition, we have got to open it up. And that is why we need to take the same bottom-up approach when it comes to reforming America's most important education law, otherwise known as No Child Left Behind. We have to reform No Child Left Behind. Now, over these last few weeks, during what we have called Education Month around the White House, I have been traveling across the country talking with folks about education. In fact, we have actually been doing that for the last couple of years. And what I have heard, what Arne's heard, what the rest of my team has heard loud and clear from teachers and students and parents and communities is that No Child Left Behind got some things right and got some things wrong. making a promise to educate every child with an excellent teacher. Shining a light on the achievement gap between students of different races and backgrounds and those with and without disabilities, that is the right thing to do. But what has not worked is denying teachers, schools, and States what they need to meet these goals. That is why we need to fix No Child Left Behind. We need to make sure we are graduating students who are ready for college and ready for careers. We need to put outstanding teachers in every classroom and give those teachers the pay and the support that they deserve. I got some applause for that one. We need to not only hold failing schools accountable, we need to help turn those schools around. In the 21st century, it is not enough to leave no child behind, we need to help every child get ahead. We need to get every child on a path to academic excellence.

monologic

I am proud of the commitment by Democrats and Republicans in Congress to fix No Child Left Behind, to make this reform a reality, because they recognize education is an area where we cannot afford to drag our feet. As Arne says, our kids only get one shot at an education, and we have got to get it right. So that is why I am calling on Congress to send me an education reform bill I can sign into law before the next school year begins before next year's school year. I want every child in this country to head back to school in the fall knowing that their education is America's priority. Let us seize this education moment. Let us fix No Child Left Behind. Now, last week, we got a reminder of why it is so critical that we reform this law. According to new estimates, under the system No Child Left Behind put in place, more than 80 percent of our schools may be labeled as failing 80 percent of our schools. And let us face it, skepticism is somewhat justified. We know that four out of five schools in this country are not failing. So what we are doing to measure success and failure is out of line. In fact, the list of supposedly failing schools is includes schools that are making extraordinary progress, including Kenmore. So yes, we have still got more work to do here at this school to close the achievement gap. I think Dr. Word would agree with that. We have got to make sure that every student is on track. But I mean, we can see here at Kenmore what Kenmore's thriving. You got more work to do, but you are doing fine. So what this means, though, is, is that we need a better way of figuring out which schools are deeply in trouble, which schools are not , and how we get not only the schools that are in really bad shape on track, how do we help provide the tools to schools that want to get even better to get better. That way of measuring success and failure, that is the first problem with No Child Left Behind that we need to fix. Instead of labeling schools a failure one day and then throwing up our hands and walking away from them, we need to refocus on the schools that need the most help. Black, White, Latino, Asian, students with disabilities, English language learners. We need to make sure some of our best teachers are teaching in some of our worst schools.

monologic

We need to reward schools that are doing the difficult work of turning themselves around. We are going to have to take a series of steps across a broad range of measures to not only target our most troubled schools, but also raise expectations for all our schools. But we have got to do more than that. In recent years, 15 States have actually lowered their standards to make it easier for their kids to meet the targets set by No Child Left Behind. That was that is a pretty perverse incentive when States say to themselves, you know what, let us lower our standards so that we have an easy time easier time passing those standards so that we do not get punished under No Child Left Behind . That makes no sense. They are graduating ready for college and ready for a career. To know whether our kids are on track to meet that goal, we need better assessments. Now, I want to speak to teachers in particular here. I am not talking about more tests. I am not talking about teaching to the test. We do not need to know whether a student can fill out a bubble. We do need to know whether they are making progress. We do need to know whether they are not only mastering reading, math, and science, but also developing the kinds of skills, like critical thinking and creativity and collaboration, that I just saw on display with the students that I met here. Those are skills they are going to need for the rest of their lives, not just to be good workers, but to be good citizens. But the point is, is that we need to refine how we are assessing progress so that we can have accountability without rigidity, accountability that still encourages creativity inside the classroom and empowers teachers and students and administrators. Of course, we also know that better standards, better assessments, and better curriculum will not make a difference without outstanding teachers. Every day in this country, teachers are doing a heroic job for their kids every day. They are taking on the problems that follow students into class, come in early to rewrite lessons, spending hours after school tutoring students. Now, in South Korea, teachers are known as nation builders, and I think it is time we treated our teachers with the same level of respect right here in the United States of America. But if we are serious about treating teachers that way, if we are serious about educating all our kids with an excellent teacher, then we are going to have to fix No Child Left Behind.

monologic

What No Child Left Behind says is that teachers need to be certified before they step into the classroom. Now, certification can be an important measure of the quality of the teacher, and obviously, we want teachers to be well-qualified. But when the quality of a teacher can make or break a child's education, we have got to make sure our certified teachers are also outstanding teachers, teachers who can reach every last child. And so what we need to do is a better job preparing and supporting our teachers, measuring their success in the classroom, holding them accountable. We are going to have to stop making excuses for the occasional bad teacher. We are going to have to start paying good ones like the professionals that they are. If we truly believe that teaching is one of the most valued professions in society and I cannot think of a more important profession then we have got to start valuing our great teachers. I do not know any teacher who got into it for the pay. The teachers who are here, you got into it for the kids, for the satisfaction of feeling like your passing on knowledge that these young people will use and carry on for the rest of their lives. So we need to reward you by letting you make more of a difference for your kids. give our best teachers more time to learn from each other, more time to mentor each other, more responsibilities in their schools. And to replace the baby boomers who are retiring in the coming years, we are going to have to recruit a whole new generation of teachers, including a hundred thousand new math and science teachers over the next decade. So these are the steps we are going to have to take to fix No Child Left Behind. And together with what we are already doing to make college more affordable for millions more students, I am confident these reforms will help us meet the goal that I set when I took office, which is, by the end of the decade, we will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. So these steps will require reforms. They will require a change in rules and standards and even attitudes. But let me just point out, there is no avoiding the fact they will also cost some money. It requires reform, but it costs some money. Making it possible for families to send their kids to college costs money. I understand that. And for too long, Government's been spending more than it is been taking in, and we cannot keep that up.

monologic

We are going to have to cut whatever spending we can afford to do without. So I have called on a 5-year freeze on annual domestic spending. That will cut the deficit by more than $400 billion over the next decade, making that kind of spending a much smaller share of the economy, smaller than it is been in 50 years. Right now we are sitting down with Republicans and Democrats to find other ways to get our deficits under control. We cannot cut education. We cannot cut the things that will make America more competitive. I mean, think about what happens in your own family when somebody loses a job or has an illness and you need to cut back. What do you do? You start by skipping that vacation you'd been planning, or you see what is on TV instead of going to the movies. Maybe you start packing your own lunch. There are a whole bunch of things that you might do. The last thing you are going to do is to dip into your child's college savings. You are not going to give that up. Well, what is true for your family is true for the American family. A budget that sacrifices our commitment to education would be a budget that is sacrificing our country's future. That would be a budget that sacrifices our children's future, and I will not let it happen. So yes, I am determined to cut our deficits. But I refuse to do it by telling students here, who are so full of promise, that we are not willing to invest in your future. I am not willing to tell these young people right here that their education is not a priority. I am talking about students like Katherine Diaz, who says, I think I should have the opportunity to be who I want to be. And it turns out that Katherine wants to either be a professional violinist or the first woman President of the United States. She might do both. professional violinist, President. Or I am talking about Roberto Claure. He says, With good schools and good teachers, we can grow up to be anything we want. It turns out Roberto wants to be the first Hispanic President of the United States. So you guys will have to work out, sort of, the sequence.

monologic

Secretary Bell and ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to be here today to join you in honoring some of the finest secondary schools in America. And I want to extend a special greeting to the students in the audience. May I also extend a warm welcome to the principals who are here today, including Mrs. Vera White, who was kind enough to show me through Jefferson Junior High School this morning. both of us have to keep a lot of people happy. You have the PTA; I have the voters. When a Congress leaves town, it is no accident we call it a recess. But I am pleased to help honor the 262 middle, junior, and senior high schools that are receiving awards today for outstanding educational performance. Today we honor you for doing a superb job of educating students and for setting an example that all our schools can follow. We must remember, though, that American schools have not always performed as well as those represented here today. From the early sixties to 1980, combined SAT scores declined steadily, dropping by 90 points. Science achievement scores of 17-year-olds showed a steady drop. And, most shocking, our National Commission on Excellence in Education reported that in 1980 more than one-tenth of America's 17-year olds could be considered functionally illiterate. The dropout rate increased so much that by 1982, 27 percent of our students failed to complete high school, and dropout rates among minority students were higher than 40 percent. Now, this erosion in academic achievement took place during the very period, overall, when spending was up by over 600 percent. The crisis in our schools was symptomatic of a much larger crisis in our country. We were living under a tired philosophy of government knows best. It was out of touch with the reality of a changing world. And while spending was going up, that tired philosophy was dragging America down. Big taxing and spending had led to soaring interest rates and inflation, and all over the world our once-proud nation was no longer known for strength and resolve but for vacillation and self-doubt. And since the whole aim of our schools is to prepare our children for the future, it was only natural that when leaders lost faith in our future, many of our principals, teachers, and students felt robbed of their sense of purpose and self-esteem. Well, the American people decided to put a stop to that long decline, and in the past few years our country has seen a rebirth of vitality and freedom a great national renewal.

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We have knocked inflation down, and all across our land a powerful economic expansion is providing new products and new work for millions. Once again, the United States is respected throughout the world as a force for peace and freedom. This is a springtime of hope for America. When we came to Washington, we knew that the problems in education had not developed overnight and could not be cured overnight. We knew the key to educational improvement was not proposing still more Federal involvement and control, but helping to chart a new course that challenges State and local governments, teachers, administrators, students, and parents to meet the goals of an agenda for excellence. That is why one of our first actions was to appoint a National Commission on Excellence in Education. And today from Maine to California parents, teachers, school administrators, and principals have begun the crucial work to carry out the Commission's recommendations by improving fundamentals of basic teaching and learning. Since the Commission's report, we have been witnessing a great reawakening of learning, reflecting a culmination of concern over the quality of American education at all levels. On the State level, progress has been significant. When our administration took office only a handful of States had task forces on education. Today they all do, and many have begun to work on pay incentives for teachers. They know that to promote good teaching we must reward good teachers. On the local level, parents, teachers, and administrators are making dramatic strides. The PTA reported last year that after a 20-year decline in its membership, 100,000 new members joined the organization. As with so many challenges throughout our history, the American people are showing again that it can be done. Although we are doing much to make our schools more like the temples of learning we all want them to be, I do not believe there is an educator in this room, or in America, who would not agree that we have barely begun. Our challenge is to sustain and build on the progress that we are now making. We cannot reach for the future without a firm grasp of basic educational tools and the importance of traditional values. Learning cannot take place without discipline. Today, in schools across our land, many teachers cannot teach because they lack the authority to make students take tests and turn in homework. School disorder destroys the learning atmosphere, drives good teachers out of teaching, and hurts minority and low-income students who are concentrated in urban schools where the problem is most severe.

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To keep learning in our schools, we must get crime, drugs, and violence out. We cannot expect to raise a new generation of responsible leaders in a lawless environment. We cannot expect young Americans to master the complexities of computers if they are high on drugs and alcohol. We must teach our sons and daughters a proper respect for academic standards, for codes of civilized behavior, and for knowledge itself. As the National Commission forcefully argued, we must also get our students back to the proper study of basic subjects. Today too many students are allowed to abandon vocational and college prep courses, so when they graduate, they are prepared for neither higher education, nor work, nor the training they may later need to keep up with technological advances. In 1980, 35 States required only 1 year of math for a high school diploma; 36 required only 1 year of science. We must insist that all our students master math, science, history, reading, and writing, the fundamentals of our civilization. Earlier this month, I signed into law the Education for Economic Security Act. It authorizes more scholarships for science and math teachers to help raise the level of instruction in those crucial basics. If we fail to instruct our children in justice, religion, and liberty, we will be condemning them to a world without virtue, a life in the twilight of a civilization where the great truths have been forgotten. In many schools, students are being taught the dangers of nuclear weapons and the burdens of national defense. Well, let us make certain they understand not only the price of defending America but the price of failing to. The students from St. George's University School of Medicine learned in Grenada that freedom is worth sticking up for. And while it makes sense that our children learn of our nation's problems, I hope they are also learning that Americans are good and decent people who face up to those problems with courage and conviction. Yes, we are human, we have our faults. But by any objective measure, we live in the freest, most prosperous nation in the history of the world, and our children need to know that. Jeane Kirkpatrick, Ambassador to the United Nations, said, ... we must learn to bear the truth about our society, no matter how pleasant it may be. So, we have identified long-neglected problems. We are beginning to turn them around.

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We are remembering the all-important foundation of basic educational tools, values, and discipline all good and important steps of progress, but still not good enough. If the world of learning is to meet the needs of America's future, then we must clearly see where America is headed. You know, during my own lifetime I have seen this country change so much. Cars had been invented, but very few people had one. In the winter, people got around by horse and sleigh. A huge number of Americans were farmers, and the oneroom schoolhouse was common. Those dirt roads gave way to sleek interstate highways. The commercial development of the airplane, then the creation of the jet engine, revolutionized our transportation. In agriculture, innovations in farm equipment and techniques made it possible for more and more workers to leave the fields to pursue other jobs. As they did so, our great industries grew became the mainstay of our economy. Today we are well into a new revolution driven by technologies that offer virtually unlimited opportunities for satisfying jobs and personal fulfillment. This revolution is based in large part on an American breakthrough development of the microchip. Through a vast burst of creativity in the use of microchips, the human race has projected its computational technology beyond all time and size into new galaxies of inner space, where distances are measured in billionths of a meter, time is measured in trillionths of a second, and costs drop to thousandths of a penny. I, just a few years ago, received a great shock when I was told about a satellite of ours and a communications thing in which the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica could be transmitted in a matter of something like 3 or 4 seconds. Today our children learn to tell time on digital watches. They mix traditional games like baseball with the latest video craze. And they grow up with constant exposure to the mass media, watching television some 25 hours a week. Today's children can expect to live longer, have more leisure, enjoy better health, change jobs more often, and move to more new locations then ever before. We have heard it said that our nation's most important recess 1 is the mind of a child, and that is truer than ever. Not long ago we were asking how America could bring the world of learning into better harmony with the world of work. Well, those worlds must not only come together, but also strengthen and enrich each other.

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Our vision of education must be as forward-looking as our vision of the rest of American life. This will mean a school system that teaches our children how to enrich their lives by using telecommunications as educational tools, that shows them how to educate themselves so they will be able to keep their skills current in an everchanging job market, and that gives them an appreciation of the arts and humanities so that they may broaden their vision and deepen their understanding of the values that give life meaning. One way of helping American schools better serve and shape our future is to keep bringing technology into more classrooms. Now, when I was a boy, an apple was some- thing you brought the teacher. Today you learn on an Apple or a MacIntosh or an IBM. Already our schools and universities have begun to make extensive use of the technological revolution. Young children can use computers to teach themselves colors and basic concepts like up and down or fast and slow. Others, older students, can use computers to sharpen their grasp of virtually any subject from math to history. Computers can tie in with vast libraries and, in effect, put those libraries in every classroom. One dramatic advantage of the new technology is that, as we put it to use in our schools, it can case the burden on our teachers. In any given classroom, some students are able to work quietly with computers while their teacher spends time with others perhaps with students who require more personal attention. At the same time, technology can produce new opportunities for learning in the workplace and the home. Audiovisual courses can teach workers how to use new techniques and equipment, and computers can help them prepare for new fields. In the home, personal computers can put all the world's great art, literature, and drama at a family's fingertips. Two-way cable television stations can bring classroom instruction into the living room, and new techniques of viewer participation can enable people in the home to take tests and practice skills. If we apply technology to education with thoughtful skill, good education will be available to all. Education and technology will enable all to participate fully in the wonders and benefits of American life. It is long been a goal of our space shuttle, the program, to some day carry citizen passengers into space. But today I am directing NASA to begin a search in all of our elementary and secondary schools and to choose as the first citizen passenger in the history of our space program one of America's finest a teacher.

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Now, I promise you there will be a little bit of voluntarism in that, also. But when that shuttle lifts off, all of America will be reminded of the crucial role that teachers and education play in the life of our nation. I cannot think of a better lesson for our children and our country. So, now we know that there is reason for hope. We can see an exciting future, but we also know what the current problems are. We have defined them, studied them, quantified them. We have made some progress in combating them, but not enough. Now is the time to set ourselves some additional challenges. We have slowed the downward trend in SAT scores in the past few years. We may even have ended that trend. We have to challenge ourselves further, and we must challenge ourselves as individuals. The state cannot do it for us. This town and the Federal Government cannot do it for us. We have to challenge ourselves to get moving again. I propose that, like an Olympic athlete, we set ourselves some goals four specific challenges and go for it. Before this decade is out, scholastic aptitude test scores should regain at least half the losses of the last 20 years a big challenge. States should reduce their high school dropout rates to less than 10 percent. But from the teachers and principals and administrators that I have met over the past 3 1/2 years, believe me, they have or should I say, you? are up to the challenge. Violence in the schools is, in some ways, the toughest of our problems. But, again, I know we are up to it. A Gallup Poll now shows that the number of parents with children in public schools who cite violence as their major concern is down from 29 percent last year to 23 percent this year. Before this decade is out, every school in the Nation should have adopted clear discipline codes, and the percentage of parents who cite school safety as a major concern should be half of what it is now. You know, our country is perfectly poised to meet these challenges and reach these heights. So many things have begun righting themselves the past few years, or, I should say, you have helped right them. It is a time of good feeling about the future. It is a time of progress. And we are showing ourselves again that effort and dedication and tenacity really make a difference. As a young fellow said recently, America's on top again.

