**President Pro Tempore Senator Ted Stevens Offers Eulogy\
In Honor Of President Ronald Reagan**

Today, Senator Ted Stevens, President Pro Tempore of the United States
Senate, joined Vice President Dick Cheney and Speaker of the House
Dennis Hastert in receiving the remains of President Ronald Wilson
Reagan to the United States Capitol Rotunda, where he will lie in state
until Friday morning.

During the ceremony Senator Stevens offered this eulogy of our nation's
40th President.

MRS. REAGAN, PATTI, RON, MICHAEL, DISTINGUISHED GUESTS, MEMBERS OF THE
REAGAN FAMILY, AND FRIENDS OF RONALD REAGAN IN AMERICA AND THROUGHOUT
THE WORLD:

TONIGHT, PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN HAS RETURNED TO THE PEOPLE'S HOUSE TO
BE HONORED BY MILLIONS OF AMERICANS WHO LOVED HIM.

SINCE 1824, UNDER THIS ROTUNDA, OUR NATION HAS PAID FINAL TRIBUTE TO
MANY DEDICATED PUBLIC SERVANTS. PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN WAS THE FIRST
PRESIDENT TO LIE IN STATE UNDER THIS CAPITOL DOME. IN THE COMING DAYS,
THOUSANDS WILL COME TO THESE HALLOWED HALLS TO SAY GOOD-BYE TO ANOTHER
SON OF ILLINOIS WHO, LIKE LINCOLN, APPEALED TO OUR BEST HOPES, NOT OUR
WORST FEARS.

IN THE LIFE OF ANY NATION, FEW MEN FOREVER ALTER THE COURSE OF HISTORY.
RONALD REAGAN WAS ONE OF THOSE MEN. HE ROSE FROM A YOUNG BOY WHO DIDN'T
HAVE MUCH TO A MAN WHO HAD IT ALL, INCLUDING THE LOVE OF A FAITHFUL
PARTNER AND FRIEND HE FOUND IN HIS WIFE NANCY.

THE TRUE MEASURE OF ANY MAN IS WHAT HE DOES WITH THE OPPORTUNITIES LIFE
OFFERS. BY THAT STANDARD, RONALD REAGAN WAS ONE OF AMERICA'S GREATEST.
HE FIRST PROVED THAT AS GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA AND LATER AS THE
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

WHEN RONALD REAGAN WAS SWORN IN AS OUR 40TH PRESIDENT, THIS NATION WAS
GRIPPED BY A POWERFUL MALAISE,\
INFLATION AND UNEMPLOYMENT WERE SOARING, AND THE SOVIET UNION WAS
WINNING THE COLD WAR.

BY THE TIME PRESIDENT REAGAN LEFT OFFICE, HE HAD REVERSED THE TREND OF
EVER-INCREASING GOVERNMENT CONTROL OVER OUR LIVES, RESTORED OUR DEFENSE
CAPABILITIES, GUIDED US THROUGH THE WORST ECONOMIC DOWNTURN SINCE THE
GREAT DEPRESSION, AND SET IN MOTION POLICIES WHICH ULTIMATELY LED TO THE
COLLAPSE OF THE "EVIL EMPIRE."

HIS INTEGRITY, VISION AND COMMITMENT WERE RESPECTED BY ALL. BUT
HISTORY'S FINAL JUDGMENT, I BELIEVE, WILL REMEMBER MOST HIS ABILITY TO
INSPIRE US.

PRESIDENT REAGAN PUT IT BEST WHEN HE SAID:"THE GREATEST LEADER IS NOT
NECESSARILY THE ONE WHO DOES THE GREATEST THINGS. HE IS THE ONE THAT
GETS \[THE\] PEOPLE TO DO THE GREATEST THINGS."

