[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)] [October 25, 1992] [Pages 1983-1991] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]Remarks and a Question-and-Answer Session in Billings, Montana October 25, 1992 The President. Thank you. I feel like Phil Donahue, sitting here. Thank you for that great welcome to the Big Sky country. Thank you so much. Please be seated. Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years! [[Page 1984]] The President. Wall to wall people. Thank you so very much. This is a little bit of unique forum here today. But I want to start off by just saying a few words about those with us. You have had a great Governor. You've got a wonderful Governor, a great friend of ours. And he is leaving; he is leaving. And Marc Racicot, who is running, is in another part of the State, out working the trenches as he should. But I strongly urge his reelection. I needn't tell you what a hit Conrad, the Burnses, plural, have made, but Conrad has made in the United States Senate. You've got strong representation there by a good and decent man. I don't listen to all his jokes; I've got a certain standard I must adhere to as President of the United States. [Laughter] Well, some of them, some. But then there's another one that's been at my side in the political trenches as long as I've been--certainly before I was in the White House and even before I was Vice President. And I'm talking about Congressman Ron Marlenee. We've got to see him reelected. And I want to thank two other friends, Chuck Heringer and Tim Babcock, the former Governor of this State, all good people. And I'll tell you, it makes me wonder how you get along without friends. But let me start this way. This is an unusual format. We're going to take a few questions. But before I start, I want to tell you, this is the strangest political year I've ever seen. But I swing into the great State of Montana absolutely convinced that I'm going to be reelected for 4 more years. People will say, why is that going to happen? And I'll develop that in the question-and-answer session. But I believe it's going to come about because we literally have changed the world. The kids here today go to bed at night--and I heard Conrad generously mention this--the kids go to bed at night without the same fear of nuclear war. And I am very proud that a lot of that occurred since I've been President of the United States. Communism is dead. Ancient enemies are talking to each other. Democracy is on the move in Russia and south of our border. There's been an enormous change. And now what we've got to do is take that same leadership that changed the world, even though we're now at an economic international global slowdown, use the leadership to lift these kids up and give them the opportunity that I know exists for them in the days ahead. And then the last, I think, the other reason I'll win, Barbara and I have tried very hard--I think we've got a great First Lady, and I wish she were here. But we have tried very hard to uphold the public trust. And one reason I'm confident is that in the final analysis, I believe voters are going to really think: Who would you want to look after your family, deal with a crisis that might occur? Who can best keep the public trust and serve with honor? We have tried very hard to do that, and I hope that's going to be one of the reasons that we're reelected when it comes Tuesday, a week from this coming Tuesday. Now, the program is to take a few questions, and I don't know how we're going to arrange all that. But if anybody--Conrad, are you kind of the Phil Donahue of this thing? [Laughter] Get in here. We're in real trouble if he is, I'll tell you. He can't even get his umbilical cord untied. Now, come on. Senator Conrad Burns. I used to be an old farm broadcaster, you know. The President. Never mind. No, we don't want any of that. Senator Burns. Mr. President, welcome to Montana. Okay, do we have a question here? Just pick one out. Got a hand right here from a young man right there, Mr. President. The President. Shoot. We'll get our act together in a minute here. The Economy Q. I wasn't born when Carter was around, and I heard about the high taxes and the bad economy. Would that happen if Clinton was elected? The President. Good question. That's what we call a slow ball in the trade. You can see the seams on it going across the plate. [Laughter] The question was, he just has heard talk--he's a young guy, you couldn't see him--but he's heard talk of what it was like when Jimmy Carter was President, the last time a Democrat controlled the White House and those that Conrad and Ron fight [[Page 1985]] against every day controlled the Congress. And here's what it was like. I'm afraid that the Clinton-Gore spend-and-tax plan would take us back there. The interest rates, 21.5 percent they hit. Inflation was 15 percent. The Democrats, to embarrass Republicans, invented something called the ``misery index,'' unemployment and inflation added together. Under me it's 10, and under them it was 20. We cannot go back to the days when they had both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. We had grain embargoes. And they talk about malaise. It was right there. So my view is, our agenda for America's renewal--it stimulates small business, cuts down on the Government spending through putting a cap on the mandatory spending--is the way to go. And hold the taxes down. I have a very big difference with the Clinton-Gore tax-and-spend program. Thanks for the question. Gun Control Q. Mr. President, what is your position on gun control, please? The