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I just thought we ought to come out here in the brisk morning sunshine and wake up together. I want to thank the representatives here from all parts of the communications industry, from the foundation world, from various civil rights and other civic groups for being here, and coming in and giving me a chance to make this statement, because I had intended to go to Secretary Daley's conference today on bridging the digital divide, and because I am going to Worcester, I could not do that. So they came in this morning, and we had a visit. I want to thank them for being here and for their commitment and for all those who are not here but who are at the conference. This conference is about closing the digital divide. And we have worked hard on that for the last several years in very specific contexts. Under the Vice President's leadership, we have worked to make sure that eventually a digital divide will not deprive business of the technology-savvy workers they need and will not hurt our educational systems today. We started with the first NetDay in California, back in 1994, when only 3 percent of our classrooms were wired and only 14 percent of our schools were. Now we know that, through the public-private partnerships that have been established all over America, through the Telecommunications Act and the E-rate, which the FCC set to make sure our poorest schools could afford to be connected, we are now up over 50 percent of the schools, from 3 percent, and over 80 percent of the classrooms, from 14 percent, since 1994. I am very pleased by that, and we are on our way to meeting our goal sometime next year of having all of our schools wired and, soon after that, all of our classrooms wired. I want to thank the Vice President and all the people in various industries who have supported us and helped us in this regard. But as Secretary Daley's most recent Falling Through the Net report shows, there is still a lot more to do. We must connect all of our citizens to the Internet not just in schools and libraries but in homes, small businesses, and community centers. And we must help all Americans gain the skills they need to make the most of the connection. So this morning, as they go back to their meeting, I want to announce a series of new plans and partnerships that will expand on both these efforts to use the combined forces of public, private, and nonprofit sectors, finally to slam shut the digital divide.

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First, I have decided to lead a prominent delegation, including top CEO's, on a new markets tour this spring to focus specifically on the digital divide out in America. As we have done on our previous tours, we will visit communities that have not fully participated in our Nation's economic growth. And yet, in the communities we will also see how partnerships between the public and private sectors can unleash the power of the Internet to link children and adults to a lifetime of learning, to provide access to distant medical care, to empower parents, to assist job seekers, to enhance safety, and foster economic development. Second, I am signing an executive memorandum to ensure that closing the digital divide will be a vital goal not just for Secretary Daley and for us here in the White House but throughout the Federal Government. For example, I am directing Secretary Daley to work with the private sector to develop a national strategy for connecting all Americans to the Internet and directing Secretaries Daley, Riley, Herman, Cuomo, and Shalala to expand our growing network of community technology centers. I just ask you all to think about this one thing. What do you believe the economic impact would be if Internet access and usage were as dense in America as telephone access and usage? I think it is clear that we need to keep working until we achieve this goal. Third, with the help of many other groups, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights is launching an initiative to empower the entire civil rights community through an expanding civilrights.org website, through leadership forums and even modern-day freedom riders who will bring high-tech training to the doorsteps of nonprofit organizations. As the Congress of National Black Churches has said, the digital divide is a key civil rights issue of the 21st century. That is why our civil rights organizations must be ready, wired, and able to lead the change. Fourth, the Benton Foundation is bringing together companies from across the computing, telecommunications, software, and Internet industries, as well as the Urban League and several other large private foundations, to create the Digital Divide Network, an enormous clearinghouse of information for information on public and private efforts to bring technology to underserved communities. For the first time, we will have one-stop shop for tracking our progress in every community and for learning exactly what is worked and what has not .

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Each year we set aside a special day to pay special tribute to our men and women in uniform. Today is Armed Forces Day and, on behalf of a grateful nation, I would like to offer them our thanks and appreciation. Their job is unusually difficult not only because it involves hardship and danger, or because it requires long periods away from families and loved ones, or even because it may demand the giving of one's life in defense of our nation. The difficulty of the military profession grows out of all of these, plus the fact that our service men and women are always faced with several of the most fundamental questions we ask as individuals and as a nation the questions of war and peace and the use of force in the world. Americans have asked these questions again and again for more than 200 years. They are still debating them today. The answers lie in seeming paradoxes, underlying truths that may appear contradictory on the surface. The most fundamental paradox is that if we are never to use force, we must be prepared to use it and to use it successfully. We Americans do not want war and we do not start fights. We do not maintain a strong military force to conquer or coerce others. We want to prevent war by deterring others from the aggression that causes war. If our efforts are successful, we will have peace and never be forced into battle. That is the paradox of deterrence. The men and women in our Armed Forces also live with a second paradox. They spend their entire time in service training to fight and preparing for a war which we and they pray will never come. As individuals, these men and women want peace as much as we do as a nation. In fact, they want it even more, because they understand that war is not the romantic heroism we read about in novels or see in the movies, but the stark truth of suffering and sacrifice and the slain promise of youth. Our service men and women know firsthand the horrors of war and the blessings of peace, but they also know that just wanting peace is not enough to guarantee that peace will be sustained. As George Washington said, To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual ways of preserving peace. Today, Americans are again asking important questions about war and peace. How could we prevent nuclear war, and how could we reduce American and Soviet nuclear arsenals? The answers to these questions are not found in simple slogans, but again, in paradoxes. To prevent nuclear war, we must have the capability to deter nuclear war.

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This means we must keep our strategic forces strong enough to balance those of the Soviet Union. It must be absolutely clear to the Soviets that they would have no conceivable advantage in threatening or starting a nuclear war. In seeking to reduce American and Soviet nuclear arsenals, we must convince the Soviet Union that it is in our mutual interest to agree to significant, mutual arms reductions. And to do that, we cannot allow the current nuclear imbalance to continue. We must show the Soviets that we are determined to spend what it takes to deter war. Once they understand that, we have a real chance of successfully reaching arms reduction agreements. Last month I sent to the Congress a proposal to modernize our intercontinental ballistic missile force. By building the MX Peacekeeper and small, single warhead missiles, we will not only preserve our ability to protect the peace, we will also demonstrate that any Soviet quest for nuclear superiority will not work, that it is in everyone's interest to end the arms race and to agree to mutual arms reductions. The MX and other modernization measures will help us to achieve our fundamental goal, and that is to strengthen the peace by seeking arms reduction agreements that make for more security and stability by reducing overall force levels while permitting the modernization of our forces needed for a credible deterrent. I know that the paradox of peace through a credible military posture may be difficult for some people to accept. Some even argue that if we really wanted to reduce nuclear weapons we should simply stop building them ourselves. That argument makes about as much sense as saying that the way to prevent fires is to close down the fire department. It ignores one of the most basic lessons of history, a lesson that was learned by bitter experience and passed down to us by previous generations. Tyrants are tempted by weakness, and peace and freedom can only be preserved by strength. So, let us resolve today, as we honor the brave men and women who serve in our Armed Forces, to give them the support they need to protect our cherished liberties and preserve the peace for ourselves and our children. Till next week, thanks for listening, and God bless you.

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And I want all of you to know that it is good to be back in Indiana, and it is good to once again speak to the National Association of Counties. To tell you the truth, though, I figure that in addressing some 4,000 fellow public officials I have got to be on my toes. And it has to do with a fellow that was the only living survivor or left alive years later of the Johnstown flood. And he made quite a thing out of public speaking. He was in great demand at luncheon clubs and so forth to tell of the experiences of having gone through that terrible thing, the Johnstown flood. Well, his time came, and there he was facing St. Peter. And as he entered heaven, St. Peter said, You know, if you have got anything special that you'd like to talk about from down on Earth, people up here like to hear things from back there. I have been speaking for a long time. And he told him what he'd been doing. So, he led him into an auditorium, and here it was packed and jammed. And St. Peter told them a newcomer from Earth was there and had an interesting story to tell them. And then as he introduced him and turned away and whispered when he went past him and said, That fellow with the beard on the aisle in the front row his name is Noah. But I come to you today with immense respect and respect for the hundreds and hundreds of, well, people that are here and I was told how many were here, 4,000, so I'd better say that instead of the hundreds. But I come before you today with immense respect and respect for the offices you hold so close to the people themselves respect for your service to our nation at the most basic levels of our democracy. You know many of your constituents by face and by name. And you preside at commission and board meetings, where they voice their concerns. You know what it is to be stopped on the street to explain a decision. In recent years, you have worked imaginatively to increase private economic development in your communities the best way to ensure economic growth. And day in and day out, you know what it is to be held responsible for government actions. You know what it is, in short, to do the will of the people. This is why I want to enlist you in the campaign that I began on the 3d of July on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial.

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There I called on all Americans to complete the work of the authors of the Declaration of Independence with an Economic Bill of Rights, a bill that will restore to us the freedoms that our Founding Fathers believed we should always have, a bill of rights that will protect us and future generations from the needless and wrongful encroachment of government upon our lives. For make no mistake, the danger is grave. And many in Congress are intent upon returning to the days of unrestrained and irresponsible government present company, I might add, is excepted. I know which side Governor Myers or Congressman Myers is on. Delay after delay, missed deadline after missed deadline the entire budget process looks like intentionally staged chaos, chaos to provide a cover for those in Congress whose aim is to shift resources from the people's interest to the special interests. Indeed, a recent article in the Washington Post described how one member of the House Public Works and Transportation Committee circulated a bill asking well, it was to fill in the blanks, and the form was asking other members to sign up for their favorite pork-barrel project. And according to the Post, few could resist grabbing-quote a piece of the action. Now, I have spoken before about this congressional urge to grab a piece of the action, but this is so important for you and all the American people to understand that I'd like to give you examples. To begin with, there is the highway bill with its massive demonstration projects that give more of the funds to a few, hand-picked areas. This approach deprives you of the necessary resources to return Federal dollars to places where they are really needed. I vetoed that bill earlier this year. By one vote, Congress managed to override my veto. Well, in part, so that Congress could allow a certain major city to add an extension to its mass transit system. The system will be so expensive, and for so few people, that it would be cheaper to buy each rider a new car every 5 years for the next half a century. Also part of the highway bill, Congress chose to spend $870 million for the continued construction of a subway system in a major city on the west coast. The city is in sound economic condition, could have financed the construction independently, but perhaps the really remarkable part of it all is that the route of the subway is still undetermined. Eight hundred and seventy million in a hole in the ground, and where it comes out, nobody knows.

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There is the Federal program that will spend millions to build luxury hotels, restaurants, and condominiums-that is right, fancy condominiums. I barely had time to figure out what yuppies were before Congress started to subsidize them. There are the farm programs that provide little or nothing for the many family farms, but that gave one wealthy farmer more than $13 million and that gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to a Texas landowner who is neither American nor in need of public assistance. He is the Crown Prince of Liechtenstein. But there is one program Congress recently voted on that pretty much says it all. This year the Congress of the United States, in its deep and unfathomable wisdom, voted 8 million of your tax dollars to establish get ready a center for the study of weeds. Now, I do not know whether I want to know any more about weeds. But you know, there are some days sitting in that Oval Office, with these bills coming across my desk, when I do not know whether to laugh or cry. Now, I have been accused in recent days of campaigning for our Economic Bill of Rights in order to distract attention from other events in Washington. Well, it so happens that I have been campaigning for economic rights for more than three decades, and I intend to go on doing so for years to come. putting an end to unrestrained spending. Stop the spending, and no more taxes. And while I am getting a few things off my chest, something else has been bothering me lately. Critics have claimed that in opposing our administration on the issues, they are at some kind of an unfair disadvantage, that this Presidency is somehow based more on personality than on policy. Well, the truth is, no President can remain popular unless he retains the fundamental support of the American people on the issues. So, I invite my critics I welcome my critics to go after me on the issues just as hard as they please. It all reminds me about Senator Gore of Oklahoma a story told back in the early 1900's. And one day an opponent of his in the Senate, stung by Gore's criticism, took to his feet and shouted, If you were not blind, I'd beat you to within an inch of your life. And Senator Gore simply responded, Blindfold the so-and-so, and point him in my direction. Tax hikes, budget-busting spending bills, job-destroying protectionism, a new round of soaring inflation the momentum in Washington is building.

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As I have said since the beginning of this campaign, today virtually all that stands between us and a return to the malaise economy of the 1970's is the Presidential veto. And to make this point so clear that Congress cannot possibly understand me, permit me once again to repeat my commitment. As far as I am concerned, our tax reform for the American people is, to borrow the title of the current hit movie, untouchable. And if any tax hike ever comes across my desk, my handling of the veto pen will make the way Elliott Ness went after Al Capone look like child's play. But important as the Presidential veto power may be, we dare not rely upon it alone. No, we need more to protect the hard-won achievements of these past 6 years. And it is for this reason to protect our prosperity and our jobs, to promote more growth and opportunity that I have proposed our Economic Bill of Rights. The people are entitled to the fruits of their labor and shall not be burdened by excessive taxation. What does this mean? It means that more than a mere majority of the Congress should be required to raise taxes not just 50 percent plus one, maybe 60 percent, maybe two-thirds. I know when I was Governor of California it took twothirds of the legislature to pass the budget, and it took 60 percent of the voters to pass a bond issue. They have cried out in fright in Washington as if I have suggested something unconstitutional with regard to raising taxes. The future of succeeding generations shall not be mortgaged to the national debt through deficit spending. The Congress shall be required to balance the budget each and every year. Special interest legislation shall not be hidden from the people. The President shall have the right to veto individual appropriations. The President shall have the line-item veto. I used it 943 times when I was a Governor, and I miss it in Washington. The people are entitled to pursue their own livelihood, free from excessive regulation and tax-subsidized competition. I will appoint a Presidential commission to spearhead efforts to privatize public-owned enterprises. Educational development, creativity, and initiative will be fostered by diversity in our educational system. Welfare programs must not harm the structure of family and community. Through the use of incentives, the Congress will seek to lift the least fortunate to independence and full participation in American life and economy.

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The Congress shall pass no measure that slows growth, shrinks markets, or destroys jobs by erecting high tariffs or other trade barriers. The Government shall take seriously the 5th and 14th amendment guarantees to life, liberty, and property. Whenever government expropriates the use or value of private property, whether outright or through government regulations, owners will be justly compensated. The burden of government shall not be hidden from view. The Congress shall require that a financial impact statement accompany each bill, specifying the economic growth, employment or the effect on economic growth and employment, and competition overseas. These last two points, truth in Federal spending and the requirement for a financial impact statement, bear directly upon your work as county officials. For in recent years, Congress has not been satisfied with just spending hundreds of billions of Federal funds. Congress has wanted to spend still more money, including the funds of State and local governments. The Federal Government appropriates millions for this or that program, then mandates that you participate in the program by spending millions of your own dollars or by complying with certain national standards to avoid the loss of Federal funds. In all this, mandates is just a fancy word for big government in Washington pushing around the levels of government that are closest to the people. Under our proposals, whenever Congress considered legislation that would impose costs on State and local governments, a statement of those costs would appear in the legislation itself, not buried in some obscure committee report. Still more significant, Congress would be required to state what they expect the impact to be on State and local governments and where the funds would come from, not leave it to local officials like you to explain to your constituents why you are forced to raise taxes because of something that happened in Washington. take federalism seriously and treat State and local governments with respect. Now, all that sounds good to me, but you are the one whose opinions count. Is not it high time Washington put its own house in order and stopped pushing you around? Socialist countries seem to experience some economic malaise precisely to the extent that they are Socialist. And in the Communist world, we see economic stagnation, material backwardness of every kind. Yes, in concentrating on it all but exclusively, the Soviet Union has been able to build its military into a formidable force. When was the last time you bought a car or there are some other things there even a good cheese or a videocassette recorder and the label read, Made in the U.S.S.R. ?

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In our own nation, too, we have recent examples that prove how important it is for government to respect economic rights. No property is more private, no property is more personal, even intimate, than an individual's income. It directly represents the labor, day-in and day-out, of one's mind and hands. It is used for the necessities of life itself, to provide for one's family, to make possible the adventure of building a better life. Yet during the 1970's, the Federal Government showed a high-handed disregard for this most fundamental form of property, taxing it at higher and higher levels, permitting inflation to raise effective tax rates again and again. Well, our administration changed all that. We cut tax rates, indexed tax brackets, then simplified the entire tax system with our historic tax reform. The connection between effort and reward was reestablished, giving virtually every participant in our economy new incentives for achievement. Today unemployment stands at the lowest rate in almost 8 years. Government revenues at the Federal level and for most State and local governments have actually gone up. The stock and bond markets have risen to record highs. And come this Thanksgiving, this tax cut-led expansion if it is still going on on Thanksgiving Day will go into the books as the longest peacetime expansion ever to take place in this nation. And perhaps most important, we have seen the creation of more than 13 million new jobs. Yet all that we have achieved our hard-won victory over inflation, the millions of new jobs all these are in danger. It is our duty to protect them, to secure for ourselves and our children the economic rights that will enable our nation, now and into the 21st century, to become a still greater land, a land of ever-increasing prosperity and ever-widening opportunity. In this bicentennial year of our Constitution, I submit to you that we see in the vision of the Founding Fathers and in the Constitution itself the promise of a government that is good, because it respects its citizens' rights, both political and economic, and that has chosen once and for all to live within its own means. And now I ask you to join me; join me, my friends, in making that promise come true. I cannot conclude without telling another little story here. I have got a new hobby.

monologic

Boy, he was hot to-Thank you, Chairman Wilhelm, for your outnight, was not he? And thank you, Senator Bradley, for being here with us tonight and for your work on this event and for your steadfast effort to get a health care bill out of the Senate Finance Committee that actually protects the American people's health care. And I want to ask all of you here to help him be reelected to the Senate in New Jersey this year. We need him back there. In addition to all the dignitaries from New York, I understand that we have two Democratic congressional candidates from New Jersey, and maybe you could raise your hands. Shine a light on that man; he is running for office. There you are, Lou, it is good to see you. Ladies and gentlemen, when I was nominated for President by Governor Cuomo, I thought he gave one of the best speeches I ever heard. And about halfway through it, I looked at Hillary and I said, Who is he talking about anyway? By the time he got through that speech, I felt like a real President. And tonight I am also in his debt for his wonderful words, for his profound way of telling the truth, for his leadership in New York, and for his love for New York. People ask me sometimes kind of cynics, who do not know what it is like to really love where you are from how Mario Cuomo could be doing this again. And I said, I may be the only person in America that understands this, but if I had not been just absolutely obsessed with the direction the country was taking in 1992 and convinced it was wrong, I'd still be Governor of my State. It is the best job in the world if you are lucky enough to be in a place where you love. And he loves this State. He loves you, and you ought to keep him doing what he is doing. I also want to say, I am glad to see all the musicians here with all their talent. I hope I get to hear a little music before I have to go tonight. But there is really nothing for me to say; Mario said it all. Ditto, I could say. Let me say the stakes this year are very high because they will determine the extent to which and the shape of our continued forward progress. When I was elected President, we'd had 12 years of exploding deficits.

