Thank you, Billy and thank you, Tom. Listen, it's a great pleasure to be with all of you. And standing next to me is a guy who most of you know, son of Illinois, Ed Madigan, the Secretary of Agriculture, doing a great job.
Listen, we wanted to come by and see this great market. And all of you ought to know that, around the world, people are trying as they come out from behind that Iron Curtain to emulate the market here, free trading in a very, very important area. And you are doing more for agriculture and for business, and we are very, very grateful to you.
Let me just say a word. I am not happy, and nor is anybody, with the state of the economy. We want to see it moving. We want to see it growing. And I will gather up the best ideas I can between now and the time that the Congress comes back, try to lay partisan politics aside, and get this country moving by a strong growth package that was long overdue.
The current performance of this economy is unacceptable; growth is too slow. But there are some encouraging signs: Interest rates are down, mortgage interest rates, inflation seems to be holding down. And now, we've just got to give it a kick and get it started up again. And I'm grateful to all of you for the example you've set. And now I guess we have about 6 minutes, but I want to see this place spring into action. Maybe I can learn a few new hand gestures.
Thank you all. God bless you, and God bless the United States.
Note: The President spoke at 10:23 a.m. from the soybean pit of the Chicago Board of Trade. In his remarks, he referred to William F. O'Connor, chairman, and Thomas F. Donovan, president and chief executive officer of the Chicago Board of Trade.
George Bush, Remarks to the Chicago Board of Trade in Chicago, Illinois Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/265927
