Ronald Reagan o 1911–2004 

Ronald Reagan 

Late a President of the United States 

h 

MEMORIAL TRIBUTES 

DELIVERED IN CONGRESS 
Courtesy Ronald Reagan Library

Ronald Reagan 
j 108TH CONGRESS, 2D SESSION . . . HOUSE DOCUMENT NO. 108–227 k 

M E M O R I A L S E R V I C E S I N T H E 

C O N G R E S S O F T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S 

A N D T R I B U T E S I N E U L O G Y O F 

Ronald Reagan 

L A T E A P R E S I D E N T O F T H E 

U N I T E D S T A T E S 

Compiled Under the Direction of the 

Joint Committee on Printing 

Chairman Robert W. Ney 

Vice Chairman Saxby Chambliss 

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 2005 

iii 

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 135 

(Mr. FRIST submitted the following concurrent resolution) 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, 

July áá, áÖÖâ. 

Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 

SECTION ". COMMEMORATIVE DOCUMENT AUTHORIZED. 

A commemorative document in memory of the late President of 

the United States, RONALD WILSON REAGAN, consisting of the eulogies and encomiums for RONALD WILSON REAGAN, as expressed 

in the Senate and the House of Representatives, together with the 

texts of the state funeral ceremony at the United States Capitol 

Rotunda, the national funeral service held at the Washington National Cathedral, Washington, District of Columbia, and the interment ceremony at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Simi 

Valley, California, shall be printed as a House document, with illustrations and suitable binding, under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing. 

SEC. #. PRINTING OF DOCUMENT. 

In addition to the usual number of copies printed, there shall 

be printed the lesser of— 

(1) 32,500 copies of the commemorative document, of which 

22,150 copies shall be for the use of the House of Representatives 

and 10,350 copies shall be for the use of the Senate; or 

(2) such number of copies of the commemorative document that 

does not exceed a production and printing cost of $1,000,000, with 

distribution of the copies to be allocated in the same proportion 

as described in paragraph (1). 
A compilation of addresses and tributes as 

given in the United States Senate and House 

of Representatives plus such additional materials, including the texts of eulogies, messages, prayers, and scriptural selections delivered at the funeral services held in Washington, DC, and in Simi Valley, CA, on the 

life, character, and public service of the late 

President Ronald Reagan. 
v 

Contents 

Page 

Biography ..................................................................................... vii 

Funeral Services for the Late Ronald Reagan, Held at— 

U.S. Capitol Rotunda ............................................................ xiii 

Washington National Cathedral ............................................ xxiii 

Ronald Reagan Presidential Library ....................................... xlix 

Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives of the United 

States ........................................................................................ 1 

Memorial Tributes in the Senate of the United States ................... 177 

Index ............................................................................................ 323 

vii 

Ronald Reagan 

(1911–2004) 

RONALD WILSON REAGAN was born on February 6, 1911, in an apartment 

above the general store in Tampico, IL. His family consisted of his parents, 

John and Nelle, and his older brother Neil. 

After a series of homes in Chicago, Galesburg, Monmouth, and Tampico, IL, the Reagans moved to Dixon, IL, in 1920. RONALD REAGAN considers Dixon his boyhood home. There he attended high school where he 

became involved in school football, basketball, and track. He served as student body president, participated in school plays and worked on the yearbook. For 7 summers he was employed as a lifeguard at Lowell Park, and 

is credited with saving 77 lives. 

REAGAN graduated from Eureka College with a bachelor of arts degree 

in economics and sociology. At Eureka College he was also involved in extracurricular activities including football, swim team, drama, yearbook editor, 

school newspaper reporter and student body president. 

After graduating college REAGAN became a radio sportscaster, first at 

WOC in Davenport, IA, later a full-time staff announcer at WHO in Des 

Moines. While reporting on spring training with the Chicago Cubs in California, he made a screen test for Warner Bros. They liked the easy-speaking, 

handsome REAGAN and signed him to a 7-year contract. REAGAN worked 

in Hollywood for the next 27 years and appeared in 53 films. 

His military career began in 1935 with enlistment in the Army Reserve. 

Two years later he was promoted to second lieutenant in the Reserve Corps 

of the Cavalry. In the Cavalry he learned to ride horses, which became a 

love he enjoyed throughout his life. In 1942 he was called to active duty 

in World War II. His eyesight made him ineligible for overseas duty, and 

he was assigned to the U.S. Army Air Corp’s First Motion Picture Unit 

attaining the rank of captain. There he appeared in numerous training films 

and starred in films selling war bonds. 

In 1940 he married Jane Wyman, an actress he met while filming Brother Rat. Maureen Reagan was born, and Michael Reagan was adopted before 

their divorce in 1949. He then met actress Nancy Davis, they fell in love, 

and were married in 1952. They had two children, Patti and Ronald Reagan. 

REAGAN and Davis appeared together in only one film, Hellcats of the Navy, 

made in 1957. In 2002 they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. 
viii Ronald Reagan 

After World War II, REAGAN returned to Hollywood. His interest in 

the entertainment industry waned and he became increasingly more focused 

on political matters. He was president of the Screen Actors Guild for 5 years, 

and toured the country giving speeches as General Electric’s celebrity spokesman. In 1960 REAGAN campaigned for Richard Nixon as a Democrat for 

Nixon. In 1962 he switched political parties from Democrat to Republican. 

He co-chaired the California campaign for Barry Goldwater for President, 

and launched his political career with a televised speech, ‘‘A Time for Choosing,’’ which raised a record $8 million for the Goldwater campaign. In 1964 

REAGAN appeared in his last film, The Killers. In 1966 he was elected Governor of California, where he served for 8 years from 1967 through 1975. 

In 1975 he announced his candidacy for President of the United States, 

but failed to win his party’s nomination. In 1980 he won the Republican 

nomination for the Presidency, was overwhelmingly elected, and was inaugurated as the 40th President of the United States in 1981. President REAGAN

was the oldest man to be inaugurated as President, the first two-term President since Eisenhower, and the longest living President of the United States. 

During his 8 years in office, REAGAN was wounded by an assassin’s 

bullet, appointed the first woman to the Supreme Court, worked to cut inflation and reduce government spending, improved the military, negotiated 

reduction of nuclear weapons with the Soviet Union, defeated the takeover 

of Grenada, and called upon Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down 

the Berlin Wall. 

At the age of 79 he left the Presidency and returned to California. 

In 1991 the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library was dedicated. In 1994 President REAGAN released a letter to the American people announcing that he 

had Alzheimer’s disease, concluding his letter with, ‘‘I now begin this journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America 

there will always be a bright dawn ahead. Thank you my friends. May God 

always bless you.’’ 

RONALD REAGAN died on June 5, 2004, and is buried at the Ronald 

Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, CA. 
Courtesy Ronald Reagan Library

Speech at the Berlin Wall, June 12, 1987 
Courtesy Ronald Reagan Library

Official family photograph following the inauguration, January 20, 1981 
FUNERAL SERVICES FOR 

Ronald Reagan 

1911–2004 
★ ★ ★ 

WITH GRATITUDE FOR

YOUR EXPRESSION OF SYMPATHY

IN HONORING THE LIFE OF

RONALD WILSON REAGAN

FEBRUARY 6, 1911 

to 

JUNE 5, 2004 

RONALD REAGAN PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

SIMI VALLEY, CALIFORNIA

★ ★ ★ 
xiii 

——————— ——————— ❖ 

R O N A L D W I L S O N R E A G A N 

FORTIETH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

February ã, ÜéÜÜ–June ä, áÖÖâ 

Wednesday, the éth of June, áÖÖâ 

The Rotunda 

United States Capitol 

Washington, D.C. 
xiv Ronald Reagan 

R O T U N D A S E R V I C E 

UNITED STATES CAPITOL

——————— ——————— ❖ 

PRELUDE ‘‘Battle Hymn of the Republic’’ 

‘‘America’’ 

‘‘God of Our Fathers’’ 

U.S. Army Brass Quintet 

INVOCATION The Reverend Daniel P. Coughlin 

Chaplain, U.S. House of Representatives 

EULOGIES Senator Ted Stevens 

President pro tempore, U.S. Senate 

Representative J. Dennis Hastert 

Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives 

Richard B. Cheney 

Vice President of the United States 

HYMN ‘‘America the Beautiful’’ 

U.S. Air Force Singing Sergeants 

WREATHS PLACED Senator Ted Stevens 

Representative J. Dennis Hastert 

Vice President Richard B. Cheney 

BENEDICTION Dr. Barry C. Black 

Chaplain, U.S. Senate 

POSTLUDE ‘‘GOD BLESS AMERICA’’ 

U.S. Army Brass Quintet 
Funeral Services xv 

jAir Force One plane lands at Andrews Air Force Base.k 

jThe color guard representing all branches of the U.S. military gets into 

position.k 

jThe honor cordon and the Army band march into position.k 

jThe color guard carries the casket from the plane.k 

jMrs. Reagan disembarks. Mourners disembark.k 

j‘‘Hail to the Chief.’’ 21-gun salute. ‘‘America the Beautiful.’’k 

jThe color guard carries the casket to the hearse.k 

jThe hearse carrying the casket of RONALD REAGAN and the motorcade 

leave Andrews Air Force Base.k 

jThe motorcade travels from Suitland Road to Suitland Parkway, picks up 

I295 north to the 11th Street Bridge, then I395 south into Virginia to the 

George Washington Memorial Parkway north and back into Washington, 

DC, at the Memorial Bridge, to Henry Bacon Drive and Constitution Avenue.k 

jThe motorcade stops at the Ellipse at 16th and Constitution.k 

jThe casket is transferred from the hearse to the caisson by military pallbearers.k 

jThe funeral procession is comprised of the Honor Cordon; 16 marching 

units of 89 people each; 3 marching bands with 100 pieces each; 3 Commanders with staff; the cortege—Special Honor Guard, Honorary Pallbearers, 

and the National Color Guard; Clergy; horse-drawn carriage; caisson; riderless horse with the boots in the stirrups facing backward; personal color 

bearer; and members of the family. The caisson is followed by the honor 

guard, the color guard, the marching bands, and the cortege, the procession 

of mourners.k 

jThe procession starts at the Ellipse on Pennsylvania Avenue, and travels 

up Constitution Avenue to Capitol Hill.k 

jGod Bless America.k 

jFlyover of 21 F–15 aircraft at Fourth and Constitution. 21 U.S. military 

F–15 aircraft from the Fourth Fighter Wing, Seymour Johnson Air Force 

Base in South Carolina fly over the Capitol and look like a giant V. A 

single plane flies in the lead position followed by five waves of four plane 

formations at 10-second intervals. At the very end, as the last part of the 

formation, one of the F–15s performs the missing man maneuver where that 

aircraft shoots straight up and leaves the others behind.k 

jMilitary band plays.k 

jTwo 105mm howitzers sound the traditional 21-gun salute.k 

j‘‘Battle Hymn of the Republic.’’k 

jProcession reaches Capitol Hill.k 

jThe casket is removed from the caisson and carried up the stairs by the 

honor guard and placed inside the Capitol rotunda on the catafalque.k 
xvi Ronald Reagan 

REV. DANIEL P. COUGHLIN, HOUSE CHAPLAIN: Let us pray. 

The poet T.S. Eliot wrote, ‘‘neither does the actor suffer nor the patient 

act, but both are fixed in an eternal patience, an eternal act. And the wheel 

turns. The wheel turns and is forever still.’’ RONALD WILSON REAGAN had 

many roles to play in life: husband, father, Governor, but the most notable 

role on the world stage was that of the 40th President of the United States 

of America. With his style and grace he made it seem easy. With his compassion and sense of timing, he brought strength of character to the Nation 

and enkindled hope in a darkened world. As the patient, he brought humility to greatness and presided over embracing life to its natural end and dying 

with dignity surrounded by love. To you, oh Lord, ever patient with all 

of us, ever active in all of us, be praise and thanks for the life and impact 

RONALD REAGAN has had upon us all. Support with your grace the Reagan 

family, and especially Mrs. Nancy Reagan, who stood by him in memorable 

moments of history and never left him in the long moments of difficult 

performance when the wheel turned, ah so slowly. Inspired by President 

REAGAN, empower all of us, Lord, to employ our part in crumbling the 

walls of separation and in opening the gates to a globalized world. May 

our stillness here help us to remain faithful and patient with those suffering 

and to make decisions that will renew faith in the future. All powerful God, 

fix America in your eternal patience, in your eternal act, as the wheel turns 

now and forever. Amen. 

jSalutes.k 

SENATOR TED STEVENS, PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE: 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 goodbye 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. 
Funeral Services xvii 

He first proved that as Governor of California and later as 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 jthek 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’s enough to simply look out into the 

future and remind people what is possible. And often, President REAGAN

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 wintry day in 1981, RONALD REAGAN stood on the steps that 

lie just behind 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 depends 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 
xviii Ronald Reagan 

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 on 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.’’ 

REP. DENNIS HASTERT, HOUSE SPEAKER: Mrs. Reagan, Mr. 

Vice President, Members of Congress and distinguished guests: 

RONALD REAGAN’s long journey has finally drawn to a close. 

It is altogether fitting and proper that he has returned to this Capitol 

rotunda, like another great son of Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, so the Nation 

can say goodbye. This Capitol Building is, for many, the greatest symbol 

of democracy and freedom in the world. It brings to mind the ‘‘shining 

city on the hill’’ of which President REAGAN so often spoke. It is the right 

place to honor a man who so faithfully defended our freedom, and so successfully helped extend the blessings of liberty to millions of people around 

the world. 

Mrs. Reagan, thank you for sharing your husband with us—for your 

steadfast love and for your great faith. We pray for you and for your family 

in this time of great mourning. 

But as we mourn, we must also celebrate the life and the vision of 

one of America’s greatest Presidents. His story and values are quintessentially 

American. Born in Tampico, IL, and then raised in Dixon, IL, he moved 

west to follow his dreams. He brought with him a midwestern optimism, 

and he blended it with a western can-do spirit. 

In 1980, the year of the Reagan revolution, his vision of hope, growth, 

and opportunity was exactly what the American people needed and wanted. 

His message touched a fundamental chord that is deeply embedded in the 

American experience. 

President REAGAN dared to dream that America had a special mission. 

He believed in the essential goodness of the American people and that we 

had a special duty to promote peace and freedom for the rest of the world. 

Against the advice of the timid, he sent a chilling message to authoritarian governments everywhere, that the civilized world would not rest until 

freedom reigned in every corner of the globe. 

While others worried, President REAGAN persevered. When others 

weakened, President REAGAN stood tall. When others stepped back, Presi-
Funeral Services xix 

dent REAGAN stepped forward. And he did it all with great humility, with 

great charm, and with great humor. 

Tonight, we will open these doors and let the men and women whom 

RONALD REAGAN served so faithfully, file past and say goodbye to a man 

who meant so much to so many. It is their being here that I think would 

mean more to him than any words that we may say, because it was from 

America’s great and good people that RONALD REAGAN drew his strength. 

In the years ahead, we will tell our grandchildren about this night 

when we gathered here to honor the man from Illinois who became the 

son of California and then the son of all America. And then our grandchildren will tell their grandchildren, and President REAGAN’s spirit and 

eternal faith in America will carry on. 

RONALD REAGAN helped make our country and this world a better 

place to live. But he always believed that our best days were ahead of us, 

not behind us. I can still hear him saying with that twinkle in his eye, 

‘‘You ain’t seen nothing yet!’’ 

President REAGAN once said, ‘‘We make a living by what we get; we 

make a life by what we give.’’ Twenty years ago, President REAGAN stood 

on the beaches of Normandy to honor those who made a life by what they 

gave. Recalling the men who scaled the cliffs and crossed the beaches in 

a merciless hail of bullets, he asked, Who were these men—these ordinary 

men doing extraordinary things? His answer was simple and direct: They 

were Americans. 

So I can think of no higher tribute or honor or title to confer upon 

RONALD REAGAN than just to simply say, he was an American. Godspeed, 

Mr. President. God bless you, and God bless the United States of America. 

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 

Mrs. Reagan, members of the President’s family, colleagues, distinguished 

guests, members of the diplomatic corps, fellow citizens: Knowing that this 

moment would come has not made it any easier to see the honor guard 

and the flag draped before us, and to begin America’s farewell to President 

RONALD REAGAN. He said goodbye to us in a letter that showed his great 

courage and love for America. Yet for his friends and his country, the parting 

comes only now. And in this national vigil of mourning, we show how much 

America loved this good man and how greatly we will miss him. 

A harsh winter morning in 1985 brought the inaugural ceremony inside 

of this rotunda. And standing in this place for the 50th Presidential inauguration, RONALD REAGAN spoke of a Nation that was ‘‘hopeful, big-hearted, idealistic, daring, decent and fair.’’ That was how he saw America, and 

that was how America came to know him. There was a kindness, simplicity, 

and goodness of character that marked all the years of his life. 
xx Ronald Reagan 

When you mourn a man of 93, no one is left who remembers him 

as a child in his mother’s arms. RONALD WILSON REAGAN’s life began in 

a time and place so different from our own, in a quiet town on the prairie, 

on the 6th of February, 1911. Nelle and Jack Reagan would live long enough 

to see the kind of man they had raised, but they could never know all that 

destiny had in store for the boy they called ‘‘DUTCH.’’ And if they could 

witness this scene in 2004, their son, taken to his rest with the full honors 

of the United States, they would be so proud of all he had done with the 

life they gave him, and the things they taught him. 

President REAGAN once said, ‘‘I learned from my father the value of 

hard work and ambition, and maybe a little something about telling a 

story.’’ That was the RONALD REAGAN who confidently set out on his own 

from Dixon, IL, during the Great Depression, the man who would one day 

speak before cameras and crowds with such ease and self-command. 

‘‘From my mother,’’ said President REAGAN, ‘‘I learned the value of 

prayer. My mother told me that everything in life happened for a purpose. 

She said all things were part of God’s plan, even the most disheartening 

setbacks, and in the end, everything worked out for the best.’’ This was 

the RONALD REAGAN who had faith, not just in his own gifts and his own 

future, but in the possibilities of every life. The cheerful spirit that carried 

him forward was more than a disposition; it was the optimism of a faithful 

soul who trusted in God’s purposes, and knew those purposes to be right 

and true. 

He once said, ‘‘There’s no question I am an idealist, which is another 

way of saying I am an American.’’ We usually associate that quality with 

youth, and yet one of the most idealistic men ever to become President 

was also the oldest. 

He excelled in professions that have left many others jaded and selfsatisfied, and yet somehow remained untouched by the worst influences of 

fame or power. If RONALD REAGAN ever uttered a cynical, or cruel, or selfish 

word, the moment went unrecorded. Those who knew him in his youth 

and those who knew him a lifetime later, all remember his largeness of 

spirit, his gentle instincts, and a quiet rectitude that drew others to him. 

Seen now at a distance, his strengths as a man and as a leader are 

only more impressive. It’s the nature of the city of Washington that men 

and women arrive, leave their mark, and go their way. Some figures who 

seemed quite large and important in their day are sometimes forgotten, or 

remembered with ambivalence. Yet nearly a generation after the often impassioned debates of the REAGAN years, what lingers from that time is almost 

all good. And this is because of the calm and kind man who stood at the 

center of events. 

We think back with appreciation for the decency of our 40th President 

and respect for all that he achieved. After so much turmoil in the sixties 
Funeral Services xxi 

and seventies, our Nation had begun to lose confidence, and some were heard 

to say that the Presidency might even be too big for one man. That phrase 

did not survive the eighties. For decades, America had waged a cold war, 

and few believed it could possibly end in our own lifetimes. The President 

was one of those few. And it was the vision and the will of RONALD REAGAN

that gave hope to the oppressed, shamed the oppressors, and ended an evil 

empire. More than any other influence, the cold war was ended by the perseverance and courage of one man who answered falsehood with truth, and 

overcame evil with good. 

RONALD REAGAN was more than a historic figure. He was a providential man who came along just when our Nation and the world most 

needed him. And believing as he did that there is a plan at work in each 

life, he accepted not only the great duties that came to him, but also the 

great trials that came near the end. When he learned of his illness, his first 

thoughts were of Nancy. And who else but RONALD REAGAN could face 

his own decline and death with a final message of hope to his country, 

telling us that for America there is always a bright dawn ahead? Fellow 

Americans, here lies a graceful and a gallant man. 

Nancy, none of us can take away the sadness you are feeling. I hope 

it is a comfort to know how much he means to us, and how much you 

mean to us as well. We honor your grace, your own courage, and above 

all, the great love that you gave to your husband. When these days of ceremony are completed, the Nation returns him to you for the final journey 

to the West. And when he is laid to rest under the Pacific sky, we will 

be thinking of you, as we commend to the Almighty the soul of His faithful 

servant, RONALD WILSON REAGAN. 

jMusick 

DR. BARRY C. BLACK, CHAPLAIN, U.S. SENATE: Let us bow for 

the benediction. O giver of every good and perfect gift, accept our gratitude 

for the life of your servant, President RONALD REAGAN, whose love for freedom summoned our Nation to embrace our best hopes and not our worst 

fears. Thank you for his ability to plant seeds of confidence and not doubt 

and to lift liberty’s lamp until totalitarian towers tumbled. In the days to 

come, remind us of America’s opportunity to remain a ‘‘shining city on a 

hill.’’ Continue to comfort those who mourn. In a special way, be near to 

Mrs. Nancy Reagan and the family. May the death of this beloved leader 

prompt us to see you more clearly, to love you more dearly, and to follow 

you more nearly day by day. Now fill us with your peace, as we trust you, 

so that we may overflow with hope by the power of your spirit. Amen. 

jMusick 
xxii Ronald Reagan 

jMrs. Reagan, accompanied by Mr. Cheney, says goodbye to her husband at the casket. Michael Reagan also says goodbye. Family and friends 

file out.k 
xxiii 

——————— ——————— ❖ 

R O N A L D W I L S O N R E A G A N 

FORTIETH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

February ã, ÜéÜÜ–June ä, áÖÖâ 

Friday, the ÜÜth of June, áÖÖâ 

Eleven thirty o’clock in the morning 

Washington National Cathedral 

Washington, D.C. 
xxiv Ronald Reagan 

——————— ——————— ❖ 

CELEBRANT 

The Reverend John C. Danforth 

PARTICIPANTS 

The Right Reverend John Bryson Chane 

Bishop of Washington and Dean of the Cathedral 

The Right Reverend A. Theodore Eastman 

Vicar, Washington National Cathedral 

His Eminence Angelo Cardinal Sodano 

Secretary of State, Personal Representative of Pope John Paul II 

His Eminence Theodore Cardinal McCarrick 

Catholic Archbishop of Washington 

His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios 

Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America 

Imam Mohamed Magid Ali 

Imam and Director of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society 

READERS 

Rabbi Harold Kushner 

Temple Israel, Natick, Massachusetts 

The Honorable Sandra Day O’Connor 

TRIBUTES 

The President of the United States 

The Honorable George H.W. Bush 

The Right Honourable The Baroness Thatcher, L.G., O.M., F.R.S 

The Right Honourable Brian Mulroney 

HONORARY PALLBEARERS 

The Honorable Michael K. Deaver 

Mr. Merv Griffin 

Brigadier General John E. Hutton, MC U.S. Army, Retired 

The Honorable Frederick J. Ryan, Jr. 

The Honorable Charles Z. Wick 
Funeral Services xxv 

——————— ——————— ❖ 

MUSICIANS 

Ronan Tynan 

Irish Tenor 

The United States Marine Chamber 

Orchestra 

Colonel Timothy W. Foley, Director 

The Armed Forces Chorus 

Lieutenant Colonel John Clanton, 

Director 

The United States Coast Guard Band 

Captain Lewis J. Buckley, Director 

The Cathedral Choir of Men, 

Boys, and Girls 

Michael McCarthy, Director of Music 

Erik Wm. Suter 

Organist and Associate Choirmaster 

Scott Hanoian 

Assistant Organist and Choirmaster 

The Reverend Canon 

W. Bruce McPherson 

Director for Worship and Liturgy ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— 

The Cathedral Vergers 

Stephen Lott, Head Verger 

The Cathedral Ushers 

Michael Heid, Head Usher 
xxvi Ronald Reagan 

———————— ORDER OF THE SERVICE ———————— 

PRELUDE U.S. Marine Chamber Orchestra 

‘‘Faire is the Heaven’’ 

‘‘Bring Us, O Lord God’’ 

‘‘And I Saw a New Heaven’’ 

‘‘Ave Maria’’ Ronan Tynan 

RECEPTION OF THE BODY 

Musical Honors U.S. Coast Guard Band 

‘‘Ruffles and Flourishes’’ 

‘‘Hail to the Chief’’ 

‘‘Navy Hymn’’ 

tune: Melita 

Prayers The Right Reverend John Bryson Chane attended by 

The Reverend John C. Danforth, The Right Reverend A. Theodore Eastman, and Stephen Lott 

ANTHEM IN PROCESSION The Reverend John C. Danforth 

COLLECT FOR BURIAL The Reverend John C. Danforth 

A READING FROM THE 

HEBREW SCRIPTURES 

Rabbi Harold Kushner 

READING 

‘‘We shall Be as a City Upon a 

Hill,’’ by John Winthrop 

The Honorable Sandra Day O’Connor 

ANTHEM 

‘‘O Love of God, How Strong 

and True’’ 

Cathedral Choir 

INTRODUCTION OF 

REMEMBRANCES 

The Reverend John C. Danforth 

TRIBUTES The Right Honourable The Baroness Thatcher, 

L.G., O.M., F.R.S 

The Right Honourable Brian Mulroney 

The Honorable George H.W. Bush 

President George W. Bush 

ANTHEM 

‘‘Battle Hymn of the Republic’’ 

Armed Forces Chorus 

U.S. Marine Chamber Orchestra 

GOSPEL His Eminence Theodore Cardinal McCarrick 

HOMILY The Reverend John C. Danforth 

ANTHEM 

‘‘Amazing Grace’’ Ronan Tynan 

THE LORD’S PRAYER The Reverend John C. Danforth 

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE The Right Reverend A. Theodore Eastman 

HYMN 

‘‘Sing with All the Saints in 

Glory’’ 

THE COMMENDATION The Reverend John C. Danforth 

THE BLESSING The Right Reverend John Bryson Chane 

THE DISMISSAL The Right Reverend A. Theodore Eastman 

ANTHEM 

‘‘The Mansions of the Lord’’ Armed Forces Chorus 

U.S. Marine Chamber Orchestra 

The congregation is asked to remain at their seats until directed by an usher. 

A full peal, half-muffled, will be rung on the Cathedral bells at 

the conclusion of the service. 
Funeral Services xxvii 

jThe Color Guard moves up the stairs toward the rotunda, to begin the 

process of transferring the casket of RONALD REAGAN from the rotunda to 

the hearse.k 

j21-gun salute as the casket is carried down the House steps and loaded 

into the hearse.k 

jAs the hearse carrying President REAGAN’s casket leaves the Capitol, the 

bells begin to peel.k 

jThe drive to the National Cathedral.k 

PRELUDE 

U.S. Marine Chamber Orchestra 

‘‘Faire is the Heaven,’’ William H. Harris 

‘‘Bring Us, O Lord God,’’ William H. Harris 

‘‘And I Saw a New Heaven,’’ Edgar L. Bainton 

‘‘Ave Maria,’’ Franz Peter Schubert; sung by Ronan Tynan, Irish tenor 

jThe motorcade arrives at the National Cathedral. The casket is removed 

from the hearse.k 

jThe chimes continue to ring once a minute. Afterward there will be a 

much, much louder and sustained chiming of those bells.k 

RECEPTION OF THE BODY 

Musical Honors, U.S. Coast Guard Band 

‘‘Ruffles and Flourishes’’ 

‘‘Hail to the Chief’’ 

‘‘Navy Hymn,’’ James Sanderson (tune: Melita) 

Prayers 

The Right Reverend John Bryson Chane attended by The Reverend John C. 

Danforth, The Right Reverend A. Theodore Eastman, and Stephen Lott 

With faith in Jesus Christ, we receive the body of our brother 

RONALD for burial. Let us pray with confidence to God, the Giver 

of life, that he will raise him to perfection in the company of the saints. 

Deliver your servant RONALD, O Sovereign Lord Christ, from all 

evil, and set him free from every bond; that he may rest with all your 

saints in the eternal habitations; where with the Father and the Holy 

Spirit you live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 

Let us also pray for all who mourn, that they may cast their care 

on God, and know the consolation of his love. 

Almighty God, look with pity upon the sorrows of your servants 

for whom we pray. Remember them, Lord, in your mercy; nourish them 

with patience; comfort them with a sense of your goodness; lift up 

your countenance upon them and give them peace; through Jesus Christ 

our Lord. Amen. 

jThe People stand.k 

jThe Celebrant is led to the center of the rood screen landing; all others 

to their seats. When at about the midnave cross-aisle, the Celebrant begins.k 
xxviii Ronald Reagan 

ANTHEM IN PROCESSION 

The Reverend John C. Danforth 

I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord; 

he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; 

and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. 

I know that my Redeemer liveth, 

and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; 

and though this body be destroyed, yet shall I see God; 

whom I shall see for myself and mine eyes shall behold, 

and not as a stranger. 

For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. 

For if we live, we live unto the Lord; 

and if we die, we die unto the Lord. 

Whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s. 

Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord; 

even so saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labors. 

jThe Celebrant reaches the rood screen landing and faces the congregation. 

The casket is put in position and the bearers depart. The family is shown 

to their seats. President Bush accompanies Mrs. Reagan to her seat.k 

COLLECT FOR BURIAL 

The Reverend John C. Danforth 

Let us pray. O God, whose mercies cannot be numbered: Accept 

our prayers on behalf of thy servant RONALD, and grant him an entrance into the land of light and joy, in the fellowship of thy saints; 

through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and 

the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. 

jThe People are seated.k 

jThe Celebrant goes to his stall as the first and second readers are led to 

the lectern. The first reader steps up to the reading desk.k 

A READING FROM THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES 

Rabbi Harold Kushner 

Isaiah 40:28–31 

Where does a person find the strength to persevere in difficult 

times? Many people find that strength from the pages of the Bible. 

Turning to the Book of Isaiah, the 40th chapter: 

Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard 

That the everlasting God, the Lord, 

The Creator of the ends of the earth, 

Fainteth not, neither is weary? 

There is no searching of his understanding. 

He giveth power to the faint: 
Funeral Services xxix 

And to him that hath no might He increaseth strength. 

Even the youths shall faint and be weary, 

And the young men shall utterly fall; 

But they that wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; 

They shall mount up with wings as eagles; 

They shall run, and not be weary; 

They shall walk, and not faint. 

jThe first reader steps down to the landing and the second reader steps 

up to the reading desk.k 

READING 

The Honorable Sandra Day O’Connor 

‘‘We Shall Be as a City Upon a Hill,’’ by John Winthrop 

This is a reading from a sermon delivered in 1630 by the Pilgrim 

leader John Winthrop, who was aboard the ship the Arabella on his 

way from England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. ‘‘The city on the 

hill’’ passage was referenced by President REAGAN in several notable 

speeches. 

Now the only way . . . to provide for our posterity, is to follow 

the counsel of Micah, to do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly 

with our God. . . . We must delight in each other, make others’ conditions our own; rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission and community 

in the work, as members of the same body. . . . The Lord will be our 

God, and delight to dwell among us, as His own people . . . For we 

must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all 

people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in 

this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His 

present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through 

the world. 

jThe second reader steps down, and both readers are led back to their seats.k 

jA lectern is placed on the rood screen landing center for Mr. Mulroney.k 

ANTHEM 

‘‘O Love of God, How Strong and True’’ 

Tune: Jerusalem 

C. Hubert H. Parry, 1916 

arr: Michael McCarthy, 2004 

text by: Horatio Bonar, 1858 

Cathedral Choir 

O love of God, how strong and true 

Eternal and yet ever new, 

Uncomprehended and unbought, 

Beyond all knowledge and all thought! 
xxx Ronald Reagan 

O love of God, how deep and great, 

Far deeper than man’s deepest hate; 

Self-fed, self-kindled like the light, 

Changeless, eternal infinite. 

O heav’nly love, how precious still, 

In days of weariness and ill, 

In nights of pain and helplessness, 

To heal, to comfort and to bless! 

O wide-embracing, wondrous love! 

We read you in the sky above, 

We read you in the earth below, 

In seas that swell and streams that flow. 

We read you best in him who came 

To bear for us the cross of shame; 

Sent by the Father from on high, 

Our life to live, our death to die. 

We read your pow’r to bless and save, 

E’en in the darkness of the grave; 

Still more in resurrection light 

We read the fullness of your might. 

O love of God, our shield and stay 

Through all the perils of our way! 

Eternal love, in you we rest 

Forever safe, forever blest. 

We will exalt you, God and King, 

and we will ever praise your name; 

We will extol you ev’ry day, 

and ever more your praise proclaim 

jToward the end of the anthem, Mr. Mulroney is led to the landing lectern 

for his tribute.k 

INTRODUCTION OF REMEMBRANCES 

The Reverend John C. Danforth 

jThe Celebrant stands at his stall, faces the congregation, and introduces 

Baroness Thatcher’s videotaped tribute, then takes his seat again.k 

President REAGAN’s deepest long-held wish was that Lady Thatcher 

should participate in this service. But as the years have passed, Lady 

Thatcher’s health, too, has suffered its ups and downs. Eighteen months 

ago, her doctors advised her to give up all formal public speaking. But 

she was determined to record her tribute to President REAGAN come 

what may, and this she has done. She was equally determined, on learning of the President’s death, to be with us today. The next voice you 

will hear will be Lady Thatcher’s. 
Funeral Services xxxi 

TRIBUTE 

Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 

We have lost a great President, a great American and a great man, 

and I have lost a dear friend. In his lifetime, RONALD REAGAN was 

such a cheerful and invigorating presence that it was easy to forget 

what daunting historic tasks he set himself. He sought to mend America’s wounded spirit, to restore the strength of the free world, and to 

free the slaves of communism. These were causes hard to accomplish 

and heavy with risk. 

Yet they were pursued with almost a lightness of spirit, for RONALD REAGAN also embodied another great cause, what Arnold Bennett 

once called ‘‘the great cause of cheering us all up.’’ His politics had 

a freshness and optimism that won converts from every class and every 

nation, and ultimately from the very heart of the evil empire. 

Yet his humour often had a purpose beyond humour. In the terrible hours after the attempt on his life, his easy jokes gave reassurance 

to an anxious world. They were evidence that in the aftermath of terror 

and in the midst of hysteria, one great heart at least remained sane 

and jocular. They were truly grace under pressure. 

And perhaps they signified grace of a deeper kind. RONNIE himself certainly believed that he had been given back his life for a purpose. 

As he told a priest after his recovery ‘‘Whatever time I’ve got left now 

belongs to the big fellow upstairs.’’ 

And surely it is hard to deny that RONALD REAGAN’s life was 

providential, when we look at what he achieved in the 8 years that 

followed. 

Others prophesied the decline of the West; he inspired America 

and its allies with renewed faith in their mission of freedom. 

Others saw only limits to growth; he transformed a stagnant economy into an engine of opportunity. 

Others hoped, at best, for an uneasy cohabitation with the Soviet 

Union; he won the cold war—not only without firing a shot, but also 

by inviting enemies out of their fortress and turning them into friends. 

I cannot imagine how any diplomat, or any dramatist, could improve on his words to Mikhail Gorbachev at the Geneva Summit: ‘‘Let 

me tell you why it is we distrust you.’’ Those words are candid and 

tough and they cannot have been easy to hear. But they are also a 

clear invitation to a new beginning and a new relationship that would 

be rooted in trust. 

We live today in the world that RONALD REAGAN began to reshape with those words. It is a very different world with different challenges and new dangers. All in all, however, it is one of greater freedom 
xxxii Ronald Reagan 

and prosperity, one more hopeful than the world he inherited on becoming President. 

As Prime Minister, I worked closely with RONALD REAGAN for 

8 of the most important years of all our lives. We talked regularly 

both before and after his Presidency. And I have had time and cause 

to reflect on what made him a great President. 

RONALD REAGAN knew his own mind. He had firm principles— 

and, I believe, right ones. He expounded them clearly, he acted upon 

them decisively. 

When the world threw problems at the White House, he was not 

baffled, or disorientated, or overwhelmed. He knew almost instinctively 

what to do. 

When his aides were preparing option papers for his decision, they 

were able to cut out entire rafts of proposals that they knew ‘‘the Old 

Man’’ would never wear. 

When his allies came under Soviet or domestic pressure, they 

could look confidently to Washington for firm leadership. 

And when his enemies tested American resolve, they soon discovered that his resolve was firm and unyielding. 

Yet his ideas, though clear, were never simplistic. He saw the 

many sides of truth. 

Yes, he warned that the Soviet Union had an insatiable drive for 

military power and territorial expansion; but he also sensed it was being 

eaten away by systemic failures impossible to reform. 

Yes, he did not shrink from denouncing Moscow’s ‘‘evil empire.’’ 

But he realised that a man of good will might nonetheless emerge from 

within its dark corridors. 

So the President resisted Soviet expansion and pressed down on 

Soviet weakness at every point until the day came when communism 

began to collapse beneath the combined weight of those pressures and 

its own failures. And when a man of good will did emerge from the 

ruins, President REAGAN stepped forward to shake his hand and to 

offer sincere cooperation. 

Nothing was more typical of RONALD REAGAN than that largehearted magnanimity. And nothing was more American. Therein lies 

perhaps the final explanation of his achievements. RONALD REAGAN

carried the American people with him in his great endeavors because 

there was perfect sympathy between them. He indeed loved America 

and what it stands for: freedom and opportunity for ordinary people. 

As an actor in Hollywood’s golden age, he helped to make the 

American dream live for millions all over the globe. His own life was 

a fulfillment of that dream. He never succumbed to the embarrassment 

some people feel about an honest expression of love of country. He 
Funeral Services xxxiii 

was able to say, ‘‘God bless America’’ with equal fervour in public and 

in private. And so he was able to call confidently upon his fellow countrymen to make sacrifices for America and to make sacrifices for those 

who looked to America for hope and rescue. 

With the lever of American patriotism, he lifted up the world. 

And so today, the world—in Prague, in Budapest, in Warsaw, in Sofia, 

in Bucharest, in Kiev and in Moscow itself—the world mourns the 

passing of the ‘‘great liberator’’ and echoes his prayer: ‘‘God bless America.’’ 

RONALD REAGAN’s life was rich, not only in public achievement, 

but also in private happiness. Indeed, his public achievements were 

rooted in his private happiness. The great turning point of his life was 

his meeting and marriage with Nancy. 

On that we have the plain testimony of a loving and grateful husband: ‘‘Nancy came along and saved my soul.’’ We share her grief 

today. But we also share her pride—and the grief and pride of RONNIE’s children. 

For the final years of his life, RONNIE’s mind was clouded by illness. That cloud has now lifted. He is himself again—more himself 

than at any time on this Earth. For we may be sure that the Big Fellow 

Upstairs never forgets those who remember Him. And as the last journey of this faithful pilgrim took him beyond the sunset, and as Heaven’s morning broke, I like to think—in the words of Bunyan—that 

‘‘all the trumpets sounded on the other side.’’ 

We here still move in twilight. But we have one beacon to guide 

us that RONALD REAGAN never had. We have his example. Let us give 

thanks today for a life that achieved so much for all of God’s children. 

TRIBUTE 

Brian Mulroney, Former Prime Minister of Canada 

In the spring of 1987, President REAGAN and I were driven into 

a large hangar at the Ottawa Airport to await the arrival of Mrs. Reagan 

and my wife Mila prior to departure ceremonies for their return to 

Washington. We were alone except for the security details. 

President REAGAN’s visit had been important, demanding and successful. Our discussions reflected the international agenda of the times: 

the nuclear threat posed by the Soviet Union and the missile deployment by NATO, pressures in the Warsaw Pact, challenges resulting 

from the Berlin Wall and the ongoing separation of Germany, and bilateral and hemispheric free trade. 

President REAGAN had spoken to Parliament, handled complex 

files with skill and good humor, strongly impressing his Canadian 

hosts. And here we were waiting for our wives. 
xxxiv Ronald Reagan 

When their car drove in a moment later, out stepped Nancy and 

Mila looking like a million bucks. And as they headed toward us, President REAGAN beamed. He threw his arm around my shoulder. And 

he said with a grin, ‘‘You know, Brian, for two Irishmen, we sure married up.’’ 

In that visit, in that moment, one saw the quintessential RONALD

REAGAN: the leader we respected, the neighbor we admired, and the 

friend we loved, a President of the United States of America whose 

truly remarkable life we celebrate in this magnificent cathedral today. 

Presidents and prime ministers everywhere, I suspect, sometimes 

wonder how history will deal with them. Some even evince a touch 

of the insecurity of Thomas D’Arcy McGee, an Irish immigrant to Canada who became a father of our confederation. 

In one of his poems, McGee, thinking of his birthplace, wrote 

poignantly, 

‘‘Am I remembered in Erin? 

I charge you speak me true. 

Has my name a sound, a meaning 

In the scenes my boyhood knew?’’ 

RONALD REAGAN will not have to worry about Erin because they 

remember him well and affectionately there. Indeed they do. 

From Erin to Estonia, from Maryland to Madagascar, from Montreal to Monterey, RONALD REAGAN does not enter history tentatively. 

He does so with certainty and panache. 

At home and on the world stage, his were not the pallid etchings 

of a timorous politician. They were the bold strokes of a confident and 

accomplished leader. 

Some in the West, during the early eighties, believed communism 

and democracy were equally valid and viable. This was the school of 

moral equivalence. 

In contrast, RONALD REAGAN saw Soviet communism as a menace 

to be confronted in the genuine belief that its squalid underpinnings 

would fall swiftly to the gathering winds of freedom, provided as he 

said, ‘‘that NATO and the industrialized democracies stood firm and 

united.’’ They did. And we know now who was right. 

RONALD REAGAN was a President who inspired his Nation and 

transformed the world. He possessed a rare and prized gift called leadership, that ineffable and magical quality that sets some men and women 

apart so that millions will follow them as they conjure up grand visions 

and invite their countrymen to dream big and exciting dreams. 

I always thought that President REAGAN’s understanding of the 

nobility of the Presidency coincided with that American dream. 
Funeral Services xxxv 

One day in Brussels, President Mitterand, in referring to President 

REAGAN, said, ‘‘Il a vraiment la notion de l’Etat’’; rough translation: 

‘‘He really has a sense of the state about him.’’ The translation does 

not fully capture the profundity of the observation. 

What President Mitterand meant is that there is a vast difference 

between the job of President and the role of President. 

RONALD REAGAN fulfilled both with elegance and ease, embodying himself that unusual alchemy of history and tradition and achievement and inspirational conduct and national pride that defined the special role the President of the United States of America must assume 

at all times at home and around the world. 

La notion de l’e ́tat; no one understood it better than RONALD

REAGAN. And no one could more eloquently summon his Nation to 

high purpose or bring forth the majesty of the Presidency and make 

it glow better than the man who referred to his own Nation as ‘‘a 

city on the hill.’’ 

May our common future and that of our great nations be guided 

by wise men and women who will remember always the golden achievements of the Reagan era and the success that can be theirs if the values 

of freedom and democracy are preserved, unsullied and undiminished 

until the unfolding decades can remember little else. 

I have been truly blessed to have been a friend of RONALD

REAGAN. I am grateful that our paths crossed and that our lives 

touched. I shall always remember him with the deepest admiration and 

affection. 

And I will always feel honored by the journey that we traveled 

together in search of better and more peaceful tomorrows for all God’s 

children everywhere. 

And so in the presence of his beloved and indispensable Nancy, 

his children, his family, his friends and all of the American people that 

he so deeply revered, I say au revoir today to a gifted leader, a historic 

President and a gracious human being. 

And I do so with a line from Yeats, who wrote, ‘‘Think where 

man’s glory most begins and ends, and say, ‘My glory was that I had 

such friends.’ ’’ 

jChoir singingk 

jMr. Mulroney returns to his seat. Mr. Bush is led to the pulpit for his 

tribute.k 

TRIBUTE 

George H.W. Bush, former President of the United States 

When Franklin Roosevelt died in 1945, ‘‘The New York Times’’ 

wrote, ‘‘Men will thank God 100 years from now that Franklin D. Roo-
xxxvi Ronald Reagan 

sevelt was in the White House.’’ It will not take 100 years to thank 

God for RONALD REAGAN. But why? Why was he so admired? Why 

was he so beloved? 

He was beloved, first, because of what he was. Politics can be 

cruel, uncivil. Our friend was strong and gentle. Once he called America ‘‘hopeful, big-hearted, idealistic, daring, decent and fair.’’ That was 

America and, yes, our friend. 

And next, RONALD REAGAN was beloved because of what he believed. He believed in America so he made it his ‘‘shining city on a 

hill.’’ He believed in freedom so he acted on behalf of its values and 

ideals. He believed in tomorrow so the Great Communicator became 

the Great Liberator. He talked of winning one for the GIPPER and as 

President, through his relationship with Mikhail Gorbachev with us 

today, the GIPPER, and yes Mikhail Gorbachev, won one for peace 

around the world. 

If RONALD REAGAN created a better world for many millions it 

was because of the world someone else created for him. 

Nancy was there for him always. Her love for him provided much 

of his strength, and their love together transformed all of us as we’ve 

seen—renewed seeing again here in the last few days. 

And one of the many memories we all have of both of them is 

the comfort they provided during our national tragedies. 

Whether it was the families of the crew of the Challenger shuttle 

or the USS Stark or the Marines killed in Beirut, we will never forget 

those images of the President and First Lady embracing them and embracing us during times of sorrow. 

So, Nancy, I want to say this to you: Today, America embraces 

you. We open up our arms. We seek to comfort you, to tell you of 

our admiration for your courage and your selfless caring. 

And to the Reagan kids—it’s OK for me to say that at 80— 

Michael, Ron, Patti, today all of our sympathy, all of our condolences 

to you all, and remember, too, your sister Maureen home safe now with 

her father. 

As his Vice President for 8 years, I learned more from RONALD

REAGAN than from anyone I encountered in all my years of public 

life. I learned kindness; we all did. I also learned courage; the Nation 

did. 

Who can forget the horrible day in March 1981, he looked at the 

doctors in the emergency room and said, ‘‘I hope you’re all Republicans.’’ jLaughterk 

And then I learned decency; the whole world did. Days after being 

shot, weak from wounds, he spilled water from a sink, and entering 
Funeral Services xxxvii 

the hospital room aides saw him on his hands and knees wiping water 

from the floor. He worried that his nurse would get in trouble. 

The Good Book says humility goes before honor, and our friend 

had both, and who could not cherish such a man? 

And perhaps as important as anything, I learned a lot about 

humor, a lot about laughter. And, oh, how President REAGAN loved 

a good story. 

When asked, ‘‘How did your visit go with Bishop Tutu?’’ he replied, ‘‘So-so.’’ jLaughterk 

It was typical. It was wonderful. 

And in leaving the White House, the very last day, he left in 

the yard outside the Oval Office door a little sign for the squirrels. 

He loved to feed those squirrels. And he left this sign that said, ‘‘Beware of the dog,’’ and to no avail, because our dog Millie came in 

and beat the heck out of the squirrels. 

But anyway, he also left me a note, at the top of which said, 

‘‘Don’t let the turkeys get you down.’’ 

Well, he certainly never let them get him down. And he fought 

hard for his beliefs. He led from conviction, but never made an adversary into an enemy. He was never mean-spirited. 

Reverend Billy Graham, who I refer to as the Nation’s pastor, 

is now hospitalized and regrets that he can’t be here today. And I asked 

him for a Bible passage that might be appropriate. And he suggested 

this from Psalm 37: ‘‘The Lord delights in the way of the man whose 

steps he has made firm. Though he stumble, he will not fall for the 

Lord upholds him with his hand.’’ 

And then this, too, from 37: ‘‘There is a future for the man of 

peace.’’ 

God bless you, RONALD WILSON REAGAN and the Nation you 

loved and led so well. 

jMr. Bush is led back to his seat as President Bush is led to the pulpit.k 

TRIBUTE 

George W. Bush, President of the United States 

Mrs. Reagan, Patti, Michael and Ron, members of the Reagan 

family, distinguished guests, including our Presidents and First Ladies, 

Reverend Danforth, fellow citizens, we lost RONALD REAGAN only days 

ago but we have missed him for a long time. We have missed his 

kindly presence, that reassuring voice and the happy ending we had 

wished for him. It has been 10 years since he said his own farewell, 

yet it is still very sad and hard to let him go. RONALD REAGAN belongs 

to the ages now, but we preferred it when he belonged to us. 

In a life of good fortune, he valued above all the gracious gift 

of his wife, Nancy. During his career, RONALD REAGAN passed through 
xxxviii Ronald Reagan 

a thousand crowded places, but there was only one person, he said, 

who could make him lonely by just leaving the room. America honors 

you, Nancy, for the loyalty and love you gave this man on a wonderful 

journey and to that journey’s end. Today, our whole Nation grieves 

with you and your family. 

When the Sun sets tonight off the coast of California and we lay 

to rest our 40th President, a great American story will close. 

The second son of Nelle and Jack Reagan first knew the world 

as a place of open plains, quiet streets, gaslit rooms and carriages drawn 

by horse. 

If you could go back to the Dixon, IL, of 1922, you’d find a boy 

of 11 reading adventure stories at the public library or running with 

his brother Neil along Rock River, and coming home to a little house 

on Hennepin Avenue. That town was the kind of place he remembered 

where you prayed side by side with your neighbors. And if things were 

going wrong for them, you prayed for them and knew they’d pray for 

you if things went wrong for you. 

The Reagan family would see its share of hardship, struggle and 

uncertainty. And out of that circumstance came a young man of steadiness, calm and a cheerful confidence that life would bring good things. 

The qualities all of us have seen in RONALD REAGAN were first 

spotted 70 and 80 years ago. As the lifeguard in Lowell Park, he was 

the protector, keeping an eye out for trouble. As a sports announcer 

on the radio, he was the friendly voice that made you see the game 

as he did. As an actor he was the handsome all-American good guy, 

which in his case required knowing his lines and being himself. 

Along the way certain convictions were formed and fixed in the 

man. RONALD REAGAN believed that everything happens for a reason 

and that we should strive to know and do the will of God. He believed 

that the gentleman always does the kindest thing. He believed that 

people were basically good and had the right to be free. He believed 

that bigotry and prejudice were the worst things a person could be 

guilty of. He believed in the Golden Rule and in the power of prayer. 

He believed that America was not just a place in the world, but the 

hope of the world. And he believed in taking a break now and then, 

because, as he said, ‘‘there’s nothing better for the inside of a man 

than the outside of a horse.’’ 

RONALD REAGAN spent decades in the film industry and in politics, fields known on occasion to change a man. But not this man. 

From Dixon to Des Moines to Hollywood to Sacramento to Washington, DC, all who met him remembered the same sincere, honest, 

upright fellow. 
Funeral Services xxxix 

RONALD REAGAN’s deepest beliefs never had much to do with 

fashion or convenience. His convictions were always politely stated, affably argued, and as firm and straight as the columns of this cathedral. 

There came a point in RONALD REAGAN’s film career when people 

started seeing a future beyond the movies. The actor Robert Cummings 

recalled one occasion. ‘‘I was sitting around the set with all these people 

and we were listening to RONNIE, quite absorbed. I said, ‘Ron, have 

you ever considered some day becoming President?’ He said, ‘President 

of what?’ ‘President of the United States,’ I said. And he said, ‘What’s 

the matter? Don’t you like my acting either?’ ’’ jLaughterk 

The clarity and intensity of RONALD REAGAN’s convictions led 

to speaking engagements around the country, and a new following he 

did not seek or expect. He often began his speeches by saying, ‘‘I’m 

going to talk about controversial things.’’ And then he spoke of communist rulers as slave masters, of a government in Washington that 

had far overstepped its proper limits, of a time for choosing that was 

drawing near. 

In the space of a few years he took ideas and principles that were 

mainly found in journals and books and turned them into a broad, 

hopeful movement ready to govern. 

As soon as RONALD REAGAN became California’s Governor, observers saw a star in the west, tanned, well-tailored, in command and 

on his way. In the sixties his friend Bill Buckley wrote, ‘‘REAGAN is 

indisputably a part of America and he may become a part of American 

history.’’ 

RONALD REAGAN’s moment arrived in 1980. He came out ahead 

of some very good men, including one from Plains and one from Houston. What followed was one of the decisive decades of the century as 

the convictions that shaped the President began to shape the times. 

He came to office with great hopes for America. And more than 

hopes. Like the President he had revered and once saw in person, Franklin Roosevelt, RONALD REAGAN matched an optimistic temperament 

with bold, persistent action. President REAGAN was optimistic about 

the great promise of economic reform, and he acted to restore the rewards and spirit of enterprise. He was optimistic that a strong America 

could advance the peace, and he acted to build the strength that mission 

required. He was optimistic that liberty would thrive wherever it was 

planted, and he acted to defend liberty wherever it was threatened. 

And RONALD REAGAN believed in the power of truth in the conduct of world affairs. When he saw evil camped across the horizon he 

called that evil by its name. There were no doubters in the prisons 

and gulags, where dissidents spread the news, tapping to each other 

in code what the American President had dared to say. There were 
xl Ronald Reagan 

no doubters in the shipyards and churches and secret labor meetings 

where brave men and women began to hear the creaking and rumbling 

of a collapsing empire. And there were no doubters among those who 

swung hammers at the hated wall that the first and hardest blow had 

been struck by President RONALD REAGAN. 

The ideology he opposed throughout his political life insisted that 

history was moved by impersonal tides and unalterable fates. RONALD

REAGAN believed instead in the courage and triumph of free men and 

we believe it all the more because we saw that courage in him. 

As he showed what a President should be, he also showed us what 

a man should be. RONALD REAGAN carried himself, even in the most 

powerful office, with the decency and attention to small kindnesses that 

also define a good life. He was a courtly, gentle and considerate man, 

never known to slight or embarrass others. Many people across the 

country cherish letters he wrote in his own hand to family members 

on important occasions, to old friends dealing with sickness and loss, 

to strangers with questions about his days in Hollywood. 

A boy once wrote to him requesting Federal assistance to help 

clean up his bedroom. jLaughterk ‘‘Unfortunately, funds are dangerously low.’’ jLaughterk He continued, ‘‘I’m sure your mother was 

fully justified in proclaiming your room a disaster . . .’’ jLaughterk ‘‘. . . 

therefore you are in an excellent position to launch another volunteer 

program in our Nation.’’ jLaughterk ‘‘Congratulations.’’ See, our 40th 

President wore his title lightly, and it fit like a white Stetson. 

In the end, through his belief in our country and his love for 

our country, he became an enduring symbol of our country. We think 

of the steady stride, that tilt of the head and snap of the salute, the 

big screen smile, and the glint in his Irish eyes when a story came 

to mind. We think of a man advancing in years with the sweetness 

and sincerity of a scout saying the pledge. We think of that grave 

expression that sometimes came over his face, the seriousness of a man 

angered by injustice and frightened by nothing. 

We know, as he always said, that America’s best days are ahead 

of us. But with RONALD REAGAN’s passing, some very fine days are 

behind us. And that is worth our tears. 

Americans saw death approach RONALD REAGAN twice in a moment of violence and then in the years of departing light. He met 

both with courage and grace. In these trials, he showed how a man 

so enchanted by life can be at peace with life’s end. 

And where does that strength come from? Where is that courage 

learned? It is the faith of a boy who read the Bible with his mom. 

It is the faith of a man lying in an operating room who prayed for 
Funeral Services xli 

the one who shot him before he prayed for himself. It is the faith of 

a man with a fearful illness who waited on the Lord to call him home. 

Now death has done all that death can do, and as RONALD WILSON REAGAN goes his way, we are left with the joyful hope he shared. 

In his last years he saw through a glass darkly. Now he sees his Saviour 

face to face. And we look for that fine day when we will see him again, 

all weariness gone, clear of mind, strong and sure and smiling again, 

and the sorrow of this parting gone forever. 

May God bless RONALD REAGAN and the country he loved. 

jMr. Bush is led back to his seat.k 

ANTHEM 

‘‘Battle Hymn of the Republic’’ 

William Steffe 

arr: Peter J. Wilhousky 

text by: Julia Ward Howe, 1862 

Armed Forces Chorus 

U.S. Marine Chamber Orchestra 

Mine eyes have seen the glory 

Of the coming of the Lord; 

He is trampling out the vintage 

Where the grapes of wrath are stored; 

He hath loosed the fateful lightning 

of His terrible swift sword; 

His truth is marching on. 

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! 

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! 

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! 

His truth is marching on. 

I have seen Him in the watchfires 

Of a hundred circling camps 

they have builded Him an altar 

In the evening dews and damps; 

I can read His righteous sentence 

By the dim and flaring lamps; 

His day is marching on. 

Chorus 

In the beauty of the lilies 

Christ was born across the sea, 

With a glory in His bosom 

That transfigures you and me; 

As He died to make men holy, 
xlii Ronald Reagan 

Let us die to make men free; 

While God is marching on. 

Chorus 

jDuring the last chorus, the third reader is led to the lectern for the Gospel 

lesson.k 

jThe people stand.k 

GOSPEL 

His Eminence Theodore Cardinal McCarrick 

Matthew 5:14–16 

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew. 

Jesus said, You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill 

cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel 

basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may 

see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. 

Reader: The Gospel of the Lord. 

People: Thanks be to God. 

jAs the reader returns to his stall, the Celebrant goes to the pulpit for the 

homily.k 

HOMILY 

The Reverend John C. Danforth 

May I speak in the name of one God, who created us, who redeemed us, who comforts us. Amen. This is a service about RONALD

REAGAN, and it is a religious service. We’ve gathered to celebrate the 

life of a great President in a church where believers profess their faith. 

So this is not only about a person, but about faith. And the homily 

is the place to connect the two. For President REAGAN, the text is 

obvious. It’s from the Sermon on the Mount. ‘‘You are the light of 

the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid.’’ It was his favorite theme, 

from his first inaugural address to his final address from the Oval Office. 

For him, America was the ‘‘shining city on a hill.’’ His immediate 

source was the sermon preached by John Winthrop just read by Justice 

O’Connor. Winthrop believed that the eyes of the world would be on 

America because God had given us a special commission, so it was 

our duty to shine forth. The Winthrop message became the Reagan 

message. It rang of optimism, and we longed to hear it, especially after 

the dark years of Vietnam and Watergate. It was a vision with policy 

implications. America could not hide its light under a bushel. It could 

not turn in on itself and hunker down. Isolationism was not an option; 

neither was protectionism. We must champion freedom everywhere. 

We must be the beacon for the world. 
Funeral Services xliii 

What RONALD REAGAN asked of America, he gave of himself. 

The great American theologian Reinhold Neibuhr wrote ‘‘The Children 

of Light and the Children of Darkness.’’ If ever we have known a child 

of light, it was RONALD REAGAN. He was aglow with it. He had no 

dark side, no scary, hidden agenda. What you saw was what you got. 

And what you saw was that sure sign of inner light, the twinkle in 

the eye. He was not consumed by himself. He didn’t need to be President to be a complete person. The only thing he really needed was 

to be with his wife. Mrs. Reagan, you shared him with us, and for 

that we will always be grateful. He shined the light, but not upon 

himself. 

Personally modest, he disclaimed the title the ‘‘Great Communicator,’’ and claimed only to communicate great things from the heart 

of a great Nation. He liked to laugh, especially at himself. There was 

nothing petty or mean-spirited about him. Even his opponents liked 

him. I recall sitting at a table with President REAGAN and Speaker 

O’Neill listening to their jokes. It was the opposite of negative politics. 

He inspired devotion more than fear. Mike Deaver wrote, ‘‘There was 

something about him that made you want to please him and do your 

best. This applied to everybody.’’ It certainly applied to those of us 

who served in Congress. 

His most challenging test came on the day he was shot. He wrote 

in his diary of struggling for breath and of praying. ‘‘I realized that 

I couldn’t ask for God’s help while at the same time I felt hatred for 

the mixed-up young man who shot me,’’ he wrote. ‘‘Isn’t that the 

meaning of the lost sheep? We are all God’s children and therefore 

equally loved by him. So I began to pray for his soul and that he would 

find his way back to the fold.’’ He was a child of light. Now consider 

the faith we profess in this church. Light shining in darkness is an 

ancient biblical theme. Genesis tells us that in the beginning darkness 

was upon the face of the deep. Some equate this darkness with chaos. 

And God said, ‘‘Let there be light,’’ and there was light. And God 

saw that the light was good. Creating light in darkness is God’s work. 

You and I know the meaning of darkness. We see it on the evening 

news: terror, chaos, war. An enduring image of 9/11 is that on a brilliantly clear day a cloud of darkness covered Lower Manhattan. Darkness 

is real and it can be terrifying. Sometimes it seems to be everywhere. 

So the question for us is what do we do when darkness surrounds 

us? St. Paul answered that question. He said we must walk as children 

of light. President REAGAN taught us that this is our mission, both 

as individuals and as a Nation. The faith proclaimed in this church 

is that when we walk as children of light, darkness cannot prevail. As 

St. John’s gospel tells us, ‘‘The light shines in the darkness and the 
xliv Ronald Reagan 

darkness did not overcome it.’’ That’s true even of death. For people 

of faith, death is no less awful than for anyone else, but the resurrection 

means that death is not the end. The Bible describes the most terrible 

moment in these words: ‘‘When it was noon, darkness came over the 

whole land until 3 in the afternoon.’’ That was the darkness of Good 

Friday. It did not prevail. Very early on the first day of the week when 

the Sun had risen, that’s the beginning of the Easter story. The light 

shines; the Lord is risen. 

In this service of worship, we celebrate the life of a great President 

and we profess the resurrection faith of this church. It is faith in God’s 

victory over darkness. It is faith in the ultimate triumph of light. We 

believe in this victory every day of our lives. We believe it as individuals. We believe it as a Nation. There is no better time to celebrate 

the triumph of life than in a service for RONALD REAGAN. Amen. 

jAs the homilist returns to his stall, the orchestra and soloist begin the 

anthem.k 

ANTHEM 

‘‘Amazing Grace’’ 

Tune: New Britain 

text by: John Newton; st. 5 John Rees 

Sung by Ronan Tynan 

Amazing grace! how sweet the sound, 

that saved a wretch like me! 

I once was lost but now am found, 

was blind but now I see. 

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, 

and grace my fears relieved; 

how precious did that grace appear 

the hour I first believed! 

The Lord has promised good to me, 

his word my hope secures; 

he will my shield and portion be 

as long as life endures. 

Through many dangers, toils, and snares, 

I have already come; 

’tis grace that brought me safe thus far, 

and grace will lead me home. 

When we’ve been there ten thousand years, 

bright shining as the sun, 

we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise 

than when we’d first begun. 
Funeral Services xlv 

jDuring the last verse, the Vicar is led to the bottom of the lectern steps.k 

jThe people stand for the remainder of the service, as they are able.k 

jFrom his stall, the Celebrant leads the Lord’s Prayer, said by all.k 

THE LORD’S PRAYER 

The Reverend John C. Danforth 

Let us stand and say together the Lord’s Prayer. 

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this 

day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. 

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine 

is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. 

jThe Vicar steps up to the lectern reading desk to lead the prayers.k 

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE 

The Right Reverend A. Theodore Eastman 

In peace, let us pray to the Lord. 

Almighty God, who hast knit together thine elect in one communion and fellowship, in the mystical body of the Son Christ our 

Lord; Grant, we beseech thee, to thy whole Church in paradise and 

on earth, thy light and thy peace. Amen. 

Grant that all who have been baptized into Christ’s death and 

resurrection may die to sin and rise to newness of life, and that through 

the grave and gate of death we may pass with him to our joyful resurrection. Amen. 

Grant to us who are still in our pilgrimage, and who walk as 

yet by faith, that thy Holy Spirit may lead us in holiness and righteousness all our days. Amen. 

Grant to thy faithful people pardon and peace, that we may be 

cleansed from all our sins, and serve thee with a quiet mind. Amen. 

Grant to all who mourn a sure confidence in thy fatherly care, 

that, casting all their grief on thee, they may know the consolation 

of thy love. Amen. 

Grant us, with all who have died in the hope of the resurrection, 

to have our consummation and bliss in thy eternal and everlasting 

glory, and, with blessed Peter and Paul and all thy saints, to receive 

the crown of life which thou dost promise to all who share in the victory of thy Son Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and 

the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 

jAs the Vicar is led back to his stall, the organ begins the hymn introduction.k 

jDuring this hymn, those who are required for the departing ceremonies 

outside are unobtrusively escorted from the Cathedral.k 
xlvi Ronald Reagan 

HYMN 

‘‘Sing with All the Saints in Glory’’ 

Tune: Ode to Joy 

text by: William Josiah Irons, 1873 

jSung by all.k 

Sing with all the saints in glory, sing the resurrection song! 

Death and sorrow, earth’s dark story, to the former days belong. 

All around the clouds are breaking, Soon the storms of time will cease; 

In God’s likeness, we awaken, Knowing everlasting peace. 

O what glory, far exceeding. All that eye has yet perceived! 

Holiest hearts for ages pleading, Never that full joy conceived. 

God has promised, Christ prepares it, There on high our welcome waits; 

Ev’ry humble spirit shares it, Christ has passed th’ eternal gates. 

jDuring the last verse, vergers lead the Bishop of Washington, the Vicar, 

and the Celebrant to the foot of the casket, the Celebrant at the foot, the 

Vicar to his left, and the Bishop to his right, where they face the congregation.k 

jThe Celebrant then says the commendation responsively with the people.k 

THE COMMENDATION 

The Reverend John C. Danforth 

Give rest, O Christ, to thy servant with thy saints, 

All: 

where sorrow and pain are no more, 

neither sighing, but life everlasting. 

Thou only art immortal, the creator and maker of mankind; and 

we are mortal, formed of the earth, and unto earth shall we return. 

For so thou didst ordain when thou createdst me, saying, ‘‘Dust thou 

art, and unto dust thou shalt return.’’ All we go down to the dust; 

yet even at the grave we make our song; Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. 

All: 

Give rest, O Christ, to thy servant with thy saints, 

where sorrow and pain are no more, 

neither sighing, but life everlasting. 

jThe Celebrant faces the body.k 

Into thy hands, O merciful Saviour, we commend thy servant 

RONALD. Acknowledge, we humbly beseech thee, a sheep of thine own 

fold, a lamb of thine own flock, a sinner of thine own redeeming. Receive him into the arms of thy mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting 

peace, and into the glorious company of the saints in light. Amen. 
Funeral Services xlvii 

THE BLESSING 

The Right Reverend John Bryson Chane 

The God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord 

Jesus Christ, the great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of 

the everlasting covenant, makes you perfect in every good work to do 

his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight; and 

on this day may the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, 

and the Holy Spirit, be with you, and remain with you forever. Amen. 

THE DISMISSAL 

The Right Reverend A. Theodore Eastman 

Vicar: Let us go forth in the name of Christ. 

People: Thanks be to God. 

jAs the introduction to the anthem begins, the three clerics are escorted 

back to their stalls.k 

jDuring the last verse, the acolytes take their positions at the rood screen, 

and vergers take positions by their charges.k 

ANTHEM 

‘‘The Mansions of the Lord’’ 

Nick Glennie-Smith 

text by: Randall Wallace 

Sung by the Armed Forces Chorus with the U.S. Marine Chamber Orchestra 

To fallen soldiers let us sing 

Where no rockets fly nor bullets wing 

Our broken brothers let us bring 

To the Mansions of the Lord. 

jThe pallbearers come from the north transept, rotate the casket, and prepare 

to take it out.k 

No more bleeding, no more fight 

No prayers pleading through the night 

Just divine embrace, eternal light 

In the Mansions of the Lord. 

Where no mothers cry and no children weep 

We will stand and guard though the angels sleep 

through the ages safely keep 

The Mansions of the Lord. 

jProcession of clergy leaving cathedral. The casket is taken out of the cathedral. Mourners follow casket.k 

j‘‘Ruffles.’’ ‘‘Hail to the Chief.’’ ‘‘God Bless America.’’k 

jThe hearse drives to Andrews Air Force Base.k 

jSolo bagpipe performance of ‘‘Amazing Grace.’’k 

jBells toll around the country.k 
xlviii Ronald Reagan 

jThe casket is taken out of the hearse, and escorted aboard the Presidential 

aircraft.k 

j21-gun salute.k 

jAir Force band plays the spiritual ‘‘Going Home.’’k 

jApplause as the plane takes off.k 
xlix 

I N H ONOR O F

Ronald Wilson Reagan 

FORTIETH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 6, 1911 TO JUNE 5, 2004 

★ ★ ★ 

RONALD REAGAN PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

SIMI VALLEY, CALIFORNIA
l Ronald Reagan 

Interment Services 

FRIDAY, JUNE 11, 2004

AT SIX O’CLOCK

W HATEVER ELSE HISTORY MAY SAY ABOUT ME WHEN I’M GONE, I 

HOPE IT WILL RECORD THAT I APPEALED TO YOUR BEST HOPES, 

NOT YOUR WORST FEARS; TO YOUR CONFIDENCE RATHER THAN

YOUR DOUBTS. MY DREAM IS THAT YOU WILL TRAVEL THE ROAD

AHEAD WITH LIBERTY’S LAMP GUIDING YOUR STEPS AND OPPORTUNITY’S ARM STEADYING YOUR WAY. 

—RONALD REAGAN

AUGUST 1992

★ ★ ★ 

I KNOW IN MY HEART THAT MAN IS GOOD, THAT WHAT IS RIGHT

WILL ALWAYS EVENTUALLY TRIUMPH, AND THERE IS PURPOSE AND

WORTH TO EACH AND EVERY LIFE. 

—RONALD REAGAN

NOVEMBER 4, 1991

★ ★ ★ 
Funeral Services li 

Order of Services 

INSTRUMENTAL PRELUDE U.S. Air Force Band of the Golden West 

MUSICAL HONORS U.S. Air Force Band of the Golden West 

‘‘AMAZING GRACE’’ Solo Bagpiper, Eric Rigler 

INVOCATION The Reverend Doctor Michael H. Wenning 

‘‘BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC’’ U.S. Army Chorus 

U.S. Air Force Band of the Golden West 

WORDS OF REMEMBRANCE Michael Reagan 

Patti Davis 

Ronald Prescott Reagan 

SCRIPTURE: PSALM 23 The Reverend John C. Danforth 

MUSICAL HONORS U.S. Air Force Band of the Golden West 

‘‘MY COUNTRY ’TIS OF THEE’’ U.S. Air Force Band of the Golden West 

Guests should stand and remain at their seats. 

BRIEF WITNESS ON LIFE, DEATH, 

AND EVERLASTING LIFE

The Reverend Doctor Michael H. Wenning 

21-GUN SALUTE 11th Marine Artillery Regiment 

BENEDICTION The Reverend Doctor Michael H. Wenning 

THREE VOLLEYS OF MUSKETRY U.S. Army Firing Party 

‘‘TAPS’’ U.S. Army Band Bugler 

FLYOVER U.S. Navy 

‘‘AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL’’ U.S. Air Force Band of the Golden West 

FLAG PRESENTATION Capt. James A. Symonds, Commander 

USS Ronald Reagan (CVN–åã) 

‘‘GOD BLESS AMERICA’’ Congregation and U.S. Army Chorus 

U.S. Air Force Band of the Golden West 

Guests are invited to file by the casket to pay final respects and attend a reception in Albritton Hall. 

★ ★ ★ 
lii Ronald Reagan 

jThe Presidential jet flies over the Presidential library in Simi Valley on 

its way to Point Mugu Naval Air Station.k 

jThe funeral party arrives at Point Mugu Air Station Airport.k 

j‘‘Hail to the Chief.’’ 21-cannon salute. Marine band plays ‘‘God Bless America.’’k 

jHonor guards carry the casket to the hearse.k 

jThe motorcade leaves the naval air station at Point Mugu, to travel to 

the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.k 

jThe casket is removed from the hearse and transported through the courtyard of the library, through the library itself, and out into the backyard 

for the ceremony.k 

jInstrumental Prelude, U.S. Air Force Band of the Golden West, ‘‘Hail to 

the Chief.’’k 

jMusical Honors, U.S. Air Force Band of the Golden West.k 

j‘‘Amazing Grace,’’ solo bagpiper, Eric Rigler.k 

REV. MICHAEL H. WENNING: Please pray with me. Eternal and 

Almighty God, we began this day and it seemed the heavens were weeping 

as we paid our farewell to your servant RONALD REAGAN. We eulogized 

him. We worshipped under the arches of that stately cathedral. We have 

come from sea to shining sea to this soil, which he loved so much, and 

where his body will remain. Gracious Lord God, turn our tears of sorrow 

into the hope of the resurrection. Comfort our hearts and especially the 

Reagan family and the Nation for we celebrate his life and we do it through 

Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

j‘‘Battle Hymn of the Republic,’’ U.S. Army Chorus, U.S. Air Force Band 

of the Golden West.k 

MICHAEL REAGAN, RONALD REAGAN’S SON: Good evening. 

I’m Mike Reagan. You knew my father as Governor, as President. But I 

knew him as Dad. I want to tell you a little bit about my dad. A little 

bit about Cameron and Ashley’s grandfather because not a whole lot is ever 

spoken about that side of RONALD REAGAN. RONALD REAGAN adopted me 

into his family 1945. I was the chosen one. I was the lucky one. In all of 

his years, he never mentioned that I was adopted either behind my back 

or in front of me. I was his son, Michael Edward Reagan. When his families 

grew to be two families, he didn’t walk away from the one to go to the 

other. But he became a father to both. To Patti and then Ronnie, but always 

to Maureen, my sister, and myself. We looked forward to those Saturday 

mornings when he would pick us up, sitting on the curve on Beverly Glenn 

as his car would turn the corner from Sunset Boulevard and we would get 

in and ride to his ranch and play games and he would always make sure 
Funeral Services liii 

it ended up a tie. We would swim and we would ride horses or we’d just 

watch him cut firewood. We would be in awe of our father. As years went 

by and I became older and found a woman I would marry, Colleen, he sent 

me a letter about marriage and how important it was to be faithful to the 

woman you love with a P.S.—‘‘you’ll never get in trouble if you say I love 

you at least once a day,’’ and I’m sure he told Nancy every day ‘‘I love 

you’’ as I tell Colleen. He also sent letters to his grandchildren. He wasn’t 

able to be the grandfather that many of you are able to be because of the 

job he had. And so, he would write letters. He sent one letter to Cameron, 

said, ‘‘Cameron, some guy got $10,000 for my signature. Maybe this letter 

will help you pay for your college education.’’ He signed it, ‘‘Grandpa. P.S., 

your grandpa’s the 40th President of the United States, RONALD REAGAN.’’ 

He just signed his sign. Those are the kinds of things my father did. At 

the early onset of Alzheimer’s disease my father and I would tell each other 

we loved each other and we would give each other a hug. As the years 

went by and he could no longer verbalize my name, he recognized me as 

the man who hugged him. So when I would walk into the house, he would 

be there in his chair opening up his arms for that hug, hello, and the hug 

goodbye. It was a blessing truly brought on by God. We had wonderful 

blessings of that nature. Wonderful, wonderful blessings that my father gave 

to me each and every day of my life. 

I was so proud to have the Reagan name and to be RONALD REAGAN’s 

son. What a great honor. He gave me a lot of gifts as a child. Gave me 

a horse. Gave me a car. Gave me a lot of things. But there’s a gift he gave 

me that I think is wonderful for every father to give every son. Last Saturday, 

when my father opened his eyes for the last time, and visualized Nancy 

and gave her such a wonderful, wonderful gift. When he closed his eyes, 

that’s when I realized the gift that he gave to me, the gift that he was 

going to be with his Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. He had, back in 1988 

on a flight from Washington, DC, to Point Mugu, told me about his love 

of God, his love of Christ as his Saviour. I didn’t know then what it all 

meant. But I certainly, certainly know now. I can’t think of a better gift 

for a father to give a son. And I hope to honor my father by giving my 

son Cameron and my daughter Ashley that very same gift he gave to me. 

Knowing where he is this very moment, this very day, that he is in Heaven, 

and I can only promise my father this. Dad, when I go, I will go to Heaven, 

too. And you and I and my sister Maureen that went before us, we will 

dance with the heavenly host of angels before the presence of God. We will 

do it melanoma and Alzheimer’s free. Thank you for letting me share my 

father, RONALD WILSON REAGAN. 

PATTI DAVIS, RONALD REAGAN’S DAUGHTER: Many years ago, 

my father decided to write down his reflections about death, specifically 
liv Ronald Reagan 

his own, and how he would want people to feel about it. He chose to write 

down the first verse of an Alfred Lord Tennyson poem ‘‘Crossing The Bar’’ 

and then he decided to add a couple of lines of his own. I don’t think 

Tennyson will mind. In fact, they’ve probably already discussed it by now. 

Tennyson wrote, ‘‘sunset and evening star and one clear call for me. And 

may there be no moaning of the bar when I put out to sea.’’ My father 

added, ‘‘we have God’s promise that I have gone on to a better world where 

there is no pain or sorrow. Bring comfort to those who may mourn my 

going.’’ My father never feared death, he never saw it as an ending. When 

I was a child, he took me out into a field at our ranch after one of the 

Malibu fires had swept through. I was very small on the field, looked huge 

and lifeless, but he bent down and showed me how tiny new green shoots 

were peeking up out of the ashes just weeks after the fire had come through. 

‘‘You see,’’ he said, ‘‘new life always comes out of death. It looks like nothing 

could ever grow in this field again, but things do.’’ He was the one who 

generously offered funeral services for my goldfish on the morning of its 

demise. We went out into the garden and we dug a tiny grave with a teaspoon and he took two twigs and lashed them together with twine and 

formed a cross as a marker for the grave. And then he gave a beautiful 

eulogy. He told me that my fish was swimming in the clear blue waters 

in Heaven and he would never tire and he would never get hungry and 

he would never be in any danger and he could swim as far and wide as 

he wanted and he never had to stop, because the river went on forever. 

He was free. When we went back inside and I looked at my remaining 

goldfish in their aquarium with their pink plastic castle and their colored 

rocks, I suggested that perhaps we should kill the others so they could also 

go to that clear blue river and be free. He then took more time out of 

his morning, I’m sure he actually did have other things to do that day, 

and patiently explained to me that in God’s time, the other fish would go 

there, as well. In God’s time, we would all be taken home. And even though 

it sometimes seemed a mystery, we were just asked to trust that God’s time 

was right and wise. 

I don’t know why Alzheimer’s was allowed to steal so much of my 

father before releasing him into the arms of death, but I know that at his 

last moment, when he opened his eyes, eyes that had not opened for many, 

many days and looked at my mother, he showed us that neither disease 

nor death can conquer love. He may have in his lifetime come across a small 

book called ‘‘Peace of Mind’’ by Joshua Loth Liebman. If he did, I think 

he would have been struck by these lines, ‘‘then for each one of us, the 

moment comes when the great nurse, death, takes man, the child, by the 

hand and quietly says, it’s time to go home, night is coming. It is your 

bedtime child of Earth.’’ 
Funeral Services lv 

RON REAGAN JR., RONALD REAGAN’S SON: He is home now. 

He is free. In his final letter to the American people, Dad wrote, ‘‘I now 

begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life.’’ This evening, 

he has arrived. History will record his worth as a leader. We here have 

long since measured his worth as a man. Honest, compassionate, graceful, 

brave. He was the most plainly decent man you could ever hope to meet. 

He used to say, a gentleman always does the kind thing. And he was a 

gentleman in the truest sense of the word. A gentle man. Big as he was, 

he never tried to make anyone feel small. Powerful as he became, he never 

took advantage of those who were weaker. Strength, he believed, was never 

more admirable than when it was applied with restraint. Shopkeeper, doorman, king or queen, it made no difference, Dad treated everyone with the 

same unfailing courtesy, acknowledging the innate dignity in us all. The 

idea that all people are created equal was more than mere words on a page, 

it was how he lived his life. And he lived a good, long life. The kind of 

life good men lead. But I guess I’m just telling you things you already 

know. 

Here’s something you may not know, a little RONALD REAGAN trivia 

for you, his entire life, Dad had an inordinate fondness for earlobes. Even 

as a boy, back in Dixon, IL, hanging out on a street corner with his friends, 

they knew that if they were standing next to DUTCH, sooner or later, he 

was going to reach over and grab ahold of their lobe, give it a workout 

there. Sitting on his lap watching television as a kid, same story, he would 

have a hold of my earlobe. I’m surprised I have any lobes left after all of 

that. And you didn’t have to be a kid to enjoy that sort of treatment. Serving 

in the Screen Actors Guild with his great friend William Holden, the actor, 

best man at his wedding, Bill got used to it. They would be there at the 

meetings, and Dad would have a hold of his earlobe. There they’d be, some 

tense labor negotiation, two big Hollywood movie stars, hand in earlobe. 

He was, as you know, a famously optimistic man. Sometimes such optimism leads you to see the world as you wish it were as opposed to how 

it really is. At a certain point in his Presidency, Dad decided he was going 

to revive the thumbs up gesture. So he went all over the country, of course, 

giving everybody the thumbs up. Dory and I found ourselves in the Presidential limousine one day returning from some big event. My mother was 

there and Dad was of course, thumbs upping the crowd along the way, and 

suddenly, looming in the window on his side of the car was this snarling 

face. This fellow was reviving an entirely different hand gesture. And hoisted 

an entirely different digit in our direction. Dad saw this and without missing 

a beat turned to us and said, you see? I think it’s catching on. 

Dad was also a deeply, unabashedly religious man. But he never made 

the fatal mistake of so many politicians wearing his faith on his sleeve to 

gain political advantage. True, after he was shot and nearly killed early in 
lvi Ronald Reagan 

his Presidency, he came to believe that God had spared him in order that 

he might do good. But he accepted that as a responsibility, not a mandate. 

And there is a profound difference. Humble as he was, he never would have 

assumed a free pass to Heaven. But in his heart of hearts, I suspect he felt 

he would be welcome there. And so he is home. He is free. Those of us 

who knew him well will have no trouble imagining his paradise. Golden 

fields will spread beneath a blue dome of a western sky. Live oaks will shadow the rolling hillsides. And someplace, flowing from years long past, a 

river will wind toward the sea. Across those fields, he will ride a gray mare 

he calls Nancy D. They will sail over jumps he has built with his own 

hands. He will at the river carry him over the shining stones. He will rest 

in the shade of the trees. Our cares are no longer his. We meet him now 

only in memory. But we will join him soon enough. All of us. When we 

are home, when we are free. jApplausek 

jScripture: Psalm 23, The Reverend John C. Danforth.k 

jMusical Honors, U.S. Air Force Band of the Golden West. ‘‘Star Spangled 

Banner.’’ ‘‘Amazing Grace.’’k 

jProcession.k 

jCasket is moved. Flag is lifted.k 

jU.S. Air Force Band of the Golden West.k 

REV. MICHAEL H. WENNING: Mrs. Reagan, members of the 

Reagan family, distinguished and honored guests, it is a wonderful, awesome 

responsibility for me to be able to give these final parting words on this 

long journey of this week of sadness. I want to thank you for the privilege 

of being your pastor and chaplain to the President. Little did I think that 

four and a half decades ago, when Frieda and I came to this country to 

study in college, that one day I would end up as the chaplain to the President of the United States—only in America. Dear Nancy, thank you for 

bearing your grief so nobly. Thank you for the dignity that you have shown 

this week. Our hearts have gone out to you. So many people have commented on the picture where you and I are together as we began this week. 

And I think the reason for its poignancy was that the whole American Nation was putting its arms around you. And so we love you and care for 

you. Thank you for caring for the President in his declining years. Thank 

you for the wonderful example of your marriage that you modeled throughout your life together and especially in the White House years. Yours was 

truly a glorious friendship, based on mutual love and respect. And we love 

you for it. And thank you for it. To you, Michael, and Patti, and Ron, 

thank you for those very, very touching and moving words, a little humor, 

but the heartfelt love of children who loved their father and respect him 

so much. We gathered at the beginning of this long day in the National 
Funeral Services lvii 

Cathedral and heard so many wonderful words from the Nations’ leaders 

and also from a beloved friend. I have never heard Lady Margaret Thatcher 

speak more eloquently in all her life. The last time I heard her speak, I 

had the privilege of being present as she was awarded the Ronald Reagan 

Freedom Award. And I remember her saying particularly, ‘‘when RONNIE

spoke about the Soviet Union as the evil empire, even I blanched.’’ Thank 

God that neither she, nor your husband, shirked in the face of communism, 

but saw its demise. He touched us all. When I went back to the land where 

I was born in South Africa, I went to see my aging father. And, as I sat 

in his study, he pointed to a huge picture behind me framed. It was of 

your husband. And he said, ‘‘This is my President’’; 10,000 miles away, 

he identified, as we all do and shall do through time to come. It now remains 

for me to talk about the man and his faith. Indeed, he was a gift from 

God to us all. He made us feel good and confident about ourselves, about 

our country, and about our future. And I believe it’s because he gained his 

confidence from the psalm which I read at the beginning of this week, Psalm 

46. The psalm says, ‘‘God is our refuge and strength, a very present help 

in the time of trouble.’’ When you attended church, so many people noticed 

that he could sing the hymns without looking at the hymnal. He loved 

hymns. And it was appropriate that it was sung in the cathedral this morning and played on the bagpipes this evening. That hymn speaks about God’s 

amazing grace. And RONALD REAGAN knew of the grace of his Lord, Jesus 

Christ, for he lived with and on and in that grace. I think of that one 

particular stanza of that hymn which says, through many dangers, toils and 

snares, I have already come. ’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far and 

grace will lead me home. Grace has led him home this day. He was a man 

who exhibited graciousness with all that he met, from the highest in the 

land to the lowliest. 

On one occasion, when Alzheimer’s was beginning to rob that beautiful 

mind and he no longer came to Bel Air Presbyterian Church, you know 

that I came to the office regularly and brought the church to him and then 

to your home. And, on one occasion, his secretary said, Mr. President, your 

pastor is here. Come and sit in the corner of his office. And he said, ‘‘No, 

I think I’ll just sit here at the desk.’’ I looked at her. She looked at me. 

We knew he wasn’t going to budge. So I sidled up and sat on the edge 

of the desk. And I said, ‘‘Mr. President, you’re still boss. I’ll sit where you 

are.’’ And so I read scripture and prayed. Shortly afterward, his secretary 

ushered in my wife and he stood up immediately and went over to her 

and shook her hand. You see, the gentleness, the kindness, the love, the 

gifts, the fruit of the holy spirit was deeply embedded in his DNA. 