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And I knew we had to bring the deficit down, we had to bring interest rates down, we had to get investment up in our people, we had to put the American people first again. And we came up with a plan, with the help of a lot of people from New York, including my National Economic Adviser, Bob Rubin, that would do those things. And when I say well, maybe it sounds good but it is not human sometimes to say, we had the biggest deficit reduction in history; we are going to have 3 years of deficit reduction in a row for the first time since Harry Truman was President of the United States; we have had two budgets passed on time for the first time in 17 years; last year we had the first year without a Presidential veto in 60 years. And you say, well, what does all that mean? 3.4 million of your fellow Americans have jobs that they did not have. That is what it means. Sixteen million American taxpayers with children, who work for a living, are going to get an income tax cut out of our economic plan, so they will be encouraged to stay working and not go on welfare 16 million of them. Twenty million students are eligible, 20 million students are eligible for low-interest-rate loans and better repayment terms under the student loan program because we changed that, so no one will ever have an excuse that The cost is too much, and I cannot go to college again. Ninety percent of the small businesses in this country, under that economic program, were eligible for a tax cut. All they had to do was invest more money in their business, hire more people, and make this economy grow. Five and a half million Americans refinanced their homes because the interest rates went down. I just came back from St. Louis; in the previous 4 years they lost 2,000 jobs. In the first year of our administration, they gained 28,000 as automobiles in America came back. That is what it means. How many million people, we will never know, under the Family and Medical Leave Act, are now able to take a little time off when their baby's born or when their parents are sick? We know that thousands of lives will be saved because of the Brady bill. We know that; we have evidence of that.

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We know that because of that assault weapons ban, police will be able to go out on the street with a little more confidence that they will not be outgunned by the people they are supposed to protect the rest of us from. We know that. These are real things that affect the real lives of real people. It is not easy to break habits of gridlock that, frankly, are the province not just of the other party, which says no a lot of the time, but of the cumbersome procedures which grip Washington. But we have been working on it. The world trade agreement, GATT, hung around for 7 years. We are going to ratify it this year. The family leave law hung around for 7 years and got vetoed twice . The Brady bill took 7 years, but it passed. The assault weapons ban to give you an idea of how difficult change is, we had for the assault weapons ban, all the living former Presidents, every police organization in the United States of America, and this President working as hard as he could, and we beat the NRA by two votes. But we are doing it. We are breaking gridlock. We are making changes. It is affecting people's lives in ways that are profound and important. And a lot of it involves not just the Government doing something for somebody but empowering people to do something for themselves. Governor Cuomo's son, Andrew, now a leader and Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, has been a leader in empowering people, starting with the homeless to the people in public housing, to live safe, constructive lives. We are trying to change the rules. No more Government handouts but Government handups, real partnerships, real community building, really trying to help people take control of their own lives. These things matter to real people. And the American people are beginning to sense this. And the more they sense it, the more we will be able to cut through the fog and let the clear sky show and the more we will be able to run on what we have done for the American people to help them help themselves. It is going to make a real difference in the life of this country. Americans have a well-known cynicism for Government. My senior Senator back home used to say that half the American people are convinced the Government would mess up a one-car parade. But you know something? We do some things pretty well. The Republicans talked about bringing down the deficit. We did it.

monologic

They talked about generating economic growth. We contributed to that. They talked about having less Government. You know, they always complained about that. But when our budgets are implemented, we will reduce over 5 years the National Government by a quarter of a million people, not by firing people but by attrition. We will use all the savings to pay for that crime bill to put another 100,000 police officers on the streets of New York and the other cities of this country. We will have the smallest Federal Government since John Kennedy was President. It will be producing more work, and the American people will be safer on their streets. That is the kind of thing that we ought to do. We can make Government work for ordinary people in ways that make sense and change lives. But let me say, everything I have tried to do to empower people to get the economy going, to make Government work for ordinary people again, all of those things are embodied in this struggle to provide health care to all Americans. People have been trying to do it for 60 years. Roosevelt wanted to do it; Truman wanted to do it. President Nixon President Nixon proposed requiring employers and employees to buy health insurance. President Carter tried to do it. We have worked for months and months and months. We worked for 9 months and involved thousands and thousands of people to put together a proposal. It will not be right for everybody. Surely, there is some things that can be improved about it. I went out and listened to the American people. They said, do a little more for small business and make sure you are going to protect small business, and make it a little less regulatory. And trust the American people to take more voluntary actions at work, but make sure you cover everybody. So we made some changes, and we did that. And there are now bills on the floor of the House and the Senate for the first time ever in the whole history of the Republic that would cover all Americans with health care. But the forces of opposition are very strong. We were talking at dinner how the great Italian political theorist, Machiavelli, said 500 years ago there was nothing so difficult in all of human affairs than to change the established order of things. Because the people that lose know it, and they fight you like crazy. And the people that are going to win are never quite sure you can deliver the goods. And so they are often not there in the trenches.

monologic

Today we had over 100 distinguished doctors and medical personnel from all over America, including many from New York City, representing the academic health centers of America. And a brilliant doctor stood up and said, you know, people say they wish to protect what is best about American health care and fix what is wrong, but they are afraid they will mess it up if they try to fix it. Unless we finally join the ranks of all other advanced countries and provide health care to everybody, we are not going to be able to afford to keep our finest medical centers going, training the finest doctors and nurses and medical professionals. He said they run ads against the President's program, saying that if you cover everybody you will ration health care. Tell that to the 39 million Americans that do not have any health care. I say that to make this point. breaking gridlock, defeating special interests, arguing for a future, and asking people to work toward that future and making Government work for ordinary people, not to give them anything but to permit them to access a system that will enable people to take care of themselves and their families. I spend a lot of time talking to laboring groups of people, saying, I am trying to make change your friend and not your enemy; support my trade policies. Yes, it'll change the economy more and you will have to change jobs more often, but we will be more prosperous and we will provide lifetime training policies for you. And here are all these things I am trying to do to change our education and training policies to make change your friend. But I just want to tell you folks, I met two kids today when I came to New York. Whenever I go to a city, I try to let the Make-A-Wish Foundation or some other group bring some children to see me who are sick and who have health problems. And one of these children had a condition that may be fatal, but it is been in remission for a couple years 12-year-old boy, just graduated at the top of his class in elementary school here in New York City. He may have a good, long, healthy life, but I am telling you, if his parents lost their jobs, what would he do for health care? And if they tried to get another job, could they get health coverage for a child like that?

monologic

I met a 17-year-old boy Mayor Dinkins, you can be proud of this who was wheelchair-bound, has been all his life, has a severe muscular disorder from childhood very bright young man, computer expert, wanted to write me on the White House E-mail, and I told him I was too dumb to use it, but I'd read it if he sent it. And he gave me a letter he prepared about obstacles for handicapped children and what his life was going to be like. And he said, You know, this wheelchair of mine cost, I think he said, $15,000. And he said his parents were immigrants, both of them were immigrants. And he said, Because my mother works for the city of New York, our family has been able to maintain a middle class lifestyle because our health policy pays for 80 percent of my bills. But it is been hard even for us. I had expensive surgery. I have this expensive wheelchair; I will have to replace it soon. But he said, So many of my young friends are almost destitute who are physically handicapped because of the conditions that exist. And if we were getting a good deal, the rest of us, that would be fine, but your country's spending 40 percent more on health care than any other country in the world. And it is only because we have refused to discipline ourselves to provide health care to everybody, like all our competitors do, that these stories are out there. We have to fight those who say we cannot do it. We can turn this economy around. If we can bring this deficit down, when nobody thought we could do it, if we can break gridlock, we can do this too. I ran for this job because I wanted to do what I could with the power vested by the framers of our Constitution in the Presidency to change the lives of ordinary Americans for the better. And anything, anything that diverts, divides, distracts, or destroys the spirit and the purpose of the American people, when we have so much on our plate here at home and around the world, is not good. And anything that unifies and makes us believe in ourselves and makes us better and gives our children a chance to have a better future is good. That is what we represent.

monologic

Woodrow Wilson once said that the Office of President requires the constitution of an athlete, the patience of a mother, and the endurance of an early Christian. Personally, I think he may have overstated the requirements of the Presidency. But from very long and close observation of 34 years, it seems to me that President Wilson may have been describing the requirements for congressional page. So, whether your experience on the Hill has been long or brief, each of you in this page class this morning has been through a very rigorous and a very demanding test. And I want you to know--each of you to know--that I am extremely proud of you. From this point on you will turn upward along many different paths. All of you are exceptional young men with exceptional training. I am sure that in your choices of professions or other pursuits many of you will achieve exceptional success. Whatever your pursuit, however, I hope that the experience you have had at the heart of our representative democratic system will always be a part of your life. Even if you do not choose a career of public service, I hope as private citizens you will live your lives with a high and an active sense of public duty and responsibility. This is a time of change in America. All of us are awakening to the fact that America today is far different from the land into which my generation or your generation was born. The answers, the attitudes, and the approaches of 30 years ago, or 20 years ago, or even 5 years ago, are not now adequate to meet the new obligations or the new opportunities of the 1960's. As one who shares with you a very abiding respect and affection for the Congress, I am especially gratified and pleased by the response that Congress itself has made last year and this year toward meeting the change of our changing times. Congress has done much to silence the critics and the cynics who have belabored it and who have attempted to downgrade it. You can all be proud that you served during a season when the Congress of the United States was strengthened and revitalized as a functioning, responsive, and conscientiously responsible branch of our system of government. And I am pleased that at their own direction they are now engaging in a considerable amount of introspection and study on how they can make the Congress stronger and better and more effective. As this is a changing land, so America stands as a part of the changing world.

monologic

There are some who would have mankind believe that the only choices of these times are choices between political philosophies. In a real sense, the choice facing men in every nation today, old or young, large and small, is a choice between moving into the modern world with all of its unlimited potential or turning back toward the restrictive world that is dominated by the dogma and the doctrine of the 19th century. So, in your lifetimes, and in the lifetimes of a majority of the nations on earth, the total of human knowledge has doubled twice. The growth of human knowledge has made obsolete many of the causes of friction and contention and division among nations. Certainly the advance of human knowledge has made war itself obsolete and impossible as a means of resolving differences between large or small nations. Above all, the growth of human knowledge has rendered obsolete and archaic the doctrine on which the dogma of communism was constructed. Man today has in his capacity the potential of ending human misery or ending human life. We can really, for the first time, see the promise and the prospect of eliminating hunger and poverty, illness, bias, and prejudice in our own land and, we would hope, all around the world. So, this is the work that we want to do. And this is the work which your generation will do. And that is why I have said over, and over, and over again that we of the United States invite all peoples--East and West--to pull back their curtains, and to tear down their walls, and to come out of the darkness of dogma and walk all together in the bright light of human knowledge and human freedom toward the peace that mankind must make together, and must keep together, on this earth. I have seen many classes of Capitol pages graduate throughout the years. I would say that the class of which you are members faces the brightest and the most thrilling and the most hopeful prospects of any. For never before have young men like yourselves had so sure and so strong a prospect of being a part of the constructive building of a sane and a sensible and a rational world. Whatever profession you choose as your own, I hope you will never forget that the ultimate success of our system rests upon the contributions that every citizen makes to public service. What did I do today to make my country better, to make it stronger, to make my Government more efficient and more useful?

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And whether as the elected or the elector you will have a great opportunity to be leaders of your times in fostering the responsible and the responsive politics that is needed at every level--local and State, as well as national and international ? You have been privileged to know some of the great leaders of these times in the legislative halls. And I hope that when your time comes you will keep faith by being leaders then in the cause of peace and freedom for the world, and for progress for all of humankind. I went to sleep last night after reading a letter from a mother who was the mother of only one child, and that boy was now 20 years of age. And she had just gotten a letter from him and he said in 20 days he would be on his way to Viet-Nam. And she said, Mr. , I hesitate to take your time to write this letter, but I did not want to see my boy go away unless and until I could have your assurance that our Government and our country needs that boy and needs him where he is going. He had lost his father. It was a difficult letter to dictate an answer to, but I had to write it this morning. And I told her that our liberty and our freedom was so precious, and liberty and freedom was in danger. And we had to call upon those who were capable and equipped to help us protect it. And all of us in our own way were doing the very best we could to preserve freedom, and that I did think it was necessary. The mother had said in her letter that if t felt that, that she would not , under any circumstances, object, although she did have to admit that while she did not want him out of the service, and she did not want him not to face up to his duty, she had to admit that she did not look with any favor to his going to that place at this time. So, those of you who in a short time will be in the service of your country in one capacity or another, know how blessed you are to live in a system that was inherited by you as the result of the sacrifice of many thousands of young men like yourselves. I believe that as you leave your present work that you will have gained from the halls of the Congress a sense of duty and a sense of responsibility that will always make the job of serving your country a pleasant one for you.

monologic

I first apologize for the fact that we have kept you waiting. But as we came through the city the crowds were so large that we were unable to keep on our schedule. that the people of Berlin are free and that despite a wall this is one city and one people and one nation. I saw many signs as we came through the streets of the city some were in English, most were in German. The ones in German, of course, I could not understand. But there was one sign that was a combination that made me feel very much at home. I first came to this city 22 years ago. At that time most of those that I see here, or many of those, were not yet born. And to many who came here then, Berlin seemed to be a city without hope and without a future. But the pessimists at that period, over 20 years ago, did not know the people of Berlin. And it is you who have done it. It is you who have rebuilt this great city; it is you who have stood the shock of crises; it is you who have kept the faith in yourselves and in your allies. Berlin may look lonely on the map -but it is a vital part of the world that believes in the capacity of man to govern himself with responsibility and to shape his destiny in dignity. If this is an age of symbols, one of the great symbols of the age is this city. And what you do here is done for free men everywhere throughout the world. You stand for a cause much bigger than yourselves and this is the greatest destiny that a man or a woman can have. Because your will to remain free strengthens the will to freedom of all men; your courage in the face of deliberate and constant challenge fortifies the courage of all those who love liberty. The presence of an American President in Berlin, following a recent visit by a British Prime Minister, is another kind of symbol. It is a way of demonstrating unmistakably our long-standing commitment to the people of West Berlin. No unilateral move, no illegal act, no form of pressure from any source will shake the resolve of the Western nations to defend their rightful status as protectors of the people of free Berlin. All the world admires bravery. Bravery in a crisis is expected of those who love freedom; what is much more difficult, much more rare, is bravery day-by-day the steady fortitude that resists remorseless pressure and refuses to permit the slow erosion of liberties.

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That is the remarkable bravery of the Berliner, and it stands as a shining example to people everywhere throughout the world. The partnership between our two peoples was forged back in the dark days of the blockade when men like Lucius Clay and Ernst Reuter1 personified our determination to survive as free men. It is appropriate, 20 years after the end of that blockade, that we pay tribute to all who suffered for the ideal of freedom in those days of physical privation and spiritual triumph. As I viewed the progress of this vital city today, I knew that that sacrifice was not in vain. You have justified the support and the commitment of your friends and, as a result, no city in the world has more friends, or more devoted friends, than has the city of Berlin. The American responsibility here is derived from the most solemn international agreements. But what we have gone through together in those 24 years has given those agreements a special meaning. Berlin must remain free. I do not say this in any spirit of bravado or belligerence. I am simply stating an irrevocable fact of international life. Our commitment to the freedom of Berlin has never been more steady, never more firm than it is today. that Berlin shall be free and that Berlin shall live. For its part, Berlin has remained steadfast. No one should doubt the determination of the United States to live up to its obligations. The question before the world is not whether we shall rise to the challenge of defending Berlin we have already demonstrated that we shall. The question now is how best to end the challenge and clear the way for a peaceful solution to the problem of a divided Germany. When we say that we reject any unilateral alteration of the status quo in Berlin, we do not mean that we consider the status quo to be satisfactory. Nobody benefits from a stalemate, least of all the people of Berlin. Let us set behind us the stereotype of Berlin as a provocation. Let us, all of us, view the situation in Berlin as an invocation, a call to end the tension of the past age here and everywhere. Without haste, but without rest. That is how, step by step, we shall strive together to construct a durable peace. There were times in the past when Berlin had to stand its ground in defiance of powerful forces that threatened to overwhelm it. Your determination in those times of danger demonstrated beyond the shadow of a doubt that threats and coercion could never succeed.

monologic

I am indeed proud to join that company of men which has been awarded this medal during these years since Mr. Hoover first accepted it. And that reminds me that 30 years is just too long a time to elapse between Republican Presidents. And that is a sentiment which I think Mr. Hoover would share. Ladies and gentlemen, as I listened to the statistics with which I was overwhelmed by General--and we called him Slam Marshall--I had the feeling it was a rather good thing he did not know all those figures, and give them to me somewhere along about December of 1944. I would have been so impressed that I think my mind would have been taken off the war. And certainly it is enlightening, even at this late date, to find out exactly what such devoted and professionally competent people achieved. And indeed it was the confidence of military men that our technical and professional people could do this. That was at the bottom of the plan that came later to be known as Operation Overlord. This plan came finally to a preliminary state of completion in about April of 1942. It was placed before General Marshall and all of the possibilities were explained to him, and he approved and later got the approval, of course, of the President and the British counterparts. But they also had the great faith that the American engineering profession could provide us the equipment and the materiel that would be needed, finally, for victory. There are one or two incidents that General Marshall did not mention. I am not going to go too deeply into statistics, but there is a story--a true one--that I thought always was interesting. The American engineers equipped with the kind of mechanisms such as he mentioned , went over to Malta; and there was a British air officer, General Park, a very competent and gallant man, who knew that the Americans needed a new fighter field fight close by. The only spot that was possible to use was an island and I think it was named Gozo, but if I am wrong General Gruenther will tell me after we leave this meeting. But anyway it was nothing but a mountain. And the British having long ago given up with their hand tools on building this field, said to the engineer colonel visiting for the evening, How long would it take you to get this field ready? And the British thought, at least, that anything under a year, if you could do it at all, would be all right. And this man took a look and said, Oh, 12 to 14 days.

