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White House Diaries
May
13
1986
May 13, 1986
Tuesday, May 13, 1986
Meeting with Repub. House & Sen. leadership. I gave a brief report on Tokyo then we got into the nitty gritty—budgets, tax reform etc. Our work is cut out for us but I think we’re going to win some of the battles. Have just learned that Verne Orr’s wife Joanne has Lew Gehrig’s disease.
At 1 P.M. I addressed a high school student body (Seniors) from S. Carolina in the Rose Garden. The affair was covered by Satellite Radio & T.V. for 90% of the countrys schools & all the 150,000 Am. kids overseas—army etc. Then I took Q’s. It was fun and a good show. The kids were great & bright as buttons. Another Congressional meeting—this time with some Sen’s. who voted against me on the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia. Now I’m trying to persuade them to uphold my veto of the thing they voted for. Jewish groups lobbied them hard & some are politically scared.
Met with Anatoly Scharansky. It was fascinating to hear the story of his imprisonment by the Soviets. I learned that I’m a hero in the Soviet Gulag. The prisoners read the attacks on me in Tass & Pravda & learn what I’m saying about the Soviets and they like me.
A heartwarming meeting in the East Room—200 members of “Responsible Govt. for Am.”—Joe Rodgers (Ambas. to France) started this. It’s an enthusiastic group & supportive of us all the way. That ended the day.