President. I oppose gun control. It's a good time to point it out in the first day of the big game hunting season out here. I'm surprised there's this many people in here. [Laughter] But I'm delighted to see you. I am a hunter, and I'm a fisherman, and I believe I've got a sound record on the environment. But when it comes to guns, the answer is to have tougher anticrime legislation. Go after the criminal and not after the gun owner. And I've always felt that way. I gave a speech on that today to the police chiefs, and I believe we have strong support in the law enforcement community. We need a little more sympathy for the victims of crime, a little less for the criminal. Taxes Q. President Bush, throughout this election and elections I've listened to in the past, we've always talked about where the middle class is over-taxed, the wealthy aren't taxed enough. I think the people of America are willing to pay their fair share. Why is it we cannot have a uniform tax where it doesn't matter what your income, we all pay the same? The President. Well, that would be a flat tax, and it's pretty hard to get because I think a lot of people would think that's unfair. They think it's unfair that a rich guy would pay the same as the person that's really struggling to make ends meet. Here's my view on the tax situation: I believe this is where we have perhaps the major difference with the Clinton-Gore program, because I went along with the Democratic tax increase one time and I made a mistake. I said I did the wrong thing. Quite different than Governor Clinton that has to have it both ways on every issue. When you screw something up, you say it. You say, ``I was wrong.'' But now let's move forward and hold the line on the taxes. We don't need to raise taxes at all right now. We just don't need to do it. But what we need to do is control the growth of spending. Two-thirds of the budget, two-thirds of the Federal budget, never comes to the President of the United States. One-third does. We've got caps now, out of that budget agreement that I don't like, but out of it we did get one good thing. That was caps on the discretionary spending. On the mandatory programs, it's just free- flowing. So we've got to control their growth, and then stimulate business. Here's what I want to do in the way of taxes: I want an investment tax allowance, I want a capital gains cut. It is not a tax for the rich. It will stimulate new business, small business. And I want a credit for the first-time homebuyer so that the guy, a family, young family trying to buy their first home, gets a $5,000 credit. And that will stimulate not only the housing industry but all the other businesses that go with it. The flat tax is a--I don't believe it's even possible to get done, so I think we've got to stay with what we've got, but hold the line on it. Energy Policy Q. Mr. President, Montana's a great resource State, and we've been looking for an energy plan that would allow us to reasonably develop those resources and lead our country into a future without having an energy shortage. You just signed a new bill, but can you explain what your plans are for the future? The President. The new bill we signed yesterday, the day before yesterday-- [[Page 1986]] maybe it was just yesterday--these things blend into each other. I'll tell you, like today we were in Detroit, South Dakota, and here. Yesterday, don't give me a quiz, but I believe I was in Louisiana. And if I was, I signed the energy bill. It's a brandnew national energy strategy. You've got some independents, independent oil and gas producers here. One of the things that's been like a wet blanket over the domestic search for oil and gas has been the alternative minimum tax. And that has been changed now-- see, there's two oilmen up there--that has been changed now. And that will free up a lot more domestic drilling. The IPAA estimates 45,000 new jobs in the domestic oil and gas business. Also, our energy strategy goes for alternative sources. We free up as best we can the use of corn for ethanol. I believe that you can safely use nuclear power. We're trying to cut down in some of the endless ways of holding that up. I believe in that. So it's a good new energy strategy that goes for alternate sources and freeing up domestic oil and gas so we will not be as dependent on foreign oil. We count our blessings that we have good relationships with Saudi Arabia and other countries today. But we must not become more dependent for our energy needs as a country on foreign sources. And that's what this bill helps do. Foreign Affairs and Domestic Policy Q. Mr. President, even the Democrats recognize that you are A-plus in foreign affairs. Can you explain to the people how foreign relations means good domestic policies, such as lower gas prices, grain markets for us, and things like that? The President. Well, the answer is we're living in an interconnected world. In fact, our economy today--and this may come as a surprise to some, because don't listen to the evening network news if you want to get any good news. You're not going to get it. But it will surprise some to know that our economy is doing better than Japan, and we are doing better than Europe, and we're doing better than Canada. But we're not doing good enough. But we're in something that's--I'll take my share of the blame. But I don't think it's fair for Clinton and Gore to say it's all George Bush's fault when the whole world is caught up in a slowdown. What's going to save us is your question, is how we handle international affairs. We've made the world more peaceful. With