THIS PRESIDENT INSPIRED AMERICANS BY REACHING OUT FAR BEYOND WHAT HE
COULD ATTAIN. LIKE A GOOD COACH, HE UNDERSTOOD THE VALUE OF A GOAL ISN'T
ALWAYS IN ACHIEVING IT; SOMETIMES IT IS ENOUGH TO SIMPLY LOOK OUT INTO
THE FUTURE AND REMIND PEOPLE WHAT IS POSSIBLE. AND, OFTEN HE ACHIEVED
THE IMPOSSIBLE.

HE REMINDED US THAT "GOVERNMENT IS NOT THE SOLUTION." THE SOLUTION LIES
IN EACH OF US. TRUE AMERICAN HEROES ARE ORDINARY PEOPLE WHO LIVE THEIR
LIVES WITH EXTRAORDINARY CHARACTER AND STRENGTH.\
\
PRESIDENT REAGAN SHOWED US FREEDOM WAS NOT JUST A SLOGAN; HE ACTUALLY
BROUGHT FREEDOM TO HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE AROUND THIS GLOBE BY
OPPOSING OPPRESSIVE REGIMES. THOSE OF US FROM THE WORLD WAR II
GENERATION LOOKED UP TO HIM FOR HIS MORAL COURAGE; IN HIM WE SAW THE
LEADERSHIP OF GREAT MEN LIKE EISENHOWER WHO LED THE WAY AND MOVED US TO
FOLLOW.

ON A WINTER DAY IN 1981, RONALD REAGAN STOOD ON THE STEPS THAT LIE JUST
BEYOND THESE DOORS TO DELIVER HIS FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS. HE SPOKE OF A
JOURNAL WRITTEN BY A YOUNG AMERICAN WHO WENT TO FRANCE IN 1917 AND DIED
FOR THE CAUSE OF FREEDOM. FROM THAT JOURNAL HE READ THESE WORDS:

"I WILL WORK, I WILL SAVE, I WILL SACRIFICE, I WILL ENDURE, I WILL\
FIGHT CHEERFULLY AND DO MY UTMOST, AS IF THE ISSUE OF THE WHOLE STRUGGLE
DEPENDED ON ME ALONE."

THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE, RONALD REAGAN BORE OUR BURDENS AS IF THE OUTCOME
DID DEPEND ON HIM ALONE. WE WILL ALL REMEMBER HIM AS AN UNPARALLELED
LEADER AND AN EXCEPTIONAL MAN WHO LIFTED OUR NATION AND SET THE WORLD ON
A NEW PATH.

PRESIDENT REAGAN ACHIEVED GREATNESS IN HIS LIFE; SOME MIGHT EVEN ARGUE
HE TRANSCENDED IT. HE COULD NOT HAVE ACCOMPLISHED THIS WITHOUT NANCY.
NANCY IS ONE OF THE FINEST FIRST LADIES THESE UNITED STATES HAVE EVER
KNOWN. AND THE LOVE RONALD AND NANCY REAGAN SHARED TOUCHED THE HEARTS OF
PEOPLE EVERYWHERE.

IN 1989, PRESIDENT REAGAN DELIVERED HIS FAREWELL ADDRESS FROM THE OVAL
OFFICE. IN THAT SPEECH, THE PRESIDENT SPOKE OF "THE SHINING CITY UPON A
HILL" THAT, "AFTER 200 YEARS, TWO CENTURIES ...STILL STANDS STRONG AND
TRUE ON THE GRANITE RIDGE."\
NOW, IT IS OUR TURN TO THANK RONALD REAGAN FOR MAKING US BELIEVE IN THAT
SHINING CITY. AS WE SAY FAREWELL, HIS LAST WORDS AS PRESIDENT ECHO
ACROSS THIS GREAT NATION. IF WE LISTEN, WE WILL HEAR HIM WHISPER THE
HUMBLE WORDS HE USED TO SUM UP HIS REVOLUTION:

"ALL IN ALL, NOT BAD, NOT BAD AT ALL."

#40#