As Ron has already said, in 1994, he wrote that letter saying, ‘‘I now 

begin my journey into the sunset of my life.’’ But I believe that, last Satur-
lviii Ronald Reagan 

day, he began a new journey into the glorious presence of Almighty God, 

and he is basking in the sunshine of his love. And I believe he’s touching 

the face of God, as he said during the Challenger disaster. And the Lord 

is saying to him, ‘‘Well done, my good and faithful servant.’’ Let me close 

with just one thought. In the ancient nation of Israel, when the Temple 

had been built, the Lord appeared to King Solomon and said to him these 

words: ‘‘If my people who are called by my name humble themselves and 

turn from their wicked ways and pray and seek my face, I will hear from 

Heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land.’’ God was reminding his 

ancient people that the glory of the Nation was not in power or prestige, 

in wealth or in might. RONALD REAGAN knew that as a cardinal truth, 

that ultimately, our strength is not in our might, but it is as we depend 

upon Almighty God and trust in him and walk humbly before God. RONALD REAGAN lived and believed that. And thank God that he did. Mr. 

President, I salute you. 

NANCY REAGAN, FORMER FIRST LADY: Thank you. 

j21-gun Salute, 11th Marine Artillery Regiment.k 

REV. MICHAEL H. WENNING: Please pray with me. Now, Eternal 

God, we commend into your hands the spirit of your servant, RONALD WILSON REAGAN. We commend him into your care and keeping. And as we 

do so, we commit ourselves afresh into your love and care. Teach us to so 

live that we shall never, ever be afraid of death, nor ever ashamed to see 

you face to face, but grant that your love and peace may rest with us now 

and always. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to 

shine upon you and be gracious unto you, the Lord lift up the light of 

his countenance upon you and grant you his peace now and forever more, 

in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit. Amen. 

jThree volleys of musketry, U.S. Army Firing Party.k 

j‘‘Taps,’’ U.S. Army Band bugler.k 

jFlyover, U.S. Navy, missing man formation.k 

j‘‘America the Beautiful,’’ U.S. Air Force Band of the Golden West.k 

jFlag Presentation, Capt. James A. Symonds, Commander, USS Ronald 

Reagan (CVN–åã).k 

j‘‘God Bless America,’’ Congregation and U.S. Army Chorus, U.S. Air Force 

Band of the Golden West.k 
Memorial Tributes 

I N T H E 

House of Representatives 

of the United States 

I N E U L O G Y O F 

Ronald Reagan 

3 

In the House of Representatives of the 

United States 

Tuesday, June ç, áÖÖâ 

Hon. David Dreier 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, not 24 hours after RONALD

REAGAN had passed away, I had the opportunity 

to talk to a great American, Ronald Reagan’s 

Secretary of State, George P. Shultz. He already 

by Sunday afternoon had penned a statement, 

which was so moving that I asked him if I could 

share it with my colleagues. Secretary Shultz 

agreed, so I would like to do that at this point, 

Mr. Speaker. 

He entitles this ‘‘Remembering RONALD

REAGAN.’’ It reads as follows: 

REMEMBERING RONALD REAGAN

(By George P. Shultz) 

We have lost RONALD REAGAN, but his ideas remain with 

us, as vital as ever. We can remember the gifts he gave us, 

his advocacy of freedom, his contributions to our security, 

his belief in America and his restoration of our belief in ourselves. 

When he took office as Governor of California, RONALD

REAGAN took responsibility for a State that was in rocky 

shape; when he left office, California was golden again. When 

RONALD REAGAN took office as the President of the United 

States, the country was adrift, inflation was out of control, 

the economy was in the doldrums, and the cold war was as 

cold as it had ever been. When he left office, inflation was 

under control, the economy was expanding, the cold war was 

all over but the shouting, and America once again stood tall. 

RONALD REAGAN brought so much to this country. He 

started with carefully thought out ideas and he put them 

to work effectively. He had a strong and constructive agenda, 

much of it labeled impossible and unattainable in the early 

years of his Presidency. He challenged the conventional wisdom: On arms control, on the possibility of movement toward freedom in the communist-dominated world, on the 

need to stand up to Iran in the Persian Gulf, on the superiority of market- and enterprise-based economies. The world 

learned when RONALD REAGAN faced down the air traffic 

controllers in 1981 that he could dig in and fight to win. 

The world learned in Grenada that he would use military 

force if needed. He did not accept that extensive political 

opposition doomed an attractive idea. He would fight resolutely for an idea, believing that, if it was valid, he could 

persuade the American people to support it. He changed the 

national and international agenda on issue after issue. He was 

an optimist; he spoke the vocabulary of opportunity. He had 

a vision of what he stood for and what we aspire to as a 

nation. 

RONALD REAGAN had and could express a clear and simple 

view of a complex world. Every Sunday, he brought acorns 

down from Camp David to feed the squirrels outside the Oval 

Office. The squirrels at the White House hadn’t had it so 

good since Ike cleared the area to put in a putting green. 

His most endearing aspect was his fundamental decency. He 

appealed to people’s best hopes, not their fears; to their confidence, rather than their doubts. 

RONALD REAGAN was a doer, a pragmatist, a man who 

enjoyed hard physical tasks, as in the ranch work he loved 

to do. But that brush clearing and fence fixing was a symbol, 

too; he wanted to be doing it himself because from the land 

came not only strength and clarity, but a vision, the vision 

of the West and the endless horizon. The American people 

liked RONALD REAGAN and reelected him in one of the biggest landslides in history because he trusted them and he 

conveyed to them that they need not be bound, tied down 

by class or race, or childhood misfortune, or poverty, or bureaucracy. They, the people, could make something of themselves; indeed, they could remake themselves endlessly. 

But beneath this pragmatic attitude lay a bedrock of principle and purpose with which I was proud to be associated. 

He believed in being strong enough to defend our interests, 

but he viewed that strength as a means, not an end in itself. 

RONALD REAGAN had confidence in himself and in his ideas 

and was ready to negotiate from the strength so evident by 

the mideighties. 

He was a fervent anticommunist who could comprehend 

and believe that people everywhere would choose to throw 

off the communist system if they ever had the chance. And 
4 Ronald Reagan 

he worked hard to give them that chance. He favored open 

trade because he had confidence in the ability of Americans 

to compete, and he had confidence that an integrated world 

economy would benefit America. He stuck to his agenda. 

The points he made, however consummate the delivery, 

were unmistakably real in his mind and heart, an American 

creed: Defend your country, value your family, make something of yourself, tell government to get off your back, tell 

the tyrants to watch their step. RONALD REAGAN conveyed 

simple truths that were especially welcome because ‘‘nowadays everything seems so complicated.’’ What he said ran 

deep and wide among the people. 

REAGAN as President was a Republican, a conservative, a 

man of the right. But these labels will mislead historians who 

do not see beyond them, for Americans could see some of 

RONALD REAGAN in themselves. You couldn’t figure him 

out like a fact, because to REAGAN, the main fact was a vision. He came from the heartland of the country, where people could be down-to-earth, yet feel the sky is the limit, not 

ashamed of or cynical about the American dream. 

Not far from RONALD REAGAN’s small town of Dixon, 

IL, is Jane Addams’ small town of Cedarville; not far from 

Cedarville is Ulysses Grant’s small town of Galena. And not 

far from Galena is Carl Sandburg’s Galesburg. REAGAN had 

something of them all: His heart going out to the people; 

his will ready to fight for the country; his voice able to move 

the Nation. And, as Carl Sandburg wrote it, ‘‘The republic 

is a dream. Nothing happens unless first a dream.’’ 

Hon. Jim Ryun 

OF KANSAS

Mr. Speaker, there are few leaders who we can 

look to who truly embody the characteristics of 

what a leader should be. RONALD REAGAN embodied them all. 

He was a man of principle; he was a man of 

action. Unlike many who just talk about their 

convictions, he was a man who acted upon them. 

As a man of deep faith, he brought conviction 

to the Presidency, knowing what he believed and 

why he believed it. Yes, he was ‘‘Mr. President;’’ 

and indeed a role model, a man of conviction and 

courage. 

He once said: 

A leader, once convinced a particular course of action is 

the right one, must have the determination to stick with it 

and be undaunted when the going gets rough. 

It was this conviction and courage that enabled him to lead the world out of the cold war 

into an age when communism no longer thrived. 

As he put it, ‘‘We did not seek the role of leadership that has been thrust upon us. But whether 

we like it or not, the events of our time demand 

America’s participation.’’ 

My wife Anne and I had the privilege of meeting President REAGAN at the White House for 

a St. Patrick’s Day event in 1982. As we chatted 

for a few minutes, I remember being in the presence of someone great. I told him that we were 

praying for him. He shook my hand, and in a 

genuine, soft-spoken voice, he thanked us. 

His convictions guided him on social issues as 

well. In 1983, on the 10th anniversary of Roe v. 

Wade, he wrote a 9 page article to the American 

people laying out his opposition to the abominable practice of abortion. In it he wrote: 

jWke cannot survive as a free nation when some men decide that others are not fit to live and should be abandoned 

to abortion or infanticide. My Administration is dedicated 

to the preservation of America as a free land, and there is 

no cause more important for preserving that freedom than 

affirming the transcendent right to life of all human beings, 

the right without which no other rights have any meaning. 

Our Founders believed in the idea of America. 

It was an idea of freedom and justice for all. 

REAGAN believed in America, and, more significantly, he believed in the American people. 

Rather than simply imposing his principles upon 

others, he redefined the mainstream by giving 

them something to believe in. It was this quality 

of principled, caring leadership that inspired 

many, including me, to act upon our convictions, 

believing that the American way was just and 

right. 

As we mourn the passing of our 40th President, we must not allow his legacy to die with 

him. His legacy is a continued belief in the idea 

of America. To carry it on, we must not only 

look to what has been, but we must look forward 

to what will be. Because of the work of RONALD

REAGAN, the idea has prevailed. It is up to us 

to ensure that we continue his optimism for the 

future. President REAGAN left us a legacy to uphold. 

PRAYER 

The Reverend John Boyles, National Capital 

Presbytery, Washington, DC, offered the following prayer: 

O Lord God, we come before You on this day 

to ask that You would be with all here today 

as servants of Your will, and that of this Nation’s 

people, in giving honor for service to country, 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 5 

this land of the free. And strengthen all here 

today in the work of this body, to establish 

steadfast and righteous rules of law to guide and 

direct the way of this Nation. 

O Lord God, that here would be frontiers of 

freedom just as there were in foreign fields on 

beachheads of liberation which are remembered 

and honored in these days. 

O Lord God, before You, and gathered here, 

we are met to lift up to You and remember those 

who have given of themselves in highest service 

to this Nation. O Lord, You have been our 

dwelling place in all generations and now this 

House, this Chamber would prepare to receive 

under its dome, a hallowed place of honor for 

one who served as highest leader of this Nation. 

Prepare here now, O Lord, those assembled to 

give honor for service and dedication to America 

of RONALD REAGAN, that in honoring his service, that the service to Nation given by those 

here in this House might be rededicated and 

strengthened; that in honoring the grace and 

goodness of a man who served his Nation’s people, that all here would be renewed in their dedication to the good of all, and the building up 

of all, and even then knowing, before You, O 

God, that if this earthly house of a tabernacle 

were desolved that there is a building of God, 

a house not made with hands, eternal in the 

heavens. May you, O God, bless the work of our 

hands here today. Amen. 

MESSAGE FROM THE SENATE 

A message from the Senate by Mr. Monahan, 

one of its clerks, announced that the Senate has 

passed a concurrent resolution of the following 

title in which the concurrence of the House is 

requested: 

S. Con. Res. 115. Concurrent resolution authorizing the use 

of the rotunda of the Capitol for the lying in state of the 

remains of the late RONALD WILSON REAGAN, 40th President of the United States. 

Hon. Frank R. Wolf 

OF VIRGINIA

Mr. Speaker, I join with others in the House 

in expressing the deepest condolences to Nancy 

Reagan and the Reagan family on the passing of 

RONALD WILSON REAGAN, the 40th President 

of the United States of America, and in paying 

tribute to President REAGAN as we remember his 

Presidency and what he meant to our country 

and, indeed, to the world. 

I deeply admired and respected President 

REAGAN. I had the good fortune to run for the 

10th Congressional District of Virginia seat in 

Congress in November 1980 when he was elected 

to his first term. Some called my victory then 

‘‘on REAGAN’s coattails.’’ I have no doubt that 

I am in Congress today because of President 

REAGAN. 

I will always be grateful that after my two successful bids for Congress RONALD REAGAN led 

the ticket I was on and I became a member of 

the class of 1980. I am sure all members of the 

class of 1980 would agree, President REAGAN

made us feel good again. He gave us hope. He 

inspired us. He gave us optimism because he was 

an optimist. His legacy belongs not only to 

America but to the world. 

I saw a woman in California being interviewed. She was holding a bouquet of flowers 

and tears were streaming down her face. She had 

a broken English accent and identified herself as 

a Russian immigrant. She said she had to come 

to the makeshift memorial outside the funeral 

home where President REAGAN was resting because, ‘‘I owe my life to President REAGAN.’’ 

Mr. Speaker, I will close by sharing his own 

words spoken in August 1992 about how he 

wanted to be remembered. President REAGAN

said: 

jWkhatever else history may say about me when I’m 

gone, I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, 

not your worst fears, to your confidence rather than your 

doubts. . . . 

May all of you as Americans never forget your heroic origins, never fail to seek divine guidance, and never lose your 

. . . God-given optimism. 

Mr. Speaker, we thank God for the life of 

RONALD WILSON REAGAN. 

Hon. Joseph R. Pitts 

OF PENNSYLVANIA

Mr. Speaker, last week as I reflected on the 

anniversary of D-day, I recalled President 
6 Ronald Reagan 

REAGAN’s speech on the 40th anniversary of that 

first day of liberation of Europe on June 6, 1984. 

President REAGAN spoke of ‘‘the men of Normandy’’ who ‘‘had faith that what they were 

doing was right, faith that they fought for all 

humanity, faith that a just God would grant 

them mercy on this beachhead or on the next.’’ 

As he so often did, his conviction and passion, 

his grace and sincerity connected a distant event 

to the struggle each and every human being faces 

every day, fighting to know what we are doing 

is right. 

Later that day he told a different audience, 

‘‘We will always remember. We will always be 

proud. We will always be prepared, so we may 

always be free.’’ 

Newsweek called this freedom, which President 

REAGAN mentioned in 1984, the freedom ‘‘from 

self-doubt, from the Soviet threat, from uneasiness about our national power and capacity to do 

great things.’’ 

This was REAGAN’s gift to his country. He 

knew that America was great and that our greatness had not come without a price. Indeed, we 

will always remember, Mr. President. We will 

always remember so that we may always be free. 

Hon. Nick Smith 

OF MICHIGAN

Mr. Speaker, I was farming and in the Michigan Legislature when RONALD REAGAN took office. With President REAGAN, he not only led 

the country but restored America’s confidence. 

He renewed our sense of America’s goodness and 

America’s greatness. And with that assurance, the 

American people achieved great things. 

When RONALD REAGAN came into office, we 

had Watergate, defeat in Vietnam, we surrendered control over the Panama Canal. Vietnam 

fell to communism and Cambodia soon followed. 

The Sandinistas took control of Nicaragua. The 

Ayatollah Khomeini held 52 American hostages 

for more than 1 year at our Embassy in Tehran. 

Inflation stood at 13.5 percent and interest 

rates reached 21 percent. People in America had 

lost their optimism and pride in our country, and 

it was RONALD REAGAN that brought us back. 

It was RONALD REAGAN who turned it around. 

He never lost faith in the American people, and 

he had enough optimism to restore our lost confidence and get America back on its feet. 

That is what impressed me so much in those 

days, that tremendous turnaround from so many 

being down to being proud again of America. 

He believed that we could cut taxes and restore 

our economy, and we did. By the end of his 

term, the U.S. economy had grown by a third. 

He believed we could stand up proudly for 

American values around the world and stand up 

to the Soviet Union, and we did. It was President 

REAGAN’s resolve that halted the march of communism in Central America and Afghanistan. It 

was REAGAN’s resolve that nurtured the Solidarity movement in Poland, and gave heart to 

the dissidents of the Soviet bloc. 

Ultimately, it was President REAGAN’s faith 

in American ideals and his steadfast determination that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and 

the liberation of Eastern Europe. 

In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, it was that leadership and vision for America that made RONALD

REAGAN special. And now the country mourns 

and the world remembers in the death of a great 

world leader. 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE CLERK OF THE 

HOUSE 

The SPEAKER laid before the House the following communication from the Clerk of the 

House of Representatives: 

OFFICE OF THE CLERK

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Washington, DC, June ç, áÖÖâ. 

HON. J. DENNIS HASTERT, 

The Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. SPEAKER: Pursuant to the permission granted 

in Clause 2(h) of Rule II of the Rules of the U.S. House 

of Representatives, I have the honor to transmit a sealed envelope received from the White House on June 8, 2004 at 2:37 

p.m. and said to contain a message from the President whereby he notifies the Congress of the death of RONALD REAGAN. 

With Best wishes, I am 

Sincerely, 

JEFF TRANDAHL, 

Clerk of the House. 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 7 

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED 

STATES 

The SPEAKER laid before the House the following message from the President of the United 

States; which was read: 

To the Congress of the United States: 

By this Message, I officially inform you of the death of 

RONALD REAGAN, the fortieth President of the United 

States. 

RONALD REAGAN was a great leader and a good man. He 

had the confidence that comes with conviction, the strength 

that comes with character, the grace that comes with humility, and the humor that comes with wisdom. 

Through his leadership, spirit, and abiding faith in the 

American people, President REAGAN gave our Nation a renewed optimism. With his courage and moral clarity, he enhanced America’s security and advanced the spread of peace, 

liberty, and democracy to millions of people who had lived 

in darkness and oppression. As America’s President, he 

helped change the world. 

The sun has now set on RONALD REAGAN’s extraordinary 

American life. Just as he told us that our Nation’s best days 

are yet to come, we know that the same is true for him. 

GEORGE W. BUSH. 

THE WHITE HOUSE, June ç, áÖÖâ. 

EXPRESSING PROFOUND REGRET AND SORROW OF 

THE HOUSE ON THE DEATH OF RONALD WILSON 

REAGAN FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED 

STATES OF AMERICA 

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I offer a privileged 

resolution (H. Res. 663) and ask for its immediate consideration. 

The Clerk read the resolution, as follows: 

H. RES. 663 

Resolved, That the House of Representatives has learned 

with profound regret and sorrow of the death of RONALD

WILSON REAGAN, former President of the United States of 

America. 

Resolved, That the House tenders its deep sympathy to the 

members of the family of the former President in their bereavement. 

Resolved, That in recognition of the many virtues, public 

and private, of one who served with distinction as President, 

the Speaker shall appoint a committee of the House to join 

with such Members of the Senate as may be designated, to 

attend the funeral services of the former President. 

Resolved, That the Sergeant-at-Arms of the House be authorized and directed to take such steps as may be necessary 

for carrying out the provisions of these resolutions, and that 

the necessary expenses in connection therewith be paid out 

of the applicable accounts of the House. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to 

the Senate and transmit a copy of the same to the family 

of the former President. 

Resolved, That when the House adjourns today, it adjourn 

as a further mark of respect to the memory of the former 

President. 

Hon. Tom DeLay 

OF TEXAS

Mr. Speaker, he was a gift to us: the healthy, 

hearty child handed down from God to John and 

Nelle Reagan in Tampico, IL, in 1911; the strong, 

athletic young man handed up from the bustling, 

laughing, big-shouldered Midwest of his youth; 

the underrated actor, the underrated labor leader, 

the underrated politician; and the visionary who 

foresaw America’s victory in the cold war and 

brought about that victory with wit, will, and 

undaunted valor for 8 heroic years. 

Everything that America is, and everything 

that mankind can be, was in our 40th President: 

wisdom, mercy, humor, honesty, honor, and 

courage. 

In an hour of doubt and fear, RONALD

REAGAN rose in the West, reminded his Nation 

of its unique mission in history, and with the 

help of a few million friends, worked the great 

miracle of the age. And he did it all smiling 

through the condescending insults of his critics, 

who, bless their hearts, could never quite get past 

his infuriating optimism. 

They said RONALD REAGAN could ruin the 

economy, but in fact he led it to heights of 

strength and prosperity never before witnessed in 

history. 

They said REAGAN would provoke our enemies to war, but in fact he bent our enemies 

to surrender without firing a single shot. 

They said RONALD REAGAN was an ‘‘amiable 

dunce,’’ but in fact he was a fearless intellectual 

warrior, who marshaled words like soldiers to 

fight battles of ideas across a table or across a 

continent, and won. 

Which is why his death, even after a decade 

of slow, agonizing decline, comes as a shock to 

all of us. For RONALD REAGAN was not just a 

man. He was the personification of an idea. And 

not just an idea, but the idea: the irreducible 

American idea that this Nation, founded by a 

generation of heroes upon the self-evident truth 
8 Ronald Reagan 

of equality under God, is possessed of a special 

commission in the affairs of men. 

According to RONALD REAGAN, and according to Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Kennedy before him, America is not just another nation. Instead, we are the ‘‘last, best hope of man 

on Earth’’; ‘‘the torch of freedom’’ guiding mankind through the darkness; the living promise to 

all times and men that despite the relentless 

march of tyranny, the ultimate victory of liberty 

is assured. 

And people wonder where he got his optimism. Of course RONALD REAGAN was an optimist. He was an American. In his life, the 

United States pulled the world through the 

Great Depression, two great world wars, and 

back from the brink of nuclear holocaust. And 

all the while, despite all the hardship, indeed 

perhaps because of it, America got stronger, richer, and, as far as he was concerned, better. 

REAGAN’s confidence and optimism in his 

country were simply extensions of his confidence 

and optimism in his countrymen. He knew the 

things Americans had done, repelling the British, 

freeing the slaves, settling the West, liberating 

Europe, shooting for the Moon, and simply could 

not see this arc of history as anything but the 

irresistible advance of freedom against oppression; or as REAGAN sublimely put it: ‘‘We win, 

and they lose.’’ 

‘‘We’’ are those who seek to defend human 

dignity, and ‘‘they’’ are those who seek to stifle 

it. This was not a mere political calculation. To 

RONALD REAGAN, the innate dignity of man was 

a spark of the Divine, a light created in God’s 

image that the darkness could not overcome. He 

saw it as his role in our Nation and America’s 

role in the world, for that matter, to liberate people from the shackles of government, so that they 

might first enjoy their right of self-determination, and then share with their neighbors the 

blessings of faith, hope, and charity. 

REAGAN knew these were the virtues that 

built our Nation and remain the essential ingredients of American achievement, the tonic that 

has sustained the United States for more than 

200 years, in Emerson’s words, as ‘‘the country 

of tomorrow.’’ 

REAGAN loved that quote, and the idea behind 

it; that even as we stand today as the oldest democracy on Earth, we remain the youthful champion of liberty and justice, best poised of all nations to lead mankind in the uncertain future. 

He believed it was true because he knew it had 

to be. 

He knew that without the American Nation, 

that is without the American people and their 

steadfast adherence to the true and the good, the 

West could fail in the cold war and fail the cause 

of freedom around the world. And so he never 

let failure become an option. 

From the earliest days of his administration, 

President REAGAN stood before the world and 

proclaimed the United States’ commitment to 

freedom. He called the Soviet Union the evil empire and declared that ‘‘regimes planted by bayonets do not take root.’’ He met with Pope John 

Paul II and pledged to assist and equip the Solidarity movement in Poland. He called the Soviet’s bluff at Reykjavik and went to the Brandenburg Gate to challenge Soviet Leader Mikhail 

Gorbachev to ‘‘tear down this wall!’’ 

Around the world, his words and deeds filtered down to the oppressed citizens behind the 

Iron Curtain who knew, for the first time, that 

the American President and his people were coming to the rescue; that the truth about the evils 

of communism was being exposed to the world, 

and that the West had made a conscious decision 

that the cold war was not to be managed, but 

fought and won. 

To RONALD REAGAN, the answers to the 

world’s problems were not simplistic, but they 

were simple. In foreign policy, evil must be confronted. Domestically, more government is not 

the solution; it is the problem. Publicly, honesty 

is the best policy. And privately, follow the golden rule. 

This was not merely the recipe for a spectacular career, which dominated and forever altered 

the map of the world, or for the national pride 

he restored to an America that, under his watch, 

became freer, stronger, and more prosperous than 

any nation in history. It was also the recipe for 

a full life of love and friendship, an ineffable romance with his wife, Nancy. 

In short, he left the world a better place than 

he found it and left his country with policies in 

place to solve problems great and small. It is for 

us, then, who inhabit the world he shaped, to 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 9 

finish the work he began. For we honor him best 

not by our words today, but our deeds tomorrow, 

and the next day and the next, to do right by 

each other, right by our Nation, and right by 

our responsibilities to history. 

Though he may no longer be with us, Mr. 

Speaker, we still live in an Age of Reagan. Come 

Friday afternoon, he will be laid to rest, after 

making one final journey home to his beloved 

California coast. But even as we say our tearful 

goodbyes that evening, and the Sun sets out 

West over the Pacific, we will find in ourselves 

the strength to carry on without our hero. 

We will simply do as REAGAN did at the end 

of any long and difficult day. We will turn and 

look to the East with anticipation and wonder, 

and wait for another hopeful dawn. 

Hon. Nancy Pelosi 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, with the death of RONALD

REAGAN and the dignity with which he left us, 

there is truly mourning in America. If the meaning of a life can be measured by the hearts 

touched by one’s death, the outpouring of grief 

at the death of our 40th President speaks to the 

distinctly American life that was RONALD WILSON REAGAN. 

We Californians mourn RONALD REAGAN as 

our Governor; all Americans mourn RONALD

REAGAN as our President; and people the world 

over mourn RONALD REAGAN, the passionate 

voice for freedom. 

Today a grateful Nation remembers RONALD

REAGAN the man. We remember his indomitable optimism and abiding love of country. 

RONALD REAGAN understood the greatness of 

America has always been the character of the 

American people. As Americans, we have always 

dared to dream. And so President REAGAN appealed to the enduring belief that sustains us as 

a people: That America’s best days are yet to 

come. 

We remember his leadership. Those of us on 

this side of the aisle may not have always stood 

with him on matters of policy, but we always 

knew where he stood, as he did us, when it came 

to matters of principle. And though firm in his 

convictions, President REAGAN was not afraid of 

compromise. Indeed, the lifelong crusader against 

communism will be remembered for signing the 

first agreement with the Soviet Union to actually 

destroy nuclear weapons. 

We remember his eloquence. After the loss of 

our Challenger astronauts, President REAGAN

consoled a grieving Nation. And whether in 

front of the Berlin Wall, or overlooking the 

beaches of Normandy, he echoed the democratic 

aspirations of freedom-loving people everywhere. 

We remember his grace and humor. This is 

a story that perhaps our colleague, the gentleman 

from California (Mr. Lewis), understands and appreciates better than most in the Chamber. 

When RONALD REAGAN was Governor of California, he came to the legislative chamber to deliver the State of the State Address. Because it 

was near the time of his birthday, they wheeled 

in a birthday cake and sang ‘‘Happy Birthday’’ 

to then-Governor REAGAN. I have to add at that 

time, the speaker of the Assembly of California 

was a giant of a man, Jess Unruh, and who sometimes did not see eye to eye with then-Governor 

REAGAN. They sang ‘‘Happy Birthday,’’ and 

Governor REAGAN blew out the candles. Someone said, ‘‘Governor, did you make a wish?’’ 

Mr. Speaker, the Governor looked up and said, 

‘‘Yes, I made a wish, but it did not come true; 

he is still there,’’ as he spoke to the then-Speaker. 

At the end of the day, though, President 

REAGAN knew whatever may divide us by party 

is dwarfed by what unites us as Americans. 

Speaker Tip O’Neill famously told of how he and 

the President clashed by day, but were friends 

after 6 p.m., prompting the President to begin 

his phone calls, ‘‘Tip, is it after 6 p.m.?’’ 

We remember RONALD REAGAN’s faith in his 

country, in his family, and in his God. In that 

poignant letter 10 years ago announcing his battle with Alzheimer’s disease, President REAGAN

wrote: 

When the Lord calls me home, whenever that may be, I 

will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and 

eternal optimism for its future. 

. . . I know that for America there will always be a bright 

dawn ahead. 

That dawn was referenced by the gentleman from 

Texas (Mr. DeLay). 
10 Ronald Reagan 

We remember RONALD REAGAN’s dignity, 

the dignity with which he lived and led our 

country, and the dignity with which he died, 

turning the long goodbye of his final years into 

a lesson for all of us. 

And all Americans, and I know everyone who 

serves in the Congress of the United States for 

sure, have been touched by the dignity, private 

strength and public grace of Nancy Reagan and 

the Reagan family to whom we offer our prayers 

and deepest condolences. Our Nation is in your 

debt for the care and love you gave our President 

and the dignity with which you held his hands 

at the end. 

I hope it is a comfort to Mrs. Reagan and the 

Reagan family that the whole world mourns their 

loss and is praying for them at this sad time. 

For his eloquent defense of freedom, for his 

leadership style of conviction and compromise, 

for his eternal optimism for the future, America 

pays tribute to President RONALD WILSON

REAGAN. 

May God bless RONALD REAGAN, may God 

bless this country that he loved and led, may 

RONALD REAGAN rest in peace. 

Hon. J. Dennis Hastert 

OF ILLINOIS

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and 

the legacy of our Nation’s 40th President, RONALD WILSON REAGAN. 

He was born in the small town of Tampico, 

IL, which is in my congressional district, and 

grew up in Dixon, another town some of my constituents call home. It was there that he learned 

the common-sense values and virtues that helped 

him reshape not only our Nation, but also the 

world. 

When I first ran for public office in 1980, for 

the Illinois Legislature, RONALD REAGAN was 

running for President. Back then people did not 

have a lot of faith in America and what America 

could do. What made him so special was his 

willingness to step forward at a time when the 

rest of the world was stepping back and remind 

us what made America the ‘‘shining city on the 

hill.’’ He restored our faith in America, and he 

made us proud to be Americans again. 

His easygoing personality and a sense of 

humor endeared him to the people he served. His 

word was his bond. It was genuine. His honesty 

and sincerity were the foundation of his strength 

while working with Democrats and Republicans 

in both Houses of Congress. 

The world struggled against communism, but 

our country stood tall as RONALD REAGAN’s perseverance led the world to freedom. As a former 

history teacher, I have taught students about 

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. I 

have taught them about our fellow Illinoisan, 

Abraham Lincoln, and I have taught them about 

FDR and JFK. History has now called RONALD

REAGAN to take his place alongside the most 

noble of our countrymen. Here in the People’s 

House, thousands of Americans will file in the 

Capitol rotunda to honor the people’s President. 

He will be remembered as a symbol of ‘‘peace 

through strength,’’ but most of all we will remember him for the hope he gave to the rest 

of the world that freedom was possible. His grit, 

his sheer willpower made it possible for more 

people to walk in freedom today than at any 

other time throughout history. 

Not only was he an ambassador of the American people and the American way of life, President REAGAN was an ambassador of faith. He reminded us of his faith when America grieved the 

loss of the seven astronauts of the Challenger space 

shuttle. He said: 

We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, 

this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved 

good-bye and ‘‘slipped the surly bonds of earth’’ to ‘‘touch 

the face of God.’’ 

Tonight, as we honor the man who believed 

America was a ‘‘shining city on the hill,’’ we 

should remember his words to the students of 

his alma mater, Eureka College in Illinois. He 

said: 

Live each day to the fullest. Live each day with enthusiasm, 

optimism and hope. If you do, I am convinced that your contribution to this wonderful experiment we call America will 

be profound. 

With Godspeed, Mr. President. God bless 

RONALD REAGAN. God bless America. 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 11 

MOURNING THE PASSING OF PRESIDENT RONALD 

REAGAN 

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the order of the House of today and as 

designee of the majority leader, I call up the resolution (H. Res. 664) mourning the passing of 

President RONALD REAGAN and celebrating his 

service to the people of the United States and 

his leadership in promoting the cause of freedom 

for all the people of the world, and ask for its 

immediate consideration. 

The Clerk read the resolution, as follows: 

H. RES. 664 

Whereas President RONALD REAGAN reminded us that our 

great Nation was founded and built by people with great 

dreams and the courage to take great risks; 

Whereas President REAGAN reminded his countrymen of 

the Nation’s calling in world history: ‘‘From our forefathers 

to our modern day immigrants, we’ve come from every corner 

of the earth, from every race and every ethnic background, 

and we’ve become a new breed in the world. We’re Americans, and we have a rendezvous with destiny.’’; 

Whereas President REAGAN championed freedom and democracy throughout the world, bringing courage to millions 

of people suffering the bondage of tyranny and oppression; 

Whereas on June 12, 1987, President REAGAN stood at the 

Brandenburg Gate, the symbol of communism’s brutal oppression, and demanded: ‘‘General Secretary Gorbachev, if 

you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union 

and eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to 

this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear 

down this wall!’’; 

Whereas on November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall was torn 

down, signifying the end of the Cold War; 

Whereas President REAGAN, and his wife Nancy, brought 

dignity and respect to the White House and dedicated their 

lives to promoting national pride and to bettering the quality 

of life in the United States and throughout the world; 

Whereas on May 16, 2002, Congress bestowed the congressional gold medal in recognition of their service to the Nation; 

Whereas RONALD REAGAN’s eloquence united Americans 

in times of triumph and tragedy; 

Whereas on January 28, 1986, President REAGAN comforted a grieving nation as Americans mourned the death of 

seven American astronauts who ‘‘slipped the surly bonds of 

earth to touch the face of God’’; 

Whereas President REAGAN spent the twilight of his life 

as he always lived, leading a fight against Alzheimer’s disease 

with faith, courage, and dignity, with the greatest love for 

the Nation and eternal optimism for its future; 

Whereas by opening his heart to the Nation about his affliction with Alzheimer’s disease, President REAGAN promoted greater awareness of this condition; and 

Whereas President REAGAN appealed to the best hopes of 

the American people, not their worst fears, and to their confidence rather than their doubts: Now, therefore, be it 

Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

(1) expresses its deepest appreciation for the profound public service of President RONALD REAGAN; 

(2) expresses its condolences to Nancy Reagan and to Patti, 

Michael, Ron, and the entire Reagan family; 

(3) calls on the people of the United States to reflect on 

the record of President REAGAN during this national period 

of remembrance and to remember always his encouraging 

words: ‘‘We have every right to dream heroic dreams.’’; and 

(4) directs the Clerk of the House of Representatives to 

transmit a copy of this resolution to the family of President 

REAGAN. 

Hon. Jerry Lewis 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, through the years of having the 

opportunity to know President RONALD

REAGAN, one could go down many a pathway 

in recalling his greatness. My first recollection 

of RONALD REAGAN, I can recall clearly I was 

lying on the living room floor, and he was giving 

this speech on behalf of Barry Goldwater. The 

remarks in that speech entitled, ‘‘A Time for 

Choosing,’’ never to forget: 

You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, 

or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. 

I will never forget rolling over on the floor 

and saying to my family, ‘‘This guy ought to be 

Governor of California.’’ And, by golly, just 2 

years later, he was: Governor RONALD REAGAN, 

elected in 1966 by the people of California. 

Two years after that, a group of seven Republican freshmen legislators were invited to the 

Governor’s home for a little dinner. They had a 

set of card tables in the living room, a couple 

sat down at one card table, I sat on an extra 

chair, and, lo and behold, the Governor sat down 

beside me. The gentleman from California (Mr. 

Waxman) may remember that I was a bit more 

brash in those days than I choose to be now. 

And so almost immediately, I raised the subject of interest to me to the then-Governor 

REAGAN. I asked him what he thought about 

preschool and child care. It did not take 30 seconds for me to begin to understand that I had 

asked the right question, for Governor REAGAN

knew an awful lot more about preschool and 
12 Ronald Reagan 

child care than I ever thought of knowing. He 

and Nancy had been thinking about this subject 

for some time. And indeed, as a result of that 

beginning point of working together in this very 

special area of education, the Child Development 

Act was signed in 1972 by Governor REAGAN

and became the first major State quality day care 

programming that included health components 

and education components and involved parental 

responsibilities as well. 

The Governor was way ahead of the curve, as 

one might see; for some 25 years later, Washington discovered the importance of child care. 

Another illustration of an interesting side of 

the Governor who by many was considered to be 

some way out there, far out on the right; but 

quickly those who would observe carefully recognized that this Governor was looking out for the 

benefit of all people of California and because of 

that, he soon became very well known as an environmental Governor. He joined quickly with 

Governor Laxalt of Nevada, and together hand 

in hand they literally saved Lake Tahoe. 

A leader way ahead of his time, it was my 

privilege to spend so much time in those early 

days with Governor RONALD REAGAN. At another time in this evening’s discussion I would 

like to spend a moment discussing with all of 

you my first experience with Governor REAGAN

when he became President of the United States. 

Hon. Henry A. Waxman 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to 

President RONALD REAGAN. President REAGAN

has been a part of my entire political life. President REAGAN got his start in politics when he 

was elected Governor in 1966. Two years later, 

I got my start in politics when I was elected to 

the California Legislature. I served in the State 

legislature until 1974, the last year of Governor 

REAGAN’s term. And, of course, I served in the 

Congress of the United States for the entire 8 

years of his Presidency. 

I knew from those early days that President 

REAGAN had remarkable political skills. He is 

known as the Great Communicator and, truly, 

he was. President REAGAN knew how to connect 

with people. And he could articulate values and 

resonate across America and around the world 

with his ideals. He was also likable and charming. 

For many years, President REAGAN was actually my constituent. Hollywood, the place and 

the industry associated with it, had a great impact on his life. It refined his communication 

skills and honed his sense of drama and delivery. 

And it gave him something that many people 

do not fully appreciate—an understanding that 

in America, with hard work and honest values 

Hollywood endings really can come true. 

President REAGAN thought our Nation should 

be a shining example to the world. And under 

his leadership, we were really admired and respected around the world. He viewed America 

as a ‘‘city on the hill,’’ a beacon for freedom and 

a model for democracy. 

And here is another thing many people do not 

fully appreciate: President REAGAN was a pragmatic leader. He had strong convictions, but if 

he learned that those convictions were taking 

America in the wrong direction, he had the confidence and the wisdom to change course. 

As everyone knows, President REAGAN was afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease in the last 10 

years of his life. President REAGAN struggled 

with this terrible condition with great dignity. 

And with great courage he and his wife Nancy 

shared his struggle with the American people. It 

is a true tragedy that this country lost the opportunity to have this elder statesman involved and 

seek his advice and leadership in the last years 

of his life. 

I know that all of us in this body would like 

to find a fitting way to honor President 

REAGAN’s life. For my part, I can think of no 

better tribute than an accelerated effort to address the horrific disease known as Alzheimer’s. 

Mrs. Reagan, the President’s beloved wife, bravely spoke out about this just last month. In her 

moving words she said: 

Science has presented us with a hope called stem cell research which may provide our scientists with many answers 

that for so long have been beyond our grasp. We have lost 

so much time already. I just really cannot bear to lose any 

more. 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 13 

Well, it is past time for us to seize the potential that Nancy Reagan identified. There could 

be no important or more lasting legacy to her 

husband. 

America has lost a devoted citizen and a dedicated leader. I want Mrs. Reagan and the Reagan 

family to know they are in my heart and in my 

thoughts. President REAGAN’s passing is truly 

felt among Democrats and Republicans, by all 

Americans, and people of goodwill all around the 

world. We will certainly miss him. 

Hon. Jerry Lewis 

OF CALIFORNIA

President REAGAN came to Washington at a 

moment when our country was in great malaise. 

Interest rates had risen as high as 211§2 percent. 

Inflation was raging the country. Jobs were very, 

very difficult to come by. And in typical RONALD REAGAN fashion, the President for whom 

the glass was always more than half full, he 

began setting forth policies that reduced interest 

rates, that impacted inflation, and created jobs. 

He set a stage for tomorrow that would lead us 

all to believe in America again and have new 

hope and opportunity within our country. 

Hon. Roy Blunt 

OF MISSOURI

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman 

from California (Mr. Lewis) for yielding this time 

to me and leading this important recognition 

today. 

I also want to thank you, Mr. Speaker, for your 

special understanding of President REAGAN from 

your work in the military serving alongside him 

in his days in the White House. 

What all of those that served with the President or watched him from afar were able to see 

was how his optimistic leadership reinvigorated 

the American spirit and how it redefined the politics of his time. Born in a small town near the 

middle of America, this son of a shoe salesman 

rose to heights of gigantic proportion and lifted 

his countrymen along with him. 

After facing his last great challenge with courage and patience, RONALD REAGAN now takes 

his place where his vision is once again clear, his 

faith rewarded, and his storied sense of humor 

returned. He placed his faith in God along with 

economic and permanent freedom. And the 

world is a better place because of those beliefs. 

President REAGAN helped raise individuals up 

and helped tear down the Berlin Wall. He inspired us, and he was inspired by us. President 

REAGAN’s leadership inspired more current 

members of our conference on my side of the 

aisle than any other political figure in the 20th 

century. 

When I became the majority whip in this 

Congress, I named the conference room in the 

whip’s office the Reagan Room for the brief time 

I am privileged to make that designation. And 

I hope many of my colleagues come by that room 

during this week on the third floor of the Capitol 

and view the photographs there chronicling the 

life of this remarkable man from his days as a 

radio announcer to those that foreshadowed the 

end of the Soviet Union. 

President REAGAN said: 

We are a powerful force for good. With faith and courage 

we can perform great deeds and take freedom’s next step, 

and we will. 

America is taking freedom’s next step, and we 

are doing so in large part because of President 

RONALD WILSON REAGAN. 

Today America’s light shines a little dimmer 

because he is gone, but, Mr. Speaker, it shines 

much brighter than it would have if he had not 

been here. He made a difference in America. He 

made a difference in the world. Today people all 

over the world are remembering and recognizing 

that difference. 

Hon. Danny K. Davis 

OF ILLINOIS

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join with my colleagues as we pay tribute to the life and legacy 

of President REAGAN. A bigger-than-life screen 

actor and television personality, RONALD

REAGAN moved from being Governor of California in the sixties to President of the United 
14 Ronald Reagan 

States and dominating American politics in the 

eighties. He was the first President to be reelected to a second term since Dwight D. Eisenhower. 

Media-made and media-presented, President 

REAGAN got millions of Americans to feel proud 

of their Nation. America’s 40-year cold war with 

the Soviet Union cooled considerably and perhaps 

actually ended during REAGAN’s Presidency. 

Many Americans credit him with having 

achieved that significant outcome. 

Born the son of a shoe salesman in smalltown 

Illinois, President REAGAN’s impoverished but 

loving parents instilled in him a sense of optimism that carried him through college as an average student. After graduation, he worked for 

a few years as a sports broadcaster in midwestern 

radio before landing a film contract with Warner 

Brothers, which took him to Hollywood in 1936. 

Over the next 30 years, President REAGAN

made scores of films, including Army films produced during World War II. He hosted two popular television series and was actively engaged in 

politics as president of the Screen Actors Guild. 

In the fifties, President REAGAN changed from 

being a Roosevelt New Deal Democrat to a conservative Republican. In 1966, he became Governor of California and was reelected in 1970. 

Using his popularity in California, he unsuccessfully challenged President Gerald Ford for the 

Republican nomination in 1976. He tried again 

and won the nomination in 1980 and thereafter 

defeated the incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter. 

With his 1984 reelection victory, President 

REAGAN became the most politically successful 

Republican President since President Eisenhower. 

In his last years, as President REAGAN battled 

Alzheimer’s disease, our Nation went from having zero drugs for this devastating disease to 

today having five new prescriptive drugs to help 

manage and treat the progression of Alzheimer’s. 

Today it is even possible to diagnose Alzheimer’s 

with more than 90 percent accuracy. It is clear 

that Alzheimer’s does not discriminate on whom 

it affects, regardless of gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, political ideology or if one 

worked in the fields, in the factories or in the 

Oval Office. 

With now more than 4.5 million people suffering from this disease, the upsetting effects of 

Alzheimer’s are growing faster than modern 

medicine can manage. This is only likely to become more complicated with the aging of the 

baby boomers, boosting the number of Alzheimer’s patients to an astounding 11 to 16 million people by the middle of the century. 

As a way to honor President REAGAN, let us 

make the greatest commitment that we can to 

real investment in research for Alzheimer’s disease and follow through with clinical trials to 

translate the research into treatments. We must 

now act to make the lives of all Alzheimer’s patients more comfortable with a better quality of 

life, while hopefully being able to prevent this 

disease in the future. 

Mr. President, as one might say in a western 

movie, you had a good ride and our country is 

proud to say, ‘‘Much obliged.’’ 

Hon. Elton Gallegly 

OF CALIFORNIA

President REAGAN’s impact on America and 

the world is immeasurable. He ended the cold 

war and restored America’s confidence. His Republican administration rebuilt our economy 

with the help and support of a Democratic House 

of Representatives. 

President REAGAN achieved such successes because when you sat in a room with him, there 

could be over 1,000 people in the room, yet you 

felt like there was only the 2 of you, and his wonderful wit would put you at ease. That was a tremendous gift. 

That is why some of his biggest political enemies were among his closest personal friends. It 

is why a staunch anticommunist could negotiate 

with the President of the Soviet Union. President 

REAGAN reached across and connected with people. 

President REAGAN is now at rest. We mourn 

his passing, but we are grateful for the gifts he 

gave us: a safer world, a strong economic base, 

and a renewed belief in America’s greatness. 

Mr. Speaker, President REAGAN will be laid 

to rest at his Presidential library in Simi Valley, 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 15 

CA. It is where I began my political career as 

mayor and city councilman. It has been my home 

for more than 35 years. 

President REAGAN often spoke about a ‘‘shining city on a hill.’’ The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library is such a place. President 

REAGAN will be laid to rest at the edge of a high 

hill where his library stands. His grave overlooks 

the farmlands, ranches and chaparral of the Tierra 

Rejada Valley. On a clear day, one can see the 

Channel Islands in the Pacific Ocean more than 

30 miles away. It is a fitting place for America’s 

greatest son. 

Mr. Speaker, it is the end of an era, but it 

is the beginning of a legacy that will last forever. 

We will miss him. 

Hon. David Scott 

OF GEORGIA

Mr. Speaker, today we remember a true leader, 

a statesman and a great man who led our country 

with dignity, with grace and with strength. 

President REAGAN was the quintessential American who exemplified unbridled optimism, a 

strong sense of faith and the idea that our Nation 

was a true beacon for the world. 

There is no doubt that among his greatest 

achievements was his resolve to end the cold war 

so that other Nations could experience the glory 

of freedom and the power of democracy. His 

combination of political strength and personal 

appeal, his ability to communicate set the forces 

in motion for the walls of communism to crumble, and for this he will always be remembered. 

However, President REAGAN should also be 

remembered, especially in this House, for his 

willingness to fight in the political arena with 

dignity, with respect for his opponents, and his 

strong belief that democracy was for all of our 

citizens, even those with whom he might have 

disagreed. President REAGAN exemplified civility 

and honor in an arena that is often lacking in 

both, and because of that he earned the goodwill 

not only of his supporters, but often of his 

friendly adversaries. In the end we remember a 

man, RONALD REAGAN, not only as a great leader, but as a good and decent man. 

My condolences and prayers are with his family and with his wife Nancy, who shared him 

with our country. 

Mr. Speaker, we are all called by God for a 

special purpose with this turn at light that he 

gives us. Some nobility of purpose is embedded 

in each of us with that calling, and as it is the 

case with RONALD REAGAN, there will be on his 

tombstone 1911–2004, but the most important 

thing on his tombstone will be the dash in between. For the fundamental call from God is always what we will do with the dash. 

RONALD REAGAN did great things with his 

dash. For those 93 years in that dash was actor, 

head of a union, the breakdown of the barriers 

of communism, the star wars defense system, and 

his legacy of rebuilding the Republican Party. 

Yes, RONALD REAGAN was a great man, and 

he, as so many of us, have heeded the call, and 

as I think of RONALD REAGAN, I am reminded 

of the great prophet Isaiah who said in that great 

conversation when God called and said, who will 

go for us and whom shall we send, that great 

prophet Isaiah said, at no hesitation, Here I am, 

Lord, send me. 

RONALD REAGAN responded the same way. I 

can almost see it. When the Lord called and said, 

who will go for us and who will we send to perform that nobility of purpose in life that RONALD REAGAN did, which is the legacy of his 

Presidency, I can see him standing at attention 

and saying, Here I am, Lord, send me. 

God bless RONALD REAGAN. 

Hon. William M. Thomas 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, we are all going to talk about 

President REAGAN, Commander in Chief 

REAGAN, leader of the free world REAGAN. Some 

of us were privileged to know him in a different 

context. My friend from California (Mr. Lewis), 

the chairman, has talked about his relationship 

with him when he was Governor of California. 

I knew him in a number of different contexts, 

and I was always amazed at one thing, and that 

was he was the same person regardless of the con-
16 Ronald Reagan 

text in which you met him, worked with him 

or were led by him. 

In 1974, I decided that I would run for public 

office. He was then in the last year of his governorship, and he decided to come to Bakersfield, 

and so I planned an event for the Governor. We 

decided that we would charge what seemed to 

be an appropriate amount, $25 a head, and almost 500 people came to see the Governor. I had 

no doubts about why they were coming. 

We picked him up at the airport, and when 

we got in the car, he started quizzing me about 

myself, and so I was visiting with him. But as 

we got closer, I said, ‘‘Well, do you want to take 

just a little time now so that you can get ready 

for the event?’’ He said, ‘‘Bill, if I am not ready 

now, 5 minutes will not make any difference.’’ 

He was always prepared. He was always on 

time, whether it was a minor event or a debate 

with other leaders of the world. 

And you see him in a bunch of different contexts and you say, well, of course, because he was 

a movie star and he is supposed to carry himself. 

And the point I want to make, if I do not make 

any other point, is he was that way because of 

who he was, not because of what he did. Because, 

frankly, if you tried to write a script and went 

to Hollywood on RONALD REAGAN’s life, you 

would last about 2 minutes in the room. Because 

people are willing to suspend belief, but not that 

much. 

And what I like most about the juxtaposition 

of RONALD REAGAN and his career, which was 

kind of molded out of the context that he found 

himself in, was that the American people were 

wise enough, first of all to choose him as Governor of California for the traditional two terms, 

had he chosen to run for a third term he probably 

could have gotten elected; and the American people chose him for two terms as President, a now 

constitutionally limited period of time. Were it 

not for that constitutional limit, he may have 

been elected again. 

And so when you watch people recognizing 

RONALD REAGAN as they pass the casket, as they 

did in California, many people will have an individual memory, perhaps a general shared one, 

and perhaps a personal one. For me, RONALD

REAGAN’s life means that any American can do 

anything any American wants to do. For RONALD REAGAN, the public person, it means he 

made sure that he set up a structure which allows 

any American to do whatever any American 

wants to do; and his justification and enabling 

of that is, he would tell you, ‘‘because I did.’’ 

You are going to hear him called the Great 

Communicator a lot. What you also need to 

know was he was a great compromiser. It can 

be put no more clearly than a comment he made 

when he was Governor of California, because he 

became Governor with an enormous debt at that 

time for the State of California. California did 

not have a withholding tax, and he needed to 

create a frontload for money to solve the problem 

that he was facing. He had, however, made a 

statement earlier that his feet were in concrete 

over not having a withholding tax. Once he 

looked at the options in front of him and he realized he did not have any options other than instituting a withholding tax, having worked with 

the legislature, he then went to the microphone 

and said, ‘‘That cracking sound you hear is the 

cement breaking away from my feet.’’ 

And so when you wonder why RONALD

REAGAN could get along with so many different 

people in so many stages of life, whether small 

or great, it was because RONALD REAGAN was 

the same person regardless of the job the American people gave him. He was always prepared, 

he was always on time, and he was a very, very 

sincere man. He was also quite smart, in ways 

that many people never understand. 

So what I want to do tonight is to just share 

briefly the memoirs of someone who, if you are 

looking for an example, he certainly stands out, 

not just in what he did but the way in which 

he lived his life and the way in which he recognized his condition later in life and the way in 

which he concluded his life. All of us should 

pause and remember that he was an amazing person. He was an American. 

Hon. Steny H. Hoyer 

OF MARYLAND

I am particularly pleased that the gentleman 

from Texas is managing the time, because I 

think if RONALD REAGAN were here, he would 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 17 

say Charles Stenholm was one of those who stood 

with me on principle, who believed that we 

needed to get this country moving, and believed 

that we needed to have sound policy; and Charles 

Stenholm stood with me. And as the gentleman 

from California (Mr. Thomas) just related, for 

RONALD REAGAN the concrete cracked again, 

frankly, when he viewed the program adopted 

and thought that perhaps some changes needed 

to be made. 

Mr. Speaker, like every Member of this House, 

I offer my sincere condolences to the family and 

friends of former President REAGAN, particularly, 

of course, his beloved wife, Nancy, and his children. What a wonderful example Nancy Reagan 

set for our country. RONALD REAGAN and Nancy 

Reagan clearly loved one another deeply and 

cared for one another, and Nancy Reagan has 

shown extraordinary courage and fidelity not 

only throughout the course of their marriage but 

particularly in the course of RONALD REAGAN’s 

final illness. 

Mr. Speaker, RONALD REAGAN loved this Nation and served it with distinction; and he will 

ever be remembered for his humor, his grace, his 

irrepressible optimism which mirrored the American spirit and buoyed it in periods of difficulty. 

The last decade, when this man who had lived 

life with such physical vigor slowly slipped away, 

was an especially cruel blow. However, let us be 

comforted today that he has been summoned to 

a far better place. 

Having been elected to Congress just 4 

months after he took office, and just 6 weeks 

after an assassin’s bullet nearly claimed his life, 

I had a front-row seat during President 

REAGAN’s 8 years in Washington. He was a man 

I both liked and respected. I liked him for his 

warmth and for the respect that he accorded others, and I respected him for the honesty of his 

convictions and the intellectual integrity that he 

displayed in pursuing them. 

After signing into law what was then the largest tax cut in American history in 1981, President 

REAGAN had the fortitude to face fiscal reality, 

just as the gentleman from California (Mr. 

Thomas) reflected upon. His policies caused 

yawning deficits and spiraling debt, consequences that he subsequently tried to address, 

although not as successfully as I am sure he 

would have hoped. Without question, RONALD

REAGAN held strong ideological beliefs. But one 

of his real strengths was his willingness to put 

pragmatism above ideology, to make sure that 

his country had programs that were working. 

I also remember him as a person who early 

in life committed to equality and justice for all, 

and later in life to the success of freedom and 

democracy around the world. I believed he was 

right in that endeavor, and like the gentleman 

from California (Mr. Lewis), supported his efforts 

to build up our defenses, to deploy those Persian 

and cruise missiles, to, yes, even provide for multiple warheads on the MX missile, and say to the 

Soviet Union, if you want to compete, we are 

prepared to compete; but we would rather seek 

peace together. And he had the courage to build 

up, and he had the courage to make peace. 

While Democrats disagreed with and strongly 

opposed much of his domestic agenda, our political differences never hardened into paralyzing 

personal animosity on his side or on ours. We 

were blessed by the fact that we were led by two 

great Irishmen, RONALD REAGAN and Tip 

O’Neill. They were friends. And they had a third 

friend, his name was Michel, Bob Michel, an extraordinary leader of this House. And they, together, believed that country was more important than partisanship and party. 

For the most part, they worked together. On 

those matters that they disagreed on, they took 

their own separate ways. But when they could 

agree, they did. The Social Security reform of 

1983 was probably the most stark example of that 

cooperative spirit. It was good for the country, 

it was good for Social Security, and they came 

together, worked together, and succeeded together. 

That was due in great measure to the leadership styles and personalities of President 

REAGAN and Speaker O’Neill. These two men, 

the most powerful political figures in our Nation 

in the eighties, one a Republican, the other a 

Democrat, demonstrated to all Americans that 

our elected leaders could disagree politically 

without being disagreeable personalities or personally. They reminded all of us that cynicism 

and mean-spiritedness are inimical to American 

democracy, and that our real adversaries lie beyond our shores, not here. 
18 Ronald Reagan 

The surest tribute that we can pay to RONALD

REAGAN today is to commit ourselves to recapture the generosity of spirit that always guided 

him. In a very real way, RONALD REAGAN’s life 

was the embodiment of the American dream. 

Both President REAGAN and President Clinton, 

like Harry Truman, gave credence to the promise 

that in America neither privileged birth nor economic advantage is necessary to enable one to become the President of the United States of America. It was, for them, and for millions to follow 

their example, the land of opportunity. 

President REAGAN’s leadership renewed the 

conviction that the future would be better, better 

than the past, and that America’s best days were 

still ahead. That is a philosophy that all of us 

should embrace and convey to our fellow citizens. 

I believe it is the case, RONALD REAGAN believed it was the case, and may God bless his 

soul and comfort his beloved wife, Nancy. 

Hon. Dana Rohrabacher 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, it is a blessing that RONALD

REAGAN did not die immediately after leaving 

office in 1989. In these last 16 years that we have 

had RONALD REAGAN with us, it has given 

America a chance to take a look at who RONALD

REAGAN was and what he meant to our country. 

And now, with 16 years that have passed, we can 

look back and see what an enormous difference 

RONALD REAGAN made not only to our lives as 

Americans but to the entire world. 

Let me note that RONALD REAGAN was 56 

years old when I first met him, and that was 

when he was running for the first time for public 

office. And all of these things we are talking 

about, a man who accomplished so much and 

changed the world for the better, happened after 

he was 56 years old. He had already had a successful life, a full career. 

And he did come from a relatively poor family. I know his first job was being a lifeguard. 

That affected his way of looking at things his 

entire life. He saved 77 people’s lives as a lifeguard. And having gotten to know him as President and also during his campaigns, I think he 

always had that consciousness, that he was there 

to save the day for the people who were in some 

type of a crisis. 

He was a sports broadcaster, and he was a 

moderately successful film actor. But all of that 

seemed to be over when he was 50 years old. And 

then, when he was 56, he jumped into political 

life. Now, why did he do that? Because California was a mess in 1966. 

And he came and stepped forward because he 

felt he had a contribution to make. He jumped 

into the political waters to save the day. 

I was a youth volunteer in that first campaign, 

and I got to meet him personally, and it was one 

of the joys of my life. 

Let me note that years later after I got finished 

with school, I became a journalist, and I covered 

RONALD REAGAN’s last 2 years as Governor as 

a journalist. I remember that he had a press conference one day, it was near the end of his term, 

where he was announcing the findings of his law 

and order task force. One of their findings was 

an expanded use of the death penalty. And just 

as I am now, I was then always trying to get 

to the heart of the matter and ask the tough 

questions, and I asked President REAGAN, who 

was then Governor, well, how can you be in favor 

of expanding the use of the death penalty when 

you are a committed Christian? And, you know, 

he sat forward, and he leaned forward to the 

mike, and said: 

I take that question very seriously. I prayed about this, 

about using the death penalty more frequently and taking 

people’s lives. I have sought help. I have read the scripture, 

and I have talked to other people about this, and I have come 

to the conclusion that if we are executing people for revenge, 

that it is inconsistent with the principles that Jesus Christ 

taught us, but if we are executing murderers in order to deter 

people from killing other human beings, we are doing it then 

to save people, to save innocent people, and that is totally 

consistent with Christianity. 

At that point Evelle Younger, who was the 

attorney general of the State, reached over and 

grabbed the mike and said, ‘‘oh, this religious 

and philosophical stuff does not mean anything. 

The voters of this State voted for the death penalty, and they are going to get it.’’ Well, in my 

opinion of RONALD REAGAN’s sword, I knew 

that he was a man who did not take these things 

lightly, a man of strong conviction, but a man 

who deeply cared about people enough to think 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 19 

about it and to pray about decisions like this. 

He was not just a Great Communicator, and I 

worked for him as a speechwriter for 7 years in 

the White House. He was, yes, someone who understood the fundamentals of communication, 

but that is not what made him great. He was 

not the Great Communicator. He was America’s 

great leader. He had ideals that helped direct his 

decisions. 

We have heard about his strong convictions. 

We know today that most people with strong 

convictions are not very pleasant to be around. 

When they talk about people with philosophies, 

there is a saying that you cannot change somebody’s mind, and he will not change the subject. 

RONALD REAGAN was a person who taught me 

that you can have strong principles and have a 

solid philosophy, but be a pleasant person and 

care about people at the same time. It was that 

type of humane approach that permitted RONALD REAGAN to capture the hearts of the American people and inspire us. 

When our country was in such terrible peril 

economically and in retreat internationally, and 

our spirit had been destroyed, people were not 

even waving the American flag back in the late 

seventies, RONALD REAGAN dove into the political waters again to save the day. And he saved 

us. He was the lifeguard who saved us, and he 

saved the world. 

Jim Bruelte, a political person in California, 

noted on D-day the American soldiers liberated 

half of Europe. RONALD REAGAN liberated the 

other half of Europe and did it without firing 

a shot. 

We live in a more prosperous country, a safer 

country, and hundreds of millions of people now 

live in relative freedom than if he had not been 

here. We are so grateful to RONALD REAGAN for 

having dove in to save us, and he did. He saved 

America, and he saved us personally. 

I am now 56 years old, the same age RONALD

REAGAN was when he first entered politics. I am 

so grateful that he spent those years of his life 

making this a better world for my children. I 

just had three children, and I am so grateful that 

he made it a better world for them. 

Hon. Rodney Alexander 

OF LOUISIANA

Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness that we 

devote this week to honor the memory and the 

contributions of our 40th President RONALD

REAGAN. My thoughts and prayers are with 

President REAGAN’s family and all of the Americans who grieve this week. 

Mr. Speaker, President REAGAN was a true patriot, committed to the ideals of a democratic nation, and dedicated to maintaining the strength 

of America as a world power. His abilities as a 

strong leader and a communicator gave Americans confidence and strength during a time of 

economic hardship and struggling with the Soviet Union. 

President REAGAN once said, ‘‘There is no 

limit to what a man can do or where he can go 

if he does not mind who gets the credit.’’ We 

should follow this example and remember that 

public service is not about partisan battles or taking credit, it is about serving the American people to the best of our ability. 

I am honored to be here in Washington during this week of memorial services. I am grateful 

to all of those involved with arranging the safety 

and logistics during a week when thousands of 

Americans will journey to our Nation’s Capital 

to pay their respects to President REAGAN. 

Mr. Speaker, as we face a new decade and new 

challenges, let us honor the life and contributions 

and remember the debt of gratitude we owe our 

40th President, RONALD REAGAN. 

Hon. Randy ‘‘Duke’’ Cunningham 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, we rise to honor and mourn 

RONALD REAGAN. 

But first I would like to thank Mrs. Nancy 

Reagan. The wisest of men knows it takes a good 

woman to make a good man, and what a good 

wingman she has been, both in sickness and in 

health. This Nation also owes Nancy Reagan a 

debt of gratitude; both of them good and decent 

people. RONALD REAGAN was one of the most 
20 Ronald Reagan 

respected and effective Presidents in American 

history. 

Mr. Speaker, the Irish have a toast, and it goes 

like this. It is to those who support RONALD

REAGAN, and everybody lifts their glass; to those 

who may support RONALD REAGAN, and everybody lifts their glass; and to those that will never 

support President RONALD REAGAN, may God 

strike them in their shins so we shall know them 

by their limping. But there are not many of 

those, Mr. Speaker. 

President REAGAN said: 

You know, the United States was never meant to be a 

second-best nation. . . . jWke set our sights jhigh fork . . . 

the stars, and we’re going for the gold. 

He said that back in the eighties. He came 

to the job with one underlying goal, and that 

was freedom. Freedom for you, Mr. Speaker, and 

people all over the world, much to the same challenges that we have today; the freedom in Bosnia, 

in Kosovo, in Afghanistan and in Iraq, and with 

the United Nations signing a resolution today 

following in suit much as RONALD REAGAN

guided us through troublesome times when he 

was President. 

RONALD REAGAN restored the economy of a 

double-digit inflation, interest rates the same 

thing. He gave this Nation tax relief, much as 

President Kennedy and President Bush did. He 

increased the coffers by three times the amount. 

Unfortunately, it was Congress that spent a lot 

of that money. 

He followed his pledge to restore our military. 

RONALD REAGAN believed in ‘‘peace through 

strength,’’ and I think it showed through. He 

eliminated an entire class of nuclear weapons. He 

is responsible for bringing down the Berlin Wall, 

ending the cold war, and challenging governments to have a new way of life to bring freedom 

to their people, also a task that we face today 

in this body and in this Nation. 

For his imprint on history, for his legacy 

which will be felt for generations to come, this 

Nation owes President REAGAN and Nancy 

Reagan a debt of gratitude. 

One of the President’s many legacies is the 

Navy’s newest nuclear carrier, the USS Ronald 

Reagan which will reside in San Diego. That aircraft carrier will travel all over the world, much 

as RONALD REAGAN did, and serves as a symbol 

of the respect and elegance of his family. 

Throughout his political career, President 

REAGAN always concluded his campaign in San 

Diego. He called it his lucky city. We feel fortunate that he considered San Diego so. It is only 

fitting that this great new ‘‘shining city on the 

hill,’’ San Diego, will be called the home of the 

USS Ronald Reagan, our latest and newest nuclear 

aircraft carrier. 

Mr. Speaker, we bid RONALD REAGAN adieu 

and thank the Reagan family for what they have 

given to this Nation. God bless you, Nancy 

Reagan, and your family and the President. 

Hon. Sheila Jackson-Lee 

OF TEXAS

I imagine this time is the reason why so many 

of us, in fact I would say this entire House, cherishes this body and cherishes this institution, because it allows us to come at a time like this 

and shed our Democratic and Republican labels 

and simply approach this tribute as Americans. 

I would imagine that is what these times, although sad, allow us to do. 

I am proud as an American to come forward 

and to salute an American President, and to be 

able to join the millions of Americans mourning 

the passing of President RONALD REAGAN and 

celebrate his service to the people of the United 

States and his leadership in promoting the cause 

of freedom for all of the people of the world. 

Protest has its place, protest is good in life, 

but protest has no place in death, and so this 

opportunity is to acknowledge the principles by 

which this President lived and stood for during 

his Presidency. The love that President REAGAN

had for this Nation was infectious to the point 

that it reflected on everyone who listened to him, 

here in America and abroad. 

Even when his actions did not agree with the 

policies and initiatives of many of us who wear 

a different political hat, he maintained himself 

with integrity and engaged in honest and open 

debate. We have heard repeatedly over these last 

couple of days that despite partisan disagreements, former President REAGAN followed the 

tenet that when the day ends, we are no longer 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 21 

Democrats or Republicans; rather, we are Americans, families and friends. 

I am reminded of the stories told about him 

and Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill, who 

shared in their Irish heritage a bit of good conversation and maybe a little bit of drink. 

The differences may have been real; but because of the way President REAGAN led, he 

taught us that there is a big difference between 

strong beliefs and bitter partisanship. As the 

Commander in Chief, he was the voice of America in imparting both good news and bad news. 

As we mourned the loss of our brave astronauts 

in the Challenger tragedy, it was President 

REAGAN who reminded us, ‘‘Nothing ends here; 

our hopes and our journeys continue.’’ We in 

Texas at that time appreciated his strong leadership and that in fact even in spite of the Challenger tragedy at that time, we would prevail and 

we would go forward. 

President RONALD WILSON REAGAN was an 

American who will always be remembered. He 

will be forever remembered for the warmth and 

the respect with which he accorded others. Furthermore, our thoughts and prayers are with 

Nancy and his children at this difficult time. 

Strong beliefs and a love of our country are 

the only way to bring this country forward as 

we face a costly and difficult war in Iraq and a 

budget that is struggling to survive. Strength 

and leadership is what we need now. Strength 

and leadership will be required to bring this Nation back to the standards by which we have always been known. 

President REAGAN himself admitted that he 

was an optimist and he believed that this Nation 

had an optimistic future, and so he was always 

able to rise to the occasion and share words of 

encouragement. President REAGAN always 

stressed that America is a can-do country. I 

would say to you that we Democrats agree. We 

can and will get back on the right track, largely 

through his legacy of integrity and hard work. 

With strong leadership and a real commitment 

to confronting the problems facing American 

families, we can improve upon our weaknesses. 

It was interesting to hear over these last couple 

of days the number of young people, then young 

people, who were amazed that they had the opportunity to work in President REAGAN’s administration. Sixty-nine years old when he took office, it seemed that he gravitated toward young 

people. Now being able to recite their wonderful 

experiences again, a tribute to a man who had 

a great history. 

We will always remember him as the man 

who tore down the Iron Curtain. He did it with 

a kind of leadership and integrity but sternness 

and determinedness. I will simply say no one will 

ever forget him challenging Mr. Gorbachev by 

saying, ‘‘open this gate!’’ and, ‘‘Mr. Gorbachev, 

tear down this wall!’’ We are better for it. He 

did it with a sternness but also with an attitude 

of peace. 

I am grateful also for the shining example of 

the wonderful relationship between him and his 

wife Nancy, the great love that they shared and 

the fact that they were married for some 52 years. 

Might I share with you some words that he wrote 

in 1983 on their 31st wedding anniversary as he 

was riding on Air Force One, and might I commend to you Nancy’s book, ‘‘I Love You, RONNIE,’’ published in 2000, but hear these words. 

He wrote: 

I more than love you, I’m not whole without you. You 

are life itself to me. When you are gone I’m waiting for you 

to return, so I can start living again. 

That is a true testament to the value of marriage 

and partnership and they did it unabashedly and 

without fear. 

Mrs. REAGAN wrote in 1989, ‘‘Some of the reporters who wrote about me felt that our marriage was at least partly an act. But it wasn’t and 

it isn’t.’’ And I believe her. 

Finally, in 1998 she told Vanity Fair: 

Our relationship is very special. We were very much in 

love and still are. When I say my life began with RONNIE, 

well, it’s true. It did. I can’t imagine life without him. 

Mr. Speaker, I started by saying that is why 

I cherish this institution, because it allows us 

now to come together again, not wearing any 

partisan hat but simply saying that we are Americans. I do not know if she would mind me saying this, but my daughter is now 24, I remember 

her as a small girl, very small, and she always 

used to refer to RONALD REAGAN as the grandfather. I had to kind of clarify that for her, but 

it was out of the mouth of a child that described 

him as such. 
22 Ronald Reagan 

And so I simply leave you with the idea of 

why we have come today to be able to honor this 

American President. It is because he did leave 

us with a sense of optimism and an ability to 

go forward, to look at the troubles that we might 

be facing both to the left and to the right and 

forward and back but yet to say that we are determined to succeed. I would only say that in 

his passing, let us maintain the legacy of optimism for this country. ‘‘We are the showcase of 

the future. And it is within our power to mold 

that future, this year and for decades to come. 

It can be as grand and as great as we make it. 

No crisis is beyond the capacity of our people 

to solve, no challenge too great,’’ the words of 

RONALD REAGAN on January 5, 1974. 

With that, Mr. Speaker, I simply say, farewell. 

And though we say farewell to a great and wonderful American President, his legacy will live 

on—that America’s future is founded on our optimism, our belief in freedom and democracy 

and, certainly this day on our understanding that 

we all are Americans. 

So when we return to work next week, I hope 

this House will be inspired by the leadership of 

RONALD REAGAN instead of mired in the partisan politics and a lack of integrity that have 

too often affected our work as of late. We should 

be inspired by his patriotism and devotion to our 

country. Moreover, we should remember his 

faith, his optimism, and his unwavering commitment to his convictions as we do the work of 

the American people. 

President REAGAN had a calm speaking voice 

and forceful diction that earned him the title of 

the Great Communicator. This task was surely 

the work of a leader of fortitude and commitment to the betterment of our diplomatic relations with that Nation. 

Mr. REAGAN’s efforts and tenacity contributed 

greatly to the end of the cold war. His policies 

included strong support of the U.S. military and 

the doctrine of ‘‘peace through strength.’’ 

In a few days it will be exactly 17 years to 

the day that President REAGAN stood at the 

Brandenburg Gate in what was then West Berlin, Germany, in which he famously proclaimed: 

General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek 

prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you 

seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, 

open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!’’ 

The speech was made to the free people of 

West Berlin, but it was clearly audible on the 

East side of the Wall, and soon those words 

would help make it possible that the people of 

East and West Berlin could finally hear each 

other. For all of his achievements and acclaim, 

I am certain that President REAGAN’s greatest 

accomplishment will be the demise of the Soviet 

Union. As Margaret Thatcher said, he was the 

man who ‘‘won the cold war without firing a 

shot.’’ 

The world President REAGAN faced when he 

came into office in 1981 was very different from 

the world we see today. Today the United States 

is the unquestioned superpower of the world, but 

two decades ago this world was dominated by 

the struggle between two superpowers: the 

United States and the Soviet Union. President 

REAGAN came into office with his own vision on 

how this great struggle could be dealt with. He 

succeeded in maintaining the standoff with the 

Soviet Union so that the world did not have to 

witness the consequences of a brutal nuclear war. 

He fought the Soviet Union indirectly wherever 

they sought to threaten the freedom of the 

world’s people. In Afghanistan he mobilized our 

allies and our resources in the region to ensure 

that the Soviets would not have a stranglehold 

on the continent of Asia. The Reagan doctrine 

succeeded in a time where grave danger not only 

threatened our Nation, but indeed the fate of the 

world as we know it. 

President REAGAN used his great communication skills to help end the cold war without the 

necessity of another world war. As with his 

speech at the Brandenburg Gate, President 

REAGAN inspired people throughout the world 

to believe that freedom and prosperity were indeed possible. 

President REAGAN made Americans believe 

again that our Nation was the greatest on Earth 

and that we would indeed be victorious. Finally, 

his words made the leadership of the Soviet 

Union believe that they were fighting from a side 

of weakness, that the good of our beliefs and our 

national system would prevail. His words were 

inspirational two decades ago, but today they 

have been proven true. The Soviet Union no 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 23 

longer threatens our world, and we must always 

pay tribute to President REAGAN for that accomplishment. 

At a time when war and bloodshed are one 

of the biggest thoughts on the minds of Americans, the history of President REAGAN’s relationship with his wife is a refreshing thought that 

has restored a feeling of compassion in our hearts. 

Relationships—whether they be diplomatic, 

spousal, or platonic, have not been placed in the 

greatest light as of late in America. We have 

been marred by accounts of human rights abuse 

and other examples of a disregard for the rights 

and personhood of our neighbors. 

In contrast, the relationship between RONALD

and Nancy Reagan was one of the greatest love 

stories in U.S. Presidential history. The two were 

utterly devoted to each other, and Nancy was 

said to have been a key adviser and confidante 

during her husband’s two-term Presidency from 

1981 to 1989. Though they were married 52 years, 

Nancy has told with great pain how her husband 

did not recognize her during the final years of 

his struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. 

Mr. Speaker, I support the resolution offered 

by my colleague, Representative Lewis of California, saluting a leader whose influence and 

positive legacy will live on with not only the 

American people but the entire international 

community. Thank you, Mr. President, and may 

you rest in peace. May your family find strength 

and courage through these very difficult days. 

I conclude now by reciting some of President 

REAGAN’s spirited words to us as Americans: 

The house we hope to build is . . . not for my generation, 

but for yours. It is your future that matters. And I hope that 

when you’re my age, you’ll be able to say as I have been 

able to say: We lived in freedom, we lived lives that were 

a statement, not an apology. 

The challenge of statesmanship is to have the vision to 

dream of a better, safer world and the courage, persistence, 

and patience to turn that dream into reality. 

—March 8, 1985 

We have every right to dream heroic dreams. Those who 

say that we’re in a time when there are no heroes, they just 

don’t know where to look. 

—January 20, 1981 

We are the showcase of the future. And it is within our 

power to mold that future—this year and for decades to 

come. It can be as grand and as great as we make it. No 

crisis is beyond the capacity of our people to solve; no challenge too great. 

—January 5, 1974 

Again, farewell, Mr. President. May your optimism live on. 

Hon. Jerry Lewis 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, the eloquence of our colleagues 

from both sides of the aisle reflects the best of 

RONALD REAGAN. His leadership indeed recognized that there was little partisanship when you 

were really working toward solving problems for 

America’s people. 

Hon. Wally Herger 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, some of my first impressions of 

RONALD REAGAN were back in the fifties when 

I was yet in grammar school, and I observed him 

as he hosted ‘‘General Electric Theater.’’ And 

then again I remember him just after graduating 

from high school in 1964 when he campaigned 

and spoke out for Barry Goldwater. RONALD

REAGAN stood for ideals that simply were not 

being expressed anyplace else. 

The appropriately named ‘‘Reagan revolution’’ 

was precisely that. He was one of the main reasons I ran for political office. In the late seventies, we heard our leaders talk about lowering expectations and that the good times were over and 

that our Nation was in a ‘‘general malaise.’’ This 

was mirrored in high inflation that reached 10 

to 12 percent, unemployment rates that were over 

10 percent, and a prime interest rate that reached 

as high as 21.5 percent. 

But then in stepped RONALD REAGAN saying 

America could do better and America would do 

better. When RONALD REAGAN said it, you believed it. His vision of the ‘‘shining city on the 

hill’’ gave hope to countless millions of Americans. Back then, for me, as a small business 

owner who grew up on a ranch, the American 

dream appeared endangered by high taxes and 
24 Ronald Reagan 

big government. In California, property taxes 

were doubling and tripling. With RONALD

REAGAN, there was someone we could rally 

around. His hope, his direction, and his moral 

clarity gave us all renewed energy. RONALD

REAGAN had the great ability to say what so 

many of us were thinking, what we were thinking about our national budget, about our national defense, about taxes; and, yes, about a better America. 

The first time I ever met RONALD REAGAN

was in 1980 when I was running for the State 

assembly in California and I journeyed to Simi 

Valley to get my picture taken with him. I can 

remember growing up hearing my mother talking about President Franklin Roosevelt, how she 

would listen to President Roosevelt on the radio 

during the Great Depression and during World 

War II. President Roosevelt gave hope to her 

generation. RONALD REAGAN was to my generation what FDR was to my parents. 

In Congress I had the privilege of meeting 

RONALD REAGAN six or seven times. Just being 

around President REAGAN was inspiring. He lit 

up the room. To those of us who believed strongly in the American dream, in traditional values 

and the Judeo-Christian faith, RONALD REAGAN

was indeed a shining light in the city when there 

seemed to be none. His spirit will live on in the 

hearts of Americans. He was truly one of our Nation’s greatest Presidents. 

RONALD REAGAN, thank you for all you have 

done for me. Thank you for all you have done 

for our great Nation. 

Hon. Steve Israel 

OF NEW YORK

Mr. Speaker, I rise in joining my colleagues 

on both sides of the aisle in mourning the loss 

of President REAGAN. I did not agree with the 

President on every issue, but there were three 

values that he exuded which I do share deeply: 

first, a respect for the democratic process and the 

building of consensus to move us forward and 

to make us safer; second, a fundamental belief 

in a strong military and a strong defense; and 

third, as we have heard before, a boundless optimism about America’s capacity and our potential 

and our role in making the world safe for democracy. 

I never had the privilege of personally meeting 

President REAGAN, but I did work here in Congress during his administration for a former 

Member of Congress, and I have a sense that even 

tonight, President REAGAN and former Speaker 

Tip O’Neill are looking down upon this House 

with rather wry and proud smiles wishing us the 

best as we join together—as they joined together—to move our country not to the left, not 

to the right but forward, and they guide us not 

from the left, not from the right, they guide us 

from above. 

Several months ago, I had the privilege of participating in an issues forum in New York with 

Ronald Reagan, Jr. Tonight my thoughts and 

prayers are with him and the entire Reagan family as they mourn the loss of a father and a husband and as America mourns the loss of a President. 

Hon. David Dreier 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, let me say at the outset I think 

it is extraordinarily appropriate that the gentleman, the former mayor of Simi, CA, the home 

of the Ronald Reagan Library and what will be 

the final resting place for Nancy and RONALD

REAGAN, is presiding over this institution at this 

moment. I would also like to thank my friend, 

the true dean of our California congressional delegation, for yielding me this time. 

A generation was inspired by RONALD

REAGAN is what we have been hearing, but it 

was really a generation, and then some, inspired 

by RONALD REAGAN. The gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis) heard RONALD REAGAN’s 

speech on behalf of Barry Goldwater in 1964. 

Two years later, RONALD REAGAN was elected 

Governor of California, and 2 years after that the 

gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis) was elected to the California State Assembly, serving 6 

of the 8 years that RONALD REAGAN was Governor of California. In fact, he is the only Republican Member here who did serve while RONALD
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 25 

REAGAN was Governor of California. He went on 

to inspire many others. I am among them. 

I was pleased this morning to be able to include in the Record very thoughtful remarks that 

were provided by a great American, George 

Shultz, who Sunday afternoon read his statement 

to me and I read it into the Record this morning, 

and I would like to commend it to my colleagues 

because it talks about the vision and the perspective that RONALD REAGAN offered in a wide 

range of areas. RONALD REAGAN made it very 

clear that the Republican Party is the party of 

ideas. We constantly hear about RONALD

REAGAN being the Great Communicator, but he 

had a message to communicate. Members on 

both sides of the aisle have talked about that 

message. 

To me it embraced four very simple points: 

his commitment to a free economy, limited government, a strong national defense, and personal 

freedom. Those are the bases from which RONALD REAGAN made his decisions on public policy 

issues, but he had those deeply rooted principles. 

And because they were so deeply rooted, he was 

able to communicate them extraordinarily well. 

Why? Because it came right from the heart. It 

came right from his heart. 

We have heard a lot of very serious statements 

made about RONALD REAGAN; but, of course, 

one of the most memorable things as people 

talked about his ability to communicate was his 

ability to communicate with that amazing sparkle, that twinkle in his eye. There were some 

wonderful things that he said that were able to, 

in fact, break the ice and really entertain all of 

us. Remember, it was RONALD REAGAN who 

said, ‘‘Hard work never killed anybody, but I figured, why take the chance?’’ It was RONALD

REAGAN who after he had been hit by that bullet, right up Constitution Avenue here at the 

Washington Hilton when the statement was 

made to him shortly thereafter that the government was working as usual and he looked up and 

said, ‘‘Why would that make me happy?’’ 

There was, of course, his last speech which 

really stuck with me. It was February 3, 1994, 

and the Republican National Committee was 

having a dinner over here at the Pension Building, and RONALD REAGAN was obviously quite 

elderly then, and the speech was delivered literally months before he wrote his famous letter 

in November of that year to the American people 

stating that he had Alzheimer’s. So when he 

stood up at this meeting, I remember that Bill 

Clinton had been elected President of the United 

States the year before, and as we Republicans 

were gathering, we were poised to win our majority, and RONALD REAGAN stood up without 

a great deal of strength for this speech. 

He stepped up to the lectern, and he looked 

out at the audience, and he said: 

Well, I flew into town today to give this speech this 

evening, and as we came in, we circled the White House, 

and as I looked out the window, I looked down there, and 

there was everything just as I remembered it, the South 

Lawn, the Rose Garden, David Gergen. 

David Gergen was at that moment working 

for President Bill Clinton. And we knew then 

that even though the President was obviously not 

in the most robust of health, that sparkle continued. He still had that amazingly wonderful sense 

of humor. 

I see my friend from San Diego, Mr. Lowery, 

here on the House floor. I was very pleased to, 

along with Bill Lowery and 51 others, be part of 

the Reagan revolution. We came here to the 

House of Representatives, elected in November 

1980, and we made RONALD REAGAN an honorary member of our class in 1980, and that is 

because he was leader of the revolution that 

brought all of us here and allowed us to vigorously pursue those goals that we shared in common. 

We stand on his shoulders. George W. Bush 

stands on his shoulders. The similarities, to me, 

are so striking. The ‘‘ism’’ that RONALD REAGAN

stood up to was communism. The ‘‘ism’’ that 

George W. Bush is standing up to is terrorism. 

RONALD REAGAN had broad, across-the-board 

tax cuts to stimulate economic growth. That is 

exactly what we have done. He did it in 1981. 

George W. Bush started it in 2001. The party 

of ideas is strong and vibrant. It is doing extraordinarily well, and it is the vision that RONALD

REAGAN put forward. 

I thank my friend for taking this time, and 

I thank my colleagues on the other side of the 

aisle who are joining in this very important recognition of one of our Nation’s greatest leaders. 
26 Ronald Reagan 

Hon. Charles W. Stenholm 

OF TEXAS

Mr. Speaker, it is not just nostalgia that makes 

us remember President RONALD REAGAN especially so fondly upon the occasion of his death. 

Politics, ideology, geography aside, there is a 

mark of leadership and charisma which undeniably stamps some men and women. 

RONALD REAGAN was one of those men whose 

leadership was felt by all who encountered him. 

When President REAGAN first came to office, he 

quickly understood that enacting his economic 

agenda would require bipartisan support in Congress, which was under Democratic control, 242 

to 192 and 1 absent. It took 52 bipartisan votes 

to enact anything, and President REAGAN understood that. 

I met with the President on several occasions 

as he sought to build that bipartisan coalition 

to pass his legislation. I met with President 

REAGAN one on one in the Oval Office as well 

as on Air Force One, and for a second-termer in 

1981 that was pretty tall cotton for a Jones County cotton farmer. 

In 1981, I was just in my second term and was 

a member of the Conservative Democratic Forum 

better known as the Boll Weevils, the precursor 

to today’s Blue Dogs. In the very first month 

REAGAN was in office, he had to pass into law 

an increase in the debt limit, and so he invited 

me to meet with him. Now, mind you, this was 

the first major piece of legislation of the Reagan 

administration. In the past, prior to President 

REAGAN’s being elected, Republicans had always 

opposed increasing the debt limit. Republicans 

had denounced Democrats for voting to increase 

the debt limit. So here was the first Republican 

President in many years coming to ask conservative Democrats for support in passing this very 

thing into law, something members of his own 

party had opposed on many occasions in the past. 

We had a lengthy talk. The twinkle in the 

eye that many of those who had known him 

much better from California was there, and we 

finally struck a deal. We had an understanding 

that if the President could deliver 100 votes from 

Republicans, then we would do our best to deliver the necessary Democratic votes. President 

REAGAN more than held up his end of the bargain. He ultimately delivered 150 Republican 

votes. So in the spirit of bipartisanship and on 

a very tough issue, REAGAN successfully secured 

the votes he needed, from Democrats and Republicans, and got the increase in the debt limit, just 

as he and we needed it. 

I was proud to have several opportunities to 

work with the President in the months and years 

ahead to build bipartisan coalitions, especially on 

his economic agenda. I still proudly display a 

picture in my home in Abilene, TX, of President 

REAGAN signing the 1981 tax bill. I got one of 

the pens and it’s one I treasure. 

REAGAN had very strong principles and very 

strong values. We know what they were. But he 

also understood that in order to govern, it was 

important to find a middle ground. And I was 

lucky enough to be in the middle of many of 

those compromises. 