me today is a guy who was a real leader in that--I don't know whether he's standing around modestly in the background--but our Secretary of State, now with me in the White House, Jim Baker. Where is he? He's out here someplace. Anyway, I say for him and Dick Cheney and Colin Powell and Brent Scowcroft in the White House, we have done something about establishing world leadership. And I took a lot of gas at the time we were trying to mobilize the world to stand up against aggression in the Middle East. But we did it. I might point out a difference: Governor Clinton said on the war, he said, ``Well, I agree with the minority but I guess, I guess I would have voted with the majority.'' What kind of leadership would that be for the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces? Now, we made a decision; we made a decision. The sons and daughters of this State and all the rest busted up the fourth largest army in the world, kicked him out, and in the process we established the United States as the only military superpower and the most credible leader for democracy and freedom. And that means that as we move into this internationally connected economy, that we are going to be the ones to lead on trade. The things that saved us in a slowdown, as I'm sure you know, are exports. And we are fighting to increase our exports by getting a satisfactory solution to this GATT round, the Uruguay round on trade. That is in the interest of American jobs. American agriculture will sell more abroad. I was annoyed to read a London Daily Telegraph article saying that the Clinton campaign intervened with the leaders of the European Community to say, don't make a deal before the election. What kind of statesmanship is that? We ought to make a deal this minute if it's a good one for American agriculture and a good one for the American interest. So world leadership is important. World [[Page 1987]] leadership is important. And let me say one last point on this question: Do not let them tell you that we are a nation in decline or are not respected. Governor Clinton, I believe, or someone around him used the word ``mockery,'' and they say we're something less than Germany and just above Sri Lanka. He ought to open his eyes, open that Little Rock narrow vision, and look at the world. We are the most respected country on the face of the Earth. Barbara Bush Q. Where's Barbara? The President. All right. Well, she was last sighted waving goodbye to me at the White House today. But here's the situation. She's doing a great job, but I find that she can go out there on her own and really talk to the people about literacy, about how you help families. You know, the liberals don't like it when we talk about family values. We're not trying to say a family has to be any particular size, or if you have a one-parent family, that's not a good family. What we're talking about is values. And Barbara's good at it. Because when she holds an AIDS baby in her arms, why, she's teaching compassion. Or when she reads to those children in the Diplomatic Entrance of the White House, she's trying to say parents ought to read to the kids. We talk about family values, we're talking about choice in child care. Let the parents choose, not just the Government. We're talking about choice in education. Let the parents decide, public, private, or religious school, and then support them. So I believe all of these things add up: teaching discipline, teaching respect--I just met with some of your law enforcement people here--respect for the law. It's unfair that people in some of these heavily impacted drug areas are scared to death to go down to the corner market. Family values can help, because if your kids can be weaned away from the drugs or whatever it is, you strengthen the American family. And that's what Barbara, I think, exemplifies. She's out doing that every single day. I wish she were here. She'd be overwhelmed by this fantastic turnout. College Costs Q. As the number of people who want to attend college has increased while the rise in costs of college have dramatically decreased their chance of going, if you're reelected, what would you do to help the financially burdened students and their parents? The President. The question is a very good question: How do you help financially burdened students and their parents, because college costs have risen? The step we have taken so far is to double the amount of money for Pell grants. That's the best way that students can participate. We have doubled it. Education spending is up. But I must tell you, we cannot do all the spending we want. As you know, the Federal Government participation in education is about 6 percent or 7 percent, and then the rest of the '93 is local and State and private and all of that. So the feds will continue to do our part. We will continue to, as this economy grows, to increase our commitment. But I am very proud that we have already raised Pell grants, which is the thing that helps children get to college, more than any previous administration and increased Head Start at the same time, for those who are starting to go to school. The Character Issue Q. Mr. President, I have two sons in college. One is 18 and one is 22. First of all, I'd like to say we appreciate your answers. No matter what part of the country you're in, you're consistent, unlike your opponent. My question is this: When we sit at the dinner table and we say grace, and then we have a man running for President who we've read his letters on how he tried to get out of the military. The ROTC is after them both; they are honor students. How