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323154587
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President's Dinner 6/14/89 [OA 8748]
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323154587
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President's Dinner 6/14/89 [OA 8748]
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13874-002
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Records of the White House Office of Speechwriting (George H. W. Bush Administration)
Mark Davis Subject Files
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Originally Processed With FOIA(s):
FOIA Number:
S
FOIA
MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
Library Staff.
Record Group/Collection:
George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
Collection/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting, White House Office of
Series:
Davis, Mark, Files
Subseries:
Subject File, 1989-1991
OA/ID Number:
13874
Folder ID Number:
13874-002
Folder Title:
President's Dinner, 6/14/89
Stack:
Row:
Section:
Shelf:
Position:
G
19
2
6
7
Davis/Martin
June 13, 1989/4 p.m.
Title: Pdinner
Draft: Four
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: PRESIDENT'S DINNER, WASH. CONVENTION CTR.
June 14, 1989/9:20 p.m.
Thank you, Senator Nickles for that introduction and the
great job you're doing as head of the Senate campaign committee.
Mrs. Quayle, Marilyn, it's a delight to be with you on this
excellent evening. Welcome back Dan, from Central America, and
thank you once again for taking our message of democracy and hope
to our important friends and neighbors. David Murdock, thank you
for your dedication in making this event possible. Guy Vander
Jagt, able chair of the House campaign committee, it's great to
see you.
As you have heard, this room is divided into four quadrants,
depicting the regions of the United States -- North, South, East
and West. ((Does this mean if I move down a few chairs I'll be
standing in Texas?))
It was at the last President's Dinner that the fortieth
President of the United States stood before us and formally
declared his support for a successor. Since then, Ronald Reagan
has returned to his beloved California. And you and I have
2
fought shoulder to shoulder, battling our way from 17 points
behind to a 40-state win on Election Day. ( (PAUSE))
But we didn't fight the battle we fought, we didn't put
ourselves and our families through the turmoil of a campaign,
just to win an election. We fought because we believed in
certain ideas and certain ideals. We fought because we believed
that together we can build a better America.
The American people defined our mission. And in the five
months since the Inaugural, without fanfare or partisan furor, we
have worked together to quietly follow our assigned mission, to
achieve what was considered to be outlandishly impossible.
*** The American people want action on the deficit. And we
reached an agreement with Congress to reduce the deficit by a
whopping $65 billion. ( (PAUSE)) And we aim to achieve this
without raising taxes. ( (PAUSE))
*** The American people want action on a festering problem
-- the hemorrhage of the Savings and Loan System. Our reform
plan will restore stability, eliminate unsafe and extravagant
practices, and punish those who abuse the trust of depositors.
The American people will have to pay billions of dollars to clean
up this mess, and we must make sure it never happens again. The
3
Senate approved our plan 91 to 8. I call on the House to follow
suit.
*** The American people want action on ethics. Clearly, it
is time for an even-handed ethics approach across all branches of
government. This is the goal of our ethics proposal I sent to
the Congress in April. We must all be equal before the law.
As President, I will strive for a constructive working
relationship with Speaker Foley, Senator Mitchell and the rest of
the Democratic leadership. While we are in competition with each
other, there are rules of decency and fair play that transcend
party labels. I will not stand for any violation of these rules.
We will hit hard -- on the issues -- fighting for what we
believe in, for we Republicans are bound together in a common
purpose; to wage a vigorous debate on the important issues that
unite us. We are confident that in taking our message of peace
and prosperity to the American people in an open, honest and
direct manner, we will become the majority party in America.
*** The American people want action on the environment.
Yesterday, surrounded by the natural jewels of the Grand Tetons,
enjoying the crisp, pristine mountain air, I called on Congress
to join me in a quest for cleaner air, an end to acid rain, ozone
4
depletion and other harmful emissions. You shouldn't have to
become a mountain man just to breathe good, clean air.
***
The American people want action on crime. This
Administration will not rest until we have lifted the shadow of
fear from the homes, shops and streets of America. That is why I
called last month for tough new laws, and more law enforcers and
prosecutors to back them up. This Administration is going to
lead the charge to take back the streets, take them back from the
criminals who threaten our neighborhoods -- not just in the
cities, but all across our country.