One of his greatest strengths was his ability 

to communicate, a skill that he used to great effect when courting votes in Congress. His courting of Members of Congress was the best of any 

President I have served with, and I have now 

been privileged to serve with five. If the Members can imagine a second-termer sitting in the 

Roosevelt Room in the White House talking 

about some issues with the President’s Cabinet 

members and others and having the President 

walk in unannounced and put his hands on his 

shoulder; some telephone calls that we had many 

times when there was a vote and the President 

had to work the phones like no President that 

I have seen since, rounding up the votes, and he 

was very effective at doing that. 

President REAGAN’s private and public demeanors were the same. What one saw was what 

one got. That is the mark of a great leader. 

RONALD REAGAN was a very decent man, and 

he understood how he could use his office to 

make a difference in countless lives. This aspect 

of his personality was always very clear to me 

because it was this decency, this understanding 

of the power of the office that gave me the most 

rewarding opportunity I had to work with President REAGAN. 

The context was very personal. In May 1983, 

I was contacted by the grandfather of Ashley Bailey, a baby girl in Abilene, TX, who needed a 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 27 

liver transplant to survive. At that time organ 

donations and organ transplants were not as common as now, and the organ donation system was 

not organized to the extent it is today. 

I spoke to President REAGAN’s folks about it 

to ask for his help in getting the baby girl a 

new liver. Shortly after receiving my letter, President REAGAN used his weekly radio address to 

publicize Ashley’s situation and encourage all 

Americans to fill out organ donor cards. He also 

called Ashley’s mother, Annette. 

Unfortunately, the President’s plea did not result in finding a liver in time to save Baby Ashley, but it did end up saving the lives of dozens 

of other babies who needed liver transplants. 

President REAGAN later started a national organ 

donor awareness program, which led to the designation of National Organ Donation Awareness 

Week every April. To this day I consider this 

one of the highlights of my 25 years in Congress. 

REAGAN knew how to disagree without being 

disagreeable, to rise above politics, and these 

qualities, unfortunately, are rare today. President 

REAGAN and House Speaker Tip O’Neill, the 

Massachusetts liberal, were good friends who got 

along very well during their years of service together. They never lost their philosophical convictions, and they never let those philosophical 

convictions hijack their understanding that 

America’s democracy requires respect for all 

opinions and a practical determination to work 

out our differences for the good of the country. 

President REAGAN spoke of hope and a better 

tomorrow. He reminded us that we live in the 

greatest country in the world, and he made us 

believe it and believe in ourselves. He believed 

that we, as Americans, had a special duty to promote peace and freedom for the rest of the world. 

He always told us that for America, the best was 

yet to come. 

It is good for all of us to remember RONALD

REAGAN’s optimism, his kindheartedness, and 

his cordiality. As we remember this great man 

this week, it would do us good to remember how 

we should behave today and in the future. 

Hon. Darrell E. Issa 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, on this second week of June, 17 

years ago, President RONALD REAGAN stood in 

the then-divided city of Berlin and called on Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev to ‘‘tear down 

this wall!’’ Then, as perhaps now, critics did 

what they so often do. They cast aside the genuineness of his statement and, in fact, said that 

his speech was a publicity ploy. The Soviets and 

East Germans called it an infringement of East 

German sovereignty, an unwarranted meddling 

by the American President. 

Two years later the wall came down. 

Mr. Speaker, President REAGAN was a leader 

with the foresight and strong conviction to get 

things done. He believed in America so much 

that he made America believe in itself again. He 

valued freedom, especially for those who had 

none. He understood that for America to be 

great, it first had to be good. He understood that 

America’s problems, the malaise of the years preceding his Presidency, were simply America’s not 

understanding how great it was and how great 

it could be. 

Mr. Speaker, I was just a soldier during the 

period leading up to Mr. REAGAN’s becoming 

President REAGAN, but I was a businessman 

starting a business from scratch when President 

REAGAN came to office, and I recognized overnight that this was a special time to be an American, a time when we had a President who was 

saying that an American hero was somebody who 

took chances, who made a difference for the 

world, but particularly somebody who cared 

enough to work those extra hours and to care 

enough about his country. 

RONALD REAGAN knew America. He knew 

what was right about our Nation. What was 

right about our Nation and what was right about 

America would set the world in a better direction. RONALD REAGAN led America, and the rest 

of the world became a freer place. Under his 

leadership we headed toward more than 400 million people in 27 countries finding a freedom 

they did not have. Today the soldiers of some 

of those democracies now fight side by side in 

Iraq and Afghanistan. 
28 Ronald Reagan 

President REAGAN showed us that our freedom and our determination can tear down walls. 

Many Speakers will come here tonight, and 

they will talk of how profoundly President 

REAGAN affected them, and I would be no different, but perhaps I can be slightly different tonight by saying that the only way to honor President REAGAN’s legacy is to take it to the next 

step. Today we are trying to do that for people 

in the Arab and Muslim world, and we have not 

finished that job. Today communist China still 

denies rights to the people of its own country 

and is attempting to stifle the freedom and independence of Hong Kong. Today Cuba, to our 

south, is still a communist nation, having little 

or no respect for the rule of law and for its people. 

All of these and more need to be part of the 

American struggle because, Mr. Speaker, only if 

we determine that America’s greatness will be in 

our willingness to set a course for the world in 

a positive way, not to dominate, but, in fact, to 

liberate, I think that is the legacy that Mr. 

REAGAN would want. 

And if I can take a personal liberty on behalf 

of Mrs. Reagan, I believe that continuing to look 

for a cure to the terrible illness that plagued 

President REAGAN for his last 10 years of life and 

promote and continue stem cell research consistent with what this body has passed would also 

be a tremendous addition to the Reagan legacy. 

I am determined to work for both of these, 

and I ask this body to take those steps to free 

those who were not freed under President 

REAGAN, and to commit itself to the research to 

end the terrible illness that the Reagan family 

has suffered under for 10 long years. 

Hon. Melissa A. Hart 

OF PENNSYLVANIA

I think like most of us, we all have our own 

different, but very similar, inspirations from 

President REAGAN. I first heard about RONALD

REAGAN probably around the dinner table when 

I was a kid when he was Governor of California 

and when he first decided to run for President. 

But I had grown up in an era that was pretty 

difficult. I grew up thinking assassinations were 

normal, remembering the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy; that government corruption was normal, remembering 

Watergate; and that a failure of government to 

properly serve its people was normal. Very high 

inflation, for example. 

But I remember also the things that my dad 

and my mom and my grandfather, who was an 

immigrant, told me about America. They were 

patriotic people. RONALD REAGAN was a patriotic man. And I heard his message, and it resonated with me, because it was something that 

I had always heard at home, but, unfortunately, 

had not seen much in practice in government. 

I became interested, and, as I guess somewhat 

of a precocious seventh-grader, wrote an editorial 

in my middle school newspaper supporting RONALD REAGAN for President. He did not win that 

time, but it was not because I did not try. But 

that legacy and what he stood for stuck with me. 

My family paid attention. I was very fortunate. 

Our normal dinner conversation often dealt with 

politics. So when I turned 18 in 1980, RONALD

REAGAN was running for President, and I volunteered. I found out that politics is a means of 

achieving a greater good and could be respected. 

I was hooked. He showed for us the America that 

we all knew could exist. It was the America that 

my parents believed in. It was the America we 

knew we could get back. 

RONALD REAGAN said: 

jIkt’s not my intention to do away with government. It 

is rather to make it work—work with us, not over us; to 

stand by our side, not ride on our back. Government can 

and must provide opportunity, not smother it; foster productivity, not stifle it. 

Government is to walk with us. That is the 

most important thing, and it is important because it is the American dream. 

After 10 years of volunteering on campaigns, 

and after RONALD REAGAN was elected that first 

time, through law school, through the private 

practice of law, I took part in the process in a 

big way, to dream big dreams, and to take some 

risks. So at 28 I ran for the State senate, unseated 

an incumbent, and had the opportunity to pursue 

the same dream. 

RONALD REAGAN said America is too great 

for small dreams. There are many of us here in 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 29 

Congress today who agree with him. Let us in 

government remember him and his legacy and 

act on that legacy. 

Hon. Ralph M. Hall 

OF TEXAS

Mr. Speaker, I came to the U.S. Congress in 

1981, the same year President REAGAN was sworn 

in as our President. I examined the brochures 

that he ran on and looked at the brochures that 

I ran on, and I found them to be almost identical: jobs and security, and jobs meant dignity; 

a strong military; a concern for the unborn; 

strong second amendment rights. All of those 

things we totally agreed upon. At that time I 

was a Democrat. I was a member of the Boll 

Weevils and the Conservative Democratic 

Forum. 

We have heard others speak here before us tonight and know of the respect and admiration 

that we all had for President REAGAN. I had the 

pleasure of going out to Camp David with him 

and spent times and hours, and had the opportunity for discussions, and we discussed everything from the problems of the day to his times 

in the movies. He was a good, down-to-earth guy 

that you could talk to. 

I just know that he knew of our needs. He 

knew that our military had atrophied away. He 

knew that we needed to have an injection there, 

and that United Airlines could employ one of our 

pilots the minute they graduated and had spent 

their time. He knew that the enlisted men, 35 

percent of them were eligible for food stamps, 

and he knew something had to be done there. 

I think he is responsible for the strong position 

that we have, the strong financial position we 

have, the strong geopolitical position we have in 

the world. 

I know that I have had a lot of occasions to 

visit with him. Jim Baker was in his Cabinet at 

that time, and Jim and I had been longtime 

friends when I was 10 years in the Texas Senate. 

I knew Jim Baker, Hines Baker, Rex Baker and 

all of his folks. That gave me access to President 

REAGAN. I had been a Navy pilot with George 

Bush. He was his Vice President, so I had access 

to the President, and I enjoyed that access, enjoyed visits with him over there. 

One time I went in and the President said, 

‘‘Congressman Hall, what would it take to get 

you to vote for my budget cuts?’’ I said, ‘‘Well, 

Mr. President, I have a brother who always wanted to be a Federal judge.’’ He said, ‘‘Well, that 

should not be any problem.’’ He turned to 

George Bush and he turned to Jim Baker and 

said, ‘‘Can you get one of Ralph’s brothers approved by the Senate and go through confirmation there?’’ They said, ‘‘I think we can.’’ I said, 

‘‘Well, wait just a minute, Mr. President; he is 

not a lawyer.’’ And the President got a big kick 

out of that. He never really forgot that. Any time 

he would see me out in a group, he would come 

shake hands with me. But he liked me. Sometimes he really could not think of my name, but 

he would say, how is your brother. He liked my 

brother because he was not a lawyer. 

I just think that this country is stronger today 

and this country is great today because of the 

gifts of RONALD REAGAN, for the time he gave 

us, for the honesty that he brought to the office, 

for the common man background that he had, 

that he understood frailty of men and women and 

their need for help. 

I am honored to have known him. I am very 

lucky to have been a friend of RONALD REAGAN. 

Hon. Jerry Lewis 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, we appreciate the comments of 

our colleague from Texas. I am reminded of that 

tragic day when RONALD REAGAN, shortly after 

he became President in March 1981, and the assassination attempt took place. As they rolled 

him on a gurney into the emergency room, he 

looked up and said to his wife, ‘‘Honey, I forgot 

to duck.’’ RONALD REAGAN, a man who was always ready to try to calm down the other person 

and make sure they felt OK, our President. 
30 Ronald Reagan 

Hon. Bob Goodlatte 

OF VIRGINIA

Asked in 1980 what Americans saw in him, 

RONALD REAGAN replied, ‘‘Would you laugh if 

I told you that I think maybe they see themselves?’’ Mr. Speaker, hardly would we laugh. 

A few years ago I had an opportunity to visit 

Rancho del Cielo, President REAGAN’s beloved 

‘‘Ranch in the Sky.’’ The home reflects the man. 

It does not feel like a museum; quite the opposite, with Nancy’s and his TV trays still standing 

by their respective recliners, both facing the old 

black-and-white television. It seems they have 

just gone out for an afternoon ride and will return at any moment. 

At purchase the ranch was a mere 600 square 

feet. REAGAN labored diligently with his own 

hands to remodel and expand it. Even so, the 

only grand thing about it is the natural surroundings. Asked once to explain the ranch’s almost magnetic appeal for him, REAGAN replied 

with a quote from Psalms: ‘‘I look to the hills 

from whence cometh my strength.’’ 

Mikhail Gorbachev, Margaret Thatcher, and 

Queen Elizabeth were among the notables that 

he hosted there. Gorbachev is said to have been 

disappointed by the humble ranch, knowing the 

lavish palaces of European leaders. However, it 

is fitting that the place at which REAGAN felt 

most at ease disarmed the world’s dignitaries. 

He always related best with the common man, 

yet he was far from ordinary. To the contrary, 

he lived an extraordinary life which had a profound impact on the landscape of our Nation and 

the greater span of human history. 

He left us on the eve of the 60th anniversary 

of the D-day liberation, and almost 20 years ago 

to the day of one of his most beloved speeches 

on the cliffs overlooking the beaches of Normandy. Looking out at faces wizened by time, 

calling them the ‘‘boys of Pointe du Hoc,’’ 

REAGAN offered a compelling picture of how 

these young men, freedom’s army, struck a death 

knell to the nazism and fascism which had a 

stranglehold on formerly-free Europe. 

He extended this same moral clarity to the 

great conflict of his day, possessing a steadfast 

commitment not just to containing communism, 

but to transcend it, and transcend it he did. 

Bursting on the national political scene during 

the 1964 Presidential campaign with his now 

famed ‘‘A Time for Choosing’’ speech, he spoke 

to a divided and searching Nation: 

You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, 

or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children 

and our children’s children say of us we justified our brief 

moment here. We did all that could be done. 

These words reflected his eternal optimism not 

just in America, this great experiment in selfgovernance, but in Americans. 

In 1979, we were in the throes of a nationwide 

recession, the Soviets had invaded Afghanistan, 

and the hostage crisis in Iran dominated the 

nightly news. Yet REAGAN saw us as a ‘‘shining 

city on a hill,’’ the hope of the world. 

Reflecting on his death, may we find consolation in his own words spoken to a grieving Nation in the wake of the Challenger disaster, whose 

crew perished on his watch. They, and now he, 

has ‘‘ ‘slipped the surly bonds of earth’ to ‘touch 

the face of God.’ ’’ 

In his farewell address from the Oval Office, 

a place where he refused to remove his suit jacket 

out of a humble respect for the post he held, 

REAGAN described how he envisioned the shining city he had invoked countless times. He went 

on to observe this of his time in office: 

We weren’t just marking time. We made a difference. We 

made the city stronger. We made the city freer, and we left 

her in good hands. All in all, not bad, not bad at all. 

‘‘Not bad’’ reflects the modesty of the man, 

but not the magnitude of his accomplishments. 

In rebuilding the military and facing down the 

tyranny of communism, calling the Soviet Union 

the evil empire that it was, and calling on President Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall, 

in restoring our faith in the free enterprise system through cutting taxes and encouraging innovation, and, most important, in raising our spirits, he made us proud to be Americans. 

He set this Nation on a new course that still 

inspires us today. We have a right to dream great 

dreams, he said, because after all, we are Americans. Yes, Mr. President, we do see ourselves in 

you. We still dream great dreams of freedom and 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 31 

opportunity around the world. And I am honored 

to pay tribute tonight to President REAGAN, the 

greatest President of the last century. 

Hon. Jerry Lewis 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, I very much appreciate my colleague from Texas joining with us in this discussion this evening of perhaps America’s greatest 

President, RONALD REAGAN. In his words, RONALD REAGAN said: 

Some argue that we should encourage democratic change 

in right-wing dictatorships, but not in Communist regimes. 

Well, to accept this preposterous notion—as some wellmeaning people have—is to invite the argument that once 

countries achieve a nuclear capability, they should be allowed 

an undisturbed reign of terror over their own citizens. We 

reject this course. 

As RONALD REAGAN rebuilt America, his defense budget designed to restrengthen our country’s ability to defend itself, he stared down the 

evil empire and negotiated a nuclear arms treaty 

with Gorbachev. As two enemies became close 

friends, think of that, two enemies became close 

friends, Gorbachev was heard to say, ‘‘Who 

would have thought it?’’ 

Hon. Dave Weldon 

OF FLORIDA

Mr. Speaker, I was a young intern in 1984. I 

had been through medical school and college and 

had not really followed politics much, but I was 

rotating through the cardiologist service. And I 

remember asking one of our attendees who he 

was going to vote for in the 1984 election. RONALD REAGAN was running against Walter Mondale. He said he was voting for RONALD

REAGAN because he had a wife and three kids 

at home and the tax cuts that REAGAN had put 

through were putting about $200 a month more 

in his pocket. And it was just making it easier 

for him to take care of his family. 

I had not followed politics much, but I was 

very much impressed by Rick Monsor’s comments and began to read more and more about 

the policies of RONALD REAGAN. And over time 

I came to realize, like millions of other Americans, that his economic policies had been reducing taxes on Americans, actually had precipitated 

a great economic recovery. It had resulted in a 

doubling of revenue into the Federal Treasury, 

a dramatic reduction in unemployment. It was 

essentially the right economic policy. And it is 

an economic policy that we still follow to this 

day. 

Of course, RONALD REAGAN is most wellknown for ending the cold war, precipitating the 

breakup of the Soviet Union, and allowing millions of people in Eastern Europe to taste freedom—freedom of speech, freedom of religion, 

freedom of assembly—for the first time in their 

lives. Millions of people besides those of us here 

in America were positively affected by the policies of RONALD REAGAN. 

But what is most dear to my heart about 

RONALD REAGAN was his indefatigable optimism, belief in the power of American ingenuity, 

the American spirit, the can-do attitude. At the 

time that he took office, we were facing, as many 

of us know, terrible problems with inflation and 

a declining economy and as well our defenses 

were in decline. It was not only his policies that 

moved us in a positive direction but his attitudes 

and beliefs that lifted our Nation and helped us 

to move on to better things. 

And he once said the following: 

jWkhatever else history may say about me when I’m gone, 

I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not 

your worst fears, to your confidence rather than your doubts. 

My dream is that you will travel the road ahead with liberty’s 

lamp guiding your steps and opportunity’s arm steadying 

your way. 

President REAGAN, your desire has become a 

reality. You did appeal to our best hopes and not 

our worst fears. And your confidence in us is 

leading us in the right direction today. We salute your great accomplishments. 

Hon. Sherwood Boehlert 

OF NEW YORK

Mr. Speaker, earlier today I joined my colleagues in voting for a resolution expressing the 

profound regret and sorrow of the House of Rep-
32 Ronald Reagan 

resentatives on the death of RONALD W. 

REAGAN, former President of the United States 

of America. I did not cast that vote as one Member of this, the people’s House, nor as a 

Congressperson for 654,000 New Yorkers who it 

is my privilege to represent here in our Nation’s 

Capital. Rather, that vote reflected the profound 

regret and sorrow felt far beyond the borders of 

one district, one State, one Nation. 

It is illustrative of the sincere sentiment of a 

world community in collective mourning. President REAGAN was so much more than a head 

of state. He was an inspiration to all whose lives 

he touched, not just by his words, which reached 

across the great divides that separate people, but 

by his deeds which always sought to bring people 

together in common cause. 

The President’s noble achievements, and there 

were so many, have been and will continue to 

be chronicled by historians for time immemorial. 

So many of my colleagues who preceded and 

those who will follow have been and will be eloquent in their tributes to the lasting legacy of 

this great man, and deservedly so. For my part, 

I simply want to add a listing of the words which 

come immediately to mind when recalling President REAGAN: words like integrity, conviction, 

honor, faith, grace, dignity, friendship, humor, 

values, honest, humble. The list of positives in 

the life of this man of principle and character 

is endless. 

To President REAGAN and his beloved partner, 

Nancy, who was always at his side and in his 

heart, I am but one of so many who say a heartfelt thank you for leading by example and serving so many so well for so long. You will always 

be an inspiration and you will always be in our 

thoughts and prayers. 

Hon. Joe Barton 

OF TEXAS

Mr. Speaker, I was driving down to Corpus 

Christi last Saturday afternoon with my wife, 

Terry, and her daughter Lindsey and her cousin 

Jackie and Terry’s family for a brief family vacation when my staffer Andy Black called me on 

the telephone and asked, ‘‘Have you heard the 

news that President REAGAN died this afternoon?’’ And I said, ‘‘No, I have not heard that,’’ 

but we immediately switched on the radio; and 

sure enough, there was a news bulletin from 

California that President REAGAN had passed 

away. 

And so as we continued to drive down to Corpus, I began to reminisce about the President. 

My mind went back to the late seventies when 

this country was mired in recession and interest 

rates were sky high and we had hostages in Iran 

and there was a spirit of pessimism that America 

could not be great anymore. And Governor 

REAGAN came out of California and announced 

for the Presidency and said that there was hope, 

that not only could we be great, but we would 

be greater again. And that inspired me to campaign for him to be President of the United 

States in the 1980 election. 

And the night that he won in November 1980, 

I dusted off an old White House Fellows application and changed the date and signed it and 

mailed it in. White House Fellows is a program 

that takes young men and women from all over 

the country and puts them in positions to observe the workings of the Federal Government either in the White House or in the Cabinet agencies. The year that I applied there were about 

1,600 applications, and I was fortunate enough 

to be 1 of like 15 or 16 that got selected. 

I worked in the Department of Energy as a 

White House Fellow for Secretary of Energy 

James P. Edwards. In spring 1982 the Secretary 

called me into his office and said, ‘‘Joe, I am 

going over to the White House this afternoon 

for a Cabinet meeting. Would you like to go 

with me?’’ I said, ‘‘Mr. Secretary I would love 

to go with you.’’ He said, ‘‘There is one thing: 

you cannot say anything. You can only sit in the 

back of the room and listen.’’ So I said, ‘‘I promise.’’ 

We went to the White House, and they 

walked us into the Cabinet room, and I was seated directly behind Vice President Bush, who was 

seated directly across from President REAGAN. 

The President came in from the Oval Office and 

shook hands with his Cabinet, and he reached 

over and got a handful of jellybeans out of a jar 

in the middle of the Cabinet table and ate the 

jellybeans and asked if anybody wanted them. 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 33 

Then he said, ‘‘Gentlemen, what is the agenda 

for the day?’’ And a Cabinet Secretary said, ‘‘It 

is the Caribbean Basin Initiative and what to do 

about sugar quotas.’’ The Secretary of Agriculture Jack Block raised his hand, he said, ‘‘Mr. 

President, you have tasked me to try to help the 

American farmers and we are doing the best that 

we can, but sugar prices are low in the world 

market. And I think it would be disastrous for 

American farmers if you let more sugar into our 

country.’’ And the President said, ‘‘Thank you, 

Mr. Secretary.’’ 

Then the Secretary of State, I think it was 

General Haig, raised his hand and said, ‘‘Mr. 

President, I am the Secretary of State and you 

have tasked me with creating this Caribbean Initiative to help the emerging democracies in the 

Caribbean. Their largest export crop is sugar. It 

would really help my job as Secretary of State 

if you allowed more sugar to come into the 

United States.’’ And the President said, ‘‘Thank 

you, Mr. Secretary.’’ 

He said, ‘‘Is there any other discussion?’’ The 

rest of the Cabinet just sat there. The President 

said, ‘‘Well, what we ought to do is take American wheat and Caribbean sugar and create cookies and create a cookie export, cookies for peace 

program maybe, to the Third World.’’ The Cabinet chuckled about that; but he said, ‘‘Really, 

I have heard what is best for the State Department and I have heard what is best for the Agriculture Department, now I want you gentlemen 

to tell me what is best for America.’’ And there 

were no cameras and he really said that. 

And I just was absolutely inspired when he 

said it. I was sitting directly across from him behind Vice President Bush. Of course, I had been 

told I could not say anything, but when the 

President said that, ‘‘Gentlemen tell me what is 

best for America,’’ it kind of jumped out from 

me, I said, ‘‘Right. That is why I voted for you.’’ 

And, of course, the Secretary of Energy was 

aghast that I had said something. But the President looked over and he looked around the Vice 

President, he looked at me with a twinkle in his 

eye, did not say anything, he just smiled. And 

I knew then that that is why the American people trusted him, because he wanted to do whatever the issue was, what was right for America. 

So when I finished my White House Fellows 

Program, I went back to Texas. And in 1984, 

John Tower announced that he was not going to 

run for the U.S. Senate, and Congressman Phil 

Gramm of the Sixth District announced that he 

was going to run for the Senate and Joe Barton 

announced that he was going to run for the Sixth 

District as a Republican. I wanted to be a part 

of the Reagan revolution in Washington. 

I was very fortunate that I got elected that 

year. I primarily got elected because my entire 

campaign was Reagan-Gramm-Barton. And 

when people went to vote for President REAGAN

and Senator Gramm, they also voted for me. 

So now as a senior member of the majority 

in the House of Representatives, I simply hope 

that I can do what little I can to help foster the 

Reagan vision for America, which is always do 

what is right for America. 

Hon. Earl Blumenauer 

OF OREGON

As we observe the news, we have commentators rushing to give an assessment of the legacy 

of RONALD REAGAN. Conservative commentators 

will credit him with the fall of the former Soviet 

Union, new approaches to the economy, especially with tax-cutting strategies. And, in large 

measure, the rise of today’s Republican Party can 

trace its roots to his leadership. His was a strong 

voice for the conservative perspective from corporate spokesperson to the governorship of our 

country’s largest State, to two terms as our President. 

There were, of course, areas of policy disagreement, some of which I had strong feelings about. 

There were also areas of mistakes, blunders for 

which President REAGAN characteristically and 

clearly assumed personal responsibility. 

Balanced commentary will spotlight his pragmatic approaches as Governor and President; his 

ability to reach across party lines, to listen, to 

work, to add a human touch. There was his willingness to protect the economy and work with 

moderates, for instance, in both parties, even to 

the point of significant tax increases when he was 
34 Ronald Reagan 

faced with spiraling budget deficits and felt that 

it was important for our country. 

I personally am content for history and the 

passage of time to sharpen the focus and place 

his entire career in perspective, but I am thinking this evening of how he became a leader and 

a symbol in his last years as he made a stark admission that he suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. His wife Nancy became a champion in this 

great struggle to help lead the fight against Alzheimer’s. 

At a time when there are some who would put 

ideology ahead of meeting the needs of victims 

and families, Nancy Reagan stood tall and spoke 

out forcefully on the needs and benefits of stem 

cell research. Because of the affection for President REAGAN and the strength of Nancy Reagan, 

millions will someday be spared this suffering. 

My personal memory of President REAGAN

will be dominated by his almost magic ability 

to reach out and touch the American people. 

Along with Franklin Roosevelt and John Kennedy, RONALD REAGAN stands out as someone 

who could truly communicate with the American 

people. Would that the American public today 

be able to hear his calm, confident, friendly 

voice. 

He has earned our respect and our thanks. The 

American people send their condolences and best 

wishes to Mrs. Reagan and the entire family. 

Hon. Tom Osborne 

OF NEBRASKA

I would like to express my appreciation to 

President REAGAN for his adherence to principle 

rather than to expediency; for standing firm 

against America’s enemies when so many urged 

containment and conciliation; for displaying a 

sense of humor when events were grim; for being 

decent when indecency was so common; for realizing that an offensive strategy is superior to defense when confronted by grave danger; for restoring a troubled economy by putting more resources in the people’s hands and less in the government’s hands; for promoting optimism when 

many were discouraged; for his capacity to disagree without being disagreeable; for his willingness to reach out to members of both parties in 

uniting, rather than dividing, this country; for 

showing kindness in the face of hostility; for 

communicating so clearly with words from his 

own heart and mind, written by his own hands; 

for inspiring courage in others through his own 

courage; and finally, for displaying trust in God, 

rather than human institutions, through an unwavering faith in God’s sovereignty and mercy. 

Hon. Phil Gingrey 

OF GEORGIA

Mr. Speaker, I am humbled to be one of the 

many Americans from all across our Nation who 

is paying tribute to President RONALD REAGAN

this week. 

Members of Congress, including myself, came 

to this floor in February to celebrate President 

REAGAN’s 93d birthday, but it is with a sad heart 

tonight that we come to the floor of the House 

of Representatives to eulogize one of our greatest 

Presidents. 

It was appropriate that RONALD REAGAN, a 

smalltown American from Dixon, IL, would 

make a career and a home in California, would 

represent the very best of American life. As Governor of California, President REAGAN became 

adept at representing the diverse nature of our 

country and cared deeply for all Americans. 

As he is laid to rest, RONALD REAGAN’s legacy for America will carry on eternally in the annals of history. Not since Lincoln and Roosevelt 

has one man touched the core of what it means 

to be an American: Through unity and strength, 

we can achieve peace; and through selfdetermination, responsibility and character, we 

can live the American dream. 

RONALD REAGAN restored faith in America 

during one of our darkest hours of self-doubt. He 

gave us hope and promise when we needed it 

most. REAGAN’s true legacy is the restoration of 

the dream that is America. Even with his passing, REAGAN’s sense of hope and strength lives 

on. 

As someone who has been inspired by his leadership and courage in the face of the evil empire 

of the Soviet Union, I deeply thank President 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 35 

REAGAN for restoring our Nation’s confidence 

and our hope. 

God bless you, RONALD REAGAN, and may 

God continue to bless the America whose spirit 

of eternal optimism you helped renew. 

Hon. John Linder 

OF GEORGIA

On an October evening in 1975, before he announced that he would seek the Republican 

nomination for President, RONALD REAGAN addressed the 20th birthday celebration of the National Review. It was an uplifting and humorous 

speech until the end, when he somberly quoted 

Whittaker Chambers. Two decades earlier, 

Chambers had written: 

It is idle to talk of preventing the wreck of Western civilization, it is already a wreck from within. That is why we 

can do little more now than snatch a fingernail of a saint 

from the wrack, or a handful of ashes from the fagots, and 

bury them secretly in a flower pot against that day, ages 

hence, when a few men begin again to dare to believe that 

there once was something else, that something else is thinkable, and need some evidence of what it was, and the fortifying knowledge that there were those who, at the great 

nightfall, took loving thought to preserve the tokens of hope 

and truth. 

Chambers spent 13 years in the service of the 

Soviet Union as a spy. He always believed that 

the world was engaged in a battle between the 

two great religions, communism and freedom. 

He believed that communism could not survive 

in a world where people believed in a higher 

power. Freedom, on the other hand, could not 

survive in a world where people did not. A nascent faith took hold in Chambers, and in 1937 

he left communism for freedom. As he did so, 

he told his wife that he feared they were moving 

to the losing side. 

This is what RONALD REAGAN was thinking 

of in October 1975. Communism was ascendant, 

and free people were losing their confidence, becoming fearful and timid of the future, and over 

the following 4 years, the Soviet Union increased 

its influence in 14 sovereign nations around the 

globe. 

I was privileged to travel in his campaign 

plane in 1976 when he was in the Southeast, and 

in several meetings thereafter, with large numbers of people or small numbers of people, he 

always spoke less than anyone else in the room, 

enjoyed watching others have it out, and indeed, 

the next day he may not have remembered the 

name of everyone in the room, but he never forgot who he was. 

Michael Deaver tells a wonderful story about 

walking on a street with RONALD REAGAN in 

1978. By this time, he was easily recognized. A 

fellow kept inching close to him on the street 

wanting to say hello. REAGAN saw him, looked 

over, reached out his hand and said hello. The 

man said, ‘‘May I have your autograph, Mr. 

Milland?’’ REAGAN wrote Ray Milland on his 

paper and walked on. Michael Deaver said, ‘‘Why 

didn’t you tell him who you were?’’ REAGAN

said, ‘‘I know who I am. He wanted to meet Ray 

Milland.’’ 

That was pure RONALD REAGAN. He was not 

interested in making sure a stranger knew of his 

importance. He cared about making this one 

stranger happy. 

Four years later he was President. He faced a 

military where one-third of our fleet was in dry 

dock, one-third of our planes could not fly for 

lack of spare parts. Our soldiers were practicing 

with pretend bullets. The economy had a 21 percent interest rate and a 14 percent inflation rate, 

and we were in trouble. 

On January 20, 1981, President REAGAN addressed these challenges and then said this: 

jTkogether with God’s help we can and will resolve the 

problems which now confront us. And after all, why 

shouldn’t we believe that? We are Americans. 

Over the next 8 years, his economic policies 

took an economy from $2.5 trillion to $5 trillion. 

Revenues to the Federal Treasury went from $519 

billion to $1.054 trillion. We created 20 million 

new jobs, and on the foreign front REAGAN was 

the first President since 1917 to ignore the bureaucracy and speak truth to evil. Eight years 

later the evil empire was crumbling, and the cold 

war was over. 

I always thought that the biggest missed opportunity of the past 60 years was to not have 

celebrated the end of the cold war. RONALD

REAGAN deserved that, and now he takes his 

leave. 
36 Ronald Reagan 

It has been a very difficult decade for Mrs. 

Reagan and the family, but for those of us who 

love freedom, we remember a man who dared to 

believe that there once was something else, that 

something else was thinkable. He gave us evidence of what it was in the fortifying knowledge 

that he would be there at the great nightfall to 

take loving thought to preserve the tokens of 

hope and truth, and he was there. Not a bad final 

act for a B actor from Dixon, not bad at all. 

Hon. Joe Wilson 

OF SOUTH CAROLINA

Mr. Speaker, the world is grieving this week 

over the loss of a true American hero, President 

RONALD WILSON REAGAN. Words cannot describe the admiration and respect that I have for 

this great man. He led a revolution for free enterprise, for victory of democracy over communism 

and for national political realignment. 

For many Americans in mourning, including 

myself, RONALD REAGAN was not just a good 

President, he was our President. He defined the 

honor and dignity of the Office of the Presidency, and he lifted the spirit of a Nation with 

his hope and joyfulness that sprang from an abiding faith in God and deeply held belief in the 

American dream. 

I am grateful to have lived the Reagan revolution as a foot soldier promoting his vision of a 

dynamic economy, creating jobs through tax cuts 

and free markets, his support of America’s military to achieve success in liberating millions by 

victory in the cold war, and his transformation 

of developing the Republican Party which today 

holds the majority of State legislative seats across 

America for the first time since 1952. He reinvigorated the Republican Party with optimism and 

vision. 

He entered office during a time of doubt and 

despair and malaise, with the economy sputtering in a looming cold war that threatened our 

families. With these seemingly insurmountable 

problems he faced, many critics underestimated 

the former California Governor. Yet President 

REAGAN brought with him his conservative principles of individual freedom, limited government, personal responsibility, and ‘‘peace 

through strength.’’ He also brought an optimism 

that America’s greatest days were ahead of us. 

Proving all of his detractors wrong, President 

REAGAN won the cold war, spurred the economy 

to robust growth and restored our national confidence and patriotism. As author and former 

Presidential staffer Peter Robinson said recently, 

‘‘RONALD REAGAN was great, because RONALD

REAGAN was right.’’ 

His straightforward speeches began to change 

minds across America, and many became Reagan 

Democrats. Today in my home State, Republicans hold most statewide offices, a complete 

turnaround that has occurred throughout the 

South thanks to the leadership of RONALD

REAGAN. 

He started a revolution where in 1980 Republicans in South Carolina held only 16 seats in the 

statehouse, and now there is a Republican supermajority of 76 out of 124 members. In the State 

senate, Republicans soared from 3 members in 

1980 to now a supermajority of 27 of 46 members. 

For 2 years I was honored to work in the 

Reagan administration as Deputy General Counsel to the Secretary of Energy Jim Edwards. I am 

a proud REAGAN alumni association member, 

and in 1990, because of his efforts to win the cold 

war and bring freedom to the oppressed people 

of the Soviet Union, I was asked by former Republican National Committee Chairman Lee 

Atwater to observe the first democratic elections 

in Bulgaria. 

I saw first-hand the REAGAN legacy of peace 

and freedom, as Central and Eastern Europe rose 

from the ashes of communism to become strong 

democracies and American allies. The people I 

have met over the years from Bratislava, Slovakia, 

to Novosibirsk, Russia, regard President 

REAGAN as their own hero, a man who was 

unafraid to tell the truth about the evil empire. 

While we mourn his passing, President RONALD REAGAN will never be forgotten. Children 

will read for centuries to come about the ‘‘Happy 

Warrior’’ who helped liberate tens of millions 

from totalitarian communism and restored America’s position in the world as the ‘‘shining city 

on a hill.’’ 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 37 

Democracy is more widespread today in the 

world than any time in history due to President 

REAGAN’s success of ‘‘peace through strength.’’ 

We cannot help but be reminded of his legacy 

as America faces similar battles today against the 

oppression of terrorism, and his critics deride our 

President, much as they did President REAGAN

20 years ago. America is under attack because we 

are a symbol of liberty in the world, and we must 

meet this challenge with the same courage and 

conviction that RONALD REAGAN had. 

As he said in the 1964 Goldwater campaign 

in what has simply become known as ‘‘The 

Speech’’ and was earlier referenced by Chairman 

Lewis: 

You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on 

Earth, or we will sentence them to take the last step into 

a thousand years of darkness. 

May God bless the REAGAN family, God bless 

our troops, and may God continue to bless 

America. 

Hon. Jerry Lewis 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 

South Carolina (Mr. WILSON) very much for 

those very eloquent comments. I am reminded 

of the fact that in very simple form, RONALD

REAGAN challenged the world on behalf of liberty, on behalf of peace. He had this remarkable 

relationship that developed over time with Mikhail Gorbachev. After he described the evil empire in straightforward terms, they began to 

communicate as leaders of two great countries. 

Indeed, together over time they reduced the nuclear threat by coming to agreement with one 

another. 

It has been said earlier, but let me repeat the 

words of RONALD REAGAN: 

jMr.k Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity 

for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! . . . open this gate! Mr. 

Gorbachev, tear down this wall! 

And indeed, within a couple of years, that wall 

came down. The East-West confrontation began 

to thaw; and between these two leaders, the 

world has seen a different kind of opportunity 

for peace. Today we face the challenge that involves the war on terrorism; and, indeed, that 

struggle is bound to last for years to come. It 

was the legacy of RONALD REAGAN that laid the 

foundation for America to best be prepared to 

defend itself for liberty and for freedom. 

Hon. Ken Calvert 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to one 

of the greatest Presidents in the history of our 

Nation, RONALD WILSON REAGAN, the 40th 

President of the United States. 

He was a leader when our country needed it 

most, at a time when many Americans, including 

myself, had found ourselves disaffected by politics. His optimism gave our Nation the confidence and motivation to resume its place as a 

world leader. 

I well remember the seventies after President 

Nixon’s resignation and the pessimism that followed, when many Americans disassociated 

themselves from public service. RONALD

REAGAN came onto the Presidential scene and reminded us that the ‘‘best was yet to come,’’ that 

we are not to blame for the world’s problems; 

and yet, as a great Nation, we had a place of 

responsibility and a role to play. 

President REAGAN believed, as our Declaration of Independence states, ‘‘all men are created 

equal, that they are endowed by their creator 

with certain unalienable rights, life, liberty and 

the pursuit of happiness.’’ Additionally, he knew 

better than most that strength comes from within, from the people. Therefore, first and foremost, 

REAGAN used his first term as President to bring 

these rights back to Americans starting with 

what was then known as Reaganomics. 

He sought to restore America to the people 

by giving them back control of their pocketbooks. Uncle Sam was put on a diet of lower 

taxes, sound money and fewer regulations, allowing us the benefits of hard work. By the time 

that REAGAN left office, only two income brackets existed, with a top rate of 28 percent, compared to the 14 income brackets, with the top 
38 Ronald Reagan 

rate of 70 percent, that existed when he took office. Additionally, government was scaled back 

and redtape eliminated, allowing Americans to 

take care of themselves. As REAGAN was apt to 

say. ‘‘Government is not the solution to our 

problem; government is the problem.’’ 

He saw the rebuilding of America’s military. 

After years of low morale and interest in the 

armed services, President REAGAN made a return 

to the pre-Vietnam days of faith and professional 

appeal in our military. As Commander in Chief, 

he oversaw the largest peacetime buildup of military spending in history, leading to the collapse 

of the Soviet Union and the end of the cold war. 

His revolutionary policies regarding investment 

in military technology, good training, and pay 

laid the foundation for a strong military that 

later claimed victory in Operation Desert Storm 

and continues to protect our national security 

well into the 21st century and, now, in the war 

on terror. 

RONALD REAGAN lived a life worth living. He 

saw both the birth and death of communism. He 

won the hearts of Americans and world leaders. 

How? He believed in ‘‘peace through strength,’’ 

and he lived his convictions based on experience, 

intuition, and love of life. 

I will end with one of my favorite quotes: 

Above all, we must realize that no arsenal or no weapon 

in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and 

moral courage of free men and women. 

Thank you, President REAGAN. May God bless 

you and your family, and may God bless America. 

Hon. Chris Chocola 

OF INDIANA

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time, and I join my colleagues tonight and rise in tribute to a great man, President RONALD REAGAN. 

In 1980, I turned 18, and the first person I ever 

voted for was RONALD REAGAN. With that vote, 

the world changed. It changed because President 

REAGAN clearly understood that the greatest 

strength of this Nation is the American people. 

He believed in us so much that he inspired us 

to believe in ourselves. 

And in his typical humble fashion, during his 

last speech from the Oval Office, he said: 

I wasn’t a great communicator, but I communicated great 

things, and they didn’t spring full bloom from my brow, they 

came from the heart of a great nation. 

Mr. Speaker, President REAGAN captured the 

hearts of the American people and he unleashed 

the power, the hope, and the optimism that 

comes with a sincere understanding and love of 

freedom and democracy. President REAGAN

changed the world by simply reminding us all 

of exactly who we are. He inspired us to become 

the Nation we were all along. He always saw the 

‘‘shining city on the hill,’’ and he gave us the 

vision to see it with him. 

Although we deeply mourn his passing, RONALD REAGAN’s life was a gift to the world, a gift 

that will never be forgotten by all who love freedom and the shining example he gave us. 

Thank you, Mr. President, and God bless 

RONALD REAGAN. 

Hon. Robin Hayes 

OF NORTH CAROLINA

Mr. Speaker, first let me thank my dear friend 

and colleague, the gentleman from California 

(Mr. Lewis), for his leadership tonight in honoring such a wonderful man. President RONALD

REAGAN was a good man who became a great 

President. His leadership has inspired me 

throughout my career in public service, as I am 

sure REAGAN inspired many folks presently serving in the public arena. 

One of my favorite RONALD REAGAN quotes 

comes from his 1986 State of the Union Address: 

Government growing beyond our consent had become a 

lumbering giant, slamming shut the gates of opportunity, 

threatening to crush the very roots of our freedom. What 

brought America back? The American people brought us 

back with quiet courage and common sense, with undying 

faith that in this nation under God the future will be ours; 

for the future belongs to the free. 

That is one of my favorite REAGAN quotes for 

a number of reasons. First, it addresses one of 

the main reasons I switched parties. Like President REAGAN, I began my career not as a Repub-
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 39 

lican but as a Democrat; and, like REAGAN, I 

switched parties because I felt that big government was ‘‘slamming shut the gates of opportunity, threatening to crush the very roots of our 

freedom.’’ 

RONALD REAGAN’s conservative principles, 

put into successful action, changed our Nation’s 

attitude on the role of government and personal 

responsibility. Without President REAGAN, there 

would not have been a bipartisan effort to reform 

welfare and end that vicious cycle of government 

dependency. 

The other thing I like about this quote is that 

it reveals so much about the character of RONALD REAGAN: his unbridled optimism, his belief 

in the American people, and his humbleness. He 

was too humble to take sole credit for the United 

States’ return to greatness, even though had his 

measures failed he would have assumed the 

blame. Instead, he gave the credit to the American people, because he believed in the American 

people. 

One of his favorite quotes was: ‘‘There is no 

limit to what you can accomplish if you don’t 

care who gets the credit.’’ And he lived that 

quote on a daily basis. 

One of the other things I admired about RONALD REAGAN was his steadfast determination to 

stand up to communist aggression. Even though 

he knew such a determined view may not be 

popular, he never backed away from his firm belief that communism was wrong. In 1982, speaking before the British Parliament, REAGAN said: 

It is the Soviet Union that runs against the tide of history. 

. . . jIt isk the march of freedom and democracy which will 

leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash-heap of history as it has 

left other tyrannies which stifle the freedom and muzzle the 

self-expression of the people. 

No truer words have been spoken. I believed 

it then, and I believe it now. We all saw 

REAGAN’s words validated when the Soviet 

Union fell apart shortly after President REAGAN

left office. 

Finally, even when facing a devastating diagnosis, President REAGAN still delivered the news 

with his typical optimism for America and his 

belief for the American people. On November 5, 

1994, he wrote a letter to the American people 

announcing that he had Alzheimer’s disease: 

In closing let me thank you, the American people for giving me the great honor of allowing me to serve as your President. When the Lord calls me home, whenever that may be, 

I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours 

and eternal optimism for its future. 

I now begin this journey that will lead me into the sunset 

of my life. I know that for America there will always be a 

bright dawn ahead. 

I do believe that the United States does face 

a bright dawn. And President REAGAN and his 

leadership can take a large part of the credit for 

that fact. While I am saddened that President 

REAGAN is no longer with us, I rejoice knowing 

that he has met his Maker, and his Maker is 

looking him in the eye and saying, President 

REAGAN, the GIPPER, you are a good and faithful 

servant. 

He is now in a far better place. He is looking 

down on the country and the people that he 

loved. May God bless and protect America and 

the vision that was RONALD REAGAN’s for us 

and our future; that freedom belongs to the free. 

Hon. Duncan Hunter 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis) for yielding me this time, and 

I want to thank my great friend also for not only 

helping to preside over this special tribute, but 

for everything that he did in helping to lead the 

California delegation to be a source of strength 

for President REAGAN when he put forth those 

monumental changes in the direction of our government. 

I have listened to his statements and just now 

to the statement of the gentleman from North 

Carolina (Mr. Hayes), and many others, in talking about this wonderful American, RONALD

REAGAN; and I thought I might just touch on 

a couple of the things he did in the way of national security. 

We have short memories, Mr. Speaker; and 

President REAGAN was not always popular, especially with the media and often with our European allies. I can remember in the eighties, when 

he responded to the Soviet Union’s ringing 

Western Europe with the SS–20 missiles and he 

started to move those Persian missiles and 
40 Ronald Reagan 

ground launch cruise missiles into Europe to offset the Soviet strength of their strategic programs 

and their intermediate range ballistic missiles 

that they were moving in. And there were massive demonstrations against RONALD REAGAN

and against those who supported him in Europe 

and lots of sniping by the press in this country. 

And yet because of that strength and because 

he rebuilt national security, especially after the 

Reykjavik summit, he refused to give up the 

Strategic Defense Initiative, that is, missile defense, the right of Americans to defend themselves against incoming ballistic missiles. After 

he did that, there was lots of hand wringing 

among the elite media and lots of our European 

allies who said, there it goes, the last chance for 

peace, and lo and behold, the Russians picked 

up the phone and said, Can we talk? 

RONALD REAGAN at that point started to negotiate with the Soviet Union, and not just to 

negotiate a peace, but to negotiate the disassembly of the Soviet empire, the tear-down of 

the Soviet empire, which is manifest today in numerous free states where once there was one state 

ruled by tyranny. 

Mr. Speaker, I remember the gentleman from 

California (Mr. Lewis) was present as one of our 

senior Members, and the gentleman from California (Mr. Herger) had not been elected yet, 

along with the gentleman from California (Mr. 

Thomas) and the gentleman from California (Mr. 

Dreier), and Bob Lagomarsino, and John 

Rousselot, and Chip Pashayan, and my colleague 

Bill Lowery, and Bobby Fever, new Republicans 

who had come in in the Reagan win of 1980, 

and the President invited us to Blair House even 

while President Carter was still in the White 

House. We were standing in the foyer, celebrating this victory of our Commander-in-Chiefto-be because he had not been sworn in yet, and 

the President-elect came down the stairs, and he 

talked to us about being up on his ranch in Santa 

Barbara and killing an especially big rattlesnake 

the day before while he was cutting brush. We 

had a great time talking with the President-elect. 

After a while he said, ‘‘I am tired, I am going 

to go upstairs and hit the hay.’’ He said, ‘‘you 

guys turn off the lights when you leave.’’ He 

went right upstairs; we continued to have a good 

time. That represented that western hospitality, 

that great charm that RONALD REAGAN had that 

brought so many people, attracted so many people, even people of very different political persuasion. 

My son Sam was not even born in those days 

when we first came in. I remember the picture 

of the cowboy that the President drew for my 

other son Duncan, who is now a U.S. Marine and 

deployed overseas. 

I think the one thing that this President sold 

in boatloads was inspiration. He was great at inspiration. He realized a little secret, and that is 

this country runs on inspiration. Whether it is 

the markets or the economy or people deciding 

whether or not they are going to join the uniformed services, inspiration is the fuel that this 

country runs on, and that is something that 

RONALD REAGAN had an endless supply of. 

He was tough during the tough times. You 

have to have good endurance to be a good President, and he had great endurance. He was able 

to handle the difficult times, the times when he 

was not real popular, and outlast his critics. It 

has been kind of fun in the last couple of days 

to watch people who criticized him very severely 

to seem now to remember that he was not such 

a bad guy after all. Not only was he not such 

a bad guy, but he brought this country together 

as a family. He was, of course, the head of the 

family. 

It is a time for us to mourn this President, 

but also to celebrate his great life and the big 

piece of this life that he gave to our Nation. I 

will never forget when I was first running for 

Congress, I was practicing law on behalf of a barbershop on the waterfront in San Diego. My dad 

came in and said, ‘‘You can be a Member of Congress.’’ He said, ‘‘RONALD REAGAN is running. 

He is going to run on a platform of national defense and jobs, and in San Diego that is the same 

thing.’’ I said, ‘‘What do I need to start running?’’ He said, ‘‘We need one thing; you need 

a picture with RONALD REAGAN, and we are 

going to go up and get it.’’ And we went up 

and got it in Los Angeles. That launched my 

foray into politics. So many of us won that year 

who had no chance of winning because we were 

riding along with a guy named RONALD

REAGAN. 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 41 

Let us take a message and a lesson from this 

great American and proceed ahead with optimism and with dedication to the idea that you 

get ‘‘peace through strength.’’ That was a trademark of RONALD REAGAN’s foreign policy. I 

think we are following it with this President. I 

think we need to stay the course and stay steady. 

Hon. Jerry Lewis 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from California 

(Mr. Hunter) reminds me of another time when 

RONALD REAGAN was trying to bring together 

Republicans to form a majority. It was 1969, and 

there was a majority for approximately 2 years 

in the California lower house for the assembly, 

and RONALD REAGAN was then Governor of 

California. He came into this room, and here 

were 41 members of the new majority sitting 

there in front of him. He was sitting at a table 

in front of us, his legs dangling from the table, 

and he had argyle socks on. 

He said: 

I was trying to think about what I should say to you all. 

We have not had a majority before. We have to govern . . . 

it is possible from time to time we may disagree with each 

other as we go about making decisions on public policy. 

As I was thinking about what to say to you, I was reminded of my father-in-law, who is a dentist. It seems he 

had this fellow sitting in the chair, and the guy had an abscessed tooth which had to come out. And my father-in-law 

began to put this needle in his jaw. About that time my 

father-in-law felt kind of a groping at the lower part of his 

abdomen. He looked down startled, and the fellow looked 

back up and said, ‘‘we are not going to hurt each other, are 

we, Doc?’’ 

For those who knew RONALD REAGAN, he 

would get just to the edge of color, but nonetheless, he knew how to make a point to bring people together in a very special way; a man never 

to be forgotten, recognizing how important it is 

that we work together. 

Hon. Jeb Hensarling 

OF TEXAS

Mr. Speaker, this week millions of Americans 

and people around the globe mourn the loss of 

one of our Nation’s greatest heroes, RONALD

REAGAN. From the time that he took the oath 

of office until he left the White House, few 

American Presidents ever enjoyed the popularity, 

support and love that RONALD REAGAN engendered. He developed a special bond with the 

American people, and one can see from the tremendous outpouring of sympathy and support 

across our great Nation that that special bond 

still endures today. 

More than any other person, President 

REAGAN is responsible for winning the cold war. 

He engaged his communist adversaries in the 

battle of ideas and achieved victory by winning 

the war for the hearts and minds of people. In 

his heart he knew these people. He knew the 

Bulgarian student who was never allowed to read 

Thomas Jefferson. He knew the East German 

mother who wanted a better life for her children. 

He knew the Polish factory worker who longed 

to be free of Soviet subjugation. 

One 65-year-old Czech who lived under the 

Soviet regime said: 

For us, REAGAN was important because we knew he was 

really anticommunist, emotionally anticommunist. For us, he 

was a symbol of the United States’ genuine determination 

to bring communism to an end. 

A Romanian man who was recently interviewed struggled to find the words to describe 

President REAGAN’s legacy, and then he simply 

said, ‘‘It is due to him that we are free.’’ 

Thanks to RONALD REAGAN’s determined 

leadership, untold millions were liberated from 

communist tyranny and from the palpable fear 

of nuclear annihilation. 

America was fortunate to have RONALD

REAGAN. At a time when our country needed a 

hero, RONALD REAGAN was able to rekindle the 

American spirit. He inspired us with his powerful words and unwavering optimism. He had a 

steadfast belief in the goodness of America. No 

amount of pessimism, strife or tragedy could discourage that thinking or blur his vision of America as a ‘‘shining city on a hill.’’ 
42 Ronald Reagan 

I was one of perhaps hundreds of thousands 

of people that had the privilege to shake the 

hand of the former President, look him in the 

eyes and thank him for all he did for America. 

Frankly, next to my marriage and the birth of 

my children, it was one of the most profound 

moments in my life. An earlier generation was 

inspired to public service by Barry Goldwater. 

Many in my generation were inspired to serve 

by RONALD REAGAN. 

A woman in Santa Monica recently stated, 

‘‘When I think of him, I think of America. What 

is that saying, American, like Mom and apple 

pie. He should be in that, too, because he represented what this country is all about.’’ 

President REAGAN was what this country is 

all about. He believed in the American dream. 

He believed in the power of free men and free 

markets. He championed less government, lower 

taxes and lifting regulation. He believed in our 

country’s ability to produce boundless possibilities and limitless opportunity. His policies ushered in a new age of entrepreneurship and innovation, and led to one of the greatest economic 

expansions in our Nation’s history. 

We believed in President REAGAN because he 

believed in us. He always saw the best in us, and 

he never stopped believing in the decency and 

ingenuity of the American people. He believed 

deeply in the strength of democracy and never 

lost hope of America realizing its ‘‘rendezvous 

with destiny.’’ 

Our Nation will deeply miss RONALD

REAGAN. Undoubtedly future generations of 

Americans will remember him among the pantheon of America’s great leaders, among the 

names of Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln, but 

there will never be another President REAGAN. 

Let us remember his words the way he wished 

to be remembered: 

jWkhatever else history may say about me when I’m gone, 

I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not 

your worst fears, to your confidence rather than your doubts. 

My dream is that you will travel the road ahead with liberty’s 

lamp guiding your steps and opportunity’s arm steadying 

your way. 

Mr. Speaker, today should serve more than just 

a memorial, it should serve as a reminder. As 

President REAGAN also said, ‘‘there’s much work 

before us: . . . Not easy tasks perhaps. But I 

would remind you . . . they’re not impossible, because, after all, we’re Americans,’’ and perhaps 

none more so than RONALD REAGAN. 

Hon. Judy Biggert 

OF ILLINOIS

Mr. Speaker, unlike many other Members of 

this body, I never had the great privilege of serving with RONALD REAGAN. When President 

REAGAN was elected in 1980, I was raising my 

four children and running a law practice out of 

my home in Hinsdale, IL. Back then I did not 

follow world events or political developments 

like I do now. In those days, it was all I could 

do to keep up with kids’ soccer games, make it 

to the school board meetings on time, and ensure 

that I did not miss a court deadline for an important client. 

This week, like most Americans, I revel in the 

stories that my colleagues and others who knew 

him well have recounted about their special moments with our 40th President. Like most Americans, I cannot get enough of RONALD REAGAN. 

What strikes me as I think back through the 

years of those REAGAN times of the eighties are 

two very important things. They are the things 

that he said that touched my life and my interests as a busy mother and a died-in-the-wool Republican. 

First is what later became known as the 

REAGAN 11th commandment. RONALD REAGAN

said, and practiced this principle, ‘‘Speak no ill 

of a fellow Republican.’’ 

Second was the REAGAN rule for success: 

‘‘There is no limit to the good a man can do 

in this world if he does not care who gets the 

credit.’’ 

Mr. Speaker, tonight my thoughts and prayers 

go out to the REAGAN family. It is true I never 

met him, but they will never know how much 

his words, his deeds and his common sense have 

influenced and will continue to positively affect 

the generations of leaders that will follow him. 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 43 

Hon. Roger F. Wicker 

OF MISSISSIPPI

Mr. Speaker, I too rise and join so many of 

my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in paying 

tribute to RONALD WILSON REAGAN, the 40th 

President of the United States. I agree with so 

much of what has been said here today and 

throughout the Nation in the past few days 

about the incredible legacy of RONALD REAGAN

and what he left to America and to the world. 

RONALD REAGAN will always be larger than life 

to millions of people around the world who were 

freed from the shackles of communism because 

he stood firm against what he so correctly called 

the evil empire. RONALD REAGAN’s determination and leadership forced an end to the cold war. 

His philosophy of cutting taxes and easing Federal regulations brought about one of the largest 

periods of economic growth in American history. 

And his eternal optimism and hope for a brighter 

day lifted the spirits of a Nation. 

Much has been said about RONALD REAGAN’s 

charisma, quick wit and ability to put people at 

ease. He was also blessed with a great asset for 

anyone in public life, a sense of timing. Whether 

it was one of his famous one-liners or the ability 

to do just the right thing at the right time, he 

always seemed to disarm a tough national press 

corps or defuse a difficult political issue. 

Mr. Speaker, I had the privilege of witnessing 

an example of his instinctive timing and humor 

in 1980 in Mississippi when then-candidate RONALD REAGAN and his wife, Nancy, came to the 

Neshoba County Fair in Philadelphia, MS. The 

Neshoba County Fair is called Mississippi’s largest house party and has been the premier gathering for political speeches during the hot Mississippi summers for more than a century. RONALD REAGAN’s visit was the first ever by a Presidential candidate to this most celebrated political 

event in my home State. 

One of the issues that had surfaced in Mr. 

REAGAN’s Presidential campaign was the question of his age. He was 69 years old. Some questioned whether he might be too old for the job. 

At the Neshoba County Fair an incident occurred 

which could have potentially exaggerated the 

issue of his age. After Mr. REAGAN’s speech, a 

local craftsman, Gary Harkins of Mississippi, presented Mr. REAGAN with a rocking chair. I am 

sure some of the candidate’s advisers and staff 

were horrified to think of the prospect that the 

one image coming from this appearance was a 

picture of the 69-year-old former Governor sitting in a rocking chair. But without hesitation, 

RONALD REAGAN sat down in the chair, grabbed 

his wife, Nancy, by the hand and pulled her onto 

his lap. They appeared at that moment to be the 

very picture of vitality and energy. The widely 

distributed photograph and film footage which 

followed went around the Nation and nobody 

seeing that image thought RONALD REAGAN was 

too old to be President. 

Mr. REAGAN’s quick thinking probably boosted his candidacy and dispelled doubts in the 

minds of some voters. The incident also changed 

the life of Greg Harkins, the craftsman who 

made the rocking chair and whose fledgling business was energized by his short encounter on the 

national stage. Mr. Harkins soon began receiving 

hundreds of requests for chairs from across the 

Nation and around the world. His business is 

still going strong today nearly 25 years later, and 

RONALD REAGAN provided the spark for that little bit of business success. Harkins was quoted 

recently as saying, ‘‘What they did was give me 

a foothold on something that I can be able to 

carry on for the rest of my life.’’ 

Mr. Harkins represents just one small example 

of how RONALD REAGAN touched the lives of 

people in ways that are hard to quantify. We 

may not know all of their names or their unique 

stories, but his fellow citizens gained inspiration 

from RONALD REAGAN’s leadership and his attitude that it really was ‘‘morning in America.’’ 

Whether it was a young American answering 

a call to public service or becoming involved in 

the growing conservative movement or simply 

taking the initiative to exercise their rights and 

register to vote for the first time, RONALD

REAGAN energized many Americans to action. 

They followed him because they trusted this man 

of principled beliefs and because he captured 

their imagination, and they simply liked him. 

RONALD REAGAN, some people said, would be 

limited because he was only an actor. He was 

perhaps the best example of an actor turned politician; but he ended up being the real thing, the 
44 Ronald Reagan 

true article, the genuine American; and, Mr. 

Speaker, I believe he will be recorded as being 

the greatest President of our time. 

Hon. Virgil H. Goode, Jr. 

OF VIRGINIA

The death of President REAGAN reminded 

Americans and many around the world of the 

achievements of his 8 years in office. A significant part of his legacy is that he helped the 

United States to feel good about itself again and 

the tax cuts that he advocated in the early 

eighties stimulated the economic boom that 

lasted until the end of the century. 

History may well show that President 

REAGAN’s greatest accomplishment was reestablishing our military strength and bringing about 

the collapse of the Soviet Union, which had been 

the principal adversary of the free world in the 

cold war that had raged since the close of World 

War II. The strengthened military was the one 

that waged Desert Storm successfully and laid 

the foundation for the U.S. military that is leading the war on terrorism. President REAGAN rekindled the American spirit and patriotic fervor 

in this country. We shall never forget the grace 

and style with which President and Mrs. 

REAGAN represented America. Our country will 

always remember RONALD REAGAN. 

Hon. Zach Wamp 

OF TENNESSEE

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for taking 

the leadership tonight. The previous speaker, the 

gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goode), myself, 

and President REAGAN all shared one thing in 

common as many do in this House and that is 

we used to be Democrats and now we are Republicans. That brings me to what I want to share 

tonight, which is the change in the political 

landscape brought about by the life and service 

of RONALD WILSON REAGAN; but I want to start 

by saying that I believe, and I think this honors 

his memory, that neither party has an exclusive 

on integrity or ideas, neither party always has it 

right or always has it wrong, and the two-party 

system continues to serve our country extremely 

well. 

I am proud of the first half of my life when 

I was a Democrat and proud of the second half 

of my life as a Republican, but the story in my 

life as a southern conservative Democrat goes way 

back for generations. My father’s great-greatgrandfather, Enoch Alldredge, served in the 19th 

century in the Alabama General Assembly for 

over 40 years. My mother’s great uncle Reuben 

Alldridge served in the 20th century in the Alabama General Assembly for a number of years, 

both very prominent political figures from the 

northern part of Alabama, all as Democrats. So 

I grew up honestly as a southern conservative 

Democrat. 

As a matter of fact, my first real memory of 

it all as a young person was watching my parents 

be involved in local campaigns and then, in fall 

1976, going to Woolen Gym at the University 

of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a 19-yearold freshman and voting for Jimmy Carter as 

President of the United States and then having 

my parents attend the inaugural in Washington 

here with Franklin and Emmy Haney, two of the 

biggest Democrats in the State of Tennessee and 

being proud that my parents were here and saluting the new President, Jimmy Carter. 

But the years that followed in my formative 

years certainly gave me an opportunity and hope 

when I saw RONALD REAGAN. I saw the malaise 

we were in. Let me say that Jimmy Carter has 

proven what a fine and outstanding man he is 

over these last 24 years since leaving office. It 

was a low point in our country’s history, but he 

is a good and decent man; and frankly I will 

stand by that vote as a Democrat at that time, 

but over those next 4 years at the University of 

North Carolina, we saw a real low in our country’s history and then all of a sudden there was 

a new day in 1980, and it seemed like someone 

came from the West and actually kind of showed 

us the hope and opportunity that you heard repeated on this floor over and over and over again. 

I can remember as the campaign generated 

momentum in 1980 at UNC, my fraternity, the 

Sigma Nu house, got real energized about the 

campaign and by the convention when they had 

that strong conservative Governor from the West 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 45 

team up with maybe the best person on paper 

that had run in 100 years, George Herbert Walker Bush. It was like that did it. That sealed the 

deal. What a great team. And on election night 

in fall 1980 we loaded up in cars from UNC. It 

was Lee Ives and Tom Nesbit and Tony Floyd 

and Allen Miller and Lyn Thornburg and a group 

of us, and we drove to Washington, DC, and we 

were here that night in 1980 when RONALD

REAGAN was elected President of the United 

States. 

I was a southern conservative Democrat who 

became a Republican. Our entire family shifted 

from our party identification over the hope, the 

opportunity, the fresh start that RONALD

REAGAN brought to the political process. That 

changed the political landscape in the United 

States of America, and it moved our country 

from what was more left of center to slightly 

right of center. 

The Founding Fathers did not want things to 

change dramatically. This is like a big ship of 

state. If you turn it one degree, you arrive at a 

different destination. The country went from 

being left of center to right of center over the 

leadership, the strength and what I would say 

is the constancy of RONALD REAGAN. He stood 

for something, and he simply articulated to this 

country what he stood for, and he never wavered. 

When people elect a President, they want a 

strong leader who can make a decision, who will 

stand his ground. When the wind blows, he 

stands firm. RONALD REAGAN did that. 

That is why the 8 years is a legacy beyond 

measure. As the previous speaker said, in our lifetime, the model, the great leader is RONALD

REAGAN. I salute him. He made a Republican 

out of me, and I have been in the House of Representatives as a Republican elected official for 

10 years. I ran once and lost to get here, and 

I am proud of the whole story. I am very typical 

of a lot of southern boll weevil conservatives that 

believed in that simple limited government, personal responsibility, traditional values, strong national defense, lower taxes, take care of yourself 

and your family first and your extended family, 

look to the government last, but do it with a 

smile on your face and love in your heart. He 

is like a father, a big brother, a great leader who 

we could trust and have confidence in. Today we 

remember a truly great American President, 

RONALD WILSON REAGAN. 

Hon. Kay Granger 

OF TEXAS

Mr. Speaker, I am tempted to begin by saying 

that I come to honor the life of RONALD

REAGAN; but the truth is nothing I can say, 

nothing anyone can say can speak more loudly 

than do REAGAN’s own achievements. His legacy 

will endure and his memory will remain. 

Many leaders have changed history. RONALD

REAGAN changed the future. How soon we forget the environment he inherited in 1981, doubledigit inflation, high interest rates at home, and 

Soviet aggression combined with American malaise abroad. Yet through his conviction, his courage, and his commitment, RONALD REAGAN

changed the Nation and the world. 

The story of RONALD REAGAN is the story of 

America. He was an ordinary man who led a 

most extraordinary life. Born in poverty, 

REAGAN rose to the greatest political office in 

the world. Along the way he did not merely 

argue for American values, he lived them. His 

determination was matched only by his decency, 

his leadership equaled only by his love of country. 

He was a great President who was also a good 

man, and he was a man so unlike any other in 

politics. Politics is filled with people who go 

with the flow, change with the times, and exchange principles for polls. These politicians are 

like tugboats, pushed back and forth by the 

waves. Not REAGAN. He was like a battleship, 

always moving forward in its destination, always 

certain of victory. 

Though he has now left us, his impact never 

will. Every time we see a free person in a foreign 

land vote in a democratic election, RONALD

REAGAN is there. Every time we see a new job 

created through innovation and creativity, RONALD REAGAN is there. And every time we see 

an American taking pride in his country, RONALD REAGAN is there. 

Ultimately we mourn for ourselves, not for 

REAGAN, for his life was one of victory. Like few 
46 Ronald Reagan 

other leaders in history, he lived to see his vision 

vindicated. Just as he had predicted, he saw communism repudiated and freedom spread across 

the globe. 

RONALD REAGAN always knew who he was 

and what he believed. He knew why America 

was great and why America must lead. We recognize tonight his achievements and his legacy, 

but also let us also remember his style and his 

self-deprecating humor. We give him the credit 

he did not seek or think important. 

At the end of his Presidency, REAGAN was 

asked if he objected to all the favorable press coverage that Mikhail Gorbachev got. ‘‘Good Lord, 

no,’’ REAGAN responded. ‘‘I co-starred with Errol 

Flynn once.’’ 

Hon. Trent Franks 

OF ARIZONA

Mr. Speaker, tonight it is my deepest heartfelt 

honor to remember and to celebrate the life of 

RONALD WILSON REAGAN. President REAGAN

was a man of unfettered principle. He was not 

afraid to do what was right. And not only was 

he not afraid, he was tenaciously committed to 

doing only that what he thought was right in 

his own heart. 

Mr. Speaker, President REAGAN warned us all 

‘‘to beware jofk the temptation . . . to ignore the 

facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an 

evil empire, to simply call the arms race a giant 

misunderstanding and thereby remove jourselvesk from the struggle between right and 

wrong and good and evil.’’ Mr. REAGAN understood that some things were worth fighting, even 

dying, for, and he was resolute about them in 

his heart. 

President REAGAN made us all believe that 

America still had what it takes to be victorious, 

to rise above and out of difficult circumstances, 

and to face devastating challenges. He said: 

Every promise, every opportunity is still golden in this 

land. And through that golden door our children can walk 

into tomorrow with the knowledge that no one can be denied 

the promise that is America. 

Her heart is full; . . . her future bright. She has arms big 

enough to comfort and strong enough to support. 

By the grace of God, those words are still true 

today. 

Mr. Speaker, President REAGAN on so many 

occasions simply shared his wisdom and experience with us. He stated that ‘‘The future doesn’t 

belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the 

brave.’’ I believe he would want us to continue 

to make this Nation great by preserving its 

goodness. He would want us to continue in the 

struggle between right and wrong and good and 

evil. 

Mr. Speaker, RONALD REAGAN’s life was a 

transformed one, one that reflected the light 

from within, and he shared that light with all 

of us in the brightness and warmth of his smile 

and in his grace and good humor. 

Mr. REAGAN said this of his Saviour: ‘‘He 

promised there will never be a dark night that 

does not end. And by dying for us, Jesus showed 

how far our love should be ready to go: all the 

way.’’ RONALD REAGAN’s dark nights on this 

Earth have ended, and he is at this moment in 

the presence of his precious Saviour. And now 

for Mr. REAGAN each day has a bright new dawn 

and a shining sunset, and while he was here, he 

went all the way. And, Mr. Speaker, if he could 

speak to us one last time, I truly believe that 

he would tell us the same message that he told 

us so many times before when he said: 

You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, 

or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children 

and our children’s children say of us we justified our brief 

moment here. We did all that could be done. 

Thank you, Mr. President, for your life, and 

thank you for reminding us all of our rendezvous 

with destiny. 

Hon. Marsha Blackburn 

OF TENNESSEE

It is an amazing thing to join our colleagues 

tonight and to thank President REAGAN and his 

family for their decades of service. And as I have 

listened to our colleagues tonight, I thought 

about the first time I had the opportunity to see 

and hear President REAGAN, and this was back 

in the early seventies, and he had come into Jack-
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 47 

son, MS, for a Republican Party event. And I attended that event with my parents and was absolutely amazed at several things as I listened to 

and watched RONALD REAGAN. It was his 

warmth, his ability to communicate, the way he 

used simple words for a very strong message, one 

that really showed his principle and his commitment in those still convictions that never ever 

wavered. 

And one of the things that really impressed 

me was that this was a man who really loved 

America. He loved everything that America 

stood for. And I think that it is fitting that we 

have a world that stands in awe today as they 

look back and they remember those commitments and accomplishments. 

Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity to return 

today with some of my colleagues from being in 

Normandy to celebrate and to commemorate the 

60th anniversary of D-day and the fight for freedom that was so important to our allies and also 

to our Nation, and to have an opportunity to 

share with so many of those individuals their love 

of President RONALD REAGAN. And I think they 

all saw in him something that we appreciated 

and maybe could not always put into words. But 

he promised a renewal of American spirit for us, 

and by sheer willpower, he made that happen. 

And I think, yes, that he believed in us more 

than we believed in ourselves as he became the 

President of this great country, and he taught 

us how to enact that belief. 

He also taught us that tax relief would make 

our economy boom, and that indeed happened 

with an unprecedented economic expansion. He 

also showed us how one could say, I am not 

going to hide behind diplomatic platitudes, and 

I am not going to allow the Soviet Union to 

slowly eat away at the West. He simply communicated the truth about communism and exposed 

it for what it was: a cruel system built by thugs 

and murderers. 

And President REAGAN truly was the quintessential American hero, the smalltown boy 

with the can-do attitude who set out with a 

dream and ended up changing the world. He had 

courage, he had wisdom, and he believed in the 

best that there was with America. God bless, 

RONALD REAGAN. He was a true American 

original. 

Hon. Jerry Lewis 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, from the days I knew RONALD

REAGAN as Governor, and he was a key leader 

who sponsored early development of child care 

in our State, recognizing the importance of quality daycare in terms of the future of America’s 

children, the environmental Governor who saved 

Lake Tahoe, to the days that I had a chance to 

watch him rebuild America’s strength by building our defense, he always was straightforward, 

candid with the American people. 

And not so long ago he was heard to say: 

In closing let me thank you, the American people for giving me the great honor of allowing me to serve as your President. When the Lord calls me home, whenever that may be, 

I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours 

and eternal optimism for its future. 

I now begin this journey that will lead me into the sunset 

of my life. I know that for America there will always be a 

bright dawn ahead. 

God bless you, RONALD REAGAN. To Nancy 

and their family, all of us share with you our 

prayers for our great President, RONALD WILSON

REAGAN. 

Hon. Jim Saxton 

OF NEW JERSEY

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support this resolution, a fitting tribute to a personal hero of 

mine, the 40th President of these great United 

States, President RONALD WILSON REAGAN. 

Mr. Speaker, President REAGAN was, and is 

today, the personification of all that is good in 

America. All that knew him have commented on 

the eternal optimism he exuded, much like the 

hope America presents to the rest of the world. 

He was a beacon of light for freedom and for 

freedom-loving people everywhere. The fact is 

that today there are not hundreds, not thousands, 

but millions of people in the world who live in 

freedom, and these people are free because of the 

leadership of President RONALD REAGAN. He 

had a vision that set this Nation down a path 

of greatness that historians shall look back on as 
48 Ronald Reagan 

a vital turning point for not only this country, 

but indeed the world as well. 

There is an old military axiom that there are 

no bad battalions only bad leaders. As a corollary, 

I propose that there are no great nations, only 

great leaders. 

President REAGAN was indeed one of this 

country’s greatest leaders. During the 8 years he 

was President, he turned this country around 

militarily, economically and diplomatically. And 

as a result, he stands with many of the great 

leaders of our country’s past—like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, 

and Dwight D. Eisenhower. 

What he left most importantly was a legacy 

of optimism and a restored faith in the American 

Presidency. In 1984, the year I was elected to 

Congress, President REAGAN said while speaking 

to students at Fudan University in Shanghai, 

China, ‘‘We’re an optimistic people. Like you, we 

inherited a vast land of endless skies, tall mountains, rich fields, and open prairies. It made us 

see the possibilities in everything. It made us 

hopeful.’’ He made us hopeful even in the face 

of adversity. 

Who can forget that cold, grim day the hours 

after the Challenger disaster, when our Nation 

was stunned and weeping? He comforted us with 

these words: 

We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, 

this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved 

good-bye and ‘‘slipped the surly bonds of earth’’ to ‘‘touch 

the face of God.’’ 

And today we, as American people, are comforted for it is most certain that as he heads on 

his final journey, we wave goodbye to our 40th 

President as he ‘‘ ‘slipjsk the surly bonds of earth’ 

to ‘touch the face of God.’ ’’ Well done, Mr. 

President. I will miss you and America will miss 

you, but we will never forget you. 

Hon. Madeleine Z. Bordallo 

OF GUAM

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to 

RONALD REAGAN—a beloved President who 

changed America and the world. 

I first want to express my deepest condolences 

to Former First Lady Nancy Reagan and the 

Reagan family. An entire Nation shares your sadness over the loss of our former President, a man 

of humble beginnings who rose to capture our 

hearts and minds, our hopes, and our aspirations. 

RONALD REAGAN embodied the spirit of what 

it means to be an American. As much as he was 

a leader of the people, he was also a product of 

the people, which helped him to relate with people from all different backgrounds. He was born 

to a working family in a small rural town, and 

brought up to respect traditional values such as 

family, hard work, God and country. Blessed 

with an unmistakably entrepreneurial spirit, he 

set out to pursue the American dream. 

RONALD REAGAN lived through and endured 

tremendous economic hardship during the Great 

Depression. Despite these challenges, he put 

himself through college by earning a scholarship, 

washing dishes, waiting tables, all while sending 

some of his earnings home to his parents to help 

support his family. His strong character was 

forged by hard work. 

Driven by the belief that all people should be 

able to live freely, RONALD REAGAN joined the 

American people and the world community to 

rally against the tyrannical oppression of the Axis 

powers and to defeat Nazism in Europe. United 

behind the many brave soldiers fighting for freedom in Europe and the Pacific, RONALD

REAGAN volunteered his talents to create instructional videos critical to the training of Army recruits during World War II. A staunch defender 

of freedom and democracy, RONALD REAGAN

would, after the defeat of the Axis powers, turn 

his attention to vanquishing from the world another threat to liberty: communism. 

RONALD REAGAN began his political ascendancy in 1966 during his campaign for Governor 

of California. He would go on to win the first 

of two terms as California’s Governor before 

reaching the White House in 1980. His conservatism appealed to many across political and cultural lines. We will always remember his optimism and confidence in America’s future. 

From ‘‘sea to shining sea,’’ President REAGAN

recognized the importance and value of every individual and every community to our country’s 

strength. On two separate occasions, President 

REAGAN visited Guam, America’s most distant 

territory. On these occasions, I had the honor of 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 49 

hosting President REAGAN as First Lady of 

Guam along with my husband Governor Ricky 

Bordallo, experiences I remember fondly. Donning island wear rather than more formal business attire, President REAGAN was approachable 

and personable and put those around him at ease. 

His charm and grace left a lasting impression on 

those he came into contact with. He was as genuine and real in person as he was behind the podium or in front of the camera. 

He recognized the importance of Guam in 

promoting American values in the region, calling 

our island ‘‘America’s flagship in the western Pacific.’’ President REAGAN declared: 

It’s said that it’s here on Guam each morning that the 

Sun first casts its rays upon the Stars and Stripes. Well, my 

friends, I can’t think of a more beautiful way for America’s 

day to begin. 

While these words are recorded in history, it 

is the grace and sincerity with which he delivered 

those words that are remembered by the people 

of Guam. 

The outpouring of love and affection President 

REAGAN has received from family, friends and 

the entire American family is a testament to his 

life and all of those he touched. Through courage, clarity and compassion, he led the people 

of this great Nation and the entire world from 

the perils of the cold war to the hope of liberty, 

freedom and dignity. His spirit will continue to 

live in the hearts and minds of all of us for whom 

he dedicated his life of public service. The advent 

of freedom in the former Soviet bloc and the 

spread of democracy throughout the world will 

forever be linked to his famous challenge, ‘‘Mr. 

Gorbachev, tear down this wall!’’ On behalf of 

myself and the people of Guam, I want to say 

‘‘Adios, esta ki.’’ Goodbye until we meet again. 

Hon. Gene Green 

OF TEXAS

Mr. Speaker, Americans and people across the 

world respect and admire RONALD REAGAN. My 

greatest admiration is for his steadfast opposition 

to communist threats to our national security and 

the security of our allies. 

Many credit RONALD REAGAN for winning 

the cold war, a bipartisan war begun under President Truman and lasting 45 years under bipartisan U.S. Governments. When President 

REAGAN spoke out against the evils of communism, as he often did, he spoke out for all 

Americans: Republican, Democrat, and Independent. 

In this long-running struggle, President 

REAGAN excelled by working with America’s 

strong belief in freedom and our patriotic love 

for our country. 

He was instrumental in keeping the Nation 

united against the threat that Soviet communism 

posed to our national security, an important and 

difficult task after the domestic and foreign policy conflicts of the sixties and seventies. 

President REAGAN’s ability to lead a united 

America during 8 years of bipartisan government 

is conclusive proof that he was a natural leader 

who knew to treat all Americans with dignity 

and respect. The sincerity of his patriotism and 

his beliefs were crucial for uniting America 

against the threats of communism. Any American leader could learn from him. 

REAGAN was also inspiring for an America hit 

by tragedy. His underlying faith in America and 

Americans shone through in a powerful speech 

after the Challenger tragedy. 

He made it clear, when directly addressing the 

millions of American schoolchildren who had 

watched the disaster, that tragedy was a painful 

setback, but was no reversal. The President said 

on January 28, 1986: ‘‘The future doesn’t belong 

to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The 

Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, 

and we’ll continue to follow them.’’ That also applies today. 

By bringing America to common terms during 

international tyranny and national tragedy reinforced the strong, shared goals of the American 

people: to live in freedom, to excel in technology, 

and to believe in something larger than ourselves. 

Today we mourn the passing of an American 

giant. 
50 Ronald Reagan 

Hon. Tim Holden 

OF PENNSYLVANIA

Mr. Speaker, this weekend marked the passing 

of one of the most influential Presidents of our 

era. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, 

Nancy, and his children at this difficult time. 

President REAGAN was an American icon. No 

matter what your politics, he had a special way 

of making every citizen feel good about their 

country. He made us proud to be Americans. He 

will be forever remembered for his warmth and 

the respect he accorded others. 

Even when he disagreed with those who did 

not share his political philosophy, President 

REAGAN lived by the noble ideal that at the end 

of the day, partisanship ended and we are all fellow Americans and friends. He taught us that 

there is a big difference between strong beliefs 

and bitter partisanship. 

President REAGAN is credited with many great 

accomplishments, not the least of which is ending the cold war. In spite of all he achieved, he 

once said, ‘‘that the greatest leader is not the one 

who does great things—it is the one who gets 

the people to do the greatest things.’’ RONALD

REAGAN’s glass was always half full. His optimism, his patriotism and his sense of duty inspired several generations of Americans to do 

great things. 

In life, President REAGAN enjoyed the affection of a grateful Nation. We all join together 

to mourn the passing of this great American. 

Hon. Joe Baca 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the life of RONALD REAGAN, the 40th President of the United 

States. I am proud to be a co-sponsor of Congressman Lewis’ resolution. Today, Republicans 

and Democrats alike honor in unity the life of 

a man who left a permanent mark on the history 

of our Nation and the world. 

Today we praise the life and accomplishments 

of the Great Communicator, and we give our 

condolences to Nancy, and the entire Reagan 

family. President RONALD REAGAN was a man 

who meant much to all free peoples in the world 

through his many noble accomplishments. President REAGAN’s policies, many of which I disagreed with, were nevertheless motivated by a 

commitment to preserve and enhance our Nation’s greatness. I remain firm in my admiration 

of this great leader whose intellectual integrity 

was always unquestioned. 

As the oldest serving President in American 

history, President REAGAN was an inspiration for 

seniors. He showed us that youthfulness can be 

found in people of all ages, and that life does 

not expire at 65. When President REAGAN was 

diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, he brought 

awareness and understanding to an illness that 

is too often ignored. 

President REAGAN will be remembered for his 

dedication to the American dream. Although 

many Americans may have disagreed with his 

policies, they were still inspired by his enthusiasm and optimism. 

President REAGAN should be remembered not 

just for his role in Washington, but for his hard 

work in the State of California as well. As Governor of California for 8 years, he led the State 

with dedication and commitment to his convictions. As an actor, he provided us with entertainment in over 50 motion pictures. 

On behalf of myself, the residents of the 43d 

Congressional District in California, and a grateful world that is safer and freer, I pay homage 

to President RONALD REAGAN—leader, statesman, actor, father, husband and American hero. 

And now, let’s make this resolution ‘‘one for 

the GIPPER.’’ 

Hon. Lincoln Diaz-Balart 

OF FLORIDA

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a man 

whom I believe to be the greatest President of 

the 20th century. 

President RONALD REAGAN succeeded in defeating the most powerful and dangerous military 

empire in the history of humanity without firing 

a single shot. REAGAN knew instinctively that, 

despite the imperfections inherent in every 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 51 

human enterprise, the United States of America 

represents good and communism represents evil. 

President REAGAN never wavered in his conviction that freedom is the birthright of all mankind. His firm belief that freedom is the inalienable right of all people changed the world, and 

is his most enduring legacy. However he also realized the liberties we hold sacred must be constantly protected against the forces of tyranny 

and oppression. President REAGAN proved that 

when one fights for justice, for human rights, 

and for the liberty of those suffering under repression, one must persevere in spite of the 

strength of the opposition and the apparent magnitude of the obstacles one must confront. 

The enemies of the United States never forgave 

him for his firmness, for his character, for his 

faith in the people of the United States and in 

the cause of liberty. Even in his death they continue to attack him. This hatred is evidenced by 

the declaration made by the tyrannical regime in 

Havana yesterday, ‘‘He, who never should have 

been born, has died.’’ That monstrous statement 

illustrates the ultimate evil of the tyrant who has 

enslaved the Cuban people for over 45 years. 

President REAGAN knew that Castro, and every 

communist tyranny, represents the antithesis of 

liberty, freedom and human dignity. 

At home, RONALD REAGAN forever changed 

the political landscape of America. He was a 

union leader. In fact, he was the only President 

in the history of the United States to have been 

a union leader. He was also at first a member 

of the Democratic Party, having campaigned for 

Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman. However, 

ideas and times change. When he became a Republican at the age of 52, he convinced millions 

of members of his former party that the superior 

ideas and the better reforms of our age belonged 

to the Republican Party. Inspired by his leadership and his example, my brother, Congressman 

Mario Diaz-Balart and I proudly became Republicans. 

May RONALD WILSON REAGAN, apostle of 

freedom, democracy and human rights, rest in 

peace. 

Hon. Darrell E. Issa 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, on this second week of June, 17 

years ago, President RONALD REAGAN stood in 

the then-divided city of Berlin, and called on Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev to, ‘‘tear down 

this wall!’’ President REAGAN’s critics at home 

called his speech a publicity ploy. The Soviets 

and East Germans called it an infringement of 

East German sovereignty—unwarranted meddling by the American President. Two years 

later, the wall came down. 

President REAGAN was a leader with foresight 

and strong conviction. He believed in America— 

then he made America believe in itself again. He 

valued freedom—so he brought it to those who 

had none. 

Through wise policies, force of will, and a 

kind demeanor, President REAGAN conveyed 

strength and determination alongside reason and 

optimism to America and those who yearned for 

freedom behind the Iron Curtain. He never 

doubted what America could do—and he 

wouldn’t let us doubt ourselves. When tragedy 

struck, he told us to move forward—and we listened. 

RONALD REAGAN knew America. He knew 

what was right about our Nation, what was right 

for our Nation, and what America could set right 

in the world. RONALD REAGAN led America and 

the rest of the free world against communism. 