do we tell them, if that other guy gets in, how they can be faithful to their country? When Kennedy was in, I was getting ready to be drafted, and I volunteered ahead of time. How do we talk to our kids on this important subject if that other guy gets in? The President. The gentleman raises a very serious question. I can understand people being opposed to the Vietnam war; I [[Page 1988]] can understand that. What I think the problem Governor Clinton has is, there's a pattern of not leveling with the American people. I am old- fashioned. I served my country in combat. I believe that that has helped me be a little sensitive when the decisions come, and twice it's come to me, of having to send somebody else's son or daughter into combat. So I believe my own experience has helped me be a sensitive and decisive Commander in Chief. But I don't think everybody has to do that. We've got new generations who might not have served. But what you have to do is to level with the American people. I've spoken out, and frankly, we've got a difference in our own group about this. Some say it's not important; I find it incomprehensible that when Americans are being held prisoner in Hanoi or when kids are being drafted out of the ghetto, that an American would mobilize, or ``organize'' was the word he used, demonstrations against his own country in a foreign land. If you want to demonstrate, do what other people--come to the White House with your sign. But don't go to a foreign country and tear down your own country. So I've got a fundamental difference, I have a fundamental difference with Governor Clinton on this question. But the big question, the bigger question is, on April 17th he said he was going to level with the American people and tell the record about the ROTC and the draft, and he hasn't done that. But it's not just the military. He goes to Detroit and says one thing on fuel efficiency standards, and then he goes someplace and says something else. He goes one place and said he's for the North American free trade agreement, and then in the debate you heard him, ``Yes, but.'' You can't have a ``yes, but'' in the White House. You can't make it into the waffle house. You have to say, here's what I'm for, here's what I'm against. And that is character. And that is trust. Gasoline Tax Q. Mr. President, Montana is a big State, and we have a lot of our citizens travel from 50 miles to 150 miles just to go shopping or do their business in their county seats. As I understand, Governor Clinton is highly in favor of putting a tax on gasoline to go to some of the expenses of Government. What are your thoughts on this? The President. Well, my thoughts on the subject: I'm not sure. I want to be fair. I'm not sure he's proposing a gasoline tax. If he is, I strongly oppose it. We've already got a lot of Federal tax. There's several reasons. I'm afraid Mr. Perot is proposing a 50-cent gasoline tax increase. I mean, for people that have to drive to work or drive cabs, whatever it is, I mean, that's pretty steep. I don't think we need to increase the tax on gasoline. There's two reasons. One is it's heavily taxed at the Federal level anyway. And secondly, we preempt a source for the Governors and for the States if they have to do that. So I would like to hold the line on this fuel tax, on the gasoline tax right now. We don't need to do that. And rather than raise the tax is control the growth of spending. And how do you do that? All right, I'll give you three reasons, three ways. Give us a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. That's one, and that will discipline whoever is President and the executive branch. Give me a check-off, give the people, rather, a check- off on their tax return, a little tin box, and you can check off 10 percent of your taxes to go to reducing the deficit. And the law would be that then Congress must make the reductions that go with that. And the third one is, 43 Governors can take a piece of legislation, and they can knock out the wasteful parts. So give me the line-item veto, and let the President try to get the deficit down. Native Americans Q. Mr. President, the Democrats would have you believe that all Native Americans are Democrats. But I'd like you to know that a lot of Native Americans are Republicans also. The President. Glad to know that. Q. I am a member of Fort Belmount Tribal Council, and I'd like to express our appreciation for all the work you've done on behalf of Native Americans, especially in the area of education. The President. I want to ask how it's going. I know it's a one-way deal, I'm sup- [[Page 1989]] posed to answer. But is this approach to education helping? Q. Yes, it is. We're having more and more Native Americans complete their college education, and that really helps us a lot. The tribal councils are very active in the area of economic development. We'd like to ask your support and assistance in the area of providing more jobs for our people. Everyone on the reservation would like a job, and we need your assistance in that regard. The President. You know what would help in this regard is this whole broad concept of enterprise zones. And what it says is to give breaks to businesses to move to areas where you really are adversely impacted by unemployment. I think that concept makes sense. I'm glad that approach to letting the control of education be closer to the ground is making sense. We have a national program called America 2000. Congress--I hope you don't sound, I'm down on the Democratic- controlled Congress that I am--but I am. We need to change it. We need to clean House. And