The 196th ordinary session of the Diet was convened on January 22. The Diet will be in session until June 20, a total of 150 days. This will be an important Diet session for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) as an opportunity to achieve the policy pledges that gained the support of many voters in the recent general election. It is now up to us to act, in careful discussion with the opposition parties, as a responsible, governing party. "Our Party took on great responsibilities (when we won last year's general election). We must live up to those expectations in this Diet." Party President and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe set the tone with these words in LDP's Joint Plenary Meeting of Party Members of both houses of the Diet, held immediately before the Diet session. He continued on to call for the early passage of the budget for FY2018 of 97,712.8 billion yen on the General Account and a supplementary budget for FY2017 with an additional 2,707.3 billion yen in spending, characterizing them as the keys to achieving the policy pledges presented in the general election of October 2017. He vowed that the government and ruling party would work together, bringing all resources to bear in accomplishing this. The budget draft focuses on LDP's two stated goals: "human resources development revolution" and "productivity revolution." As we are entering the era of a 100-year life cycle, it seeks to convert to an all-generation social security system by expanding daycare availability, improving the wages and benefits of daycare providers, phasing in free early childhood education, and expanding grant-type scholarships. It also provides a strong push for the "productivity revolution" to achieve sustainable wage growth and ensure that the economy breaks out of deflation. On the tax side, that includes measures to promote investments in both equipment and human resources by key local companies and small and medium-sized enterprises, and measures to increase wages and productivity. Prime Minister Abe also called for the "dynamic engagement of all citizens" by using "workstyle reform" to make possible a variety of working patterns as families address needs for child and nursing care. LDP will support this "historical reform" (Prime Minister Abe) by doing everything possible to pass relevant legislation during this session of the Diet. Moving forward boldly and decisively with reforms, our Party seeks to create mechanisms to moderate long working hours and ensure wages and benefits are based on fair evaluations of completed work and not on employment structure. We will also promote telecommuting, second jobs and concurrent employment, and support for employment and living standards.