When his work was finished, the free world had 

expanded by over 400 million people in 27 countries. 

Today, soldiers from these new democracies 

fight side by side with Americans against the 

new enemies of freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

President REAGAN showed us that freedom can 

tear down walls. He reaffirmed for us that America is a force for good in the world, and that our 

proudest achievements will never come without 

criticism or sacrifice. 

I never had the opportunity to meet RONALD

REAGAN, but knew him, like most Americans, 

as someone who had faith in our ability to 

achieve great things for ourselves and the world. 

Mr. Speaker, history will remember RONALD

REAGAN for bringing freedom to more people 
52 Ronald Reagan 

throughout the world than has ever been done 

before. The America and the world RONALD

REAGAN leaves behind is a better place because 

of him. 

President REAGAN, we still carry the confidence you gave our Nation and will never forget what we accomplished together. A grateful 

Nation thanks you. 

Hon. Steve King 

OF IOWA

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory 

of President RONALD REAGAN. 

RONALD REAGAN leaves an enduring legacy 

of character and a dedication to the American 

ideal of liberty. His philosophy and values were 

not political calculation; they were inscribed in 

his heart. 

I recognize RONALD REAGAN as a true leader 

that remained true to American principles of the 

individual over government, sense of duty toward 

neighbors, and expansion of freedom. 

Moreover, REAGAN was a man with vision on 

a grand scale. He knew America’s greatest 

achievement was spreading democracy throughout the world. He was resolute in this endeavor 

and faced each challenge with both vigilance and 

grace. No American did more to spread the gift 

of liberty and respect for human dignity to people who had never enjoyed them. No American 

did more to persuade our Nation that the contribution of democracy and human rights to all 

is the proper goal of the United States. 

Throughout our history, when evil and iniquity has been the common enemy, Americans 

have displayed a resolve to create a better country 

and a better world. RONALD REAGAN personified 

that American trait. REAGAN’s service is considered recent in history’s timeline, but his character and deeds are a model of leadership for all 

time. We need to remember in our hearts the 

dedication to higher purpose. We are dutybound 

to advance each society to RONALD REAGAN’s 

‘‘shining city on the hill.’’ 

Thank you Mr. Speaker. I conclude by saying 

that this week’s passing should not be seen as 

the loss of a man but rather the beginning of 

a legend. 

Hon. Ginny Brown-Waite 

OF FLORIDA

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to add my voice to 

the chorus extolling the life of RONALD

REAGAN. On a similar occasion over a century 

ago, Lincoln said of Washington, ‘‘How do you 

add glory to the Sun?’’ And I must confess, I 

feel the same futility at trying to add my few 

words to a life and legacy that shines so bright. 

RONALD REAGAN came to the stage when it 

appeared that America was grasping at the complexities of modernity. Inflation, recession, and 

unemployment appeared permanent and the light 

of freedom appeared to be dim. Europe was enthralled with socialism and communism and the 

American exception was denounced as arrogant 

and on the edge of failure. Much like today, we 

were told what we needed was more government 

not less; higher taxation, not less; more regulation, not less. REAGAN saw all of this and he 

smiled. 

I was at his inauguration. When he said ‘‘It 

is time for us to realize that we’re too great a 

nation to limit ourselves to small dreams,’’ my 

spine stiffened. I got goose bumps when he 

called out ‘‘that peace is the highest aspiration 

of the American people. We will negotiate for 

it, sacrifice for it; we will not surrender for it, 

now or ever.’’ 

From that day, I knew America was back. You 

see many people speak of the Reagan revolution. 

I like to think of it as the Reagan restoration. 

REAGAN restored our optimism, our belief in our 

ability to create, and the belief that God put man 

on this Earth to be free and made America to 

prove it. 

I was in Washington the day REAGAN was 

shot. I held my breath and was glued to the television. The humor, strength and courage that 

were REAGAN’s came through and, along with 

the rest of America, I laughed when he said, 

‘‘Honey, I forgot to duck.’’ 

RONALD REAGAN changed the paradigm. He 

changed America’s foreign policy from one of be-
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 53 

nign containment to active confrontation and for 

the first time since communism began extending 

its sinister reach, we saw its hand pushed back, 

and that gave us hope. 

REAGAN confronted the evil he saw in the 

world and he did it without apology. He battled 

communism. He armed the resistance in Afghanistan; he sent troops to Grenada; Lebanon; and 

Pershings to Europe. In a courageous move he 

walked away from negotiations at Reykjavik. To 

the cries of the left and chattering classes he held 

firm to the belief that America never should and 

never would surrender her right to defend herself. Mikhail Gorbachev has said Reykjavik was 

the turning point. His strength broke the back 

of the Soviets. 

Before the British Parliament, REAGAN envisaged that the last pages of communism were 

being written and in those famous words predicted that totalitarianism would be consigned to 

the ‘‘ash heap of history.’’ He was derided. Yet 

few could know how prophetic his words would 

be, or how fast the fall would come. 

In 1989, Soviet citizens voted for the first time. 

Prodemocracy demonstrations were held in 

Tiananmen Square. Lech Walesa was elected 

president of Poland. Shortly thereafter, the Eastern European Soviet bloc closed the door on communism for democracy. In November, the Berlin 

Wall was opened and, as REAGAN would have 

it, an anonymous German struck the first blow 

at tearing down the wall. The following year, free 

elections defeated the communist Sandinistas and 

the Soviet Union was dissolved. The light of freedom extended its reach. 

REAGAN has been so often called the Great 

Communicator, but I like to think about his 

time in office and his legacy in a different way. 

His victory was not of communication, but a triumph of content—the content of his ideas. He 

reignited the light of freedom. He cut taxes and 

regulation and in 8 years created 19 million jobs. 

He reminded us that the path to prosperity was 

one of individual freedom and personal responsibility. As REAGAN has said, these were not his 

ideas, but they were American ideas. REAGAN

thought his revolution was ‘‘more like the great 

rediscovery, a rediscovery of our values and our 

common sense.’’ 

So, as we honor President REAGAN let us remember his humility, his dignity, his kind words 

and most of all his courage. Let us honor the legacy of President REAGAN with a renewed commitment to the exceptionalism that makes us 

American. Let us renew freedom’s promise to 

those who live in oppressive tyranny. Let us 

renew our determination, our courage, and our 

strength. And let us renew our faith and our 

hope. 

There are many who stand against freedom 

and peace. There are many who criticize and 

compromise, but let us honor RONALD REAGAN

by standing firm, with resolve, in this time of 

war. 

We can do it. Why? As REAGAN would say, 

‘‘after all, . . . jwek are Americans.’’ 

Hon. Nick Smith 

OF MICHIGAN

Mr. Speaker, I share with my colleagues a 

poem by Albert Carey Caswell. 

AND TO THIS END

(By Albert Carey Caswell) 

And to this end 

Approach Heaven, our True American Hero . . . America’s 

finest of all true friends 

Rest now . . . our Great American Patriot . . . as up to Heaven 

your magnificent soul as so ascends. 

And to this end 

And oh, what to this our Country you have so been 

With that, your warm smile and that thick brown hair . . . 

and what your heart of gold has so meant. 

And to this end 

The promise, and your gift . . . the pride and the respect . . . 

believing in us as if . . . as you’d begin 

Bringing your Nation back to shore, our savior . . . rescuing 

& seeing the light that others so ignored. 

And to this end 

Breaking down walls, hearing the children’s calls . . . wearing 

your heart on your sleeve 

To believe . . . In God and Country, and in all of those things 

which made us free . . . all in you we see. 

And to this end 

To dream . . . to start from nothing, as it would so seem 

As was yours . . . this The Great American Dream . . . as is 

this, our Nation’s greatest of all themes. 

And to this end 

Returning and The Pride and The Respect . . . to America’s 

greatest of all assets 
54 Ronald Reagan 

Her fighting Women & Men . . . her one true fine reason 

why we all can dream, you’d not let us forget. 

And to this end 

As you brought the light, into that battle against the darkness . . . this your courageous fight 

As you have brought us hope, where there was none . . . as 

your journey begun . . . for what was right. 

And to this end 

Yes, RON . . . there are jelly beans up in Heaven my dear 

friend 

And to you, I so salute . . . this one’s for you GIPPER . . . 

as the swollen tear drops so roll down my chin. 

And to this end . . . ‘‘Well, There You Go Again’’ 

And now, and forever . . . whenever, I look into our flag . . . 

I’ll see your face 

For such men of heart, such men of warmth & character & 

grace, Heaven . . . so surely holds a place. 

Mr. Speaker, people say that a truly great athlete is not only gifted himself, he makes those 

who play with him better. The same is true of 

President REAGAN, who not only led the country, but restored America’s confidence. He renewed our sense of America’s goodness and 

America’s greatness. And with that assurance, the 

American people achieved great things. 

When REAGAN came into office, America was 

demoralized. President Carter had even spoken of 

our malaise. Watergate and our defeat in Vietnam shook our self-confidence. We surrendered 

control over the Panama Canal which we had 

built. 

The Soviet Union was at the height of its 

power and communism seemed to be on the 

march. After Vietnam fell to the communists, 

Cambodia followed. The Sandinistas took control 

in Nicaragua and communist insurgencies were 

under way in Ethiopia, Angola, and Mozambique. The Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979 

and were in the process of suppressing the Solidarity movement in Poland. 

At the same time, the Shah fell in Iran, and 

supporters of Ayatollah Khomeini held 52 Americans hostage for more than a year at our Embassy in Tehran. Worse, the American military 

expedition to free them failed in the desert, with 

the crash of two helicopters and the death of 

eight servicemen. 

The economic situation was just as dire. In 

1980, inflation stood at 13.5 percent, and interest 

rates reached 21 percent. The turmoil in the Middle East sparked gasoline shortages. People waited for hours in line just to fill up their cars and 

worried about people stealing the gas out of their 

tanks. 

People lost their optimism. America no longer 

seemed special, or a world leader. It felt like the 

divine spark at the center of the American experiment had gone out. 

It was RONALD REAGAN who turned it 

around. He never lost faith in the American people. And he had enough optimism to restore our 

lost confidence and get America back on its feet. 

He believed we could restore our economy— 

and we did. By 1990 the U.S. economy had 

grown by a third, or roughly the size of the entire German economy. And 35 million jobs were 

created. 

He believed we could stand up proudly for 

American values around the world and stand up 

to the Soviet Union—and we did. It was President REAGAN’s resolve that halted the march of 

communism in Central America, and in Afghanistan. It was REAGAN’s resolve that nurtured the 

Solidarity movement in Poland, and gave heart 

to the dissidents of the Soviet bloc. Ultimately 

it was President REAGAN’s faith in American 

ideals that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and 

the liberation of Eastern Europe and the Soviet 

Union. 

It was that leadership and vision for America 

that made RONALD REAGAN special. Like FDR 

during the Depression, he taught us that there 

was nothing to fear but fear itself. Like Winston 

Churchill during World War II, he spoke for an 

entire nation at a time of stress. It restored our 

confidence, and that made all the difference. 

Let us remember RONALD REAGAN. Let us remember what RONALD REAGAN wanted for 

America. He wanted us always to be that ‘‘shining city on a hill.’’ And he wanted us to know 

that America’s best days always lie ahead. 

May God bless RONALD REAGAN and Mrs. 

Reagan and may God bless America. 

Hon. Frank R. Wolf 

OF VIRGINIA

Mr. Speaker, I join today with others in the 

House in expressing deepest condolences to 

Nancy Reagan and the Reagan family on the 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 55 

passing of RONALD WILSON REAGAN, the 40th 

President of the United States of America, and 

in paying tribute to President REAGAN as we remember his Presidency and what he meant to our 

country and indeed to the world. 

I deeply admired and respected President 

REAGAN. I had the good fortune to run for the 

10th District of Virginia seat in Congress in November 1980 when he was elected to his first 

term. Some called my victory then ‘‘on 

REAGAN’s coattails.’’ I have no doubt I’m in 

Congress today because of him. 

I will always be grateful that after my two unsuccessful bids for Congress, RONALD REAGAN

led the ticket that I was on and I became a member of the class of 1980. 

As we remember President REAGAN today, I 

have been moved by the outpouring of love and 

support we have been seeing over the past few 

days across our Nation and especially in California, where he served the Golden State as Governor for two terms. 

‘‘Thank you, President REAGAN. You made us 

proud again.’’ 

That was the sentiment on one of the many 

posters and other mementos in memory of President REAGAN placed outside the entrance to his 

Presidential library in Simi Valley, CA, the day 

after his death on June 5. And that sentiment 

could well sum up the legacy of President 

REAGAN, who lost his 10-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease at age 93. 

He was the leader of our Nation when Americans needed to know and more importantly to 

believe that indeed it was ‘‘morning again in 

America,’’ and the best was yet to come for our 

great country—that we could be proud to stand 

up and be called Americans. He made us feel 

good again. He gave us hope. He inspired us. 

He gave us optimism because he was an optimist. 

And when we needed to be comforted at a 

time of our own Nation’s mourning in the wake 

of the space shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986, 

he was there for us, speaking to us much like 

a father, telling us it would be all right: 

It’s all part of the process of exploration and discovery. 

It’s all part of taking a chance and expanding man’s horizons. 

The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to 

the brave. . . . Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys 

continue. 

The June 7 edition of National Journal’s Hotline 

headlined, ‘‘RONALD WILSON REAGAN,’’ described Mr. REAGAN’s Presidency well: 

The optimism of Morning in America left little room for 

mourning in America. So instead of grief, there is respect 

for the man, celebration of his boldness, relief for his widow, 

and memories of leadership with purpose, grace and humor. 

He literally disarmed his enemies aboard with his tenacity. 

He gently disarmed his political enemies at home with his 

modesty. If he was overestimated as an actor, he was underestimated as a political leader. Because he never quite fit in 

with official Washington, he stayed connected inseparably 

with the people. And for an entire generation of Americans, 

he defined the Presidency. 

He dreamt, acted out, and embodied the American dream. 

He was a leader. Those who agreed with his policies cherished 

his principles. Those who doubted his capacities wondered 

at his accomplishments. 

Friend and foe have come to see him as an American icon, 

whose light may forever shine from his city on the hill. 

In many ways, President REAGAN’s profound 

conviction that every human being had the right 

to live in freedom inspired my work for humanitarian and human rights causes. While he didn’t 

always outwardly show it, he was a man of deep 

faith. He said in a speech before the House of 

Commons in 1982: 

We must be staunch in our conviction that freedom is not 

the sole prerogative of a lucky few, but the inalienable and 

universal right of all human beings. 

I saw a poignant television news report from 

southern California on Sunday evening which 

also reminded me that another crucial part of his 

legacy belongs not only to America, but to the 

world. A woman was interviewed. She was holding a bouquet of flowers. Tears were streaming 

down her face. 

She had a broken English accent and identified 

herself as a Russian emigrant. She said she had 

to come to the makeshift memorial outside the 

funeral home where President REAGAN was resting because, ‘‘I owe my life to President 

REAGAN.’’ 

I was also reminded of how President REAGAN

gave hope to the persecuted peoples of the world 

when I read an opinion article from the June 6 

edition of the Jerusalem Post written by former 

Soviet political dissident Natan Sharansky. I will 

insert the entire text of that article for the Record. 

Mr. Sharansky wrote: 

In 1983, 1 was confined to an eight-by-ten-foot prison cell 

on the border of Siberia. My Soviet jailers gave me the privi-
56 Ronald Reagan 

lege of reading the latest copy of Pravda. Splashed across the 

front page was a condemnation of President RONALD

REAGAN for having the temerity to call the Soviet Union 

an ‘‘evil empire.’’ Tapping on walls and talking through toilets, word of REAGAN’s ‘‘provocation’’ quickly spread 

throughout the prison. We dissidents were ecstatic. Finally, 

the leader of the free world had spoken the truth—a truth 

that burned inside the heart of each and every one of us. 

Who will ever forget RONALD REAGAN calling the Soviet Union an evil empire and his challenge to then-Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev 

outside the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin: ‘‘Mr. 

Gorbachev, tear down this wall!’’ 

And who would ever have imagined the relationship President REAGAN forged with Mr. 

Gorbachev which ultimately led to the fall of 

communism and indeed, the tearing down of the 

Berlin Wall. Mikhail Gorbachev will honor that 

legacy of President REAGAN by his attendance 

at Mr. REAGAN’s funeral service at the National 

Cathedral in Washington on Friday, June 11. 

RONALD REAGAN was a remarkable man and 

I believe will be remembered by history as one 

of the greatest Presidents of our Nation. I will 

close by sharing his own words spoken in August 

1992 about how he wanted to be remembered: 

jWkhatever else history may say about me when I’m gone, 

I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not 

your worst fears, to your confidence rather than your doubts. 

. . . May all of you as Americans never forget your heroic origins, never fail to seek divine guidance, and never lose your 

natural, God-given optimism. 

We thank God for the life of RONALD WILSON REAGAN. 

Republican Members who were elected in 1980 

on the ticket with President REAGAN: 

Wendell Bailey, Missouri; Cleve Benedict, West Virginia; 

Tom Bliley, Virginia; Hank Brown, Colorado; Greg Carman, 

New York; Gene Chappie, California; Dan Coats, Indiana; 

Jim Coyne, Pennsylvania; Larry Craig, Idaho; Hal Daub, Nebraska; Larry DeNardis, Connecticut; David Dreier, California; Jim Dunn, Michigan; Bill Emerson, Missouri; T. Cooper Evans, Iowa; Bobbi Fiedler, California; Jack Fields, Texas; 

Steve Gunderson, Wisconsin; and Judd Gregg, New Hampshire. 

James Hansen, Utah; Tommy Hartnett, South Carolina; 

Bill Hendon, North Carolina; John (Jack) Hiler, Indiana; 

Duncan Hunter, California; Gene Johnston, North Carolina; 

John LeBoutillier, New York; Bill Lowery, California; Bill 

McCollum, Florida; Bob McEwen, Ohio; Ray McGrath, New 

York; David Martin, New York; Lynn Martin, Illinois; Guy 

Molinari, New York; Sid Morrison, Washington; John Napier, South Carolina; and Jim Nelligan, Pennsylvania. 

Mike Oxley, Ohio; Stan Parris, Virginia; Clint Roberts, 

South Dakota; Pat Roberts, Kansas; Hal Rogers, Kentucky; 

Marge Roukema, New Jersey; Claudine Schneider, Rhode Island; Clay Shaw, Florida; Mark Siljander, Michigan; Joe 

Skeen, New Mexico; Albert Lee Smith, Alabama; Chris 

Smith, New Jersey; Denny Smith, Oregon; David (Mick) 

Staton, West Virginia; Ed Weber, Ohio; Vin Weber, Minnesota; Frank Wolf, Virginia; and George Wortley, New 

York. 

jFrom the Jerusalem Post, June 6, 2004k 

THE PRISONERS’ CONSCIENCE

(By Natan Sharansky) 

In 1983, I was confined to an eight-by-ten-foot prison cell 

on the border of Siberia. My Soviet jailers gave me the privilege of reading the latest copy of Pravda. Splashed across the 

front page was a condemnation of President RONALD

REAGAN for having the temerity to call the Soviet Union 

an ‘‘evil empire.’’ Tapping on walls and talking through toilets, word of REAGAN’s ‘‘provocation’’ quickly spread 

throughout the prison. We dissidents were ecstatic. Finally, 

the leader of the free world had spoken the truth—a truth 

that burned inside the heart of each and every one of us. 

At the time, I never imagined that three years later, I 

would be in the White House telling this story to the president. When he summoned some of his staff to hear what 

I had said, I understood that there had been much criticism 

of REAGAN’s decision to cast the struggle between the superpowers as a battle between good and evil. Well, REAGAN

was right and his critics were wrong. 

Those same critics used to love calling REAGAN a simpleton who saw the world through a primitive ideological 

prism and who would convey his ideas through jokes and 

anecdotes. In our first meeting, he told me that Soviet premier Brezhnev and Kosygin, his second-in-command, were 

discussing whether they should allow freedom of emigration. 

‘‘Look, America’s really pressuring us,’’ Brezhnev said, 

‘‘maybe we should just open up the gates. The problem is, 

we might be the only two people who wouldn’t leave.’’ To 

which Kosygin replied, ‘‘Speak for yourself.’’ 

What his critics didn’t seem to understand was that the 

jokes and anecdotes that so endeared REAGAN to people were 

merely his way of expressing fundamental truths in a way 

that everyone could understand. 

REAGAN’s tendency to confuse names and dates, something 

I, too, experienced first-hand, also made him the target of 

ridicule. In September 1987, a few months before a summit 

meeting with Gorbachev in Washington, I met with 

REAGAN to ask him what he thought about the idea of holding a massive rally of hundreds of thousands of people on 

behalf of Soviet Jewry during the summit. Some Jewish leaders, concerned that if the rally were held Jews would be accused of undermining a renewed hope for peace between the 

superpowers, had expressed reservations about such a frontal 

challenge to the Soviet premier. 

Seeing me together for the first time with my wife Avital, 

who had fought for many years for my release, REAGAN

greeted us like a proud grandparent, knowing he had played 

an important role in securing my freedom. He told us about 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 57 

his commitment to Soviet Jewry. ‘‘My dear Mr. and Mrs. 

Shevardnadze,’’ he said, ‘‘I just spoke with Soviet Foreign 

Minister Sharansky, and I said you better let those Jews go.’’ 

Not wanting to embarrass the president over his mistake, 

I quickly asked him about the rally, outlining the concerns 

raised by some of my colleagues. His response was immediate: ‘‘Do you think I am interested in a friendship with 

the Soviets if they continue to keep their people in prison? 

You do what you believe is right.’’ 

REAGAN may have confused names and dates, but his 

moral compass was always good. Today’s leaders, in contrast, 

may know their facts and figures, but are often woefully confused about what should be the simplest distinctions between 

freedom and tyranny, democrats and terrorists. 

The legacy of president REAGAN will surely endure. 

Armed with moral clarity, a deep faith in freedom, and the 

courage to follow his convictions, he was instrumental in 

helping the West win the Cold War and hundreds of millions of people behind the Iron Curtain win their freedom. 

As one of those people, I can only express my deepest gratitude to this great leader. Believe me, I will take moral clarity and Shevardnadze any day. 

Hon. Eni F.H. Faleomavaega 

OF AMERICAN SAMOA

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to 

former President RONALD REAGAN who passed 

away on Saturday June 5, 2004. At this time, I 

extend my deepest condolences to his loving 

wife, Nancy, and his children, and I join with 

our Nation in mourning the loss of a great leader. 

RONALD WILSON REAGAN was born in Tampico, IL, to Nelle Wilson and John Edward 

‘‘Jack’’ Reagan. In 1928, RONALD REAGAN graduated from Dixon High School where he served 

as student body president. From 1928 to 1932, 

REAGAN attended Eureka College, a small liberal 

arts institution in Illinois. He majored in economics and sociology. 

In 1937, REAGAN enlisted in the Army Reserve 

as a private and was soon promoted to second 

lieutenant in the Officers Reserve Corps of the 

Cavalry. While in the Army, an agent for Warner Brothers discovered RONALD REAGAN. In 

1940, REAGAN wed Jane Wyman. 

In 1942, the Army Air Force called REAGAN

to active duty. He was assigned to the First Motion Picture Unit in Culver City, CA, where he 

made over 400 training films. REAGAN was discharged from the Army in 1945 at the rank of 

captain. 

After the war, REAGAN resumed his acting career and in 1952 wed Nancy Davis. In 1956, 

REAGAN campaigned as a Democrat for Eisenhower. In 1960, he campaigned for Richard 

Nixon. In 1962, he officially changed his party 

registration to Republican. 

In 1966, REAGAN was elected Governor of 

California and was reelected in 1970. On November 4, 1980, RONALD WILSON REAGAN became 

the 40th President of the United States. 

RONALD REAGAN wished to be remembered 

as the President who wanted Americans to believe in themselves. We will remember him for 

much more. 

We will remember RONALD REAGAN as a political leader who worked diligently to stimulate 

economic growth, increase employment and 

strengthen national defense. He was the Great 

Communicator whose words and actions spoke of 

honor and peace. 

Through his convictions, we witnessed the fall 

of the Berlin Wall and the end of the cold war. 

‘‘Peace through strength’’ is what he sought and 

achieved. 

In his own words taken from 1986 as he sought 

to comfort us after the Challenger disaster: 

We will never forget jhimk, nor the last time we saw 

jhimk . . . as jhek prepared for jhisk journey and waved 

good-bye and ‘‘slipped the surly bonds of earth’’ to ‘‘touch 

the face of God.’’ 

Hon. Randy ‘‘Duke’’ Cunningham 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor and mourn the 

passing of one of the greatest Presidents in 

American history—RONALD WILSON REAGAN. 

This leader was a man of clear vision, principle 

and conviction, a Great Communicator, and an 

individual who had perhaps one of the greatest 

influences on my life. 

An eternal optimist with a can-do spirit, 

President REAGAN once said in my hometown 

of San Diego: 

You know, the United States was never meant to be a second-best nation. . . . we set our sights on the stars, and we’re 

going for the gold. 
58 Ronald Reagan 

He also believed that this forward-looking superpower Nation could transform the global picture. 

He came to the job armed with one underlying philosophy: Freedom. Freedom for the 

economy, for individuals, our Nation, and people 

around the globe. 

RONALD REAGAN brought our economy back 

to life. It was his policies that ultimately put 

Congress on a course to the fiscal discipline that 

spurred a balanced budget and economic growth. 

President REAGAN followed through on his 

pledge to restore our military, and he brought 

back the pride associated with serving this Nation. 

Despite the rhetoric and good intentions of 

those on the other side of the political spectrum, 

it was RONALD REAGAN who actually initiated 

the disarmament of whole classes of nuclear 

weapons. Perhaps his greatest legacy will be that 

of bringing an end to the cold war. Staring down 

repressive governments and challenging them to 

a new way of life, he brought freedom to millions 

of people around the globe. 

Using old Navy terms to describe his first 

term, President REAGAN once said, ‘‘We’ve taken 

control of the ship of state and changed direction. And what are we going to do now? Well, 

the way I see it, it’s all ahead full, no turning 

back.’’ 

For his imprint on history, for his legacy 

which will be felt for generations to come, this 

Nation owes President REAGAN a debt of gratitude. 

I am pleased that one of the President’s many 

legacies is the Navy’s newest nuclear carrier, the 

USS Ronald Reagan. That ship recently set sail 

from Norfolk for its rightful home in San Diego. 

Throughout his political career, President 

REAGAN always concluded his campaigns in San 

Diego. He called it his lucky city. It is only fitting that our ‘‘shining city on the hill,’’ San 

Diego, will be called home to the USS Reagan. 

This ship is perhaps the most fitting tribute to 

RONALD REAGAN’s legacy of strength and security, to the imprint he had on our past and the 

promise that we hold for the future. 

We anxiously await the arrival of the Reagan, 

and welcome it to the lucky city. The way I see 

it, it’s all ahead full, no turning back. 

Hon. Jim Kolbe 

OF ARIZONA

Mr. Speaker, RONALD REAGAN’s passing gives 

this Nation an opportunity to reflect on the cando attitude that he exuded and the greatness of 

the American people that he believed in. He was 

the essential American, a President born in midAmerica, instilled with solid midwestern values. 

He had a deep love affair with the American people, and they with him. Like Franklin Roosevelt, 

he was an American icon, and like Roosevelt, he 

had an uncanny ability to connect and communicate with common people. 

Today we salute four tenets of President 

REAGAN’s legacy: economic growth, deregulation, ‘‘peace through strength,’’ and patriotism 

though a return of the American dream. 

The father of Reaganomics launched the boldest economic plan since FDR that promoted 

lower taxes, sound money, and less regulation. 

REAGAN unveiled a ‘‘program for economic recovery’’ to a joint session of Congress calling for 

$41.4 billion in tax cuts—the largest in history. 

REAGAN was an advocate for deregulation and 

free trade pacts. He worked to tear down barriers 

to enterprise and encourage a spirit of self enterprise. His commitment to deregulation was evident when in 1981 he took decisive action to carry 

out this promise to fire 13,000 air traffic controllers for an illegal strike. 

After years of crumbling defense spending, 

President REAGAN increased defense spending 35 

percent during two terms and promoted ‘‘peace 

through strength.’’ He called the Soviet Union 

for what it was—an evil empire—and by standing firm against it hastened the end of the cold 

war and the return of Russia to the family of 

nations. 

Influenced by his humble beginnings, 

REAGAN’s patriotism and optimistic spirit exemplified the American dream. He restored America’s can-do creed. We will always remember the 

words of his farewell address, when he said those 

of his generation ‘‘were taught, very directly, 

what it means to be an American. And we absorbed, almost in the air, a love of country and 

an appreciation of its institutions.’’ 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 59 

He never trimmed his sails or compromised 

his values. We will remember him as a President 

who understood the balance between pragmatism 

and partisanship. We will remember him as the 

Great Communicator who united Americans toward common goals. But most of all we will remember him as a great President who brought 

honor and respect to the Office of President. I 

join with all Americans in expressing our sympathy to Nancy Reagan and his family for the 

loss of this great American. 

Hon. Peter Hoekstra 

OF MICHIGAN

Mr. Speaker, today I rise in honor of RONALD

REAGAN, the 40th President of the United States 

and one of the greatest leaders and statesmen of 

the 20th century. 

America has long known that President 

REAGAN was ill, but his death came as a shock 

to a country that continued to feel his presence. 

He touched millions of lives during his tenure 

as Governor of California and two terms in 

America’s highest office. Although long anticipated, his passing marks with finality the end 

of the Reagan era. 

President REAGAN’s commitment to freedom 

altered the course of modern history. He brought 

the United States through the end of the cold 

war with strength and resolve, and he led the 

U.S. economy to heights once unimaginable 

through his sound domestic policies. 

He possessed a vision for America that reflected its devotion to individual liberty, that 

every person is born with the intrinsic right to 

achieve their dreams through their own labors 

and determination. 

He will forever be remembered as a champion 

of promoting peace and prosperity throughout 

the world with a strong faith at the core of his 

principles and values. He was a great man elected 

to take charge of a great country at a time when 

strong leadership was sorely needed. 

President REAGAN’s infectious optimism inspired many Americans to become involved in 

the political process, and his influence and vision 

will continue to live throughout the ages. 

My prayers and those of my family are with 

the family and hundreds of millions of friends 

of President REAGAN, knowing that the Lord has 

preserved a very special place for him in Heaven. 

Hon. Patrick J. Tiberi 

OF OHIO

Mr. Speaker, folks from across the country 

came to Washington this week to mourn the 

passing of President RONALD REAGAN. Even in 

death, the former President continued his fascinating connection with Americans of all types. 

Although I never met RONALD REAGAN, he 

was one of my inspirations for entering politics. 

I was 18 at the time of his 1980 Presidential campaign and it was the first big election to which 

I really paid attention. I remember being drawn 

to what this man, a half a century older than 

me, was saying about having faith in our country, its people and their future. He was optimistic, cheerful and came across as a thoroughly 

likable guy. 

It was simply astounding how he could establish a bond with even the most unlikely audience. In 1984, I was a senior at the Ohio State 

University and a member of the marching band. 

We were asked to play at a rally that President 

REAGAN would be holding at St. John Arena. 

At first we all thought it would be an official 

band appearance, but then we were informed that 

since the President’s visit was actually a campaign event, we could not appear as the Ohio 

State University Marching Band. If we wished, 

though, we could volunteer on our own, and appear without our uniforms. There were roughly 

200 members in the band at that time and, as 

I recall, roughly 200 of us jumped at the opportunity to play at the President’s campaign event. 

Think of it. A couple of hundred college kids 

were treating the appearance of a 73-year-old Republican President as enthusiastically as the 

Michigan game—we would not have missed it 

for the world. 

President REAGAN could connect with college 

kids and he could connect with Democrats, particularly those like my dad, an Italian immigrant 

who worked as a machinist. He came to America 
60 Ronald Reagan 

so he could have a better life and his kids’ lives 

would be better still. He knew exactly what 

RONALD REAGAN was talking about. 

He was the Great Communicator. President 

REAGAN swept aside the filters and ‘‘analysis’’ of 

the news media and spoke from the Oval Office 

directly with the American people. He had the 

gift of explaining issues and his positions on 

them in simple, effective terms—a gift all too 

few of us in politics today possess. President 

REAGAN spoke in a way that made Americans 

feel like they were almost partners with him. 

Perception is reality, and RONALD REAGAN

knew that. His message of hope and optimism 

put a new face on the Republican Party, and 

brought an end to the dour Nixonian era of GOP 

politics. Young people like me began looking at 

the Republican Party in a different way. Because 

of RONALD REAGAN, we could take pride in 

being Republicans. 

I was struck by the attitude I saw in Washington this week. Certainly, there was sadness 

and grief over the loss of one of the giants of 

our time. But in keeping with the makeup of 

the man himself, there was more. As often as not, 

people also smiled when they spoke of RONALD

REAGAN, often displaying that same sense of 

hope and good cheer that he himself had radiated 

throughout his life. For all his accomplishments, 

it’s that same sense of hope and optimism that 

I’ll think of whenever I remember RONALD

REAGAN. 

Hon. Michael R. Turner 

OF OHIO

Mr. Speaker, I’m honored to join my colleagues in support of H. Res. 664, honoring the 

late Honorable RONALD WILSON REAGAN, the 

40th President of the United States. As is the 

case for so many speaking in this Chamber today, 

RONALD REAGAN was one of my personal heroes. 

Although we are all deeply saddened by the 

passing of President REAGAN, Americans today 

are still touched by his legacy and his steadfast 

belief in the promise of this great Nation. By 

using his famous wit, he knew how to make us 

believe in ourselves again. Each of us has our favorite examples of the Reagan wit. My favorite 

quote is: 

jGkovernment’s view of the economy could be summed 

up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps 

moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it. 

To RONALD REAGAN: 

America is a shining city upon a hill for all to see and 

to follow and reach to, something toward which mankind 

should strive. 

REAGAN brought convictions and determination as well as a genuine, hopeful and optimistic 

outlook to the Office of President. RONALD

REAGAN never doubted his convictions. He never 

lost faith in America. His reassuring tones were 

comforting even in difficult times. With 

REAGAN as President, it was indeed morning 

again in America. 

Just prior to RONALD REAGAN assuming the 

Presidency, many people wondered whether this 

country’s best days were behind us. REAGAN insisted that America’s best days lie ahead. By the 

time he left office, the United States was enjoying the longest peacetime economic expansion in 

our history. President REAGAN’s most longlasting legacy is his role in winning the cold war. 

While the common doctrine of the time called 

for containing communism, REAGAN boldly predicted it would soon be ‘‘left on the ash heap 

of history.’’ 

During the journey that was the Reagan revolution, he restored prosperity, confidence, optimism, faith and pride in America. While we will 

miss RONALD REAGAN, his contributions to the 

world will be felt for generations to come. He 

came to Washington to change the country and 

ended up changing the world. As he said in his 

farewell address to the Nation from the Oval Office: 

jAk final word to the men and women of the Reagan revolution, the men and women across America who for eight 

years did the work that brought America back. My friends: 

We did it. We weren’t just marking time. We made a difference. We made the city stronger. We made the city freer, 

and we left her in good hands. All in all, not bad, not bad 

at all. 

Summing up an American icon, a giant, like 

RONALD REAGAN is an enormous task. I am 

grateful for the vision RONALD REAGAN taught 

me and the lessons about the power of convictions, the value of principled leadership, and the 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 61 

goodness and the decency of the human spirit. 

We’ll miss the twinkle in his eyes and affable 

smile which have left this Earth. However, the 

contributions he made to his country and to 

mankind remain with us, as vast as the great 

continent that the United States spans, and God 

willing, will outlast us all. 

As an American, I want to join in offering my 

support of H. Res. 664, honoring the late Honorable RONALD WILSON REAGAN, the 40th President of the United States. 

Hon. Jane Harman 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues in offering 

a tribute to former President RONALD REAGAN. 

He is rightly remembered as a larger-than-life 

figure—a man who conquered first Hollywood, 

then California, and then Washington, DC, and 

whose message of freedom and democracy spread 

around the world. Though I did not know him 

well, I did know his daughter Maureen very well, 

and she is also missed. 

President REAGAN was naturally possessed of 

the qualities that make a great leader. As Governor of California and later as President, he used 

a blend of humor, kindness and boldness to communicate with the American people, to challenge 

and defeat the Soviet adversary, and to promote 

his uniquely American vision of how things 

should be. 

While I disagreed with a number of his policies, I always admired his ability to convey his 

ideas and his power to persuade. 

The enormous outpouring of emotion and love 

for this man comes as no surprise. When we 

think of RONALD WILSON REAGAN, we will remember his infectious optimism and grace, and 

his belief that there is always a better day ahead 

for America. 

Hon. Eliot L. Engel 

OF NEW YORK

Mr. Speaker, along with all of my colleagues 

here today, I rise to honor President RONALD

REAGAN. I was first elected to Congress in 1988, 

on the same day that President George H.W. 

Bush was elected. Because Members of Congress 

officially take office on January 3, while a new 

President does not take office until January 20, 

my first 17 days as a Congressman were during 

the last 17 days RONALD REAGAN served as 

President. So when people ask me who was the 

President when I first came to Washington, I 

reply that it was RONALD REAGAN. I had the 

opportunity to see RONALD REAGAN in person 

only one time, with his wife Nancy, during the 

inauguration of President George H.W. Bush. I 

remember thinking that together they had a 

larger than life presence. 

Although I differed with RONALD REAGAN a 

great deal on domestic policy, I nevertheless admired him for the strong leader that he was. He 

had an affable manner that allowed him to interact well with people who both supported and opposed his policies. He was a strong leader who 

had a lot of charm, strength and enthusiasm. 

The gulf between the Republican and Democratic policies can sometimes seem vast. But the 

bridge that spans that gulf is our common heritage as Americans and belief in this great Nation. 

RONALD REAGAN had the gift to make that 

bridge seem very small. I am pleased to honor 

him today. 

Hon. Anne M. Northup 

OF KENTUCKY

Mr. Speaker, our Nation honors the life of one 

of the most beloved, and most important, Presidents of the 20th century. During the eighties, 

President REAGAN did what many considered the 

impossible. 

As we faced great challenges at home and 

abroad, he helped us believe that it was ‘‘morning in America,’’ and that we would overcome 

our difficulties. With the will of the Nation behind him, President REAGAN’s steadfast leadership led to the defeat of communism and a robust economic recovery. 

When President REAGAN took office a quarter 

century ago, communism was on the march, 

threatening to bring the free world to its knees. 
62 Ronald Reagan 

But President REAGAN’s policy of ‘‘peace 

through strength’’ starved the Soviet bloc and 

made it safe for freedom to flourish in new nations. ‘‘No weapon in the arsenals of the world 

is so formidable as the will . . . of free men and 

women,’’ he said. 

Here at home, our country was in the worst 

recession since the Great Depression, with high 

unemployment, inflation, and interest rates. But 

President REAGAN trusted the entrepreneurial 

spirit and cut taxes from 70 percent to 28 percent, creating 19 million new jobs and 20 years 

of growth. His economic policies formed the 

foundation upon which American families prosper. ‘‘We believe that no power of government 

is as formidable a force for good as the creativity 

and entrepreneurial drive of the American people,’’ he said. 

By rallying the will of our country, by reminding us of our remarkable abilities—of what 

it means to be Americans, President REAGAN reunited us as a confident and hopeful Nation. And 

with a focused vision, he set us on a course that 

preserved our liberty and allowed our domestic 

economy to prosper again. 

In life, President REAGAN was a guiding light 

for our Nation. Even when times were tough, he 

rejected the idea that America’s best days were 

past, insisting that there is no limit to what our 

Nation and our people can endure—or accomplish. And he was right. 

Today we face a new enemy of liberty, in the 

war on terror. It is my hope, Mr. Speaker, that 

the confident optimism and clear vision that 

President REAGAN gave to this Nation will light 

our path. 

May God bless President RONALD REAGAN. 

Hon. Tom Davis 

OF VIRGINIA

Mr. Speaker, I was deeply saddened to learn 

of the passing of President REAGAN over the 

weekend. My thoughts and prayers go out to 

Nancy and to the Reagan family and friends. 

This is an extraordinarily difficult time for any 

family, but I hope they can find some comfort 

in the joy and inspiration that President REAGAN

brought to so many around the globe. 

RONALD REAGAN was a true American original, a midwestern boy of humble beginnings who 

chased his dreams of stardom in Hollywood and 

evolved into one of the foremost political leaders 

of the 20th century. 

His legacy is so profound and pervasive that 

it’s easy to take for granted. But we should not 

forget that it was RONALD REAGAN who restored 

strength to the Office of the President. It was 

RONALD REAGAN who reshaped the Federal 

Government and ushered in two decades (and 

counting) of lower taxes and economic growth. 

It was RONALD REAGAN who bolstered America’s strength as a world military power. And it 

was RONALD REAGAN who reminded us that 

America was indeed that ‘‘shining city on the 

hill,’’ and we had bountiful reasons to be proud 

to be Americans. 

His love of country was a guiding force 

throughout his life and his political career—he 

knew America was great because America was 

free, and he sought to shine the light of freedom 

on corners of the globe darkened by the stain of 

totalitarianism. His demand for Mikhail Gorbachev to ‘‘tear down this wall!’’ is not only a seminal moment into cold war history, but a reminder that America’s democratic ideals are ultimately stronger than any barriers erected by 

forces of oppression. 

Quite simply, President REAGAN’s words and 

actions helped change the world for the better. 

And I can’t think of a greater accomplishment 

than that. 

We lost more than a man on Saturday, when 

President REAGAN ended his long journey into 

the sunset. 

We lost a true giant, and a great American. 

Hon. Rob Simmons 

OF CONNECTICUT

Mr. Speaker, I rise to commemorate the passing of RONALD REAGAN, the 40th President of 

the United States of America. 

As a Vietnam veteran and an officer with the 

CIA from 1969 to 1979, my world was changed 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 63 

1Bob Woodward, Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA 1981–1987, p. 

333. The official presidential documents recorded that the President 

received 26 more laughs. 

dramatically and for the better when RONALD

REAGAN won his historic Presidential race in 

November 1980. 

At the time I was serving on the staff of Senator John H. Chafee (R–RI). Politically, it was 

a watershed year. Not only did the Senate go 

from Democrat to Republican control for the 

first time in 26 years, but also some very wellknown Democratic Senators were swept from office in the Reagan revolution. They included 

Senator Frank Church, former chairman of the 

Committee to Investigate the Intelligence Activities of the United States, and Birch Bayh, second 

chairman of the newly established Senate Select 

Committee on Intelligence. 

The Senate Intelligence Committee, where I 

went on to serve for 4 years as staff director, 

gained new leadership under Chairman Barry 

Goldwater and Vice Chairman Daniel Patrick 

Moynihan. 

Goldwater had a long-standing and close political relationship with RONALD REAGAN. In 

fact, many have said that a speech delivered by 

REAGAN during Goldwater’s historic 1964 Presidential campaign propelled REAGAN into the national political spotlight. 

Goldwater was excited to work with President 

REAGAN and CIA Director William Casey to institute a new approach to intelligence oversight. 

First, it focused on bipartisan consensus in intelligence where Vice Chairman Moynihan was a 

valued partner. 

It also departed from the adversarial process 

of Senators Church and Bayh, and focused on rebuilding the morale and intelligence capabilities 

of American intelligence. Rather than adopting 

Church’s belief that the CIA was a ‘‘rogue elephant,’’ Goldwater expressed his supportive feelings by talking about the ‘‘intelligence family.’’ 

Sadly, in 1984 these positive developments 

were disrupted when the CIA was discovered to 

have been covertly involved in the mining of 

Nicaraguan harbors without proper notification 

to Congress. In the ensuing firestorm, Barry 

Goldwater wrote a pointed note to CIA Director 

Casey expressing his concern over the lack of 

communication. The letter was quickly leaked to 

an eager press, excited that Senator Goldwater 

was at odds with the Reagan administration. 

At the time these events were unfolding, 

President REAGAN was scheduled to appear at 

the Washington Hilton for the White House 

Correspondents Association annual black-tie dinner. Many observers felt that the press would use 

the opportunity to embarrass the President over 

the intelligence ‘‘flap.’’ But, in what was to become a classic response of the President to a difficult situation, RONALD REAGAN opened his remarks by saying: 

What’s all that talk about a breakdown of White House 

communications? How come nobody told me? jLaughter.k 

Well, I know this: I’ve laid down the law, though, to everyone there from now on about anything that happens, no matter what time it is, wake me, even if it’s in the middle of 

a Cabinet meeting. jLaughter.k 1

It was to the point. It was funny. It was selfdeprecating. It defused for a moment what was 

a gathering storm for the administration. It gave 

everyone the opportunity to step away from a potentially explosive moment and get on with the 

challenging business of government. 

Mr. Speaker, under the leadership of President 

REAGAN, the United States rebuilt her intelligence and national security structure from 1980 

to 1988. This was not done without controversy, 

but it was done. Morale was restored at the Central Intelligence Agency and elsewhere in the intelligence community. Capabilities were improved. 

The military, too, regained a new pride and 

strength following the disasters in Vietnam and 

Iran. Members of the Armed Forces felt their 

service was respected by the Commander in 

Chief, and they valued his support. They loved 

his patriotic speeches, and were eager to follow 

his lead. 

And yet for all of his accomplishments as a 

national and world leader, President REAGAN

never lost the personal touch. When I departed 

Washington, DC, in early 1985, I left with a personal letter of thanks signed by the President. 

This letter hangs in my office even today as 

a proud reminder of what President REAGAN and 

Congress were able to accomplish during those 

difficult but historic years. It is also a clear symbol of a man who never allowed the trappings 
64 Ronald Reagan 

of high office to obscure his view of the ‘‘little 

people’’ who constitute the strength of our government and Nation. 

Now, as we remember the life of RONALD

REAGAN, and as his casket lies with honor under 

the Capitol dome, it is my turn to thank him 

for his distinguished service to our country and 

to the world. He left us a better people and he 

left the world a better place. 

The man will be missed, but the memory lives 

on in all of us who were touched by his life and 

his leadership. 

ADJOURNMENT 

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I move 

that the House do now adjourn. 

The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 10 

o’clock and 29 minutes p.m.), pursuant to House 

Resolution 663, the House adjourned until tomorrow, Wednesday, June 9, 2004, at 10 a.m. 

in memory of the late Honorable RONALD WILSON REAGAN, former President of the United 

States. 

PUBLIC BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS 

Under clause 2 of rule XII, public bills and 

resolutions were introduced and severally referred, as follows: 

By Mr. MILLER of Florida (for himself, Mr. Bishop of 

Utah, Mr. Bradley of New Hampshire, Mr. Doolittle, Mr. 

Foley, Mr. McCotter, Mr. Pence, Mr. Rogers of Alabama, Mr. 

Souder, Mr. Weldon of Florida, Mr. Feeney, Mr. Lincoln 

Diaz-Balart of Florida, Ms. Harris, and Mr. Jones of North 

Carolina): 

H.R. 4525. A bill to require the Secretary of the Treasury 

to redesign the half dollar coin to commemorate RONALD

WILSON REAGAN, and for other purposes; to the Committee 

on Financial Services. 

By Mr. NEY (for himself and Mr. Larson of Connecticut): 

H. Con. Res. 444. Concurrent resolution authorizing the 

use of the rotunda of the Capitol for the lying in state of 

the remains of the late Honorable RONALD WILSON

REAGAN, the fortieth President of the United States; to the 

Committee on House Administration. 

By Mr. DeLay: 

H. Res. 663. A resolution expressing the profound regret 

and sorrow of the House of Representatives on the death of 

RONALD WILSON REAGAN, former President of the United 

States of America; considered and agreed to. 

By Mr. LEWIS of California (for himself, Mr. Waxman, 

Mr. Dreier, Mr. George Miller of California, Mr. Cox, Mr. 

Thomas, Mr. Hunter, Mr. Gallegly, Mr. Herger, Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr. Cunningham, Mr. Doolittle, Mr. Calvert, Mr. 

McKeon, Mr. Pombo, Mr. Royce, Mr. Farr, Mr. Radanovich, 

Ms. Loretta Sanchez of California, Mrs. Bono, Mrs. Capps, 

Mr. Gary G. Miller of California, Mr. Ose, Mr. Issa, Mr. 

Nunes, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Cardoza, Mr. Sherman, 

Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Costello, Ms. Harman, Mr. Berman, Mr. 

Neugebauer, Mrs. Davis of California, Mr. Lantos, Mr. Filner, 

Mr. Shadegg, Ms. Eshoo, and Mr. Matsui): 

H. Res. 664. A resolution mourning the passing of President RONALD REAGAN and celebrating his service to the people of the United States and his leadership in promoting the 

cause of freedom for all the people of the world; to the Committee on Government Reform. 

Wednesday, June é, áÖÖâ 

Hon. Mark Foley 

OF FLORIDA

Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor as my colleagues have before me saddened by the death 

of one of our Nation’s greatest leaders and humbled by the far-reaching impact his life has had 

on millions of people throughout the world. He 

was a great man and a gentle spirit. Optimistic, 

cheerful in service and buoyed by the confidence 

that comes with unwavering conviction, President REAGAN reignited the feeling of promise for 

this country. 

RONALD REAGAN is the reason I became a Republican. And for many Democrats, he was the 

pathway to the Republican Party. He reminded 

us all that government cannot replace individual 

empowerment and told us in 1995 that every dollar the Federal Government does not take from 

us, every decision it does not make for us will 

make our economy stronger, our lives more 

abundant, and our future more free. 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 65 

We join together with people across the globe 

in mourning the loss of RONALD REAGAN. His 

decisive leadership during the twilight years of 

the cold war indeed made him a beacon of hope 

for freedom-loving people throughout the world. 

Our thoughts and prayers and our love go out 

to Mrs. Reagan and the entire family. Because 

of RONALD REAGAN our Nation is stronger and 

our future is more free. Here we honor him and 

are continually working toward the dreamed-ofday he spoke of when no one wields a sword and 

no one drags a chain. 

Hon. Shelley Berkley 

OF NEVADA

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my sincere 

condolences to former First Lady Nancy Reagan 

and the entire Reagan family. And I join our Nation in expressing profound sorrow at the loss of 

our 40th President. 

RONALD REAGAN had a special place in the 

hearts of Nevadans. Long before he came to the 

White House, RONALD REAGAN in another life 

headlined on the Las Vegas Strip as an entertainer in the early fifties. Later as Governor of 

California, he worked with his counterpart from 

Nevada, former U.S. Senator and Governor Paul 

Laxalt, to address environmental threats to Lake 

Tahoe. 

While in the White House, RONALD REAGAN

would often turn to his old friend from Nevada, 

Senator Laxalt, who was one of his closest advisers during his time in our Nation’s Capital. 

RONALD REAGAN served our Nation with 

honor and distinction. He will long be remembered for his warm wit, his quiet strength, and 

ability to inspire through his words and his 

deeds. His actions as President reshaped the 

course of the 20th century, and his unbridled optimism helped restore America’s faith in itself. 

Today we also remember RONALD REAGAN

for his leadership and for his unwavering vision 

that America remains for all a land of hope, 

promise, and opportunity. 

Hon. Joseph R. Pitts 

OF PENNSYLVANIA

Mr. Speaker, a few years ago I had the privilege of visiting with Natan Sharansky, a former 

Soviet dissident who is now an Israeli cabinet 

minister. I asked him what his reaction was, as 

he was in the Soviet gulag at that time, to the 

‘‘Evil Empire’’ speech. Here is his reaction as expressed in a recent quotation: 

In 1983, I was confined to an eight-by-ten-foot prison cell 

on the border of Siberia. My Soviet jailers gave me the privilege of reading the latest copy of Pravda. Splashed across the 

front page was a condemnation of President RONALD

REAGAN for having the temerity to call the Soviet Union 

an ‘‘evil empire.’’ Tapping on walls and talking through toilets, word of REAGAN’s ‘‘provocation’’ quickly spread 

throughout the prison. We dissidents were ecstatic. Finally, 

the leader of the free world had spoken the truth—a truth 

that burned inside the heart of each and every one of us. 

At the time, I never imagined that three years later I 

would be in the White House telling this story to the president. When he summoned some of his staff to hear what 

I had said, I understood that there had been much criticism 

of REAGAN’s decision to cast the struggle between the superpowers as a battle between good and evil. Well, REAGAN

was right and his critics were wrong. 

There is no doubt that Natan Sharansky speaks 

for millions of people who today are free. A great 

President, with a great legacy, RONALD WILSON

REAGAN. 

Hon. Joe Wilson 

OF SOUTH CAROLINA

Mr. Speaker, the world is grieving this week 

over the loss of a true American hero, President 

RONALD WILSON REAGAN. RONALD REAGAN

defined the honor and dignity of the Office of 

the Presidency, and he lifted the spirits of a Nation with his hope and joyfulness that sprang 

from an abiding faith in God and a deeply held 

belief in the American dream. 

President REAGAN entered office during a 

time of doubt and despair and malaise with the 

economy sputtering and a looming cold war that 

threatened our families. Yet he brought his conservative principles of individual freedom, limited government, personal responsibility, and 

‘‘peace through strength.’’ 
66 Ronald Reagan 

President REAGAN led a successful revolution 

to promote tax cuts, recognizing taxes are the 

people’s own money. He achieved victory in the 

cold war, expanding democracy worldwide. And 

he realigned America’s political process with an 

open door especially for young people. 

His legacy lives on today as America unites 

to fight the war on terror liberating millions 

from tyranny to protect American families as our 

economy is booming through tax relief. 

May God bless the Reagan family. May God 

bless our troops. And may God continue to bless 

America. 

Hon. Joel Hefley 

OF COLORADO

Mr. Speaker, I rise today, as so many others 

have, to pay tribute to one of our Nation’s finest 

sons and political leaders. Former President 

RONALD REAGAN is worthy of respect and admiration both as a man and world leader, and his 

passing this weekend leaves each of us with a 

sense of loss and sadness. 

His lasting mark on American politics is unquestionable. At a time when it was fashionable 

to declare one’s political moderation, REAGAN

fearlessly changed the face of American politics 

by standing up and boldly declaring himself to 

be a conservative. He fought for principles and 

causes that, before his Presidency, were considered heresy. Balanced budgets, tax cuts, smaller 

government, and a robust national defense were 

the hallmarks of his ideology, and he never shied 

away from articulating and fighting for those 

views. 

He proudly became the father of political conservatism and made it possible for people like me 

to become Members of Congress. In the late seventies and early eighties, those who espoused 

conservative political views had few outlets from 

which to share their philosophies, but REAGAN

ushered in an era of conservatism whose tide has 

yet to wane. The makeup of today’s political 

world is due, in large part, to the legacy of RONALD REAGAN. 

Hon. Cliff Stearns 

OF FLORIDA

Mr. Speaker, what distinguished President 

REAGAN among American Presidents in the last 

century? Where many Chief Executives saw gray 

and moral relativism on the international landscape, he saw good and evil, right and wrong. 

What relationship should we in the United 

States have with the Soviet Union, a tyranny that 

trampled freedom, starved its people, imprisoned 

dissidents, choked its economy and wrapped its 

tentacles around its neighbors? Do we engage 

them? Do we fight them in one corner of the 

world while doing business with them in the 

other? Can we co-exist under the constant threat 

of mutual destruction and endless arms races? Do 

we practice detente, containment? 

RONALD REAGAN was the President who said, 

‘‘Americans cannot live like this, and I do not 

think the world’s other citizens should.’’ The day 

he stood at the Berlin Wall and defiantly challenged the Soviet tyranny with the unforgettable 

words, ‘‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!,’’ 

was the beginning of the end of the cold war. 

God bless President REAGAN. 

Hon. Michael C. Burgess 

OF TEXAS

Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning with so many 

of my friends to pay tribute to the 40th President of the United States, RONALD WILSON

REAGAN, and to extend my condolences to his 

wife Nancy and to his family. 

President REAGAN will always be remembered 

as the architect of policies that ended the cold 

war—‘‘peace through strength.’’ He more than 

anyone else was directly responsible for giving us 

the possibility of a world that could live in peace. 

He ended the cold war. He ended the threat of 

hostilities between the United States and Russia, 

and he brought an end to the Soviet domination 

in Eastern Europe. 

He unleashed the power of the American economy. Yes, it cost money to defeat the Soviet 

Union. It cost money to defeat Soviet tyranny, 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 67 

but in the long run, was it worth it? You bet 

it was, for this generation and for the generations 

to come. 

Hon. John J. Duncan, Jr. 

OF TENNESSEE

Mr. Speaker, President RONALD REAGAN was 

an inspiration to me and millions of others 

throughout the United States and even all over 

the world. He saw the American dream come 

true in his life, rising from humble beginnings 

and achieving great, great success in almost every 

way. 

He will certainly go down in history as one 

of our greatest Presidents, but his greatness may 

have been achieved in large part because, as one 

of his closest friends said a couple of days ago, 

he did not worry about how history would view 

him. 

It has been said his greatest legacy will be 

leading us to victory in the cold war, but his 

domestic achievements were great, too, especially 

in lowering taxes and helping curb the greed of 

government. 

I had the privilege of meeting President 

REAGAN on many occasions, starting when he 

was Governor of California. He was always so 

kind to me and to everyone, and possibly one 

of his greatest attributes may have been in showing us that you can have strong views on important issues, but still treat opponents with kindness, compassion and even good humor. 

We are all better people, Mr. Speaker, because 

of the life and example of President RONALD

REAGAN. 

Hon. Vernon J. Ehlers 

OF MICHIGAN

Mr. Speaker, for many years I have heard comments about the power of ideas. I learned as a 

youngster that the pen is mightier than the 

sword and that there is nothing so powerful as 

an idea whose time has come. President RONALD

REAGAN demonstrated that these and similar 

statements are true. He was living proof that 

ideas win battles. 

He was not regarded as an intellectual, but yet 

he understood the importance of the basic, simple ideas that this country is founded upon, the 

ideas of peace and freedom, freedom to worship, 

freedom to speak, freedom of the press, but he 

also went beyond that. He recognized that these 

are not ends in themselves, but these are means 

to an end, and freedom to worship is meaningless 

unless you use it to worship. Freedom of the 

press is meaningless unless you use it to print 

ideas that are for the betterment of the Nation. 

Simple ideas, valiantly fought for. With grace, 

charm and a twinkle in his eye, he succeeded 

where others had failed. He inspired a troubled 

Nation. He brought us together. He conquered 

the symbolic Iron Curtain and brought it down, 

along with the very real Berlin Wall. He led to 

nuclear disarmament, the greatest threat to humanity during his tenure. 

I rise today to thank President REAGAN for 

what he did for this country, for the ideas he 

fought for and the transformation he made in the 

culture and the attitudes of this Nation. 

Hon. Bill Shuster 

OF PENNSYLVANIA

Mr. Speaker, we rise today with solemn hearts 

for the loss of an American hero, a man with an 

optimistic vision of this country that was infectious. I stand as an individual who felt the energy of the Reagan era. 

As a 19-year-old in 1980, I attended my first 

Republican Convention where RONALD REAGAN

accepted the GOP nomination for President. My 

first vote for President was for RONALD REAGAN, 

and I spent the beginning of adulthood under 

the spirit of a man who defined the American 

dream. 

Today we stand in awe of a life of passion and 

accomplishment. RONALD REAGAN crumbled 

walls of oppression in Europe and rebuilt the 

American spirit. He was forever the gentleman 

statesman, a man who thought that politics, no 

matter how tough the battle with your opponent, 

should never leave scars. 
68 Ronald Reagan 

In the end he bore no ill will to anyone, and 

in that mold he was the definition of a leader, 

a leader who inspired confidence in those around 

him and who led by example. 

He feared not an assassin’s bullet or political 

setback because he always looked to tomorrow, 

always believed the best days of America were 

ahead beyond the horizon, and that he would 

chart the course to take us to a better tomorrow. 

We stand here as a testament to that simple, yet 

powerful, truth. 

Hon. Mario Diaz-Balart 

OF FLORIDA

Mr. Speaker, I am here to really just first express my sorrow and my gratitude to the Reagan 

family. 

Through President REAGAN’s optimism and 

courage and strength, he carried this country 

from a state of what some people said was a state 

of malaise to further greatness. He understood 

and never apologized for his understanding that 

the United States was a source of good around 

the world, a source of freedom around the world. 

I recall when he said his famous remark about 

the evil empire how all of the experts said he 

could not say that, that he was wrong, that they 

were not bad. Well, he was right, and he tried 

and fought hard and worked hard to spread freedom across the globe, to strengthen the United 

States and, therefore, also strengthen our allies 

to spread freedom. 

He succeeded by tearing down the Berlin 

Wall, by tearing down the evil empire, by 

spreading freedom to millions of people around 

the globe. 

Mr. Speaker, I am here again in awe of the 

life of President RONALD REAGAN, his achievements, his success in spreading freedom, his success in making this country what it is today. The 

greatness that we have achieved today, in great 

part, is due to the optimism, the greatness, the 

spirit of RONALD REAGAN. We can never thank 

him enough. 

AUTHORIZING USE OF ROTUNDA OF THE CAPITOL 

FOR LYING IN STATE OF THE REMAINS OF THE 

LATE HONORABLE RONALD WILSON REAGAN, 

40TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 

Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend 

the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution 

(H. Con. Res. 444) authorizing the use of the 

rotunda of the Capitol for the lying in state of 

the remains of the late Honorable RONALD WILSON REAGAN, the 40th President of the United 

States. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

H. CON. RES. 444 

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 

That in recognition of the long and distinguished service rendered to the Nation and the world by RONALD WILSON

REAGAN, the 40th President of the United States, the rotunda of the Capitol is authorized to be used for the lying 

in state of the remains of the late Honorable RONALD

REAGAN from June 9 until June 11, 2004. The Architect of 

the Capitol, under the direction of the Speaker of the House 

of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate, shall take all steps necessary for carrying out this event. 

Hon. Vernon J. Ehlers 

OF MICHIGAN

Mr. Speaker, this may seem like a routine resolution because we must pass these resolutions to 

allow the use of the rotunda of the Capitol for 

certain events, but frankly, this is a very auspicious moment. 

By statute, we have defined how state funerals 

are to proceed in this Nation’s Capital. We have 

very few of them. I believe the last one was at 

the time of the death of President Lyndon Johnson of Texas. It is a great honor to host an event 

such as this in the rotunda, and today I rise to 

present a resolution which will grant permission 

to have the body of President RONALD REAGAN

rest in state in the rotunda of the Capitol so that 

the Members of Congress and members of the 

public may join in honoring him by viewing the 

casket. 

This is, as I said, a very auspicious event, and 

fortunately, we do not have to do this often. But 

it inspires in us, again, respect for the ideals of 

our Nation and for the things that we do and 

that we believe in. 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 69 

When President REAGAN’s body will arrive, 

the casket will be placed on a caisson, according 

to tradition and law, and that horse-drawn procession will proceed from near the White House 

to the Capitol. It will be followed by a black, 

riderless horse, indicating a fallen leader. The 

boots on that horse will be placed in the stirrups 

backward, indicating the fallen leader reviewing 

the troops behind him. When that arrives at the 

Capitol, with great pomp and circumstance, an 

honor guard will present the casket and the body 

and carry them inside the Capitol, displaying the 

casket in the rotunda. 

This evening we will have a memorial ceremony, restricted to the Members of Congress, in 

the rotunda. Following that, the people of this 

Nation, anyone who wishes, may stand in line 

and view the casket and give their respects to 

our fallen President. 

It is my pleasure to be able to present this 

resolution honoring President RONALD REAGAN

and providing the opportunity for the Members 

of Congress and for the public to view the casket 

and to pay their respects to this great man. It 

is the least we can do, and I wish we could do 

more because he did a marvelous job of leading 

this Nation in a very troubled time. When we 

had a broken economy and a dispirited people, 

he restored their spirits with grace, charm and 

a twinkle in his eye and eventually helped us prevail over the Soviet Union, which had threatened 

us for decades with nuclear weapons. 

The world is a far better place because of 

RONALD REAGAN, what he did, and the leadership he provided, and it is my pleasure to present 

this resolution and honor him in this way. 

Hon. Juanita Millender-McDonald 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, it is with great sorrow that I join 

the distinguished chairman, or the appropriate 

person in his place, in support of this legislation 

to authorize use of the Capitol rotunda for this 

very sad occasion. 

There can be no more proper use of the rotunda, the center of the temple of our democracy, 

than to honor the late former President RONALD

REAGAN with a state funeral and lying in state. 

With this observance, President REAGAN will 

take his proper place in the pantheon of American heroes who have lain in state in this temple, 

befitting their vast contributions to the fabric of 

our national political life. 

Although I did not have the honor to serve 

in the Congress during President REAGAN’s 

term, I greatly admired him as a statesman, and 

his skills as the Great Communicator, and am 

grateful for everything he did for our country. 

Mr. Speaker, it is especially fitting that Congress and the Nation pay their respects to our 

40th President in this temple because several 

memorable events of his 8 years in office took 

place here. Of course, he delivered all of his State 

of the Union Messages right here in this Chamber, including the one in which he dropped several pounds of paper onto the rostrum and urged 

Congress not to send him any more massive, 

catch-all spending bills. 

In 1985, President REAGAN returned from a 

Geneva summit meeting with Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev, flew directly from Andrews Air 

Force Base to the Capitol by helicopter, and addressed a joint session, reporting hopeful progress 

on arms control and reassuring the Nation and 

the world. 

Perhaps more relevant to the resolution before 

us, many Americans will recall that the bitter 

cold of January 21, 1985, forced President 

REAGAN’s second inaugural ceremony to come 

indoors and take place in the rotunda itself in 

order to protect the multitudes attending and 

participating in the inauguration, who would 

otherwise have been at great risk from the elements and frostbite. 

Throughout his life and career, President 

REAGAN was always considerate of others. And 

like others who have preceded him in the Nation’s highest office, RONALD REAGAN hailed 

from a humble background. Born in 1911 in Illinois, REAGAN grew up in the town of Dixon, 

was active in sports, drama, and student politics, 

all of which would serve him well later. In 1932, 

the future President graduated from Eureka College with a degree in economics and sociology. 

He embarked on a radio career that eventually 

led him to Hollywood, where he worked in the 
70 Ronald Reagan 

entertainment industry for two decades, principally in motion pictures. 

He appeared in over 50 movies, including one 

of my favorites, the 1940 ‘‘Knute Rockne: All 

American.’’ In the film, REAGAN portrayed the 

legendary Notre Dame athlete George Gipp, who 

set numerous football records during a 5-year career before succumbing in 1920 to an infection 

that struck 20 years before the discovery of antibiotics. In the movie’s climax, REAGAN earned 

his lifelong nickname when the dying Gipp 

asked Coach Rockne to urge his teammates to 

go out there and ‘‘win one for the Gipper.’’ For 

us football fans, especially one who has a son who 

played football, the scene is priceless. My son 

loved the movie, and he certainly loves football 

as well. And I have little doubt that today, for 

millions of Americans, the legends of George 

Gipp and the man who portrayed him on film 

have become inextricably linked. 

In the sixties, when the GIPPER became active 

in politics, he generally supported Republican 

candidates, including Richard Nixon and Barry 

Goldwater. Like Nixon and Goldwater, REAGAN

became known as an ardent anticommunist. In 

1966, he became a Republican candidate himself, 

winning the first of two terms as Governor of 

California. 

Two years after leaving office in Sacramento, 

Governor REAGAN challenged President Gerald 

Ford for the GOP nomination for the Presidency, 

and nearly won it. In 1980, he won both the Republican Presidential nomination and the general 

election, where he received nearly 51 percent of 

the popular vote and carried 45 States and 489 

electoral votes. 

Of course, we all recall that in 1981 an assassin 

nearly ended our new President’s life in a hail 

of gunshots here in Washington. Fortunately, the 

would-be assassin failed to achieve his demented 

purpose, and the President went on to survive 

not only gunshot wounds but also colon cancer. 

The President also survived the bruising political battles so common in this Capital City. He 

did so simply by refusing to take politics personally. President REAGAN’s ability to build and 

maintain a lasting friendship with House Speaker 

Tip O’Neill, with whom he disagreed on many 

political issues, exemplified an approach to politics and to governing which I greatly admire, 

and one that I wish others would emulate. 

In 1984, President REAGAN won reelection, 

with nearly 59 percent of the popular vote, the 

electoral votes of 49 States, and completed his 

two momentous terms. By the time he left office 

in 1989, he was, despite large budget deficits and 

the Iran-Contra scandal, one of our most beloved 

Presidents. 

The massive outpouring of grief seen across 

this country and the world since his death on 

Saturday is abundant proof of the esteem Americans hold for their 40th President throughout 

every city, suburb, and hamlet in this land. 

Mr. Speaker, the state funeral and the lying 

in state authorized in the rotunda this week will 

be solemn state occasions whose purpose is to 

provide the public with an opportunity to view 

the body and mourn the passing of a head of 

state. Ceremony, history, and protocol will permeate these rites. 

Among them, it is worth noting, that when 

President REAGAN’s body lies in state in the rotunda, his remains will rest upon the historic catafalque constructed for the funeral of our 16th 

President, Abraham Lincoln, another son of Illinois. All those who have lain in state in the Capitol rotunda have rested on the Lincoln catafalque, made of simple pine boards and draped 

in black velvet. 

It is fitting that this relic, built for one who 

became, if not in life, one of the most cherished 

and beloved Presidents, will now be used to support the body of our 40th President, a cherished 

and beloved successor to Lincoln. As a people, 

we are truly grateful for President REAGAN’s 

long service to our country and for the opportunity to honor him and his memory in this way. 

Mr. Speaker, I am honored to play a role in 

these proceedings by managing this resolution 

for the minority, in the absence of our ranking 

member. I hope that all my colleagues will join 

in paying tribute to our 40th President by supporting this very important resolution. 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 71 

Hon. Christopher Cox 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time, and it is entirely fitting that 

we pass this resolution authorizing the remains 

of President REAGAN to lie in state in the Nation’s Capital. 

It was in this building that President REAGAN

took the oath of office in January 1981. Eight 

years later, he yielded his authority as President 

and Commander in Chief in this building, in 

that quiet peaceful transfer of power that is the 

hallmark of our democracy. 

Many of the shining moments of his two Presidential terms took place right here in this 

Chamber. None are more thrilling than that 1982 

State of the Union that marked his triumphant 

return shortly after he was shot by a would-be 

Presidential assassin. 

And some of his greatest challenges have close 

associations with this Chamber as well. In his 

second term, after President REAGAN had won 

Senate passage of his request for aid to the freedom fighters in Nicaragua, the challenge he 

faced was in this House. The President asked 

permission to address the House, but Speaker 

O’Neill said no. I served then as legal counsel 

in the White House, and I was asked whether 

the Speaker of the House could deny the President the opportunity to come and address the 

Congress in the people’s House. And my answer, 

swiftly delivered, was ‘‘absolutely.’’ 

President REAGAN did not mind the legal advice. He asked, ‘‘They all have televisions, don’t 

they?’’ And he addressed the Nation from the 

Oval Office. As a result of that magnificent address, intended for all of us here but absorbed 

equally by the American people, this Congress 

did the right thing and democracy did move forward in Nicaragua. The Soviet Union was not 

able to establish a beachhead in our own hemisphere. And whereas upon President REAGAN’s 

assumption of office there were only 56 electoral 

democracies in the world, today there are 117, 

and over 1 billion people now live in democracies 

that otherwise would not. 

When President REAGAN took the oath of office here in this building, he was facing west. 

The west front of the Capitol was the staging 

area for that inauguration. He was the first President to do so. He thought it was important to 

face west, because not only was he a westerner, 

not only was he a Californian, but the history 

of our country moving westward signified the 

spirit of frontier, the pioneer spirit, and entrepreneurship that President REAGAN thought was 

the genius of America. 

When his body is placed in the rotunda later 

today, it will come to the Capitol up those same 

steps on the west front and all of us will be looking west to his beloved State of California thinking about what President REAGAN meant by that 

symbolism. 

So it is entirely appropriate that we pass this 

resolution we address now. I know that each of 

us will take personal pride in recalling his contributions to our country, to our sense of patriotism as we observe the ceremonies in the rotunda 

later today and as we have our own personal moment to walk by that casket. 

Hon. John B. Larson 

OF CONNECTICUT

Mr. Speaker, I join with the distinguished 

gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers) and the 

distinguished gentlewoman from California (Ms. 

Millender-McDonald) in support of this motion 

to suspend the rules and pass the resolution to 

authorize the use of the Capitol rotunda to honor 

President REAGAN and I would urge all Members to do likewise. 

Mr. Speaker, this is a very sad occasion for our 

country. Last Saturday, June 5, 2004, RONALD

WILSON REAGAN, the 40th President of the 

United States, departed this life, and now belongs to the ages. 

Since I was first elected to this House in 1998, 

I did not have the privilege of serving with President REAGAN. But I certainly wish I had known 

him. President REAGAN’s engaging smile, his reassured demeanor, and his boundless optimism 

about America, her people and her future, were 

literally contagious. 

And the contagion surely did spread, Mr. 

Speaker. The overwhelming grief since President 
72 Ronald Reagan 

REAGAN’s death reflects the American people’s 

respect for the man, and their gratitude for what 

he accomplished for present and future generations. While he may now be gone, he will never 

be forgotten. 

Mr. Speaker, as the Congress and the Nation 

mourn our 40th President in the Capitol rotunda, we might recall the many memorable moments that occurred under this great dome during his 8 years in office. Indeed a harbinger of 

things to come, President REAGAN asked that his 

inauguration take place for the first time on the 

west front of the Capitol, so he could look out 

across The Mall toward the west. Not only did 

this vista accommodate more people attending 

the ceremony in person, it symbolically shifted 

the ceremony’s focus toward the vast reaches of 

the country, where most Americans live. 

Of course, President REAGAN delivered all of 

his State of the Union Messages, and addressed 

other joint sessions of Congress, from right here 

in the House Chamber. Once, after Congress had 

wrapped an entire year’s worth of appropriations 

bills into one mammoth measure, he dramatically plopped a huge stack of paper—not even 

printed, but instead, Xeroxed copies—onto the 

desk with a ‘‘thud.’’ He implored lawmakers 

never to repeat the practice. Unfortunately, it has 

done so repeatedly in the years since that speech. 

It was a bad practice in President REAGAN’s 

time, and it is a bad practice today. 

President REAGAN’s second inaugural took 

place in the rotunda, driven inside by the cold 

winter of 1985. While some television viewers 

might have been disappointed at the cancellation 

of the outdoor inaugural and the accompanying 

parade, I am sure many parents of high school 

students scheduled to march in the festivities 

were relieved. In another thoughtful gesture, the 

President paused during his inaugural address to 

note the passing of a Democratic Representative, 

Gillis Long of Louisiana, who had died hours before. 

Throughout his life and career, President 

REAGAN was always considerate of others. Perhaps this attribute reflected the midwestern values of his native Illinois, and the fact that RONALD REAGAN came from humble beginnings. 

Born in 1911 in Tampico, IL, REAGAN’s family 

soon moved to the town of Dixon, where he was 

active in swimming and other sports, drama, and 

the student government at the local high school. 

In 1932, the future President graduated from Eureka College, with a degree in economics and sociology. Popular among his peers and clearly 

blessed with a radio announcer’s voice, after 

graduation REAGAN embarked on a radio career. 

A journey to Los Angeles to cover a sporting 

event led to a Hollywood screen test, which in 

turn led to a contract at Warner Brothers Studios. 

REAGAN made more than 50 movies, including ‘‘Knute Rockne: All American,’’ from which 

he earned his lifelong nickname for playing the 

famous Notre Dame athlete George Gipp. In the 

last reel of the film, legendary Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne inspired his 1928 team, 

who was losing a game to Army, by telling them 

George Gipp’s dying remarks, which were: 

Some time, Rock, when the team is up against it, when 

things are wrong and the breaks are beating the boys, tell 

them to go in there with all they’ve got and win just one 

for the Gipper. I don’t know where I’ll be then, Rock, but 

I’ll know about it, and I’ll be happy. 

Needless to say, the inspired Fighting Irish 

went on to win the game despite their numerous 

injuries and underdog status. Today, millions remember REAGAN as ‘‘the GIPPER,’’ and far fewer 

remember George Gipp. REAGAN became even 

better known in the fifties by working in television, appearing on such early programs as 

‘‘Death Valley Days’’ and ‘‘General Electric Theater.’’ 

Reagan lived the rest of his life in California, 

where in the sixties, he became active in politics. 

Though a Democrat, even becoming president of 

the Screen Actors’ Guild, he supported Richard 

Nixon in 1960 and Barry Goldwater in 1964. In 

1966, as a Republican, REAGAN won the first of 

two terms as Governor of California. In the tumultuous year of 1968, Governor REAGAN briefly 

sought the Republican Presidential nomination, 

but lost to his fellow Californian, Richard Nixon. 

In 1976, the Governor challenged President 

Gerald Ford for the GOP Presidential nomination, and nearly won it at the Kansas City Convention. In 1980, he won the nomination and the 

election, where he received nearly 51 percent of 

the popular vote and carried 45 States. Of course, 

we were all stunned on March 30, 1981, when an 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 73 

assassin shot the President and several others outside the Washington Hilton. Little did we know 

at the time how close the President came to 

dying of his wounds. The President went on to 

survive not only his 1981 gunshot wound, but 

also, in 1985, a bout with colon cancer. 

President REAGAN was, and his memory is, 

beloved in this town. He readily agreed with 

House Speaker Tip O’Neill’s admonition, at an 

early meeting, that ‘‘after 6 o’clock, we’re all 

friends.’’ President REAGAN worked to make 

friends not only with Speaker O’Neill, with 

whom he often disagreed on policy matters, but 

with countless others in Congress and around the 

country. The President’s willingness to reach 

across the aisle and work in a constructive way, 

refusing to take politics personally, was a hallmark of his approach to governing. I wish others 

would follow his example in today’s poisonous 

political environment in this city. 

In 1984, President REAGAN handily won reelection with over 58 percent of the popular vote 

carrying 49 States. By the day he left office in 

January 1989, he was, despite massive budget 

deficits and the Iran-Contra arms-for-hostages 

scandal, one of our most beloved Presidents. 

Mr. Speaker, the solemn state occasion authorized in this resolution will provide an official opportunity for the American people to mourn our 

former head of state. This ceremony will be rich 

in history, and include the use of the Lincoln catafalque, originally built for the state funeral of 

our 16th President in 1865. This observance will 

enable Americans, through the Congress and others able to attend, to bid an official, fond farewell 

to President REAGAN for his long career and 

many contributions to the rich fabric of our Nation. 

I am honored to play a role in these proceedings in my position as ranking minority 

member of the Committee on House Administration and to represent the many residents of Connecticut who revere President REAGAN and his 

memory. On their behalf, and mine, I offer Mrs. 

Reagan and the entire Reagan family the condolences and the thanks of a grateful Nation for 

the President’s service. I would like to close by 

joining our Committee on House Administration’s vice chairman in urging our colleagues to 

pass this resolution and win one last victory for 

the GIPPER. 

Hon. Robert W. Ney 

OF OHIO

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce House 

Concurrent Resolution 444, to allow the use of 

the rotunda of the Capitol for the late Honorable 

RONALD WILSON REAGAN, the 40th President 

of the United States of America, to lie in state. 

More than any leader in my lifetime, RONALD

REAGAN embodied the noble ideals and irrepressible optimism of the American spirit. As 

President, he led our country into an era of renewed faith in the American dream. RONALD

REAGAN guided the United States to victory over 

communism in the cold war, and his domestic 

policies ushered in an age of unprecedented prosperity. As we stand in the wake of RONALD

REAGAN’s recent passing, we mourn his loss, but 

we celebrate the remarkable legacy he leaves to 

the country he loved and served so faithfully. 

RONALD REAGAN was born into humble circumstances in the small town of Dixon, IL. It 

was in this quintessential midwestern setting 

that RONALD REAGAN recognized the near-limitless opportunities that flow from liberty, and 

consequently developed his deep and abiding appreciation for the founding ideals of our great 

country. 

Rising from these modest origins, RONALD

REAGAN set off on a life journey that was both 

rich and diverse in experiences. As a young man, 

he spent seven summers as a lifeguard on a hazardous section of river near his hometown where 

he saved the lives of 77 swimmers. He went on 

to become a college athlete and then traveled to 

Hollywood, where he became one of the most 

popular actors of the fifties and early sixties. But 

it was in the realm of politics where RONALD

REAGAN would make his most meaningful and 

lasting impact, first as a two-term Governor of 

the State of California and then, most significantly, as the President of the United States from 

1981 through 1989. Quite simply, RONALD

REAGAN changed the world, and we are all the 

better for it. 
74 Ronald Reagan 

RONALD REAGAN, more than any other individual, was responsible for winning the cold war, 

the epic struggle that pitted the United States 

and its allies against a communist force armed 

with enough nuclear weapons to threaten the existence of humanity. Relying on his deeply held 

beliefs of the supremacy of liberty and democracy, REAGAN assumed the Office of President 

and sought not to accommodate or merely contain communist expansionism, but to defeat it. 

He had the courage to speak the truth about the 

former Soviet Union, to accurately label it as an 

evil empire that would ultimately be consigned 

to the ash heap of history. He realized that for 

democracy to prevail in this twilight struggle of 

differing ideologies with monumental consequences, he had to become a relentless warrior 

on behalf of the American ideals of liberty, free 

enterprise, and the primacy of the individual in 

society. His fortitude provided the American 

people with purpose and victory over communism. 

RONALD REAGAN buoyed up our Nation not 

only with his ever-present smile, his genial nature, and his self-deprecating humor but also 

with the substance of his ideas: his enduring 

faith in the innate goodness and creativity of the 

American people; his steadfast belief in the 

exceptionalism of our constitutional democracy 

and economic order; and his unyielding conviction that freedom and democracy will triumph 

over oppression and tyranny. RONALD REAGAN

was, and will always remain, a giant on the stage 

of history, a commanding presence and respected 

leader whose commitment to freedom and democracy will inspire generations to come. Truly 

it can be said that RONALD REAGAN lifted the 

spirits of the American people by appealing to 

our best hopes, not our worst fears, and because 

of that, he will remain forever in the hearts of 

the American people. 

Walking side by side with RONALD REAGAN

through his life’s journey was his wonderful wife 

and best friend, Nancy. Her dignity and grace 

as First Lady were exemplary, but even more inspiring has been the strength and resiliency she 

has demonstrated since her husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease 10 years ago. 

Nancy’s devotion to the former President has 

been nothing less than heroic, and our prayers 

and the prayers of a Nation are with her during 

this time. 

Though our hearts are heavy as we mourn the 

loss of a beloved leader, we are comforted knowing that RONALD REAGAN has gone on to a better place. To borrow the words he used to comfort the Nation following the Challenger disaster, 

RONALD REAGAN has ‘‘ ‘slipped the surly bonds 

of earth’ to ‘touch the face of God.’ ’’ 

Passage of this resolution will allow us to pay 

tribute to this great man and his legacy. It will 

allow all those who loved and admired RONALD

REAGAN a final opportunity to say a final goodbye. As he lies in state, the American people will 

have the opportunity to pay their respects by 

coming to the Capitol rotunda. I expect that 

many thousands will do so. 

AUTHORIZING THE USE OF THE CAPITOL 

ROTUNDA FROM JUNE 9 UNTIL JUNE 11, 2004, FOR 

THE LYING IN STATE OF THE REMAINS OF THE 

LATE RONALD WILSON REAGAN, 40TH PRESIDENT 

OF THE UNITED STATES 

Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous 

consent to take from the Speaker’s table the Senate concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 115) authorizing the use of the rotunda of the Capitol 

for the lying in state of the remains of the late 

RONALD WILSON REAGAN, the 40th President 

of the United States, and ask for its immediate 

consideration in the House. 

The Clerk read the title of the Senate concurrent resolution. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection 

to the request of the gentleman from Michigan? 

There was no objection. 

The Clerk read the Senate concurrent resolution, as follows: 

S. CON. RES. 115 

Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 

That in recognition of the long and distinguished service rendered to the Nation and to the world, by the late RONALD

WILSON REAGAN, the 40th President of the United States, 

his remains be permitted to lie in state in the rotunda of 

the Capitol from June 9 until June 11, 2004, and the Architect of the Capitol, under the direction of the President pro 

tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, shall take all necessary steps for the accomplishment of that purpose. 

The Senate concurrent resolution was concurred in. 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 75 

A motion to reconsider was laid on the table. 

A similar House concurrent resolution (H. 

Con. Res. 444) was laid on the table. 

Hon. Henry J. Hyde 

OF ILLINOIS

I have given much thought to what I might 

usefully contribute to the chorus of those thousands who will be called upon or be moved to 

voice their respect and their sadness at the death 

of President REAGAN. His accomplishments will 

be rightly celebrated, his humanity and character 

justly praised, his passing mourned in words of 

elegance and emotion. How large a stone can one 

hope to add to this touring mountain? 

President REAGAN was the oldest person to be 

elected President in our history, and this is proof 

that you get the sweetest music from the oldest 

violins. 

In the play ‘‘Camelot,’’ King Arthur says, ‘‘We 

are all of us tiny drops in a vast ocean, but some 

of them sparkle.’’ President REAGAN was never 

a tiny drop in a vast ocean, but he did indeed 

sparkle. 

By his life and service he put the ‘‘sacred’’ 

back in honor. Not through exhortation, but by 

example, REAGAN’s gentle leadership reminded 

a country disoriented by doubt of its enduring 

beliefs. In this, his guiding principle was that 

of George Washington’s, ‘‘Let us raise a standard 

in which the wise and honest can repair. The 

event is in the hand of God.’’ 

He was a rare and subtly powerful speaker, 

able to instill in others a confident belief in their 

own capacities and goodness. And he could also 

inspire oppressed millions to demolish empires. 

His eloquence reminds me of the story of ancient Greeks who, when Pericles spoke, said, 

‘‘How well he speaks.’’ But when Demosthenes 

spoke, they said, ‘‘Let us march.’’ 

Among his many virtues was his defense of the 

powerless unborn. President REAGAN understood 

that the precious gift of life was not confined to 

the privileged, the planned, and the perfect. 

Some have said that the most fearful aspect of 

dying is the terrible aloneness you must endure 

at the particular judgment; no advocate, no relative, no spouse, no child, just you, your sins and 

God. But I am sure President REAGAN is not 

alone. I believe the silence was broken by the 

voices of thousands of little children, voices that 

were never heard in this world but are heard in 

the next, all pleading, ‘‘Dear Lord, spare him, for 

he loved us very much.’’ 

And then I can imagine Mr. REAGAN heard 

a gentle voice, ‘‘Come, beloved of my father, and 

enter the kingdom which has been prepared for 

you since the beginning of time.’’ 