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And the British officer was so astonished, and really so insulted in a sense, he said, When can you start? .... Well, he said, let us see what headquarters will give me. And he cabled back to Africa--he was over in Sicily--and it happened that all this equipment was in a harbor in Philippeville and ready to go, so it went right over. From the time the equipment reached there, 13 days later, our first fighter flew on and off the field. And General Park made a special flight to me and said, I take back everything about American bragging; it is all true. And then, many months later, we were about to go across the Rhine, and we made finally, down near Wesel, what we called a power crossing. It was way down toward the mouth--it was flooded rivers and it looked pretty bad--all the bridges of course were blown, as the general said. But we wanted a railroad bridge just to the north of the river, and so the supply people, showing their confidence in themselves, invited me-and I think it was 12 days later--to ride on the first train that was to go across the Rhine on their bridge. They had not yet gotten all the piles and equipment on the side. Well, the amazing thing is that 11 days I went up and they were ready to go, and I did not have time to stay, but they cut off a piece of rail and gave it to me as a trinket to show that they had done it. That was another of those great accomplishments that people called impossible and therefore took a little time to do. But finally there was one little incident that impressed me almost more than any other. We had in Normandy what is called the bocage country, and it is a country that is very closely bounded and broken up with hedges, fields the size of this room are not uncommon, and these hedges are so old that they have banks of earth formed up around them. And so you have these big hedges--enormous--sometimes 20 feet high--15 feet and that kind, growing out of these big banks of earth. Every time our tanks would try to go across, of course, they would belly up, and even a machine gun would go through them, and we were losing tanks and pretty helpless. His name was Culin, and he had an idea.

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And his idea was that we could fasten knives, great big steel knives in front of these tanks, and as they came along they would cut off these banks right at the ground level--they would go through on the level keel--would carry with themselves a little bit of camouflage for awhile. And this idea was brought to the captain, to the major and to the colonel, and it got high enough that somebody did something about it-and that was General Bradley--and he did it very quickly. Because this seemed like a crazy idea, they did not even go to the engineers very fast, because they were afraid of the technical advice, but then someone did have a big question, Where are you going to get the steel for all this thing? Well now, happily, the Germans tried to keep us from going on the beaches with great steel chevaux de frise --big crosses, they were all big bars of steel down on the beach where the Germans left it. And he got it--got these things sharpened up--and it worked fine. The biggest and happiest group I suppose in all the Allied Armies that night were those that knew that this thing worked. Now Sergeant Culin later had a leg shot off, but he is still strong and healthy--in New York the last time I saw him--a salesman. And he is one of those humble Americans who had an idea, who had the courage to bring it up to someone who could do something about it. And unquestionably he saved--the idea, properly implemented, of course, by technical and professional men--saved thousands of lives. So that I submit that sometimes your engineering profession can profit by a little bit of lay imagination and wit. By no means, my friends, did I mean to supplement General Marshall's history with these little accounts, but I could not help having my mind jumping around to the theatre of those years, and exciting years. I cannot tell you how proud I am for the award I have been given, how complimented I am by General' Marshall's brilliant remarks this evening, and how happy indeed that I have met so many of you this evening. see you again one day, when I am not quite so busy as today.

monologic

I am very proud and very delighted to be here on this particular occasion. I was saying, for the one real Westerner up here at the head table, he sure is duded up. You know, I was very worried--and we were just talking about it--we were worried, Did they really mean that? So you can imagine my relief when I met Pete out there at the airport and saw, yep, they did, because I had a picture of myself standing up here this way in front of a bunch of people dressed like the lawyer from the East. But I can only tell you, after a year and a half in Washington, somebody says casual western to me, that is what they are going to get. The Senate has been called the most exclusive club in the world. The hundred men and women there represent the 50 States. And you know, sometimes we forget or sometimes we are young enough that we just did not know or were not aware that that is exactly what the Senators do represent-that not too many years ago it was changed to popular election?and that Senators were actually chosen by State governments. They are there to represent the interests in this federation of sovereign States of their particular sovereign State as well as the national interests of the federation. In about 10 weeks, Californians are going to choose which of two men is best able to represent the State. One of them has held the highest elective office in this State, that of Governor. He took office 8 years ago, in the middle of the fiscal year, with a $500 million surplus in the State cash box. Previous to that, the State of California had returned the last surplus before that $500 million-we could not return it because the administration had to leave in the middle of the fiscal year?but the one previous to that we turned back $850 million in the form of a rebate. And I have often thought nothing ever delineated so clearly the difference between the two parties as the statement of a Senator in the opposing party who stormed into my office one day when we were giving back that $850 million and said he considered that giving that money back was a misuse of public funds. Well, the new Governor did not give back the $500 million. And now he seeks to move on to greener fields, leaving the State a few million dollars in the hole, which is against the constitution of the State of California.

monologic

And it is a little frightening when you stop to think that if he were in Washington, he would not be dealing in millions, he'd be dealing in billions. Now, as an alternative, we can choose a man who was a part of the California State Legislature when California was climbing out of that fiscal swamp, turning back to the people surpluses every time we got one as rebates to the people. He then became mayor of one of our great cities. And that city is recognized nationwide as one of the best run communities in the United States. Will we make our choice based on campaign slogans or spot ads? Or will we, the people of California, do as Al Smith admonished once and look at the record? Is there any relationship between what the Governor says he will do and what the Governor has done? I understand, though, that a Senator from Massachusetts is going to come out here and campaign in his behalf. That same Senator from Massachusetts came out and campaigned for a relative of the present Governor 16 years ago when I was running. And he made a great point up and down the State that the people should watch out, because I had never held public office before. Well, you know, he had never held public office before he became a Senator. As a matter of fact, he'd never held a job. But let me try and tell you how important it is that we hold this slim lead that we have, that slim majority in the United States Senate. It is the first time that we have had a majority in one of the Houses of Congress in decades. And without that, we could not achieve what has been achieved in the last year and a half. Well, I think one of the most historic changes in government?a 180-degree turn from the historic pattern over the last decades of tax and tax and spend and spend, and do not worry about the public debt, we owe it to ourselves. When we took office, it was at the end of 2, years of double-digit inflation?12.4 percent was the rate when we arrived; the interest rate, 21 1/2 percent, prime rate. The rate of increase in government spending had touched 18 percent, and 2, million workers, in that last campaign year of 1980, had lost their jobs. We were not quite to the middle of the fiscal year when we took office so the '81 budget was in place, and there was not much we could do about that.

monologic

But we had to proceed immediately with the fiscal budget for '82, which would go into effect on October of 1981. That budget was you know, under the pattern in Washington budgets are proposed for a few years in advance. The unemployment kept on increasing, the recession of 1980 became the recession of 1981. But I remember campaigning in which I stood in communities and areas in which the unemployment rate at that time had reached as high as 20 percent, and I called it a depression. And I was immediately corrected by the incumbent, who said it was a recession. I do not know whether you will recall, but I told him that a recession was when your neighbor lost his job; a depression was when you'd lost yours-- --and relief would be when he lost his. But we proposed an economic recovery program almost the instant that we were there, and it was a long and hard struggle, if you will remember. And then just about this time of year a year ago, we passed and I signed here in California our economic recovery program which reduced proposed government spending over the next 3 years by $130 billion and contained also the greatest tax cut?single tax cut in the history of the United States. Now, the program did not go into effect until October of last year, but by September the critics were already calling it a failure. It had not started yet, so to make it easier to identify they renamed it Reaganomics. Now, I do not think they were trying to honor me? ?with that, but if they were, I just want them to know that I had already received a distinguished honor that they could in no way equal. In the tiny village of Ballyporeen in County Tipperary in Ireland, where my great-grandfather left from to come to America, they have named a pub after me. You see, if you are for free enterprise, the word gets around. It continues to be phased in over a 3-year period. The second part of that, the second phase was the tax cut that you all received on the first of July. The 12.4-percent inflation rate has been running at less than 6 percent for the last 6 months. And after a decade of decline, after a time when incomes went up some 120-odd percent but the actual real earnings of the American people kept going down and the standard of living kept going down, personal income for July -- that single month, up 1 percent.

monologic

And if you wanted to annualize that instead of keep on doing that every month, that is a 12-percent increase. Disposable personal income after payment of income tax went up 2.1 percent in July. The savings rate?and in this country of ours, for the last several years personal savings, the very essential to having a capital pool for investment that industry can borrow from -- that savings has been less than that of our counterparts in the other industrial nations in the world. But in June, before the tax cut, it had gone up to 7.3 percent. It had been 6.9 percent in May. It has been steadily down for the months and a long time before, as I have said. You do not get the figures as early on that one, so we will wait a few weeks before we know what it is for July. Housing starts were up 34 percent in July. The permits for new housing were up 174,000 over June. Ninety-day Treasury notes upon which we were paying 15 1/2-percent interest?the government was paying just a couple of weeks ago--are now down to less than 8 percent. Fraud and waste--and we have a task force that is been in that and reporting to me every 6 months, and the last report on their 6 months they had saved $5.8 billion for us?thousand of audits, thousands of indictments, and hundreds and hundreds of convictions. And last year's tax cut, which as I say was to be phased in over a 3-year period, is still the largest tax cut in history in spite of what happened last week, because over the 3 years, the coming 3 years, even with the bill that has just been passed, the American people will get a tax cut in these 3 years of $335 billion. And accompanying that will be spending outlay reductions of $280 billion. federalism. There is a program that we have been working with Governors-well, some Governors.

monologic

We have been working with mayors, we have been working with city council members, county officials, State legislatures, to work out a return to the tenth amendment; to give back to the States and the cities and the counties of this country the programs, the powers, the authority that were unjustly seized by the Federal Government in denial of the tenth amendment of the Constitution; to put government, as much as possible, those functions that are proper, back in those levels of government that are closest to the people. Now, who would you like to have in California helping administer that switch back to that kind of federalism? Someone whose first great battle of history-making proportions was against the medfly? Or someone who has served in the State legislature for years, someone who has now served as the mayor of one of our major cities for years, who knows the local problems and knows what the Federal Government should do if we are to have the kind of honest government, efficient government that we should have for all of us throughout the Nation? If ever there was a watchword that was appropriate, it is in this election. And that is, with Pete Wilson's opponent, with regard to him, that we should say, Pay attention to what he does, not what he says. Let me just give you a little example. It was not too long ago that he stepped up to the 155-millimeter microphones and fired a salvo at Jim Watt. And it was all about--he single-handedly, the Governor of California, was going to protect the coastline of California from the threat of oil. And this summer alone, the present Governor of California has approved drilling permits for 20 more wells on the very edge of the Santa Barbara sanctuary. Well, when we were in Sacramento, as Pete knows, we'd laid out some of the great scenic areas of California and drew lines out to the 3-mile limit and said, No matter what, there will be no drilling inside these beautiful scenic areas. And a Republican administration in Washington continued the line on out beyond the 3-mile limit and said, We will observe your sanctuaries. They may not be in the sanctuary, but you can throw a rock from any one of them into the sanctuary from where they are going to be drilled. So, as I say, he talked a great war; he has not exactly been fighting that war. This?I cannot tell you?and This is the first time I have ever been a before-dinner speaker.

monologic

But nothing of what we have achieved, nothing of what we have accomplished could have been done if we did not, for one of these rare moments in history, have that majority in the United States Senate. I'd like to have a majority in the other House, but in off-year elections history says that you do not usually gain in that off-year election. But I can tell you this. The Senator who is coming out to campaign for Pete's opponent is a member of a very exclusive little group of a half a dozen Senators who have set an all-time record in the history of the Senate for spending; in fact, more spending than any other Senators that have ever been there. We know some of the things advocated by Pete's opponent and what he would stand for. I have not touched on another area, but one of which I am very proud. When we took office, the supposed voluntary military was a failure. People were talking that we could not exist or have a good defense without the draft. Now, even though we have a registration?and I am convinced that that is worth keeping?I am opposed to a peacetime draft and I am even more so now, because we do not need it. We found that half our airplanes could not fly on any given day for lack of spare parts. We found that on any given day there were Navy vessels that could not leave port either because they did not have enough crew or they did not have enough parts. And we set out to do something about that. Now, we have been accused of spending too much on military and cutting social reform programs too much, and I know which side Pete's opponent would come down on on that, and I know where Pete would come down from his experience as a legislator. I think it should be recognized that when John F. Kennedy was President, only 27 percent of his budget went for the social reforms to help the needy and the helpless in this country, and 46 percent went for defense. In our budget for 1983, about 53 percent of our budget is going for the needy and the helpless, and only 29 percent is going for defense. And yet, the morale, the esprit de corps, the reenlistments of men in the service?men and women in the service today, the level, the educational level of the people going into the service making it a career, is something we have not seen in a great many years.

monologic

And I just have to tell you one of my favorite little stories about that. Our Ambassador to Luxembourg wrote me a letter, and he said that he had been up on the East German border, visiting the Second Armored Cavalry Regiment. And he told me how great they looked. And then he said that one of these fellows, a 19-yearold trooper, followed him over to his helicopter and asked him if he could get a message to me. And the kid said, Well, will you tell the President that we are proud to be here, and we ain't scared o' nothin'. I just thought you'd like to know about the attitude of those who are guarding our shores, because they are the real freedom fighters. It is by doing their job and doing it right that they can be a deterrent to war. And you have never gone into a war because you were too strong; you go into them when the other fellow thinks you are not strong. So, you have, really, a clear-cut choice here. The more strength we have in the Senate, the more we can gain allies over there in the House. You send Pete Wilson. San Diego will find a way to get along without him. You send Pete Wilson to Washington. And just?if you cannot send him, do not send anybody. And, as I say, I know I am preaching to the choir, because you would not be here if you did not -- --feel that way. But God bless you all. And we are going to keep it up in Washington. And we are going to keep the country turned around on this new course until we have reduced the percentage of gross national product that is being taken by the Government and being spent by the Government until once again Government is back spending within its means. And then my dream is that day we make the first payment, I do not care what size it is, on the national debt to prove to our kids that we are not going to dump it all on them. Let me just say, deep, if you will, in your hearts?! said, I think, the last time I was out here and, maybe, to many of you, I do not know all the national anthems in the world, but I do know this. I do not know of any other that ends with a question. Does that star spangled banner yet wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

monologic

You have done me a very great honor. Perhaps you can imagine what a feeling it is for a citizen of one of the newest of the great nations to be made a citizen of this ancient city. It is a distinction which I am sure you are conferring upon me as the representative of the great people for whom I speak. One who has been a student of history can not accept an honor of this sort without having his memory run back to the extraordinary series of events which have centered in this place. But as I have thought to-day, I have been impressed by the contrast between the temporary and the permanent things. Many political changes have centered about Rome, from the time when from a little city she grew to be the mistress of an empire, and change after change has swept away many things, altering the very form of her affairs, but the thing that has remained permanent has been the spirit of Rome and of the Italian people. That spirit seems to have caught with each age the characteristic purpose of the age. This imperial people now gladly represents the freedom of nations. This people which at one time seemed to conceive the purpose of governing the world now takes part in the liberal enterprise of offering the world its own government. I have been reflecting in these recent days about a colossal blunder that has just been made-the blunder of force by the Central Empires. If Germany had waited a single generation, she would have had a commercial empire of the world. She was not willing to conquer by skill, by enterprise, by commercial success. She must needs attempt to conquer by arms, and the world will always acclaim the fact that it is impossible to conquer it by arms; that the only thing that conquers it is the sort of service which can be rendered in trade, in intercourse, in friendship, and that there is no conquering power which can suppress the freedom of the human spirit. I have rejoiced personally in the partnership of the Italian and the American people, because it was a new partnership in an old enterprise, an enterprise predestined to succeed wherever it is undertaken-the enterprise that has always borne that handsome name which we call Liberty. Men have pursued it sometimes like a mirage that seemed to elude them, that seemed to run before them as they advanced, but never have they flagged in their purpose to achieve it, and I believe that I am not deceived in supposing that in this age of ours they are nearer to it than they ever were before.

monologic

You got a lot of people standing outside trying to get in. Would anybody like to give up their slot? I want to just pay my respects. CPAC is really, what a job they have done, and I am thrilled to be back in the heart of Texas with the proud conservative patriots, who are courageously leading the battle to frankly save our country. That is what it is about. For a year before election, the fake news media said Texas was in play. It is in play. You know what in play means? And they were right, except it was totally in play for me. No, it was in play for me. They said, The polls have closed in Texas. ENTITY has won Texas. But how long did we listen to it? It was in play. it will never be in play if we have the right candidate. This state is never going to be in play. this is a very, very special place, and we are going to keep it the way it is, and we are going to bring back your energy. I told you this was going to happen. I told you. Actually, Texas believed us. With the help of everyone here today, we will defeat the radical left, the socialists, Marxists, and the critical race theorists. Whoever thought would be even using that term. We will secure our borders. We will stop left wing cancel culture. We will restore free speech and fair elections, and we will make America great again. From the very beginning, the people in this room have been some of the staunchest and fiercest supporters of our incredible movement, the greatest political movement in the history of our country. And I can say that, and nobody ever even challenges me. They do not challenge us. I want to personally thank each and every one of you for your incredible support, and your support of CPAC. You never stopped fighting for me, and I will never, ever stop fighting for you. I especially want to thank two wonderful and really extraordinary people who make this incredible event possible. You know them almost as well as I do. You have taken it to a whole new level. I appreciate it. Everybody appreciates it. Also with us is a true Texas conservative, and a real leader. He is fast on the draw. We love Ken. He is going back home to mom. His mom is a big supporter of ours, by the way. He is going to have a rough night.

monologic

We are grateful to be joined as well by a wonderful, wonderful, not only political person, but a wonderful person, Governor Kristi Noem. And we have many, many members of Congress here. Could I ask our great Congress men and women to stand up please, right now? And countless other conservative leaders and politicians and people that we love and we respect, and we are fighting with and we are fighting for. For generations, the American conservative union has helped lead the charge to defend our values, protect our country, and preserve our glorious American heritage. You see they are taking our heritage away. But today that heritage is under threat like never before. He is mild by comparison. In a matter of mere months, Joe Biden has brought our country to the brink of ruin. Right here in Texas we are the epicenter of a border and migration crisis unlike anything anyone has ever seen before in the history of our country. At the same time, they have totally obliterated your energy industry. I told you. Under my administration, we achieved a historic reduction in illegal immigration. We ended the horrible catch and release, where we catch a criminal and release him into our country. We actually said, Nope, it is called stay in Mexico. And it worked very well, and we had the support of Mexico. Who else could do that? And you have a great president of Mexico, a friend of mine. He is done a great job. We are on opposite sides of the spectrum, but we got along great, and he is been terrific, and I appreciate it. We stopped asylum fraud, and we struck critical agreements with other countries to stop illegal immigration. We called it, in fact, remain in Mexico. Get released, and you never see these people again. They say, Come back in three years for a court case. We reduced drugs pouring across our border by the highest percentage ever. We shut down the migrant caravans. You have not seen those caravans. In those caravans, you have some deadly people. We dealt a crippling blow to MS-13. We deported criminal aliens by the thousands and thousands and thousands, and we built almost 500 miles of border wall, the exact wall that the border patrol wanted. I thought we could use nice concrete plank. They said, Sir, we want steel, concrete, and rebar. So we can all the drones the Democrat Remember they wanted drones? I said, Drones are not going to stop people.

