I want to take this opportunity to thank each of you for your efforts during the past several weeks in working with OMB Director Jim Miller and his associates to develop my FY 1987 budget. Preparing the budget is never an easy task, for it requires the balancing of competing priorities and the sacrificing of some goals in order that our overall agenda can go forward. This year's budget was no exception, especially in view of my decision to meet lower deficit targets without increasing taxes or cutting into defense preparedness.

The true test comes in the spring, however, when we will either succeed or fail in persuading the American people, and their elected representatives, to accept the comprehensive program I will be submitting on February 3. As we move forward in that effort, I know I can count on you to be an able and forceful advocate. Only by working together can we achieve those goals that brought us here in the first place.

Ronald Reagan