Mr. President: 

The shadows have lengthened, evening has come, and the 

busy world is hushed. The fever of life is over, and your work 

is done. May God in his mercy give you a safe lodging and 

a holy rest and peace at the last. 

Hon. Jim Matheson 

OF UTAH

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor President 

RONALD REAGAN. We can all admire the journey of his life. It was a life built on love of family 

and a profound love of our country. 

In this time of mourning, I offer my sincere 

condolences and prayers to the President’s family, 

especially to his wife Nancy. I hope that the sincere good wishes of all of their fellow countrymen can help to bring them some comfort at this 

time. 

Above all else, the President was a leader who 

had strong opinions, yet he always respected the 

institution of government and worked within 

both parties to provide enduring success to millions of Americans. 

Before he was President, RONALD REAGAN

was the Governor of a western State and a leader 

who understood issues important to the West. 

As a Member of Congress from the Rocky Mountain West, I hold a deep appreciation for President REAGAN’s efforts to protect the western way 

of life. 

One issue that stands out is that of the MX 

missile. In the seventies and eighties, the Department of Defense was working to build the massive MX missile racetrack system in Utah’s West 

Desert, despite Utah’s opposition. President 

REAGAN was a strong advocate for national defense, and the military initially thought he 
76 Ronald Reagan 

would be a supporter of this proposal. As a fellow 

westerner, President REAGAN understood Utah’s 

desire to protect its ranching and farming heritage. He understood why the State and its citizens 

adamantly opposed the project. 

My father was Governor of Utah at that time. 

He found an open door in the Reagan administration, and he worked in a bipartisan manner 

with the administration to put an end to this 

plan. Thankfully for my State, President 

REAGAN came into the situation with an open 

mind, and he was willing to listen to local stakeholders about their concerns with the MX proposal. 

President REAGAN established a process by 

which affected people could actually make their 

feelings known, which even now is a testament 

to the importance of a responsive Federal Government. 

That was REAGAN’s approach. While he was 

a man of strong convictions, he was known for 

his civility and kindness in a business that is 

often abrasive. Ever the gentleman, his example 

is a good reminder to all of us in elected office 

of what it takes to truly serve our constituency. 

I honor President REAGAN’s service to this 

great Nation. He will be missed. 

Hon. F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. 

OF WISCONSIN

I first met RONALD REAGAN over 40 years ago 

when I was an undergraduate student at Stanford 

University in California. He and I and some others were involved in a primary election campaign 

for a U.S. Senator from California which proved 

to be very unsuccessful. But in the meetings that 

I attended that Mr. REAGAN chaired, I recognized him as being a unique person with an uncanny knack to bring out the best in everybody. 

He certainly proved that during his subsequent career: two successful terms as Governor 

of California and two successful terms as President of the United States, leaving office with the 

highest approval rating of any departing President since Franklin Roosevelt. 

Look at the shape America was in when RONALD REAGAN was elected in 1980. We went 

through a horrible decade of the seventies. There 

was a Vietnam war, there was Watergate, there 

was Nixon’s resignation, Gerald Ford’s unsuccessful ‘‘Whip Inflation Now’’ campaign, Jimmy 

Carter’s malaise, and long lines at the gas pump 

to buy 5 gallons of gas. 

When President REAGAN took office, he got 

us out of our national funk. His ‘‘Morning in 

America’’ speech and his philosophy gave us as 

a Nation and as individual Americans the selfconfidence to do what America has always done; 

that is, to achieve the ultimate dream, to overcome the impossible, and to have each and every 

one of us reach our highest and best. 

Much is said about REAGAN turning around 

the economy and winning the cold war, and 

some of the debate on the cold war was about 

the so-called Strategic Defense Initiative, but 

there was a decision that RONALD REAGAN made 

earlier that laid the groundwork for the collapse 

of communism. He persuaded then-German 

Chancellor Helmut Schmidt to deploy Pershing 

II and cruise missiles in West Germany. That 

was extremely controversial at the time both in 

Europe and the United States. People said displaying more missiles would encourage an arms 

race. 

Well, Mr. Schmidt agreed to deploy them. He 

might have lost his job as a result of it, but he 

was able to see the fall of the Berlin Wall and 

the unification of Germany during his lifetime, 

and we have got to give credit to RONALD

REAGAN’s international skills for doing that. 

God bless you President REAGAN, may you 

rest in peace. 

Hon. Baron P. Hill 

OF INDIANA

Mr. Speaker, this past weekend Americans 

learned of President RONALD REAGAN’s death. 

The President was an honorable and decent man 

whose legacy forever will be linked with the 

great love and optimism he had for his country. 

Unfortunately, his long and courageous struggle 

with Alzheimer’s disease took him from us long 

before his death. 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 77 

As a fellow midwesterner, I appreciated the 

traditional American values he brought to Washington: his good humor, his love for his family, 

and belief in America. At a time when Americans had lost confidence in themselves, President 

REAGAN reminded us we could achieve any goal, 

no matter how lofty. 

When President REAGAN addressed a grieving 

Nation after the Challenger explosion, he honored 

the astronauts for the way in which they lived 

their lives and affirmed that we would never forget them. Eloquently, he quoted the poem 

‘‘High Flight,’’ declaring the astronauts had 

‘‘ ‘slipped the surly bonds of earth’ to ‘touch the 

face of God.’ ’’ 

Mr. Speaker, today in this House, we are honoring President REAGAN for the way in which 

he lived his life and led our Nation. And as he 

takes his own journey to touch the face of God, 

I am confident in this statement: That his life 

and achievements will forever be remembered by 

this grateful Nation. 

As the country and the world mourn his 

death, we will remember President REAGAN as 

a great American who was a beacon of freedom 

for people everywhere. I think I speak for all of 

the Hoosiers in offering my condolences to his 

wife Nancy and the children. 

Hon. J.D. Hayworth 

OF ARIZONA

Mr. Speaker, I rise with the formidable challenge in 2 minutes to convey the thoughts and 

prayers of Arizonans and Americans as we remember our 40th President. While it is true that 

RONALD REAGAN was a son of Illinois and a 

Governor of California before becoming the 

President of us all, it is also true that Arizona 

played an important part in his life. 

Arizona was the place where RONALD and 

Nancy REAGAN honeymooned. Arizona was the 

place where some of their children attended high 

school. Arizona was the place where Nancy’s parents lived; and Arizona was the site of one of 

President REAGAN’s final political appearances. 

Even as our favorite son, Barry Goldwater, gave 

birth to then RONALD REAGAN’s political career 

in that epic speech ‘‘A Time for Choosing’’ in 

1964, telecast nationally, which really put RONALD REAGAN on the political stage, it was former 

President REAGAN who arrived in downtown 

Phoenix 5 days before the 1992 election to offer 

words of support to candidates of our party. 

I had the privilege of emceeing this gathering, 

and I was offstage with the former President as 

our now senior Senator offered remarks of introduction, and those remarks included the statement from Margaret Thatcher that the cold war 

was won by one man, RONALD WILSON

REAGAN, and that victory came without a single 

shot being fired. 

Mr. Speaker, I was in a unique position to hear 

the words of my friend from Arizona and to look 

at the reaction on the face of our former President. 

Mr. Speaker, it is well known that many of 

us who enter the public arena suffer from no lack 

of self-esteem. 

Mr. Speaker, I can tell you that President 

REAGAN was incredibly humble, and that humility was expressed on his face as he offered a characteristic shrug of the shoulders before going out 

to offer his words to the assembly. 

In closing, Mr. Speaker, and to my colleagues, 

let me simply say this. One of my constituents 

whose daughter-in-law escaped from behind the 

Iron Curtain said ‘‘President Lincoln freed the 

slaves of America. President REAGAN freed the 

enslaved millions of Eastern Europe.’’ 

God bless America. God bless RONALD

REAGAN. 

Hon. Gil Gutknecht 

OF MINNESOTA

Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues today in 

paying tribute to a man who influenced my life 

personally, and I think I speak for many of my 

colleagues when I say that we would not be in 

politics, I indeed would not be in Congress, if 

it were not for RONALD REAGAN. 

President REAGAN embodied the values that 

made America the ‘‘shining city on the hill’’: 

faith, family, freedom, and personal responsibility. Born to humble beginnings, he never lost 
78 Ronald Reagan 

the common touch. Few public officials had more 

empathy for the common people. He could make 

us laugh or cry, depending on what the situation 

called for. Most of all, he made us proud, proud 

to be Americans. 

RONALD REAGAN came into office during a 

great malaise. He made us believe again in ourselves, in our capacity to achieve great things. 

He ignored his critics and the cynics. He shouldered on with unstoppable optimism. He consigned communism to the ash heap of history. 

As Margaret Thatcher said, he won the cold war 

without firing a shot. He changed our party. He 

changed the way Americans see themselves; and 

in the end, he changed the world. 

Borrowing from the song, I said to my wife, 

Mary, when he left office, he was a long time 

coming. He will be a long time gone. I thank 

God for giving us such men. 

Hon. Edward R. Royce 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, first, both personally and on behalf of my constituents in Orange County, let 

me offer my condolences to Mrs. Reagan and the 

Reagan family. I, like so many of my colleagues, 

probably would not be standing here today if it 

were not for RONALD REAGAN. 

He was an inspiration for a whole generation 

of young Americans, and his message of limited 

government and unlimited freedom, as well as 

his boundless optimism about America’s future, 

motivated me and so many others to get involved 

in the affairs of our Nation. I first met RONALD

REAGAN as a student in California. That experience led me to become involved in the Youth 

for Reagan movement. 

Over the years, I was privileged to meet him 

many more times. It was one of the most memorable meetings in 1986. I was visiting the White 

House as a State senator on the day that President REAGAN ordered the bombing of Libya because of their open support for international terrorism. The President told me what a difficult 

decision it was, but how the future of our Nation 

and the safety of our citizens depended on firm 

action. 

President REAGAN was never afraid to take a 

stand, never afraid to do what was right, even 

if it was not popular at the moment. 

In 1964 RONALD REAGAN spoke these words 

to a generation of Americans: 

You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on 

Earth, or we will sentence them to take the last step into 

a thousand years of darkness. 

President REAGAN understood the evil of communism. He knew the cold war would end. He 

knew that there would be winners and there 

would be losers. Thanks to his resolve, freedom 

won. Thanks to his resolve, millions of people 

were set free. 

President REAGAN also understood that free 

markets go hand in hand with individual liberties. In 1981 he said: 

We who live in free market societies believe that growth, 

prosperity and, ultimately, human fulfillment are created 

from the bottom up, not the government down. Only when 

the human spirit is allowed to invent and create, only when 

individuals are given a personal stake in deciding economic 

policies and benefiting from their success—only then can societies remain economically alive, dynamic, prosperous, progressive, and free. 

At his second inauguration, speaking inside 

the rotunda of this Capitol building, President 

REAGAN said: 

jOkur nation is poised for greatness. We must do what 

we know is right, and do it with all our might. Let history 

say of us: ‘‘These were golden years—when the American 

Revolution was reborn, when freedom gained new life, and 

America reached for her best.’’ 

Throughout his career, RONALD REAGAN was 

always helping America reach for her best. He 

inspired us with his spirit, with his optimism; 

and he led us with his commitment to principle 

and unwavering resolve. America and the rest of 

the world are better, safer, and freer places today 

because of RONALD REAGAN. We will miss him 

dearly. 

Hon. Max Sandlin 

OF TEXAS

Mr. Speaker, it is with a profound sense of loss 

and sadness that I rise today to honor the memory of one of our Nation’s most influential lead-
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 79 

ers, former President RONALD REAGAN. Much 

has been said, and rightfully so, about President 

REAGAN’s infectious love of this great Nation. 

RONALD WILSON REAGAN firmly believed that 

the United States of America had a unique role 

to play in the world and a singular place in history. In his first inaugural address he reflected 

on this faith in country in attributing the unparalleled prosperity and opportunity of this great 

land to the fact that: 

Freedom and the dignity of the individual have been more 

available and assured here than in any other place on earth. 

Mr. Speaker, his singular commitment to the 

inherent worth of the individual is a hallmark 

of RONALD REAGAN’s personal and political legacy. His sincere devotion to that core idea 

defined his personality, and it defined his 

Presidency. President REAGAN defied thenconventional wisdom that American heroes were 

a thing of the past. He said, ‘‘Those who say that 

we are in a time when there are no heroes just 

don’t know where to look. You can see heroes 

every day going in and out of factory gates. Others, a handful in number, produce enough food 

to feed all of us and then the world beyond. You 

meet heroes across a counter, and they are on 

both sides of that counter.’’ President REAGAN’s 

heroes were, in his words, ‘‘the citizens of this 

blessed land.’’ 

Mr. Speaker, President REAGAN has often been 

called the Great Communicator, but President 

REAGAN told us himself that he preferred to 

think of himself as a communicator of great 

things. However, to reduce RONALD REAGAN to 

the words he spoke would be a tremendous disservice to his legacy, just as it would be wrong 

to reduce Abraham Lincoln’s legacy to the Gettysburg Address or FDR’s to the eloquent power 

of his fireside chats. President REAGAN truly believed the ideas he communicated, and that faith 

drove in many ways a shift in the course of 

American politics. 

Mr. Speaker, President REAGAN was a unique 

figure in our politics. His devotion to principle, 

his commitment to the American people, his singular faith in the power of one were infectious. 

Yet despite his unrepentant drive to achieve what 

has been appropriately called the Reagan revolution, he pushed his agenda with a smile and he 

relished open and honest debate. Notwithstanding sometimes profound disagreements, 

President REAGAN understood that at the end of 

the day, we were not Democrats and Republicans 

but, rather, Americans and friends. He truly understood that there is a tremendous difference between strong beliefs and bitter partisanship. 

Mr. Speaker, President REAGAN was an eternal 

optimist who changed the world with hope and 

taught Americans that, even in the face of trials 

and tragedy, ‘‘Nothing ends here; our hopes and 

our journeys continue.’’ It has been said of President REAGAN that although he was our oldest 

President, he made America young again. 

And so, Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express 

my deepest sympathies to Mrs. Reagan and to 

the President’s children and their families and to 

honor the memory of a great American who 

loved America at least as much as she loved him. 

Hon. George Radanovich 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of the resolution paying tribute to President RONALD

REAGAN who once said America is too great for 

small dreams. Whether through his faith in 

God’s providence, his deep love for his wife, 

Nancy, his career as an actor, his service as Governor of the State of California and ultimately as 

our Commander in Chief, President RONALD

REAGAN envisioned and achieved big dreams. 

These dreams included lowering the tax burden 

on citizens through his advocacy of smaller government and striving for peace in the tenuous 

times of the cold war. 

As a boy in the fourth grade, I had the honor 

of shaking Mr. REAGAN’s hand at the Mariposa 

Airport when he was on his way to Yosemite 

after he became the Governor of the great State 

of California. He is the very reason that I later 

became a Republican and devoted my life to 

public service. 

President REAGAN died on the very weekend 

of the commemoration of D-day where just 20 

years ago he heralded the heroes that lay before 

him in Normandy as those who ‘‘helped end a 

war.’’ Fittingly, we now herald this American 
80 Ronald Reagan 

hero for his unmatched achievements, including 

ending the cold war. History will forever remember him for removing this threat of nuclear holocaust. 

There are good men in the world, and there 

are great men. Great men employ their power 

humbly and create peace quietly. President 

REAGAN embodied these traits and reminded us 

to believe in ourselves as the greatest country in 

the world. 

Hon. Charlie Norwood 

OF GEORGIA

Mr. Speaker, I rise on the floor today to join 

my colleagues and the legions of Americans and 

freedom-loving people around the world in honoring the memory and the legacy of President 

RONALD WILSON REAGAN. In the days that have 

passed since President REAGAN slipped the surly 

bonds of this world, much has been said about 

our Nation’s 40th President, of his boundless energy, eternal optimism, strong character, good 

judgment and, most important of all, his unmatched ability to lead and to deliver hope to 

America and the world at a time when it was 

needed most. Despite those who would suggest 

otherwise, the accomplishments and good fortune 

that befell this Nation and ultimately those behind the Iron Curtain on President REAGAN’s 

watch did not happen accidentally or through 

luck or simply being in the right place at the 

right time. 

No, Mr. Speaker. Providing unfailing hope 

and guidance to a grateful Nation and all the 

world in a time of much despair is not luck. It 

is called leadership. And President REAGAN will 

be remembered as a leader without peer, period. 

Winston Churchill once said, ‘‘The price of 

greatness is responsibility.’’ President REAGAN

understood and accepted that responsibility like 

no one else, and he left greatness in his wake. 

Mr. Speaker, if the measure of a man is the 

difference that he makes, then history will record 

that President RONALD REAGAN was nothing 

less than a giant. He will be missed, but his legacy of leadership will live on in the history of 

this Nation. 

Hon. Mike Pence 

OF INDIANA

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman, my favorite Reagan protege in the Congress, for yielding 

me this time. 

Mr. Speaker, RONALD REAGAN will be remembered as a great man and a great American 

leader, who personified the highest ideals of the 

American people at home and abroad. After 8 

years of his Presidency, the communism of Soviet 

Russia was collapsing, the American military was 

rebuilt, the Nation’s economy restored, and its 

moral fabric renewed. 

Many remember him as the Great Communicator, but as the President said many times, he 

was not a great communicator. He communicated great things. Those were the traditional 

American values of this midwesterner turned national leader. They came from the profound 

Christian faith inculcated in a young DUTCH

REAGAN by his beloved mother Nelle and from 

his heart. And, as the President said, ‘‘they came 

from the heart of a great nation.’’ 

Those ideas were simple, straightforward, and 

distinctly American. President REAGAN believed 

that freedom depended on limited government. 

He fiercely advanced the principles of less government, less taxes, a strong military, and a commitment to traditional moral values. 

And President REAGAN changed the course of 

my life. While youthful ambition led me to politics, it was the voice and the values of RONALD

REAGAN that made me a Republican. The Bible 

says, ‘‘If the trumpet does not sound a clear call, 

who will get ready for battle?’’ RONALD

REAGAN’s great gift was to sound a clear call to 

return our Nation to the ideals of its Founders, 

and it was said that when he spoke, people did 

not just agree. From coffee shops to tractor seats 

to high offices in tall buildings, when the American people heard REAGAN speak, they said, 

‘‘Darn right.’’ 

I had the privilege in 1988 as a candidate for 

Congress to sit with the President in the Blue 

Room of the White House and speak to him personally, and on that occasion, that great privilege 

of my life, I was able to look the President in 

the eye as he asked me how my campaign was 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 81 

going. I said, ‘‘Mr. President, it is going fine, 

but I just want to thank you for everything you 

have done for our country and to encourage my 

generation of Americans to believe in this country again.’’ 

I said then, and I say again, thank you, Mr. 

President. May God bless you, as, through you, 

God most certainly blessed the United States of 

America. 

Hon. Martin Frost 

OF TEXAS

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor President 

REAGAN’s legacy to our country. I was elected 

in 1978, 2 years before RONALD REAGAN assumed the Presidency. I served in Congress the 

entire 8 years of his Presidency and had the opportunity to observe him at close range. We 

often disagreed on domestic policy; however, we 

were largely in agreement on foreign policy, and 

REAGAN, indeed, left an indelible mark in the 

field of foreign affairs. He correctly understood 

the economic vulnerability of the Soviet Union 

and exploited this to win the cold war without 

firing a shot. He increased U.S. defense spending, 

an effort which I supported, and when the Soviet 

Union tried to keep pace, it fell apart from the 

economic strain. 

The watchword of his administration was 

‘‘peace through strength.’’ President REAGAN

brought hope and optimism to our country at 

a time when it was sorely needed. Also, he demonstrated through word and deed that one could 

disagree with their domestic political adversaries 

and still be friends at the end of the day. This 

is an element that is sorely missing from today’s 

highly charged partisan atmosphere in Washington. 

RONALD REAGAN won his share of battles in 

Congress, but he did it without lasting rancor. 

That was perhaps his greatest legacy. We could 

use a little bit of that spirit today. 

Hon. Barbara Cubin 

OF WYOMING

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a 

great man, a great President, and a true friend 

to the people of Wyoming. 

We all probably have our way of remembering 

President REAGAN, but for me I will always see 

him atop his big white horse, pointing out to 

the distance as if to say, ‘‘The future is that way, 

and we must ride into it.’’ Here is the picture 

that I remember so well. 

Today we are lucky enough to live in that future. The millions once enslaved behind the Iron 

Curtain are free, and the cold war is over, with 

freedom the victor. 

They say that fortune favors the brave, and fortune favored President REAGAN. He helped us 

to believe in ourselves again and to believe in 

common dreams that bind us together as Americans. 

When President REAGAN took office, we were 

gripped with the fear that perhaps America’s 

greatest days were behind us. Eight years later 

when he walked out of the Oval Office and into 

the sunset of his life, we knew that in America 

our best days will always be on the horizon. 

Mr. Speaker, the people of Wyoming will be 

eternally thankful to RONALD REAGAN. We will 

be eternally thankful that he was there on that 

white horse to point the way not into the sunset, 

but instead into a shining new ‘‘morning in 

America.’’ 

Hon. Lincoln Davis 

OF TENNESSEE

Mr. Speaker, the death of President REAGAN, 

given his publicly known battle with Alzheimer’s, did not come as a surprise to many. 

Still, those of us in the United States and around 

the world are greatly saddened by his departure 

and by our loss. 

He was an indelible figure, known not only 

in American history, but known throughout 

world history. The man that helped bring about 

the end of the cold war will always be praised 
82 Ronald Reagan 

for his eternal optimism, love of country, principle stance on issues, the eloquence in which he 

communicated with the Nation, and his abundant faith. 

It is my firm belief that President REAGAN

saw the best in everyone. As with most Americans, REAGAN understood America’s greatness 

lies within its people. It is the character of the 

American people that has guided us through all 

the obstacles we have had to overcome. And we 

recently celebrated the American spirit during 

the 60th anniversary of D-day. 

President REAGAN was perceived as a man 

guided by principles. No matter what side of the 

aisle we were on, we always knew where he 

stood. His legacy will be the challenge that he 

opened to bring about peace between two superpowers. His work can be best summed up by the 

English author Richard Adams: ‘‘The thinker 

dies, but his thoughts are beyond the reach of 

destruction. Men are mortal, but ideas are immortal.’’ 

The man of abundant faith in country, family, 

and God, REAGAN embodied the American spirit. Even in knowing his time on Earth was nearing an end, he wrote: ‘‘When the Lord calls me 

home, whenever that may be, I will leave with 

the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future.’’ 

Our thoughts and prayers are with Mrs. 

Reagan and their children at this difficult time. 

May God bless them, and may God bless the 

United States of America. 

Hon. Jeff Miller 

OF FLORIDA

Mr. Speaker, most Presidents have been defined by the events of their day. Whether it is 

war, the economy, or domestic policy, these leaders have all been forced to react to the issues. 

RONALD WILSON REAGAN, however, did not fit 

this mold. His Presidency defined the events of 

his day, which boldly resembles the world that 

we each live in. 

Taking office in a relatively peaceful period in 

our history, where the cold war was in an assumed perpetual state, rather than a quid pro 

quo acceptance of an evil empire on the other 

side of the globe, President REAGAN challenged 

the conventional wisdom of appeasing the Soviet 

Union and challenged them directly, helmet to 

helmet, on the field of ideology. 

President REAGAN’s administration had an exceptional consistency through his 8 years—life, 

liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, words we 

often take for granted while denying ourselves a 

conscious thought that there are many who are 

denied these God-given, inalienable unalienable 

rights. 

On June 12, 1987, from what was West Germany’s Brandenburg Gate, President REAGAN

spoke directly to communist states, telling them 

what was painfully obvious to the Western 

world: A totalitarian system just did not work. 

jWke see failure, technological backwardness, declining 

standards of health, even want of the most basic kind—too 

little food. . . . After . . . four decades . . . there stands before 

the entire world one great and inescapable conclusion: Freedom leads to prosperity. Freedom replaces the ancient hatreds 

among the nations with comity and peace. Freedom is the 

victor. 

This, of course, was the famous speech where 

President REAGAN asked Mr. Gorbachev to tear 

down the Berlin Wall and to let men and women 

be free. President REAGAN pledged cooperation 

in reducing nuclear weapons, maintaining peace, 

but doing so in a setting befitting civilized nations. This declaration, while a defining moment 

in his Presidency, was consistent of a President 

who believed, truly believed, in a free-market 

economy and in a world that called on personal 

responsibility and a hand up rather than a handout; limited government; the right of men and 

women to live free, and children to grow up in 

a world that did not require them to know the 

duck-and-cover routine. 

Mr. Speaker, God bless the GIPPER, and may 

God rest his soul. 

Hon. Darlene Hooley 

OF OREGON

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the 

life of President RONALD WILSON REAGAN, a 

man whose legacy will be remembered for generations to come. 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 83 

I remember President REAGAN as an optimistic leader who stood up for what he believed 

in and who led our Nation with passion, grace, 

and wit. President REAGAN believed in the resourcefulness of the American people and believed that their ingenuity, courage, and hard 

work could build a better America and a better 

world. 

President REAGAN envisioned America as a 

can-do country, and he was devoted and unwavering in his commitment to the American people. His message of optimism provided hope for 

many Americans during challenging times for 

our Nation and for the world. 

Today we remember his service and his leadership and join the rest of the country in mourning 

his passing. My thoughts and prayers are with 

his devoted wife Nancy and his entire family. 

Hon. Todd Russell Platts 

OF PENNSYLVANIA

Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to RONALD

WILSON REAGAN, our Nation’s 40th President, 

a true statesman and patriot, a husband and father, and a Great American. I offer my sincerest 

condolences to Mrs. Reagan and the entire 

Reagan family. My prayers are with them in this 

time of mourning and remembrance. 

When RONALD REAGAN was elected President 

in 1980, America was facing a crisis. The crisis 

went deeper than the economic problems of 

double-digit inflation, rising unemployment, 

long gas lines, and threatening military actions 

of the Soviet Union. After Vietnam, Watergate, 

and the hostage situation in Iran, America actually began to experience a crisis of faith in itself. 

More than any other person, President REAGAN

helped us to overcome our doubts and remind 

us that America is, in fact, a ‘‘shining city on 

a hill.’’ 

RONALD REAGAN was the eternal optimist, a 

believer in America’s abilities, ideals, and innate 

goodness. His faith in the greatness of our Nation was perhaps best expressed when he said: 

In this land of dreams fulfilled, where greater dreams may 

be imagined, nothing is impossible, no victory is beyond our 

reach, no glory will ever be too great. 

Through his outlook and conviction, President 

REAGAN restored America’s confidence in itself. 

As a result of RONALD REAGAN’s inspiring 

leadership as our President, the world changed 

dramatically. Economic stagnation was replaced 

with a dynamic economy. President REAGAN

challenged the Soviet Union to ‘‘tear down this 

wall!’’ and the Berlin Wall came down. He saw 

a day when Eastern Europe would join the free 

world, and it did. He stayed firm at Reykjavik 

and, for the first time, Russia and America 

stopped building, and started destroying, nuclear 

weapons. 

RONALD REAGAN understood the price of 

freedom. Forty years after D-day, and 19 years 

and 364 days before he passed away, President 

REAGAN commemorated ‘‘the boys of Pointe du 

Hoc’’ who took the cliffs at Normandy for the 

Allies during World War II. He said: 

The men of Normandy had faith that what they were 

doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith 

that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead 

or on the next. It was the deep knowledge—and pray God 

we have not lost it—that there is a profound moral difference 

between the use of force for liberation and the use of force 

for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and 

so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you 

were right not to doubt. 

You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One’s 

country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying 

for, because it’s the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty. All of 

you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people 

of your countries were behind you. 

It is this understanding of history, this moral 

clarity, that helped RONALD REAGAN to lead us 

to the freer world we have today. It is what helps 

to make President REAGAN one of the giants of 

the 20th century, along with his personal hero, 

Franklin Delano Roosevelt. 

Six years ago, in commemoration of RONALD

REAGAN’s 87th birthday, I had the pleasure of 

joining First Lady Nancy Reagan and Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick at the Reagan Library in 

California. I was there as an elected member of 

the Pennsylvania General Assembly. But I was 

there, most importantly, as an American citizen 

who was honored to pay tribute to and to express 

my deep gratitude to President REAGAN for his 

tremendous service to our Nation. In my conversation with Mrs. Reagan that day, my message 

was simply one of thanks. Thanks to her and, 
84 Ronald Reagan 

through her, to President REAGAN for their dedicated, hard-working and outstanding service to 

our great Nation and its citizens. 

RONALD REAGAN’s service to others, his 

statesmanship, his love of country, and his unwavering commitment to the principles of freedom, liberty, and justice for which our Nation 

stands, were great examples for all of us fellow 

citizens to emulate. President REAGAN was truly 

inspiring to countless citizens. His example 

helped to affirm my own commitment to the 

ideals of public service, to the ideals of giving 

back to one’s Nation, and certainly helped to affirm my interest in serving the public office, including here in Congress. 

I am greatly honored to join with fellow 

Americans in saying: Mr. President, thank you 

for a job well done and a life well lived. You 

will long be missed and never forgotten. God 

bless you and God bless this great Nation you 

loved so dearly, the United States of America. 

Hon. Jo Ann Emerson 

OF MISSOURI

Mr. Speaker, as we mourn the passing of President RONALD REAGAN, I remember one experience in 1985 that to me defines President 

REAGAN best. It was my daughter Katharine’s 

first visit to the White House with the Emerson 

family. As we approached the Oval Office, outside of which we were to wait for the President, 

the door swung open. Katharine had been obediently holding my hand, but at that moment she 

broke away from me and she ran toward President REAGAN. The Secret Servicemen standing 

between us and the President moved to stop her. 

‘‘No, no,’’ President REAGAN calmly said to 

them. Katharine flew past the Secret Servicemen 

and jumped into the President’s arms, and he 

lifted her up high. 

The genuine joy on both of their faces struck 

me then. Today the memory reminds me that 

as strong a man as he was, President REAGAN

could easily match the enthusiastic happiness of 

a 2-year-old. 

Even before she met him, RONALD REAGAN

was my daughter’s hero. It was not the President’s rhetoric that won her. It was not his stalwart countenance under the distress of terror in 

the Middle East, his unwavering courage in the 

face of communism, or his passionate leadership 

in the shadow of a nuclear threat. Not even the 

lure of the jellybean jar on his desk made 

REAGAN a great man to Katharine. 

Plainly put, the quality that won her was the 

same one that won us all: his sincerity. 

He was quintessentially American. He was a 

midwesterner. He was a success story. He was 

a visionary. And finally, RONALD REAGAN was 

not just a leader whom we believed in; he was 

a leader who believed in us. 

But when I remember RONALD REAGAN, I 

think of him calling off the Secret Service agents 

and happily sweeping Katharine up into his 

arms. He swept us all up that same way, and 

the tide of sincerity on which he carried us is 

the same one welling up in the eyes of our Nation right now. 

A photo of Katharine in President REAGAN’s 

arms, taken seconds after she defied us to pursue 

a hug from her hero, today hangs in the front 

room of my Washington office. Every time I 

walk through that door, I see the photo and 

think of him as millions of us do: as a member 

of our family. 

Hon. Dennis Moore 

OF KANSAS

Mr. Speaker, the United States of America lost 

one of our giants with the passing last Saturday 

of our 40th President, RONALD WILSON

REAGAN. 

We come together today and this week in 

Congress, Democrats and Republicans, to pay 

tribute to the man who played a primary role 

in ending our cold war with the Soviet Union 

and who, as the Center for American Progress 

said earlier this week, projected ‘‘a never-failing 

sense of optimism which restored faith in the 

American Presidency in a Nation still scarred by 

Vietnam and Watergate.’’ 

The Los Angeles Times said this week: 

His sunny self-assurance, his insistence that there really 

were simple answers to difficult problems, his knack for actu-
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 85 

ally making things happen, all were soothing changes for a 

country that had endured Vietnam, Watergate, a Presidential 

resignation, an energy crisis, double-digit inflation, and the 

seizing of American hostages in Iran in the course of one 

tumultuous decade. 

In particular, Mr. Speaker, we remember RONALD REAGAN for standing firmly with Federal 

Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker in the early 

eighties to drive down inflation and revive the 

economy, thus setting the stage for the prolonged American economic expansion of the early 

nineties. 

While President REAGAN had deeply held core 

convictions, as a national leader he was also able 

to compromise and change directions when policies were not working. After instigating a large 

tax cut in 1981, for example, he later asked for 

tax increases to fight an exploding Federal deficit 

and tight monetary conditions. Without President REAGAN’s active support, the GrammRudman-Hollings Act, which ultimately led to 

deficit reductions through imposition of pay-asyou-go rules, would never have become law. 

President REAGAN signed into law bills protecting 1.9 billion acres of wilderness in Washington State and Oregon. Known as a lifelong 

crusader against communism, President REAGAN

combined military and diplomatic strength to 

develop a relationship with Soviet Leader Mikhail 

Gorbachev that ultimately led to limits on nuclear weapons and the end of the cold war. 

The Washington Post recently said that President REAGAN was able to win the respect of Europeans through his ‘‘commitment to winning 

the Cold War and his willingness to work peacefully to bring about the demise of the Soviet 

Union.’’ 

Even in times of failure and disappointment, 

President REAGAN stood tall, and he won the respect of all. Following the disaster at the Marine 

barracks in Lebanon and the Iran-Contra scandal, 

President REAGAN accepted responsibility saying, ‘‘This happened on my watch’’ and ‘‘if there 

is to be blame, it properly rests here in this office 

and with this President. And I accept responsibility for the bad as well as the good.’’ That was 

a quote from President REAGAN, and I think 

that shows the measure of the man that President 

REAGAN was. 

In the twilight of his life, President REAGAN

again provided hope and inspiration for millions 

of Americans with his valiant battle, with the 

devoted support of his wife, Nancy, against the 

ravages of Alzheimer’s disease. Mr. Speaker, my 

father is afflicted with this cruel and debilitating 

condition. I share the hope of Nancy Reagan and 

millions of others that expanded stem cell research will some day unlock new discoveries 

needed to successfully treat Alzheimer’s disease, 

diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and cancer. 

I greatly respect the religious convictions of 

those people who are concerned about the expansion of stem cell research, but I hope soon we 

will find some middle ground between the two 

extremes and enable us to go forward with this 

research which one day may save the lives of millions of Americans. One of the legacies of our 

40th President will be that we worked together 

to find a way to join in harnessing this technology and promise. The potential human health 

and scientific benefits of stem cell research are 

simply staggering, and I hope that we can join 

and leave a legacy for President REAGAN and for 

Nancy Reagan as well. 

In conclusion, I reflect back on RONALD

REAGAN’s last major public address, his speech 

to the 1992 Republican National Convention. He 

could have been speaking, though, to all Americans, Mr. Speaker, because he said, he closed with 

these words: 

My fellow citizens, . . . I want you to know that I have 

always had the highest respect for you, for your common 

sense and intelligence and for your decency. I have always 

believed in you and in what you could accomplish for yourselves and for others. 

And whatever else history may say about me when I am 

gone, I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, 

not your worst fears, to your confidence rather than your 

doubts. My dream is that you will travel the road ahead with 

liberty’s lamp guiding your steps and opportunity’s arm 

steadying your way. 

I hope that we in Congress, Mr. Speaker, can 

come together for the American people for an 

agenda; and I truly believe that even though we 

have honest, good-faith differences between the 

parties, we can put aside some of the rancor, 

some of the partisanship, and work on the American agenda the way that RONALD REAGAN

wanted us all to do. 
86 Ronald Reagan 

Mr. Speaker, I could think of no better way 

to remember the legacy of President RONALD

REAGAN than by those words that he gave. 

Hon. Mac Thornberry 

OF TEXAS

Mr. Speaker, like many Americans, I feel a real 

and personal sense of loss with the death of President RONALD REAGAN. He was a great man and 

a great President, ranking in the top tier of all 

of our Chief Executives. He will be remembered 

as a pivotal historical figure; but, at the same 

time, many Americans feel as though they have 

lost a member of their family. Such was the 

unique character and legacy of RONALD

REAGAN, the President and the man. 

My wife Sally and I each had the honor of 

serving as political appointees during the second 

term of the Reagan administration. We were 

down in the bowels of the bureaucracy, but 

proud to be working for and certainly inspired 

by President REAGAN. With his optimism and 

his confidence in America, he inspired at least 

a generation of conservatives to be involved in 

public life and to advance the ideals for which 

he stood. 

As important as his accomplishments domestically and internationally were, perhaps his most 

important success was to help the American people believe in themselves again. After the tumult 

of assassinations, Vietnam, Watergate, and malaise, RONALD REAGAN came to remind us of the 

core values of the Founding Fathers and the special place that the United States has in the history of the world, that ‘‘shining city on a hill.’’ 

President REAGAN was called the Great Communicator, but he said that what was truly great 

were the ideas he communicated. Those ideas 

were fundamental in the creation of the United 

States. As he noted in his farewell address, he 

communicated ‘‘great things . . . jthatk came 

from the heart of a . . . nation—from our experience, our wisdom, and our belief in principles 

that have guided us for two centuries.’’ RONALD

REAGAN brought out the best in us because he 

knew the best of us. 

Our Nation was blessed to have been given 

RONALD REAGAN, the President and the man. 

Mr. Speaker, I believe that the accomplishments which cause RONALD REAGAN to stand 

among our greatest Presidents can be traced to 

a set of fundamental beliefs to which he adhered 

throughout his political career. 

One of them was strong, steadfast confidence 

in the American people. President REAGAN knew 

that government must be limited so that the unlimited potential of individual Americans could 

be unleashed. He knew that when families were 

able to keep more of the money they earned, not 

just the family but the whole country would benefit. The result of his tax relief and restraint of 

government was the longest period of economic 

growth in the Nation’s history. 

President REAGAN also believed, with the 

signers of the Declaration of Independence, that 

freedom is a gift of God, intended for all peoples. 

In his speech to the British Parliament in 1982, 

which he viewed as among his most important, 

he said: 

We must be staunch in our conviction that freedom is not 

the sole prerogative of a lucky few, but the inalienable and 

universal right of all human beings. 

President REAGAN was often underestimated, 

but his clear words required clear thoughts, and 

those clear thoughts came from a clear vision and 

clear values, the articulation of which was refined 

over a lifetime of work. The amount of work and 

thought RONALD REAGAN put into developing 

and expressing his views are only now becoming 

known, with the publication of some of the thousands of articles and letters written with his own 

hand. 

He clearly believed that one must not be afraid 

to speak the truth, sometimes to the discomfort 

of his advisors. In the well-known speech in 

which he called the Soviet Union the ‘‘focus of 

evil in the modern world’’ he went on to urge 

his listeners and the country to: 

jSkpeak out against those who would place the United 

States in a position of military and moral inferiority . . . I 

urge you to beware the temptation of pride—the temptation 

of blithely declaring yourselves above it all and label both 

sides equally at fault, to ignore the facts of history and the 

aggressive impulses of an evil empire, to simply call the arms 

race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself 

from the struggle between right and wrong and good and 

evil. 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 87 

Throughout his career of public service, RONALD REAGAN did not remove himself from the 

struggle between right and wrong, good and evil. 

He engaged in that struggle, and he changed the 

course of history. 

Before the British Parliament, President 

REAGAN repeated the question asked by Winston 

Churchill in one of his wartime speeches: ‘‘What 

kind of a people do they think we are?’’ President 

REAGAN answered, ‘‘Free people, worthy of freedom and determined not only to remain so but 

to help others gain their freedom as well.’’ 

Being a ‘‘free people, worthy of freedom’’ and 

‘‘helpjingk others gain their freedom as well’’ remains America’s challenge. My hope is that we 

pursue those aims with the determination and 

spirit that RONALD REAGAN displayed throughout his career. 

A President whose basic political philosophy 

about the role of government continues to occupy 

center stage in our domestic debates more than 

a decade after he left office; a President who 

changed the course of world history and helped 

free millions of people from totalitarian bondage; 

a man who restored a Nation’s confidence in 

itself and continues to inspire defenders of freedom everywhere—quite a record. Quite a life. 

Again, our Nation was blessed to have been 

given RONALD REAGAN. 

Hon. Benjamin L. Cardin 

OF MARYLAND

Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of the people I 

represent in the Third Congressional District to 

express my sincere condolences to the Reagan 

family and to memorialize our 40th President, 

RONALD WILSON REAGAN. 

I had the opportunity to serve for 2 years in 

the Congress when RONALD REAGAN was President of the United States, and I also had the opportunity when I was speaker of the State legislature to work with President REAGAN on behalf 

of the National Conference of State Legislators. 

Mr. Speaker, RONALD REAGAN was one of the 

most effective Presidents in the history of our 

Nation. He brought an agenda of change to 

Washington, and he developed public support 

for that change and then congressional support 

for that change. He did it using the process, to 

bring about a change of policy and expectation 

of our country. He also established America as 

a world leader, proud of our commitment to democracy and willing to get involved in international events to bring about change for the 

good. He laid the foundation for the end of the 

cold war. 

As I said, Mr. Speaker, he was a remarkable 

President and will be missed by all. 

On January 20, 1981, President REAGAN spoke 

of his abiding commitment to ‘‘a special interest 

group that has been too long neglected. It knows 

no sectional boundaries or ethnic and racial divisions, and it crosses political party lines. It is 

made up of men and women who raise our food, 

patrol our streets, man our mines and factories, 

teach our children, keep our homes, and heal us 

when we’re sick—professionals, industrialists, 

shopkeepers, clerks, cabbies, and truck drivers. 

They are, in short, ‘‘we the people,’’ this breed 

called Americans.’’ 

Mr. Speaker, he will be missed by all. 

Hon. Wayne T. Gilchrest 

OF MARYLAND

America mourns these past few days the passing of a true American, one who reflects not only 

the values of the country in the 21st century or 

the 20th century, but RONALD REAGAN had inherent in his body and his soul and his mind 

and his heart the idea that each of us has a passion for freedom, that each of us has a sense of 

urgency for justice. 

Jefferson will be remembered for many, many 

things; but we will all remember those words, 

‘‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all 

men are created equal.’’ 

And Lincoln will be remembered for many, 

many things, but we will all remember those 

words after the Civil War: ‘‘With malice toward 

none, with charity for all, let us work together 

to bind up the Nation’s wounds.’’ 

And a century later, another American that reflected the true values of our country said that 
88 Ronald Reagan 

‘‘you will not be judged by the color of your 

skin, but by the content of your character.’’ 

These men through the centuries brought 

America together. They united America. They 

had a vision for America. 

RONALD REAGAN will be remembered for 

many, many things, but we will all remember 

with a sense of seriousness and joy when he said, 

‘‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!’’ 

So what Mr. REAGAN was trying to do was 

to impart that passion for freedom, that urgency 

for justice, not only for Americans and the vast 

array of cultures that we have here but for the 

rest of the world. 

Mrs. Reagan, the Reagan family, America, 

President RONALD REAGAN will be missed, but 

always remembered. 

Hon. Mark Green 

OF WISCONSIN

Mr. Speaker, I entered college in the late seventies, and so I remember well those times and 

the challenges that we faced: soaring inflation, 

soaring interest rates, soaring unemployment, gas 

prices that were sky high, on the world stage 

hostages in Iran, and the cold war loomed large. 

I remember that as President REAGAN took office, some pundits, some experts out there arguing that the Office of the Presidency had become 

too big for one man. And they said maybe it was 

time to look at a different institution, co-Presidency or something like that. And then on to 

the stage came RONALD REAGAN. 

Through shear force of character, through his 

inspirational leadership, I am proud to say that 

he shaped the modern Republican Party, he 

shaped the Office of the Presidency, he shaped 

a new America, indeed he shaped a new world, 

a new world that offered hope for freedom-loving 

people all around the world. 

Mr. Speaker, not a bad accomplishment for 

one man. 

Hon. Michael C. Burgess 

OF TEXAS

Mr. Speaker, it has been said that RONALD

REAGAN loved Texas and Texas loved RONALD

REAGAN right back. So it was especially poignant that news of his passing occurred during our 

State Republican Convention this past weekend. 

Indeed, State Senator Jane Nelson from my district in north Texas was quoted in the newspaper 

as saying, ‘‘We stopped at that point. We had 

a preacher on hand that gave him a beautiful 

tribute. We were able to come up with a picture, 

and we all sang ‘Amazing Grace.’ There were a 

lot of tears, mine included.’’ 

County judge Mary Horn was quoted in my 

local paper as saying, ‘‘He was the same up close 

as you perceived him to be on television. He was 

very sincere and very nice. When he talked to 

you, he talked to you. He didn’t pay attention 

to things going on around him. You had his full 

attention.’’ 

State Representative Myra Crownover said, ‘‘I 

remember that while REAGAN was the oldest 

elected President, what sticks in my mind was 

the way he connected to young people. We had 

been through a decade of young people being 

disconnected with taking pride in America, and 

he lit that spark again.’’ Representative 

Crownover went on to say, ‘‘You have to be appreciative of what his family is living through.’’ 

Someone described it once as being halfway to 

Heaven. I am so glad he has been released so he 

could go the rest of the way. 

Hon. Tom Feeney 

OF FLORIDA

Mr. Speaker, for all Americans, RONALD

REAGAN was a happy warrior who fought all of 

his life for freedom with a gracefulness and a confidence that inspired all of America. But for 

American contemporary conservatives like myself, RONALD REAGAN was more than that. He 

was our Plato, laying the philosophical groundwork for limited government, freedom, and selfresponsibility. 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 89 

He was our Moses. After Lincoln, republicanism had been adrift in fighting our way out 

of a desert filled with statist tendencies and the 

march toward bigger government and welfare dependency, something Frederick Hayek described 

as ‘‘The Road to Serfdom.’’ REAGAN reminded 

conservatives that America had a great rendezvous with destiny ahead. 

Reagan was our Washington, the first contemporary President to consistently lay out conservative principles and steadfastly, calmly, and timely lead us during threats to freedom from big 

government and taxation at home, threats from 

tyrannical hegemony from abroad, to secure what 

our first President called the ‘‘sacred fire of liberty.’’ 

Finally, RONALD REAGAN was a Churchill, 

warning of external threats not only to our homeland’s freedom but of gathering storms building 

globally which endangered the aspirations of 

freedom fighters across the globe. And like 

Churchill, he then led us and led the free world 

in refusing to appease or co-exist with totalitarian threats but instead insisting, like King 

Henry at Agincourt, that we wade into the 

enemy and win. 

Finally, to quote Senator Benjamin Hill when 

he was speaking of the death of Robert E. Lee, 

I would like to quote him with respect to RONALD REAGAN: ‘‘He was a foe without hate; a 

friend without treachery; a soldier without cruelty; a victor without oppression; and a victim 

without murmuring. He was a public officer 

without vices; a private citizen without wrong; 

a neighbor without reproach; a Christian without 

hypocrisy; and a man without guile. He was a 

Caesar, without his ambition; Frederick, without 

his tyranny; Napoleon, without his selfishness, 

and Washington, without his reward.’’ 

This week America gives President REAGAN

his very just reward. 

By 1980, America’s leaders were presiding over 

a self-described ‘‘national malaise’’ domestically, 

12-percent interest rates, 20-percent mortgage 

rates, and a rising misery index across the land. 

Internationally, America seemed resigned to 

co-existence with an evil empire that had 

enslaved and killed tens of millions, and drawn 

down upon two-thirds of the world’s people an 

‘‘iron curtain’’ of suffering and hopelessness. 

A decade later, it was morning again in America. Tax rates were cut from 70 percent to 25 

percent, gross domestic product rising at the 

fastest rates since World War II, stock markets 

booming and the American spirit transcending 

long-forgotten malaise. 

Hon. Scott Garrett 

OF NEW JERSEY

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as we pay our respects to one of the greatest leaders that this Nation has ever known, a man who will forever be 

held as a model for what is great about America. 

As we take this time to mourn the loss of one 

of our Nation’s greatest leaders, we should also 

celebrate his heroic and historic life that he lived. 

RONALD REAGAN exemplified the best qualities 

that you would ever want in a leader. He was 

compassionate, he was caring, he was visionary, 

and he was strong. He took our Nation from a 

crisis in confidence to a country the entire world 

would view as a standard bearer of justice and 

liberty. 

Americans put their trust in RONALD

REAGAN and, in turn, RONALD REAGAN put his 

trust in each one of us. He had faith in the 

American individual, in one’s ability to care for 

one’s self. RONALD REAGAN knew that we could 

do more for ourselves than any oversized bureaucratic burdensome Federal Government could 

ever do. RONALD REAGAN believed that doing 

more for ourselves was really the best way that 

we could regain that long missing self-confidence 

and our American pride again. 

So today, in the wake of the President’s death, 

we must continue to learn from his teachings. 

And we must long remember after today the contributions that RONALD REAGAN made to this 

Nation. 

So may the legacy of RONALD REAGAN live 

on as long as we are all proud to raise up the 

Stars and Stripes and call ourselves the United 

States of America. 
90 Ronald Reagan 

Hon. John Kline 

OF MINNESOTA

Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to rise and join my 

colleagues in expressing my love and admiration 

and respect for President RONALD REAGAN. I 

very much appreciate that here on the House 

floor last night and today colleagues from both 

sides of the aisle have stepped up to express their 

respects. I think that is an important thing. It 

is an indicator of what a truly great man, a great 

President, a great leader we had in RONALD

REAGAN. 

Many of us had the privilege and honor of 

working closely with President REAGAN. I was 

very fortunate that in his first months in office 

I had the position of being his Marine Corps aid 

and carrying the nuclear football, the codes, traveling with him, and having the opportunity to 

share some thoughts. It usually was him sharing 

the thoughts and me listening in rapt attention, 

but what a wonderful man. 

When you were with and near RONALD

REAGAN, it really was ‘‘morning in America.’’ I 

never knew any one of us who worked with him 

or anyone who was in his presence who could 

not feel his love for life, his love for our country, 

his unstoppable optimism. And on the one hand 

he was, as we have heard many of our colleagues 

say, friendly, lovable, affable, ready with the 

joke; and on the other hand he was truly a man 

of steel. 

He had a wonderful vision for America, a vision as he articulated of a ‘‘city on the hill,’’ a 

beacon of hope and opportunity for the world. 

And his resolute determination that we would 

not continue in the impossible impasse of the 

cold war, the very cold war that necessitated me 

and my colleagues to carry those nuclear codes; 

he refused to accept that as inevitable and he set 

out with the determination that is hard to imagine today, to end that impasse, to win the war, 

to defeat the evil empire. I was proud to serve 

with him. 

I just want to express my love to him and my 

love to his family. 

Hon. Terry Everett 

OF ALABAMA

Mr. Speaker, I insert at this point in the Record 

my celebration of President RONALD REAGAN’s 

life, truly a man that made a great difference in 

this country and this world. 

Mr. Speaker, I join this House and all the 

American people in mourning the loss of former 

President RONALD WILSON REAGAN. His passing is not only a sad time for America, but for 

all nations. 

President REAGAN gave hope and optimism to 

a world fearful of an uncertain future. He stirred 

forgotten emotions of patriotism at home while 

evoking courage in millions abroad struggling 

under the yolk of communism. 

He helped to end the cold war, and his legacy 

is much in evidence today as once again a strong 

and patriotic America leads the world against the 

evil of tyranny. 

Another legacy of President REAGAN—one for 

which he was attacked by the shortsighted—was 

his vision of a strategic missile defense for our 

Nation and our allies. Thank God RONALD

REAGAN did not waiver in his resolve to pursue 

research into a missile defense for America. His 

unbridled determination to protect America from 

nuclear annihilation ultimately brought the Soviet Union to its knees. 

Today, 20 years later, President Bush is leading the launch of a long-awaited missile defense 

system that will make America more secure from 

the threat of nuclear attack by a rogue nation 

or terrorist organization. The groundwork research and development of this vital defense program, the Strategic Defense Initiative, was begun 

under President REAGAN. 

I am honored to chair the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces which has 

a direct role in the funding and oversight of this 

landmark missile defense system. And, I am 

proud to know that my subcommittee’s efforts 

are the continuation of the promise made by 

RONALD REAGAN to bring about a safer future 

for our families. 

On a personal note, the people of the Second 

District of Alabama have a special love for RONALD REAGAN. On July 10, 1986, Air Force One 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 91 

landed at Dothan Airport and President REAGAN

joined hundreds of our citizens of the Wiregrass 

for fried chicken and a discussion of his tax cut 

plan. His charm and conservative message were 

very warmly received. It was clear to everyone 

there that he hated to leave, and we hated to give 

him up. 

Now Alabama and America must say a final 

farewell to our beloved former President. Frankly, I can’t imagine an America without RONALD

REAGAN. He symbolized more completely than 

anyone else in modern history what we loved so 

much about our country. He made America 

‘‘America’’ again and for that we will always be 

grateful. 

On behalf of the people of the Second District 

of Alabama, I send my condolences to Nancy 

Reagan and her family. We join with the Nation 

and the world in sharing in your grief. 

Hon. Doc Hastings 

OF WASHINGTON

Mr. Speaker, RONALD REAGAN is a large part 

of why I have the honor of standing here today. 

I am from Washington State but in the 

midsixties I lived in California. In 1966 I had 

the privilege of casting my first vote for RONALD

REAGAN in the gubernatorial primary and subsequently in the general election when he was 

elected Governor. 

I moved back to Washington in 1976, and I 

served as a Reagan delegate to the Presidential 

Convention in Kansas City. He inspired me to 

get involved in public service, and 2 years later, 

I was elected to the Washington State Legislature. 

Reagan viewed the government as a servant of 

the people, not their master. Throughout his career, he worked for less government control over 

our lives. During his first inaugural address he 

said: 

jIkt’s not my intention to do away with government. It 

is rather to make it work—work with us, not over us; to 

stand by our side, not ride on our back. Government can 

and must provide opportunity, not smother it; foster productivity, not stifle it.’’ 

While he made no apologies for what he believed, he was a pragmatist, not willing to sacrifice the good for the perfect. He has been 

quoted as saying: ‘‘Die-hard conservatives 

thought that if I couldn’t get everything I asked 

for, I should jump off the cliff with the flag flying—go down in flames. No,’’ he said, ‘‘if I can 

get 70 or 80 percent of what . . . I’m trying to 

get . . . I’ll take that and then continue to try 

to get the rest in the future.’’ 

We can all point to a handful of people who 

shaped us into what we are today. My list certainly includes RONALD REAGAN, who helped 

shape both my political ideology and the dayto-day manner in which I try to govern—without acrimony, with a touch of humor, and with 

an unwavering faith in the American people. 

Hon. Katherine Harris 

OF FLORIDA

Mr. Speaker, tonight we join Americans from 

all walks of life and every political persuasion in 

mourning a President whose courage, vision, optimism and resolve renewed the Nation he loved. 

As we look back with the clarity and assuredness that history affords, how easily we forget the 

staggering challenges that RONALD REAGAN inherited on January 20, 1981. 

Haunted by the ghost of Vietnam, America 

seemed in retreat as Soviet aggression either 

enslaved or threatened significant regions of four 

continents. Meanwhile, the American people 

struggled as stagnant economic growth, doubledigit inflation, and 20-percent interest rates ate 

away their life savings and crushed their hopes 

for the future. Most ominously, our leaders spoke 

of a crisis in the American spirit, of a pervasive 

malaise that appeared to have infected our hopes, 

our dreams and our will to persevere. 

These problems seemed so severe and so insoluble that pundits and politicos wondered if the 

burdens of the Presidency had become too large, 

too complex and too demanding for any one person to handle, but not RONALD REAGAN. 

They also believed that the United States 

could only hope to become comfortable in its 

prison of mutually assured destruction with the 

Soviet Union and that the era of nuclear tyranny 

was with us forever, but not RONALD REAGAN. 
92 Ronald Reagan 

These so-called experts were even convinced 

that a vibrant economy was impossible without 

double-digit inflation, but not RONALD

REAGAN. 

Rising from the humblest of beginnings, 

RONALD REAGAN taught us once again how to 

embrace the extraordinary. His historic Presidency restored our spirit, revitalized our economy 

and transformed yesterday’s garrisons of tyranny 

into today’s arsenals of liberty. 

Mr. Speaker, RONALD REAGAN brought us together by reminding us of the unique blessings 

that we enjoy as a Nation, and as we grieve his 

passing this week, let us celebrate a life that exemplified the strength, the character and the resiliency of the American spirit 

Hon. Johnny Isakson 

OF GEORGIA

Mr. Speaker, I am honored to stand here today 

on behalf of myself and the citizens of the 6th 

District of Georgia and express my deep sympathy to the family of RONALD REAGAN and my 

grateful appreciation for the life of RONALD

REAGAN. 

I had the occasion to meet Mr. REAGAN for 

the first time in 1970 when he began his pursuit 

on the national political stage, and I watched in 

amazement as this man transformed a decade of 

dissent and discord into a decade of hope and 

prosperity through the power of his positive attitude and to his great patriotism to his country. 

As a young man in the fifties, I remember 

crawling under the bomb shelters and under my 

desk when we prepared for the cold war and the 

worst of the tyranny of communism, and I 

watched 35 years later as, through his powerful 

persuasiveness, RONALD REAGAN broke down 

the Berlin Wall, broke down the Soviet Union 

and brought peace and prosperity to more of the 

world. 

On this day on behalf of all of my constituents, my children and my grandchildren, I give 

thanks for the life of RONALD REAGAN, and I 

thank God that RONALD REAGAN came America’s way. 

Hon. Jim Gibbons 

OF NEVADA

Mr. Speaker, I want to add my thanks to the 

gentleman from California (Mr. Cox) for granting 

me the time to speak this afternoon. 

I rise today to express my most sincere and 

heartfelt condolences to the family of RONALD

WILSON REAGAN and to the millions of Americans, Mr. Speaker, who join me and all of us in 

mourning the passing of this great leader this 

week. 

I also rise to voice a great sense of loss and 

bereavement felt by a multitude of my fellow 

Nevadans who are now reflecting upon and celebrating the tremendous impact that our Nation’s 

40th and arguably most influential President has 

had on all of our lives. 

REAGAN’s political accomplishments alone 

could fill volumes; yet his political goals would 

have been far more difficult to come by if not 

for his eternally honorable character and personality. This week, as Americans mourn this great 

loss together, we will reflect not only on his political legacy, but also upon REAGAN’s personal 

contributions to America and to our culture. 

RONALD REAGAN was more than a President 

or a Commander in Chief. President REAGAN

was a smalltown boy who mastered his own destiny to become an inspiration and great motivating force for the principles and policies that 

many of us continue to fight for every day in 

the House of Representatives. 

During my tenure in Congress, it has been one 

of my most distinguished honors and personal 

joys to lead my colleagues on multiple measures 

designed to pay homage to Mr. REAGAN. Most 

notably, in May 2002, legislation I sponsored to 

grant RONALD and Nancy REAGAN the Congressional Gold Medal became a reality when President Bush presented Nancy Reagan with this 

award, the highest honor Congress can bestow, 

in the Capitol rotunda. 

Ironically, in light of the tremendous impression his life has left upon the American public, 

even the Congressional Gold Medal seems a tiny 

token of appreciation that can only be overshadowed by the monumental outpouring of re-
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 93 

spect, reverence and appreciation flowing from 

all corners of our great Nation this week. 

So as we contemplate the magnificent life of 

President RONALD REAGAN and mourn his passing, we are reassured by the fact that this body 

can and should keep his legacy alive. Congress 

can best honor President REAGAN by continuing 

progress along a path of conservative policies that 

REAGAN himself would be proud of, and with 

that, I once again send my warmest regards to 

the Reagan family. 

Hon. John R. Carter 

OF TEXAS

Mr. Speaker, today our Nation weeps in a very 

sad week when we recognize that we have lost 

a President who changed the Nation and acted 

upon a policy that created positive change not 

only for this Nation, but for the entire world. 

Many of us who went into politics in the 

eighties, as I did, went in because we were inspired by RONALD REAGAN. I actually ran for 

office the first time in 1980, and something that 

I will never forget is that RONALD REAGAN took 

the time for a young, just-getting-started fellow 

who was running for State representative in 

Texas, to drop me a personal note of encouragement. Here was a man who was going to lead 

the Nation, and yet he took the time for one 

small elected official. I will never forget that. 

RONALD REAGAN believed in America. He 

knew America to be the most noble Nation on 

the face of the Earth, and he absolutely trusted 

the American people, that they would do the 

right thing, because he knew them to be the 

noble people who created this Nation. That message, with which he inspired our country, 

brought us out of malaise and started us on the 

path of glory to know that we are doing the right 

thing. 

We have missed RONALD REAGAN. We will 

miss him tremendously because he inspired us to 

the greatness that we have, and for that reason, 

he has been a blessing upon this Nation. We will 

not forget. 

Back in Williamson County, where I come 

from, we celebrate RONALD REAGAN’s birthday 

every year, and that is our big birthday celebration because we know RONALD REAGAN is the 

modern founder of the Republican Party today, 

and that inspiration causes us to celebrate his 

birthday. 

Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, 

and we hope that they get through this with not 

too much crisis for all the blessings they have 

bestowed upon our Nation. 

Hon. J. Randy Forbes 

OF VIRGINIA

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart 

to honor one of America’s greatest statesmen, 

President RONALD REAGAN. 

As RONALD REAGAN makes his final trip to 

Washington, we remember this truly humble 

American hero. We remember a man with an ordinary beginning who went on to do extraordinary things, to chart the course for a generation, for a Nation and for the world. 

Mr. Speaker, Washington is a town of leaders, 

and each of us who comes to Washington has 

a vision for the direction of our Nation. Rarely 

is there a man like RONALD REAGAN who cannot 

only lead leaders, but who can do so with such 

integrity, principle and honesty. 

In the midst of a Nation whose spirit had been 

crushed with war and economic burden, in the 

midst of people gripped with fear from the 

spread of communism, RONALD REAGAN picked 

us up and breathed hope into our hearts. He reminded us of what we were fighting for. He said: 

jTkhe ultimate determinant in the struggle that’s now 

going on in the world will not be bombs and rockets, but 

a test of wills and ideas, a trial of spiritual resolve, the values 

we hold, the beliefs we cherish, the ideals to which we are 

dedicated. 

He reminded us that as Americans we have 

a responsibility to help those in need: ‘‘We cannot turn away from them,’’ he said, ‘‘for the 

struggle here is not right versus left; it is right 

versus wrong.’’ How true his words still ring 

today. 

RONALD REAGAN reminded us that government is not the answer to our problems, people 

are. ‘‘jGkovernment’s view of the economy could 
94 Ronald Reagan 

be summed up in a few short phrases,’’ he said. 

‘‘If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate 

it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.’’ 

By exposing and destroying burdensome and 

oppressive regulation and taxes, he restored the 

spirit that America is built upon: optimism, opportunity and self-reliance. In doing so, he not 

only energized the economy, but he rejuvenated 

the pride and self-worth of Americans. 

Finally, RONALD REAGAN reminded us of the 

importance of faith in our democracy. He said, 

‘‘Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and 

the rule of law under God is acknowledged.’’ He 

will be missed, but his words and spirit will continue on. 

Hon. J. Gresham Barrett 

OF SOUTH CAROLINA

Mr. Speaker, President REAGAN changed our 

hearts with his optimistic outlook on life, the 

world and our place in it. He came to office at 

a time in our history when we were a little 

bruised and battered, and, simply said, he pulled 

us up by our bootstraps and taught us how to 

get back on the horse that knocked us off. 

He once said that America is too great for 

small dreams, but to RONALD REAGAN these 

were not merely words that were used in a 30- 

second sound bite. These were words that went 

to the core of the man. 

He reminded us that even though we may 

have our differences, our common bond as Americans sets us apart from the rest of the world. 

He believed in all that is good in America because he believed there is good in every American. 

RONALD REAGAN was a hero to me and a hero 

to an entire generation. He leaves a legacy of 

hope and prosperity that will last for generations 

to come. 

I know there is a special place in Heaven for 

RONALD REAGAN, and I know in my heart he 

heard the words, ‘‘Well done.’’ 

Hon. Lincoln Diaz-Balart 

OF FLORIDA

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a man who 

I believe to be the greatest American President 

of the 20th century. President RONALD REAGAN

defeated the most powerful and dangerous military empire in the history of the world without 

firing a single shot. President REAGAN knew instinctively that America represents good, and he 

knew that communism represents evil. He never 

wavered in his conviction that freedom is the 

birthright of all mankind. 

The enemies of the United States never forgave 

him for his firmness, for his character, for his 

faith in the people of the United States and his 

faith in the cause of liberty. Even in his death, 

they continue to attack him. His hatred is evidenced by the declaration made by the tyrannical 

regime in Havana a few hours ago: ‘‘He, who 

never should have been born, has died.’’ That 

monstrous statement illustrates the ultimate evil 

of the tyrant who has enslaved the Cuban people 

for over 45 years. President REAGAN knew that 

the Cuban tyrant and that communist tyrants everywhere have represented and represent the antithesis of liberty, freedom and human dignity. 

I think he was an extraordinary leader, Mr. 

Speaker, someone who inspired us all, changed 

America for the better and saved the world from 

tyranny. 

May RONALD WILSON REAGAN, apostle of 

freedom, democracy and human rights, rest in 

peace. 

Hon. Fred Upton 

OF MICHIGAN

Mr. Speaker, I am one of those fortunate to 

have worked and served in the Reagan administration for 41

§2 years. I started off as a legislative 

aid, and I ended up being in charge of congressional affairs at OMB under Director Stockman 

and then under Director Jim Miller. RONALD

REAGAN had a vision, an agenda; and he knew 

how to get things done. He surrounded himself 

with good people that were smart, who shared 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 95 

his vision, and in fact knew the political process 

to get things done. 

Back then, times were tough. We had the cold 

war, we had double-digit inflation, double-digit 

unemployment, double-digit interest rates; and 

yet he was still able to get his agenda through 

and move the country forward. The odds were 

stacked against him. Republicans did not control 

the Senate; and in this body, in the House, they 

did not control the House either. In fact, the 

margin was 70 or 80 votes short in the House. 

Yet he was still able to get his agenda through. 

On the minority side, the Republican side, we 

had two terrific dynamic leaders, John Rhodes 

and Bob Michel, two Republicans who were minority leaders, never Speaker. They were both 

good, decent, honest people; but they never had 

the votes, or not the Republican votes. So RONALD REAGAN appealed to the American people 

for his support. Reaganesque is a word today that 

you will find in the dictionary, a powerful word; 

and in fact he put policy over politics, and look 

at the results. 

He beat an incumbent President, a good honest, decent guy, Jimmy Carter, who has done 

wonderful things since his Presidency; but the 

real test is reelection, and RONALD REAGAN won 

49 of the 50 States. If that was not a mandate 

in terms of his agenda, I do not know what is. 

That mandate, winning 49 States, I think will 

serve as the record for any President running for 

reelection. 

Yes, history will judge where he stands, rightfully so. But in large part it already has. RONALD

REAGAN was a great American President, a wonderful man who touched tens of millions of lives 

across this country in every respect of their life. 

I was proud to serve a wonderful President for 

those years. 

Hon. Christopher Cox 

OF CALIFORNIA

The first time I met RONALD REAGAN was 

the day I began work for him in the White 

House. We shook hands and exchanged pleasantries in the Oval Office. Of course, it is difficult 

to forget one’s first meeting with the President 

of the United States, but what I particularly remember is how quickly he put me at ease. Of 

course, he told a joke. 

Learning that I was a Harvard graduate, he 

told me the story of a friend of his who had graduated from Harvard Law School, had become a 

partner in a large firm but had lost his position 

due to a problem with drinking and drugs, and 

consequentially, in succession, he lost his wife, 

his family, his income, and even ran afoul of the 

law, being put in jail for shoplifting. But now 

he was out of jail. He had cleaned up his life 

and, most important, he had met a wonderful 

woman to whom he wished to propose marriage. 

But, and it was on this point that he asked the 

President’s advice, he had not told this woman 

about his background for fear of losing her. So 

he asked the President, should I tell her that I 

went to Harvard? 

I knew immediately where I stood. Two years 

later, I was with the President in the Oval Office, 

and I have a picture hanging on my desk of this 

moment, and I am sitting across from his desk, 

across from him, just the two of us. He has a 

big smile on his face, and I am about to burst 

out laughing because he was, of course, telling 

another joke. 

It was a special privilege to travel with the 

President on Air Force One, and what I particularly remember is the way the President came 

back to cheer up the staff, to regale us with stories and jokes. I was particularly fond of his 

amazingly authentic Irish brogue. 

But I will not forget especially the last time 

I saw him as President. It was here in this Capitol. He had summoned us, the Republican 

Members, just days before the inauguration to 

give us a private valediction. No press, no public, 

just us. And he spoke from the Democratic sides 

of the aisle, from the rostrum on the left, a mistake I attributed to his lack of familiarity with 

House procedure. It was a mistake of mine, however. He knew exactly what he was doing. And 

as he described his political career, he described 

how he did not leave the Democratic Party, the 

Democratic Party left him; and he strode purposefully to this other rostrum to the delight of 

the Republican Members. 

But what he told us that day rose far above 

party and partisanship. Because, of course, he saw 
96 Ronald Reagan 

a consistent thread throughout his career in his 

support for FDR, his campaigning for Harry 

Truman, his support and campaigning for Ike, 

and of course his own administration. A few moments after he finished here on the floor, we 

went to Statuary Hall and he mingled with the 

Members and we had a few private moments 

there. This was, of course, just a few feet from 

where in the rotunda later today his body will 

lie in repose. He did not tell me a joke at that 

time. Instead, after congratulating me on my recent election to Congress, something we had had 

the chance more exuberantly to celebrate after I 

and my new colleague, the gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher), visited with him in the 

Oval Office in June, he told me, ‘‘never forget 

to trust the people who sent you here’’ and ‘‘always fight for the principles that you and I 

share.’’ 

It was the serious side of him because he was 

all about ideas. And while his humor, his gregariousness, his avuncularity has been much remarked upon in recent days, that was an important aspect of his leadership; but it does not tell 

us about the substance of his leadership, where 

he was taking the country. And it was the ideas 

that President REAGAN brought to Washington 

that mattered most of all. 

It is well known and much remarked upon 

that RONALD REAGAN won the cold war without 

firing a shot. He led the global movement to tear 

down the Berlin Wall. He led an economic renaissance at home by dramatically reducing the 

burden of taxes across the board, from a marginal 

rate of 70 percent down to 28 percent. But it 

is just as important to recognize the leading role 

that President REAGAN played in supporting our 

country, such issues as the civil rights of women 

and men here at home. 

President REAGAN, of course, appointed the 

first woman to be ambassador of the United Nations. He appointed the first woman to be a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He appointed 

the first woman to be Secretary of Transportation, the first Latina to be Treasurer of the 

United States. 

On November 2, 1983, he made Martin Luther 

King’s birthday a national holiday. He appointed 

the first African American chairman of the U.S. 

Civil Rights Commission, my good friend and 

great American, the late Clarence Pendleton. He 

extended the Voting Rights Act for a quarter 

century. He named the first Hispanic to the Cabinet, Lauro Cavasos, as Secretary of Education. 

On August 10, 1988, he provided compensation to Japanese Americans who had been deprived of their civil liberties and their property 

during the infamous internment of World War 

II ordered by FDR. 

Today, we can see the wisdom of President 

REAGAN’s policies from a distance. He appointed 

the first-ever Presidential Commission on AIDS 

and gave national direction to the effort to stop 

the spread of this terrible disease. 

His was the statesmanship of a true leader. 

While fighting Soviet expansion in Africa, he 

fought apartheid and imposed sanctions on the 

racist Government of South Africa by Executive 

order. He demanded as a condition of lifting 

those sanctions the release of Nelson Mandela. 

And yet he refused to declare economic warfare 

against the civilian population of that country, 

black, white, and all races as the United Nations 

had done in imposing its sanctions on 

Zimbabwe. So today, whereas Zimbabwe has become a living hell, an autocracy that has stripped 

away all pretense of law or property or personal 

safety, South Africa has a real democracy where 

all men and women can vote and where all are 

equal before the law. 

In Central America, he prevented the Soviet 

Union from establishing a beachhead in our own 

hemisphere, and likewise in Nicaragua. And 

throughout Central and South America and the 

Caribbean, just as in Central Europe and Asia, 

democracy grew and prospered. 

Mr. Speaker, from that day in January 1981, 

when President REAGAN was sworn in, until last 

Saturday, the American people always knew 

where to look for a hero. President REAGAN did 

great things not only for our country but for our 

world. Today, more than 1 billion people live in 

freedom because of his global leadership. In fact, 

all of the people of the world, those who enjoy 

the sweet blessings of liberty and those who still 

yearn for freedom, will always know where to 

look for a hero. 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 97 

Hon. Tim Ryan 

OF OHIO

Mr. Speaker, when our country was confronted 

with a terrible menace of dangerous ideology, 

REAGAN rallied America and united the world 

to decisively defeat the threat of communism. 

We are grateful for that leadership. 

RONALD REAGAN elevated the Office of the 

President. When mistakes were made, RONALD

REAGAN personally accepted responsibility. It 

did not matter what focus groups, polls, his advisers, or political consultants said, he understood 

that the buck stopped with him and him alone. 

He was an American icon, forever remembered 

for his warmth and the respect he afforded to 

others, and our thoughts and prayers today are 

with Nancy and his children and his family at 

this very difficult time. 

Even when President REAGAN broke the 

hearts of the Democrats, he was respected for his 

honesty, his beliefs, and the dedication he displayed in pursuing them. 

As a young elementary school student during 

the Challenger disaster, it was enormous comfort 

to those of us who were all watching, because 

there was a teacher on the Challenger at that time, 

to listen to President REAGAN as we began to 

question why America was sending these astronauts up into space; why there was a teacher on 

the Challenger at that time. And when President 

REAGAN said to us that the future does not belong to the fainthearted, it belongs to the brave, 

he was communicating to us what America was 

all about. 

I also remember as a young man the way 

President REAGAN interacted with then-Speaker 

Tip O’Neill. They laughed and they talked and 

they joked. And that was a great example for 

those of us who were beginning to get acquainted with the political system. 

I remember the courage and the humor that 

President REAGAN showed when he was shot, 

hoping that the doctors were all Republican and 

telling his wife, who was terrified, that he forgot 

to duck. 

I also cannot help but remember President 

REAGAN, during the Washington Redskins ceremony at the Rose Garden after winning the 

Super Bowl, hitting Gary Sanders on the money 

as he ran a drag pattern across the Rose Garden. 

The differences then, despite our disagreements, were real; but because of the way President REAGAN led, he taught us that there is a 

big difference between strong beliefs and bitter 

partisanship. Strong beliefs and a love of country 

are the only way to bring this country forward 

as we face the enormous challenges that we have 

before this body today. 

RONALD REAGAN always stressed that we are 

a can-do country. Democrats and Republicans 

both believe this. And I believe it is that sense 

of optimism, as we look back on history, that 

the Presidents who moved the Nation forward 

were optimistic and believed the best and the 

brightest in this country would continue to move 

us forward. 

Mr. Speaker, I believe we can get back on the 

right track with strong leadership and a real 

commitment to confronting the problems that 

face American families today. In the words of 

RONALD REAGAN, ‘‘we can do better.’’ With tolerance and inclusion, uniting rather than dividing, we can continue the legacy of RONALD

REAGAN. 

So when we return to work next week, I hope 

this House will be inspired by the leadership of 

RONALD REAGAN instead of mired in the partisan politics that have too often affected our 

work as of late. We should be inspired by his 

patriotism and devotion to our country, and we 

should remember his faith, his optimism, and his 

unwavering commitment to his convictions as we 

do the work of the American people. 

In the words of President REAGAN, whose 

comforting message he gave us some 18 years 

ago—and we will never forget RONALD

REAGAN, nor the last time we saw him—for now 

he has ‘‘ ‘slipped the surly bonds of earth’ to 

‘touch the face of God.’ ’’ We will miss him. 

Hon. Henry E. Brown, Jr. 

OF SOUTH CAROLINA

Mr. Speaker, like so many Americans, President REAGAN was not only my President, but 

also my inspiration. My own calling to public 
98 Ronald Reagan 

service in 1981 was in no small part as a result 

of President REAGAN’s example. Without his 

leadership and passion for our great Nation, I 

would not be standing in this great Chamber before Members today. 

He was a shining light and a beacon of hope 

not only for our Nation, but also for the world. 

At a time in history when it was desperately 

needed, he sought peace in our world and was 

a champion of democracy and freedom. We are 

all better as a result of his contributions, and his 

legacy will live forever. 

If I had to describe President REAGAN with 

just one adjective, it would not be courageous, 

optimistic or kind, or any number of other fitting adjectives for such a great man, it would 

be American. Above all things, President 

REAGAN was an American. He so embodied the 

spirit, courage and hope of America that he was 

able to reach out and touch his fellow citizens. 

He trusted the American people to be able to 

make decisions for themselves, and in turn they 

trusted him. He had a dream to make America 

stronger by putting more responsibility back into 

the hands of the people. He understood that 

Americans could manage their hard-earned dollars better than any government agency. He empowered the citizens to work harder and to improve our Nation from the ground up. 

I am proud to model my views on government 

after one of our great Presidents, President 

REAGAN. Even those who have never met him 

or who disagree with him politically felt a special 

connection with President REAGAN. He was a 

people’s President, arguably unlike any others 

before or after. 

He invigorated and inspired those young men 

for the battle ahead, just as he invigorated and 

inspired a Nation while he was in office. President REAGAN always celebrated life, and he 

loved every day of it. I am honored to be celebrating the life of such a great American with 

Members today. We were blessed and honored 

as a Nation to have President REAGAN as both 

our leader and as our friend. 

Mr. President, you were not just marking 

time. You made a tremendous difference in the 

lives of all Americans. You made the Nation 

stronger and the world a safer place for democracy. Today we still enjoy the fruits of the 

Reagan revolution. You fought for freedom, and 

today it does not waver. You were the inspiration 

of so many, including myself, and today we remember and say thanks to you. On behalf of the 

entire First Congressional District of South Carolina, a grateful Nation and myself, thank you, 

Mr. President, and may God bless you and your 

family. 

Hon. Mike Ross 

OF ARKANSAS

Mr. Speaker, the Great Communicator, an allAmerican patriot, relentless pursuer of freedom, 

these qualities describe America’s 40th President, 

RONALD REAGAN. 

We can all agree that President REAGAN’s enduring love for his country and his idealistic outlook renewed faith and hope to a generation of 

Americans. My fond memories of President 

REAGAN will include, among others, that defining moment nearly 14 years ago as I watched 

with pride as he, as a former President, chiseled 

away at the Berlin Wall. I was truly moved by 

the immense joy and pride that he radiated and 

that radiated on the faces around him. You see, 

it had not been that many years before that in 

his famous speech he said, ‘‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear 

down this wall!’’ 

President REAGAN’s commitment and service 

to our country and the world will be forever remembered in the hearts and minds of people 

around the globe. I join millions of others 

throughout the world who continue to keep Mrs. 

Reagan and their family in my heart and in my 

prayers as we pay tribute to the 40th President 

of the United States of America, former President 

RONALD REAGAN. 

Hon. Tom Cole 

OF OKLAHOMA

Mr. Speaker, there are few men in our history 

whose lives can be said to have changed the 

world. RONALD REAGAN was one of those men. 

RONALD REAGAN was an inspiration to me 

personally and politically. In 1984, I was honored 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 99 

to head his reelection campaign in Oklahoma. I 

also served as chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party during his Presidency. A favorite 

memory of mine is of a meeting with the President and Republican State Party chairmen from 

the South at the White House in 1988. A 15- 

minute meeting turned into an hour-long treasure as he regaled us with one hilarious political 

story after another. RONALD REAGAN loved politicians, he loved politics, and he loved public 

service. 

I cannot claim to have known RONALD

REAGAN well. I was privileged to be with him 

on more than a few occasions. All the same, he 

changed my life and the lives of millions of others. He was a voice of faith, faith in America, 

faith in her people, faith in their future, and, 

most profoundly, faith in freedom. 

RONALD REAGAN inspired us to do great 

things. With him we accomplished much. It is 

for us to continue to build that ‘‘shining city on 

a hill’’ to which he so often referred. There is 

much yet to do. RONALD REAGAN was my hero; 

but more important, he was an American hero. 

We mourn his passing, but we celebrate his life 

of achievement and patriotism. 

Mr. Speaker, there are few men in our history 

and there will be few men in our future who live 

their lives in such a way that the world will be 

changed because of their existence. RONALD

REAGAN is one of those men. His dignity, character, strength and convictions will distinguish 

him in the pages of history and define him as 

one of the greatest Presidents of the 20th century. President REAGAN was an inspiration to 

many and his optimism for America’s future encouraged those across all party lines. He knew 

there was a brighter tomorrow through the path 

of strong values, hard work, tough decisions and 

perseverance. His leadership pulled America 

through the end of the cold war, pushed the Soviet Union and the eastern bloc onto the ‘‘ash 

heap of history’’ and restored the virtues of idealism and optimism to our country. He was a visionary who instigated the rebirth of conservatism and shaped the Republican Party into the 

governing national majority we see today. 

RONALD REAGAN was a source of inspiration 

to me both personally and politically. I was serving as executive director of the Oklahoma State 

Party when REAGAN was elected. In 1984, I was 

honored to head his reelection efforts in Oklahoma. I also served as Oklahoma GOP chairman 

during his Presidency, so I had opportunities to 

meet and work with him. 

RONALD REAGAN had a magic that really appealed to people. A favorite memory is of a meeting with the President and Republican State 

Party chairmen from the South in 1988. A 15- 

minute meeting turned into an hour-long treasure as he regaled us with one hilarious political 

story after another. His wit and humor are as 

fresh in my memory today as they were 20 years 

ago. I was privileged to see up close what so 

many Americans intuitively felt when watching 

him on television. He was an extraordinary man 

who lived life and enjoyed being with people. 

It is no wonder he was able to move thousands 

of people and mobilize them to support his efforts. It’s a gift few of us have—and he had that 

magic in abundance. 

Not only is RONALD REAGAN a personal hero 

to me, his influence has shaped a generation of 

politicians. And by doing that he instilled the 

values that the Republican Party embraces today. 

Countless Republican officeholders got into elective politics because he fired their imagination. 

More profoundly, he showed that the institution 

of the Presidency does work. We seldom remember that after the trials of Watergate and 20 years 

of failed or shortened administrations, some 

thought our country was too big for one man 

to govern, inspire and shape. No one, particularly 

those who worked with RONALD REAGAN, question that today. 

And let us not forget that he was a very effective politician whose drive to succeed and will 

to win were intense. He lost primary after primary in 1976 before coming back from the political graveyard in North Carolina, Texas and 

Oklahoma. Former Republican National Chairman Frank Farenkopf tells the story that on election day in 1984, the President was so far ahead 

in the polls that he and Ed Rollins cancelled a 

rally in Minnesota. He did not need to be bothered, they reasoned. After he won 49 States and 

only lost Minnesota by about 2,500 votes, the 

President liked to tease both of his advisors about 

their election day gaffe. It became a joke, but 

the President wanted Minnesota in his column. 
100 Ronald Reagan 

Much has been made in recent days of RONALD REAGAN’s courage. We saw his physical 

courage when an assassin sought to take his life 

in early 1981. We saw it again when he confronted the ravages of Alzheimer’s with grace, 

candor and sensitivity. But President REAGAN

also had the courage of his ideas and an ability 

to see the right path for his party and his country. 

One of RONALD REAGAN’s biographers, Edmund Morris, tells of his astonishment when he 

read the President’s diaries from his time in office. He learned how many of the major and 

complex decisions of the Reagan administration 

were made by the President, alone and in private. 

RONALD REAGAN did not care, Morris recounts, 

who got the credit as long as his decisions were 

implemented and his goals for America came 

closer to realization. Recently Kiron K. Skinner 

and Marty Anderson’s fine works detailed the 

depth and breath of REAGAN’s view of the 

world—a view he implemented in office. 

In describing another great man at another 

time in history, Winston Churchill writes in his 

‘‘History of the English Speaking Peoples’’ that 

Robert Peel was: 

. . . the dominating force and personality in English politics 

. . . jwhok whether in Opposition or in office . . . towered 

above the scene. He was not a man of broad and ranging 

modes of thoughts, but he understood better than any of his 

contemporaries the needs of the country and he had the outstanding courage to change his views in order to meet them. 

Robert Peel, Mr. Churchill added, 

. . . saw the industrial revolution in Britain that made her 

the pre-eminent world power in the nineteenth century was 

driven not by the government but by private enterprise, by 

capital, by entrepreneurs, by a free people willing to take 

risks. 

There are many differences between Robert 

Peel and RONALD REAGAN. Mr. Peel split his 

party and destroyed a governing coalition to support free trade—a decision validated by history. 

As a Governor and then as a President, RONALD

REAGAN united a party badly divided over ideas 

and led it out of the political wilderness. The 

Republican ascendancy in national government 

today is a direct result of his leadership. But in 

reading Winston Churchill’s appraisal of Robert 

Peel’s political biography, he was the dominating 

personality in American politics for a generation. 

From the vantage of the early 21st century, it 

is hard to recall the mood of the country and 

its troubles at his election in 1980. Watergate, 

defeat in Vietnam, unrestrained Soviet adventurism, double-digit inflation and interest rates, 

massive unemployment, an energy crisis, American hostages in Tehran, the end of the postwar 

U.S. domination of the global economy—all 

these combined to give some a sense that America’s best days were behind her; that perhaps free 

enterprise and freedom were not the answer; that 

we had to accept totalitarian communism as a 

legitimate and equally plausible alternative to 

our own way of life. RONALD REAGAN rejected 

these ideas. He was optimistic about America. 

He believed the United States was a ‘‘shining 

city on the hill,’’ a beacon of hope and freedom 

to the world. He understood communism was 

evil and free peoples must defend themselves 

against the darkness of tyranny and oppression. 

He saw a bright and prosperous future for all 

Americans, one where their work could carry 

them as far as they dared to dream. Looking 

back, we take all these things for granted, but 

RONALD REAGAN was ridiculed by the intellectuals and so-called realists of his day. It took real 

courage to stand up for his beliefs to put them 

into practice, and to defend them from the faint 

of heart while they took root and blossomed. To 

paraphrase Mr. Churchill’s assessment of Mr. 

Peel, RONALD REAGAN understood his countrymen better than anyone else on the political 

stage. They needed leadership, he gave it and 

they loved him for it. 

Like Mr. Peel, RONALD REAGAN also had the 

courage to change his views. A New Deal Democrat, his partisan affiliation and ideological vantage point slowly shifted over time from a liberal 

Democrat who believed in government intervention to a conservative Republican who trusted 

Americans and the people of the world to solve 

their own problems. As anyone who has even a 

passing understanding of Hollywood and its cultural and political outlook knows, this was not 

an easy thing to do. RONALD REAGAN learned 

about communists first-hand when he battled to 

keep them out of the entertainment industry. 

