Rich DeVos - co-founder and former president, Amway Corporation; renowned speaker; author, Rich DeVos - co-founder and former president, Amway Corporation; renowned speaker; author, BELIEVE! and Compassionate Capitalism; owner, Orlando "Magic," NBA basketball franchise; past president, Council for National Policy; recipient, Horatio Alger Award, Horatio Alger Association.

 It's a joy to be back with you again after a long absence due to heart problems and a new heart.

I'll just take a few minutes.

I was asked to come and bring you up to date on where I am and how I feel. So I'm delighted to do that.

About a year and a half ago, on June 2, 1997, I received a new heart. A woman's heart. I waited in London five months. I went to London because they would not give me a heart here. They said I was too old. And besides that, I'm a diabetic, and I had a stroke. I've had two heart attacks or whatever -- I've got a little list of things. They said, "You're too high-risk. But a wonderful doctor in London decided he sometimes has AB positive hearts left over. He said, "Sometimes I get a heart, and I don't have a recipient. If you're here and it's right for you, you can have it."

So Helen and I moved to London. We waited five months and celebrated every day, as we read in Philippians about rejoicing in the Lord always.

Every day, we would say that. Every day we would rejoice that we were alive and doing well. Many of you were praying for us. So it was a very peaceful and joyful time for us even though we knew what we were looking ahead to.

On June 2, the Lord brought this heart to us.

A new heart had to be the right blood type, the right size, the right tissue, strong right side heart -- all those things had to come to bear. That's a miracle, just to have all that happen at the right time for you. Besides that, it had to be a heart that no one in the United Kingdom could use. And that was the last test. That nobody else there could take that heart so that a foreigner like me could have it.

If you ever wonder about the Lord working in your life, then you've got to know that he was working in mine and working in ours as all that happened.

So that's my testimony, my story. And no matter where I go, I can tell that story. About how wonderful God has been to me. Following all of that, during some of the tough days of recovery, I used to say this, heart transplants are not an operation for sissies. I mean, it's tough coming back.

I think it took a year before I really felt good. But one day, I felt God spoke to me, and I saw myself in a dream walking up on a stage with a blank piece of paper in my hand. On it was nothing. I was wondering what I was going to say.

The word celebration came to me. To celebrate. So I've been talking about celebration ever since. Celebrating life, celebrating family, celebrating loved ones, celebrating relationships with people like you. Celebrating our country.

Say you have an anniversary. You have more things you can celebrate than you've ever thought about, but you've got to remember to celebrate them. Because life goes by pretty quickly. So that's my theme.

At the same time, I must tell you, I also have some things on my heart. You wouldn't want me to fail to tell you about the things that are on my heart. So, I'm going to tell you about them in just a moment.

First of all, I can't tell you how much fun it's been today to watch the age in this organization, the young people in this room, the young people who are so vital, so knowledgeable, doing things. You guys know it's a tough deal, when they all take their turns at the microphone and all give their little speeches. I always used to think, "What a drag. Let's get it over with. We've got a program. We've got an agenda."

You know what I decided today when I listened? Unlike when I was trying to run the program. That was an inspirational hour or hour and a half. To see the action and the many ways in which people are using their talents to bring to bear power to these various issues. It's staggering, how you're able to do things like that. I thought it was inspiration. Relax and enjoy it next time. I used to parade with you, and I like your technique. When a speaker is up, his time is up, you stand up. And if he keeps going another five minutes, you start to walk up. That technique always worked for me, to keep the schedule under control.

Anyway, in my opinion, we are in the post-Clinton era. I know he may be our President, but he's a dead duck as far as we're concerned, as far as America is concerned, and as far as his ability to lead anybody. He can try, but he's gone.

Conservatives want to celebrate victory in 2000. That means plans must be made now. I don't want to wait until the end comes, when conservatives finally get a candidate and finally mold him and then finally decide he's the best available, so conservatives will support him.

Conservatives must start to pick out those candidates now and mold them and guide them and lead them and encourage them. That way conservatives get the candidate they want, not the one that's ushered up for conservatives to see whether to support him or not. Then it's too late.

I have talked a lot about the need to get back to creating the vitality we had many years ago. Those were the Reagan years, of course.

I took from Ed Feulner the statement I had put on your plates today. It's so simple, it's so direct, that we've got to come together on it, folks. We can't afford to have conservatives fractured.

Conservatives would have won that other election if Perot hadn't run. He wasn't happy with what we got. He wasn't included in it. Republicans didn't have an inclusive policy, so he went off on his own. Conservatives should have included him or tried to find a way to include him. So conservatives lost. And, if we allow that to happen again, we're lost. We'll go through another long period without the kind of man or woman Americans need in the White House.

 I'm not forecasting that.

But, Heritage said -- what?-- vision. You can put your own name in it. The CNP is committed to rolling back the liberal welfare state and building an America where freedom, opportunity, and civil society flourish. Do we agree on that? I took stuff Ed Feulner had written for the Heritage Foundation, which I got just the other day. These are things you all believe in. Free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional values, a strong national defense. Those are things we can rally around.

I know we've all got other little issues or big issues. But what if we go off and each one try to run separately? If we get a principled person who believes in the fundamentals that we're talking about here, then conservatives can stay together.

Later on, this person can be molded on each of the other issues as we go along. But if the right guy does not get in the White House, conservatives lose it all. You would already have partial birth abortion ban passed if you'd had one election go differently. Now, is that all we want? No. But, we've got to go step by step.

In Grand Rapids, I worked with a hospital for many years. I had a group of doctors, Christian doctors, who were mad at me because the hospital, through a program, was working with all clinical groups in Grand Rapids.

Anybody offering medical help to the poor, disadvantaged, anybody else, including Planned Parenthood, would work in our coalition so we could trade knowledge and show how to do things.

They had a meeting. I got the Planned Parenthood people and this crowd together. I stood in the middle and refereed. At the end I said, "I'll tell you one thing. This hospital is going to serve anybody and everybody in this community. This is a community hospital. If you have an organization serving the poor and the needy with a different program, then this hospital will work with you as well. But we're not going to stop working with anybody who's trying to help people. This war can be won by providing a better alternative."

They said, "We'll take your challenge." They formed an organization called HIS -- Health Intervention Services. Their clinic is now open. It's right near the Planned Parenthood place. They offer all sorts of medical services. We're beginning to beat that and win that battle by providing those alternatives of keeping your baby or getting him adopted. We can win this war. The numbers are moving in our direction. Let's not gamble on losing the election. Let's work towards finding the way.

Conservatives must get the right man with the right issues and the right stands on all this. But we can get there from here.

In any case, you know what I'm talking about. You know where I'm coming from. I'm not going to bore you with the rest of it. You always knew me from my jokes. I have to give you one because of old times' sake.

It's the story of the minister who is preaching on sin and he said, "Is there anyone in this audience who's perfect?" And one man in the room stands up. Preacher says to him, "Are you perfect?"

He says, "No, but I don't want you to be the only one standing." That's the best I have for you tonight. In any case, thank you very much.