*** The American people want action on foreign policy -- a
sensible, yet bold plan to deal with the changes sweeping the
Communist world. Our Bipartisan Agreement with Congress on
Central America allows the United States to speak with one clear
voice with one clear message -- let freedom ring in Managua. Let
freedom ring throughout the Communist world, from Beijing to
Budapest to Warsaw.
In Brussels, I said that we face an historic opportunity to
move beyond containment of the Soviet Union. I said that the
world has waited long enough -- that Europe can be whole and
free; that we can move beyond armed camps divided by suspicion
and fear. We asked the Soviets to join us in a peace of trust
5
over a peace of tension. We offered our vision for a future of
peace and freedom -- The Spirit of Brussels.
But this, the first five months of my Administration, is
just a start. We must work together to protect what is already
the longest peacetime expansion in our history -- to keep America
competitive and on the job. We must fight drug abuse on every
front, to redeem thousands of children, to return promise to
their lives. And we must revitalize our schools, so that a solid
education is once again the birthright of every American.
To make this kind of progress will require more than a
government program or another grand initiative. Republicans
believe that it will take the active involvement of parents,
students and teachers; business and local government; churches
and schools. This is what we mean by a thousand points of light.
As powerful and resourceful as government is, government alone
cannot come close to overcoming these problems. Next week, I
will announce a major initiative to challenge our young people to
serve their communities. From now on, the definition of the good
life in America must include service to others.
But as you know, achieving our highest goals depends, to a
large extent, on winning elections in Congress. We must take our
case to the American people, precinct by precinct, block by
block.
6
I believe it's no coincidence that our party slipped to
minority status in the House as we became a minority in the state
legislatures. Today, Democrats now have a redistricting
advantage in states that compose about 90 percent of the seats in
Congress.
That is why we Republicans must make solid gains at the
state level. Critical gubernatorial and legislative races in the
eight largest states alone will determine whether Republicans
will be treated fairly in the drafting of 209 Congressional
Districts. From Springfield to Sacramento, from Austin to
Albany, we must win the fight for fair competition.
A majority, or even a large minority, of Republicans in
state legislatures can join with Republican governors to sustain
the veto of outrageous gerrymander schemes, strengthening our
numbers in the U.S. House. Bob Michel, our able leader in the
House, is outgunned. Let us help him by picking up more House
seats.
Strong state parties can help us to win back the U.S. Senate
-- one of our most critical goals. Bob Dole is doing a superb
job as Republican leader in the Senate, but he needs more troops.
Let us win back the Senate. Let us again make it a Republican
Senate.
7
In the next election, we have a good shot at making big
gains. Of course, the party that controls the White House is
supposed to do poorly in mid-term elections. But there are no
iron-clad rules in politics. ((After all, if there were, I would
never have become the only living member of the Martin Van Buren
Society
)) With your support and leadership -- the
leadership of great Republicans like Carl Lindner of Ohio -- we
can again defy the precedents. We can again make history.
In order to win, we must work together as a team, not as an
association of acronyms. The RNC, the NRCC, the RGA, the NRSC --
these are top-notch, well-managed organizations staffed by the
best people in politics today.
But our Republican Party must be greater than the sum of its
parts; we must be inspired by a common purpose. We must bring
opportunity to new constituencies, and campaign in their
neighborhoods, in the inner cities and barrios, once considered
to be the exclusive domain of the opposition.
To win, we must also recruit the very best men and women to
represent our party, as candidates and as officeholders.
8
These are my strategies for victory. But strategies are
useless without a great purpose
We have such a purpose, to
build a better America, for today and for the new century ahead.
We have shed a lot of blood, sweat and tears to rebuild the
Republican Party since the early seventies. The best way to keep
our party growing is to win more elections in 1990, from the
courthouse, to the statehouse, to Capitol Hill. And with your
help, let's prove to the Democrats that the successes of the
1980s are not a fluke; that they, in fact, spell the beginning of
the end of Democratic dominance in Congress. ((PAUSE))
Thank you, good night and God bless you all.