Much of his later political success was based on 

a willingness to stand up to Soviet aggression. 

Yet, when a glimmer of light came through the 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 101 

darkness behind the Iron Curtain, President 

REAGAN saw America’s chance for victory 

through negotiation and began to talk to the Soviets and their leader, Mikhail Gorbachev. Many 

of his longtime supporters decried his decision 

and they did so with good reason because the 

Soviets historically did not negotiate in good 

faith. But the President had the courage and the 

vision to see the great opening and he took it. 

And, like so many times in the past, he was 

right. And we are better for it. 

Mr. Speaker, like many Americans I cannot 

claim to have known RONALD REAGAN well. I 

was privileged to be with him on more than a 

few occasions, but more often I watched him on 

television or read about him in the morning’s 

newspapers with the rest of the country. All the 

same, he changed my life. And he changed the 

lives of millions around the world. His was a 

voice of faith. Faith in America, in her people, 

and in freedom. He inspired us to do great 

things. With him we accomplished much. 

Though he has gone to a better place, it is for 

us to continue to build that ‘‘shining city on the 

hill.’’ There is much yet to do, but RONALD

REAGAN’s legacy and memory will inspire us in 

our task. 

Hon. David Wu 

OF OREGON

I would like to share a personal story, one little vignette about my experience with President 

REAGAN. It was during my student days, during 

my college senior year. Then-Governor REAGAN

came to Stanford to speak. The speech was organized. It was sometime between his 1976 Presidential campaign and his 1980 Presidential campaign. He had been Governor of California. 

His speech at Stanford was organized by the 

Young College Republicans or the Young College Conservatives. Whoever organized it, they 

carefully screened the audience, and a lot of folks 

were screened out. But for whatever reason, I was 

screened in. 

Then-Governor REAGAN gave a very good 

speech, after which he took questions. I was one 

of the ones who rose to ask a question. Of course, 

it was a challenging question. As I was going 

into the question, members of the audience started to boo me, and the moderator rose to cut off 

my question. It was at that point that Mr. 

REAGAN stepped up and said, ‘‘No, no, no, I 

want to hear the young man out, and I want to 

answer his question.’’ I had my say, he answered 

the question, and of course he got a standing 

ovation. 

But I think it is that moment, that image of 

Mr. REAGAN, that I remember, his graciousness, 

his openness, his generosity of spirit, the willingness to hear folks out and hear debate. That is 

a sign of greatness in any individual, and there 

were lessons for that day almost 30 years ago, and 

they are perhaps lessons today for the Washington in which we work today. 

My best wishes to the family, and God bless 

RONALD REAGAN. 

Hon. Dan Burton 

OF INDIANA

Mr. Speaker, I, like all of my colleagues, 

would like to extol the wonderful accomplishments of President REAGAN, the economy coming back from the doldrums, the destruction of 

the Berlin Wall, and the communist menace that 

we faced so much back in the sixties, seventies 

and eighties. But what I want to talk about 

today are personal experiences I had with RONALD REAGAN. 

When I was running for office over a period 

of 10 or 12 years, I promised my mother, who 

was a waitress for many, many years at L.S. Harris & Company, that if I ever got elected to the 

Congress of the United States, the first thing I 

would do is take her in the front door of the 

White House and introduce her to the President 

of the United States. 

I got elected in 1983. I called the White House 

and they said, yes, we can give you a couple of 

minutes with the President. I called my mom, 

and I took her in the front door of the White 

House expecting a very perfunctory kind of 

meeting where he would shake hands and take 

a picture, and that would be it. Unbeknownst 

to me, he contacted my office and tried to find 
102 Ronald Reagan 

out everything he could about me. When we 

walked in, he put his arm around me and said 

to my mother, ‘‘This is one of the finest young 

Congressmen in the Congress. I want you to 

know that I really appreciate all of the things 

he has done,’’ and he reeled off three or four 

things I had accomplished that I did not think 

he had any idea about. 

I could see my mother’s chest expanding, expanding, and expanding. Here is a little lady 

from the Midwest who had a very tough life, was 

abused as a wife, and protected me and my sister 

from abuse from my father. She had nothing but 

a tough life, and here was the President of the 

United States telling her what a great guy her 

son was. I will never forget that as long as I live. 

She walked out of that office with my stepfather 

and me, and she was so proud. She carried a picture of the President and us together for the rest 

of her life. She was so proud to the day she died. 

He was that kind of a guy. 

I remember another time I debated Al Gore 

when he was in the House and Tom Downey of 

New York on the Strategic Defense Initiative 

when the President first started talking about defending this country from an incoming missile 

attack. I debated Al Gore and Tom Downey on 

a special order for probably 30 or 40 minutes, 

and I thought that was the end of it. And 2 days 

later, I got a personal handwritten letter from 

the President thanking me for sticking up for 

him. Who would believe the President of the 

United States would take the time to write a 

handwritten note to a new Congressman just because he took a position that paralleled the President’s? He was a wonderful, down-to-earth man. 

One more little anecdote, and then I will let 

the rest of my colleagues talk. When I first got 

elected, they had a dinner for all of the freshmen 

Congressmen. After the dinner, we were walking 

around the Green Room, and everybody was patting the President on the back and saying what 

a great job he had done with the tax cuts. As 

he walked by me, I thought I better talk about 

something besides tax cuts because he is just 

walking past everybody, and I really wanted to 

talk to the guy. 

As he walked by, I said, ‘‘President REAGAN, 

one of my favorite movies was ‘King’s Row.’ ’’ 

He said, thank you very much, took two steps 

past me, stopped, turned around and came back, 

and talked for 10 minutes about that movie. It 

was one of the greatest thrills of my life to get 

a real insight into what he did as a movie actor. 

He really enjoyed it as well. All my colleagues 

gathered around. It was one of the highlights of 

the evening. 

That is the kind of guy RONALD REAGAN was. 

He cared about people in addition to being a 

great President. 

I would like to say to his family, God bless 

you, all of you. Mrs. Reagan, you were great to 

us when you were First Lady. God bless you and 

your family. The good Lord, I am sure, has a very 

high place in Heaven for RONALD REAGAN. 

Hon. Rahm Emanuel 

OF ILLINOIS

Mr. Speaker, I do not have stories like the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton), personal 

interaction with former President REAGAN, but 

as somebody growing up and loving politics, I 

obviously watched his Presidency as a student of 

politics. 

Here was a guy known as a Great Communicator, an eternal optimist. It makes sense when 

one thinks about it: A guy who grew up in 

Dixon, IL, a troubled home, faced a series of disadvantages, and one day wakes up in the White 

House. 

What is there not to be optimistic about? And 

he had that sense of optimism, and everybody 

can talk about different skills or techniques or 

tactics as a communicator; but the truth is he 

never left Dixon, IL. He had that common touch. 

He knew about walking-around folk, and he understood their lives, and he could tell a great 

story that gave people a sense of his ideas. So 

he spoke of our common wisdom and our common sense. 

One of the other things that I very much admired on the policy, although I do have differences obviously, was President REAGAN’s commitment to the earned income tax credit. In 

1986, he greatly expanded the earned income tax 

credit; and if I can quote him, ‘‘This is the best 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 103 

antipoverty, the best profamily, the best job creation measure to come out of Congress.’’ 

That was President REAGAN on the earned income tax credit; and he understood that through 

a tax credit we can help create jobs, help be 

profamily, did not have to have a government 

bureaucrat to do it, but it was something we 

could do through the Tax Code to reward work, 

reward responsibility, and fight poverty at the 

same time. 

I think that was a tremendous program. We 

expanded it in 1993 and again later on in 1997, 

but RONALD REAGAN in 1986 really put the 

muscle behind the earned income tax credit, a 

great program that I think lifted millions of 

American families and children out of poverty 

and did it by rewarding work, not dependency. 

Last, RONALD REAGAN spoke to our patriotism and our sense of love. He came into office 

at a time when people did not think you could 

do the job of the Presidency. It was just so overwhelming. And with his ease, his grace and his 

confidence, he restored people’s confidence in 

that office. 

Mr. Speaker, he has a legacy of patriotism and 

confidence in America and the American people, 

and it will endure. Our hearts go out to Mrs. 

Reagan and his entire family, to a great, great 

patriot. 

Hon. Steve Buyer 

OF INDIANA

Mr. Speaker, RONALD REAGAN’s belief in the 

ideals of individual liberty reassured America to 

believe in itself and inspired people all over the 

world. 

Like a flower perfect in its bud and as it is 

in its bloom, it spreads its seeds before it dies. 

So did RONALD REAGAN as he spread the seeds 

of liberty and its attributes to the people of the 

world through the pursuits of freedom. 

His critics viewed him as a throwback in time, 

almost antediluvian; but what RONALD REAGAN

possessed were principles and ideals that were 

ageless. They served as guideposts for our country in time. 

I will always remember his courage to take a 

stand in the face of adversity, especially the evils 

of tyranny. He understood that liberty is protected by the vigilant who must be ready to prepare and defend freedom, thereby preserving 

peace. 

I will always remember his charm and smile. 

They were infectious. He was always able to stay 

above the fray, undeterred with his calm demeanor and balanced temperament. I believe his 

optimism inspired people in more ways than this 

body could ever articulate. To RONALD REAGAN, 

one cannot believe impossible things, for it oppresses the soul and thwarts hope. 

He dared Americans to dream big and made 

it fashionable to be a dreamer of dreams. His sentimentality reflected his care and concern for people. I thank the REAGAN family for permitting 

the state funeral so that people can mourn their 

President. 

On behalf of my constituents in Indiana, I extend their thoughts and prayers of many Hoosiers 

to the Reagan family. 

Hon. Stephanie Herseth 

OF SOUTH DAKOTA

Mr. Speaker, many Members of this House 

worked closely with President REAGAN and were 

fortunate to call him their friend. Many were inspired to service by his example and point to his 

Presidency as a turning point in their lives. For 

many in my generation, he is the first President 

we really remember from the beginning of his 

Presidency to the end. He is the first President 

who inspired us with his confidence and optimism as well as his humility. 

He is the first President in our memory to 

truly embody that graceful strength that we seek 

from our leaders in times of crisis and uncertainty. We will all remember President RONALD

REAGAN in our own way, shaped by our own 

perspective. What I will always remember most 

is the respect, the dignity, and the sincerity with 

which he treated others, as will all America for 

generations to come. My thoughts and prayers 

are with his wife, Nancy Reagan, his family, and 

his many friends. 
104 Ronald Reagan 

Hon. Mark R. Kennedy 

OF MINNESOTA

Mr. Speaker, our country had suffered its fair 

share of lumps in the seventies, and in 1980 we 

were looking for a leader who would draw a line 

in the sand and say ‘‘no more.’’ We found that 

rare man in RONALD REAGAN. RONALD

REAGAN succeeded where others failed because 

throughout his public life he concerned himself 

with getting things done, not winning applause. 

In fact, one of REAGAN’s hallmarks was the 

plaque he kept on his desk that said: ‘‘There is 

no limit to what you can accomplish if you don’t 

care who gets the credit.’’ 

As a businessman, I admired RONALD

REAGAN’s dedication to this seemingly modest 

goal. Putting success ahead of personal accolades 

is a difficult lesson for many to learn, but a talent 

all great men seem to instinctively possess. It is 

an axiom that turns productive individuals into 

innovative leaders, and it turned RONALD

REAGAN into one of the greatest leaders and 

greatest Presidents we have had. Ironically, the 

more REAGAN sought to distance himself from 

the successes he knew grew from the sweat and 

tears of the American people, the more it turned 

out that those people admired him for his principled leadership. That leadership earned RONALD REAGAN widespread respect and helped 

REAGAN form broad bipartisan coalitions to 

renew America. The results were immediate, 

winning historic legislative victories on providing tax relief and strengthening our military. 

The economy flourished as our national pride returned. 

I can recall what a difference RONALD

REAGAN made in my own life, from the depressed job market I entered after graduating 

from college in 1978 to the vastly improved job 

opportunities I found after graduating from business school in 1983. The world was a wholly different place in those 5 years because the Reagan 

era had become the Reagan revolution. 

The impact that RONALD REAGAN had on our 

world is immeasurable. When he took office, our 

collective national spirit had been lulled to sleep 

in the morass of the sixties and the seventies. 

REAGAN seized the sleeping giant and shook it 

wide awake with a jolt of optimism and patriotism and a reminder of our destiny as Americans 

that our best days lay ahead. 

May God bless the spirit and family of RONALD REAGAN, our 40th President, and one of our 

true national heroes. 

Hon. Bob Etheridge 

OF NORTH CAROLINA

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the people of the 

Second District of North Carolina, I rise to pay 

my respects to the late RONALD REAGAN, the 

40th President of the United States of America. 

My wife, Faye, and I join all North Carolinians 

and all Americans in expressing our condolences 

to former First Lady Nancy Reagan and the entire Reagan family. 

RONALD W. REAGAN served two terms in our 

Nation’s highest office after winning overwhelming margins of victory in the Presidential 

elections of 1980 and 1984. His time in office was 

marked by renewed pride in America, and he is 

to be commended for his steadfast devotion to 

liberalization from the oppression of communism 

and that vicious rule in nations throughout the 

world. 

Regardless of one’s position on President 

REAGAN’s policies and politics, all Americans remember his warmth of spirit and the respectful 

manner in which he engaged in public debate. 

This approach kept acrimony to a healthy minimum even when conflicting views on vitally important issues were debated in this House and 

in this city. That example stands in marked contrast to the divisiveness and bitter partisanship 

we have too often witnessed since his Presidency. 

Finally, Mr. Speaker, all Americans stand in 

solidarity and salute Nancy Reagan and the 

whole Reagan family for the dignity and grace 

that they have displayed through the former 

President’s long and difficult struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. Their struggle has been our 

struggle, for it reminds us of the afflictions millions of Americans face in anonymity every day. 

The Federal Government must act to ease this 

needless suffering by increasing research funding 

and modernizing regulations to allow for poten-
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 105 

tially lifesaving research using stem cells and 

other medical techniques. The pain on Mrs. Reagan’s face should prod the conscience of this 

country to end the cruel victimization of stricken 

patients who require potentially lifesaving research. 

In conclusion, the passing of President 

REAGAN closes an important chapter in American history. As the leaders of the 20th century 

pass from the scene, we must endeavor to carry 

on their legacy of progress at home and American 

leadership in the world. On behalf of the people 

of North Carolina, I rise today to say, rest in 

peace, Mr. President. 

Hon. Mike Ferguson 

OF NEW JERSEY

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the people of the 

Seventh District of New Jersey, I rise to pay tribute to the life and legacy of one of the great 

Presidents in the history of the United States, 

RONALD REAGAN. In the farewell address at the 

end of his second term, President REAGAN said 

that those in his generation: 

jWkere taught, very directly, what it means to be an 

American. And we absorbed, almost in the air, a love of country and an appreciation of its institutions. 

In many ways, President REAGAN was my first 

President. His presence was the dominant force 

in America and in politics when I first started 

thinking about policy issues, the role of government, and America’s unique place of leadership 

in the world. And I believe, for my generation 

and for so many more, President REAGAN enabled us to do just what he had been taught in 

his generation: to absorb, almost in the air, a love 

of country and an appreciation for its institutions. 

After the turmoil and tumult of the sixties and 

the seventies, President REAGAN helped America 

regain its confidence. He helped us to remember 

who we were, what being an American meant, 

and the greatness which would allow America to 

play a pivotal role on the world stage. RONALD

REAGAN believed in ‘‘peace through strength,’’ 

and he won the cold war. He believed in the dignity and the value of every human person, and 

he believed in an optimistic vision for the future 

of America which resulted in one of the golden 

ages of American patriotism, prosperity, and 

progress. He was able to be a tough leader and 

a formidable adversary; and he did it with his 

own human touch, with a warm sense of humor, 

and his ever-present humility. 

Future generations will teach their children 

just as we are teaching ours that the life and legacy of President RONALD REAGAN will take its 

rightful place alongside the greatest leaders in 

our Nation’s history and as one of the pivotal 

figures of the 20th century who quite literally 

changed our world for the better. For this, we 

will forever be in his debt. May he rest in peace. 

Hon. Artur Davis 

OF ALABAMA

Mr. Speaker, it is probably somewhat appropriate that I follow my friend from New Jersey 

(Mr. Ferguson) because, like some other Members 

in this body, I passed from being a child to being 

a grown man under the Reagan Presidency during those 8 years. And it is appropriate and I 

am honored to stand here today as part of the 

great bipartisan tradition in this country to express my condolences to the Reagan family. 

This is not a moment for party. It is a moment 

for solemn reflection about America and about 

someone who cared very deeply about America. 

Make no mistake, there are some on my side of 

the aisle who, including myself, have profound 

disagreements with the direction of what has 

been called the Reagan revolution. 

All of us in this Chamber do not share the 

same vision or the same viewpoints on a number 

of the President’s policies during the eighties, 

but this is a time to give him his due, and this 

is a time to remember what the best tradition 

of RONALD REAGAN’s conservatism meant. 

One of my strongest memories of RONALD

REAGAN was one of his last great speeches when 

he went to the Berlin Wall about 24 years after 

John F. Kennedy went there, and he said symbolically to Mikhail Gorbachev, then the leader 

of the Soviet Union, that if he was serious about 

reform, if he was serious about freedom, he 
106 Ronald Reagan 

should come to this place, open this gate, and 

tear down this wall. And somehow 15 months 

later the wall was gone. 

RONALD REAGAN was fortunate that he lived 

to see successes on his own terms. He lived to 

see the wall come down in Berlin. And I have 

to believe this: We can debate as historians what 

caused the Soviet empire to fall without a shot 

being fired. We can debate as people who follow 

history what caused the Soviet Union to implode. 

But we ought to be generous enough this week 

to say that RONALD REAGAN’s courage was a 

part of that. His willingness to stand up to the 

Iron Curtain was no small part in the dismantling. 

How do we honor RONALD REAGAN? There 

are different opinions in this Chamber about how 

we do that. Let me close my time today by giving just one Member’s opinion. President 

REAGAN spoke very eloquently of a ‘‘shining city 

on a hill.’’ If we are to ever build a ‘‘shining city 

on a hill’’ that is America, we have to recognize 

that a shining city has no hollows, a shining city 

has no walls, and a shining city is one where all 

of our people somehow have a foundation and a 

chance for growth. 

RONALD REAGAN’s conservatism, properly understood, oriented to the needs of our times, 

ought to mean at least this: It ought to mean 

that we believe in one community in America. 

It ought to mean that we believe in a community 

that is strong enough to raise up all of our people 

and strong enough to reconcile all of our differences. 

So I end today by saying that whatever our 

differences with our friends on the other side of 

the aisle, whatever our differences with the direction of the eighties, we ought to be secure in 

the sense that we are all Americans, and we 

ought to be secure in the sense of freedom that 

RONALD REAGAN spoke about that day in Berlin, because there are all kinds of walls that still 

need to come down, and to truly salute this 

man’s legacy, that ought to be our business 

today. 

Hon. Curt Weldon 

OF PENNSYLVANIA

Madam Speaker, I first met RONALD REAGAN

through a local leader in our State, Faith 

Whittlesey, who was one of RONALD REAGAN’s 

earliest supporters in the eastern part of America 

for the Presidency. And it was a glorious day in 

1984 when RONALD REAGAN came to my home 

county, stood on the steps of the courthouse 

where I was then the vice chairman, and held 

my hand up alongside of another famous American, Tug McGraw, and endorsed me for the congressional seat. I did not win that year, Madam 

Speaker, but I came within 412 votes of unseating 

a 10-year, very popular incumbent. I won the seat 

2 years later and have been here ever since. 

I took up two of RONALD REAGAN’s key 

issues: his work with the Soviet Union, now Russia, and his work on missile defense. And over 

the past 18 years that I have been in Congress, 

it has been my pleasure to try to live up to the 

expectations and to the role model that RONALD

REAGAN established for all of us. 

Madam Speaker, he was someone who understood the Russian people, and he was someone 

who taught us in America that in the end, if we 

would simply trust but verify, if we would simply stand up and be candid with them, that in 

the end they would respect us. On the issue of 

missile defense, it was RONALD REAGAN who 

said that we should not leave America unprotected and vulnerable. 

How amazing it is 18 years later, Madam 

Speaker, that one of the most popular officials 

in Russia today is RONALD REAGAN. In polls 

that have been conducted in Russia, they look 

to RONALD REAGAN because he was a leader of 

stature and because he was someone whom the 

Russian people respected, because he saw 

through the communist leadership and held fast 

with the Russian people for a better time. So it 

was appropriate that when I last traveled to Russia 3 weeks ago for my 37th trip that we discussed a new initiative with the Russian people, 

in honor of RONALD REAGAN, taking their radar 

systems and using them with our radar systems 

to develop a joint missile defense system. How 

proud RONALD REAGAN would be. 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 107 

But for all of his work in helping us defeat 

communism, in helping us move toward missile 

defense, and helping to reinvigorate our economy, I will remember RONALD REAGAN, Madam 

Speaker, most for what he was as an individual 

person. He was a very humble man. He would 

take the time to meet with anyone regardless of 

their stature in life. 

As a first-term Republican, I had the honor 

of being invited to the Oval Office with my family. I took my five kids down to the Oval Office 

with my wife, and my youngest was then 4 years 

old, and he was more concerned with the inside 

furnishings of the Oval Office than he was with 

the stature of the President. That did not matter 

to RONALD REAGAN. In fact, I would later find 

out that in the book of the favorite photographs 

of RONALD REAGAN, this photograph would appear, which is also on the wall of the Reagan 

Presidential Library in California. How proud I 

am that my family had the chance to meet RONALD REAGAN and that my 4-year-old son, who 

is now 21 years old, who is here making faces 

at the camera, received a signed personal photograph from RONALD REAGAN and received 

words of encouragement back then that are still 

important to each of my five kids today. 

I remember RONALD REAGAN most for not 

just what he did for the world, but what he was 

as a role model for everyone that met him. He 

was someone who genuinely cared about people. 

He was someone who would take the time to 

reach out to a 4-year-old or a 6-year-old and give 

them words of encouragement. 

RONALD REAGAN is a role model for all of 

us, and for that we give thanks, and we thank 

his wife and send our sympathies to the entire 

Reagan family. 

Hon. Michael R. McNulty 

OF NEW YORK

Madam Speaker, President REAGAN’s long 

struggle with Alzheimer’s disease has ended, but 

the legacy of his extraordinary life remains. 

In 1998, my mother died as a result of the impact of Alzheimer’s disease; so I know what families go through during times like that. And I 

will always be inspired by Nancy Reagan and the 

other members of the family for their tender 

caregiving to the former President over that very 

long period of time. 

Many people today have mentioned the occasion of the tearing down of the Berlin Wall by 

the people, and I recently looked at those pictures of the former President when he participated in chipping away at the wall. I was on the 

Committee on Armed Services at the time, and 

I had a chance to do that, too. As I was standing 

there watching people chipping away at the wall, 

tearing it down piece by piece, I noticed as the 

pieces were falling off the wall, some of them 

would catch the pieces and put them in their 

pockets. I said to myself, aha, they are taking 

souvenirs of the Berlin Wall, and I thought I 

might like to do that. 

And already capitalism being in evidence, I 

looked down, and there were vendors selling 

pieces of the wall. They were in little cellophane 

wrappers marked with the date they were taken 

off the wall. But ever the skeptic, I said to myself, how do I know that those pieces came off 

the wall? 

So I further looked around, and I saw this guy 

walking back and forth with hammers and 

chisels, renting them out. So I went over with 

my translator and made the deal and gave him 

some money, and I did what President REAGAN

did, and I chipped off some pieces of the wall. 

I brought them back home, and I gave them to 

veterans as a thank you to them for their dedication through the years and for the fact that they 

were responsible for what was happening on that 

particular day and at that particular time in history. 

President REAGAN was a proud and patriotic 

American whose persistent advocacy for democracy led in part to the breakup of the Soviet 

Union and its devolution into 15 individual 

democratic republics. And I was in one of those 

republics as a member of a delegation from Congress on their independence day. In Armenia I 

watched in awe as 95 percent of all the people 

in that country went out and voted. I watched 

them stand in long lines for the privilege of voting in a free election for the first time in their 

lives. I noticed they brought covered dishes with 

them, and after they voted, they held little cele-
108 Ronald Reagan 

brations and banquets in each of the polling 

places. 

And what a thrill it was to be with them the 

next day in the streets of Yerevan, their capital, 

as they danced and shouted and sang, ‘‘Ketze asat 

ankakh Hayastan,’’ which means ‘‘Long live free 

and independent Armenia.’’ Then they pointed 

to the United States of America as their example 

of what they wanted to be as a democracy. 

So I thank all of the men and women who 

served in the uniform of the U.S. military 

through the years for helping to make that happen, and I also thank the Commander in Chief 

for 8 years, RONALD REAGAN, for helping to 

make that happen. 

Today I join with all Americans in mourning 

his passing and in expressing deep gratitude for 

his tremendous public service as both Governor 

and as President. 

Hon. Jim Ramstad 

OF MINNESOTA

Madam Speaker, I rise to proudly pay tribute 

to the greatest President of the 20th century, 

RONALD WILSON REAGAN, whose suffering has 

ended and heavenly life begun. 

My fellow Minnesotans join me in mourning 

the loss of America’s 40th President and celebrating the life of a man who personified both 

the greatness and goodness of America. All 

Americans and freedom-loving people around the 

world owe President REAGAN our deepest gratitude for his strong, principled leadership that 

ended the cold war and brought freedom to millions of people. 

As we celebrate President REAGAN’s remarkable career and historic legacy, we also celebrate 

a man of strong character, deep conviction, unforgettable charm, and wonderful wit. No Minnesotan will ever forget President REAGAN

braving the below-zero windchill to ride in a 

convertible in St. Paul’s Winter Carnival Parade 

and proclaim, ‘‘I thought my ears would fall off.’’ 

It was that cold. 

Madam Speaker, as America honors our beloved 40th President, we also thank God for a 

leader who restored pride and made the American people believe in themselves again. Always 

the eternal optimist, President REAGAN instilled 

confidence and optimism at a time both were in 

short supply in our country. 

Thanks to President REAGAN’s strong leadership and undying belief in free-market capitalism, the great entrepreneurial spirit of the 

American people was unleashed, and prosperity 

was restored here at home. 

Madam Speaker, our hearts go out to Nancy 

Reagan and the Reagan family on their great 

loss. Mrs. Reagan has showed the whole world 

the true meaning of love and loyalty these past 

10 very painful years as her beloved husband suffered from cruel Alzheimer’s disease, the same 

deadly, debilitating disease that took the life of 

my own mother just months ago. 

So today, Madam Speaker, as we celebrate the 

life and legacy of RONALD REAGAN, let us honor 

this great President by keeping his legacy alive, 

a legacy of love for his faith, family, friends, and 

country; a legacy of freedom, liberty, and opportunity for all people; a legacy of public service 

deeply rooted in faith, principle, character, and 

conviction. And let us always remember President REAGAN’s warm, infectious, kind smile that 

lit up every audience, inspired us and gave us 

hope, just as we remember our ‘‘rendezvous with 

destiny.’’ 

Rest in peace, Mr. President, in the loving 

embrace of our Lord and Savior. 

Hon. Adam H. Putnam 

OF FLORIDA

Madam Speaker, I was in grade school when 

President REAGAN was elected, so my thoughts 

and observations are not based on any particular 

policy, but on the man, on the spirit itself. 

We took great courage as a Nation in watching him as he dealt with an attempt on his life. 

We watched in awe at his unwavering commitment to freedom everywhere around the world 

and his commitment to ‘‘peace through 

strength,’’ which allowed him to win the cold 

war without a shot being fired. 

He moved an entire generation of young people to that same cry for freedom, the battle to 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 109 

spread liberty and democracy and freedom and 

equality around the world, and he did it with 

a sunny, hopeful, cheerful, optimistic demeanor. 

He appealed to the very best in us, never preying 

on our worst fears, but backed up by a steely 

resolve, backed up by principle, backed up by 

the notion that it was better to be right than 

to be popular. In doing so, he succeeded with 

an understanding, a very clear understanding, of 

the power of the American spirit when it is 

unencumbered, when it is let loose to achieve its 

own potential and carve out its piece of the 

American dream. He always believed in the 

goodness of the American spirit and the human 

spirit around the world. He understood that the 

strength of America, the resilience of America is 

in her people. He inspired in us all of those great 

factors without preying on the worst. 

Madam Speaker, may we ever be vigilant gatekeepers of his ‘‘shining city on the hill.’’ God 

bless the Reagan family, God bless America, and 

God bless this institution to which President 

REAGAN has given so much. 

Hon. John A. Boehner 

OF OHIO

I rise today in tribute to a great American, 

RONALD REAGAN. 

We have heard extensive remarks this morning 

about his two major accomplishments, I believe: 

the end of the Soviet Union as we know it, and 

setting in place employer tax rates leading to an 

economic recovery. If we think about what happened, he was the first to call for the end of the 

Soviet Union and, frankly, the first to predict the 

end of the Soviet Union as we knew it. No one 

in my lifetime has done more to spread freedom 

around the world than RONALD REAGAN, and 

we all owe him a great debt not only here in 

our country, but around the world. 

His tax policies of the early eighties led to an 

economic recovery in the eighties, and I believe 

the entire expansion of the nineties can be traced 

back to the lower tax rates set in the early 

eighties, giving investors a reason to invest in 

our economy. 

But I think RONALD REAGAN’s greatest contribution to our country was his optimism, his 

hope, and his belief in the strength of the American people. One only has to look at what we 

went through in the sixties and the seventies and 

what RONALD REAGAN inherited when he took 

office. America, to say the least, was on its heels. 

We had gone through the problems of the Vietnam era; we had gone through problems with 

the Presidency; we had gone through the problems of the energy crisis; and this new animal 

that came upon our economy called inflation. 

America was beginning to wonder about itself, 

and it was RONALD REAGAN who talked about 

the ‘‘shining city on the hill’’ and all that America could be. It was RONALD REAGAN that knew 

and said that our best days lie ahead, not in the 

past, and he was right. The hope that he 

brought, the enthusiasm he brought, and the belief in the American people was something that 

did, in fact, renew the American spirit. 

His patriotism and the patriotism he brought 

to our country was something that we have not 

seen for some time. I know in my case, my entire 

family and I grew up in the Democratic Party, 

and it was RONALD REAGAN who showed me 

that I was a Republican. It was RONALD

REAGAN who encouraged me to take a more active role in my community. I was proud to be 

a volunteer on his campaign in 1980. And, Mr. 

President, let me say this: You were my hero 

then; you continue to be my hero. 

It was RONALD REAGAN who inspired me to 

make a commitment to public service and to do 

my share on behalf of the American people, and 

forever I will be grateful. 

Mr. President, we still love you. 

Hon. Jeff Flake 

OF ARIZONA

Madam Speaker, those of us who have had the 

good fortune to be born and raised in Arizona 

have always had the words and life of Barry 

Goldwater to shape our political philosophy. It 

was during the Goldwater campaign of 1964 that 

RONALD REAGAN came to national prominence. 

During that campaign, REAGAN delivered a 
110 Ronald Reagan 

speech so memorable that it was known thereafter simply as ‘‘The Speech.’’ It was, in my opinion, the greatest political speech ever delivered. 

In it, REAGAN included the words: 

You and I are told . . . that we have to choose between 

a left or right, but I would . . . suggest that there is no such 

thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down—up 

to a man’s age-old dream, the ultimate in individual freedom 

consistent with law and order—or down to the ant heap of 

totalitarianism. 

Equally memorable was the phrase: 

This is the issue of this election. Whether we believe in 

our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the 

American revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite 

in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than 

we can plan them ourselves. 

Madam Speaker, having now spent 4 years in 

the far distant capital, I can attest that this insight from RONALD REAGAN still bears remembering. 

I was never able to meet President REAGAN

personally. It is one of my great regrets in life. 

But like all Americans, I am well acquainted 

with his goodness. I will always be grateful that 

he was my President. 

Hon. Shelley Moore Capito 

OF WEST VIRGINIA

Madam Speaker, America has lost a great patriot with the passing of President RONALD

REAGAN. My fellow West Virginians join me in 

mourning his death. 

As our President, he shepherded America 

through tough times, cutting taxes and invigorating our Nation’s economy. President 

REAGAN’s service as a statesman reflected the 

good freedom could do when waged against tyranny. 

In June 1987, President REAGAN stood in front 

of the Brandenburg Gate in Germany, calling 

upon Mikhail Gorbachev to ‘‘tear down this 

wall!’’ 

Reagan aimed to replace the instability 

brought by fear of nuclear war with the firm 

backing of freedom. 

When the wall fell, a wave of sovereignty 

rolled through Eastern Europe, washing away 

suppressive governments and leaving in its wake 

democracies firmly backed by individual liberty. 

Americans will always measure their President 

against the high bar RONALD REAGAN has set 

for the Presidency. But along with being a statesman, a peacemaker, and a leader, RONALD

REAGAN was a kind man who I was very honored 

to have met, a loving husband and father, and 

a compassionate human being. 

I will always remember RONALD REAGAN for 

his ability to lift up the American people, inspiring us to rely on ourselves, not on our government, to overcome challenges in our lives. His 

legacies will be remembered for years to come. 

Freedom over fear, the individual before its government, and the strength of America overall. 

May God bless America, and may God bless 

our President, RONALD REAGAN. 

Hon. Candice S. Miller 

OF MICHIGAN

Madam Speaker, as we mourn the loss of President RONALD REAGAN, let us also celebrate the 

absolutely incredible life that he lived, a life that 

had such a positive impact certainly on our Nation and, in fact, the entire world. 

Madam Speaker, I live in Macomb County, 

MI. That is the home of the so-called ‘‘Reagan 

Democrats.’’ That term really had its genesis in 

Macomb County and has become certainly part 

of our nomenclature. It describes a huge block 

of citizens, average Americans, principally ethnic, 

blue collar, who had voted Democratic for literally generations. 

And then along came RONALD REAGAN, and 

he captured their hearts and he captured their 

minds with the power of his ideas and the vision 

for America, ideas that were powerful, yet very, 

very simple: that freedom is a universal right of 

every human being; ideas about personal responsibility and the fundamental values that built our 

Nation, and the eternally optimistic idea that 

America is a great Nation whose best days continually lie in our future. 

President REAGAN never wavered, never 

backed down from his defense of freedom, of his 

belief that we could achieve ‘‘peace through 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 111 

strength.’’ Of course, his strong stand created 

countless critics, and yet today those critics must 

recognize the rightness of his cause and his methods. History has certainly proven him to be 

right. 

Because of the leadership of President 

REAGAN, Soviet communism collapsed and hundreds of millions of people who lived under Soviet domination now live as free people. 

Because of the leadership of President 

REAGAN, our national spirit and the spirit of free 

enterprise rose up and has spread across the entire 

globe. 

Because of his leadership, the world continues 

to look to America to export liberty and freedom 

and democracy. 

Our Nation and the world owe a debt to President REAGAN that can really only be repaid in 

one way: We must continue to fight for democracy, for freedom, and for liberty, and so we shall. 

God bless President RONALD WILSON

REAGAN. May he rest in peace. 

Hon. Ron Kind 

OF WISCONSIN

Madam Speaker, I, too, rise today to mark the 

death of President RONALD REAGAN and to pay 

tribute to a great American. I extend my deepest 

sympathies and prayers to Mrs. Reagan and the 

entire Reagan family. With President REAGAN’s 

death, our country lost yet another member of 

the greatest generation, a member who typified 

his generation with his work ethic, his optimism, 

and his patriotism. 

I believe that all of us, regardless of political 

affiliation, were impressed by how much President REAGAN loved America, how much he believed in its basic goodness and the decency of 

this great country. He was so proud to represent 

a country that stood for freedom and equality, 

and he worked for many years to help spread 

freedom across the globe. 

I was fortunate enough to witness first-hand 

the effect of freedom spreading across the world. 

After graduating from college, I had the privilege of traveling to Europe and spending time 

in the countries that were formerly part of the 

Soviet Union that were struggling to gain a place 

in the world as free nations. My travels included 

a stop in Berlin to celebrate the reunification of 

Germany. I hammered away with a sledgehammer at the Berlin Wall with thousands of 

people from all over the world. I still have a 

piece of that wall, which sits on my desk. 

It was inspiring to be a part of history in this 

way, and I can only imagine how wonderful it 

must have been for President REAGAN to have 

played such a seminal role in the transformation 

of the Soviet Union and the Eastern bloc nations. 

With the end of the cold war, we face an exciting 

new world of independent nations throughout 

Eastern and Central Europe. 

As we face current challenges throughout the 

world, I look back to the patriotism and optimism with which President REAGAN approached 

international and domestic issues, and I feel 

grateful that we have his example. 

Aside from his leadership on issues of international importance, I also appreciate President 

REAGAN’s willingness to find bipartisan compromise in order to achieve results. To him, politics was not a blood sport; it was the art of the 

possible. Coming to Congress several years after 

both President REAGAN and Speaker Tip O’Neill 

had retired, I always enjoyed listening to my colleagues tell of the two men swapping stories and 

jokes as they negotiated important pieces of legislation. 

President REAGAN’s bipartisan spirit and constant optimism are testament to his leadership 

skills and his love for his country. It is an approach to governing and it is an approach to 

leadership that we need to restore. 

May God bless his soul. 

Hon. Philip M. Crane 

OF ILLINOIS

Madam Speaker, today I rise to pay tribute to 

and express my sympathy on the passing of one 

of Illinois’ greatest sons, RONALD REAGAN. 

I was inspired by RONALD REAGAN some 40 

years ago when he, the Great Communicator, 

first outlined his vision for America. His vision 

was one of free enterprise, strong defense, and 
112 Ronald Reagan 

limited government. I was so drawn to these 

principles that I worked with fellow conservatives to nominate him for President in 1968 and 

again in 1976. 

The biggest heartbreak in my political career 

came in 1976 when we were unable to secure 

REAGAN the nomination. But we stayed at it. 

RONNIE stayed true to his principles; and, finally, in 1980 we had a man in the White House 

who I knew would turn this country around. 

REAGAN did just that. He turned around our 

economy, he ended the cold war, and he renewed 

hope for Americans. 

Reagan was able to accomplish so much in his 

years as President because he approached everything as a gentleman. He never allowed politics 

to become personal. He treated everyone with respect even when he disagreed with you. And always his wit and humor won you over. 

I am proud to say that I knew RONALD

REAGAN not so much for his accomplishments, 

and there were many, but I am more proud to 

have known him for the man he was. As President, REAGAN brought his hometown-Illinois 

values with him to the White House. And these 

are the same values we all share in Illinois, the 

value of hard work, of faith, family, and unlimited opportunity. 

Reagan was, as history will bear, one of America’s greatest Presidents. And I ask my colleagues 

to join me in remembering his family and this 

Nation during our season of mourning. And may 

God bless us all. 

Hon. Robert B. Aderholt 

OF ALABAMA

Madam Speaker, what do you say about a man 

like RONALD REAGAN that has not already been 

said? RONALD REAGAN took the oath of office 

here in Washington, DC, in 1981 and, actually, 

just a short distance from where we are standing 

here this afternoon. At the time he took office, 

I was 15 years old. I did not realize at that time 

the impact that this new President would have 

on this Nation and the world. I did not realize 

the moral and strong leadership that he would 

provide this Nation. 

RONALD REAGAN served in the highest office 

of our land throughout my time in high school, 

college, and my first couple of years of law 

school. And with most of America, I listened to 

the tributes as they started pouring in over this 

past weekend. During the weekend and since 

that time, President REAGAN’s speeches, his remarks and comments have been played and reviewed time and time again. 

However, over the weekend I heard one speech 

that I had never heard before. It was a speech 

that President REAGAN delivered at a prayer 

breakfast in Dallas, TX, on the morning of August 23, 1984. It is so relevant to our situation 

today that if you did not know better, you would 

think he delivered the speech just a few days ago. 

He discussed religion and its role in the political life of our Nation. He made clear from the 

beginning of his speech that he was not speaking 

as a theologian or as a scholar, but rather as 

someone who had been around for quite a few 

years. 

He talked about the critical role in the political life of this Nation that faith and religion had 

played and, furthermore, how that had worked 

to benefit our Nation. 

He went on to say that the Founders understood that there was a divine order which transcends the human order. He then eloquently stated that he believed George Washington knew 

the city of man cannot survive without the city 

of God, and that the visible city will perish without the invisible city. 

While time will not permit me to discuss all 

of his remarks today, I would like to include his 

remarks in the Record that President REAGAN

made at that prayer breakfast in Dallas in 1984. 

Of course, it would not be appropriate to talk 

about RONALD REAGAN without talking about 

how much he loved life and how much he valued 

life. He was a man of compassion, and people 

of all ages would do well to emulate RONALD

WILSON REAGAN. 

REMARKS AT AN ECUMENICAL PRAYER BREAKFAST IN

DALLAS, TX 

AUGUST 23, 1984 

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, very much. And, Martha 

Weisend, thank you very much. And I could say that if the 

morning ended with the music we have just heard from that 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 113 

1White House correction. 

magnificent choir, it would indeed be a holy day for all of 

us. 

It’s wonderful to be here this morning. The past few days 

have been pretty busy for all of us, but I’ve wanted to be 

with you today to share some of my own thoughts. 

These past few weeks it seems that we’ve all been hearing 

a lot of talk about religion and its role in politics, religion 

and its place in the political life of the Nation. And I think 

it’s appropriate today, at a prayer breakfast for 17,000 citizens 

in the State of Texas during a great political convention, that 

this issue be addressed. 

I don’t speak as a theologian or a scholar, only as one who’s 

lived a little more than his threescore ten—which has been 

a source of annoyance to some—jlaughterk—and as one who 

has been active in the political life of the Nation for roughly 

four decades and now who’s served the past 31

§2 years in our 

highest office. I speak, I think I can say, as one who has 

seen much, who has loved his country, and who’s seen it 

change in many ways. 

I believe that faith and religion play a critical role in the 

political life of our nation—and always has—and that the 

church—and by that I mean all churches, all denominations—has had a strong influence on the state. And this has 

worked to our benefit as a nation. 

Those who created our country—the Founding Fathers and 

Mothers—understood that there is a divine order which transcends the human order. They saw the state, in fact, as a 

form of moral order and felt that the bedrock of moral order 

is religion. 

The Mayflower Compact began with the words, ‘‘In the 

name of God . . .’’ The Declaration of Independence appeals 

to ‘‘Nature’s God’’ and the ‘‘Creator’’ and ‘‘the Supreme 

Judge of the world.’’ Congress was given a chaplain, and the 

oaths of office are oaths before God. 

James Madison in the Federalist Papers admitted that in 

the creation of our Republic he perceived the hand of the 

Almighty. John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme 

Court, warned that we must never forget the God from whom 

our blessings flowed. 

George Washington referred to religion’s profound and unsurpassed place in the heart of our nation quite directly in 

his Farewell Address in 1796. Seven years earlier, France had 

erected a government that was intended to be purely secular. 

This new government would be grounded on reason rather 

than the law of God. By 1796 the French Revolution had 

known the Reign of Terror. 

And Washington voiced reservations about the idea that 

there could be a wise policy without a firm moral and religious foundation. He said, ‘‘Of all the dispositions and habits 

which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are 

indispensable supports. In vain would that man (call himself 

a patriot) who (would) labour to subvert these . . . finest 

jfirmestk 1 props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere 

Politician . . . (and) the pious man ought to respect and to 

cherish (religion and morality).’’ And he added, ‘‘. . . let us 

with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be 

maintained without religion.’’ 

I believe that George Washington knew the City of Man 

cannot survive without the City of God, that the Visible City 

will perish without the Invisible City. 

Religion played not only a strong role in our national life; 

it played a positive role. The abolitionist movement was at 

heart a moral and religious movement; so was the modern 

civil rights struggle. And throughout this time, the state was 

tolerant of religious belief, expression, and practice. Society, 

too, was tolerant. 

But in the 1960’s this began to change. We began to make 

great steps toward secularizing our nation and removing religion from its honored place. 

In 1962 the Supreme Court in the New York prayer case 

banned the compulsory saying of prayers. In 1963 the Court 

banned the reading of the Bible in our public schools. From 

that point on, the courts pushed the meaning of the ruling 

ever outward, so that now our children are not allowed voluntary prayer. We even had to pass a law—we passed a special law in the Congress just a few weeks ago to allow student 

prayer groups the same access to schoolrooms after classes 

that a young Marxist society, for example, would already 

enjoy with no opposition. 

The 1962 decision opened the way to a flood of similar 

suits. Once religion had been made vulnerable, a series of 

assaults were made in one court after another, on one issue 

after another. Cases were started to argue against tax-exempt 

status for churches. Suits were brought to abolish the words 

‘‘under God’’ from the Pledge of Allegiance and to remove 

‘‘In God We Trust’’ from public documents and from our 

currency. 

Today there are those who are fighting to make sure voluntary prayer is not returned to the classrooms. And the frustrating thing for the great majority of Americans who support and understand the special importance of religion in the 

national life—the frustrating thing is that those who are attacking religion claim they are doing it in the name of tolerance, freedom, and openmindedness. Question: Isn’t the real 

truth that they are intolerant of religion? jApplausek They 

refuse to tolerate its importance in our lives. 

If all the children of our country studied together all of 

the many religions in our country, wouldn’t they learn greater tolerance of each other’s beliefs? If children prayed together, would they not understand what they have in common, and would this not, indeed, bring them closer, and is 

this not to be desired? So, I submit to you that those who 

claim to be fighting for tolerance on this issue may not be 

tolerant at all. 

When John Kennedy was running for President in 1960, 

he said that his church would not dictate his Presidency any 

more than he would speak for his church. Just so, and proper. 

But John Kennedy was speaking in an America in which the 

role of religion—and by that I mean the role of all churches—was secure. Abortion was not a political issue. Prayer was 

not a political issue. The right of church schools to operate 

was not a political issue. And it was broadly acknowledged 

that religious leaders had a right and a duty to speak out 

on the issues of the day. They held a place of respect, and 

a politician who spoke to or of them with a lack of respect 

would not long survive in the political arena. 
114 Ronald Reagan 

It was acknowledged then that religion held a special 

place, occupied a special territory in the hearts of the citizenry. The climate has changed greatly since then. And since 

it has, it logically follows that religion needs defenders 

against those who care only for the interests of the state. 

There are, these days, many questions on which religious 

leaders are obliged to offer their moral and theological guidance, and such guidance is a good and necessary thing. To 

know how a church and its members feel on a public issue 

expands the parameters of debate. It does not narrow the debate; it expands it. 

The truth is, politics and morality are inseparable. And 

as morality’s foundation is religion, religion and politics are 

necessarily related. We need religion as a guide. We need 

it because we are imperfect, and our government needs the 

church, because only those humble enough to admit they’re 

sinners can bring to democracy the tolerance it requires in 

order to survive. 

A state is nothing more than a reflection of its citizens; 

the more decent the citizens, the more decent the state. If 

you practice a religion, whether you’re Catholic, Protestant, 

Jewish, or guided by some other faith, then your private life 

will be influenced by a sense of moral obligation, and so, 

too, will your public life. One affects the other. The churches 

of America do not exist by the grace of the state; the churches 

of America are not mere citizens of the state. The churches 

of America exist apart; they have their own vantage point, 

their own authority. Religion is its own realm; it makes its 

own claims. 

We establish no religion in this country, nor will we ever. 

We command no worship. We mandate no belief. But we 

poison our society when we remove its theological 

underpinnings. We court corruption when we leave it bereft 

of belief. All are free to believe or not believe; all are free 

to practice a faith or not. But those who believe must be 

free to speak of and act on their belief, to apply moral teaching to public questions. 

I submit to you that the tolerant society is open to and 

encouraging of all religions. And this does not weaken us; 

it strengthens us, it makes us strong. You know, if we look 

back through history to all those great civilizations, those 

great nations that rose up to even world dominance and then 

deteriorated, declined, and fell, we find they all had one thing 

in common. One of the significant forerunners of their fall 

was their turning away from their God or gods. 

Without God, there is no virtue, because there’s no 

prompting of the conscience. Without God, we’re mired in 

the material, that flat world that tells us only what the senses 

perceive. Without God, there is a coarsening of the society. 

And without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure. If we ever forget that we’re one nation under God, then 

we will be a nation gone under. 

If I could just make a personal statement of my own— 

in these 31

§2 years I have understood and known better than 

ever before the words of Lincoln, when he said that he would 

be the greatest fool on this footstool called Earth if he ever 

thought that for one moment he could perform the duties 

of that office without help from One who is stronger than 

all. 

I thank you, thank you for inviting us here today. Thank 

you for your kindness and your patience. May God keep you, 

and may we, all of us, keep God. 

Thank you. 

Hon. Tim Murphy 

OF PENNSYLVANIA

Madam Speaker, the people of Pennsylvania 

join me in offering their sympathies and prayers 

to Nancy Reagan and all the members of the 

Reagan family. But more so, we offer our gratitude for sharing this great man. 

In his memory, I humbly offer these words: 

While flags fly low we gather here to offer words of praise. 

With tributes to our leader gone, reflect, remember, pray. 

Our Nation’s forests, oceans, plains, majestic mountain skies 

where some saw only clouds above, he saw hopes spirit 

rise. 

While enemies in shadows crept where evil’s hatred stood, 

some brooded and in weakness slept. 

He saw strength in our good. 

America, your song shall soar over this Nation blessed, 

though some will turn to doubt and fear, his hope shall 

never rest. 

The Sun shall set and darkness fall, yet stars their beacons 

give. 

Do not ye grieve that he is gone, rejoice that he has lived. 

Hon. Thaddeus G. McCotter 

OF MICHIGAN

Madam Speaker, I rise to offer a long delayed 

thank you to President REAGAN for his help with 

a personal matter of mine. By the time I turned 

15 in 1980, I had grown acutely aware of a quadrennial rift between my parents. My father was 

a Truman Democrat, my mother was an Eisenhower Republican, and my brother and myself 

were, of course, KISS fans. 

Then one cold November night, there was a 

thaw. My father walked in the door, sat my 

mother down and, in a hushed, tremulous tone, 

as if every fellow Irish Catholic Democrat he had 

known from his days in the St. Francis Home 

for Boys Orphanage, every worker in a Detroit 

Labor Day parade, and everybody on every St. 

Patrick’s Day pub crawl might somehow overhear him, Dennis Vincent Patrick Mullen 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 115 

McCotter admitted to his wife, ‘‘I cannot believe 

I went and did it, Joan, I voted for him.’’ He 

voted for RONALD WILSON REAGAN. 

This vignette of American democracy’s unifying force occurred in millions of homes across 

our Nation in 1980. The resulting national unity, 

which was brought about through the thawing 

of so many families’ political cold wars, ultimately led to the end of the global cold war. 

Madam Speaker, today the words of Albert 

Camus ring true: ‘‘A man does not show his 

greatness by being at one extremity or the other, 

but rather by touching both at once.’’ Truly, 

President REAGAN was a unifying force for moral 

good in our Nation and our world. And thus his 

great humility would have precluded him from 

ever agreeing, RONALD REAGAN was a great 

man. He will be mourned and missed and forever 

remembered. 

I offer my perpetual gratitude to the man, and 

my profound condolences to his family. 

Hon. Deborah Pryce 

OF OHIO

Madam Speaker, the citizens of Ohio join me 

in my sincere condolences to Mrs. Reagan and 

her family during these very difficult times and 

to express my humble thoughts on the legacy of 

RONALD REAGAN. While we have all heard him 

called the Great Communicator, he was so much 

more. He had a commanding presence. He captivated all who listened by his simple and eloquent demeanor, but he was so much more. He 

was great at communicating, yes, but, more important, he communicated great things. 

His ideas resonated with the American people 

because they were the people’s ideas. His vision 

for America made sense to us all because we had 

those same dreams in our very own hearts. His 

principles were clear because they were the very 

values we all held so dearly then as we do now: 

freedom, responsibility, ‘‘peace through 

strength.’’ 

The irony is that RONALD REAGAN did not 

speak to the people; we somehow spoke through 

him. We saw ourselves and we heard our own 

hearts in the words that he spoke. He was one 

of us, and that is why this Nation truly mourns 

his loss this week. 

May we all seek to promote the principles that 

RONALD REAGAN embodied, lived and enunciated so courageously over the course of his 

magnificent life. 

Hon. Richard Burr 

OF NORTH CAROLINA

Madam Speaker, I rise today to join my colleagues and the rest of the Nation to mourn the 

passing of one of our Nation’s greatest Presidents, but also to celebrate his legacy. While 

RONALD REAGAN is considered by almost everyone as an extraordinary leader and one of the 

greatest Americans, it was not RONALD

REAGAN’s vision, his confidence, his charm or his 

strength that truly set him apart. 

It was his boundless optimism and his overflowing love and concern for his fellow men that 

made REAGAN who he was; these were his underlying sources of everything he accomplished. 

REAGAN saw himself as an ordinary man, called 

to serve his country to the best of his ability, 

and serve he did. 

He inspired a Nation to rediscover the principles of freedom that have made our country 

great. We remember RONALD REAGAN as a man 

who maximized his gifts from an unknown to 

an actor to a Governor to the leader of the free 

world. Our President was one who never stopped 

growing and giving. 

President REAGAN’s life provides a witness to 

how we should all live, stirring up whatever gifts 

and potentials we have so that the world is a better place when we leave, more so than when we 

arrived. We remember President REAGAN as one 

who named bad leadership for what it was, and 

turned his people toward a nobler path. He said 

the only places communism would work are in 

Heaven because they do not need it and in Hell 

because they already have it. 

Today, we are enjoying a world where communism is defanged and former communist nations rank among our closest allies, much of 

which is due to President REAGAN’s unflinching 
116 Ronald Reagan 

commitment and resolve to seeing peace and 

freedom flourish throughout the world. 

President REAGAN was a true man of the people. What REAGAN did more than anything else, 

and it will be his lasting legacy, is replace despair with hope. Most people, even his detractors, 

admired and respected his integrity. He never 

thought that he had all the answers or that he 

was put on Earth to reveal and implement God’s 

plan for the rest of us. 

Madam Speaker, he has now, and as he noted 

in the eulogy of the crew of the Challenger shuttle, ‘‘slipped the surly bonds of earth’’ and put 

out his hand and ‘‘touched the face of God.’’ 

The days of this week will be remembered for 

many, many years. Let them be remembered 

well. Let them be the passing of the torch. A 

new day is dawning. Leadership, vision, optimism, and faith most of all are needed at every 

level in our great country and in our homes. 

REAGAN used to say that America’s greatest days 

are ahead of it. Now it can be said so are his. 

Hon. Rob Portman 

OF OHIO

Madam Speaker, I rise today to join my colleagues in expressing condolences to the family 

of President RONALD REAGAN but also, of 

course, to celebrate the life of one of America’s 

true heroes. 

President REAGAN once announced America is 

too great for small dreams. It was this optimism 

about America and his confidence in the American people that I remember most vividly when 

I first met him in 1981. He had an infectious optimism that, like so many, I was infected with. 

It had a lasting impression on me. 

Shortly after taking office, President REAGAN

acted on his optimism and his certain beliefs 

launching the boldest economic plan since Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. 

His program for economic recovery called for 

the largest tax cuts in American history. Think 

about this. Over his tenure, our Federal tax system went from 14 income tax brackets with a 

top rate of 70 percent to a much simpler 2 brackets with a top rate of 28 percent. This unleashed 

growth and brought America’s economy roaring 

back. 

He also acted on his strong beliefs in dramatically strengthening our Armed Forces. He chose 

to go toe to toe with the Soviet Union in the 

cold war and confront the failure of communism, 

leading to the freedom of millions of citizens in 

Eastern Europe and what was to become the 

former Soviet Union. 

I see that legacy of RONALD REAGAN today. 

I see it in our approach to the economy that this 

body has undertaken to try to strengthen the 

economy and grow jobs, and I see it in our effort 

to win another global war, this one against terrorism. 

For all of his accomplishments, one of RONALD REAGAN’s traits I most admired was his humility. He was a regular guy. His midwestern 

modesty and intuitive understanding of the role 

of leadership in an America founded on equality 

and democracy made him a natural leader and 

a beloved figure. 

One also had to appreciate President 

REAGAN’s humor. He once said, ‘‘Politics is a 

very rewarding profession. If you succeed, there 

are many rewards. If you disgrace yourself, you 

can always write a book.’’ Well, fortunately for 

our country and the world, he was a very successful politician, and we all, all of us, continue to 

share in the rewards. 

In his 8 years as President, so much of his ambitious vision for American and the world was 

accomplished. And for his optimism, his ideas, 

his humility, his humor and public service, our 

Nation and the world are better off today. May 

God bless him and his family and continue to 

bless the country he so loved. 

Hon. George R. Nethercutt, Jr. 

OF WASHINGTON

Madam Speaker, last Saturday our Nation lost 

one of its greatest leaders. As we mourn RONALD

REAGAN’s passing, we celebrate his life of service 

as a lifeguard, an entertainer, a union leader, a 

spokesman, a Governor and a President. 

As leader of the free world, he not only defended liberty, he expanded the realm of free-
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 117 

dom. He liberated millions with the power of 

his ideas. 

As President, he revitalized the American political system. The bipartisan celebration of his 

life here is a tribute to his greatness. Let us remember Mr. REAGAN’s example and work to improve civility and public discourse in American 

politics. 

President RONALD REAGAN was an American 

hero and a personal hero of mine. I met him 18 

years ago, but it feels like yesterday. We all feel 

we knew RONALD REAGAN. When he stepped 

off Air Force One in Spokane, we realized that 

he was a big man. He was larger than life. He 

was very personal. He was gracious. He wowed 

the crowd, and he touched each individual. 

Having met Mr. REAGAN, I know first-hand 

how his unwavering vision for our shining city 

willed the Nation to new heights. Even after his 

passing, his vision must and will continue to 

guide us. 

God bless RONALD REAGAN and his family 

and his lasting legacy of freedom. 

Hon. W. Todd Akin 

OF MISSOURI

Madam Speaker, I rise, as my colleagues before 

me, to recognize this great President, RONALD

REAGAN. He was a visionary leader who challenged the entire political order of his day. He 

had the courage to call evil evil; the Soviet empire the evil empire. For that, and for his conviction that freedom would prevail, he was bitterly 

criticized by his detractors. 

Along the same lines, he pioneered a concept 

of economics that said if we have lower taxes, 

that it would energize the economy and ultimately that the government would raise more 

revenue. That was also bitterly criticized. It was 

called Reaganomics, and yet it worked, and it 

has worked again to bring us out of the last recession, the same principles. 

He believed in the concept of defending 

America. It was the idea of a missile defense. 

They called it star wars, his detractors, and yet 

we are building those very things. 

He was a man who challenged the political 

order of his day and redefined an entire political 

movement and advanced the cause of freedom 

around the entire world, and for that we all need 

to say to God, thank you for this great President. 

Hon. Eric Cantor 

OF VIRGINIA

I rise today to proudly stand with my friends 

and colleagues to pay tribute to President RONALD REAGAN. President REAGAN had the courage to lead America to greatness again after so 

many others had written us off as a country 

whose best days had passed. He was a lone voice 

who dared to believe that the cold war could be 

won and communism could be conquered peacefully through strength. 

He led the United States from double-digit inflation, skyrocketing interest rates and recession 

to unprecedented economic growth and prosperity. His commonsense ideas of lower taxes and 

limited government brought us out of those 

troubling times. His ability to inspire and effect 

change was truly unique. 

I remember fondly my parents’ pride in being 

delegates to the 1980 Republican Convention and 

casting votes to nominate RONALD REAGAN to 

be President. While in high school and college 

during his Presidential term, I was dramatically 

affected by his moral clarity and courage. 

President RONALD REAGAN had the positive 

spirit and courage of his convictions that inspired 

our generation and future generations to enter 

public service and make a difference in our country. 

My family and I send our condolences to Mrs. 

Reagan and the Reagan family. Nancy Reagan 

deserves our steadfast support at this time and 

has earned our respect alongside her husband for 

her faithful service to our country. 

Religion played a crucial role in his life. RONALD REAGAN knew he could set out and accomplish his goals because of his strong faith in God. 

His mother Nelle taught her son to believe in 

a loving and merciful God. Her teaching helped 

guide her son throughout his life as actor, Governor, and President. 

Having spent several decades battling the evils 

of communism as president of the Screen Actors 
118 Ronald Reagan 

Guild and as Governor of California for two 

terms, REAGAN held strong convictions that 

were based on his faith in God and led him to 

run for President in 1980. He would win in a 

landslide and become our Nation’s 40th President. 

REAGAN’s religious convictions would immediately be put to the test. After surviving an assassin’s bullet in the third month of his Presidency, REAGAN believed God saved his life. He 

said: 

I’ve always believed that we were, each of us, put here 

for a reason, that there is a . . . divine plan for all of us. I 

know now that whatever days are left me belong to Him 

jGodk. 

He believed God saved his life for a reason, 

and he set out to ensure that he fulfilled God’s 

plan for him in the White House. In an era when 

people tried to diminish the role that faith and 

religion play in the political life of the United 

States, REAGAN knew that the United States was 

‘‘richly blessed with His jGod’sk love and generosity.’’ REAGAN also knew that if we failed to 

remember that the United States is a Nation 

under God, then the United States would be a 

‘‘nation gone under.’’ 

During the eighties, REAGAN’s religious convictions allowed him to set an agenda that was 

new and optimistic. His strong faith enabled him 

to preserve and never waiver when opponents 

called his economic and foreign policy plans radical and dangerous. As a result, REAGAN played 

an integral role in winning the cold war, in restoring economic prosperity to the United States, 

and in helping liberate millions of people from 

the evils of communism. He entered the White 

House with a goal to change the country—he 

ended up changing the world. He led his life 

with a mission to fulfill God’s plan and, in turn, 

accomplished so much for all of us. 

My family and I send our condolences to 

Nancy Reagan and her family. Nancy Reagan deserves our steadfast support at this time and has 

earned our respect alongside her husband for her 

faithful service to our country. 

Hon. Jerry Weller 

OF ILLINOIS

Madam Speaker, today we come before this 

House in a saddened state. A man of unquestioned integrity and strong character has passed 

from our Nation’s midst into the hands of God. 

RONALD REAGAN was a man with a good heart, 

and he had more of an impact on the world than 

any living American today. 

We express our condolences to Mrs. Reagan 

and the Reagan family. 

Many of us are very grateful because of how 

RONALD REAGAN inspired us, encouraged our 

activity in public service, and I know he encouraged my involvement in public service. I cast my 

first vote in 1976 for RONALD REAGAN in the 

Republican primary, and I had the privilege just 

5 years later to serve in the Reagan administration. I have many fond memories of RONALD

REAGAN. 

Man is not measured by what we say, but by 

what we do. President REAGAN believed in the 

right of freedom for individuals and nations. He 

spoke honestly of the need for government reform in the United States and publicly hoped for 

a brighter future for the citizens of the Soviet 

empire. 

Yet his words were not empty and did not 

ring hollow. President REAGAN backed up these 

beliefs by reducing the government’s burden of 

taxes on individuals. He committed himself to 

rebuilding our American military. He inspired 

Americans to believe in themselves and their 

country, and, through almost sheer will, defeated 

communism without firing a single shot. As he 

spoke, the world listened because the force of 

America was behind his voice. 

When President REAGAN uttered those fateful 

words, ‘‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!’’ a 

collective shiver shot down the spine of the Soviet Union, as if communism’s death knell was 

being rung for all the world to hear. Even President REAGAN’s opponents concede that he defeated the Soviet empire. 

Under President REAGAN’s leadership, America experienced an unmatched period of economic 

growth. Under President REAGAN’s legacy, hundreds of millions of people around the world now 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 119 

live safe from the fear of the threat of communism, free from the threat of MarxismLeninism, and eager to extend an open hand to 

our former enemy and now our friend, Russia 

and the former Soviet states. 

The spirit RONALD REAGAN embodied was of 

a special sort. Whether it was reinvigorating the 

American economy or comforting the loved ones 

of those lost on the Challenger space shuttle, 

President REAGAN never forgot who he worked 

for and what cause he was dedicated to. RONALD

REAGAN was committed to the American citizen, 

the American dream and the American spirit. 

Madam Speaker, as a man, a patriot, a fellow 

Illinoisan and U.S. President, RONALD REAGAN

will be greatly missed, and I deeply mourn his 

passing, but I cannot help but think that long 

after the pain and sorrow of his departure has 

diminished, the legacy that President REAGAN

left with us of commitment to one’s country, of 

faith in one’s resolve, of hope for a better tomorrow will be remembered and live on in the hearts 

and minds of Americans for generations to come. 

Hon. James P. McGovern 

OF MASSACHUSETTS

Madam Speaker, I rise today to join with my 

colleagues in marking with sadness the passing 

of President RONALD REAGAN. I send my deepest condolences to Mrs. Reagan and the entire 

Reagan family and to those friends who knew the 

President best. 

RONALD REAGAN was a man of principle, 

deep patriotism and great humor. He loved his 

country, and he loved the American people. His 

was, in many ways, the quintessential American 

life: moving from a small town to chase the 

American dream in California, achieving success 

through hard work and determination, and finally giving back through public service. 

One of the things I most admired about President REAGAN was his ability to disagree without 

being disagreeable. During the eighties, I was a 

staff member for the late Congressman Joe Moakley from Massachusetts. We had a front row seat 

to the great political battles between the Reagan 

White House and the House of Representatives 

under Speaker Tip O’Neill. While President 

REAGAN and Tip O’Neill had sharp political differences, they never had sharp words. Their arguments were never nasty. They were never personal. At the end of the day, their battles shifted 

from policy to who could tell the most outlandish story or the funniest Irish joke. It is an 

example that I believe all of us should try to do 

a better job of following. 

Madam Speaker, I would also like to take a 

moment to say just how much respect and admiration I have for Nancy Reagan. These last several years have been extremely difficult for her 

as President REAGAN battled Alzheimer’s disease. Mrs. Reagan has faced this tremendous adversity with strength, dignity and class, and she 

serves as an inspiration to us all. 

Again, my wife Lisa and I send our sympathy 

and our prayers to the Reagan family during this 

sad time, and I thank the gentleman for yielding 

me the time. 

Hon. Ron Lewis 

OF KENTUCKY

Madam Speaker, I rise today to mourn the 

death of President RONALD REAGAN and to pass 

along the thoughts and prayers of the people of 

the Second District of Kentucky to the Reagan 

family. 

So much of President REAGAN’s life was dedicated to public service. From the summer shores 

of his Illinois hometown to the silver screens of 

Hollywood, to Sacramento, Washington, DC, 

and his final heroic battle with Alzheimer’s disease, President REAGAN’s vision and confident 

leadership continues to inspire national spirit, 

improving quality of life in the United States 

and extending freedom and democracy across the 

globe. 

During his inaugural address in 1981, President REAGAN remarked, ‘‘we’re too great a nation to limit ourselves to small dreams.’’ His 

dream, family, work, neighborhood, peace, and 

freedom embodied the hopes of millions of 

Americans, shepherding the Nation into economic recovery and renewed national pride while 

demonstrating an uncompromising moral leader-
120 Ronald Reagan 

ship abroad that brought communism to its 

knees. 

He was a man whose love for his country 

stirred the spirit of his countrymen to a new age 

of patriotism and pride in America. His keen understanding of right and wrong, good and evil 

provided the leadership needed to defeat an evil 

empire. 

His was an exemplary life, uniquely American, 

and worthy of the love and admiration of so 

many men and women across the world. May he 

rest in peace. 

Hon. Sam Graves 

OF MISSOURI

Mr. Speaker, I proudly rise with my friends 

and colleagues today to pay tribute to a man who 

inspired a Nation and a generation. His America 

was a strong Nation, where opportunities were 

limitless. 

His list of accomplishments is long and distinguished. He won the cold war, he brought back 

our confidence, he cut taxes and grew the economy. He was an outstanding leader throughout 

the world. 

I did not have the pleasure of knowing President REAGAN personally; but like millions of 

Americans, I marveled at his abilities. He comforted us after the Challenger disaster, he stood 

tall against communism, and he made it morning again in America. 

RONALD REAGAN’s enduring legacy, though, 

will be that he was a people’s President. His concern for every American was genuine. He spoke 

with a twinkle in his eye and always had a story 

that illustrated his point perfectly. He was for 

us, because he was one of us. 

America will soon say goodbye to one of our 

greatest Presidents. Mr. Speaker, his courage, 

humor, and grace will be missed by all of America. The ‘‘shining city on the hill’’ will continue, 

but for now with a heavy heart. 

Hon. Max Burns 

OF GEORGIA

Mr. Speaker, once or twice a century we are 

given a President who stands above the rest. 

President REAGAN was such a leader. He united 

this country in a way that we have not been 

united since. He did so by simply speaking out 

for what the vast majority of the people of this 

country knew to be the truth: President REAGAN

declared that there is a God and that we, as a 

Nation, are under his authority. 

Like President Washington before him, he 

made no apology to anyone’s sensibilities. He 

called the evil empire of communism exactly 

what it was and committed this Nation to defeating it. He was the first President to begin 

the battle to reverse the overreach of Federal bureaucracy in the lives of our citizens. 

Let us truly honor the memory of RONALD

REAGAN by never ending the fight he so nobly 

waged for God and for country. 

Hon. John N. Hostettler 

OF INDIANA

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the citizens of Indiana’s Eighth Congressional District, I rise not 

only to pay tribute to RONALD WILSON REAGAN

but to also thank him for being a Commander 

in Chief of which we could always be proud. 

The most important role of any American 

President is that of Commander in Chief of our 

Armed Forces; and I, for one, do not need to wait 

for history to conclude that he was one of the 

greatest Commanders in Chief this Nation has 

ever had. 

Last year, my son Matthew and I were honored 

to attend the commissioning of the newest U.S. 

supercarrier, CVN–åã. I could not think of a better namesake for CVN–åã than RONALD WILSON

REAGAN. The ship’s motto is appropriately, 

‘‘Peace Through Strength.’’ While he is rejoicing 

in Heaven, the American people should feel comforted in knowing that his legacy lives on in a 

mighty U.S. warship that bears his name and 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 121 

will provide firepower for freedom for another 50 

years. 

So communists and terrorists and other enemies of freedom, you have been forewarned. You 

have not heard the last from RONALD REAGAN. 

And as he used to say when he was President, 

‘‘You can run, but you cannot hide.’’ 

In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, may the prayers 

and thoughts of a loving free world comfort his 

wife, Nancy, and their children during their time 

of supreme sorrow and unimaginable loss. 

Hon. Dennis Moore 

OF KANSAS

Mr. Speaker, I think it is truly unfortunate 

that it takes a time of crisis or tragedy to bring 

our Nation together. This week, for example, we 

have seen and heard from Members of both sides 

of the aisle a tribute to a great President, RONALD REAGAN. He was a humble man; he was a 

gracious man and kind. We may have had differences of opinion on policy, but I think we all 

concede he was a good, decent man. 

I never presume to speak for my friends on 

the other side of the aisle, but I think all of us 

would agree that we have the greatest Nation in 

the whole world, and one of the things that 

makes us so great as a Nation are the personal 

liberties and individual freedoms that we all 

share here in this country. The Bill of Rights of 

our Constitution gives us more economic and 

personal freedoms than people almost anywhere 

in the world, and we are a better Nation for that. 

And I think that is something RONALD REAGAN

would say if he were here right now. 

I think we can learn a lot of important things, 

and a lot of speakers on both sides of the aisle 

have enunciated some of those things this morning. We should try harder to disagree without 

being disagreeable. We should always treat one 

another with respect. And we should understand 

that we are all Americans and we are all in this 

together. We all want basically the same thing 

for our country and for our people. 

If we can do that, I think we are going to 

be better as a Nation and stronger as a people. 

We need to find ways to bring us together and 

not to divide us. I think 85 to 90 percent of the 

people in this body are good, decent, honorable 

people who want to do the right thing for our 

country, Republicans and Democrats. 

We need to understand that even when we 

have honest good-faith differences on policy 

issues, such as the $7 trillion debt we have right 

now, and the $500-plus billion deficit, this 

should not be about Republicans and Democrats; 

this should be about what is right for our country, and this should be about what is right for 

our children and our grandchildren and future 

generations in this country. 

I hope that we will take this occasion, the 

passing of a great President, RONALD REAGAN, 

to come together and again dedicate ourselves to 

doing what is right for our country and putting 

aside partisan politics. 

Hon. Ginny Brown-Waite 

OF FLORIDA

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to add my voice to 

the chorus extolling the life of President RONALD REAGAN. On a similar occasion, over a century ago, Lincoln said of Washington, ‘‘How do 

you add glory to the Sun?’’ 

I was at President REAGAN’s inauguration, 

and when he said, ‘‘It is time for us to realize 

that we’re too great a nation to limit ourselves 

to small dreams,’’ my spine stiffened, and so did 

that of so many people in the crowd. I got 

goosebumps when he called out that ‘‘peace is 

the highest aspiration of the American people. 

We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it; we will 

not surrender for it, now or ever.’’ 

From that day on, I knew America was back. 

You see, many people speak of the Reagan revolution. I like to think of it as the Reagan restoration. REAGAN restored our optimism, our belief 

in our ability to create, and the belief that God 

put man on this Earth to be free and that he 

made America to prove it. 

President RONALD REAGAN changed the paradigm. He changed America’s foreign policy from 

one of benign containment to active confrontation. And for the first time since communism 
122 Ronald Reagan 

began extending its sinister reach, we saw its 

hand pushed back. 

Our sympathies certainly go to the entire 

Reagan family. 

Hon. Stevan Pearce 

OF NEW MEXICO

Mr. Speaker, as we consider world history, we 

know that each generation will be faced with its 

own challenges. And though I am certain that 

the human race will survive; for a Nation to survive these challenges, each generation must continually produce men and women who are sufficient to the moment and equal to the task. It 

needs to generate men and women who see without limits, who work without tiring, and who 

sacrifice without restraint. A nation must find 

within itself in these times of trouble those who 

will forgo comfort and give up the beaten paths 

of certainty to find new courses of action and 

overcome all obstacles in pursuing the truth. Mr. 

REAGAN was sufficient for the moment and equal 

to the task. 

Mr. Speaker, we are here to mourn the passing 

of a President, but we are here to celebrate the 

life of leadership and sufficiency that Mr. 

REAGAN represented. 

Hon. Rush D. Holt 

OF NEW JERSEY

I am pleased to join with my colleagues in recognizing the lessons of the life of RONALD

REAGAN and his legacy. Among those lessons 

would be a sense of civility in debate. Among 

those lessons would be disagreeing without being 

disagreeable. Among those lessons would be the 

ability to recognize the humanity of our opponents, and they are lessons that we should all 

take to heart. 

Another part of the legacy, and I think the 

lasting legacy of President REAGAN, will derive 

from the painful period as we watched Alzheimer’s take this vibrant and warm and really 

great person into, as Mrs. Reagan said, a different 

place, a different world. And I hope we will use 

this to rededicate ourselves to research in Alzheimer’s and stem cell research so that others will 

not follow the former President in this path that 

was really painful for all of us to watch. 

Hon. Jack Kingston 

OF GEORGIA

I first heard about RONALD REAGAN in probably 1970, when Joan Baez, on my Woodstock 

album, referred to the Governor of California as 

Ron Ray Gun. And this was a young person, so 

I thought if Joan Baez is against him, it is probably a good thing. Yet as I went through my 

years and got in college, I had an opportunity 

to hear Mr. REAGAN speak at the Kansas City 

Republican Convention in 1976. And in his concession speech on the nomination going to Gerald Ford, he gave a great speech and he talked 

about what we have to do as Americans to preserve the great lifestyle that we live. I was very 

impressed with that speech. So in 1980, when he 

ran for President and was the nominee, certainly 

I was very enthusiastically in support of him. 

He was elected in a year when we had hostages 

in Iran, the economy was in the tank, and the 

spirit of America was in the doldrums. He won 

by a landslide, with great expectations, though, 

and a great mandate. He needed to cut taxes, and 

he did. He moved along and created an economy 

that gave 19 million new jobs over the next 8 

years. Inflation was reduced, as well as interest 

rates. He built defense to the extent that we got 

over, finally, Vietnam. He talked about things 

like the evil empire of the Soviet Union and 

‘‘peace through strength.’’ And he said things 

that were politically incorrect at the time, like 

‘‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!,’’ even 

though people in our own party did not like him 

saying those things. 

He was very basic. Nancy Reagan led the Just 

Say No to Drugs campaigns, and I think it was 

very effective in getting young people to think 

twice about it. 

He had that Irish twinkle in his eye. And 

when he got shot, even though it was a very serious wound, he said to the hospital staff, gee, I 

hope you are all Republicans. 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 123 

He had that kind of calmness and happiness 

about him as he went through things. And I, 

along with so many young people, was inspired 

by him. So when I ran for the State legislature 

in 1984, I pulled out a photograph that Libby, 

my wife, and I had taken with RONALD REAGAN

in 1980, and I ran an ad that said, ‘‘REAGANKingston: Face it, we need conservatives at all 

levels of government.’’ 

But I believe that was a key factor in helping 

me. He had those kinds of coattails. He believed 

in family, America. He loved Nancy. He showed 

us a husband and wife relationship at its finest. 

He was kind. The Carter-Reagan, MondaleReagan campaigns were not nasty, mean or vicious. In fact, he would say to Jimmy Carter if 

he disagreed with some of Mr. Carter’s facts, 

‘‘There you go again.’’ 

He liked joke-telling and told the jokes about 

the Soviet Union and got his point across, but 

when he was in the Oval Office, he always wore 

his coat out of respect for the Oval Office and 

the Office of the Presidency. 

In his final speech as he left Washington, DC, 

he said: 

jAks I walk off into the city streets, a final word to the 

men and women of the Reagan revolution . . . My friends: 

We did it. We weren’t just marking time. We made a difference. . . . We made the city freer, and we left her in good 

hands. 

The lights of this city shine, but the future 

will burn brightly because of man and the leadership of RONALD REAGAN. 

Hon. Christopher Shays 

OF CONNECTICUT

Mr. Speaker, I count my blessings for President RONALD REAGAN. I count my blessings for 

this man because he spoke from his heart and 

he spoke the truth. Obviously he was an exceptional communicator, but he was also extraordinarily honest. You did not have to wonder 

where RONALD REAGAN was coming from. He 

had core principles: confronting tyranny, expressing strength to the world, believing in our market economy, reducing the size of government. 

The bottom line is, he had extraordinary faith 

in our country, in the promise of America that 

the best of America is yet to come. And the best 

generations of Americans are yet to come. He 

trusted Americans to spend their own money and 

lead their own lives. In the process he knew our 

country and the world would benefit. 

I am absolutely convinced President REAGAN

totally changed the debate. He helped our country recognize that people have their own sense 

of self-worth and that we trust them to do the 

right thing. 

Hon. Christopher Cox 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, when President REAGAN took office on that cold day in 1981, the world needed 

a hero, and on that day President REAGAN sent 

a message to every American and to every human 

being enslaved by the Soviet empire. Confronting 

not the armies of Saddam Hussein or Slobodan 

Milosevic, but the largest military machine in 

the history of the world, President REAGAN simply said, ‘‘no weapon in the arsenals of the world 

is so formidable as the will and moral courage 

of free men and women.’’ 

Then he led a worldwide movement for individual liberty and the human rights of all people. 

Today the Soviet Union sits on the ash heap of 

history, and the Reagan legacy can be measured 

in lives liberated and dreams fulfilled. 

Before RONALD REAGAN became President in 

1981, there were 56 electoral democracies on 

Earth. Today there are 117. Today more than a 

billion more people are living in freedom than 

on the day that he took office. 

President REAGAN also liberated America, the 

land that he called the last best hope of mankind. 

Many Washington pundits at the time believed 

that the United States was suffering from an inevitable decline. President REAGAN had a different view. He believed that America’s greatest 

days were ahead, if only we could free our people 

from the shackles of big government. He knew 

that people, not governments, create prosperity, 

and that markets are the dynamic expression of 

individual freedom reinforced by property rights 

and the rule of law. 
124 Ronald Reagan 

He believed that the government management 

of an economy, whether in the form of wage controls, price controls, or regulation of production, 

produced growth and misery in direct proportion 

to the loss of freedom. Upon assuming the Presidency, he immediately ended price controls on 

oil, and within 4 months the price of oil fell over 

60 cents per gallon. 

When a government union broke the law and 

mounted an illegal strike against the taxpayers, 

President REAGAN upheld the rule of law, and 

even the Soviet Union noticed. Secretary of State 

George Schultz said this may have been the best 

foreign policy decision RONALD REAGAN ever 

made. 

RONALD REAGAN and a Democratic Congress 

cut marginal income tax rates from 70 percent 

to 28 percent and ushered in the longest peacetime economic expansion in American history. 

Inflation fell from over 12 percent to 1 percent, 

and interest rates dropped dramatically. People 

were free to work and keep most of what they 

earned and to save for their family’s future instead of relying on the state. 

In 1981, RONALD REAGAN was the first President to take the oath of office on the west front 

of the Capitol. He said he wanted to be looking 

west to symbolize the pioneer vision and spirit 

that he knew still lived in America. Later today 

his body will be carried up those same western 

steps of the Capitol. In just a few hours, President REAGAN will lie in state a few feet from 

where we are now gathered. 

As we imagine him looking up at the monumental artwork in the dome, at the Apotheosis 

of George Washington, perhaps we will hear him 

again speaking to us in the words he once used 

in this very place: 

Now we’re standing inside this symbol of our democracy, 

and we . . . hear again the echoes of our past: a general falls 

to his knees in the hard snow of Valley Forge; a lonely President paces the darkened halls and ponders his struggle to 

preserve the Union; the men of the Alamo call out encouragement to each other; a settler pushes west and sings a song, 

and the song echoes out forever and fills the unknowing air. 

As we gather in the rotunda and gaze upon 

the flag-draped vault that holds the mortal remains of our 40th President, I know that if we 

listen, we will hear those echoes of the past. We 

will hear that pioneer song because it is the 

American sound. Like RONALD REAGAN, it is 

hopeful, big-hearted, idealistic, daring, decent 

and fair. 

Mr. President, we loved you in life because 

you helped us love America, and you so nobly 

represented the country we love. As we lay you 

to rest, we will always respect and honor your 

leadership, your humility, your strength, your 

humor and your character. You told us that those 

who say we are in a time when there are no heroes just do not know where to look. Mr. President, all of America now knows where to look. 

You and our beloved First Lady, Nancy Reagan, 

will be our heroes for as long as there is an 

America and as long as love of freedom is carried 

in human hearts. 

Hon. Dennis Moore 

OF KANSAS

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Cox) for his very cogent remarks, and 

I really appreciate the civility with which this 

has been conducted today. 

The gentleman from California mentioned the 

fact that President REAGAN and a Democratic 

Congress presided over large tax cuts back during 

President REAGAN’s term, and I grant that. But 

at the same time, President REAGAN was not a 

strict ideologue and he understood that when 

large deficits appeared, that we as a Nation needed to do something to deal with those large deficits and not put our country deeper and deeper 

in debt. 

He agreed to actions to correct that course, 

and I think we as Democrats and Republicans 

hopefully can come together here and recognize 

that a $7 trillion debt and deficits of over half 

a trillion dollars cannot go on, and our kids and 

grandkids and the future generations of this Nation cannot sustain that kind of problem if it 

continues. 

I hope we will come together with an attitude 

of civility that was characterized by President 

REAGAN and work on these problems together 

because we have a lot more in common than we 

have differences. We are all Americans. We all 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 125 

love our country, and we want to do what is 

right by our country. 

Mr. Speaker, I want to conclude by saying that 

I think if we work together and understand that 

we are all in this together, we will do the very 

best we can for the Nation we love, the United 

States of America. 

May God bless Mrs. Reagan and the Reagan 

family, and may God hold RONALD WILSON

REAGAN in His loving arms. 

Hon. Kevin Brady 

OF TEXAS

Mr. Speaker, Heaven is a little sunnier and a 

little more optimistic with the arrival of one of 

the greatest American patriots and Presidents of 

the 20th century, President RONALD REAGAN. 

He inspired me, as he did many others. Across 

the country and around the world, millions are 

mourning the death and remembering the life of 

this man, patriot, and President. There is a sense 

of profound loss, and rightly so, in the hearts of 

all Americans. This week we will all search for 

a way to pay our respects to a man who made 

it ‘‘morning in America’’ again. 

President REAGAN’s message of hope restored 

America’s faith in what we could become. He 

loved this country, and he believed in the people 

that called it home. His optimism was infectious 

and at the end of his term as President Americans had caught his vision and understood their 

place in the world. 

REAGAN’s stewardship ushered in an era of 

peace and economic prosperity. Reaganomics— 

reducing the size of government, allowing Americans to keep more of their own hard-earned 

money instead of having it taxed away—brought 

about an economic revival in our Nation. 

REAGAN’s leadership ended the cold war, 

brought down the Berlin Wall, and charted a 

new course for both America’s and the world’s 

future. A future that was secure—made possible 

by ‘‘peace through strength.’’ We would do well 

to bear this wisdom in mind as we continue to 

defend America against the threats posed by adversaries. 

It is very difficult for one person or a single 

nation to pay tribute to a life as big, as bold, 

and as heroic as RONALD REAGAN’s. His own 

words are perhaps the best testament of his convictions. His actions are the most sincere depictions of the character that defined his life. His 

humility and grace endeared him to all American’s hearts. 

In announcing to the world that he had been 

diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, Mr. REAGAN

wrote: 

jLket me thank you, the American people, for giving me 

the great honor of allowing me to serve as your President. 

When the Lord calls me home, whenever that may be, I will 

leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future. 

I now begin this journey that will lead me into the sunset 

of my life. I know that for America there will always be a 

bright dawn ahead. 

President REAGAN’s legacy will live on in the 

hearts and memories of all Americans. His integrity, dignity and wisdom are immortal and will 

challenge us each day to ‘‘act worthy of ourselves’’—worthy of America. 

Thanks to RONALD REAGAN there are bright 

days ahead for America. 

Hon. Mark E. Souder 

OF INDIANA

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor RONALD

WILSON REAGAN, the 40th President of the 

United States, great American patriot, and conservative stalwart. 

This past weekend, I joined a delegation of 

Members from this body in honoring the veterans—both living and fallen—who brought 

freedom to Europe by storming the beaches of 

Normandy. Unfortunately, transportation problems have prevented me from participating more 

fully in commemorating the passing of a truly 

great President. Had I been able, I would have 

certainly joined my colleagues in unanimously 

voting to mourn the passage of RONALD

REAGAN. 