monologic

Do you remember the statement during the campaign? Everything's obsolete like two days after they come up with it nowadays. They got a better one. In a thousand years, you will say, Wheels and walls. She has a nice wall around her house. Now the Biden administration has turned the border into the single greatest disaster in American history, and perhaps in world history. Nobody's ever seen a border like this. Other countries do not have a border like this. Illegal border crossings are up over 1,000% from last year. For the last three months in a row, more illegal alien minors have arrived than any other month in United States states history. This is the major pipeline for MS-13. These are the worst gang members, they say, anywhere in the world. They bring recruits to every state in our country. they run it like a business. What a job he is done. Think of that, and they are being resettled in cities and towns all across the United States at tax payers' expense. And the people in those cities and towns have no idea that they are coming. The tax payers will also be forced to pay for relatives to be flown from Central America to join them. Did you ever hear of chain migration? You come in illegally, and we will also bring your mother, your father, your grandparents, your brothers, your sisters, your aunts, your uncles. We had on the West Side Highway. He was driving rapidly down the West Side Highway at a very excessive speed. A big group of people, and he decided to make a right turn, and he killed many, and he maimed many. People go out because they want to put themselves in shape, and they end up going back home missing a leg, missing a couple of arms, or dead. And he had the right to bring people in with him. And he had many that he brought in, but we took very good care of him. But this administration does not do that. Many of these children, for the first time ever, it is a terrible thing that is happening to them, are on suicide watch. They end up in a place that they have no idea where it is. Meanwhile, ICE removals are at the lowest level ever, and they are great people. All of America's now one giant sanctuary city. We were fighting sanctuary cities, and doing very well. They are meant for criminal aliens. That is what they are meant for.

monologic

Under our administration, we sent a very different message to the coyotes, human traffickers, child smugglers, vicious criminal cartels, and savage MS-13 gang members. When I was president, illegal alien criminals knew that if they trespassed across our border, they would be caught, they would be detained, and they would be sent to jail, or we would send them the hell back to where they came from. We created the most secure border in all of American history by far. Biden's border crisis is also helping drive an unprecedented crime wave, and you see the crime wave. Even without this you see all in Democrat run cities. The bloodshed and violence in these cities is reaching epidemic proportions. Homicides are up 42% in Los Angeles, 37% in Philadelphia, 68% in Atlanta, and over 500% in Portland over this time last year. What they did to Portland, and nothing happens to Antifa, and nothing happens to BLM. But to people that are patriots or conservatives or Republicans, they stay in jails for extended periods of time, and they destroy their lives. We are not going to take it anymore. In New York City, crime is out of control. It is at record levels with nobody being prosecuted except of course innocent Republicans are being prosecuted. The Democrats know their policies on crime are so unpopular, so radical, so crazy, they are now trying to pretend they never led the defund the police movement in the first place. We never said defund the police. You know who did it? The Republicans did it. That is what they do. ENTITY had to do with Russia. He loves Russia. He loves Putin. He loves everybody. After two years, they figured, gee. And after awhile, people actually believed this stuff. But now they are saying, Defund the police. We did not say it. You have to be wise to it. If you support defunding the police, vote for the radical left Democrats, and you see what is happening to the cities where they defunded the police. If you want more police and more cops on the streets, vote for America first Republicans or let us put it very simply, vote for MAGA. The same far left Democrats who are defunding police are also leading an all out crusade to strip you, the law abiding citizens of America, of your God given Second Amendment rights. I told you again. I told you. I told you.

monologic

And I preserved that right 100%, and you think that was easy? Republicans must never waiver in demanding that the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. But it is not only the Second Amendment that the leftists want to destroy. They are hard at work to abolish the First Amendment as well. Probably all amendments, when you get right down to it. The radical left and big tech's attack on free speech is unlawful. To protect the Constitutional rights and liberties of every citizen, this week I filed a major class action. Lot of people are joining. We are suing Facebook, Twitter, and Google. And to show you the arrogance, I was just talking to Mercedes, I guess. Matt, you announced that they are trying to take this incredible, I think much more than 50% of our country. Because there is no way they can be 50% with defund the police, sanctuary cities. And all of the crazy things that they espouse. But I heard they just filed where they want to take everybody down. It is like a spoiled child. I want that toy, dad. But I also want this one, this one, this one. We are taking Mark Zookerbucks, Jack Dorsey, and the other Silicon Valley billionaires to federal court, and we will keep on fighting until we have stopped this assault on our liberties and until we have restored the sacred right to freedom of speech for every single American. Could anybody believe we are even talking about this subject two years ago, three years ago? Who would have believed it? In addition to their malicious attacks on free speech, these Silicon Valley tyrants are also attacking our democracy itself. The big tech election interference in 2020 was an outrageous assault upon our Republic and upon the American voter. Terrible thing has happened to our country. We are being laughed at all over the world. Our election has been studied by other countries. They are not going to do it that way. Mark Zuckerberg alone spent $ 400 million dollars on election meddling. In virtually all of the key swing states, he funded unmanned and unprotected drop boxes that were deployed in Democrat run cities and heavily Democrat precincts to scoop up ballots which were supposedly 94, 95, 96% for Joe Biden, because he campaigned so well from his basement. How about where Biden did substantially better in the swing states than Barack Hussein Obama with the black population? Now, even though he did terribly throughout the country.

monologic

But in those five places, he did very well. You know about that, Louie, right? He did five places, he did very well. But they practiced that and countless other schemes to illegitimately and illegally boost the Democrat vote. I can tell you what happened. At the same time, the big tech giants worked together to suppress and diminish news coverage that was negative for Joe Biden. Look at all these stories that came up, and they were wiped out. Anything negative for Biden or the radical left Democrats, they just suppressed. The New York Post broke one of the biggest scandals ever to emerge in a presidential election, providing extraordinarily detailed evidence of the corruption of Joe Biden and where is Hunter Biden? He is painting right now for 500,00 a piece. His highest and best use, I can tell you, is in a studio to paint. He set a record for the highest price for a person that never painted a picture before. Then without any basis whatsoever, Twitter and Facebook banned the New York Post's account of this terrible story. After the election, one poll showed that at least 10% of Joe Biden's voters would have switched their vote if they had known about Joe and Hunter Biden's scandals, enough to flip the results of numerous states. But do not worry about it, because we won those states anyway. We won them all. They would have found the votes. They would have found those votes. If it was reported, they would have found the votes. Little more, they would have churned out some more ballots. The truth was covered up, and it had a giant impact on the election. This must never happen to another party's presidential candidate again. We are a laughing stock all over the world. And you know who knows it better than even the people in this room? They know it. Furthermore, these big tech companies interfered with and undermined the sacred integrity of the ballot box by censoring any honest discussion of election fraud. You say election fraud, you get canceled. The cancel culture, they are very tough on it. But the thing they really do not want is because we are too close to home. They could not help themselves. It does not go all the way, but it goes far enough and you see what they did. They want to stay away from talking about the election results. Every time the media references the election hoax, they say the fraud is unproven.

monologic

You saw what happened in Georgia the other day. They found 35,000 votes. Then they deleted in Georgia over 100,000 votes. Because they were so bad voters, I said, Why did not you try doing it before the election? Why did not you do it before the election? We always had the reputation of being a wonderful, brilliant country for voting, and now everyone knows. The governor of Georgia and Georgia secretary of state let us down. They let us down. And by the way, the voting law they passed is far weaker than that of Texas and other states. You hear that, Mr. Attorney General? They do not even have signature verification. Could you imagine passing a voting law? But they are getting a little good because everyone thinks, Oh, they are passing this no, it is not. And you notice they are the only state that is being sued by the federal government. Because it is an easy target, because the governor and the secretary of state will not defend like that guy will defend. So I only speak the truth. And the reason the Attorney General of the United States is going after Georgia is it is so bad what they have done, and they will probably win, and that defense will not take place. They go out and they really worked very hard on finding the right state to look at. Now Stacey Abrams in Georgia got them to sign what is called a mandated consent decree, which was not approved by the legislature, therefore it is illegal, and makes it very easy for Democrats to cheat and to win elections. You do not have too many of them in Texas, do you, Louie? He only beat 22 people. I said, Doc, how about if I take a cognitive test? He said, Well, you can do it, sir. Well, I said, What is wrong with that? He said, After the first five questions, it gets very hard. I said, Let us take a shot at it, and we did it and we aced it, right? I aced it. And one of the doctors said he is never seen anybody that aced it. And some of those questions are not easy. I will tell you that. How do you think Joe would do on a cognitive test? Unfortunately, this was an election where the person that counts the votes was far more important than the candidate, no matter how many votes that candidate got, and we got record numbers of votes.

monologic

It is a disgrace to our nation and we are truly being scorned and disrespected all over the world. Never forget that the radical left is not the majority in this country. And when you look at their policies, there is just no way that can happen. They fight against the military, always fighting budgets, military. We need strong military right now, so strong. And now we have those brand new F-35s and everything's brand new, and we have a great military, or it is coming soon and they will not be able to stop it. But the radical left cheat in elections and the fake news media cheats in polling, like having me down 17 points just before the election in Wisconsin. ENTITY ABC News, Washington Post, just before now when people hear that, it is called suppression, they say, We love the president, but we are going to stay home. Let us watch television, Harry. Harry's going to stay home with Janet. I am down 17 points, and I felt I was winning the state, and we did, in my opinion, win the safe, but it was very close. Even by their fake numbers, it was very close. And interestingly in 2016, the exact same thing happened. I was down 19 points and I won the state. They had 17 instead of 19. We got her by surprise in 2016. Americans do not support the woke left. The people are with us. You have no idea how much. In a recent, highly respected Rasmussen poll, 58% of voters say the media is truly the enemy of the people. Think of that, 58%, and only 23% disagreed. Nobody can tell me that defunding the police, open borders, raising your taxes it used to be, you are running for office, We are going to cut your taxes. This is the only time in history, We are going to raise your taxes. Oh, I am going to vote for him. I want to raise them. And they are raising your taxes so you can waste this money on the Green New Deal, which is nonsense. So they want to put back the regulations. I took off more regulations than any president in history. And that is what gave us really I actually think, Louie, it was more important than the taxes, than cutting taxes. But we took off the regulations.

monologic

Used to take 20 years to get highways approved and roads approved, and we got it down to two, and we are going to try and get it down to one. Well, we were going to get it down to one. It will get back up to about 18 or 20 pretty soon, and then we will bring it down one day. The Democrats are terrible on policy, but they are very vicious and they are smart and they stick together. They do not have Mitt Romneys and little Ben Sasses and Bill Cassidy. He campaigns in the great state of Louisiana. Every ad has ENTITY in it. ENTITY, ENTITY, ENTITY, ENTITY, and then he votes to impeach me. Can you believe it? But I always sort of felt that about that guy. But you have another very good senator there, John Kennedy. And Bill Cassidy cannot walk down the streets of Louisiana without having nasty things said to him, and they do not have anyone, the Democrats, like the warmonger and most quoted Republican in the history of our country by Democrats, Liz Cheney. Every time a Democrat gets up to make a speech you know this, fellows, right? You have to live with her, I guess. Democrats are ruthless, but they are united. They do not have these Romney types. They do not have them. It must be wonderful to live like that, but they have bad policy and they have policy that is going to destroy our country. Like socialists and communists movements throughout history, today's leftists do not believe in freedom, they do not believe in fairness, and they do not believe in democracy. They believe in Marxist morality. Anything is justified as long as it hurts their political opponents and advances the radical agenda of their party. Before our very eyes, the radical left Democrats are turning the law itself into a weapon for partisan persecution. It is really look at what they are doing to incredible people like Rudy Giuliani. I mean, he is an incredible greatest mayor in the history of the city of New York, great crime fighter. And at the same time, they are weaponizing the IRS against conservatives and Christians just like they did with the tea party, except worse. There are now two sets of laws in this country, one for the left wing mob, the rioters and the rampagers who can do whatever the hell they want to whomever they want to do it.

monologic

And there is another set of rules for law-abiding, conservative Americans, happen to be Republicans, who simply want to speak their minds and exercise their rights, like to talk about a rigged election. But Rudy Giuliani and I mean that. He is by far the greatest mayor of the city. And now you realize, it means more right now, Matt, that it would have meant five years ago when you say that, because you see what the hell is happening to our cities, New York in particular. But one of the great crime fighters of his generation has had his law license taken away by the radical left, all because he was fighting against an election result that he saw was corrupt. That means you can never, ever fight anything. Probably will not for a long time, but we are not letting it happen. Under the standard that has now been applied to Rudy, lawyers are no longer free to represent their clients and their livelihood itself depends on one thing only, whether or not they want to fight the corruption. And because he fought, they took away his law license in New York and in Washington, DC. This is a man I lived in New York. You could walk down the streets. You were proud of the city. You are not proud of the city anymore. While many Democrats fought viciously and got caught lying about the 2016 election they were lying nothing happened. You remember Russia? I see Devin here. When I came in, he was in the basement of an office building, the basement of the White House. He is going through files and files because he knew that what shifty Schiff was saying was pure bullshit. You got it. You understood it. And he and another great one I could give it to everybody here, frankly, as far as I am concerned, because they are great. And you have a star on your left. Devin always knows who to sit next to, but Devin received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, along with Jim Jordan of Ohio for the incredible courage they showed. But he got it a long time ago with, Russia, Russia, Russia. I tell this story, during the campaign guys would come up to me and we are doing well. Sir, do you know anything about Russia? What am I supposed to know? Russia, I know Russia. Sir, what do you have to do with Russia? Do you have anything to do with her?

monologic

Then after about four or five guys coming up, I'd say, What the hell is going on with Russia? And then we went through years with Mueller and there was no collusion. 18 angry Democrats, oh they went after us. They will send everything into New York. They will give it a shot now. 18, they have already done that. In fact, it is photocopies they used. They used photocopies of the same stuff I beat in Washington. If anyone should be losing their jobs, their law licenses, and being investigated for crimes, it is not Rudy Giuliani, it is Adam Schiff. He used to stand up at a microphone and he used to lie like hell. I'd say, This guy is He'd stand up, This is a sad day for our union. ENTITY works for Russia. I'd say, What the hell is he talking about? And I am the one that exposed Russia for the biggest thing they have ever done, the pipeline to Europe. I shut it down, and now Biden opened it up. They are going to make a fortune. All of the other perpetrators who have faced no consequences whatsoever, even though they knew it was a scam that they created. They created a scam. And I must be honest with you, I have never said this because I did not want to, but I will. I am very disappointed that Bill Barr was unable to hold anyone accountable for the countless abuses of power by the Democrats. We did not hold the corrupt officials who spied on our campaign remember I said, They are spying on our campaign. Not the authors of the phony dossier, they were not held responsible. Not the women who slandered and lied and defamed Brett Kavanaugh. They said, Brett Kavanaugh, he had an affair. They did not go after them. Not any of the illegal leakers, not any of the people that were responsible for corrupting our elections. He wanted nothing to do with it. He just did not want to do it. I always liked him. But I said, Bill, you got to move your ass. Our country is under attack. But he became a different man when the Democrats viciously stated that they wanted to impeach him. We want to impeach him. We are going to impeach Bill Barr. We are going to impeach him. I understand that. So I guess I can understand it.

monologic

But I just a day ago received a statement from the US attorney, highly respected, in Pennsylvania, that Bill Barr would not allow him to investigate voter fraud. Can you believe it? So I understand in the nation. But the US attorney was not allowed to investigate what this just came out in a letter. You do not even know about this, Devin, right? What do you think? We have a letter. You will have to get it from him because I want to stay out of it. Get it from the US attorney, but I am sure he will be willing to provide it, but he is given it to us. He was not allowed to do his job. And I saw that. He was all enthused, and then all of a sudden it was like he was turned off. This was true with so many others that when the justice department, they failed to call out the late night ballot stuffing that took place in Georgia. Where they made up a story of a water main break in order to get people and security to leave the premises, and then they went into a rampage of stuffing, essentially, the ballots. But now that event, because of me and some very good people, is in court. And Bill Barr told me, Sir, we have looked at it. We found nothing. All you have to do is look at that tape. I said to them, But what about the water main? Oh, I did not hear about that. Well, I heard about it. They said there was, and the people ran, except a group of people came back. All you have to do is look at the tape. It is incredible what tapes can show. The fact is, Republicans play a much nicer, kinder game than the Democrats, but based on what we have seen and what we are witnessing now with all of the prosecutorial and other misconduct going on, perhaps Republicans will have to rethink their game plan. Louie Gohmert would agree with that. Louie Gohmert, I have to be careful with him. Do not say I said it, but actually Louie Gohmert's worse than any Democrat, but we have to hold him back. We hold him back, Doc Ronny, right? What do you think of that, Louie? You just heard something for the first time. And by the way, where is Durham? Why did not they use the very well-done Horowitz Report?

monologic

Former ENTITY speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas. Even the New York Times wrote the most vicious editorial about James Comey based on the Horowitz report, which talked about the crimes and bad acts committed by Comey, McCabe and others. This is even before you go with Durham. I'd like to thank Inspector General Horowitz for that report. They did not want to use it. I do not know what the hell they are thinking. But if you cannot wait for Durham, just read a man named Daryl Cooper's brilliant thread on Twitter. He tells the whole story. You got to read it. As he put it, We know as fact the Steele dossier was the sole evidence just to justify spying on the ENTITY campaign. They spied on my campaign and nothing will happen to them. Can you imagine if I spied on Biden's campaign or Obama's campaign? They spied on my campaign, we caught them, and nothing happened. The FBI knew the Steele dossier was a DNC operation, paid for by DNC and crooked Hillary Clinton, who by the way, is the most angry person in the United States today. She said, Why the hell did not you do that for me in 2016? I got it. No, she said, Why did not you do it for me? The New York Times asked me a question, what happened in 2020 that was different from 2016? I said, Well, I will tell you. We did much better in 2020. We got 12 million more votes. We won by a much bigger margin. 2016 was very close, but Hillary said, Why did not you do that for me? Why did not you cheat for me, damn it? Steele's source told the FBI the info, was totally unserious, and they did not inform the court of any of this, and they kept on spying on the ENTITY campaign. In addition, the press is part of this crooked operation. You know that. Big tech censored the opposition. Political violence was legitimized and encouraged by the left. And then ENTITY, the President of the United States, was banned from the social media, as we call it, by sleazebags I was banned by sleazebags. I was banned by bad people. In other words, the entire system was rigged against the American people and rigged against a fair, decent, and honest election.