we need to, but we can get a lot done without it on this program called America 2000, because it bypasses a lot of the bureaucracy and goes right to the communities. Where are we for the next one? Q. Well, first of all, Montana's good Bush country because just look--[applause] The President. Amazing. Defense Cuts Q. My question was concerning the military cuts. With the military cuts, what do you plan to do with all the military personnel that are going to lose their jobs? The President. I just signed a defense authorization bill, and in it we have a lot of money for retraining. And that is a very important part of it. But let me explain my view toward defense. Because we have been successful in the cold war and because we have lowered the threat of nuclear war--the deal I worked out with Yeltsin was to eliminate these SS-18's which are the major intercontinental ballistic missiles. It's a good thing. That hasn't been accomplished yet, but the deal is signed. Because we have made a lot of progress, we've been able to reduce defense spending. To reduce it to where we are, I took the recommendation of Colin Powell and the Chiefs and Dick Cheney, who I think have earned the confidence of the American people. I do not want to cut into the muscle of our defense. Governor Clinton, to pay for a lot of other domestic spending, is now wanting to cut $50 billion, or $70 billion--I can't remember. He and Perot both want to cut significantly more than I do. My view is there are still wolves out there. The Soviet bear may be dead, but there are a lot of wolves in the woods. You've got antiterrorism; you've got all kinds of people trying to acquire nuclear weapons. And who knows where the next challenge will come to the security of the United States? And so I don't want to cut into the muscle of defense. But for those that are being dropped out of the military, we must go for the retraining. The Montgomery bill on education is a very important part of all of this, but retraining is the answer. And the bill I've just signed adequately provides funding to really help on that. Health Care Q. Mr. President, I'd like to know what could be done about our health insurance? You know, I'm older than my wife, and now I'm having an awful time buying insurance for her because we're about to lose our insurance with the business since I retired. The President. The gentleman asked about perhaps the most pressing social question that we're all facing today, and that is the question of health care. The health care plan that I proposed and, when reelected, will push as an early objective provides the following: Insurance for all. The poorest of the poor will get vouchers to get the insurance. The next range up the income ladder will get assistance, tax credits to provide, to be sure they can acquire coverage. We will pool the insurance. The small operators find it very difficult to get insurance as cheap as some of the large operators. And so we've got a whole new system of pooling where you can pool insurance, people, small operators getting in together to make a large pool, thus reducing costs. [[Page 1990]] And there's another way we've got to get the costs down. Frankly, we've got too many of these suits where doctors are afraid to practice medicine, even deliver babies, because of lawsuits. And so to protect themselves and the hospitals protecting themselves against these reckless lawsuits, they increase the number of tests that are needed or require people to stay longer in the hospital than they might ought to, because they're afraid of getting sued if they get out early or something. So we've got to go after these malpractice suits and stop this crazy lawsuit business because, good heavens, people are afraid to coach Little League. They're afraid to stop along a highway and pick up somebody that's hurt, for fear that person will get a lawyer and come and sue them. We're suing each other too much and caring for each other too little. So we've got to put some caps on these reckless lawsuits. And that's number one priority. Governor Clinton will not do it, because the trial lawyers own him lock, stock, and barrel as far as these campaign contributions go. Education Q. Mr. President, we want to thank you for your support of educational choice. And we just want to encourage you on that issue, that you will continue to give parents the opportunity to choose alternative forms of education. The President. I will continue that choice. It is right. We've got a pilot program called ``GI bill'' for kids. You know, people say, well, you've got to be careful that you don't undermine the public schools or that you merge this justifiable and proper separation of church and state. But the answer is, in the GI bill after the war, the same charge was made in some quarters. The GI bill went to the soldiers that got out, and then they could choose private, public, or religious colleges. And it did not diminish public education. Indeed, some felt that that was enhanced, that it enhanced public education. So my plan is for school choice, public, private, or religious, and try it. It's working in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and I believe it will work nationwide. It's going to be very expensive, but we've got to start with a pilot program. And we're going to stay right on it. Q. Mr. President, I'm a public school teacher. I have had to live under communism and under Nazi, and I'm proud to be an American. Every time we play the national anthem I have tears. But my question is to you, Mr. President. I'm sick and tired of being bashed. Every morning