RONALD REAGAN was born in Tampico, IL, 

a small town in the heart of America. His Midwest Christian upbringing helped to mold 

REAGAN into the conservative icon that he has 

become. When I was 14 years old, living in a 

small rural Midwest town, I heard RONALD
126 Ronald Reagan 

REAGAN’s ‘‘A Time for Choosing’’ speech for 

Barry Goldwater. That speech and many of his 

other speeches, which I would listen to on 

records, inspired me to get involved in politics 

and to fight for conservative values. I know 

REAGAN did not inspire me alone. 

RONALD REAGAN did not just speak about 

conservative ideals. He lived them and led with 

them. At a time when conservatives and conservatism were derided and ridiculed, he showed 

young politicians a new way to be a conservative. 

In 1981, President REAGAN became the President of the United States. A boy from a small 

town had proven the American dream was still 

alive. At a time when a belief in America and 

freedom seemed to be at an alltime low, 

REAGAN’s optimism renewed the confidence of 

a Nation. REAGAN’s plans for economic revitalization, smaller government, and a strong military moved the United States toward a brighter 

future. 

Over the course of two terms, he turned the 

United States and the world around. He was not 

content with the status quo domestically or 

internationally. Today, the world and the country 

are better for it. Our current prosperity is based 

on the course he charted. The freedom that millions of people enjoy can be attributed in part 

to him. 

This past weekend was the 20th anniversary 

of REAGAN’s moving ‘‘D-day’’ speech. This Saturday marks the 17th anniversary of his ‘‘Berlin 

Wall’’ speech. Both of these speeches were devoted to freedom. As one of the 20th century’s 

greatest advocates of freedom—both political and 

economic—RONALD REAGAN has few equals. 

As RONALD REAGAN ends his journey, I 

mourn his passing, but I am overwhelmed with 

gratitude that he was able to accomplish so many 

things for the United States of America. 

Hon. John B. Shadegg 

OF ARIZONA

Mr. Speaker, RONALD REAGAN ran for President to change America. In the end, he had 

changed the world. As Arizonans, we can be 

proud that our State played a vital role in the 

Reagan revolution. 

Barry Goldwater started what became the 

Reagan revolution with his own run for the Presidency. For the first time since Calvin Coolidge, 

conservatives had a champion. Some dismissed 

Goldwater’s loss as the end of the nascent conservative movement, but they were wrong: it was 

just the beginning. 

Reagan took to the national political stage 

during the Goldwater campaign 40 years ago 

with his seminal speech ‘‘A Time for Choosing.’’ 

In losing the battle for the White House, 

Goldwater passed the conservative torch to RONALD REAGAN to continue the war of ideas. Together they nurtured the conservative movement 

and helped it grow. In 1966, REAGAN’s campaign 

for Governor of California struck the same 

themes as Goldwater’s Presidential campaign. He 

won in a landslide. It was the biggest political 

victory of the conservative movement since Goldwater had defeated the sitting U.S. Senate majority leader in 1952. 

My father, Stephen Shadegg, was Goldwater’s 

campaign manager, speechwriter and a close 

friend. Growing up in Goldwater’s shadow and 

being a part of the conservative movement from 

birth gave me a special appreciation for who 

REAGAN was. As with Goldwater, REAGAN’s 

greatest tool was the truth. When RONALD

REAGAN said something, you knew it came from 

the heart. 

Reagan was one of the few politicians who had 

deeply held beliefs and never strayed from fundamental principles. The rarest commodity in 

Washington, DC, is courage, yet REAGAN was 

nothing if not courageous. 

He also touched people’s lives. Just look at the 

hundreds of thousands of people who stood in 

line for hours this week to pay their last respects. 

A telling tribute to a man who had done so 

much for his country and whose citizens admired 

and loved him in return. 

President REAGAN is rightly remembered for 

numerous accomplishments. We are all better off 

today thanks to the economic revolution that 

brought double-digit interest rates and inflation 

to its knees. His tax policy proved that ‘‘a rising 

tide’’ of economic recovery ‘‘lifts all boats.’’ 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 127 

Reagan is best known as the aggressive opponent of communism, the strong cold warrior that 

stood up to the Soviets and their allies across the 

globe. Less known is that this doctrine of ‘‘peace 

through strength’’ allowed President REAGAN to 

sign the largest arms reduction treaty at the 

time. 

RONALD REAGAN was a normal citizen who 

used his charm and steadfast beliefs to shape the 

United States into the country it is today. He 

provided great optimism, sparked economic 

growth, gained military superiority, and bridged 

international relations. 

We all have a special memory of REAGAN. 

Obviously for me, the 1964 speech was a formative part of my political life. In the speech he 

outlined his dedication to limited government 

and personal responsibility, ideals that guide me 

as I serve the people of my district and Arizona: 

This idea? that government was beholden to the people, 

that it had no other source of power is still the newest, most 

unique idea in all the long history of man’s relation to man. 

This is the issue of this election: Whether we believe in our 

capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the 

American Revolution and confess that a little intellectual 

elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better 

than we can plan them ourselves. 

He had a simple vision. He knew that individual choice and freedom were essential for people to feel pride in themselves, instead of dependence on the government. REAGAN knew 

that the true American dream was to be free to 

live your life and achieve your goals without government interference or regulation. 

President REAGAN was one of the towering 

figures of the 20th century and one of the greatest defenders of freedom that America and the 

world has ever known. RONALD REAGAN was an 

heir to Barry Goldwater’s vision that the greatness of America lies not in its government but 

in its people. His faith in the individual, belief 

in free enterprise, and unending conviction in 

providing freedom of choice in everyday decisions, helped to restore ‘‘the great, confident roar 

of American progress, growth, and optimism.’’ 

Rather than mourn our loss following the 

passing of President RONALD REAGAN, we 

should instead celebrate his life and his countless 

contributions to our country. And we should 

renew the promise to keep America that ‘‘shining 

city upon the hill.’’ 

Hon. Mary Bono 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to one 

of our Nation’s greatest Presidents and a fellow 

Californian, President RONALD WILSON

REAGAN. 

A child of America’s heartland, he became a 

man of the West. A towering presence, he gained 

fame as a movie star and entertainer before turning his considerable gifts to public service. A 

man of great wit, faith, optimism, conviction and 

conscience, he believed fervently in the good of 

all men but especially the American people. 

It was from his unwavering faith and from the 

people, first in his adopted State of California 

and later throughout the Nation, that he drew 

his great strength. A natural leader, he commanded respect and loyalty from all who had the 

honor of serving with him. President REAGAN

brought grace and dignity to the high office he 

held, always treating those around him with respect and kindness. He never lost his connection 

to the working people and spoke to all Americans with such clarity and honesty that he will 

be forever known as the Great Communicator. 

Along with his beloved wife, Nancy, President 

REAGAN was a frequent visitor to the Palm 

Springs area which I have the honor of representing in Congress. The Reagans frequently 

spent New Year’s Eve with their dear friends, 

Ambassador and Mrs. Walter Annenberg, enjoying the relaxing desert environment and a friendly round of golf. A playground for movie stars 

and Presidents, the Palm Springs community was 

a welcome haven from the hectic world of celebrity and politics. The Reagans had many local 

friends and contacts, and the Palm Springs area 

was and still remains Reagan country. 

As someone who has always said that it is perhaps harder to be the spouse than the individual 

holding elected office, First Lady Nancy Reagan 

was a reservoir of strength for the President 

throughout their remarkable life together. His 

most fervent supporter and staunchest defender, 

Nancy deserves our recognition and thanks for 

her role in this most American story. 

President REAGAN’s many achievements are 

now part of our Nation’s proud history, and the 
128 Ronald Reagan 

contributions he made ensured a safer world and 

a brighter future for the American people. History will recall that his words helped bring down 

the walls that kept the people of the Soviet 

Union oppressed and isolated from the freedom 

of the West. His economic policies and the 

strength of his convictions laid the foundation for 

the greatest economic boom in America in the 

‘‘American century.’’ But, the history lessons will 

never be able to convey the sense of purpose and 

pride he instilled in our Nation through the 

sheer strength of his spirit and the optimism of 

his words. 

We owe this remarkable American a tremendous debt of gratitude. His leadership redefined 

the political landscape in our country and energized our people with purpose and hope. To paraphrase the poet, ‘‘we shall not soon see his like 

again.’’ 

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the people of California’s 45th District, I extend my deepest sympathy and condolences to First Lady Nancy 

Reagan, their children and the entire Reagan 

family. I have no doubt that President REAGAN

has seen his faith rewarded as he goes to his rest. 

May God bless President RONALD REAGAN. 

Hon. Charles H. Taylor 

OF NORTH CAROLINA

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to join my colleagues 

and remember the vision and achievements of our 

40th President, RONALD WILSON REAGAN. 

RONALD REAGAN came to Washington with a 

core set of values that guided him through his 

two terms as our Nation’s leader. President 

REAGAN fought to reduce taxes, diminish the 

role of an intrusive Federal bureaucracy, and to 

end forever the oppressive communist regime in 

the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. 

The times during which REAGAN sought to 

achieve these goals could not have been more 

daunting. America in 1981 was a land of broken 

spirit. Many citizens could not live the American 

dream due to interest rates in the double digits. 

The Soviet Union had surpassed the United 

States in military capability. But RONALD

REAGAN achieved what he set out to do through 

a combination of ideology, pragmatism, charm, 

self-effacing humor, and, yes, hard work. 

When the President left office in 1989, the Nation was in the midst of an economic renaissance. 

The Reagan tax cuts led to 96 straight months 

of economic growth. Record numbers of Americans were experiencing the pride that goes along 

with home ownership and economic selfsufficiency. The communist bloc would soon be 

a memory due to REAGAN’s determination. Ending communism was a stand upon which 

REAGAN absolutely would not compromise. To 

him, the Soviet Union was truly an evil empire 

which was morally at odds with the United 

States and the principles of human dignity. 

REAGAN battled head to head with Gorbachev 

at five peace summits and at home secured more 

money for our Nation’s defense. Thanks to this 

combination, millions upon millions now live in 

freedom and Russia is a valued ally in America’s 

quest for global freedom. 

Perhaps the most enduring legacy of RONALD

REAGAN was his ability to make us proud to be 

Americans. REAGAN gently lifted our spirits 

with his cheery optimism and geniality. He 

soothed our fears with a good joke or a funny 

story. He could have been our friendly neighbor 

or our favorite uncle. A reporter once asked 

REAGAN what Americans saw in him, to which 

he replied ‘‘Would you laugh if I told you that 

I think, maybe, they see themselves, and that I’m 

one of them? I’ve never been able to detach myself or think that I, somehow, am apart from 

them.’’ 

On a personal note, I cannot forget the 

warmth and kindness that I was shown by this 

great man. I first met REAGAN in 1976 and later 

visited him at the Oval Office. He provided me 

with invaluable advice during my first run for 

Congress. During this meeting, he spoke of the 

beauty of our mountains and the kindness of the 

people of North Carolina. He remembered fondly 

his visits to western North Carolina before he 

was a candidate and afterward. During every 

meeting with RONALD REAGAN I was treated 

with kindness, grace, and great humility. 

Few political leaders have had the vision and 

integrity of RONALD REAGAN. He had the guts 

and the courage to tackle the toughest problems 

of America in the eighties. He left his office with 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 129 

a stronger and prouder Nation than he inherited. 

He made us want to believe in ourselves and he 

made us a better people. Mr. Speaker, I and my 

constituents in western North Carolina will always be grateful for RONALD REAGAN’s service 

to our Nation. 

Hon. Ander Crenshaw 

OF FLORIDA

Mr. Speaker, this week our Nation lost an individual who had an enormous impact on our 

country and the world. RONALD WILSON

REAGAN, our Nation’s 40th President, had a 

great and positive impact on our economy, our 

security, and our national pride. I believe that 

just as his achievements will remain with us for 

many decades, so too will his legacy of exercising 

sincerity and consistency in all actions, both inconsequential and monumental. 

President REAGAN was an ordinary man who 

became an extraordinary leader. I will remember 

him most for his sense of optimism and hope. 

In the most difficult of times, it was President 

REAGAN who had the power to allay our worries, 

raise our spirits, and guide this Nation to prosperity. 

Working on RONALD REAGAN’s first campaign in Jacksonville in 1980, I saw first-hand 

his strength of character and his sense of optimism and hope. RONALD REAGAN lifted this 

Nation up at the time when we needed it the 

most. He made us feel good about being American. RONALD WILSON REAGAN knew who he 

was and he knew what he believed. These are the 

qualities of a great leader. 

President REAGAN’s strength of character and 

firm beliefs led to revolutionary policies in dealing with the economy, national security, and 

Federal taxation. 

Under the Presidency of RONALD WILSON

REAGAN, our Nation experienced a lengthy period of economic revival where inflation was 

brought under control, employment grew, and a 

stifling Federal tax burden was lifted from millions of hard-working Americans. 

President REAGAN’s defense policies were pivotal in the collapse of the Soviet Union and the 

end of the cold war. His commitment to a strong 

national defense and a safe and secure world is 

personified through the phrases, ‘‘Trust but 

verify,’’ ‘‘Peace through strength,’’ and most of 

all, ‘‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!’’ 

At the end of his two terms in office, the 

Reagan revolution had succeeded in giving the 

Nation its longest recorded period of peacetime 

prosperity without recession or depression. President REAGAN succeeded in keeping his campaign 

promise of restoring the great, confident roar of 

American progress and growth and optimism. 

Mr. Speaker, I am so very pleased to have 

known this man. I am even more pleased that 

RONALD REAGAN answered the call to public 

service and contributed all that he did. His leadership blessed our great Nation. Our country will 

never forget his awesome contributions. For now 

and years to come, may the people of the United 

States examine the life of our 40th President, and 

reflect upon his great achievements. RONALD

WILSON REAGAN lifted this Nation, and 

changed the world. 

Hon. Ernest J. Istook, Jr. 

OF OKLAHOMA

Mr. Speaker, like millions of Americans, I 

want to pay tribute to President RONALD

REAGAN, the 40th President of the United 

States. I have shed many tears this week, because 

I loved RONALD REAGAN, and I know how much 

he loved this country and the American people. 

President REAGAN inherited a country disillusioned and with serious economic problems, yet 

when he left office 8 years later, it was truly 

‘‘morning in America.’’ This was more than an 

economic boom. President REAGAN restored 

pride and dignity to the United States and to 

the Office of the Presidency. He advocated personal responsibility and limited government— 

government that gives a hand up, not a hand out. 

He deserves more credit than anyone else for 

the collapse of communism and the fall of the 

Iron Curtain, bringing freedom to many millions 

of people. He spoke proudly and freely of morals 

and principles, of right and wrong, of good and 

evil. He believed in the goodness of the Amer-
130 Ronald Reagan 

ican people, and he helped us believe in ourselves. 

Recently, my wife and I made a special trip 

to visit the Reagan ranch near Santa Barbara, CA. 

The humble and simple nature of his beloved 

ranch home reflects the genuine basic values that 

he cherished and lived by. America is a better 

place because of RONALD WILSON REAGAN, who 

greatly loved our country and who championed 

our ideals. 

Hon. Lamar S. Smith 

OF TEXAS

Mr. Speaker, I was honored to have served in 

Congress for the last 2 years of President 

REAGAN’s second term. 

President REAGAN devoted his life to the preservation of freedom. He believed that ‘‘no weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable 

as the will and moral courage of free men and 

women.’’ 

His global fight against communism is one of 

the most significant events in world history. 

Many said this enemy of freedom could not be 

conquered. But the Berlin Wall fell because 

President REAGAN made it fall. 

Since the President’s death last Saturday we 

have heard all or parts of the speeches that inspired so many for so long. They earned him the 

nickname the ‘‘Great Communicator.’’ 

Mr. Speaker, President REAGAN will always be 

the Great Communicator because of what he said 

and did. But his public remarks were also notable for what he did not say and what he did not 

do. 

He did not pound the podium. He did not 

flail his arms, or yell. He did not substitute manufactured emotion for reason. He did not exploit 

human suffering. 

The style and manner of his speech combined 

with the power of his ideas made verbal and 

physical gimmicks completely unnecessary. 

Mr. Speaker, there are many ways to judge a 

President’s place in history. I believe a question 

we must ask is: What kind of impact on world 

and national events does a President have after 

he leaves office? By that standard President 

REAGAN is a historical giant. Consider two examples: 

First, President REAGAN initiated the largest 

peacetime expansion of our military ever. It gave 

him the strength to win the cold war without 

firing a shot. 

But would our soldiers, sailors and airmen 

have achieved such rapid success in the first Gulf 

war if we sent our 1980 forces and weapons to 

fight? Would we have won the ground war in 

100 hours without President REAGAN’s military 

buildup? Of course not. I believe we would have 

prevailed, but not with such stunning success. 

And our modern, 21st century military that is 

fighting the war on terror in Iraq today would 

be years, if not decades away, without President 

REAGAN’s peace-through-strength doctrine. 

Second, President REAGAN launched the boldest economic growth plan since the New Deal. 

When he came to office there were 14 income 

tax brackets, with the top rate a suffocating 70 

percent. After he left office only two income tax 

brackets existed, with a top rate of 28 percent. 

Yes, we know this created the longest economic 

boom in history throughout the eighties. But 

what about the nineties? 

Mr. Speaker, without President REAGAN’s 3- 

year across-the-board tax reduction plan in 1981, 

and without the fundamental restructuring of the 

Nation’s Income Tax Code in 1986, we would not 

have experienced the job creation machine of the 

nineties. We would not have created a new class 

in America—the investor class. And our economy certainly would not have survived and rebounded as it did after the 9/11 terrorist attacks 

and corporate scandals. 

President REAGAN left office with a united 

America, a strong America, and a prosperous 

America. His America is the country every President—every American—aspires to live in. 

Hon. Kendrick B. Meek 

OF FLORIDA

Mr. Speaker, RONALD REAGAN forever 

changed the landscape of American politics. He 

will be remembered as a President who loved his 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 131 

country and inspired us all to be better Americans. 

President REAGAN was a principled leader, 

and many times his beliefs put him at odds with 

Democrats. Despite these disagreements, he 

taught us that there is a big difference between 

bitter partisanship and strong beliefs. 

My thoughts and prayers are with Mrs. 

Reagan and her children at this difficult time. 

Hon. John Sullivan 

OF OKLAHOMA

Mr. Speaker, on the passing of President 

REAGAN it is right and good that our Nation 

gathers for mourning, prayer, and remembrance. 

As I inventory my memories of RONALD

REAGAN, I can’t help but smile at the recollection of such a good and sensible man. The first 

time I voted for a President, I voted for RONALD

REAGAN. Each time since I cast my first ballot, 

I have compared every candidate to President 

REAGAN. 

That’s because RONALD REAGAN set the 

standard, he personified leadership. He was 

America. He was our greatness, our promise, our 

free will, and our character. 

RONALD REAGAN showed us love of family, 

even in the midst of challenges to our values and 

barbs to tradition. 

He and Nancy were unafraid to show their affection, to put their pure love for each other on 

display. When you saw the Reagans together, 

you couldn’t help but feel part of their family. 

Their mutual fondness and love brought true 

meaning to the term ‘‘first family.’’ 

Not only a defender of traditional values, 

RONALD REAGAN brought common sense to bear 

on government. He reigned in the scope of the 

Federal Government, while spurring growth in 

the private sector. 

RONALD REAGAN changed the world. He 

spread democracy to places where freedom was 

a term without meaning. President REAGAN

stood up to the rising tide of communism, instead presenting the future that liberty ensures. 

He changed the world by example, showing 

the power of a free people. He ended the cold 

war with fearless resolve, lifting our fears of imminent attack by Soviet missiles and giving a future to nations ravaged by the ills of communism. 

Not only did RONALD REAGAN change the 

world, he changed America. He led us back to 

prosperity. He made us proud to be Americans 

again. RONALD REAGAN brought us closer to his 

image of a ‘‘shining city on a hill,’’ and showed 

us that we could be great again. Under 

REAGAN’s guidance the rest of the world came 

to look to us for our leadership again. 

And although we are saddened by his death, 

we are comforted by the promise he restored in 

America. President REAGAN said ‘‘For while I 

take inspiration from the past . . . . I live for the 

future.’’ So must we. 

Hon. Dennis R. Rehberg 

OF MONTANA

Mr. Speaker, I remember working in Washington during RONALD REAGAN’s transition in 

1980. It was heartening to see the change in attitude and renewed patriotism among the public 

and in Washington. You see, in those days so 

many Americans felt discouraged about their 

government and their future. 

And then the sheriff rode into town. He 

brought with him a wholesome, western perspective. His optimism was contagious, and he had 

a love for this country and its people as big and 

as colorful as the Montana sky. His was a kind 

of hope that people hadn’t seen in our Nation 

since well before Vietnam, Watergate, and the 

tough economic times that he came to vanquish. 

‘‘Sheriff’’ REAGAN’s determination and infectious charm disarmed this town of its grip on 

the American taxpayer, in favor of limited government, free enterprise, and a renewed faith in 

the power of the American dream. Abroad, our 

President’s unwavering stand for liberty brought 

down the Iron Curtain, ended the cold war, and 

helped restore freedom to millions of people 

around the world. He made us—made me— 

proud to be an American. 

Several years ago, that sense of pride motivated 

me to successfully lead the effort in Montana to 
132 Ronald Reagan 

change the name of our annual Republican Lincoln Day Dinners to Lincoln-Reagan Day Dinners, in honor of the two greatest Republicans, 

Abraham Lincoln and, of course, RONALD

REAGAN. 

Hon. Silvestre Reyes 

OF TEXAS

Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my sorrow on 

the passing of President RONALD REAGAN. 

I had the privilege of meeting President 

REAGAN twice—once when I participated in a 

G.I. Forum event in El Paso, TX, honoring veterans, and the other time while I was in the Border Patrol providing security as the President visited Brownsville, TX. 

It was easy to see that President REAGAN was 

blessed with a good nature and positive spirit. 

All Americans remember his abiding love of 

country and strong defense of freedom. 

President REAGAN has left a lasting legacy in 

the way he confronted communism and helped 

to end the cold war. He was the kind of leader 

we needed during those difficult years. For that, 

our Nation, and the world, will be forever grateful. 

On behalf of my constituents in El Paso, I extend heartfelt condolences to the Reagan family 

during this very sad time. 

Hon. Tom Latham 

OF IOWA

Mr. Speaker, former President REAGAN’s influence on the world was tremendous. He was 

bigger than life. Whether it was on the Silver 

Screen or before thousands of cheering Americans—he was, in so many ways, the American 

dream. His messages of hope and possibility 

touched so many people around the world. 

Many Iowans have a special place in their heart 

for RONALD REAGAN or ‘‘DUTCH’’ as he was 

known to those who used to listen to him on 

the radio during the thirties. 

In 1932, after graduating from college, 

REAGAN began working as a temporary staff announcer for radio station WOC in Davenport, 

IA. In 1933, WOC merged with radio station 

WHO in Des Moines, and REAGAN was hired 

as chief sports announcer for the new station. 

Here, REAGAN announced Chicago Cubs baseball 

games—reading them from teletype reports. I remember him recounting how he was forced to 

improvise games for as long as 15 minutes when 

the teletype machine would unexpectedly stop. 

At the time, radio personalities were treated 

as big stars and what a great place to start a career in entertainment—in Iowa. As we all know, 

Mr. REAGAN went on to a career in movies but 

many Iowans remembered listening to his sportscasts and helped him in pursuit of higher office 

in the seventies and eighties. 

I can remember ‘‘Dutch’s Dollies’’—a group 

of ladies who were longtime fans cheering wildly 

at his campaign events. They were loyal supporters with very long memories of their man 

DUTCH. 

There are many great stories about RONALD

REAGAN and his ties to Iowa, but I want to express my admiration for the entire Reagan family. 

RONALD REAGAN touched me in a manner I 

could not anticipate—through Alzheimer’s disease. 

For the better part of the last decade I shared 

the sadness of this disease with the Reagan family. Like all Americans, we read about the 

Reagan family’s long goodbye to the President. 

During their painful days, the entire Latham 

family was saying their own long goodbye to my 

father Willard Latham, who succumbed to the 

disease in 2001. 

RONALD REAGAN will be remembered for 

many things but for millions this week we are 

reminded of the ravages Alzheimer’s disease has 

on its victims and their families. Let us all pray 

for those who are devastated by this affliction and 

let us keep the Reagan family in our thoughts 

and prayers. 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 133 

Hon. Jon C. Porter 

OF NEVADA

Mr. Speaker, today is a day of reflection. We 

reflect on the life and leadership of former President RONALD WILSON REAGAN. We remember 

all that is good in our country, and all our Nation has to offer its people. RONALD REAGAN

made a significant and lasting contribution to 

the strength of our economy, our military, and 

restored America’s self-confidence. 

President REAGAN was an inspiration to me 

as I embarked upon a political career in Boulder 

City, NV, more than 20 years ago. He instilled 

in me that America was indeed a place everyone 

can rise as high and as far as his ability will take 

him. His own humble beginnings are proof of 

that. He taught me the meaning of civility, and 

to respect your political adversaries despite your 

disagreements. 

President REAGAN changed the course of history, for both the United States and the world. 

He implemented foreign policy that would later 

end the cold war and free many nations from the 

Iron Curtain. 

President REAGAN strengthened our economy. 

His leadership taught us that the Federal Government is not the solution for our problems and 

set us on a course that would lessen taxes and 

decrease inflation, helping many Americans 

achieve the American dream. 

On behalf of the people of the Third Congressional District from the great State of Nevada, 

I offer my deepest sympathy to Mrs. Reagan and 

the entire Reagan family. 

To conclude, let me recap the final words of 

President REAGAN’s farewell address to the 

American people from the Oval Office: 

My friends: We did it. We weren’t just marking time. 

We made a difference. We made the city stronger. We made 

the city freer, and we left her in good hands. All in all, not 

bad, not bad at all. 

Mr. President, thank you for all you’ve done 

for the Nation and the world. Americans will 

miss you. 

Hon. Todd Tiahrt 

OF KANSAS

Mr. Speaker, we have lost a giant in American 

politics and world history. RONALD WILSON

REAGAN was not only a great President, he was 

a good man. He will be remembered fondly for 

his character and with great appreciation for his 

tremendous triumphs in spreading peace and 

freedom throughout the world. 

In addition to tearing down the iron curtain 

of communism, rebuilding America’s military, 

presiding over the Nation’s longest period of 

growth and prosperity, it was the little things 

that made him great. He cared about people, including the smallest among us. His heart of 

kindness reflected that of his Creator’s in its 

compassion toward ‘‘the least of these.’’ 

RONALD REAGAN comforted us when we 

grieved. Whether to the families of the 101st Airborne Division or to a Nation in shock after losing the space shuttle Challenger, President 

REAGAN knew what to say and how to say it. 

He also knew when to be silent and simply offer 

a reassuring embrace. He was the most powerful 

man in the world, yet he exuded the warmth and 

kindness of a gentle grandfather. We respected 

not just the office he held, but the man who held 

it. 

President REAGAN earned his respect. He 

knew what he believed, established his goals 

upon those beliefs and committed to achieve his 

dreams. The world is a much improved place because he lived by his deeply held convictions. 

RONALD REAGAN knew you shouldn’t penalize people for working hard, so he fought to 

enact sweeping tax relief that spurred unparalleled economic growth. He knew there was a difference between good and evil, so he called out 

the evil empire, and it ultimately crumbled. 

RONALD REAGAN knew people wanted to feel 

good about this country again, so he told us it 

was ‘‘morning in America’’—and we saw that it 

was. 

He touched numerous lives in the Fourth Congressional District of Kansas. Every year I attend 

the Lincoln Day Celebration in Independence, 

KS, I am reminded by local residents of RONALD
134 Ronald Reagan 

REAGAN’s visit there in 1966. They remember it 

as if it were yesterday. And they still love him. 

We love RONALD REAGAN. We have named 

our national airport, Washington’s largest government building and more than 50 other sites 

across this country in tribute to our Nation’s 

40th President. He captured our hearts with his 

next-door-neighbor kindness, rekindled our patriotism with his effusive and infectious love for 

this country, and he inspired us with his principled leadership. 

In his personal and moving letter disclosing 

his bout with Alzheimer’s disease, the President 

conveyed the essence of his entire being. In that 

letter, he was optimistic about America, and he 

asked us to take care of his beloved Nancy because he was concerned about the burden she 

would bear. There was not a word of self-pity 

or dread. RONALD REAGAN wrote about the sunset of his life, but proclaimed for America, ‘‘a 

bright dawn ahead.’’ 

Mr. Speaker, we too believe that America’s future is bright, but it pales in comparison to the 

place where RONALD REAGAN now lives. 

President REAGAN had a strong faith in God 

and spoke of his reliance on prayer in both good 

and difficult times. During his address at the 

National Prayer Breakfast in 1982, President 

REAGAN said he believed the United States was 

a blessed land that had been set apart in a special 

way. But, he also had the following warning: 

Sometimes, it seems we’ve strayed from that noble beginning, from our conviction that standards of right and wrong 

do exist and must be lived up to. God, the source of our 

knowledge, has been expelled from the classroom. He gives 

us His greatest blessing, life, and yet many would condone 

the taking of innocent life. We expect Him to protect us 

in a crisis, but turn away from Him too often in our dayto-day living. I wonder if He isn’t waiting for us to wake 

up. 

President REAGAN went on to urge Americans 

of faith to get involved and ‘‘to restore our spirit 

of neighbor caring for neighbor.’’ In his conclusion he added: 

We are told in II Timothy that when our work is done, 

we can say, ‘‘We have fought the good fight. We have finished the race. We have kept the faith.’’ 

RONALD REAGAN’s struggles on this Earth are 

finished, but his work carries on. He indeed 

fought the good fight, and we are all better off 

because of it. 

May God bless RONALD WILSON REAGAN, 

and may God provide strength, peace and encouragement to Mrs. Reagan and the Reagan 

family in the days ahead. 

Hon. Michael Bilirakis 

OF FLORIDA

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor America’s 

40th President, RONALD WILSON REAGAN. 

President REAGAN was an ordinary man who 

led an extraordinary life. He came from a middle-American family of modest means to become 

the leader of the most powerful Nation in the 

world, inspiring its people along the way. 

President REAGAN was a decisive leader. He 

was a strong Commander in Chief. He was a 

statesman. He was a gifted communicator. He 

was a skilled political adversary. He was an eternal optimist. He was a patriot. He was, above 

all, an American. He used these skills, and his 

love for our country, to change the course of history for the better. 

President REAGAN accomplished much during 

his Presidency. He helped defeat communism 

and end the cold war. He rebuilt our national 

defenses. He advanced freedom throughout the 

world. He led the longest economic recovery in 

our Nation’s history. He lowered taxes. He fundamentally changed the way we think about government. ‘‘We meant to change a nation,’’ he 

said in his farewell address to the American people, but instead, ‘‘we changed a world.’’ 

President REAGAN literally helped save a 

world that needed saving. 

President REAGAN convinced us to believe in 

ourselves again. He took charge of a wounded 

Nation that doubted itself and helped us rediscover our pride and patriotism. He reminded us 

that America and its people are fundamentally 

good, decent and deserving of God’s blessings. 

He restored America’s greatness and instilled in 

us his eternal optimism that our best is always 

yet to come. 

President REAGAN left America better, stronger, freer and more prosperous than we ever had 

been. Looking back on his accomplishments in 

the White House, he said that he was proud that 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 135 

‘‘We weren’t just marking time. We made a difference,’’ adding with his usual humility ‘‘All in 

all, not bad, not bad at all.’’ 

Not bad at all, Mr. President. 

President REAGAN battled Alzheimer’s disease 

with the same dignity and courage with which 

he lived his life. He asked us, in his last letter 

to America, to remember that he had ‘‘the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future.’’ We know he loved America. I think it is clear America loved him. 

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to have known President REAGAN and am honored to have, in some 

small measure, done my part to ensure that his 

vision for America and the world came to pass. 

We all owe him a debt of gratitude for dedicating his life to improving ours. 

In this time of great sadness for the Reagan 

family and the American people, let us take comfort in the knowledge that the leader we so loved 

has fulfilled his earthly mission and has finally 

reached the place of peace in which we all may 

one day rejoice. May God eternally bless RONALD REAGAN and continue to watch over the 

‘‘shining city on a hill’’ he so loved. 

Hon. Mac Collins 

OF GEORGIA

Mr. Speaker, today, I pay tribute to a great 

American, our 40th President, RONALD

REAGAN. 

Under RONALD REAGAN’s Presidency and 

leadership, America stood tall again in the world 

as a ‘‘shining city on the hill.’’ Americans were 

proud once again to be Americans. 

RONALD REAGAN assumed the Presidency 

when America was facing an Iranian hostage crisis, a rising inflation rate, increasing unemployment, and an energy crisis that saw Americans 

waiting in lines to purchase gasoline. 

Upon assuming the Presidency, RONALD

REAGAN proposed a bold economic and defense 

program. His economic policy created the longest peacetime job expansion in history. Under his 

leadership, our defenses were rebuilt to handle 

any adversary. It was his leadership that saw 

America triumph as the communist evil empire 

that scarred Europe fell. 

President REAGAN fought for his convictions 

and followed up his campaign promises with successful action. Under his leadership, government 

bureaucracy and regulations were reduced. Taxes 

were lowered and a strong national defense was 

rebuilt to fight against the spread of communism. These moves won him a landslide reelection victory. 

I agree with the words of this great President 

when he said, ‘‘government is not the solution 

. . . government is the problem.’’ 

I also agree with President REAGAN’s words 

at the 1992 Republican National Convention in 

Houston, TX, when he said: 

jAk lot of liberal democrats are saying it’s time for a 

change; and they’re right; the only trouble is they’re pointing 

to the wrong end of Pennsylvania Avenue. What we should 

change is a Democratic Congress that wastes precious time 

on partisan matters of absolutely no relevance to the needs 

of the average American. . . . 

It’s time to clean house. Clean out the privileges and perks. 

Clean out the arrogance and the big egos. Clean out the scandals, the corner-cutting and the foot-dragging. 

RONALD REAGAN was a President who, in a 

time of politicians, proved himself a statesman. 

He was a leader who, when others demanded 

compromise, preached conviction; a gentleman 

who, in time of average men, stood taller than 

anyone else. 

He ranks as one of the finest men ever to hold 

the office. He was successful as a radio broadcaster, actor, union leader, Governor and President. But, above all else, he was a successful 

American whose legacy lives on in these halls and 

across this land. May God bless this great man, 

his family and this land that he so dearly loved. 

Hon. Edward L. Schrock 

OF VIRGINIA

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honor and remember a great man, a great leader and a great President. 

RONALD WILSON REAGAN is a man none of 

us will soon forget. In the annals of American 

and world history, RONALD REAGAN will be recognized and remembered with the great leaders 

of our past like Winston Churchill, George 

Washington and Abraham Lincoln. 
136 Ronald Reagan 

As a principled leader, he challenged political 

leaders in our Nation, in both parties, to go beyond the status quo, to think beyond the realms 

of the possible, to reach new heights in public 

discourse by doing more than debate the problems ailing the American people, and to actually 

find a solution. 

He actively worked to enact new policies that 

brought our Nation out of the malaise of the seventies. 

He fought communism and tyranny, bringing 

freedom to more people in the world than has 

ever been achieved in history. 

His principle of ‘‘peace through strength,’’ not 

only led our Nation to become the preeminent 

superpower in the world, but it also brought the 

Soviet empire down to its knees, ending the cold 

war once and for all. 

When was the last time we have seen a world 

leader stand boldly on the doorsteps of an enemy 

and challenge him to ‘‘Tear down this wall’’? 

President REAGAN knew what had to be done 

and he did it. Why? Because it was the right 

thing to do. 

I think most Americans will remember RONALD REAGAN for the inspiration he gave us all. 

He helped us to believe in ourselves again. After 

our failed efforts in Vietnam and the protests and 

marches against our actions there, after Watergate, after economic malaise, and after the Iran 

hostage crisis, America was in a state of despair 

with very little hope in the future. 

But President REAGAN helped us to believe 

we could be better, and we became better. He 

showed us America could be strong and win the 

cold war, and we became strong and won it. He 

promised us he would invest in the American 

people to turn the economy around. He made 

that investment and dividends are still paying off 

today. 

President REAGAN optimistically led the way. 

The Nation followed and we are better off because of it. 

In spite of all that President REAGAN did for 

our Nation, the one thing that speaks volumes 

about his character and the man that he was, was 

the way he loved Nancy. He was not embarrassed 

about his love for her, rather he demonstrated it 

at every opportunity. 

President REAGAN was committed to his family, to his Nation and to the world. He was dedicated to his integrity, principles and the belief 

that America could become that ‘‘shining city on 

a hill.’’ 

Today, we say goodbye to this great man, 

leader, President and husband. We miss President REAGAN. May God bless him and his family. 

Hon. Solomon P. Ortiz 

OF TEXAS

Mr. Speaker, my memories of RONALD

REAGAN are much like the memories of so many 

of those who met President REAGAN and who 

were absolutely charmed by him. 

RONALD REAGAN wasn’t just called the Great 

Communicator because he could give good 

speeches; he was a brilliant communicator on all 

levels. He understood how the everyday person 

on the street understood issues, and he framed 

things in such a way that people believed him. 

He presented his ideas simply and eloquently. 

He was also excellent one on one. His Irish 

charm was all-encompassing. That charm made 

him an agreeable opponent when we disagreed 

on issues. He welcomed opposition on a matter; 

he understood that democratic societies only 

flourish when both sides of an issue are clearly 

heard. He relished debate. 

President REAGAN’s acting career was helpful 

to him in his political career, although his detractors often denigrated him for it. But he was 

a good actor; his performance in ‘‘Kings Row’’ 

was widely hailed. But World War II intervened 

and his advancing career was diverted to military 

service, making movies for the troops. 

My personal memories of the President were 

times we saw each other in the White House or 

the Capitol. The first time we met, my 10-yearold daughter, Yvette, accompanied me to the 

White House party for new Members of Congress. After being rebuffed by a security guard 

when she asked if she could get REAGAN’s autograph, the President found out and obliged her 

with his autograph. 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 137 

I remember another meeting with him that 

was rather high stakes on the international stage. 

I’d just returned from El Salvador in the 

mideighties with a CODEL of House Members 

where we’d sought to bring back good information about the rebel uprisings in Central America, particularly there in El Salvador. 

Talking about—and debating at points during 

the conversation—international policy with the 

President of the United States in the Oval Office 

was a heady moment. We marveled that a migrant worker from Robstown and a lifeguard 

from Illinois would wind up in this room, talking about such important things. 

He loved this Nation and felt a great responsibility to it. When his tax cuts and economic 

policies produced mountains of massive deficit, 

he stepped up and reversed his policy, raising 

taxes higher than any President before him—or 

since—has ever done. His insistence that the Soviets tear down the Berlin Wall rang truer than 

anyone would have believed at the time. 

He had a sweet soul. This was one of the central tenets of the man. He loved his wife deeply, 

and the entire Nation has come to love her even 

more after they left the White House. Nancy 

Reagan’s monumental strength in the face of facing her dear husband’s illness, without him entirely with her, might have broken lesser people. 

One of the President’s greatest contributions 

to humanity, and to this Nation, may have come 

after he left office to begin the long dark walk 

away from us, and his beloved family. That this 

strong, vigorous man was so removed, so empty, 

was chilling for all of us. The eyes that danced 

with Irish charm began to narrow with confusion. 

The Nation was deeply moved watching this 

much-loved President face the indignities of Alzheimer’s so bravely and with such conviction. 

We have been moved to seek new science and 

new treatments for the cruel disease that claims 

the last decades of many Americans, and drains 

their families. 

For all we have said here today, RONALD

REAGAN will be remembered most profoundly as 

an eternal optimist, embodying the quintessential American spirit. At our core, we are all optimists, thinking about tomorrow. Former House 

Speaker Tip O’Neill once illustrated President 

REAGAN’s indomitable optimism with a story 

the President told him. President REAGAN compared himself to the kid who walks into a room 

full of horse dung, and asks excitedly, ‘‘Where’s 

the pony?’’ 

I join the House of Representatives today in 

honoring the life and service of RONALD WILSON

REAGAN and offer my condolences, those of my 

family, and those of my south Texas constituents, 

to Mrs. Reagan and the rest of their family. 

May the Lord bless President REAGAN’s soul, 

and comfort Mrs. Reagan and their family in this 

time of loss. 

Hon. Dale E. Kildee 

OF MICHIGAN

Mr. Speaker, I remember RONALD REAGAN as 

an enthusiastic American patriot. He truly enjoyed being President. He was just like everyone’s uncle or grandfather. He always had a kind 

word to say. He could disagree without being 

disagreeable. 

I have served with six Presidents, and I liked 

him personally. 

Even one of his principal opponents, House 

Speaker Tip O’Neill, liked him. 

President REAGAN was well known for his 

great sense of humor. On St. Patrick’s Day, Tip 

O’Neill invited President REAGAN to the Speaker’s dining room to have lunch with the Irish 

Members of Congress. In his remarks, President 

REAGAN said, with great humor, ‘‘I am told that 

on St. Patrick’s Day, one should spend time with 

saints and scholars, so you know that when I 

leave here I will have to go to two other places.’’ 

We all loved it. 

On the international level, President REAGAN

made it difficult for the Soviet Union to compete 

with us, either economically or militarily. 

May he rest in peace. 

Hon. Karen McCarthy 

OF MISSOURI

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor former 

President RONALD WILSON REAGAN and to ex-
138 Ronald Reagan 

tend my deepest sympathies to former First Lady 

Nancy Reagan and the Reagan family. I join 

with the millions of Americans who mourn the 

death of our 40th President. President REAGAN

demonstrated an unwavering commitment to 

freedom, justice and democracy and left an indelible mark upon our Nation and the world. 

On this occasion of remembrance, we are reminded of the pain and devastation wrought by 

Alzheimer’s disease, a neurological illness which 

President REAGAN endured during the last decade of his life. From this challenge, Mrs. Reagan 

has led a valiant effort to enable ongoing embryonic stem cell research, in the hope for a cure 

for this debilitating disease, as well as Parkinson’s, diabetes, cancer and multiple sclerosis. 

On April 28, I joined more than 200 of my 

colleagues in the House of Representatives in 

sending a letter to President George W. Bush 

in support of Mrs. Reagan’s efforts on behalf of 

scientific research on stem cells. In February 

2003, Senators Hatch, Feinstein, Kennedy, Specter and Harkin introduced legislation to ban 

human reproductive cloning but allow nuclear 

transplantation research to continue under strict 

Federal guidelines. I commend them for their 

leadership on this important issue and know that 

with the continued support of Mrs. Reagan, 

progress toward a cure for Alzheimer’s and other 

diseases will be possible, ensuring a brighter future for millions of Americans. 

As we honor the life and legacy of President 

REAGAN and extend our condolences to his family and friends, let us remember the dignity and 

grace with which he lived his life and provide 

a fitting tribute to his memory by renewing the 

commitment to this noble cause. 

Hon. David L. Hobson 

OF OHIO

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my colleagues, indeed all Americans, in paying tribute 

to a great man, the 40th President of the United 

States—RONALD WILSON REAGAN. 

President REAGAN was an extraordinary and 

visionary leader, who saw our great Nation as 

having a unique role, purpose, and destiny in the 

world. He saw it as a beacon of freedom, a land 

of unlimited opportunity, and in his words, a 

‘‘shining city on the hill.’’ 

Mr. REAGAN took office during a time of 

great pessimism. There was Watergate; Vietnam; 

the hostage crisis in Iran; and gas lines, runaway 

inflation, and double-digit interest rates here at 

home. There were those who told us that we had 

to lower our expectations, that we could no 

longer shape our destiny, and that our best days 

were behind us. 

RONALD REAGAN saw a different future. It 

was a future in which we were limited only by 

the size of our dreams; where the spirit of our 

pioneer ancestors was still alive, it just needed 

to be rekindled. It was a vision where hard work, 

imagination, creativity, and a little luck would 

allow ordinary men and women to accomplish 

extraordinary things. 

Taxes were cut, inflation and interest rates 

were reduced, and gas lines disappeared. Americans went back to work; the economy roared forward; and in the process, Mr. REAGAN restored 

our confidence, uplifted our spirits, and made us 

proud to be Americans again. 

The rebirth here at home was accompanied by 

equally dramatic changes abroad. The march of 

totalitarianism that seemed inevitable a few years 

earlier, was halted as Mr. REAGAN rebuilt our 

defenses. The creaky Soviet system disappeared 

quietly, without a shot being fired. And the Berlin Wall, the greatest symbol of oppression, fell, 

and millions of people around the world tasted 

freedom for the first time. 

We Americans, and indeed all freedom-loving 

people around the world, owe President REAGAN

an enormous debt. We will miss him, but history 

will never forget what he accomplished in 8 short 

years. As a grateful Nation comes together to say 

goodbye, our collective thoughts and prayers go 

to Mrs. Reagan and her family. 

Hon. Jim Nussle 

OF IOWA

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor President RONALD

REAGAN. RONALD REAGAN once said, ‘‘We in 

government should learn to look at our country 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 139 

with the eyes of an entrepreneur, seeing possibilities where others see only problems.’’ It is that 

spirit that brought me and many others into the 

public service profession. I am proud to have cast 

my first Presidential vote for RONALD REAGAN

in 1980. Fortunately for this country and the 

world, a majority of my fellow citizens agreed. 

RONALD REAGAN served as a beacon of hope 

and inspiration. His vision of a stronger, optimistic America inspired me to action. In 1980 

I was a young student at Luther College in 

Decorah, IA, and I jumped right into grassroots 

politics on my campus. I was selected to attend 

the Republican National Convention that summer and was one of the youngest delegates there. 

Iowans are proud of our connection to President REAGAN. WOC, a Davenport radio station 

in my district, gave RONALD REAGAN his first 

job out of college and he lived in Iowa for several 

years. 

RONALD REAGAN made the future something 

to charge toward rather than fear. His philosophy 

was based on a brilliant truth: He knew without 

a doubt that having faith in Americans would 

create the best America. 

The Reagan revolution is still the foundation 

for my core beliefs: The American people make 

better decisions about their daily life than the 

government can for them. Keeping America secure is job one. Peace is best achieved when you 

negotiate from a position of strength. 

I keep a plaque on my desk with a quote from 

RONALD REAGAN. It reads ‘‘There’s no limit to 

what a man can do or where he can go if he 

doesn’t mind who gets the credit.’’ 

Today I join my colleagues, thousands of 

Iowans and millions of Americans in giving credit to RONALD REAGAN for renewing our Nation 

and for changing the world forever with his leadership and ideals. 

Thank you Mr. President, for reminding us 

why we should be proud to be Americans and 

for making us feel safe when nothing in the 

world seemed safe. Above all, thank you for your 

humor, optimism and for believing the best in 

us. We will never forget you. 

Hon. Christopher H. Smith 

OF NEW JERSEY

Mr. Speaker, RONALD REAGAN was a great 

world leader with a fierce devotion to freedom, 

democracy, and the sacredness of human life— 

including the unborn. 

He advocated ‘‘peace through strength’’ and 

played a major role in dismantling Soviet communism which he rightly called the evil empire 

and stopped its extension into Latin America and 

elsewhere. I remember some of his critics laughing when he challenged Gorbachev in Berlin to 

‘‘tear down this wall!’’ They’re not laughing any 

more. 

RONALD REAGAN championed the 1981 tax 

cut—the largest tax cut in history—totaling 

$750 billion by 1986. All wage earners—low, 

moderate and upper-income levels—got a 25 percent across-the-board cut in personal income 

taxes. Long term capital gains were also cut and 

the results were stunning—19 million new jobs 

created as Americans began to believe and hope 

again. 

RONALD REAGAN was strongly prolife and fervently believed that women deserved better than 

abortion and that unborn children are precious 

and deserve respect. 

Having been elected to Congress in 1980 along 

with President REAGAN, I saw first-hand and 

often how genuine he was. He was a man of 

abiding principle who inspired our Nation to 

greatness, always believing America’s best years 

lay ahead. 

He endured personal hardship—including an 

assassination attempt—with incredible poise, 

dignity, and even humor. 

Who can forget President REAGAN telling 

Nancy after he was shot, ‘‘I forgot to duck.’’ 

President REAGAN will be missed, but his legend will endure. 

Hon. Jeb Bradley 

OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to one 

of the greatest leaders of the past century, a man 
140 Ronald Reagan 

who committed himself to making our Nation 

more powerful, united, secure, prosperous, and 

proud. 

By definition, a leader is one who guides, and 

as President of this great country, RONALD WILSON REAGAN guided us with grace and dignity 

through one of the most critical periods in our 

country’s history. His optimism led our county 

into a new era and brought hope and freedom 

to millions of people in the world. 

When the cold war pitted the United States 

and the Soviet Union against each other in an 

ideological struggle of the highest stakes, President REAGAN steered the Nation and led the free 

world with steady resolve and confidence. 

Throughout his time in office, President 

REAGAN stood for the principles and ideals of 

the American people. His steadfast moral clarity 

was not expressed in political rhetoric but implemented by action. His style was clear and bold. 

He redefined and transformed his political party 

with a new image and momentum. He set a new 

standard of political cooperation in American 

Government. He created a new economic policy. 

Finally, he reestablished American leadership 

through the force of his vision and the power of 

his personality. Most poignantly, it was with that 

vision that he spoke boldly before the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin in 1987 to demand Soviet 

President Mikhail Gorbachev to ‘‘open this gate! 

. . . tear down this wall!’’ The rest is history. 

Within months the wall came down, Eastern Europe was free, and the Soviet Union collapsed. 

RONALD REAGAN spent 8 years turning 

American hopes and dreams into reality and affirming our status as the greatest nation on 

Earth, and for that, America is forever indebted 

to him. 

God bless RONALD REAGAN. 

Hon. William L. Jenkins 

OF TENNESSEE

Mr. Speaker, steadfast leadership, eternal optimism, profound faith, inspirational articulation, 

fierce patriotism: when America needed these 

qualities in a leader, President RONALD REAGAN

stepped in to fill the void. We come here to the 

Congress today to celebrate and honor the life 

of a man who will forever be etched in history 

as one of the greatest leaders of the 20th century. 

The stories have been told so often by those 

of us who supported President REAGAN over the 

years that they seem mundane, almost like a fictional novel or a movie script. High taxes, a 

struggling economy, a need for international 

stature and respect, and low morale affected the 

Nation. At that time, a man who had come from 

the most humble beginnings stepped up to offer 

his vision for America. Washington politics tend 

to bring a variety of characters to the Capital 

City, and RONALD REAGAN was the unlikeliest 

of candidates: a child of a transient family with 

little income. He dreamed of being a writer or 

an artist, became a sports broadcaster, then a 

Hollywood actor, later a union leader, even later 

a Governor, and finally a President. 

His political affiliation would change over the 

course of a lifetime, but his core belief system 

remained essentially unchanged. Throughout his 

life, RONALD REAGAN believed America was capable of great things and its people could and 

would lead the way if left unburdened by taxation and regulation. President REAGAN also had 

an insatiable thirst to let the rest of the world 

enjoy the gifts of freedom and liberty. The ‘‘shining city on a hill’’ would be the beacon for the 

rest of the world. 

Often dismissed or underestimated by political 

opponents, President REAGAN had the most valuable weapon in the political arsenal: a bond 

with the people. Even in the face of his political 

defeats, it was the support of the American public that sustained and invigorated him. 

In 1980, a Nation in need of change selected 

RONALD REAGAN to restore the shine to a tarnished America. Over the course of two terms, 

President REAGAN revolutionized the Republican 

Party and changed the political atmosphere in a 

way still being felt today. He did what he said 

he would do. He lowered taxes, igniting an economic boom that reverberates to this day. A 

more streamlined Tax Code was authored. Regulatory burdens were challenged. Our Armed 

Forces were restored and then strengthened. The 

threatening scourge of communism was confronted in a way that America’s enemies had not 

anticipated. Not only did President REAGAN
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 141 

turn to face this menace, he outargued his opponents and used the tools of freedom and democracy to win a war few thought could be won 

without the use of massive weaponry. 

After achieving these monumental victories, 

one would think that perhaps President 

REAGAN’s ego would match the size of his victories. Nothing, however, was further from the 

truth. President REAGAN always gave the credit 

to the American people and American ideals. He 

treated his job as a valuable temporary loan from 

the American people, a loan that should be respected and returned with dutiful appreciation. 

He left the Office of the Presidency with a 

poignant farewell from the Oval Office: 

We’ve done our part. And as I walk off into the city 

streets, a final word to the men and women of the Reagan 

revolution, the men and women across America who for eight 

years did the work that brought America back. My friends: 

We did it. We weren’t just marking time. We made a difference. We made the city stronger. We made the city freer, 

and we left her in good hands. All in all, not bad, not bad 

at all. 

Truer words have never been spoken, as President REAGAN left Washington having achieved 

the triad of goals he was elected to accomplish 

in 8 short years: improving the economy, restoring American prestige internationally, and reestablishing the confidence of the American psyche. 

Just a few years later, his quiet exit from public life was as graceful as his exit from the White 

House. RONALD REAGAN’s well-documented 

final battles with Alzheimer’s disease were fought 

with the same conviction and courage that his 

many public battles were fought. We all knew 

the ‘‘long goodbye’’ would eventually knock at 

the door. And, while we sadly mourn our loss 

today and send our deepest sympathy to Nancy 

and the rest of the Reagan family, we can also 

take solace in and celebrate one last Reagan victory: the Great Communicator now has been welcomed to a place where his faculties are restored, 

his great skills have been returned to him, and 

he probably smiles down on us as a grateful 

America says ‘‘Thank you, Mr. President’’ once 

again. 

Hon. Jerry Moran 

OF KANSAS

Mr. Speaker, we are blessed to live in a country filled with so many men and women willing 

to go beyond the call of duty, to accomplish 

great things for the benefit of their fellow citizens. Each day, ordinary souls are called upon to 

perform extraordinary tasks. I rise to pay tribute 

to one of the greatest individuals of our time— 

President RONALD REAGAN. 

Like the World War II veterans honored last 

week during the dedication of the National 

World War II Memorial in Washington, DC, 

and those honored this past Sunday on the 60th 

anniversary of D-day in Normandy, President 

REAGAN was a great American, steadfast in his 

appointed duty, thorough in thought, long on 

compassion and short on vanity. 

His love of freedom and embrace of optimism 

were virtues of many in the greatest generation. 

Let us pray that our generation, and the generations to come, remember that freedom is a worthy cause. 

I traveled to the beaches of Normandy this 

week, joining President Bush, Speaker Hastert, 

and others, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of D-day. During the ceremonies, I could 

not help but feel REAGAN’s presence. 

In his own speech on that shore 20 years ago, 

President REAGAN said: 

The men of Normandy had faith that what they were 

doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith 

that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead 

or on the next. It was the deep knowledge—and pray God 

we have not lost it—that there is a profound moral difference 

between the use of force for liberation and the use of force 

for conquest. 

President REAGAN understood, like our World 

War II soldiers, that what they were doing was 

not to harm, but to help. That even though sacrifices would be made—the greater good was at 

stake and no price was too high. 

In announcing that he had Alzheimer’s disease, RONALD REAGAN said that he was beginning the journey that would lead him ‘‘into the 

sunset of jhisk life.’’ He said, ‘‘I know that for 

America there will always be a bright dawn 

ahead.’’ Since 1994, REAGAN had suffered the 
142 Ronald Reagan 

cruelty of Alzheimer’s, so our sorrow today is 

tempered by the knowledge that the President 

has indeed gone to a better place—a place where 

he has a front row seat to watch all the bright 

dawns that lie ahead for America. 

President REAGAN is responsible for so many 

of those bright dawns that we have to look forward to. He changed the world by living his convictions. Not ‘‘clinging to’’ them or ‘‘sticking to’’ 

them, but living them. REAGAN’s core beliefs 

were exactly that. They were at his core and were 

therefore part of his every action. 

REAGAN’s convictions gave him confidence. 

He was a man of the people. He listened. And 

when he heard what the people needed, he took 

action in accordance with his convictions. On the 

domestic front, the people said they were tired 

of their economy spiraling downward, so 

REAGAN worked to reverse that trend. 

To accomplish these feats, President REAGAN

was not afraid to take hard stances. But he also 

knew that these changes would take bipartisan 

efforts. We should all remember, respect, and try 

to live up to REAGAN’s model of bipartisanship. 

His efforts to change America were based upon 

his philosophy and beliefs—not upon any partisan gamesmanship. 

On foreign policy, Americans said they were 

tired of living in fear, so REAGAN worked to 

bring security. President REAGAN engineered the 

end of the decades-long cold war. Because of his 

policies, and his faith that freedom would prevail, our children and grandchildren are not 

growing up with the constant fear of mutual destruction. We all are able now to live in a world 

that, though still imperfect, strives toward peace, 

works for justice and rejects tyranny. 

I call upon my colleagues to remember 

REAGAN’s strength. Remember him as he was 

while in office. In his final radio address as President, on January 14, 1989, REAGAN said, ‘‘The 

hope of human freedom, the quest for it, the 

achievement of it, is the American saga.’’ 

REAGAN’s hope, his quest, and all his achievements—those are what we all honor and remember. 

Now, too, the Great Communicator has gone 

the way of so many of our greatest generation. 

I rise not only in sadness for his passing, but 

more important, in celebration of his life, his accomplishments and his deeds. I rise to pay tribute to President REAGAN in the words he used 

to honor the crew of the Challenger space shuttle 

in 1986: 

We will never forget jhimk, nor the last time we saw 

jhimk . . . as jhek prepared for jthek journey and waved 

good-bye and ‘‘slipped the surly bonds of earth’’ to ‘‘touch 

the face of God.’’ 

Hon. Devin Nunes 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to extend my condolences to First Lady Nancy Reagan, as well as 

the children, family and close friends of former 

President RONALD REAGAN. 

Mr. REAGAN was a visionary leader who guided our great country through difficult and dangerous times. He faced adversity with a smile 

and quick wit. He solved problems with sober 

determination. He gave us hope for the future 

of freedom and prosperity. He reminded us what 

it meant to be proud Americans. 

We mourn his loss but remember that he left 

us with a rich heritage of memories, ideals, and 

a trail of lives changed at home and abroad because of his efforts. For that, we will be eternally 

grateful. 

Hon. Timothy V. Johnson 

OF ILLINOIS

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of our 40th 

President and Illinois native, RONALD REAGAN, 

and in strong support of H. Res. 664. Many 

words come to mind when President REAGAN’s 

name is invoked; principled, loyal, patriotic, 

compassionate, caring, and humble, to name a 

few. 

His philosophy in life was the same philosophy that he employed in his approach to politics 

and government; believe in the good of people, 

believe that what is right will eventually triumph, believe in the value of each and every 

human life, and believe in the strength and the 

power of freedom and individual liberty. He once 

said that America is too great for small dreams. 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 143 

He truly saw our great Nation as the ‘‘shining 

city on the hill’’ and as the beacon of freedom 

for oppressed people throughout the world. Nowhere else in the world and at no other time or 

place in history has one nation been so prepared 

and had the means to promote freedom, peace, 

and stability than the United States does right 

now. Ours is a heavy burden but one that must 

be borne. REAGAN understood that. 

He also once said that ‘‘you can tell a lot about 

a fellow’s character by his way of eating jellybeans.’’ In this simple way, he told us that, in 

the end, character is what matters and that life 

is really a series of simple choices between what 

is right and what is wrong. No one person is 

responsible for another person’s destiny. It is the 

choices that we make everyday that we must account for. REAGAN believed, as I do, that an individual’s personal initiative and the willingness 

to accept the consequences and rewards for their 

actions and, most importantly, the freedom to do 

so, is what make our Nation great. 

He believed in people. He believed in America. He traveled to towns in what is now my congressional district, like Charleston, IL, in 1976 

and Mattoon, IL, in 1980, because every person 

was important to him. The people in rural Illinois and similar places across the country believed in him, because he believed in them. He 

often asked, ‘‘Did we forget that government is 

the people’s business and every man, woman, and 

child becomes a shareholder with the first penny 

of tax paid?’’ REAGAN constantly promoted this 

philosophy of government. The government of 

the United States belongs to all of us and public 

servants have an obligation to the people to be 

good stewards of their dollars, uphold the Constitution, and protect them from all enemies 

both foreign and domestic. 

He believed in peace. When naysayers told 

him that building our military and our nuclear 

arsenal would finally push us into a war with the 

former Soviet Union, he knew that principled diplomacy, firm, yet reasonable rhetoric, the economic power of our Nation, and the promotion 

of freedom would bring communism to its knees. 

And when it did, he called on ‘‘the scientific 

community . . . who gave us nuclear weapons, to 

turn their . . . talents . . . to the cause of mankind 

and world peace, to give us the means of rendering these nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete.’’ He believed in ‘‘peace through strength’’ 

and he proved that it works. 

I will miss President REAGAN and I send my 

deepest sympathies and condolences to his family 

with the thanks for sharing him with me and 

the rest of the Nation. He inspired many. He 

lived by example. Rest in peace, Mr. President. 

Hon. Michael G. Oxley 

OF OHIO

Mr. Speaker, the leadership that RONALD

REAGAN provided changed the country and the 

world. 

I had the privilege to be elected to Congress 

during the heady days of the Reagan revolution. 

I had barely won a special election in June 1981 

to keep the Fourth Ohio District in Republican 

hands, and as a young freshman Congressman 

was quickly invited to the White House to meet 

the President and his aides. 

It was more than a welcome to Washington 

because the President’s tax cut package was 

pending on the floor the next week, and I think 

they were there to take my temperature as well 

as to make sure that I was going to vote for the 

tax cut. 

I was proud to support the tax cut, the military buildup that helped win the cold war, and 

the President’s policies up and down the line. 

President REAGAN’s economic program lifted 

us out of the malaise of the late seventies, when 

America was doubting its greatness, and set the 

stage for a historic period of prosperity that benefited all segments of our society. 

Still, I believe that RONALD REAGAN is most 

likely to be celebrated as the President who led 

the way in winning the cold war. People in the 

past had always talked about the containment of 

Soviet communism and yet REAGAN’s theory behind the cold war was essentially we win and 

they lose. He was able to lead the country and 

Congress into modernizing our military and ultimately brought about the end of what he called 

the evil empire. 

For those of us who grew up in the shadow 

of nuclear annihilation, what could be more im-
144 Ronald Reagan 

portant than the victory that was won without 

firing a shot? It was won with ideas, and was 

something that I honestly thought I would never 

see in my lifetime. 

I had the thrill of traveling with President 

REAGAN on the Heartland Express during a 

whistlestop campaign tour through Ohio in 1984. 

Everytime there would be a crowd gathered in 

a crossroads in a small town, the President would 

stand in the back of the train and wave. He was 

obviously in a buoyant mood. Large crowds 

cheered him during stops in Sidney and Lima, 

and people still remember that today. 

We remember President REAGAN for his vision, leadership, and infectious optimism. 

I don’t think I ever met anybody in politics 

or anywhere else who didn’t like RONALD

REAGAN as a person. They may have disagreed 

with him on a number of issues but they never 

disliked him personally. I think President 

REAGAN’s legacy in politics is this ability to disagree without being disagreeable, to see politics 

as a noble calling and that you have your debates 

and arguments and have a beer afterward. That 

is missed very much today in Washington and 

I don’t think we’re the better for it. 

Our country will accord its highest honors to 

RONALD REAGAN as we pay our heartfelt respects to him this week. But he will be remembered each day that men and women live in freedom, because what RONALD REAGAN ultimately 

believed in was dignity and liberty for each individual. 

Hon. Paul Ryan 

OF WISCONSIN

Mr. Speaker, first, I would like to share my 

heartfelt condolences with Nancy Reagan and the 

Reagan children. Our Nation owes them a special debt of gratitude for their strength in caring 

for their husband and father over the past decade 

as he battled Alzheimer’s disease and for everything they’ve done to uphold his dignity and legacy for our country. 

As we prepare to lay former U.S. President 

RONALD REAGAN to rest, it’s important that we 

reflect on his brave and principled leadership— 

and the hope he gave to countless individuals in 

our country and around the world. 

Looking back at the footage of REAGAN’s 

speeches and other public appearances, one of his 

most striking qualities was his enduring optimism. At the time that he entered the White 

House, self-doubt and pessimism had practically 

paralyzed our Nation and most Americans saw 

no end in sight to soaring inflation, economic 

stagnation and the cold war. 

Though he had a realistic view of the challenges that faced the United States, REAGAN believed in us. He knew that free individuals have 

immense potential for good, and he knew the 

strength of our American system of free enterprise and self-government. His can-do spirit infused our country and brought a renewed sense 

of hope and opportunity to those who had nearly 

forgotten what America stands for. 

Fundamentally, RONALD REAGAN trusted us. 

He trusted that Americans knew how to spend 

the money they earn better than the Federal Government does. He trusted that, once barriers to 

private enterprise and economic growth were lifted, American creativity and drive would bring 

our economy and jobs back. He trusted American 

resolve in defense of liberty. And he trusted people enough to speak plainly with them about his 

beliefs and intentions. 

President REAGAN’s words carried weight because we knew he meant what he said—and the 

Soviets and the rest of the world knew it too. 

He was not a poll watcher. He was a man of 

conviction—a man with a clear philosophy that 

guided his actions. This philosophy was rooted 

in a love of freedom and a deep faith in God. 

Speaking to students at Moscow State University on May 31, 1988, RONALD REAGAN said: 

Democracy is less a system of government than it is a system to keep government limited, unintrusive: A system of 

constraints on power to keep politics and government secondary to the important things in life, the true sources of 

value found only in family and faith. 

Imagine what it must have been like for him 

to bring this message to the heart of an empire 

where government had for decades superceded individual rights. RONALD REAGAN’s commitment 

to actually winning the cold war, his determination to secure ‘‘peace through strength,’’ and his 

recognition that communism is a bankrupt, im-
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 145 

moral ideology were essential to ending the Soviet threat and liberating the Eastern bloc nations and their people. 

When you consider the countless individuals 

who owe their freedom in part to RONALD

REAGAN’s leadership and the many Americans 

who today have close friends or family with 

whom they have reunited in areas formerly offlimits—who had been shut away behind the Iron 

Curtain—you get a sense of why so many across 

the world feel a personal connection with RONALD REAGAN. 

On top of all his achievements, beyond all that 

RONALD REAGAN did to rejuvenate our economy, win the cold war, and renew our country’s 

sense of purpose and optimism, there was the 

man himself. He had great confidence in America’s founding values as well as an excellent sense 

of humor. And he succeeded in raising the level 

of discourse in our political arena. People might 

have disagreed with him on policy decisions, and 

his opponents in Congress argued fiercely with 

him, but at the end of the day they respected 

one another. It was a time of greater civility in 

politics, and we should strive to recapture that. 

We look to RONALD REAGAN’s example as an 

inspiration today and express once more the 

thanks of a very grateful Nation. 

Hon. Martin T. Meehan 

OF MASSACHUSETTS

Mr. Speaker, this week America is united in 

mourning for President RONALD REAGAN. 

President REAGAN will be remembered as a 

great optimist who helped convince America to 

believe in itself again. 

He believed that the cold war would end and 

the Berlin Wall would fall during his lifetime. 

And he was right. His words inspired people living behind the Iron Curtain to believe that freedom was attainable. 

RONALD REAGAN was a loyal Republican but 

an American first. With his profound personal 

decency and disarming sense of humor, he rose 

above the kind of bitter partisanship that infects 

American politics today. 

Personal attacks were below him. He was a patriot and a man of integrity—and he never questioned the patriotism or integrity of others. 

Our politics were polarized then as they are 

now. But President REAGAN knew how to compromise and get things done for the American 

people. 

The Speaker of the House during the first 6 

years of his Presidency was Tip O’Neill of Massachusetts. Speaker O’Neill was a staunch Democrat with a very different vision for government, 

and a great leader in his own right. 

Working across party lines, President REAGAN

and Speaker O’Neill passed reforms to preserve 

and strengthen Social Security. They enacted 

sweeping tax reform to close tax loopholes and 

lower marginal rates. 

As we mourn and honor President REAGAN, 

this Congress should pledge to follow in his example. 

Hold firm in your beliefs, but respect those 

who differ. Compete vigorously at election time, 

but then go to work for the American people. 

Stand united in times of sorrow and adversity. 

RONALD REAGAN’s final accomplishment will 

endure as one of his most important—bringing 

attention to the tragedy of Alzheimer’s with his 

eloquent letter to the American people. 

One of the best ways to honor him is to rededicate our efforts to find a cure for this terrible 

disease. 

I join my colleagues in honoring the memory 

of President RONALD REAGAN. 

Hon. Chris Cannon 

OF UTAH

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the life 

of President RONALD REAGAN. 

First, let me extend my condolences to Nancy 

Reagan and the entire Reagan family for this tremendous loss. But let me also thank Nancy and 

her family for taking care of the President for 

all these years. Rest assured the Nation mourns 

with you today. 

When I think of President REAGAN the feeling that stirs within me is hard to put in words. 

In reflecting on what to say I realized the best 
146 Ronald Reagan 

way for me to explain my feelings is to explain 

who I am. Simply, I am a Reaganite! 

Being a Reaganite provided me the wonderful 

opportunity to come to Washington and work 

in the Reagan administration. I did not come to 

Washington for a job but I came to Washington 

to be a foot solider in the Reagan revolution. I 

had the opportunity to trade in the walking of 

precincts to walking the halls of his administration. And for this I am forever grateful. 

This opportunity allowed me to play a small 

part in President REAGAN’s goal of giving America back to America. As a result of his leadership, 

we did not hang our heads any longer but rather 

we raised them up and remembered our moral 

standing in the world. Through his leadership, 

a Nation was motivated. 

At the time President REAGAN was elected to 

office, the country was losing faith and confidence in its being. In 1980, the Soviets had invaded Afghanistan, inflation was in double digits, home ownership was near impossible and optimism was nonexistent. By the time his administration ended, the Soviet empire crumbled, inflation’s back was broken, home ownership 

soared and morning dawned in America. With 

a set of principles, one man who wanted to make 

a difference set out and changed the world. 

But to see President REAGAN’s legacy, as 

George Will stated, one has to see what no 

longer exists. We no longer see Soviet expansion 

and aggression, we no longer see the Berlin Wall 

and we no longer see devastating economic 

plight. These are testaments to his courage and 

his ability to communicate his resolve to the Nation. 

President REAGAN realized another decade of 

detente would not protect America and another 

decade of stagnant economic policies would not 

free the individual. Through his force of personality and conviction he set about changing our 

future. And he relegated our worries to the ash 

heap of history. 

President REAGAN pursued policies that resulted in derision and loathing from some. But 

he had no hesitation in pursuing his goals because he knew what was right. His beliefs were 

steadfast and unwavering. He set his course and 

plowed through the skeptics. He was not Teflon. 

He was Iron. 

Being a Reaganite is not solely relegated to 

a certain place and time or a certain individual. 

Instead, it is set a set of beliefs. A set of beliefs 

imbued in many Members of Congress, their 

staffs and individuals throughout this country. It 

is a longing to assert and maintain America’s 

rightful place in the world, as the ‘‘shining city 

on the hill.’’ 

President REAGAN, thank you for restoring 

hope in America. It has been ‘‘morning in America’’ since your Presidency. 

Hon. Nick J. Rahall II 

OF WEST VIRGINIA

Mr. Speaker, President RONALD REAGAN

wrote an indelible chapter in America’s and in 

the world’s history. As our Country mourns his 

loss, our prayers go out to Mrs. Reagan and his 

family, and our future will long hold to the lessons of his public service. 

Hon. Jerry F. Costello 

OF ILLINOIS

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to 

President RONALD REAGAN, an Illinois native, 

as the Nation celebrates his many contributions 

to the United States and the world. While I did 

not always agree with him, he always had my 

admiration and respect for his strong leadership 

and his dedication to the American people. His 

relationship with the citizens of this great country may be his ultimate legacy. President 

REAGAN spoke directly to their hopes and fears 

and was embraced for his role as the Great Communicator. Above all else, he made us feel good 

about America again. 

From humble beginnings, President REAGAN

went on to play a pivotal role in some of the 

great events of the 20th century, most notably 

the cold war and eventual fall of the Soviet 

Union. While never afraid to take a hard line, 

he was a pragmatic leader who acted without 

malice, which was evident in the support he received from Democrats. It was this aspect of his 

leadership that we should all try to replicate. 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 147 

President REAGAN’s impact on American politics 

was profound, inspiring legions of young people 

to public service, not unlike what President Kennedy accomplished years before. 

Mr. Speaker, RONALD REAGAN loved the 

United States of America, and he was a stalwart 

leader in the pursuit of freedom and democracy. 

President REAGAN had a personal vision for the 

country that was undeniable and unshakable, and 

the lines of people waiting to view his casket are 

a testimony to the fact that he had a tremendous 

emotional impact on this Nation. I would like 

to extend my condolences to his wife Nancy and 

the rest of their family, and I join the rest of 

America in honoring his dedicated service. 

Hon. James A. Leach 

OF IOWA

Mr. Speaker, Americans often measure history 

in Presidential cycles. When we look at the individuals who have served in the White House it 

is the conjunction of character and circumstance 

that defines and demarcates administrations. 

It would be misguided to suggest that any individual ‘‘won’’ the cold war, but it was RONALD

REAGAN’s inspiration—‘‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear 

down this wall!’’—that symbolized American resolve. He gave hope to those oppressed and he 

gave voice to those who stood tall. Communism 

imploded, largely on his watch. 

Domestically, President REAGAN articulated 

the values of the frontier. ‘‘Government is not 

the solution . . . jitk is the problem,’’ he said in 

his first inaugural address. But he was not a ‘‘no 

government’’ ideologue. While his administration contrasted in many ways with the social activism of Franklin Roosevelt, he did not favor 

undoing the New Deal. ‘‘How can we love our 

country and not love our countrymen?’’ he asked, 

‘‘and loving them, jnotk reach out a hand when 

they fall . . .?’’ 

Reared on the sweeping plains of the Midwest 

and, later, an adopted westerner, he loved open 

spaces—of the land and of the mind. He put his 

faith in freedom. 

RONALD REAGAN understood the American 

character. With the most authentic voice in the 

history of democratic politics, he spoke to a 

world hungry for values. He succeeded because 

his was the voice of American optimism. 

Hon. W.J. (Billy) Tauzin 

OF LOUISIANA

Mr. Speaker, I share your grief at the passing 

of former President RONALD REAGAN and join 

you in remembering his remarkable service to 

our country. 

I was fortunate to have served as a Member 

of Congress during President REAGAN’s 8-year 

tenure. At the time, I was a member of the 

democratic Boll Weevils, a group frequently 

called upon to help President REAGAN with his 

legislative agenda. I can attest to what some of 

you know and what others have read or heard 

about him—he was among the greatest of our 

Nation’s Presidents. He was permanently 

grounded in principle, so much that no one who 

worked for him had any doubt about what was 

expected of him. 

President REAGAN is rooted in the essence of 

our Nation’s character. He appealed to our better 

instincts and was unyielding in his devotion to 

our country. I was always amazed at the way he 

appealed to young people. I think it was because 

they could see the truth in him. Like a grandfather who had seen it all and abandoned the notion of judging us, he preferred to see the goodness in us all. We, in turn, could imagine that 

goodness leading us to that shining ‘‘city on the 

hill.’’ Those who came later missed the opportunity to encounter true greatness. Those who 

experienced him will never forget it. 

Thank you for your compassionate support in 

honoring the legacy of our former President 

RONALD REAGAN. 

Hon. William O. Lipinski 

OF ILLINOIS

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the 

life of the 40th President of the United States, 

RONALD WILSON REAGAN. President REAGAN

was the most courageous, daring and fearless 
148 Ronald Reagan 

President that I have had the pleasure of serving 

with in my 22 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. RONALD WILSON REAGAN was one 

of the two greatest Presidents of the 20th century. RONALD WILSON REAGAN was one of the 

most outstanding Presidents in the history of the 

American Republic. I was a great fan of and on 

many occasions, a very strong supporter with my 

vote of President REAGAN. 

I will always remember the day when my wife, 

Rose Marie, and I, met with President REAGAN

in the Oval Office. He was as friendly and downto-earth as the man next door. We had our picture taken with him and asked him to autograph 

cards with the Presidential seal for each of our 

children, Laura and Dan, which he did. President 

REAGAN first wrote the cards out differently for 

each my daughter and son, but said he should 

have known better and so he wrote the same 

greeting for both of them. 

It was a great honor to meet President 

REAGAN and serve with him in the U.S. Government for many, many reasons. But, I believe 

mainly because he gave back to America its optimism, its pride, its enthusiasm, and its belief in 

itself. There can be no greater service than that 

of a President who can render to America these 

qualities; and for that, President REAGAN truly 

was one of the greatest Presidents of the United 

States. 

Hon. Ron Paul 

OF TEXAS

Mr. Speaker, all Americans mourn the death 

of President RONALD REAGAN, but those of us 

who had the opportunity to know President 

REAGAN are especially saddened. I got to know 

President REAGAN in 1976 when, as a freshman 

Congressman, I was one of only four Members 

of this body to endorse then-Governor REAGAN’s 

primary challenge to President Gerald Ford. I 

had the privilege of serving as the leader of President REAGAN’s Texas delegation at the Republican Convention of 1976, where RONALD

REAGAN almost defeated an incumbent President 

for his party’s nomination. 

I was one of the millions attracted to RONALD

REAGAN by his strong support for limited government and the free market. I felt affinity for 

a politician who based his conservative philosophy on ‘‘. . . a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom . . .’’ I wish more of today’s conservative leaders based their philosophy on a desire for less government and more freedom. 

RONALD REAGAN was one of the most eloquent exponents of the freedom philosophy in 

modern American politics. One of his greatest 

achievements is the millions of Americans he 

helped convert to the freedom philosophy and 

the many he inspired to become active in the 

freedom movement. One of the best examples of 

President REAGAN’s rhetorical powers is his first 

major national political address, ‘‘A Time for 

Choosing.’’ Delivered in 1964 in support of the 

Presidential campaign of Barry Goldwater, this 

speech launched RONALD REAGAN’s career as 

both a politician and a leader of the conservative 

movement. The following excerpt from that 

speech illustrates the power of RONALD

REAGAN’s words and message. Unfortunately, 

these words are as relevant to our current situation as they were when he delivered them in 

1964: 

It’s time we asked ourselves if we still know the freedoms 

intended for us by the Founding Fathers. James Madison said, 

‘‘We base all our experiments on the capacity of mankind 

for self-government.’’ 

This idea? that government was beholden to the people, 

that it had no other source of power is still the newest, most 

unique idea in all the long history of man’s relation to man. 

This is the issue of this election: Whether we believe in our 

capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the 

American Revolution and confess that a little intellectual 

elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better 

than we can plan them ourselves. 

You and I are told we must choose between a left or right, 

but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There 

is only an up or down. Up to man’s age-old dream—the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order or down 

to the ant heap of totalitarianism. Regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would sacrifice 

freedom for security have embarked on this downward path. 

Plutarch warned, ‘‘The real destroyer of the liberties of the 

people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations 

and benefits.’’ 

The Founding Fathers knew a government can’t control 

the economy without controlling people. And they knew 

when a government set out to do that, it must use force and 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 149 

coercion to achieve its purpose. So we have come to a time 

for choosing. 

One of the most direct expressions of RONALD

REAGAN’s disdain for big government came during a private conversation when we where flying 

from the White House to Andrews Air Force 

Base. As the helicopter passed over the monuments, we looked down and he said, ‘‘Isn’t that 

beautiful? It’s amazing how much terrible stuff 

comes out of this city when it’s that beautiful.’’ 

While many associate RONALD REAGAN with 

unbridled militarism, he was a lifelong opponent 

of the draft. It is hardly surprising that many 

of the most persuasive and powerful arguments 

against conscription came from President 

REAGAN. One of my favorite REAGAN quotes 

comes from a 1979 article he wrote for the conservative publication Human Events regarding the 

draft and related ‘‘national service’’ proposals: 

. . . it jconscriptionk rests on the assumption that your kids 

belong to the state. If we buy that assumption then it is 

for the state—not for parents, the community, the religious 

institutions or teachers—to decide who shall have what values and who shall do what work, when, where and how in 

our society. That assumption isn’t a new one. The Nazis 

thought it was a great idea. 

I extend my deepest sympathies to RONALD

REAGAN’s family and friends, especially his beloved wife Nancy and his children. I also urge 

my colleagues and all Americans to honor RONALD REAGAN by dedicating themselves to the 

principles of limited government and individual 

liberty. 

Hon. Xavier Becerra 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in solemn remembrance of President RONALD REAGAN. I do not 

stand alone. All across the country, and the 

world, we mourn. We remember a strong Governor, President, husband, and father. Let us 

stand firmly by Mrs. Nancy Reagan and her family, offer our prayers and show our support and 

appreciation—let us through our actions bring 

comfort to the Reagan family to help them cope 

during this difficult time. Little can be said to 

make this difficult time easier. Given the outpouring of support that this country and his family have received from the world, words are not 

necessary. 

Words are not necessary to honor a man whose 

popularity stemmed from his ability to communicate. No words I can say today can erase the 

sorrow and feelings of loss shared by so many 

communities that he touched throughout his tenure as Governor of my State of California and 

as the President of our Nation. Even the Great 

Communicator often relied on actions—not 

words—to help those who needed it. At a time 

when the immigrants of our Nation had nowhere 

to turn, President REAGAN signed the historic 

Immigration Reform and Control Act, granting 

hard-working and deserving families legal permanent residence, paving the way for new American citizens, and thus uniting our Nation. 

Today, as a united Nation, we stand together 

as fellow Americans and with the world to 

mourn the loss of RONALD WILSON REAGAN, 

40th President of the United States—the picture 

of unity communicating our sorrow, remembrance and honor for a leader. 

Hon. Michael C. Burgess 

OF TEXAS

Mr. Speaker, as we pause to remember the life 

and service of the late President RONALD

REAGAN, no greater testament to his achievements as leader of this Nation exists than the 

sentiments of gratitude being offered by millions 

of Americans. It is my great honor to lift up just 

a handful of the reflections on the passing of 

President REAGAN made by residents of my congressional district: 

He was a great American; his message was one that still 

resonates today. 

—The Honorable Jane Nelson, 

Texas Senate. 

I had a chance to tell him how much I wanted him to 

run for President and that if he did, I promised to work really 

hard for him. He was just the same up close as you perceived 

him to be on television. He was very sincere, very nice. When 

he talked to you, he talked to you. He didn’t pay attention 

to things going on around him; you had his attention. The 

world is certainly a better place because of RONALD REAGAN

being here and serving as the President of the United States. 
150 Ronald Reagan 

I’m sad we lost him, but it’s wonderful he’s now receiving 

his just rewards. 

—The Honorable Mary Horn, 

Denton County, Texas. 

President REAGAN made us feel good again about being 

Americans, and not just being proud of our country, but really invoking that patriotic spirit again. We’ve lost a great, 

great man. 

—Dianne Edmondson, 

Chair, Denton County GOP. 

I remember that while REAGAN was the oldest elected 

President, what sticks in my mind was the way he connected 

to young people. We had been through a decade of young 

people being disconnected with taking pride in America, and 

he lit that spark again. 

—The Honorable Myra Crownover, 

Texas House of Representatives. 

He will always be remembered as the architect 

of the policies that ended the cold war—‘‘peace 

through strength.’’ He, more than anyone else, 

was directly responsible for giving us the possibility of the world living in peace: He ended the 

cold war, ended the unspoken hostilities between 

the United States and Russia, and brought an 

end to the Soviet domination in Eastern Europe. 

He unleashed the power of the American economy. Yes, it cost money to defeat the Soviet 

Union; it cost money to defeat Soviet tyranny. 

Was it worth it in the long run? You bet it was. 

Hon. Rodney P. Frelinghuysen 

OF NEW JERSEY

Mr. Speaker, I rise to remember the life and 

legacy of RONALD REAGAN. 

This past weekend, it was fitting, and in some 

ways almost proper, that we paid tribute to the 

brave young soldiers of D-day and simultaneously remembered the life and service of President RONALD REAGAN. Like those soldiers who 

sacrificed on Normandy Beach, REAGAN inspired 

a country at a critical time in our Nation’s history through his optimism and advocacy for the 

ideals of democracy, freedom and love of liberty. 

He helped end the cold war, confronted the 

curse of communism, rebuilt American selfconfidence and our Armed Forces, and above all, 

made America a standard bearer for freedom and 

justice. 

Many of our children are not old enough to 

remember the dangers that stood before us at the 

height of the cold war or how President 

REAGAN’s resolve helped end it. 

Still, over the next few days, maybe even 

weeks, and certainly in the history books to be 

written, they will learn, as will our children’s 

children, about who REAGAN was and what he 

did for America. 

Like so many of us, I continue to read with 

interest about the life and times of our former 

President. One recent newspaper column touched 

me and I would like to share just a few lines 

of that with my colleagues. 

The columnist wrote: 

What an era his was. What a life he lived. He changed 

history for the better and was modest about it. He didn’t 

bray about his accomplishments but saw them as the work 

of the American people. 

Mr. Speaker, this is the sign of a leader. We 

are a grateful Nation for his good humor and inspiration. 

Thank you Mr. President—for your service; for 

your optimism; and for your belief and commitment to doing what was right for America. 

Our thoughts and prayers remain with the 

Reagan family during this time of mourning. 

Hon. Harold E. Ford, Jr. 

OF TENNESSEE

Mr. Speaker, President REAGAN led the Nation with resolve and courage. He showed these 

same qualities in his battle against Alzheimer’s 

disease. 

President REAGAN will be remembered for 

many things—being a great communicator, a devoted husband and an unflinching patriot. 

But I will remember him most for reminding 

America that when we are at our best, very little 

can deter or defeat us. God bless you Mr. President and thank you for your service to our country. 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 151 

Hon. Bart Stupak 

OF MICHIGAN

Mr. Speaker, President RONALD REAGAN was 

an American icon. He’s the President who won 

the cold war. And he’ll always be remembered 

for his eternal optimism, his strength, great wit 

and charm. 

Even when he disagreed with Democrats, he 

was respected for the honesty of his beliefs and 

the dedication he displayed in pursuing them. 

He taught us the difference between strong beliefs and bitter partisanship. He lived by the 

noble idea that at the end of the day Democrats 

and Republicans were simply Americans and 

friends. I wish we had more of that today. 

We should be inspired by this 40th American 

President’s patriotism and devotion to our country. And we should remember his faith, his optimism and his unwavering commitment to his 

convictions as we do the work of the American 

people. 

Hon. Tom Udall 

OF NEW MEXICO

Mr. Speaker, this week our Nation mourns the 

death of RONALD WILSON REAGAN, the 40th 

President of the United States. It has been stated 

in many of the newspaper and television commentaries that he was one of the more complex 

figures of the 20th century. As with all our major 

political leaders, he had his share of triumphs 

and failures. 

RONALD REAGAN’s irrepressible spirit and his 

conception of America as a ‘‘shining city on the 

hill’’ engendered a sense of renewal in America. 