monologic

For decades, the conservative movement acted as if all that mattered were policy fights in Washington or that all it would take to prevail was winning a small handful of Supreme Court cases. And we are disappointed in the Supreme Court. I am disappointed, but the battle is so much bigger and so much broader than any of that. The radical left has been methodically taking over every giant centralized institution in American life. The school systems, you see that, the universities, the bar associations, look at what happened to Rudy Hollywood journalists, the big banks, big tech, and even the Supreme Court where we are getting some unexpected rulings because the nine justices do not want to be packed. And the Democrats are in a position to pack the court and they do not want to be packed. So they do not want to look at the election. They said, we do not want to see it. We had by that gentleman right there from the great state of Texas, we had almost 20 states. And we thought we had a case where the standing was so good. You know, I wanted to do it personally, but they said, Sir, you are the president. You have no standing. I said, What kind of a system? They said, The thing that has the standing are states. And if you could get one or two or three They got almost 20 and they were really strong about it. And you know, the justices never looked at the case. And many of the judges did not look at the case, but we do have cases going on right now where I think you have patriot judges. But if the justices got their way, they will not be packed. In other words, what happened is vicious things. Look at the Schumer statement that he said when he was on the court steps. So, he is no longer protected because he is not In Congress, if you are a guy like Adam Schiff, you can lie and lie and lie. You cannot do anything, you have immunity. But once you step out of that building, Schumer said horrible things. He said a mafia like statement to the judges. But they are playing the ref, you know, playing the ref? I love Bobby Knight. He came out from great state of Indiana. He came out, he endorsed me. It was over in Indiana, but Bobby Knight used to scream at the refs. And they'd say, Why are you doing that? I am not worried about this goal.

monologic

That is what is happening with our Supreme Court. We do not want to have 24 judges. You know, they said 13. I said, the Democrats are too smart for 13. Why would they have 13? And you know, if they would've looked at the case, we would have won that case in my opinion. And they would have never been packed because you would've had a beautiful veto sitting right in the oval office. I would have vetoed it because it is a terrible thing. But the Democrats are vicious to the Supreme Court and to Kavanaugh. Yeah, Bill Barr, they screamed, we are going to impeach him. We are going to impeach him. And it changes people. We are going to impeach him on women that admitted ultimately that nothing happened. They were not even in the country, one of them. But with Brett Kavanaugh, they are screaming, We are going to impeach him every time . And we are going to impeach him. How does he get out of that by voting for the Democrats? And he went through what no other person I have ever seen go through. That hearing was the most vicious, horrible hearing I think in the history of our country. I do not think there is ever been anything worse than that. In New York City and state, far left Democrats actually ran for office promising to prosecute me, my family, and my company, without knowing anything about me. I never even heard of these people. They did not know nothing about me. We are going to get him. We are going to get him. We are going to get ENTITY. A lot of people running, she won on the basis, We are going to get him. What did he do? I do not know, but we will find something. No, no, how would you like this? They are in search of a crime. To them, it did not matter whether any laws had been broken. The crime was opposing the radical left Democrat party. It is a political persecution, like something straight out of the communist countries that you see around the world. Yet, it is happening here in America at the hands of radical left Democrats. And the Republicans again, they just do not seem to understand at that top level, what the hell is happening. They do not do it the same way. And maybe they are going to have to change our job.

monologic

And our mission is to resist this poison and fight for our Republic, with all of our heart and with all of ourselves. For decades, the career politicians who sold out our country shipped away our millions and millions of jobs and sent our children to die in endless foreign wars These people sold out our country. As vice-president Joe Biden flew his son Hunter around the world on Air Force Two, sucking up money like a vacuum cleaner, Hunter's emails show that he collected millions and millions of dollars from foreign nations, including Ukraine. And Joe Biden said, they are not getting the billion dollars unless that prosecutor is out. Could you imagine if I said that? If I said that they impeached me and nothing happened. Can you imagine if I said, They are not getting their billionaire and voila, he was gone. I do not know what the hell he was thinking when he Did he know the tape was running when he did that? And they will destroy our country and they will do whatever they can to do it. Hunter said that he gave half of his salary to pop and that he paid vast amounts of money for Joe Biden's expenses. Now, Joe Biden has all these houses. He is always been like a Senator or a Congressman, right? Louie, I did not know you made that kind of money that you had mansions. You have mansions? Does Louie Gohmert have mansions all over Texas? He is got one house and that is enough. No, but Joe's got a lot of toothbrushes. Yet not a single member of our treacherous, corrupt political establishment has ever experienced anything like the deranged and demented persecution that has been directed at me, my family, and everyone associated with us, everybody. I came down the escalator with our great future first lady. She had a very successful career. Did really well until she met me and so much for that career. She gets it better than anybody. And she loves you people. She loves you, but that is when all of these witch hunts began. Make America Great Again. And now, it is also because I got more votes, 75 million, than anybody in the history of the presidency. Think of it, in the history, usually they go down a little bit second term and they win, but they go down a little bit. I was told by a great pollster, really somebody great, John McLaughlin, one of the most respected one.

monologic

Sir, you got 63 million votes. If you get it up to 64 or 65, nobody can beat you. I got it to 75 and I lost in quotes. And what they have done to this movement, I think they have made the movement stronger. I will tell you, in a certain way, I think that is. I will never forget it. On election night, we did so much better than they ever thought in their wildest imagination. That they just said, The hell with it. What they did, what they did. I am also leading in the polls against Harris. Because not a lot of people think that Joe's going to be running, but you never know. It is a strange world and everyone else who is going to run on the radical left, whether it is on the Democrat side or the I love my Republicans, but we are really kicking their ass too. But we love them. But we like it because they are friends of ours, right? I think we can say that affectionately. And they are working hard and you saw a lot of them this weekend. But the Democrats want me out and they want me out as fast as possible. And here I am, I could have a nice, beautiful life. And here I am on a Sunday in Texas. No, I said to Matt and Mercedes because I have done this and we have had And by the way, you have a poll coming out. You know, they do that straw poll, right? He will not tell me. I know Matt, he will not tell me. I will tell you, here is the story. If it is bad, it'll be front page news in the newspapers. If it is great, they will not even cover it. I hate to tell you that, Matt. And I do not want to convince him to do a bad Paul, but you know the straw poll. So, I did this years ago and I got these great straw polls. It was the first time I ever did it. And I was a novice, but it was right here at CPAC. And I am so proud of the jump. I mean, look at this room. We have thousands of people trying to come in. I mean our only thing is next time we will have to get a bigger place, I guess, right? But I said to Matt, and much more importantly, I said to Mercedes, I said, Give me Death Valley. The worst slot, we will fill it up.

monologic

He said, Well, sir, that would be Sunday afternoon because most people are doing other things. You do not have to give me Friday night or Saturday night, which is easy. We love doing it the hard way. I said, Give me any time you want on Sunday that is good. And look at this crowd we got. Nah, we will give Saturday night to Louie and to the doc. We are going to give Saturday night to Devin. They give me Sunday and I love Sunday. It reminds me of church and that is okay. I said, Give me your worst time. And he gives me the worst time. And he just broke his record. The radical left and the failed political establishment hates our movement for a simple reason because together we took on the corrupt special interests. We faced down the open borders that you are saying so much, how bad are these borders. They are coming out of the prisons, they are coming out of everywhere in these other countries. murderers, drug dealers, human traffickers of women. We stood up to the absurd dictates of political correctness. And we called out the people who were getting rich bleeding our country dry. And many of them were politicians. Against the howls and cries of the corporate interests and the Washington lobbyists, we demanded fair trade for the American workers and we did a great job on that. We finally ended the worst trade deal in the history of our country, NAFTA. I do not want to disrespect our past, but the people that negotiated that deal were either stupid or corrupt. They say both. We withdrew from the horrible Transpacific Partnership, would have destroyed your automobile business. We pulled out of the world health organization scam. I pulled out because they are like a pipe organ for China, right? they called me, would they want us back? So, the guy, just nice guy, he wants us back. Sir, we really want you back. We really want you back. I said, How much are we paying? How much is China paying? So let me ask you a question. We have 325 million people not including illegal aliens. Which who the hell knows. I do not think they have any idea what But we have 325 million people. China has 1.4 billion people. They are paying 39. We are paying 500. So let me ask you a question. Would you take us back if we paid 39?

monologic

I said, Okay, I am going to think about it. I could not even get back in for 39 because everybody including Doc Ronnie thought it was amazing that I pulled out because he understands it is a pipe organ for China and for others, but mostly for China. So I said, So, I would get back in for 39 million? I did not go back in even at 39 and otherwise I turned it down. And now because of the rigged election, we are out, he is in. He went back in for the same price that they were paying before. 450 million in terms of when you are dealing with billions and trillions and all of this, it is not It is a lot of money. This is every year we pay almost 500 million. They pay 39 million. Their country is much larger, but why would not they say we will do it for 39 or in theory less? I think they would have taken it. In fact, one of the reasons I was not happy, I should have started off lower, Matt. Instead of 30, I said, How about would you do it for nine? So, they go back in and nobody said, We will go back in, but we want to come back in at 39 million or 30 million or 20 million. And now they are going to be paying what we have been ripped off for years. And we do not have control of it. China has total absolute control. We have none. What do you think of that, Matt? Our acting You took a lot of abuse. I just see you there. So, we have this deal and they just go in We built an aircraft carrier and the aircraft carrier has all sorts of problems. They decided to use magnets for the elevators that bring Magnets. You are in the middle of the ocean, big waves, bullets being shot at your ship. You got magnets. I could take this little glass of water, drop it in the magnets, that is the end of the elevator. And then they throw the plane off and they decided to do it through electric instead of steam, right? So, they have a catapult. And for 60 years it is been steam operated. They decide to do it. Let us make it out of electric. So, I go to the ship because it is been under construction for years, it was going to cost two and a half billion. It is going to end up costing 18 billion.

monologic

They even moved the tower from the center to the back of the ship, making it much harder for pilots to land. By the way, the single hardest thing for a pilot to do is land on an aircraft carrier, even great pilots cannot do it. If they are a little bit claustrophobic That carrier looks big, but when you are up there flying and moving along at rapid speeds, and you are looking at this massive ocean and you have a little deck that you have to land on, it is the hardest thing to do. So they move the thing back so it made it much tighter instead of putting it in the middle where it is a wider part of the ship, a whole thing. That is sir, where they keep the ammunition. I said, Wait a minute, they built the tower I do not want to be the captain of that ship by the way. So I said, I went to visit the ship and I was not interested in seeing the admiral, the admiral said, Sir Admiral so-and-so The things out to sea trials is not working. Actually, you are like central casting, but I want to see the catapulters. So, I meet these five guys. How long have you been doing it, Jim? I said, Let me ask you, you have a problem with it? He said, Because if it breaks, you have to go through graduate school at MIT to fix it. And with the steam, we had the same power or more and we could fix it with a blowtorch and a hammer. And I love that steam in my face, sir. He said, The steam. I said, Why did they go with electric? He said, Unnecessary because it takes us one minute and 59 seconds to put the plane on and hook it up. And by the time we do that, sir, we are all set. We have so much steam we do not know what to do with it. So, I said, So you mean they spent all of this money. They spent $900 million as of a year ago to try and fix it. I told them that three When I first came in, I am very good at this stuff. I said, Electric. I will put it out of commission. I will throw it on the electric circuits. And it is just, I mean, it is so we do things so stupidly. So they are at $18 billion. And I said, did you sue the shipyard?

monologic

Then I meet with the architect. Have you ever designed a ship before? My first question, Have you ever designed a ship before? I am telling you foreign countries are laughing at us. They are laughing at us. We renegotiated the Korea trade deal and we built the greatest economy of the history of the world with a record 160 million people working. And I do not want to see any negotiations of tax increases by Senate Republicans. Because I see certain rhinos they keep walking over to the White House. You know, guys like Romney and they walk over to the White House. The other half, the Senator from Louisiana, he was over there. I do not want to name them all because a couple of them are fine, but they go over there, they are getting fleeced. They come out, we have a deal. We have a deal. We have a deal. You do not want to get into that. We have a deal. They said they had a deal. 20 minutes later when the radical left heard that Biden agreed to something they went crazy and then Biden said, We do not have a deal anymore. And what they are doing is they are saying, We will agree to raise your taxes. Saying we will agree to raise your taxes if you approve this radical left infrastructure deal, where most of the money, almost none of the money's going to real infrastructure, which is roads, bridges, et cetera. I am telling the Republican senators right now that we are not going to stand for it if you raise our taxes. We had the greatest tax decrease in the history of our country, and we are not going to have you raise it. In order to say you have made a bipartisan deal. You know, they are dying to say, Matt, that we made a bipartisan deal. You do not have to do that, because you are getting fleeced. And it is going to destroy our country. Despite the pleading and begging of the outsourcers and globalists, I took on China like no president had ever done before. You know that? We made a great deal with China, which has immeasurably helped our farmers and manufacturers, and we put the Chinese Communist Party on defense for the first time ever in our history of our country. We never took in 25 cents. They are paying us millions. Biden, he wants to end the tariffs. If he does, China will take over the whole deal.

monologic

He campaigned on ending tariffs, which was stupid. But he campaigned on ending tariffs. We are taking billions and billions, and we convinced the world that we have to watch China. When I took over, we had a deficit with China of 507 billion dollars. But now China is totally on the offense, making Joe Biden and our country look week, and pathetic. We ignored the hysterics of the socialist left and withdrew from the unfair one sided Paris climate accord. We unleashed America's energy resources, and achieved American energy independence for the first time in the history of our country. And we do not need windmills in Texas and lots of other places. We do not need windmills. They ought to end that program as quickly as they can. When the plague came in from China, I dragged the slow and complacent bureaucrats from the FDA, and the CDC into the Oval Office. I pushed them like they have never been pushed before, and thanks to the relentless efforts of my administration and me, we got miraculous therapeutics straight to patients with historic speed, and we produced three vaccines to end the pandemic in record time. We did it in less than nine months. They said a minimum of three years, probably five years, and sir, it probably will not happen at all. If we did not have that, we would be in a position like perhaps over a 100 years ago, right? Over 100 people, I hear different number. We beat back the failed foreign policy establishment to withdraw from the disastrous Iran nuclear deal. We recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. We ended the endless wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia, and other countries. And we brought our beautiful troops back home. Now terrible things are happening in Afghanistan. We had everything in place to finish withdrawing responsibly, and Joe Biden is turning it into a total disaster. They do not respect him. He is leaving behind billions and billions of dollars of equipment. I told these generals, I want every nail brought back home. Instead, the Taliban is now parading around with our weapons that Joe Biden allowed them to capture. But with all of that being said, we should get out. Everything we do, we refuse to bow down to the radical left, the RINOs, the political establishment, and instead we insist on standing up for America, and making America great again and always putting America first.

monologic

Every day, more people are realizing that we were right on all of the key issues, and that this is one reason why our endorsement has become, and it is really not just my endorsement, it is your endorsement, has become the most powerful weapon in politics. Because if they were not exact, they will come out at me, you would not believe. 120 of the 122 candidates we endorsed in Congressional primary elections won. But we had a great string of endorsements. We love the candidates we endorse. We are endorsing a lot of good ones right now in the Senate primary elections. Cannot say I am happy about all of them, but that is okay. So far in the 2022 election cycle, we are already 10 and 0 on endorsements, and you are going to check this. In the face of the Biden administration's far left campaign to transform our country and erase our history, we are not backing down. When we regain control of Congress, we will immediately regain control of our border, and it is not that easy. I watched a lot of good Congressmen get onto it. What we have to do is redo the ENTITY edict. We negotiated with those countries, and it was not simple. We will hold China accountable for the damage and suffering they have caused, and make them pay trillions of dollars in reparations to us and to the world. We will break up the big tech monopolies, and bring back free speech. We will take back our elections, and finally, we will always include a thing called voter ID. The Democrats are now saying, Oh, we always wanted voter ID. 88% of the people in the country want voter ID, so now the Democrats again, same old story. They are saying, We want voter ID. We have always wanted voter ID. We will completely defund and bar critical race theory. And if government run schools are going to teach children to hate their country, we will demand school choice that we already have. If you listen to the media or watch the evening newscast, our country has really gone bad. We do not talk about how America can lead the world. We do not talk about stopping crime or the hundreds and hundreds of people that are being shot in Democrat run cities and what to do about it. We do not talk about ending the drugs pouring across our borders. Which I had greatly reduced with our wall and so many other things that we are doing.

monologic

And most importantly, we never talk about the great future of our country. We do not talk about any of this stuff anymore. The Democrat controlled media talks race, race, race for political reasons. And they always have, but never like this. But it is hurting our country, and more than anyone else, our great minority communities. It is hurting them very badly. The Democrat obsession with race is only dragging us backward into the past, and it is bringing our country down to a point where even China and Russia are lecturing us on human rights, race, and they are doing it in a very humiliating fashion. During my administration, our country was respected again. In conclusion, our party and our movement, we are all united by the same shared American values, and by unyielding resolve to defend our beloved nation for citizens of every race, religion, color, and creed. We take great pride in our country, and we teach the truth about our history. We celebrate our rich heritage and national traditions. We honor George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and all of our national heroes. And of course, we always respect our great American flag. We believe in patriotic education for our children, and we strongly oppose the radical indoctrination of America's youth. We are committed to defending innocent life, and to proudly upholding the Judaeo Christian values of our nation's founders. We embrace free thought. We stand up to political correctness, and we reject the intolerance of left wing cancel culture. We believe in our Constitution and in law and order. We want law and order. We demand law and order. We do not want people shot and killed in our cities. We totally respect and support the men and women of law enforcement. We are devoted to our communities. We are loyal to our fellow citizens, and above all, we live by the words of our national motto, in God we trust. These are the convictions that define our movement today, and must define the Republican Party, which has truly become the party of the working man and woman. We have a much different party than we had five years ago. You were in big trouble, Republicans, and look what is happening. Now for the next 16 months, we must pour every ounce of our energy into winning a historic victory in the midterms.