you and I are being bashed by a Democratic organization that I am forced to belong to. And I would like you to give me a one-liner that tomorrow morning I can go back and give to them. The President. What is the organization? Q. The teachers organization, NBEA, NEA, and MEA. The President. Well, the NEA, that's not my favorite so I have to watch--I have to clean it up for you because, I'll tell you, they oppose us at every turn. And part of our education program is to go around them and get the support for the teachers in the communities. We've tried this bureaucratic layering that they have insisted on, and it doesn't work. And too much of the money goes to overhead, and too little right in there to the classroom. So you can put me down as not their strongest supporter. They attack us all the time, no matter what I propose. It's time to stand up and fight against the power-hungry union like that that have more at interest in themselves in organization and less in the teacher in the classroom. I can't think of one line, though, to get them down. Patrick Goggins. Mr. President, they tell me it's time for you to move on. The President. The big sky. Mr. Goggins. We will take, I think, one more question, and then we're going to have to move. And you get to do the picking because I'm not going to make--I live here. The President. You guys are in charge. Go ahead. Health Care Q. I have another health care question, Mr. President. The President. Hold it. Hold it. Hold it. He says, he says, ``Give 'em hell.'' You remember what Truman said? He said you just tell the truth, and they think it's hell. [[Page 1991]] [Laughter] Anyway, go ahead. Q. Some smaller communities in Montana have been forced to close their hospitals. I was wondering what some of your solutions to providing health care for rural Americans would be. The President. Well, I think I touched on that in our whole health care plan. It does cover that, but the main thing is to provide the insurance. I can't give you a firm answer on what we can do in rural areas with the limited funds we've got. We can assist rural areas. We can assist communities. But we cannot start a new program of building Federal hospitals. We simply have to say we don't have the funds to do that when we're operating at this enormous deficit. Our health care plan, I think, would help. And it would certainly help the individual get access. But it does not answer the problem of the need for more, like veterans hospitals, higher spending on veterans hospitals now under me. I don't want to mislead you to think that we can go ahead and spend a lot more money to build hospitals in the rural areas. We just don't have the funds to do that. Let me end on a more positive note. Who's got one? Yes, ma'am. Q. [Inaudible] Mr. Goggins. I'll interpret for you. The President. Go ahead. Q. [Inaudible]--I just want you to know, for any of these people that haven't made up their mind yet, that I don't want to see Clinton and Gore riding on your Bush tail, your shirt tails--[laughter]--and taking any credit for everything you have been working for. And what the hell am I going on--and you know, taking any of the credit, because these changes are slow to come. If they haven't made up their mind, one of your best campaigners is Rush Limbaugh. And you can listen to him. The President. Yes. Are you finished? Well, let me, that gives me a---- Q. If you haven't made up your mind, you will make up your mind by the election if you listen to him, tell them on 91-AM from 10 to 1. [Inaudible] Term Limits The President. She asked a question at the end. And the question is, what do I think of term limits. I support term limits. That's the way to put power back to the people. Well, we do have to run. But let me end this way, that this has been a very exhilarating experience for me. I just want to tell you, Barbara and I are very lucky. We're lucky with our family. It has not been a particularly pleasant year for people in politics or serving, trying to serve their country--understatement of the year. But we are very blessed. And it isn't that I just want to be President for being President. I'm President now, and we've had a lot of wonderful things happen. We've got a lot of problems that have not been solved. But I want to be President because I like to finish the job. The job means lifting up every kid here to understand that you've got a bright future ahead. I would hate to do what the Clinton crowd is doing, running around--the only way they can win is to tell everybody everything that's wrong with this country and that we're a country in decline. We are not. So my message is more hopeful and more optimistic. And yes, we've been through hell. And a lot of families don't know whether the job they got today, if they're going to have it tomorrow. But if we do the things that are outlined in our agenda for America's renewal, and if we continue the worldwide leadership, I am absolutely convinced that in the next 4 years the life is going to be an awful lot brighter for every young person in this country. And that's why I want to be reelected for 4 years. I ask for your support. I've tried to uphold your trust. And I would like to serve and finish the job. And don't let them tell you America's in decline. God bless this great and free and wonderful country. And thank you all. Note: The President spoke at 3:55 p.m. at Pioneer Park. Patrick K. Goggins, publisher of Western Livestock Reporter, Inc., publications, served as moderator for the session. In his remarks, the President referred to Chuck Heringer, chairman, Montana Bush-Quayle '92.