monologic

We will never give up our search for truth and justice for what happened in the corrupt presidential election of 2020 because without that truth, we cannot have an honest election in 2022 or 2024, no matter what they want to tell you. And our country will soon stand proudly for free and strong and proper elections again. The election fraud of 2020 is the single most requested topic for me and others to talk about. Because think of what they have done. What they have done is so sad. Look what is happened to our country in just a short number of months. Everyone here today and every conservative all across our land needs to decide right now that together we will save this country. We will not rest until our American heritage of freedom, liberty, and justice is once again safe and once again secure. We owe our country nothing less than that. Our glorious American inheritance was passed down to us by generations of American patriots who gave everything they had. Their sweat, their blood, and even their way of lives to build America into the greatest nation in the history of the world, and we are not going to let it be taken away from us by a small group of radical left Marxist maniacs. We will protect and defend our cherished American legacy and freedom for ourselves, for our children, and for every future generation. My fellow Americans, our movement is the greatest in American history, and it has just begun. With your help, your devotion, your brilliance, and your drive, we will carry forward the torch of American liberty. We will lead the conservative movement and the Republican Party back to victory, and it will be a greater victory than this party has ever had. We will take back the House. We will take back the Senate, and then after witnessing all that has gone wrong in our country in such a short period of time, with our borders, with our economy, with crime, we will take back that glorious White House. That sits so majestically in our nation's capital. And it is the most beautiful house of all.

monologic

And thanks for inviting me so I can come home. I really appreciate the Knights of Columbus. This strong organization believes in families and faith and compassion for those in need. And I am honored you'd invite me to the 122d Convocation of this great organization. I appreciate Carl Anderson and his leadership. I have gotten to know Carl because, you see, he is more than just an introducer of Presidents. He is a person who works with Presidentsat least this President. And I am proud to have his help. It is good to see my family friend Virgil Dechant. Virgil, it is good to see you, sir. I am proud to be here with Cardinal McCarrick. It is good to see you, sir. He is a neighbor in my temporary residence. I appreciate Cardinal Egan. I appreciate Cardinal Rigali of the great city of Philadelphia, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, Cardinal Keeler of Baltimore, Maryland. I thank you for your presence. I am honored to be in the presence of Cardinal Macharski, the Archbishop of Krakow, who succeeded the Holy Father in that role. I appreciate Bishop Wilton Gregory's leadership of the Conference of Catholic Bishops. I appreciate Your Eminences and Your Excellencies, reverends, monsignors, fathers, and deacons. I appreciate the officers and directors, State deputies, board of directors, delegates, ladies and gentlemen, Knights, and my fellow Americans. Two months ago, I had the privilege of visiting His Holy Father Pope John Paul II at the Vatican. It was my third meeting with His Holy Father since I took office, and for those of you who have ever met him, you know I am telling you the truth when I tell you being in his presence is an awesome experience. On the occasion, I had the special honor of presenting him with America's highest civil award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It was my chance to express our Nation's respect for a devoted servant of God and a true hero of our time. Pope John Paul II has been a unique and commanding voice for the cause of the poor, the weak, the hungry, and the outcast. He has challenged our Nation and the entire world to embrace the culture of life. He is called upon us to uphold and affirm the dignity of every person, rich and poor, able and disabled, born and unborn. He is called us to love and serve our neighbors in need.

monologic

Few organizations have worked harder and done more and met this challenge than the Knights of Columbus. I know you are proud of your organization, and you should be. The Knights were born in New Haven, Connecticut. Come to think of it, so was I. From your foundations in a small church basement, you have raised up one of the great America organizations dedicated to charity and mutual assistance and the fight for civil liberties. I am proud to say that my family has contributed to your ranks. And he ye sand he recently took his Third Degree. I will see him this weekend. I will pass on the word, aim for the Fourth. Jeb knows, as I do, that your works of mercy are making our society more compassionate, changing the lives of millions of citizens. Compassionate work changes our society one heart and one soul at a time. Last year, the Knights raised and donated a record $130 million to charity. You also volunteered for an unprecedented 61 million hours of community service. You obviously have heard the call. I was pleased to hear this story about the Knights in Corpus Christi, Texas, at the Mother Teresa Day Shelter. They are mopping the floors, collecting laundry soap, blankets, and food for 130 homeless men and women. They are not giving the orders; they are serving the people. If I need help, I just give the Knights a call such a powerful example. Americans across this great land know that they can do the same, that they can serve our country by helping someone in need. We are grateful for your service to the men and women in uniform and to our Nation's veterans. You have sent hundreds of thousands of prayer books to those working to make our country more secure and to bring freedom in parts of the world that are desperate for freedom. You bring comfort and strength to our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines. I want to thank you for taking time to visit our wounded and disabled veterans, for providing comfort to their families, to give them a word of thanks. See, you'rethe Knights are soldiers in the armies of compassion. You have heard the call. You are helping this Nation build a culture of life in which the sick are comforted, the aged are honored, the immigrant is welcomed, and the weak and vulnerable are never overlooked. You have a friend in this administration. You have somebody who wants to work with you to change America for the better. We have a responsibility in Government to do things to help overcome recession and corporate scandal.

monologic

That is why I put forth an economic stimulus plan to encourage small-business growth, a plan that will help get jobs moving so people can work and do their duty as a mom or a dad and put food on the table. And we are making progress. When I came to Washington, I was concerned about a school system that simply shuffled children through grade after grade, year after year, and hoped for the best. Oftentimes, what we found out was kids with great hearts were graduating from schools but could not read. I challenged the soft bigotry of low expectations by raising the bar, insisting on high standards, by making sure the money we spentand we did spend more moneywent to help those who needed extra help early, before it was too late. I believe you have got to measure in order to know. Because we measure, we know that now more minority children are learning to read at grade level, and that is good for America. I want to thank the Knights for their help inhelping low-income parents in Washington, DC, escape from schoolshave their children escape from schools that will not teach and will not change. Because of the work of the Knights of Columbus and other concerned citizens in our Nation's Capital, poor parents now have a choice. They will have a $7,500 scholarship so they can afford to send their schooltheir child to a private school or parochial school their choice to make. You know, one of the great statistics of this modern era is the fact that more people are owning their own home. It seems like to me an optimistic society is one that encourages ownership, more people owning their own business, people being able to own and manage their own health care account, people beingown a piece of their retirement policy that they can pass on from one generation to the next, and people owning their own home. I love a society in which more and more people are able to say, Welcome to my home; come to my home. This country has added more than 1.6 million minority homeowners in the past 2 years. Today, the American homeownership rate is the highest ever and the highest ever for minorities. When you own something, you have a vital stake in the future of your country. I want to work with the Knights for reasonable and compassionate immigration reform, to bring good, hard-working people out of the shadows of American life and to ensure that America is always a welcoming nation.

monologic

I recognize, like you recognize, that amidst the great prosperity of America, amongst our great wealth, there are pockets of despair in this country, and we have got to do something about it. We must address despair so America is hopeful for every single person. See, we got fellow citizens who are trapped in the misery of drugs and gang violence, collapse of the family. Our society and our Government have a responsibility. You have a responsibility. Those of us honored to hold high office have a responsibility. We are doing some practical things. We have got a community-wide effort to help educate kids to the dangers of using drugs. We believe in collaborative efforts; people all throughout society must work to reduce the demand for drugs. Listen, we will do all we can to bust the thugs, interdict the drugs coming in from foreignoverseas. But we have got to work on demand. And teen use of drugs is down by 11 percent from 2001 to 2003. There is a lot of work to be done on health care, but one place I know we can continue to work together on is health care for the poorest of the poor. We have expanded and built over 600 community health centers in America. I want to double the number so the 16 million poor Americans can get primary health care without putting a strain on the emergency rooms of our hospitals, whether they be public or private. We have got to pay forwe've got to work on additional welfare reforms to help people find a job, help them have the skills necessary to work so they realize the dignity that comes from being independent from Government and, at the same time, strengthen marriage and the family as part of welfare reforms. But I believe one of the most effective ways our Government can help those in need is to help the charities and community groups that are doing God's work every day. I believe Government needs to stand on the side of faith-based groups, not against faith-based groups, when they come to saving lives. Government can hand out money, and of course there will be arguments whether we are handing out enough or not. But what Government can never do is put love in a person's heart or a sense of purpose in a person's life. You see, in order to heal help the lonely, it works every time when a loving soul puts their arm around and says, What can I do to help you? How can I help you in your life? What can I do to make your life better?

monologic

Many are called by God to do so, and Government must stand on the side of those millions of acts of mercy and kindness that take place on a daily basis. And so the Faith-Based Initiative that I have launched recognizes the need there be separation of church and state. But the state should never fear the good works of the church. And the truth of the matter is, there is a culture inside Government which resents and fears religious charities and has discriminated against them. We are changing that. I want to thank the Knights for their help in changing that attitude in Washington, DC. Our goal is to end the unfair discrimination against faith-based charities by the Federal Government. And we are making substantial progress. In December 2002, I issued an Executive orderI was hoping, frankly, that Congress would pass a law. I got tired of the process debate. See, I am focused on results. For those of you who pay attention to Washington, you know what I am talking about when I say the process bogs down. So I signed an Executive order mandating equal treatment for faith-based charities in the Federal grantmaking process. What that means is, is that faith-based groups ought to be allowed to apply for Federal grants just like everybody else should be allowed to apply. Faith-based groups will not be allowed to discriminate against who they serve, and they will not use the Federal money to proselytize. But they are allowed to use the money to change hearts and souls, to help save lives, to embetter the world we live in. Religious charities that are effectively helping the poor should have a fair and equal chance to compete for Federal money. And thisin 2003, discretionary grants to faith-based programs was over a billion dollars. We are making progress. We are using Federal taxpayers' money for effective use in helping to save lives. We are providing a social network of lovinghelping loving souls interface with people so they can realize a better tomorrow. Three years ago, I established the Compassion Capital Fund. If you want to access Federal money, here is how you do it. If you want to start up a faith-based program, here is some of the lessons learned. In other words, what we are trying to say is not only are we going to allow those faith-based programs that already exist to access Federal money, we want to help others spring up and understand the pitfalls to succeed.

monologic

The fund provides grants to faith-based and community organizations as well to help them fund their programs for the poor and the hungry and the homeless. We have awarded $56 million under this program. Today I release another $43 million to the compassionate Federal grant program. We are moving forward on another initiative, which is mentoring for the children of prisoners. I mean, if the job of Government is to try to set priorities, a priority is to help children of prisoners find love. Imagine what a tough life it is for a young boy or girl to go see his or her mom or dad behind prison bars. These are children who need help. They are vulnerable to gangs and crime and despair. They are desperate for responsible adults in their life who can give them what many of them long for, which is love and tenderness. The best way to do that is to encourage all groups, including faith-based groups, to provide mentors. And it is happening in America. For those of you who are mentoring the children of prisoners, thank you for what you are doing to make America a more welcoming place. We have awarded grantstoday we have unleashed another $45.5 million of grants to programs, all aimed at doing this. I will tell you another program that is important is to help the addict, is to help the person so stuck on drugs that they cannot realize the great human potential that God has given them, and they need desperate help. I believe that some counseling programs work, no question about it. But I also know programs that change the heart works. When a person changes their heart, they change their habits. Government is not good at changing hearts. The Almighty God is good at changing hearts, which happens to be the cornerstone of effective faith-based programs. And therefore, when it comes to spending Federal money to help addicts, I have asked the Congress, and the Congress has agreed to allow us to use vouchers to go to the person who is seeking help. That person can use that voucher at any kind of program he or she chooses, including faith-based programs, to help heal hearts and save lives. In other words, some of these are the ways thatwhat I am telling you is, things are changing in the Nation's Capital when it comes to invigorating the Faith-Based Initiative, and the Knights have helped a lot. I appreciate your efforts to level the playing field when it comes to grantmaking.

monologic

And because of your efforts, America is changing for the better. I needed someone to lead this program, so guess who I turned to? I found Towey. Jim Towey is the Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. He is with me. His job is to help the faith communityby the way, all faithsall faiths, Christian, Jew, or Muslimall faiths understand what is possible now. Let us be frank about it. Many faith-based programs do not want to interface with Government. They are afraid of losing the ability to practice their faith. How can you be a faith-based program if you are not allowed to practice your faith? Towey's job so Towey has got a big job. It is to change a culture, a suspicious culture, and we are making progressa suspicious culture in Washington, a suspicious culture in the grassroots. He goes to meet Mother Teresa for the first time. He shows up at one of her homes for the dying in India, and the sister who greeted him assumed he was there to work. That is what I assume every day that Towey shows up. So she gave Jim some cloth and said, Go clean the sores of a dying man. He says it changed his life, that experience. He went on to work full-time for the Missionaries of Charity. Incredibly enough, Jim Towey, Director of the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives in the White House, was Mother Teresa's lawyer. I ask you, what kind of society is it where Mother Teresa needs a lawyer? It is a society that needs tort reform. I appreciate your good work, friend. The Knights of Columbus are transferring lives with works of compassion, and, just as importantly, you are defending the values of faith and family that bind us as a nation. I appreciate your fight to protect children from obscenity. I appreciate your working to protect the Pledge of Allegiance, to keep us one Nation under God. I want to thank youI want to thank you for the defense of the traditional family. That is a most fundamental institution for our society. I appreciate the fact you are promoting the culture of life. We are making progress here in America. Last November, I signed a law to end the brutal practice of partial-birth abortion. This law is urgently needed, and my administration will vigorously defend it in the courts. I was pleased to sign the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act.

monologic

I want to thank the Knights on that piece of legislation. I signed the Unborn Victims of Violence Act. Common sense and conscience tells us that when an expectant mother is killed, two lives are ended, and the criminal should answer for both crimes. I was pleased to sign legislation supporting maternity group homes. We will continue to work to help crisis pregnancy centers. We will work together to strengthen incentives for adoption and parental notification laws. The Knights have been helpful, and I appreciate your help. My 2005 budget, I proposed to more than triple Federal funds for abstinence programs in schools and community-based programs above 2001 levels. I will continue to work with Congress to pass a comprehensive and effective ban on human cloning. Human life is a creation of God, not a commodity to be exploited by man. I look forward to working with the Knights to defend the sacred bond of marriage. A few activist judges have taken it upon themselves to redefine the institution of marriage by court order. I support a constitutional amendment to protect the sanctity of marriage by ensuring it is always recognized as the union of a man and woman as husband and wife. I appreciate the Knights' stand on this issue. I also appreciate the Knights of Columbus' stand on the Federal judiciary. I have a responsibility as President to make sure the Federal judicial system runs well. I have nominated superb men and women for the Federal benches who will strictly and fully interpret the law, not legislate from the bench. In all these areas, caring for the poor and protecting the vulnerable, affirming life, and defending the family, we are depending on the goodness and compassion of the American people. See, the strength of this country is not our military might. It is not the size of our wallet. The strength of this country is the hearts and souls of the American people. And it is an incredible honor to be the President of such a nation, a President of a nation of compassion and decency and honor and such powerful values that we are able to bring people from all walks of life under the rubric of being an American. I appreciate the prayers of the people of this country. People I will never get to say thanks to in person, lift Laura and me up in prayer. It is a remarkable aspect of the Presidency. More significantly, it is a remarkable aspect of the life of the United States of America. I am grateful for your prayers. I am grateful for your great service and the example you set for our country.

monologic

This is the biggest stage I have been on in quite a while. I am told it is so big because you are having the Oak Ridge Boys tonight. I want to thank your president, Bill Taylor, for the invitation to come here and Bob Elsner for that fine introduction, especially what he said about health care. I look out in this crowd and see many friends of mine from across the country. I saw my good friend Neil Offen, the president of the Direct Selling Association, a minute ago. And I have already spotted five or six people in the audience that I have known for years. I thank you all for inviting me here and for giving me a chance to talk about health care today. I'd like to just begin by trying to put this very briefly in the context in which I view it as your President. I think my job is to do everything I can to help every American reach his or her God-given potential and to try to bring the American people together to make our country stronger. In other words, even though you often do not read about it in these terms, the real purpose of our political system, when it is working properly, is to get people together and to get things done. In the last year, we have been able to bring the deficit down, keep interest rates down, see economic growth come back into this country. In the last 3 months of last year we had the highest growth rate in a decade, the biggest increase in productivity from American workers in 8 years. If our budget is adopted, the one I have presented to the Congress, we will have 3 years of decline in the Federal deficit for the first time since Harry Truman was President and the first real reduction in discretionary nondefense spending since 1969, if this budget is adopted. At the same time, we are moving the money around so we will be investing more in Head Start, more in medical research, more in new technologies to support defense conversion and to rebuild the American economy. We are beginning to turn this situation around and to make this Government work for the American people. But this year we have a lot of other challenges we are facing. The Congress is working on a very important crime bill to put more police officers on the street, to stiffen penalties appropriately, to provide alternative punishments to first-time youthful offenders, to provide some ways for kids to stay out of jail, to take assault weapons off the street. They are doing a lot of important things.

monologic

And the Congress is dealing with that as we speak. The Congress will take up welfare reform, a subject on which I have worked for well over a decade now. And I hope they finally will make welfare a second chance, not a way of life, for all Americans and enable us to bring children up in a better fashion. The Congress is going to have a chance now to finally pass a campaign finance reform bill, which will increase the confidence of the American people in the way we do our business here, and a lobby reform bill. But I can tell you that if over the long run we expect the American people to be a stronger community, if we expect our economy to have the funds necessary to invest in the growth opportunities of the 21st century, and if you want your Federal Government to be able to respond to the challenges of today and tomorrow, we must address the health care crisis. It is not just a problem for individual American workers and families, it is a problem for the Federal budget and for the national investment patterns. I can tell you, just to give you two examples, in addition to the fact that almost every American, at least those who do not work for larger businesses or for the Government, is at some risk of losing his or her health insurance or of having the inability to change jobs because someone in the family got sick, and almost every small business is at risk of having their premiums explode or their deductibles and copays explode, you also should know that this is a serious competitive problem for us. We are spending 14.5 percent of our income on health care. The Germans are just a little bit over 8 percent of their income. Only the Canadians are at 10 percent of their income. If you think about spotting our competitors 512 cents on every dollar spent, that is a significant issue. And almost all of you represent a group of business people who have personally experienced that. Now, should we spend more money than other countries on health care? I would argue we should and we must, because we invest more in medical research and technology. And we lead the world in that, and that generates jobs, opportunities, and incomes. We have these great academic health centers. Every American, just about, would be happy to pay a premium for that. Must we spend more? The answer to that is, yes, we must; as long as we have higher rates of violence and ENTITY and teen pregnancy than other countries, we will have higher bills.

monologic

Does that account for all of the difference? A lot of it is directly related to the way we finance health care. In the budget we are adopting, we are cutting defense this year for the first time since 1969. If my budget's adopted, we will cut nondefense spending. Social Security will go up, but only by the rate of inflation, and it is paid for by the Social Security taxes, which are in surplus. We will have to pay more on interest on the debt as it accumulates, although not as much as we would if interest rates were not low. The only thing in this whole budget that is really going up by more than the rate of inflation in the Federal budget is health care costs, 2 and 3 times the rate of inflation. And if we do not do something about it, then the rising cost of Medicare and Medicaid will mean that 2 or 3 or 4 years from now, none of you, no matter whom you represent, will be able to come to Washington and say, How about a new airport, how about a new port, how about a new highway program? How are you going to keep up with our foreign competitors in the seven, eight areas of new technology that will control the future? because we will be spending all of the money you give us in revenues on health care, while we cut everything else. And I believe that after 60 years of false starts, we actually have an opportunity to do the right thing, that is, to give every American and every American family health security and have it be the right thing for the American economy and for the future of the United States. For individuals, health security means freedom from fear and the freedom to prosper and the freedom to make choices that now are becoming narrower and narrower for most Americans in health care. For the Nation, it means the ability to bring health care costs within inflation, to have the chance finally to control the deficit, and to allow many businesses now struggling with this problem to be able to invest, to become more productive without having to make the decision to basically terrify their own employees by cutting back health care so much. Does anybody have all the answers? If it were easy and someone had all of the answers, it would have been done before. You represent more than 22,000 members who serve millions of Americans, tens of millions of Americans, engineers and teachers, pharmacists and farmers and bankers and Red Cross volunteers.

monologic

Those are the kind of people served by the American Society of Association Executives. Next year you will turn 75, and for threequarters of a century you have shown the importance of representation, of what can be done when people honestly seek to represent the genuine interest and feelings of their members and come together in a spirit of fairness and openness and try to achieve a common goal. Well, I feel that I almost ought to be a member of this group. I could have a little tag that said the Association of All the American People. And the members of my group want us to deal with the health care problem, and we are trying to do it. The American people want health care to be there when they need it, and they want it to be there at a reasonable price. That is what health insurance used to mean, what it can mean again. I know that because of the opposition of various interest groups and because some of them have changed their position under withering political heat, there are some who have already said, Well, we will not get health care reform; yet again, the people against it will prevail. Well, I say to the naysayers and the pessimists that, not quite so fast. I have seen a lot of endeavors in which I was involved over the last 15 years given up for dead, including my own endeavors, political endeavors. But it is a funny thing about our system here in America. The American people and their representatives, in the end, more than half the time, do the right thing when given the chance. I do not know how many Members of the Congress I have had tell me privately in the last week that they are actually becoming more optimistic that we will get a genuine health reform bill out that will provide health security to all Americans. The reality is, and everyone knows this, that while we have the best health care in the world, people who have health insurance today might not have it tomorrow. People who can afford it today might not be able to afford it tomorrow. People who have choices with which they are satisfied today might lose all those choices tomorrow. Preexisting conditions today leave 81 million Americans at risk. It means they can be denied coverage or their rates can be raised or they cannot leave the job they have got for a new one because they will not be able to carry insurance with them. A lot of you represent small businesses.

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A lot of people would like to leave a bigger business and start their own business or might want to seek a better career opportunity that is in a smaller business than the one in which they are in. But if they have some member of their family that is been sick, they are literally trapped where they are, and they cannot do that. Three out of four Americans have lifetime limits on their policies which means that, for many of them, they can lose their coverage just when they need it the most. Two million families lose their health insurance every month, 100,000 of them permanently. We have seen an increase in the number of Americans without health insurance from 37 to 39 million just in the last 2 years. The health care we have is good, if we can get it. But the health care financing system does not serve the American people well. It leads to massive cost-shifting. It leads to, by far, the biggest paperwork burden of any health care system in the world. And I would like to say in simple terms what I believe we should do to fix it. First, we should guarantee private insurance to every American. Second, we should guard the right to choose a doctor and improve the quality of health care plans. Third, we should limit how much insurance companies can raise rates based on whether your business is large or small or you work for the government, whether you are older or younger or whether someone in your family has been sick. And we should make it illegal for people to drop others. But we must set up a system in which insurance companies themselves will not be forced into bankruptcy if we make it illegal to drop them, which is why it is important for people to be able to be insured in large pools. Third, we want to protect and improve Medicare and health care for older Americans. Fourth, we want to provide benefits through the workplace, because that is where 9 of 10 Americans who have insurance already get it. I know that a lot of people have seen this health security card. But if you know how to use a credit card or a bank card or a Social Security card, people can figure this out. Under the system we have proposed, every American would get a card which stands for not a Government program but guaranteed private insurance and private health providers. The card would permit every American to choose a health care plan, to choose a doctor, to fill out one simple form, and to get health care for a whole year.

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And at the end of the year, Americans would be able to pick another plan or stay with the same plan or make a different decision. It would not stop any American, over and above that, from paying another private physician for some other service if that was desired. It would, in other words, give more choice than half the American work force has today in their health care plan. Beginning by guaranteeing private insurance for all means that everyone must be covered. That is not only the only way to guarantee security, it is the only way to stop cost-shifting. As long as an insurance company can deny coverage or drop from coverage, then no one is really secure, and some Americans will have to pay the price for other Americans' health care because those who do not have insurance will eventually get health care when it is too late and too expensive, often at an emergency room. And then the cost will be passed on to all the rest of you who are paying for your health care right now in the usual way. That is why I have said that I cannot sign and, indeed, would have to veto a bill that pretended to reform the health care system without providing a system by which everyone is covered. Because unless everyone is covered, there is no cost control, there is no end to cost-shifting, there is no real security, and there is no balance in the system. We are the only country in the world that has not figured out how to do this with an advanced economy, and we ought to be smart enough to do it. I mean, basically when I see all these ads that say we cannot do it, I say, these people are telling me my country is dumber than these other countries. I do not believe that. Or they are telling me that the price of having great health care and great teaching hospitals and great medical research and extraordinary technology is that you have to have some people who do not have anything and all the rest of us have to pay for that besides. I do not believe that. The benefits package ought to be comprehensive enough to encourage primary and preventive health care because that saves money over the long run. That is a very important part of this. Immunizations, mammograms, physicals, prescription drugs, all those things actually avert our health care costs when properly done and keep us healthier. We spend too much time in America treating people when they are sick and not enough time keeping people healthy in the first place.

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Secondly, we want to preserve and enhance choice as the best guarantee that the quality of American medicine will remain the best in the world. People should be able to choose on their doctors and their health care plans; it guarantees quality. Under our proposal now, everyone would have a chance to make at least one from among three choices, at a minimum, every year. You could choose traditional fee-for-service medicine; you could choose an HMO, for example; you could choose a preferred provider organization that physicians and others organized themselves. But every year you would be given the chance, once again, to make that choice under our proposal. More and more people under the pressures of the present system are living with shrinking choices. And a lot of people are quite properly worried that those shrinking choices will not only interfere with their choice but will interfere with the quality of health care. There have been a lot of articles written in thoughtful publications in the last few months pointing out that choice is a rapidly vanishing facet of American health care today, and that in fact the attack on our plan as limiting choice is simply not true; that by guaranteeing at least three choices and that you get to make a decision every year again, that we are building into this system a higher level of choice and therefore a guarantee of competition and quality that otherwise would not be the case. Now, the other thing that I want to say about this system is that affordable insurance should be there and should not be able to be taken away. That is why we want to make it illegal for rates to be raised unreasonably or for coverage to be dropped based on age or previous condition of illness. And we know that in order to do that and be fair to the private insurance companies, we have to let people be in large pools. That is, this is what all of you know as community rating. That is the only way you can guarantee that small businesses and selfemployed people and farmers, for example, through some sort of cooperative system, can have access to the same good rates that people in big business and Government do, still have community rating, not discriminate against the old, not discriminate against the worker who is had a sick child or a spouse with cancer, and not bankrupt the insurance companies. If they are going to be able to be a part of this, you have to have some system of community rating.

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They put the control of the health care system of America back into the hands of the American people on the one hand and health care providers on the other. Today, the control is determined by the financing, and it is in the hands of the insurance companies. And very often they do what they do because of the way we are all organized and divided, so that even if they do not want to do something that has a harmful effect, the economics of their business dictate it because of the way the system is set up. We cannot permit that to go on anymore. The American people should have the power to choose. The American health care providers should have the power to deliver. But it should not be organized the way it is now so that the people who are providing the financing in the middle have all the control and themselves are in a position not to make it fairer for many people. We cannot have the security of millions of our people in jeopardy, with a system that they are basically satisfied with when they have it but which could vanish overnight. Medicare is one of the best things about American health care because it works and has very low administrative costs, providing health security for millions of older Americans. The question is, how do we keep Medicare healthy as our population gets older? The fastest growing group of Americans in percentage terms are people over 80-hope to be one of them before long. But how are we going to do that? How are we going to take care of our own as health care costs keep rising? We believe that we have to keep Medicare but that we have to recognize that the present system is heavily tilted toward institutionalized care which will not be necessary for some people and which will be explosively expensive as the percentage of our people living in higher age brackets goes higher and higher and higher. So our system, number one, covers prescription medicine along with Medicare, which Medicare does not do now-because we believe there is ample evidence that that keeps people healthier and will save money over the long run; a year's worth of medicine might cost the same thing as a day or two in a hospital-and secondly, by beginning to phasein a long-term care system where we give people some help for making noninstitutional choices, for keeping their parents at home or finding adult day care centers or having in-home care.

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Because otherwise, you are looking at a population, by the turn of the century and the end of the first decade of the next century, which we simply cannot afford to maintain and would be bad for our country, unless we have more different options to deal with this rapidly aging population. So under our proposal, if you get Medicare you keep it, which also includes the doctor of your choice and medical security. We achieve some savings in the Medicare program by bringing the rate of inflation in Medicare down to twice the rate of normal inflation. When you hear there are all these cuts in Medicare, do not believe it. We are just going to bring the rate of inflation down to twice the normal rate of inflation and take those savings to pay for prescription medicine and to pay for the beginnings of a new and more comprehensive long-term care system. We cannot do anything to mess up health care security for older people. But we must strengthen it. Finally, I think we should guarantee these benefits at work. And this is, after all, among the organized folks the most controversial decision of all. Nine out of ten Americans who have private insurance get it at work. Eight out of ten Americans who do not have any insurance have someone in their family who works. Expanding the present system lets us reach out to most of the uninsured and is based on shared responsibility. It is the easiest and simplest way to accomplish the goal. You can never stop cost-shifting until everybody's got insurance. Consider this-I just mentioned welfare reform earlier-if we take a welfare mother with two little kids who says, I hate welfare, and I want to get off of it, and I want to support my children, and you give that fine person job training, and then the woman finds a job. And she goes to work for a small business at an entry-level pay slot, because she got a very limited education, and no health care benefits at the office. And that woman goes from getting a welfare check to getting a paycheck; she begins to pay taxes. She is now paying taxes for someone who made a different decision, who stayed on welfare to keep getting Medicaid, the Government-funded health care program for poor people, which she has given up to go to work. That, by the way, is the central reason that we are having some difficulty moving people from welfare to work. People do not want to hurt their children. Again, this is a system that no other country has.

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So we have to find a way to do it. Now you say, well, but it is really tough on restaurants who have a lot of young people who are healthy and who do not want to pay for health insurance anyway. Or it is tough on people who have a lot of part-time workers. Some do and some do not ; UPS has over 100,000 part-time workers and insures them all. But you say, it is tough on businesses with part-time workers, and it is certainly tough on small businesses that are eking by. But that is why we reasoned that if we do this, we have to give substantial discounts for small businesses with low average payrolls, low profit margins, difficult times. And the self-employed, for the first time, under our bill, get 100 percent tax deductibility, not limited tax deductibility as they do now. These things will make this insurance more affordable, plus which, if small businesses and self-employed people are in larger pools, they will not be paying higher rates as they do now. One reason small business people have to either not cover their folks or reduce coverage every year is that the average small business premium is 35 percent higher than the average government premium or big business premium. And you cannot blame people for doing something in the face of those kinds of economics. Another reason is, as a restaurant owner told me-the other day I was in Columbus, Ohio, and this restaurant owner said to me, Look, I am getting the worst of all worlds. I have 20 employees full-time and 20 part-time. She says, I cover my 20 full-time employees. I do not cover the parttime employees. I feel guilty that I do not cover the part-time employees and mad that my competitors do not cover the full-time employees, and I am having to pay higher rates because we had one person, me, in our group of 20 that was sick. She said, I am getting the worst of all worlds, too high insurance, my competitors have an advantage because I am covering my employees and they are not covering theirs, and I feel just terrible that the part-timers do not get any insurance at all. She said, I would gladly do it all if everybody were treated the same way and we had access to competitive rates.

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So I would argue that this is still the fairest and best way to make sure everyone is covered, discounts for smaller business, full deductibility for the self-employed, and a system which permits us to overcome the discrimination in rates that small business endures today. It uses what is right about the American system, the health care, and fixes what is wrong, the financing. It guarantees permanent private insurance, safeguards the right to choose a doctor and a plan, limits how much rates can be raised because of categories and makes it illegal for people to be dropped, protects and improves Medicare and the health care of senior citizens, and provides health benefits to the workplace. Now, the largest associations of America's family physicians, pediatricians, nurses, and pharmacists have supported this health care plan. Our approach was not designed to hurt anyone. It did have to make some difficult choices. It was designed for the American people. It was about giving life to our best values and dealing with one of our biggest problems. It was about giving families who work hard and do their best to raise their kids the security they deserve; stopping people from paying more because of the irresponsibility of others; stopping a situation in which 8 million older Americans, every month, who are not poor enough to be on the Medicaid program but are on Medicare and have to have medicine every month, 8 million, choosing between food and medicine. It was, in short, about dealing with a problem that is only going to get worse unless we fix it now and doing it in a way that does not interfere with what is finest about our health care system. It is about, ultimately, the freedom of the American people to be free from fear, the freedom to preserve choice, the freedom to preserve quality, and the freedom to grow and prosper into the 21st century, putting our values to work and believing that it is irrational to say that we cannot do something that our competitors have figured out how to do. That is why I think this year we will give every American the freedom that only real health care security can mean. I would encourage you to participate in this outreach, to respond to your communities, the people you honorably represent, not to agree with every jot and tittle of everything in the plan we have presented. If we involve thousands of people and work for months and we know how complicated this is, but the basic things we have to do are fairly simple and straightforward.

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This week, we received encouraging reports that show our economy is gaining strength. Consumer confidence hit a 2-year high in July. Existing home sales hit an alltime new record in June. The homeownership rate has hit a new all-time high. And since last summer, our economy has grown at a rate as fast as any in nearly 20 years. These gains in our economy have come at a time when Americans are benefiting from the full effects of tax relief. I have traveled across America meeting small-business owners who are investing tax savings into new equipment, and I have met families who are using tax savings to pay for their children's needs. All of this added economic activity is creating opportunity. Since last August, Americans have started work at more than 1.5 million new jobs, many of them in high-growth, high-paying industries. The impact of our growing economy is being felt in Washington, where estimates of Government deficits are shrinking. My administration now forecasts that the combined deficits in 2004 and 2005 will be about $100 billion less than previously expected, and because of my policy of strengthening the economy while enforcing spending discipline in Washington, we remain on pace to reduce the deficit by half in the next 5 years. These are hopeful signs, and we must make sure our economy continues to gain momentum. Families are working hard to make ends meet, and these families depend on good policies in Washington that promote growth, new jobs, and new opportunities. Thanks to the No Child Left Behind Act, we are improving our public schools so students learn basic skills like reading, writing, math, and science. We have expanded Pell grant college scholarships so that more students can attend college, and we are helping community colleges train workers for the new high-skill jobs being created in our growing economy. We are giving individuals more control over their health care dollars through newly created health savings accounts, and we must also address the rising costs of health care by enacting commonsense reforms in our medical liability system. We must continue to open up foreign markets to American goods, because on a level playing field, American workers and farmers and entrepreneurs can compete with anybody, anytime, anywhere. We must enact reforms to our legal system so hard-working entrepreneurs are not run out of business by frivolous lawsuits. We must have a national energy policy so we become less dependent on foreign sources of energy.

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On Sunday, our Nation will observe the fourth anniversary of the September the 11th terrorist attacks. Every American has memories of that day that will never leave them. We remember the images of fire and terror at the Pentagon, in Pennsylvania, and in the heart of New York City. We remember the ruthlessness of those who murdered the innocent and took joy in their suffering. We remember the courage of the police and firefighters and rescue personnel who rushed into burning buildings to save lives, knowing they might never emerge. And we remember the victims, moms and dads, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, and the loved ones they left behind. As night fell on America on September the 11th, 2001, we felt grief and great sorrow. Yet we also saw that while the terrorists could kill the innocent, they could not defeat the spirit of our Nation. The despair and tragedy of that day were overcome by displays of selflessness, courage, and compassion. And in the days and weeks that followed, America answered history's call to bring justice to our enemies and to ensure the survival and success of liberty. Four years later, Americans remember the fears and uncertainty and confusion of that terrible morning. But above all, we remember the resolve of our Nation to defend our freedom, rebuild a wounded city, and care for our neighbors in need. Today, America is confronting another disaster that has caused destruction and loss of life. This time the devastation resulted not from the malice of evil men but from the fury of water and wind. Hurricane Katrina flattened entire towns along our gulf coast and left one of America's most storied cities under water. Tens of thousands have lost homes and loved ones and all their earthly possessions. The storm took countless lives and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee from their communities, with no assurance of returning soon. Once more, our hearts ache for our fellow citizens, and many are left with questions about the future. Yet we are again being reminded that adversity brings out the best in the American spirit. In this time of great suffering, we have seen the courage and determination of rescue personnel who willingly risk their lives to save the lives of others. We have seen the spirit of America's armies of compassion who have rallied in response to this tragedy. Faith-based organizations and community groups and individual citizens across the country are caring for those affected by the storm and comforting those whose loved ones are lost or missing.

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