Indeed, his optimism in our Nation and her people was as genuine as the man himself. Simply 

put, RONALD REAGAN was a great American and 

a President who honored the office and considered it a privilege to serve. 

Without question, President REAGAN represented the best of civility in American politics 

and the finest traditions of standing up for what 

you believe in. Even during the most intense political showdowns, he and former House Speaker 

Tip O’Neill could always sit down together after 

the day was done, as friends and fellow Americans. It was an era of bipartisan cooperation that 

seems, unfortunately, to have waned in recent 

years. 

President REAGAN’s legacy will forever be his 

vision which played a role in bringing about an 

ultimate end to the cold war, as well as his drive 

to foster liberty and democracy where previously 

only tyranny had thrived. Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev says he believes his dialog with President REAGAN ‘‘kick-started the 

process which ultimately put an end to the cold 

war.’’ 

President REAGAN also understood the art of 

political compromise. He followed his 1981 tax 

cut with two large tax increases. In fact, no 

peacetime President raised taxes so much on so 

many people. This is not a criticism: The lesson 

of those increases tells you a lot about what was 

just with President REAGAN’s leadership. President REAGAN, confronted with evidence that his 

tax cuts were fiscally irresponsible, changed 

course. His actions in this area contrast dramatically with today’s Washington. 

Mr. Speaker, in my opinion, one of RONALD

REAGAN’s greatest legacies is focusing attention 

on the disease that took his life—Alzheimer’s. 

People are now receiving earlier diagnoses and 

better treatments for the incurable brain-wasting 

disease partly because he supported Alzheimer’s 

research as President, and more importantly, because he went public with his diagnosis in 1994, 

increasing awareness of the need for more research. 

As her husband’s health declined, former First 

Lady Nancy Reagan spearheaded public awareness campaigns and described what it was like 

to be a caretaker for an Alzheimer’s patient, 

which she referred to as ‘‘the long goodbye.’’ She 

continued to publicly advocate for stem cell research as a way to help others with the disease. 

Doctors now are better able to diagnose the 

disease early, and provide patients with drugs 

and other measures to delay its progression. I 

pledge to do everything possible to help fight 

the plight of Alzheimer’s disease. I challenge 

every Member of this body to respond to Mrs. 

Reagan’s plea to do more for life-saving research. 
152 Ronald Reagan 

RONALD REAGAN was of a kind and gracious 

mind, and at the same time, a man of grit, determination and leadership. He served his country 

the way he lived his life. 

My thoughts and prayers go out to his extraordinary wife Nancy and his children, Patti Davis, 

Ron Prescott Reagan, and Michael Reagan. I 

hope it is a consolation to the entire Reagan family that so many people grieve their loss and are 

thinking of them during this difficult time. 

Hon. Gary G. Miller 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, President RONALD REAGAN will 

be remembered in the annals of history as one 

of the greatest leaders of the United States. His 

deeds and words will echo in time as the foundation for a smaller, more efficient government, a 

fairer tax system and the liberation of millions 

of oppressed people throughout the world. 

RONALD REAGAN was known as the Great 

Communicator. His words brought hope to those 

in need, comfort to those who suffered and optimism to an entire Nation trampled by economic 

and governmental insecurity. Yet President 

REAGAN’s ability to communicate went beyond 

the words that he spoke. He reached out to the 

Nation and the world using not only his voice, 

but his strength of spirit and supreme character. 

President REAGAN’s passing is mourned by 

each of us. But his legacy will continue through 

the ideals he aspired for America. A grateful Nation thanks RONALD REAGAN, a true American 

hero. 

Hon. C.W. Bill Young 

OF FLORIDA

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of myself and the people of the 10th Congressional District of Florida 

whom I have the privilege to represent here in 

the U.S. Congress, I rise in support of this resolution to pay tribute to the life of President 

RONALD REAGAN and to express condolences to 

his family. 

President REAGAN was a true American patriot who always kept life’s priorities—God, 

country, and family—in order. He assumed the 

Presidency at a time when Americans were being 

held hostage in Iran, our fighting forces were 

fraying around the edges, and raging inflation 

and interest rates were stifling our economy, 

sending our Nation into the turmoil of recession, 

and driving our government deeper and deeper 

into debt. 

Beginning with his swearing in as the 40th 

President of the United States, President 

REAGAN restored in the American people a feeling of pride and patriotism that had been lost 

in the late seventies. The hostages were brought 

home, the morale of our fighting forces rose, and 

the economy began to rebound. 

People flew the American flag with pride 

again. The United States resumed its leadership 

role in protecting freedom and peace around the 

world and at the pinnacle of the world economy. 

He stared down communist leaders throughout 

the world and set the stage for its fall in the 

Soviet Union and throughout Eastern Europe. He 

reduced the world’s supply of nuclear weapons 

and allowed democracy to flourish again in our 

hemisphere and eventually in the former Soviet 

states. 

He battled Congress to reduce taxes to allow 

the American people to keep more of their hardearned money and to reduce the size and scope 

of the government programs and bureaucracy. He 

also ensured the long-term security of the Social 

Security Trust Fund by leading a bipartisan legislative effort to preserve and protect the retirement benefits of workers long into the 21st century. 

President REAGAN was our Nation’s leading 

cheerleader and consoler. He used his wit and 

humor to entertain and to drive home an important point. He led a Nation in mourning when 

we lost the Challenger crew and our Marines in 

Lebanon. Throughout his 8 years in office we 

laughed together and we cried together. In the 

end though, we all gained a renewed sense of 

pride in being Americans. 

He taught us the value of the simple phrases 

of ‘‘peace through strength’’ and ‘‘trust but 

verify’’ and he shared with all of us his simple 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 153 

vision of a Nation where we would be the ‘‘shining city on a hill.’’ 

The United States and the world are better 

places today because of RONALD REAGAN’s service not only as President of our great country, 

but as a true patriot. He was a good man whose 

love and commitment to his wife Nancy was an 

inspiration to us all. 

Perhaps the greatest testament to his strength 

of personality, of character, and of leadership is 

the fact that even in death he can make us feel 

good about ourselves as individuals and as a Nation. You can feel the pride of our Nation surge 

yet again as we reflect on his life and times. 

Mr. Speaker, we all will recall that President 

REAGAN would end his conversations with 

America by saying ‘‘God bless America.’’ This 

week, Mr. Speaker, our Nation and the world say 

‘‘God bless RONALD REAGAN.’’ Thank you for 

your lifetime of reminding us to always take 

pride in living in the greatest Nation in the 

world. 

Hon. Betty McCollum 

OF MINNESOTA

Mr. Speaker, today as this House honors the 

life of the 40th President of the United States, 

RONALD REAGAN, we remember both the man 

and the public servant. As President REAGAN

lies in state under the dome of this Capitol, the 

American people reflect on a man of optimism, 

a leader committed to freedom and a citizen who 

personified the American spirit of boundless ambition and achievement. 

President REAGAN lived a life unlike any other 

American President. A sports broadcaster, a 

movie star and a television personality, President 

REAGAN entertained Americans with his charm, 

smile and warmth. He combined the skills of an 

actor with the determination of a pioneer to 

transform public life as he entered the political 

realm in California and finally was elected by the 

American people to the White House. 

As President of the United States, RONALD

REAGAN won two large election victories in 1980 

and 1984 to set this Nation on a course to transform our economy and confront communism. 

The outcomes and consequences of his policies 

will be interpreted by historians for years to 

come, but there is no doubt President REAGAN

motivated a new generation of conservatives to 

join his crusade as well as a generation of progressives to unite in pursuit of an alternative 

path of action. 

Our State of Minnesota had a unique relationship with President REAGAN. Minnesota was the 

only State in the Union to never give President 

REAGAN an electoral victory. Minnesotans stood 

twice with our homegrown son, but we respected 

the President, his skills as a communicator and 

his determination to elevate the American spirit. 

President REAGAN lived a truly American life 

and, in his final years, stood hand in hand with 

Mrs. Reagan to encounter Alzheimer’s with dignity and grace. The life of President REAGAN the 

leader and RONALD REAGAN the man will be remembered, honored and celebrated this week by 

Congress, the American people and people in nations around the world. 

On behalf of the families of Minnesota’s 

Fourth Congressional District, we extend our 

prayers and sincerest condolences to Mrs. Nancy 

Reagan, her children and all of the family and 

friends of President REAGAN. 

Hon. Pete Sessions 

OF TEXAS

Mr. Speaker, RONALD WILSON REAGAN first 

entered into our national consciousness in 1964, 

asking Americans to make a choice in the face 

of the growing threat of socialism both at home 

and abroad. We know him as the eternal optimist, the Great Communicator, and the man who 

maintained that communism would surely fall 

aside onto the ‘‘ash heap of history.’’ 

I had the personal privilege of knowing President REAGAN when my father, Judge William 

S. Sessions, served as Director of the FBI during 

his administration. Like many of my generation, 

I was inspired by the optimism of RONALD

REAGAN, a leader who never lacked the courage 

and the principle to do what he felt was right 

even in the face of great obstacles. President 

REAGAN saw the world in black and white, 
154 Ronald Reagan 

whether it was confronting the programs of the 

‘‘Great Society’’ as the beginnings of a new ‘‘undemocratic socialism’’ or chiding the actions of 

the evil empire in Eastern Europe. 

This moral clarity was the hallmark of his 

Presidency. RONALD REAGAN came in to office 

with three core principles and an agenda by 

which to implement them. He believed that the 

government was too big, that it taxed too much, 

and that the Soviet Union was an evil empire, 

getting away with atrocities across the world. 

From the first day of his Presidency, REAGAN

began to move systematically toward enacting his 

campaign promises, and, in so doing, he rejuvenated the American spirit. 

America is forever indebted to this President 

whose resolve and determination to pursue 

‘‘peace through strength’’ helped to end the cold 

war and ensured that, as the President himself 

said, ‘‘America’s best days are yet to come. Our 

proudest moments are yet to be. Our most glorious achievements are just ahead.’’ Thank you, 

President REAGAN. May God bless you as you 

enter your rest in that shining city. 

Hon. Lois Capps 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 

664 honoring the late Honorable RONALD WILSON REAGAN. I was proud to add my name as 

an original co-sponsor of this resolution. 

The former President was devoted to his country and will long be remembered for his service 

to America. My heart goes out to his family during this time of loss. 

President REAGAN was also a longtime member of our Santa Barbara community. Santa Barbara County was home to the spectacular mountaintop ranch the former President and First Lady 

affectionately referred to as the ‘‘Western White 

House.’’ 

President REAGAN carried with him traits 

characteristic of California’s Central Coast—a 

sunny disposition and optimistic outlook—to 

Washington and to the world. His ‘‘morning in 

America’’ slogan changed the tone of politics in 

our Nation’s Capital and enabled him to work 

in a constructive bipartisan manner on a number 

of important issues. 

The Reagans should also be commended for 

the strength and honesty they demonstrated during their long struggle with Alzheimer’s. Their 

example brought much needed attention to the 

challenges facing millions of American families 

that deal with this affliction every day. 

And their ongoing commitment to this disease 

is demonstrated at the various Alzheimer’s research, awareness, and prevention efforts around 

the country. On the Central Coast, for example, 

the Ronald and Nancy Reagan Family Fund provides grants for respite care services for Alzheimer’s patients in Santa Barbara County. 

Today I join my colleagues in celebrating the 

service of the late President RONALD REAGAN. 

The best honor we can bestow upon him is to 

carry on his optimistic spirit and faith in the 

American people for generations to come. That 

is what RONALD REAGAN—a great American 

and great Californian—would have wanted. 

Hon. Michael H. Michaud 

OF MAINE

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the life of President RONALD WILSON REAGAN and to extend 

my condolences to the entire Reagan family. 

Regardless of political affiliation, I think we 

can all agree that President REAGAN was a tireless public servant who cared a great deal about 

this country. Leading our country during a difficult period, President REAGAN earned the respect of many throughout the world—a respect 

that has become all the more evident since his 

passing on Saturday. 

As this body and our Nation remembers the 

late President throughout the week, we would 

be remiss not to reflect upon the disease with 

which he was afflicted—Alzheimer’s. 

President REAGAN’s leadership extended to 

the fight against Alzheimer’s beginning in 1983, 

when he designated November as National Alzheimer’s Disease Month, and continuing in 1994 

when he announced that he was affected by the 

disease. In 1995 he and his wife Nancy lent their 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 155 

name to create the Alzheimer’s Association’s 

Ronald and Nancy Reagan Research Institute. 

As was evident in President REAGAN’s battle 

with the disease, Alzheimer’s does not discriminate: It afflicts the rich and the poor, the famous 

and the regular hard-working citizen alike. Four 

and a half million Americans live with Alzheimer’s, and it is the fourth leading killer of 

older Americans. It is a progressive disease that 

robs many of precious memories and beautiful relationships. 

With an aging baby boom generation, our 

country will soon see a sharp increase in those 

affected by Alzheimer’s. The time to act is now. 

As a member of the Congressional Task Force on 

Alzheimer’s Disease, I urge my colleagues to 

renew our efforts to battle this disease. I can 

think of no better tribute to President REAGAN

than to join together to fight the disease that 

afflicted him in his later years. 

Hon. Henry Bonilla 

OF TEXAS

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the life and legacy 

of President RONALD WILSON REAGAN. As we 

mourn this great loss we reflect on the many 

ways our country is stronger, freer and more 

prosperous as a result of President REAGAN’s 

fearless leadership. 

A firm believer in lower taxes, sound fiscal 

policies and reduced regulation, President 

REAGAN launched the boldest economic plan 

since Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. As a result 

of his leadership and tenacity, the Federal Tax 

Code was greatly simplified and taxes were reduced, ushering in the restoration of prosperity. 

He encouraged people to have confidence in their 

Nation and trust that things really were getting 

better—a sentiment that economic and social indicators would eventually confirm. In fact, President REAGAN’s reforms led to the longest period 

of peacetime growth in U.S. history. 

President REAGAN’s leadership also sparked a 

movement against drugs which resulted in dramatic declines in illicit drug use in America and 

around the world. President REAGAN was committed to reversing the permissive attitudes of 

the sixties and seventies that illegal drug use was 

glamorous, harmless and victimless. President 

REAGAN inspired and convinced the Nation that 

the drug problem was not hopeless and could be 

solved. As a result of his leadership, the Nation 

spoke with one voice in denouncing drug use. 

Largely due to his efforts, illicit drug use was 

cut in half and crime, drug-related hospital admissions and highway deaths declined. 

President REAGAN restored America’s sense of 

optimism and patriotism. A true believer in the 

American dream, he proclaimed America as a 

place where everyone can rise as high and as far 

as his ability will take him, and referred to his 

own humble beginnings as proof. He taught all 

Americans and newly liberated people across the 

globe that hard work and faith in God could result in prosperity and a better outlook for tomorrow. 

President REAGAN will perhaps be most remembered for his efforts to stomp out communism worldwide and end the cold war. President REAGAN simply refused to accept communism’s claim to moral superiority. From the 

beginning of his Presidency, REAGAN realized 

that America could not afford passiveness or 

weakness in the face of Soviet defiance and escalating nuclear threats. President REAGAN recognized that peace could only be achieved through 

strength and diligently worked to restore faith 

in our military and a sense of American pride 

in the efforts of our servicemen and women. Efforts to restore our military superiority were coupled with a willingness to dialog and a sincere 

desire to negotiate an end to the nuclear arms 

race. President REAGAN was able to negotiate a 

treaty with the Soviet Union to launch the process of real arms reduction. His efforts eventually 

led to the destruction of the Berlin Wall, the fall 

of communism and the end of the cold war. 

President REAGAN’s leadership ushered in a new 

era of freedom and democracy, not only in the 

Soviet Union, but throughout the world. 

President REAGAN planted democracy in regions of the world that have never tasted the joys 

of freedom. He swept up a downtrodden America 

with little response to or respect for leadership 

and reenergized their faith in freedom, the Presidency, and our military. President REAGAN’s vision and convictions brought all Americans to-
156 Ronald Reagan 

gether, raised our morale and once again made 

us the proudest citizens in the world. He will 

be remembered not only in the minds of Americans, but in our hearts as well. 

Hon. Ralph Regula 

OF OHIO

Mr. Speaker, President RONALD REAGAN was 

a warm thoughtful leader who governed by the 

golden rule of caring for others. Many speakers 

have paid eloquent tribute to his role as both a 

world leader and a best friend of the American 

people. Because of our shared love of land I developed a personal relationship with President 

REAGAN that I will always cherish. 

Hon. Jo Bonner 

OF ALABAMA

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory 

of a great leader, a great man, and a great American. When President RONALD WILSON REAGAN

passed away on June 5, 2004, his death brought 

more than an end to his valiant 10-year struggle 

against Alzheimer’s disease. It brought an end to 

one of the brightest and most optimistic periods 

in American history. 

While President REAGAN had been out of the 

public eye and under the loving care of his beloved wife, Nancy, for over a decade, he was 

never far from our minds or our hearts. During 

these past 10 years, while he was traveling down 

the road into the sunset of his life, we have all 

had the opportunity to consider his true greatness and his many achievements. We have all 

come to understand that he was more than just 

our President and the most powerful man in the 

world; he was, instead, the personification of— 

and the symbol for—the boundless potential possible in this country. 

From Dixon, IL, to Detroit, MI, from Washington, DC, to Los Angeles, CA, and at all points 

in between, men and women everywhere recognize President REAGAN for what he truly was: 

a gifted leader and a compassionate American 

with a vision for our future and an unwavering 

belief in the spirit and goodness of mankind. 

To say that RONALD REAGAN was an example 

of the American dream would be an understatement. RONALD REAGAN was the American 

dream, the product of a poor middle class family 

who, as the result of his own intelligence, determination and strong personality, was able to attend college, enjoy a successful career in broadcasting and motion pictures, and eventually rise 

to the position of Governor of California. 

For most, that in and of itself would be a remarkable career. But President REAGAN did not 

stop there. Rather, he continued to focus on what 

he saw as a need for a strong leader in the White 

House, someone who could work with a divided 

Congress and an American public still reeling 

from the political and economic crises of the seventies to restore this Nation to its position as 

the ‘‘shining city on the hill.’’ 

During his 8 years in office, he did just that. 

The Reagan revolution, as it came to be known, 

provided the impetus for significant changes here 

at home and around the world. The economy in 

this country which had been in steep decline for 

a number of years righted itself and enjoyed a 

strong period of growth for the next 9 years. The 

cold war was brought to an end, communism in 

many countries ultimately collapsed, and a whole 

new generation of men, women, and children 

around the world were able to enjoy a new life 

free from the fear of oppression. 

Perhaps his greatest accomplishment, however, 

was in giving Americans a new sense of hope and 

pride. President REAGAN restored a strong sense 

of optimism and hopefulness to this country, and 

made everyone feel proud that they could once 

again say with assurance and determination, ‘‘I 

am an American.’’ 

Mr. Speaker, just as our Nation paused last 

week to remember and reflect on this good man 

and great leader, let us, as a Nation, remember 

President RONALD REAGAN in the same way 

that he is remembered by his family: a man full 

of love, laughter, and life, someone full of boundless optimism and faith, and someone who always 

believed that America’s best days are indeed 

ahead. 

Our country—indeed, our world—has been 

blessed that we were able to share in a small way 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 157 

in the tremendous life he led. May we never forget the lessons he taught us or the leadership he 

displayed, and may we continue to keep Mrs. 

Reagan and the entire Reagan family foremost 

in our thoughts and prayers. 

Hon. Michael N. Castle 

OF DELAWARE

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to 

President RONALD REAGAN. We all join together this week to mourn his passage, but more 

important to celebrate his life. President 

REAGAN meant many things to many people in 

the United States and throughout the world. Put 

simply, the world is a better place because RONALD REAGAN lived. From his days as an actor 

and motivational speaker to his time as Governor 

and President to his final days on his California 

ranch, RONALD REAGAN was a true gentleman 

who impacted the lives of those around him. 

RONALD REAGAN was sworn in as the 40th 

President of the United States the day American 

hostages were released from Iran—a poignant beginning to the challenges which would lie ahead. 

As President, he survived an attack on his life 

and a battle with colon cancer; he fought communism; he guided the American people through 

rough economic times and uncertain international struggles; he made history in nominating the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court; and led Americans through the 

tragedy of the space shuttle Challenger. 

But to limit our descriptions of President 

REAGAN to the milestones in his Presidency 

would be incomplete. His most impressive qualities are the intangibles that are felt but hard to 

describe. 

So many Americans connected with President 

REAGAN on a personal level. His ability to communicate was unparalleled. ‘‘Larger than life’’ 

was never a phrase used to describe RONALD

REAGAN—not because he couldn’t have been, 

but because he didn’t want to be. He truly operated as a man of the people. 

My first term as Governor of Delaware overlapped with his second term as President of the 

United States. I had the honor and privilege of 

working with President REAGAN on what I see 

as one of his greatest landmark accomplishments—welfare reform. The empathy he felt for 

the American people and the challenges they 

faced in trying to make ends meet were represented in this landmark legislation. He epitomized a leader who didn’t give hand-outs—but 

a hand up. 

The optimism he felt for every American, our 

Nation and the world was evident to all. His 

‘‘glass half full’’ mentality guided us through 

times of peace and times of uncertainty; through 

the end of the cold war and rough economic 

times. No matter what our Nation faced, President REAGAN’s sense of patriotism, togetherness 

and hope for the future was infectious. 

His love of country made us believe that 

America was blessed to do great things for many 

people. Sadly, this was probably best communicated in what has come to be known as his 

‘‘Letter to the American People’’ when he told 

the world he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s 

disease, when he wrote: 

I now begin this journey that will lead me into the sunset 

of my life. I know that for America there will always be a 

bright dawn ahead. 

Everything he did, he did with grace. He will 

be remembered—even by those who may have 

disagreed with him—with respect for his willingness to work together and negotiate, with 

humor. He and Democratic Speaker Tip O’Neill 

used to joke that we are ‘‘all friends after 6 p.m.’’ 

meaning that at the end of the day, politics was 

put aside and friendships could grow. 

I like to think of President REAGAN as a flexible conservative, one who was willing to listen 

to all sides of an argument, even if he didn’t 

agree, for the chance that he might learn something new or understand a different angle. He 

didn’t pretend to be an expert on all issues, and 

that is why so many politicians and the American 

people respected him. He wanted to turn the 

issue on all sides to see if there were any new 

approaches that could be taken. Yet at the same 

time, he was deeply rooted in his beliefs of smaller government, lower taxes and personal responsibility—which continue to guide the Republican Party today. 

President REAGAN is considered the modern 

day father of the Republican Party and his long 
158 Ronald Reagan 

legacy and sunny optimistic spirit will live on 

in all Americans. And as we all gather today to 

celebrate the man who meant so much to our 

country, I would like to invoke the words he 

used in bidding goodbye to the passengers on the 

space shuttle Challenger: 

We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, 

this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved 

good-bye and ‘‘slipped the surly bonds of earth’’ to ‘‘touch 

the face of God.’’ 

The GIPPER, the Great Communicator, the 

flexible conservative and the great conciliator has 

gone home. But his legacy will never be forgotten. 

Hon. Earl Pomeroy 

OF NORTH DAKOTA

Mr. Speaker, my thoughts and prayers go out 

to Mrs. Reagan and her family as our Nation 

mourns the loss of President REAGAN. 

Our Nation has lost a leader. President 

REAGAN inspired Americans to a higher purpose. 

He believed, and led all Americans to believe, 

that our country could be the ‘‘shining city on 

the hill.’’ It was his spirit and faith in American 

values that helped reinforce America’s faith in 

itself. 

I was serving in the North Dakota Legislature 

on the day President REAGAN was shot. I remember the somber atmosphere and deep concern from Republicans and Democrats alike as 

legislators gathered around a television anxiously 

awaiting word on the President’s condition. 

With characteristic optimism, President 

REAGAN went on to recover from his wounds and 

continue to lead the Nation as our President. 

President REAGAN’s passing brings us sadness 

at the loss of an American leader, but reminds 

all of us of his lasting legacy of service to our 

Nation. 

ADJOURNING AS FURTHER MARK OF RESPECT TO 

THE MEMORY OF THE LATE HONORABLE RONALD 

WILSON REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE 

UNITED STATES 

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous 

consent that when the House adjourns pursuant 

to Senate Concurrent Resolution 116, it do so as 

a further mark of respect to the memory of the 

late Honorable RONALD WILSON REAGAN, the 

former President of the United States. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection 

to the request of the gentleman from Texas? 

There was no objection. 

ADJOURNMENT 

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I move that the 

House do now adjourn. 

The motion was agreed to. 

THE SPEAKER pro tempore. Accordingly, 

pursuant to Senate Concurrent Resolution 116, 

the 108th Congress, the House stands adjourned 

until 12:30 p.m. on Monday, June 14, 2004, for 

morning hour debates; and pursuant to the order 

of the House of today, it does so as a further 

mark of respect to the memory of the late Honorable RONALD WILSON REAGAN, the former 

President of the United States. 

Thereupon (at 3 o’clock and 6 minutes p.m.), 

pursuant to Senate Concurrent Resolution 116, 

the House adjourned until Monday, June 14, 

2004, at 12:30 p.m., for morning hour debates, 

and pursuant to the order of the House of today 

as a further mark of respect to the memory of 

the late Honorable RONALD WILSON REAGAN, 

former President of the United States. 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 159 

Monday, June Üâ, áÖÖâ 

APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS TO ATTEND THE

FUNERAL OF THE LATE HONORABLE RONALD

WILSON REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF

THE UNITED STATES

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to 

House Resolution 663, and the order of the 

House of December 8, 2003, the Speaker appointed himself and the entire membership of 

the House to attend the funeral services for 

former President RONALD WILSON REAGAN held 

Wednesday, June 9, 2004, in the rotunda of the 

Capitol and Friday, June 11, 2004, at the Washington National Cathedral. 

Wednesday, June Üã, áÖÖâ 

Hon. Robert Menendez 

OF NEW JERSEY

Mr. Speaker, today I am proud to be joining 

Senators Bond and Mikulski, and my House colleagues, Representatives Chris Smith and Ed 

Markey, in introducing the RONALD REAGAN

Alzheimer’s Breakthrough Act of 2004. This legislation will significantly increase our government’s investment in Alzheimer’s disease research 

and patient and caregiver support initiatives. 

As a son whose mother suffers from Alzheimer’s, I know personally the sacrifice—both 

financially and emotionally—of families caring 

for a parent with this horrific disease. It is the 

story of so many Hispanics in this Nation—a 

story of so many Americans. My family fled Cuba 

to come to find freedom in the United States. 

My mother worked her entire life as a seamstress 

in the factories of New Jersey. She spends half 

of her Social Security check on prescription 

drugs. If it was not for my sister and me, she 

would not live with the dignity she deserves. 

Because of my personal experience with Alzheimer’s, I have always admired Nancy and RONALD REAGAN’s strength and perseverance 

throughout the President’s battle with this heartwrenching and devastating illness. By having 

gone public, RONALD REAGAN increased awareness of this debilitating disease, providing hope, 

comfort, and companionship to 4.5 million 

Americans living with Alzheimer’s today. We 

feel there is no more fitting tribute to honor 

President REAGAN’s memory than to join together in a bipartisan manner and support the 

RONALD REAGAN Alzheimer’s Breakthrough 

Act. 

Today, Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia in older people. One in 

10 people over 65 and nearly half those over 85, 

suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. And with the 

aging of our population, we can expect those 

numbers to increase. In fact, unless scientific research finds a way to prevent or cure the disease, 

it is estimated that between 11.3 and 16 million 

people in the United States will have Alzheimer’s 

disease by the middle of the 21st century. 

Just a few weeks ago, I, along with the Alzheimer’s Association, released a report that focuses on the impact of Alzheimer’s on Hispanics. 

The report predicts that, because Hispanics are 

the fastest growing population in the country 

and have the greatest life expectancy of any ethnic group, the community will experience a sixfold increase in the disease by 2050. In numbers, 

this means that 1.3 million Hispanics will have 

Alzheimer’s disease by 2050, compared to fewer 

than 200,000 currently living with the disease. 

The legislation introduced today will increase 

the National Institutes of Health funding to $1.4 

billion a year so we can continue to advance our 

ability to one day prevent, treat, and ultimately 

cure this disease. This increase is necessary if we 

are going to be serious about reducing both the 

physical and economic costs of Alzheimer’s. According to experts, delaying the onset and progression of Alzheimer’s for even 5 years could 
160 Ronald Reagan 

save as much as $50 billion in annual health care 

costs. Alzheimer’s costs American businesses 

more than $36.5 billion annually due to lost productivity of employees who are caregivers and the 

health care costs associated with the disease. 

Alzheimer’s is a far-reaching disease and a serious strain on families because it not only affects 

families’ lives, jobs, and finances, but also their 

mental and physical well-being. In response, this 

legislation provides a tax credit of up to $3,000 

to help pay the expenses of families who care for 

loved ones with long-term care needs. 

In addition, this bill increases authorization 

levels for a series of programs to help families 

care for their loved ones; increases funding levels 

for research initiatives focused on prevention and 

care; and authorizes funding for a public education campaign to inform the public about prevention techniques. 

Congress needs to make wise investments on 

behalf of the American people. Alzheimer’s research is one of those important and critical investments we must make now, so that future 

generations of Americans will have the medical 

resources and knowledge to cope with the challenge of caring for a parent, family member, or 

friend living with this disease. By making this 

investment today, it is my hope that one day 

soon a cure will be found so Alzheimer’s will be 

a part of medical history instead of a family’s reality. 

Thursday, June Üå, áÖÖâ 

Hon. Henry Bonilla 

OF TEXAS

Mr. Speaker, I ask to enter the following tribute recognizing President and Mrs. Reagan’s involvement in the war on drugs into the Congressional Record. 

A TRIBUTE: PRESIDENT & MRS. RONALD REAGAN’S

LEADERSHIP IN THE WAR ON DRUGS

We, representing countless parents. community volunteers, 

civic leaders, business leaders, physicians, teachers, church 

leaders, policy makers, law enforcement officers, media representatives, and youth from across America, want to express 

our deepest gratitude to President and Mrs. REAGAN for their 

extraordinary leadership in the battle against drugs and for 

saving the lives of so many children through drug prevention. 

Together they encouraged and supported a nationwide effort 

to reduce the demand for drugs by increasing Americans’ 

knowledge and changing their attitudes and behavior. They 

inspired us with hope, knowledge, and conviction. The result 

was a dramatic turn around in illicit drug use in America, 

and thus lives were saved, health care costs were reduced, 

crime was reduced, and innovative strategies and scientific 

research were developed to enhance drug abuse treatment, 

prevent AIDS, and other drug-related social problems. Our 

nation and the world owe them a tremendous debt. We recommit ourselves to continuing in this noble fight to protect 

our children from the nightmare of drugs and to carry forward the message of prevention with hope and optimism. 

Milestones of the Reagan legacy include: Raising the 

drinking age throughout the country from 18 to 21. The 

workplace drug prevention program including federal drug 

testing and standards. Nancy Reagan’s Just Say No campaign 

that ratified and promoted the Parents’ Movement. These 

programs brought about a dramatic fall in illegal drug abuse 

throughout the nation after two decades of rising levels with 

the peak coming in 1978 and the bottom in 1991. President 

REAGAN’s leadership was a key in this element in this historic progress. 

Robert L. DuPont, MD, First Director of National Institute 

on Drug Abuse, President of the Institute for Behavior 

and Health, Inc., Maryland. 

Joyce Nalepka, Drug Free Kids: America’s Challenge, former 

President of Nancy Reagan’s National Federation of Parents for Drug Free Youth, Silver Spring, Maryland. 

Edward Jacobs, MD, FAAP, Everett Clinic, Everett, Washington. 

Theresa Costello, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

Daniel Bent, Fair Mediation, Honolulu, Hawaii. 

Sue Rusche, National Families in Action, Atlanta, Georgia. 

Eric Voth, MD, FACP, Chairman, Institute on Global Drug 

Policy, Topeka, Kansas. 

Michelle Voth, Kansas Family Partnership, Topeka, Kansas. 

David Evans, Esq., Drug Free Schools Coalition, Flemington, 

New Jersey. 

Calvina Fay, Executive Director, Drug Free America Foundation, Inc., St. Petersburg, Florida. 

Peggy Sapp, National Family Partnership, Miami, Florida. 

Steven Steiner, DAMMAD, Tioga Center, New York. 

Steven Steiner, Barton, New York. 

Rebecca Hobson, Richton, Mississippi. 

Brenda Truelove, Gainesville, Georgia. 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 161 

Karen Dewease, Petal, Mississippi. 

Julie Steiner, Barton, New York. 

Mikki Howard, Austin, Indiana. 

Martha McWhirter, Lawrence, Mississippi. 

Susie Dugan, PRIDE Omaha, Omaha, Nebraska. 

Judy Dinerstein, Naperville, Illinois. 

Betty Sembler, Chairman, S.O.S.—Save Our Society From 

Drugs, St. Petersburg, Florida. 

Grainne Kenny, International President, EURAD (Europe 

Against Drugs). 

John English, Springfield, Oregon. 

Susan Baum, Loyalhanna, Pennsylvania. 

Frank Richardson, Binghamton, New York. 

Patsy Parker, Moss Point, Mississippi. 

Sharon L. Smith, President—MOMSTELL, Mechanicsburg, 

Pennsylvania. 

Connie Moulton, Committees of Correspondence, Danvers, 

Massachusetts. 

Robert Peterson, Esq., Vice President of International Affairs, 

PRIDE Youth Programs, Fremont, Michigan. 

Jay DeWispleare, Executive Director, PRIDE Youth Programs, Fremont, Michigan. 

Lea Cox, Concerned Citizens for Drug Prevention, Norwell, 

Massachusetts. 

Jack Gilligan, Global Drug Prevention Network, Peoria, Illinois. 

Malcolm K. Beyer, Jr., Student Drug-Testing Coalition, Jupiter, Florida. 

Peter Stoker, Director, National Drug Prevention Alliance, 

Great Britain. 

Carla Lowe, Legal Foundation Against Drugs, Sacramento, 

California. 

Jim Kester, Austin, Texas. 

Beverly Barron, Former Executive Director of Texans War 

on Drugs, Odessa, Texas. 

Peggy Goble, Great Meadows, New Jersey. 

Karin Kyles, New Canaan, Connecticut. 

DeForest Rathbone, Chairman, National Institute of Citizen 

Anti-drug Policy, Great Falls, Virginia. 

Mr. & Mrs. Robert Dey (DEA Retired), Georgetown, Texas. 

Ginger Katz, President of the Courage to Speak Foundation, 

Connecticut. 

State Representative Toni Boucher, Assistant Minority Leader 

District 143, Connecticut. 

Geraldine Silverman, New Jersey Federation for Drug Free 

Communities, Short Hills, New Jersey. 

Wevley William Shea, Anchorage, Alaska. 

Beverly J. Kinard, President, Christian Drug Education Center, Canon City, Colorado. 

Judy Kreamer, Educating Voices, Inc., Naperville, Illinois. 

Becky Vance, Executive Director, Drug Free Business Houston—A division of the Council on Alcohol and Drug 

Abuse, Houston, Texas. 

Cathey Brown, Rainbow Days, Inc., Dallas, Texas. 

Lynda Adams, Alaskans For Drug Free Youth, Ketchikan, 

Alaska. 

June M. Milam, Former CEO, DREAM, Inc., Madison, Mississippi. 

Joyce Tobias, Parents’ Association to Neutralize Drug & Alcohol Abuse (PANDAA), Annandale, Virginia. 

Judy Cushing, President-C.E.O., Oregon Partnership, Portland, Oregon. 

Judy Arendsee, Rancho Sante Fe, California. 

Stephanie Hayes, Former Board Chairman, Texans War on 

Drugs, Alpine, Texas. 

Thursday, June áâ, áÖÖâ 

Hon. Michael K. Simpson 

OF IDAHO

Mr. Speaker, every visitor who comes to my 

office is greeted by a plaque that bears the inscription of RONALD REAGAN’s signature and 

this quote, ‘‘There’s no limit to what a man can 

do or where he can go if he doesn’t mind who 

gets the credit.’’ These words are characteristic 

of the great man that served as the 40th President of the United States of America. I am involved with politics today because of the inspiration I received from RONALD REAGAN. I believe 

he was the true example of what a statesman can 

be, and I hold that example close to my heart 

as I carry out my own duties. 

President REAGAN will always be remembered 

as an unabashed patriot. He was convinced of the 

ability of the United States to provide the hope 

of freedom to those enslaved by totalitarianism 

and communism. President REAGAN’s vision of 

the world and the future of this country would 

not be dimmed or daunted by ideological threat, 

and he was not afraid to stand up to tyranny and 

aggression. From the beginning of his Presidency, President REAGAN realized the potential 

cost of inaction and weakness in the face of Soviet 

defiance and nuclear threat, and he took action. 

Through a series of defense budgets, he increased 

defense spending 35 percent during his two 
162 Ronald Reagan 

terms, ensuring the country the resources necessary for security. Additionally, President 

REAGAN managed to negotiate the first U.S.- 

Soviet treaty to reduce the number of nuclear 

weapons through a series of four summits with 

Mikhail Gorbachev. President REAGAN was always clear about what he expected and never 

more so than when he pleaded at the Brandenburg Gate, ‘‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this 

wall!’’ 

President REAGAN planted democracy in regions of the world that have never tasted the joys 

of freedom. He taught newly liberated people 

across the globe that hard work and faith in God 

could result in prosperity, a sense of satisfaction 

in one’s own legacy, and a better outlook for tomorrow. He wanted the American dream to be 

a reality throughout the world. 

President REAGAN will also be remembered as 

a man of humble beginnings. He proclaimed 

America as a place where everyone can rise as 

high and as far as his ability will take him. Born 

in Tampico, IL, President REAGAN used his 

abilities to establish a career in Hollywood. He 

continued to work and learn as he rose through 

California politics and went on to serve two successful terms as the leader of our Nation. He 

wanted all Americans to have the same freedom 

and opportunity to pursue success, and he consistently promoted that ideal through policies of 

limited government. He said, ‘‘Government can 

and must provide opportunity, not smother it; 

foster productivity, not stifle it.’’ 

What makes RONALD REAGAN most unforgettable was his unfailing optimism. Even as our 

Nation mourns, we cannot help but smile at the 

thought of his cheerful and radiant personality. 

President REAGAN possessed a sense of humor 

strong enough to withstand even the pain of an 

assassin’s bullet. Demonstrating his trademark 

good nature, he said to the doctors about to operate on his bullet wounds, ‘‘I hope you’re all Republicans.’’ It was this characteristic sanguinity 

that swept up a downtrodden America and reenergized its faith in freedom, the Presidency, 

and our military. 

RONALD REAGAN was many things. He was 

a man of reason, a man of sincerity, a man willing to listen. And he is a man whose character, 

grace, and wisdom will be deeply missed by this 

Nation. 

Tuesday, July ã, áÖÖâ 

Hon. Duncan Hunter 

OF CALIFORNIA

. . . this cold war was won by American service 

personnel. I look at Korea and Vietnam as two 

of the important battles in that war—battles 

which helped to bring that war to a successful 

conclusion. 

The gentleman jMr. Wilson of South Carolinak makes a great point about people who used 

to be behind the Iron Curtain now serving side 

by side with Americans. And I am reminded also 

that troops from Nicaragua and El Salvador, 

which were the centers of the so-called Contra 

wars during the eighties, when America’s liberals 

said RONALD REAGAN should stay out of Central 

America; that if the Soviets want to have an influence in Central America, which they were having with the communist Sandinista and the 

FMLN in Salvador, let them have it, said the liberals, and let us stay out of Central America; we 

cannot possibly win that war. And of course they 

brought back the old Vietnam thing, they said 

you are going to get bogged down in another 

Vietnam. Today we have fragile democracies in 

each of those countries, and they have sent troops 

to stand side by side with Americans in Iraq to 

try to bring freedom to yet another country. 

I was told, incidentally, that the Salvadorans 

in particular have fought fiercely in the Iraq theater; that they are excellent fighters and they 

very much support the coalition, and that they 

have brought a measure of strong support to our 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 163 

operation there. So I thank the gentleman for 

bringing that up because I think that is important. 

When RONALD REAGAN was bringing down 

the Wall, and when he met that first move of 

force by the Russians during his administration, 

when the Soviet Union started to ring Western 

Europe with SS–20 missiles and RONALD

REAGAN started to push in ground launch cruise 

missiles and Pershing missiles into Europe, the 

liberal commentators across the world said, essentially, now you have gone and done it; we will 

never have peace with the Soviet Union, and we 

have to get this RONALD REAGAN out of there. 

Yet, by meeting the strength of the Soviet 

Union with American strength, the President 

produced a situation where at one point the Russians picked up the phone and said, Can we talk? 

And when they started talking, they talked not 

about a negotiated settlement but they talked 

really about the disassembly of the Soviet empire 

brought about by American strength. 

I think this operation in Iraq, while it is tough 

and hard and very dangerous, is going to produce 

a good result in that very difficult part of the 

world. 

Hon. Joe Wilson 

OF SOUTH CAROLINA

Mr. Speaker, I want to also join in thanking 

the gentleman from Hawaii jMr. Abercrombiek 

for his constructive suggestion. 

But I want to reiterate again too that the war 

we are into, this global war on terrorism, is not 

something the United States sought. It is my 

humble opinion that the first attack was really 

in 1979, with the attack on our Embassy in 

Tehran. We can all remember the signs that were 

carried at that time were ‘‘death to America.’’ It 

does not need a discussion. That is what the intent is. And the reason for this feeling is because 

the United States represents freedom of association, of speech, as we just saw, freedom of 

women to participate in society, and freedom of 

media. All of this is being opposed by people 

who want to construct a 14th-century lifestyle. 

This is not a religious war. To me, it is a 

group of extremists who, as we saw last week, 

there was a heinous suicide bomber who attacked 

a Shiite mosque in Pakistan. Imagine just going 

straight into a mosque and killing 20 people. 

This is just something that has to be faced, and 

we either face the enemy overseas or we will 

again see them here in the United States, as we 

did on September 11. 

September 11 was the culmination of a direct 

attack on the United States in 1993 on the World 

Trade Center, a direct attack on our Embassies 

in 1998, at Embassies all throughout Africa, and 

then, of course, the infamous attack on the USS 

Cole in Yemen in the year 2000, and finally the 

attack of September 11, 2001. America is responding. 

And I am very grateful that just as after 

World War II we helped rebuild Germany so it 

would not be a breeding ground for communism, 

we are helping to rebuild Iraq. I am sorry that 

it does not get the attention it should. It is probably just dull to hear that there is freedom of 

the press and media in Iraq. It is dull to hear 

the schools have been reopened. It is dull to hear 

the hospitals have all been reopened and the 

health clinics are available. But it is not dull. 

It is creating a civil society that protects the 

American people. We were able to protect the 

American people and defeat communism, and I 

am confident we can do the same thing in defeating terrorism. 

I am so happy the gentleman brought up 

RONALD REAGAN. It was 20 years ago virtually 

this minute that he was attempting to win the 

cold war by putting Pershing missiles in Western Europe. Millions of people demonstrated 

against that in the United States and Western 

Europe. It ultimately led, again, to our victory. 

I had the extraordinary opportunity Sunday to 

meet with people at our church who are from 

Russia, and I was telling them how incredible 

it was for me to be there with them, because 15 

years ago we were told that they like living 

under communism; that due to their serf background, they liked being slaves; that they really 

did not want to have to make decisions of who 

to elect and how to elect, what jobs to take, how 

much money to earn, whether they could buy a 
164 Ronald Reagan 

car or not; that they really enjoyed living in oppression. 

We know that is not true. The dear Russians 

that I met with on Sunday said how much they 

appreciated what President REAGAN and the 

American people have done to provide for their 

liberation. The same analogy applies to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. It is such a positive 

time to see what our troops are doing. 

Hon. Robin Hayes 

OF NORTH CAROLINA

Mr. Speaker, President Bush stood up for freedom, as well he should. 

Just a couple of weeks ago at President 

REAGAN’s funeral here in Washington, I had the 

unique privilege of standing in line waiting to 

walk by the casket of former President REAGAN

with Mikhail Gorbachev. 

They called REAGAN a cowboy; but Mikhail 

Gorbachev, his adversary at that time, was at his 

funeral saying that that man stood up for freedom, and he won the cold war, just like President Bush is standing up and winning the war 

on terrorism and our troops are making that happen. 

Hon. Duncan Hunter 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 

North Carolina (Mr. Hayes). It must have taken 

a lot of grit for Mikhail Gorbachev to have all 

of the previous speakers or the speakers at that 

ceremony talk about how RONALD REAGAN

equipped him; but, you know, he put up with 

that and then paid his respects to President 

REAGAN. And I think there is a message there, 

and that is that the goodness of America comes 

through, and ultimately it persuades others to 

follow the path of freedom. I thank the gentleman for his comments. 

Wednesday, July å, áÖÖâ 

Hon. J.D. Hayworth 

OF ARIZONA

Mr. Speaker, yesterday was the official end of 

the period of national mourning for former President RONALD REAGAN. During this month there 

have been many tributes to this great President, 

all of which were deserving. 

Recently, I was given a copy of a book review 

by the well-respected administrative law judge 

John C. Holmes, who is now retired. In August 

1998, Judge Holmes reviewed Dinesh D’Souza’s 

book, ‘‘RONALD REAGAN: How an Ordinary 

Man Became an Extraordinary Leader.’’ It was an 

excellent review that summed up how so many 

of us view RONALD REAGAN and his life. I 

would like to submit the review for the Record 

and I commend it to my colleagues. 

jFrom the Free Press, 1997k 

RONALD REAGAN: HOW AN ORDINARY MAN BECAME AN

EXTRAORDINARY LEADER

(By John C. Holmes) 

Dinesh D’Souza, who served briefly as a low-level advisor 

to President REAGAN in 1987–88, is an open admirer of 

REAGAN’s accomplishments. Yet not even REAGAN’s harshest 

critics are more revealing of his character flaws and human 

weaknesses. Rather than expressing scorn and derision, however, the author is in turn bemused, delighted, curious, and 

intrigued in candidly reporting the former president’s character and personality idiosyncrasies. After careful examination, he concludes that REAGAN’s very real limitations in fact 

assisted as much as deterred this seemingly ordinary man in 

becoming an extraordinary leader. Beneath his apparent simplicity was a complex and sometimes contradictory person. 

For example, REAGAN’s sunny personality and near continuous optimism masked a psychological curtain that could descend on even his most intimate friends and family, keeping 

them at a distance. There was also the contradiction that, 

while constantly extolling the virtue of the family and its 

values, REAGAN exhibited a disjointed personal one, having 

been divorced from his first wife, Jane Wyman, and distant 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 165 

from his son, daughter, and stepdaughter. REAGAN’s acknowledged short attention span masked a tenacious adherence to those principles and policies that concerned him 

most. His good-natured jokes and story-telling, sometimes 

criticized as irreverent and irrelevant, served to disarm and 

win over adversaries from Tip O’Neill to Mikhail Gorbachev. 

His famous line in the presidential debate with Walter Mondale that he ‘‘would not use Mondale’s youth and inexperience against him’’ caused an involuntary grin and chuckle 

from his surprised opponent, totally diffusing the increasingly 

serious campaign issue of REAGAN’s age, and propelling 

REAGAN into one of the largest presidential victories ever. 

He loved pomp and cavorted with the wealthy, but had a 

singular capacity to connect with, and was beloved by, the 

common man. 

The author dispels or modifies some public misconceptions. While REAGAN himself self-deprecatingly joked about 

his nap times, he worked sometimes grueling hours, particularly for a man of his age, exhibiting strong discipline in 

doing homework on those issues he needed to know. His discipline in keeping physically fit probably saved his life early 

in his presidency when he was the recipient of a would-be 

assassin’s bullet that lodged less than an inch from his heart. 

His character was revealed during this frightening time when 

despite the seriousness of the situation he could extemporaneously joke to his wife Nancy: ‘‘Honey, I forgot to duck!’’ 

and to his treating physicians: ‘‘I hope you’re all good Republicans.’’ Such good humor in the face of adversity won him 

a reservoir of good will by an appreciative public. 

TAKING ON THE ‘‘EVIL EMPIRE’’ 

REAGAN was a naive, rosy optimist, thinking that, if he 

could only show Gorbachev how ordinary Americans lived, 

Gorbachev would recognize the differences between the two 

systems and make big changes for the better. REAGAN was 

a foolhardy, almost comical belligerent, standing at the Berlin Wall and challenging Gorbachev to ‘‘tear down this 

wall!’’ He was an embarrassment, a blind, unsophisticated patriot who had the gall, bad manners, and political incorrectness to call the free world’s adversary an ‘‘Evil Empire.’’ He 

was an actor who knew nothing of foreign policy, a genial 

dummy who straddled between reckless action and somnolent 

inattention. Or so he was portrayed and so many believed. 

But D’Souza recognizes REAGAN’s historic accomplishment 

in fostering the dissolution of the Communist empire, which 

emanated at least in substantial part from the man’s own 

willful, steadfast purpose. This dissolution was not foreordained, as has become the fashionable view. The author 

demonstrates the transparency of REAGAN’s critics, quoting 

extensively from their pronouncements on the growth, stability, and power of the Soviet economy and the folly of attempting directly to challenge Russia itself. Liberal historian 

Arthur Schlesinger Jr. observed in 1982 that ‘‘those in the 

United States who think the Soviet Union is on the verge 

of economic and social collapse are wishful thinkers.’’ John 

Kenneth Galbraith, Harvard economist and guru during the 

Kennedy-Johnson years, pronounced that ‘‘the Russian system 

succeeds, because, in contrast with the Western industrial 

economies, it makes full use of its manpower.’’ Such assessment was concurred in by even ‘‘neutral’’ economists such 

as Paul Samuelson and Lester Thurow, who as late as 1989 

marveled at the Russian growth process. 

As for confronting Russian expansion, Sovietologist Stephen Cohen of Princeton University thought that REAGAN

was pathologically wrongheaded in apparently abandoning 

the comforting previous policies of containment and detente 

for the objective of ‘‘destroying the Soviet Union as a world 

power and possibly even its Communist system.’’ Strobe Talbot, then a senior correspondent at Time magazine and later 

deputy secretary of state in the Clinton administration, indignantly scoffed at REAGAN’s unrealistic and misguided attempts to return to the ’50s goal of rolling back Soviet domination in Europe. 

Though criticized as too ideological, REAGAN appointed 

skilled pragmatists to implement his aggressive foreign policy. They included the maligned but effective Bill Casey at 

the CIA, Cap Weinberger at Defense, and George Schultz 

at State. REAGAN’s overarching plan was relatively simple: 

he would outspend the Russians on defense, thereby showing 

the vulnerability of the Russian economic system which 

REAGAN, almost alone, was convinced would not keep pace. 

This culminated in the proposed future deployment of defense missiles and lasers dubbed ‘‘Star Wars,’’ a concept ridiculed by many, and not fully understood even by REAGAN, 

but greatly feared by the Russian leadership. D’Souza presents 

the still-minority viewpoint, which I believe history will 

eventually confirm, that the elevation by the Russian leadership of Gorbachev was largely stimulated as an antidote for 

the very presence of REAGAN, who by then had emerged as 

a popular and effective world leader who articulately advocated challenge of Russian aspirations for world dominance. 

REAGAN took an immediate liking to Gorbachev and instinctively felt they could do business. His subsequent perseverance in challenging Gorbachev to reform the system, combined with U.S. military buildup, precipitated the eventual 

dismembering of the formerly impenetrable Russian political 

hegemony and military might. 

For this accomplishment alone REAGAN should be recognized as the single most important person in the second half 

of this century in pointing our world in the direction of freedom and democracy. However, to the surprise and even anguish of liberal opponents, and the consternation of some 

conservative friends, his challenge was not limited to the 

communist totalitarian system, but to dictators everywhere, 

whether in the Philippines, South America, or Africa. The 

resulting extensive conversion from socialist and totalitarian 

states to democracies and free economies was truly remarkable, never before seen in the history of the world. 

TAKING ON BIG GOVERNMENT

As REAGAN ran against the political wisdom and apparent 

majority public opinion in advocating defeat of, rather than 

detente with, communism, so too he opposed the belief that 

a powerful central government was essential to ensure freedom, justice, and the general welfare. REAGAN presented the 

then-heretical view that central government was the problem, 

not the solution. While REAGAN accepted much of Roosevelt’s New Deal as a necessary reaction to the economic 
166 Ronald Reagan 

emergency following the Great Depression, he felt the Great 

Society agenda fostered by President Johnson took the country too far along the path toward a suffocating central government that would eventually stifle individual initiative and 

freedom. His conversion from Democrat to Republican resulted. 

REAGAN carried his message forward in speech after 

speech, initially while traveling the country for General Electric. Although the 1964 Republican Convention produced the 

spectacularly losing campaign of Barry Goldwater, REAGAN’s 

nominating speech—which has been since dubbed merely 

‘‘The Speech’’—launched him into the national scene as the 

future messenger and leader of the conservative cause. It also 

brought him to the attention of king-makers in California, 

who lured him into a successful run against the incumbent, 

the firmly entrenched Governor Pat Brown, who, like every 

candidate REAGAN has run against, underestimated his talents, personality, and character. 

As Governor, REAGAN preached austerity, but in his first 

term did little in practice to put California’s economic house 

in order. His main contribution, perhaps, was in standing 

up to the most radical of the free speakers, thereby keeping 

the universities open and restoring a modicum of stability 

during those turbulent times. The author labels REAGAN’s 

governorship as only moderately successful. REAGAN, however, gained a stage that eventually catapulted him into the 

presidency. 

While running for and entering the presidency, his economic message remained the same: limited government. On 

the one hand, as his critics are quick to point out, REAGAN

never directly achieved his economic goals, as the high cost 

of defense build-up and his insistence on a tax cut made a 

balanced budget impossible. Moreover, this imbalance was 

exacerbated by the Democratic-controlled Congress, whose 

‘‘compromise’’ meant more spending on cherished domestic 

programs rather than cuts that would have helped pay for 

the defense build-up. On the other hand, his intense lobbying 

efforts on his first budget, while not reaching all the results 

he envisioned, provided the mechanism for a future more limited domestic spending program, and provided more funds 

for the private sector through tax cuts. Through a numbing 

recession in 1982, with critics contending his ‘‘voodoo’’ 

supply-side economics were a proven failure, REAGAN elected 

to ‘‘stay the course,’’ retreating to his California ranch for 

resuscitation and refusing the siren song to ‘‘do something.’’ 

He was assisted by a supportive Federal Reserve, which tightened credit to reduce the fever of double digit inflation prevalent during the preceding Carter administration. With recover came increasing public and business confidence. A 

growing economy meant more dollars to pay for the defense 

build-up. 

The author points to the ‘‘outrageous’’ act of firing the 

air traffic controllers as a further plank in economic recovery. 

Though their union, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers 

(PATCO), was one of the few to support REAGAN’s presidential bid, REAGAN had no compunction in firing them and 

replacing them by non-union workers. Considering them 

‘‘untouchables,’’ no previous president had so directly taken 

on unions and government workers. To REAGAN, the moral 

basis was simple: government workers were servants of the 

people and not their masters. The law supported his viewpoint. Condemned, ridiculed, and pressured even by allies, 

and temporarily losing popular support, particularly from 

new-found ‘‘Joe Six-Pack’’ converts to the Republican party, 

REAGAN stuck to his guns. This action, and his subsequent 

refusal to compromise, so shocked and silenced union leaders 

and government workers that corporations and government 

agencies were afforded for years to come the opportunity to 

downsize and ‘‘reorganize.’’ The seemingly forgotten principal that jobs were a privilege and not a right was at least 

partially restored and the economy further stimulated. 

REAGAN’s goals were not all achieved while in office. Nevertheless, he left an agenda that is still in many respects being 

followed today. Free international trade through agreements 

such as NAFTA, and the outline for fiscal savings as drawn 

up in the ‘‘Contract for America,’’ were REAGAN initiatives. 

Even the line-item veto, scorned and laughed at as a campaign throw-away, and impossible to enact, has become law, 

ironically co-opted by President Clinton and touted as his 

own accomplishment. While temporarily contributing to a 

huge unbalanced budget and an unfavorable foreign trade 

deficit, the successful war against communism eventually allowed a resulting ‘‘peace dividend,’’ a prosperous economy, 

and a curtailed federal government. A balanced budget would 

be achieved 10 years after he left office. 

REAGAN again knew instinctively what the most sophisticated economists were oblivious to. Reduction of tax rates 

during times when government has become too large and 

costly can actually increase total revenues by freeing the private sector from stifling governmental costs and regulations, 

thereby enabling sales and profits (as well as taxes paid) to 

rise. What was to become known worldwide as ‘‘privatization’’ resulted from these policies. Where previous Republican administrations had merely attempted to cut around the 

edges to make governments a little more efficient and accountable, REAGAN attacked it head on, by word and deed 

freeing the private sector to accomplish its goals with minimal intervention. 

TAKING ON ‘‘MALAISE’’ 

A third area that REAGAN sought to change flowed naturally from and was dependent upon success in his attack on 

communism and big government: restoration of the prestige 

and respect of the presidency, and the confidence, optimism, 

and patriotism of the American people. Following the ‘‘Peace 

and Prosperity’’ and ‘‘Return to Normalcy’’ of the 1950s 

under Eisenhower, we had experienced the assassinations of 

President Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Robert Kennedy; the quagmire of Vietnam, causing President Johnson’s 

decision not to run; Nixon’s seemingly moderately successful 

presidency brought down by Watergate; and the failed Carter 

presidency, ending in American hostages being ignominiously held in Iran, communism seemingly on the march in 

international expansion, and Carter himself describing a 

‘‘malaise’’ in the American psyche. Onto the stage strode the 

unlikely candidate the conservatives lusted for, but mainstream Republicans merely tolerated, and Democrats welcomed as ‘‘easy pickings’’—seemingly too old, too ideological, and too inexperienced to be elected or to accomplish 

the job. 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 167 

The reigns of government had barely been grasped when 

a sickening feeling of deja vu returned as an attempt was 

made on REAGAN’s life. REAGAN’s humorous reaction and 

relatively quick recovery boded well, allowing him to initiate 

his foreign and domestic programs. The sputtering of the 

economy in late 1981, leading to recession, however, dispelled 

this good will and left the nation in a sullen mood. As recovery finally came and REAGAN’s ‘‘stay the course’’ was more 

or less vindicated, his personality and talents as a ‘‘Great 

Communicator’’ began to sharpen and shape the American 

and world landscape. He entreated the people of the United 

States, the country he felt destined to be ‘‘a shining city on 

the hill,’’ to support and further his program and policies. 

He restored a sometimes teary-eyed patriotism, encouraging 

Americans to take pride in and celebrate our country, its 

meaning, and its history. Using his powers as a former actor 

and the sincerity of his own belief in the goodness of America, whose ‘‘morning had just begun,’’ he sought to enlist 

the people to assist the world along a better path to a brighter future. He returned a pride in military service, severely 

wounded since the Vietnam war. His own dedication to duty 

and pride of office restored dignity and world leadership to 

the presidency. 

History may record REAGAN as having been extraordinarily lucky to have accomplished his successes at such an 

advanced age, barely before senility and the eventual ravages 

of Alzheimer’s disease fully took over. D’Souza does not think 

so. He credits—too much, some will argue—REAGAN’s ability to cut through the thicket of unimportant matters and 

take the correct action at nearly every important juncture. 

Far from being a mere bystander, REAGAN led on matters 

that mattered, even when his decisions were unpopular. 

D’Souza notes a nearly mystical aura that President 

REAGAN himself privately acknowledged as governing some 

of his actions. While many presidents donned the mantra of 

churchgoing for public consumption, and REAGAN himself 

supported, mainly as a sop to the religious right, a constitutional amendment to allow public school prayer, his own religious beliefs were more complex. Not an active churchgoer 

before or during his presidency, he apparently firmly believed 

in an intervening and active higher authority from whom he 

privately sought solace and guidance. When asked what person he most admired, REAGAN invariably answered, ‘‘The 

man from Galilee.’’ Though public ridicule was made of his 

wife Nancy’s seeking guidance from astrologers, without serious objection and perhaps active support from the President, 

REAGAN’s truer belief would have been the personally delivered opinion of Mother Theresa that he had been put on this 

earth for a divine purpose. 

This book will not find favor with liberal economists, with 

those Jeanne Kirkpatrick labeled ‘‘Blame America Firsters,’’ 

or with apologists for the former Soviet communist system 

who then had advocated accommodation and appeasement, 

but many of whom now find its demise historically inevitable 

and REAGAN irrelevant. One of D’Souza’s obvious purposes 

in the book is to attack this attempted instant historical revisionism. In so doing, he can fairly be accused of straying too 

often from a ‘‘pure’’ chronicle of REAGAN to a strident attack 

on his critics. No doubt in anticipated rebuttal, D’Souza 

points to a ‘‘stacked deck’’ committee chaired by Arthur 

Schlesinger Jr. and commissioned by the editors of the New 

York Times in December 1996 to render a collective verdict 

on how history will rank the U.S. presidents. Not surprisingly these ‘‘history experts,’’ which included Doris Kearns 

Goodwin, James MacGregor Burns, ex-Governor Mario 

Cuomo, and ex-Senator Paul Simon, liberals all, ranked 

REAGAN in the lower half, below George Bush and in the 

undistinguished company of Jimmy Carter, Chester Arthur, 

and Benjamin Harrison. In contrast, D’Souza believes 

REAGAN should be ranked with the Roosevelts, Wilson, Lincoln, and Washington. 

Interestingly, however, the ideologically conservative ‘‘true 

believers’’ who allege that REAGAN was merely a popular 

messenger for an irresistible movement will not be overjoyed 

with the book. D’Souza paints REAGAN as a unique individual, the likes of which are unlikely to return. Though 

REAGAN articulated the principals of the ascending conservative movement, he was flexible rather than rigid, and his 

sunny personality lent itself to compromise on everything except his hardcore principals. This enabled REAGAN to overcome popular reluctance to accept his conservative agenda. 

D’Souza describes an apparently simple, but actually a 

flawed, complex, and contradictory man who accomplished 

his aims by concentrating on a few specifics that were fundamental to his beliefs. To this reviewer, who was initially extremely skeptical of REAGAN’s governing capability, let alone 

his electability to the presidency, but who has come to the 

happy realization that there really was something in the stars 

that brought forth this unlikely man to lead our country at 

such an important time in history, RONALD REAGAN gets 

it exactly right. 
168 Ronald Reagan 

Tuesday, July Üà, áÖÖâ 

Hon. Nick Smith 

OF MICHIGAN

Mr. Speaker, after listening to the previous 

speakers, I think of RONALD REAGAN’s words, 

‘‘There you go again.’’ 

Every 4 years we sort of experience the spinning and the demagoguery that takes place in 

this Chamber using these podiums and C–SPAN 

to criticize the sitting President. Of course, Republicans did it 4 years ago and 8 years ago. 

When I first came into office and was elected 

in 1992, the Democrats in this Chamber were 

using this forum to criticize the first President 

Bush, all the things that went wrong. But I 

think of what the criticisms were of President 

REAGAN when he came into office. When President REAGAN came to office America was demoralized. President Carter had spoken about our 

malaise in Watergate, and our defeat in Vietnam 

had all shaken our self-confidence. 

We had given up the Panama Canal. The Shah 

of Iran and supporters of the Ayatollah Khomeini 

held 52 of our Americans hostage for more than 

a year at our Embassy in Tehran. The military 

rescue mission, of course, failed in the desert, and 

we lost eight of our servicemen in that venture. 

Communism was on the march, and after 

South Vietnam fell, Cambodia followed. The 

Sandinistas took control of Nicaragua and communist insurgencies were under way in Ethiopia, 

Angola, and certainly the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979 and were suppressing the solidarity movement in Poland. 

Our economic situation was very dire in 1980, 

and President REAGAN came in and actually renewed our faith. America, in most American’s 

minds, no longer seemed to be special, and we 

needed that kind of determined leadership. 

The point I want to make, in reacting to some 

of the Democrats’ criticism of this administration, was the criticism that President REAGAN

received when he believed we should stand up 

to the Soviet Union and we ended up doing that. 

It was President REAGAN’s resolve that repulsed communism in the Caribbean and Central 

America and repulsed it also in Afghanistan. It 

was REAGAN’s resolve that nurtured solidarity in 

Poland and gave heart to the dissidents of the 

Soviet bloc, and it was REAGAN’s faith in American ideals that toppled the Berlin Wall. All of 

this time he was being criticized as being a 

trigger-happy President that might push the red 

button for a world war III with the Soviet Union. 

When he went to Berlin, and he was writing 

a speech for Berlin, he started out writing in that 

he wanted to include ‘‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down 

this wall!,’’ and all of his advisers and his 

speechwriters said, No, do not do that; it will 

anger the American people and the world. They 

will think you are too bold; they will think you 

are too challenging. That might end up in war. 

You should just try to get along and make peace. 

But he insisted it go in despite that criticism, 

and that leads me to what historians are going 

to say 30 years from now in analyzing the decision and the determination of this President to 

go into Iraq. 

Most everybody in this Chamber and the Senate had the same kind of intelligence information 

that the President and the administration had. 

Some of that intelligence information, we have 

now discovered, was very inaccurate in some regards. 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 169 

Thursday, July Üä, áÖÖâ 

Hon. Jim McDermott 

OF WASHINGTON

Mr. Speaker, in London yesterday Prime Minister Tony Blair did something that leaders do. 

Speaking to the House of Commons, Mr. Blair 

said, ‘‘I accept full responsibility for the way the 

issue was presented and, therefore, for any errors 

made.’’ 

Leaders lead, and leaders know the buck stops 

with them. Leaders lead, and leaders accept responsibility when things go wrong. 

An independent report in England blamed its 

intelligence community for massive intelligence 

failures before the Iraq war. What did Tony Blair 

do? The Prime Minister got up in front of his 

nation and the world and accepted personal responsibility. 

That did not happen when a similar report was 

released to the United States. The President did 

not accept responsibility. The President assigned 

blame. 

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy accepted 

full responsibility for the Bay of Pigs fiasco. It 

did not matter that the planning for the Bay of 

Pigs had started in the Eisenhower administration. It did not matter that the intelligence failures directly led to the foreign policy disaster 

that was the Bay of Pigs. President Kennedy 

stood before the Nation and the world and accepted personal responsibility. 

At one news conference not long afterward, 

President Kennedy used his legendary wit and 

intelligence to sum it up. ‘‘There is an old saying,’’ Kennedy said, ‘‘that victory has a hundred 

fathers and defeat is an orphan.’’ 

The buck stops at the President’s desk, except 

in this administration. Since the release of the 

U.S. report on pre-Iraqi intelligence failures, this 

President has done everything possible to pass 

the buck. 

During the administration of President RONALD REAGAN, the Iran-Contra scandal was a crisis that shook the Nation to its core and the 

White House to its foundation. President 

REAGAN was given ample opportunity to assign 

the blame to Oliver North. What did RONALD

REAGAN do? When asked directly about Mr. 

North, RONALD REAGAN said, ‘‘I do not feel betrayed. He has a fine record.’’ 

Leaders lead. Whatever your politics, you have 

to acknowledge that President REAGAN was a 

leader. When our country faces a crisis, people 

look to the President for leadership. 

Not long ago, America faced a moral crisis. 

America faced an ethical crisis. America faced a 

military and political crisis. When pictures of 

prison abuse stunned the world, the world looked 

to America, to our President, for a response. The 

President did not stand up and accept responsibility. 

Outside the White House and then in an 

interview broadcast throughout the Middle East, 

the President did not or could not or would not 

tell the world he accepts responsibilities for the 

failures of the Americans under his command. 

He could not utter the words that the world 

needed to hear and that Americans needed to say. 

Over the last half century, Presidents from 

both political parties have braved grave crises. 

They did what leaders do. They did not pass the 

buck. They stood and accepted responsibility, 

until now. 

In little over 110 days, the American people 

will elect a new President, and leadership is fundamental to that choice. 

The British historian Arnold Toynbee once 

said, ‘‘As human beings, we are endowed with 

freedom of choice, and we cannot shuffle off our 

responsibility upon the shoulders of God or nature. We must shoulder it ourselves. It is up to 

us.’’ 

Martin Luther King Junior once said, ‘‘The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands 

in moments of comfort and convenience but 

where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.’’ 

In just over 110 days, this Nation will make 

the most important political decision of the next 

4 years. Democrats and Republicans will argue 

issues, and that is expected, but fundamental to 

the selection of the person who leads the free 

world for the next 4 years is the quality of leader-
170 Ronald Reagan 

ship. Leadership is more than a commercial or 

a campaign brochure. Leadership is one of the 

most important qualities the President must 

have. There is a record of what America expects 

and what Americans demand of their President. 

Leadership is at the top of the list. 

The President had to be taken out twice from 

the White House to finally say that he was sorry 

for what had happened to the Arab prisoners that 

were held in Iraq. You have to ask yourself, does 

this President believe that the requirement of his 

job is to accept the responsibility, Mr. Speaker? 

Because he has not shown it yet. He never has 

said, ‘‘I accept responsibility.’’ 

One hundred and ten more days, Mr. Speaker. 

Monday, July Üé, áÖÖâ 

Hon. Christopher Shays 

OF CONNECTICUT

Mr. Speaker, on June 5, 2004, our Nation lost 

a distinguished statesman, a world leader and a 

fine President in RONALD REAGAN. President 

REAGAN was a man of his word, and his principles were unquestionable. He had extraordinary 

faith in the promise of America and the belief 

that the best of America is yet to come. 

On July 2, 2004, Ambassador Joseph Verner 

Reed, Under-Secretary-General of the United 

Nations, paid homage to Mr. REAGAN at Kyung 

Hee University in Seoul, Korea. I submit the text 

of Mr. Reed’s address to be entered into the 

Record. 

STATEMENT OF AMBASSADOR JOSEPH VERNER REED AT THE

GRADUATE SCHOOL FOR PAN PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL

STUDIES OF KYUNG HEE UNIVERSITY, SEOUL, REPUBLIC OF

KOREA

An event in the United States eclipsed matters in the 

media recently, and that was the passing of President RONALD REAGAN. 

I was privileged to have been appointed to three posts by 

President REAGAN. First as Ambassador to the Kingdom of 

Morocco, then as Deputy Permanent Representative to the 

United Nations as Ambassador to the Economic and Social 

Council and lastly as the Under-Secretary-General for Political and General Assembly Affairs of the United Nations. 

Several years ago I was privileged to accept on behalf of 

President REAGAN, here at Kyung Hee University, the Great 

World Peace Award. It was an honor and a privilege. 

RONALD WILSON REAGAN—father, husband, actor and 

dedicated public servant—restored the pride, optimism and 

strength of the United States and earned deep respect and 

affection of his fellow citizens. When he passed away, we witnessed an outpouring of solemnity, sorrow and reflection in 

our country. In the view of many people, President REAGAN

remains the most significant United States President since 

Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was a man who changed the 

course of American politics, culture and world history. He 

was right on the most important questions of his era: the 

role of government and the defeat of the Soviet Union. The 

structure of the American economy was altered profoundly 

by his term. Top tax rates have never returned to their previously punitive levels. America’s current standing in world 

affairs is also a direct result of President REAGAN’s calling 

the Soviet Union’s bluff in the 1980s and restoring US military power and self-confidence. This was not evident at the 

time. Everything President REAGAN did was challenged. He 

was a polarizing figure—more disdained in Europe than 

President George W. Bush is today. For at least half his presidency he was unpopular at home as well, as most effective 

Presidents are. 

With his Californian optimism, President REAGAN transformed conservatism into a progressive force, into a political 

philosophy that took risks and changed things. President 

REAGAN took conservatism into a reformist, unapologetic 

governing philosophy. That achievement endures in the 

United States. 

I feel blessed to have been appointed to posts in public 

service by President REAGAN. He inspired; he amused; he 

gave conviction a sunny disposition. Because of him, millions 

live in freedom where they once labored under tyranny. Because of RONALD WILSON REAGAN, America was recharged 

and freedom reborn. In life it is rare to live under a political 

leader who evokes love as well as respect. 

President REAGAN’s extraordinary political gifts carried 

him through—his talents as a communicator, his intuitive 

understanding of the average American, his unfailing geniality even after being hit by an assassin’s bullet, his ability 

to build and sustain friendships across partisan lines. Those 

gifts—and his conviction that words counted for far more 

in politics that mere deeds—enabled him to convince large 

majorities that as long as he was in charge, it would remain 

‘‘Morning in America’’. I believe the cool eye of history will 

place RONALD REAGAN in the list of the great Presidents. 

President REAGAN believed that America was not just a 

place in the world, but the hope of the world. He came to 

office with great hopes for America. He was optimistic that 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 171 

a strong America could advance peace, and he acted to build 

the strength that this mission required. He was optimistic 

that liberty would thrive wherever it was planted, and he 

acted to defend liberty wherever it was threatened. And RONALD REAGAN believed in the power of truth in the conduct 

of world affairs. When he saw evil camped across the horizon, 

he called that evil by its name. Who can ever forget President 

REAGAN in Berlin calling ‘‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this 

wall’’? 

RONALD WILSON REAGAN belongs to the ages; a great 

American story has closed. 

Tuesday, July áÖ, áÖÖâ 

Hon. Randy ‘‘Duke’’ Cunningham 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the 

USS Ronald Reagan and its crew on their arrival 

this week at their new home port of San Diego, 

CA. 

I am pleased that one of President REAGAN’s 

many legacies is the Navy’s newest nuclear carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan. The ship recently 

set sail from Norfolk for its rightful home in San 

Diego. Throughout his political career, President 

REAGAN always concluded his campaign in San 

Diego. He called it his lucky city. It is only fitting that our ‘‘shining city on the hill,’’ San 

Diego, will be home to the USS Ronald Reagan. 

This ship is perhaps the most fitting tribute 

to RONALD REAGAN’s legacy of strength and security, to the imprint he had on our past, and 

the promise that we hold for the future. The 

ship’s motto, ‘‘Peace Through Strength,’’ was 

borrowed from one of President REAGAN’s radio 

addresses and embodies the essence of his vision 

of national security. 

The USS Ronald Reagan is the most advanced 

aircraft carrier in the world. It has the newest 

hull design, 2 nuclear reactors, a length of 1,092 

feet, a top speed over 30 knots, over 6,000 highly-trained service members, and more than 80 of 

the world’s top aircraft. Finally, its 4.5 acres of 

flight deck are American territory that can be 

used to project our presence anywhere in the 

world. 

A U.S. ship is a powerful symbol and the USS 

Ronald Reagan stands to be the most powerful of 

all. It will be a welcome sight to many around 

the world who see it as an example of America’s 

strength and protection of freedom. It will also 

bring caution to people and nations who would 

deny that freedom. 

Mr. Speaker, I ask that you urge our colleagues 

to join me in recognizing the outstanding service 

of the USS Ronald Reagan and its crew and wish 

them the best in all their future endeavors. San 

Diego anxiously awaits the arrival of the USS 

Ronald Reagan and our opportunity to welcome 

it home to its lucky city. 

Thursday, July áá, áÖÖâ 

PUBLIC BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS 

Under clause 2 of rule XII, public bills and 

resolutions were introduced and severally referred, as follows: 

By Mr. Ose (for himself, Mr. DeLay, Mr. Doolittle, Mr. 

Gallegly, Mr. Gary G. Miller of California, Mr. Sessions, Mr. 

Hobson, Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr. Gibbons, Mr. Neugebauer, 

Mr. Baker, Mr. Smith of Texas, Mr. Duncan, Mr. McKeon, 

Mr. Hyde, Mr. Souder, Mr. Osborne, Mr. Cannon, and Mr. 

Radanovich): 

H.R. 4980. A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior 

to arrange for the carving of the figure of former President 

RONALD REAGAN on Mount Rushmore National Memorial, 

and for other purposes; to the Committee on Resources. 
172 Ronald Reagan 

Hon. Darrell E. Issa 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. Speaker, I rise today, on the eve of the 

home porting ceremony of the USS Ronald 

Reagan, to welcome America’s newest aircraft carrier and its crew to San Diego. 

The USS Ronald Reagan CVN–åã, our Nation’s 

ninth Nimitz class carrier, is the world’s most 

advanced and most capable carrier ever built. The 

USS Reagan, along with its crew of 6,000 and 

its commanding officer Captain James A. 

Symonds, will give America greater capabilities 

to address threats to the safety of Americans and 

international peace and stability than ever before. 

For most of the world’s history, the oceans 

have been a dangerous and lawless place. For over 

60 years, however, America’s Navy has reigned 

supreme over the world’s oceans. Today, our 

Navy ensures freedom of the seas for all nations 

who seek to use the world’s shipping lanes for 

peaceful purposes. The USS Ronald Reagan enhances our Navy’s ability to do its job. 

For California, the USS Ronald Reagan will 

serve as a proud reminder of the legacy left behind by our former Governor and President. 

President REAGAN understood the importance of 

maintaining a strong and effective military. 

Throughout his administration, which brought 

about a successful end to the cold war, President 

REAGAN rebuilt America’s armed forces with a 

steadfast belief in the pursuit of ‘‘peace through 

strength.’’ Because of this legacy, it is entirely 

fitting that the most powerful and diplomatically 

visible symbol of the American Navy now shares 

both the name and home State of President RONALD REAGAN. 

The crew of the USS Reagan will find the San 

Diego community to be warm and welcoming. 

San Diego has a mix of many cultures and, as 

someone who moved my family here 20 years 

ago, I can assure the entire crew that San Diego 

is a great place to live, work, and raise a family. 

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I would like to recognize Mrs. Reagan who will participate in tomorrow’s home porting ceremony. The USS Ronald 

Reagan is a testament to the many great things 

RONALD and Nancy REAGAN accomplished together. RONALD REAGAN gave our Nation hope 

and reminded us that with hard work and determination we could do great things. President 

REAGAN may have moved on, but his legacy is 

as strong and steady as the ship that now bears 

his name. 

Tuesday, September å, áÖÖâ 

MESSAGE FROM THE SENATE 

A message from the Senate by Mr. Monahan, 

one of its clerks, announced that the Senate has 

passed a concurrent resolution of the following 

title in which the concurrence of the House is 

requested: 

S. Con. Res. 135. Concurrent resolution authorizing the 

printing of a commemorative document in memory of the 

late President of the United States, RONALD WILSON

REAGAN. 

SENATE BILLS REFERRED 

A concurrent resolution of the Senate of the 

following title was taken from the Speaker’s table 

and, under the rule, referred as follows: 

S. Con. Res. 135. Concurrent Resolution authorizing the 

printing of a commemorative document in memory of the 

late President of the United States, RONALD WILSON

REAGAN; referred to the Committee on Administration. 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 173 

Tuesday, September áç, áÖÖâ 

AUTHORIZING PRINTING OF COMMEMORATIVE 

DOCUMENT IN MEMORY OF PRESIDENT RONALD 

WILSON REAGAN 

Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on House Administration be discharged from further consideration of the Senate concurrent resolution (S. Con. 

Res. 135) authorizing the printing of a commemorative document in memory of the late 

President of the United States, RONALD WILSON

REAGAN, and ask for its immediate consideration 

in the House. 

The Clerk read the title of the Senate concurrent resolution. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection 

to the request of the gentleman from California? 

Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I 

reserve the right to object, although it is not my 

intention to object; and I turn to the gentleman 

from California for an explanation of his request. 

Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield? 

Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. I yield to the 

gentleman from California. 

Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today 

to support this resolution which authorizes the 

printing of a commemorative document in memory of the late President of the United States, 

RONALD WILSON REAGAN. I will be offering an 

amendment that will require the document to be 

printed under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing, to be compiled by both bodies of Congress for the use of the full Congress. 

Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I 

thank the gentleman for that explanation. Clearly, Congress most recently published tributes to 

President Nixon and in the past President Johnson and President Truman, and I am in concurrence with our distinguished gentleman from 

California. 

Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection 

to the request of the gentleman from California? 

There was no objection. 

The Clerk read the Senate concurrent resolution, as follows: 

S. CON. RES. 135 

Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 

SECTION ". COMMEMORATIVE DOCUMENT AUTHORIZED. 

A commemorative document in memory of the late President of the United States, RONALD WILSON REAGAN, consisting of the eulogies and encomiums for RONALD WILSON

REAGAN, as expressed in the Senate and the House of Representatives, together with the texts of the state funeral ceremony at the United States Capitol Rotunda, the national funeral service held at the Washington National Cathedral, 

Washington, District of Columbia, and the interment ceremony at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Simi Valley, 

California, shall be printed as a Senate document, with illustrations and suitable binding. 

SEC. #. PRINTING OF DOCUMENT. 

In addition to the usual number of copies printed, there 

shall be printed the lesser of— 

(1) 32,500 copies of the commemorative document, of 

which 22,150 copies shall be for the use of the House of Representatives and 10,350 copies shall be for the use of the Senate; or 

(2) such number of copies of the commemorative document 

that does not exceed a production and printing cost of 

$1,000,000, with distribution of the copies to be allocated 

in the same proportion as described in paragraph (1). 

AMENDMENT OFFERED BY MR. DOOLITTLE

Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, I offer an 

amendment. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

AMENDMENT OFFERED BY MR. DOOLITTLE: 

In section 1, strike ‘‘Senate document, with illustrations 

and suitable binding’’ and insert ‘‘House document, with illustrations and suitable binding, under the direction of the 

Joint Committee on Printing’’. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The Senate concurrent resolution was concurred in. 

A motion to reconsider was laid on the table. 
174 Ronald Reagan 

Tuesday, October ä, áÖÖâ 

Hon. Ron Paul 

OF TEXAS

Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose H.R. 163 jUniversal National Service Act of 2003k in the 

strongest possible terms. The draft, whether for 

military purposes or for some form of ‘‘national 

service,’’ violates the basic moral principles of individual liberty upon which this country was 

founded. Furthermore, the military neither wants 

nor needs a draft. 

The Department of Defense, in response to 

calls to reinstate the draft has confirmed that 

conscription serves no military need. Defense officials from both parties have repudiated the need 

to reinstate the draft. For example, Secretary of 

Defense Donald Rumsfeld has said that, ‘‘The 

disadvantages of using compulsion to bring into 

the armed forces the men and women needed are 

notable,’’ while President William Clinton’s Secretary of the Army Louis Caldera, in a speech before the National Press Club, admitted that, 

‘‘Today, with our smaller, post Cold War armed 

forces, our stronger volunteer tradition and our 

need for longer terms of service to get a good 

return on the high, up-front training costs, it 

would be even harder to fashion a fair draft.’’ 

However, the most important reason to oppose 

H.R. 163 is that a draft violates the very principals of individual liberty upon which our Nation was founded. Former President RONALD

REAGAN eloquently expressed the moral case 

against the draft in the publication Human Events 

in 1979: ‘‘. . . jconscriptionk rests on the assumption that your kids belong to the State. If we 

buy that assumption then it is for the State— 

not for parents, the community, the religious institutions or teachers—to decide who shall have 

what values and who shall do what work, when, 

where and how in our society. That assumption 

isn’t a new one. The Nazis thought it was a great 

idea.’’ 

Some say the 18-year-old draftee ‘‘owes it’’ to 

his (or her, since H.R. 163 makes women eligible 

for the draft) country. Hogwash! It just as easily 

could be argued that a 50-year-old chicken-hawk, 

who promotes war and places the danger on innocent young people, owes more to the country 

than the 18-year-old being denied his (or her) liberty. 

All drafts are unfair. All 18- and 19-year-olds 

are never drafted. By its very nature a draft must 

be discriminatory. All drafts hit the most vulnerable young people, as the elites learn quickly 

how to avoid the risks of combat. 

Economic hardship is great in all wars and 

cannot be minimized. War is never economically 

beneficial except for those in position to profit 

from war expenditure. The great tragedy of war 

is that it enables the careless disregard for civil 

liberties of our own people. Abuses of German 

and Japanese Americans in World War I and 

World War II are well known. 

But the real sacrifice comes with conscription—forcing a small number of young vulnerable citizens to fight the wars that older men and 

women, who seek glory in military victory without themselves being exposed to danger, promote. The draft encourages wars with neither 

purpose nor moral justification and that are too 

often not even declared by the Congress. 

Without conscription, unpopular wars are difficult to fight. Once the draft was undermined 

in the sixties and early seventies, the Vietnam 

war came to an end. But most important, liberty 

cannot be preserved by tyranny. A free society 

must always resort to volunteers. Tyrants think 

nothing of forcing men to fight and serve in 

wrongheaded wars. A true fight for survival and 

defense of America would elicit, I am sure, the 

assistance of every able-bodied man and woman. 

This is not the case for wars of mischief far away 

from home which we have experienced often in 

the past century. 

A government that is willing to enslave some 

of its people can never be trusted to protect the 

liberties of its own citizens. I hope all my colleagues join me in standing up for individual liberty and to shut down this un-American relic of 

a bygone era and help realize the financial savings and the gains to individual liberties that can 

be achieved by ending Selective Service registration. 
Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives 175 

Hon. John A. Boehner 

OF OHIO

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend my 

neighbors in Butler County, OH, for renaming 

a park at the former site of the Voice of America’s Bethany station ‘‘Ronald Reagan’s Voice of 

Freedom Park.’’ This park is enjoyed by Butler 

County families each and every day, and it has 

been made all the more special by the fact that 

it is located on the same spot from where Voice 

of America broadcasts originated from 1944 to 

1994. 

In many ways, this name change isn’t much 

of a name change at all. RONALD REAGAN was 

and in many ways still is the Voice of America. 

It’s that voice which brought us back from the 

Vietnam era and the malaise of the seventies. It’s 

that voice that urged Mr. Gorbachev to ‘‘tear 

down this wall!’’ And it’s that voice that ended 

the cold war through his policy of ‘‘peace 

through strength.’’ 

So we’re not marking the end of one name for 

this park and the beginning of a new one. Instead, we’re celebrating the passage of title from 

one cold war messenger of freedom to another. 

RONALD REAGAN recognized what an effective 

and influential tool the Voice of America was in 

our battle to end the cold war. In fact, in 1983 

he delivered an address via Voice of America, in 

which he outlined his vision for long-term negotiations with the Soviet Union. He recognized 

the vital role Voice of America played in our 

struggle against the Soviets, and he used it to 

the advantage of our Nation and our fight for 

freedom. 

Last week, another American President— 

George W. Bush—spoke in that park. He spoke 

of a different battle—this time against the evils 

of terrorism—in which we are currently engaged. 

Just like the cold war, it will be a long struggle—but one which we know we will win. Why? 

Because we have the same message of freedom 

on our side that we did when REAGAN and the 

Voice of America led us to victory against communism. And so that message of freedom and 

the Voice of America continues, in that park and 

across the globe. 

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friends back home 

in Butler County who were involved in the effort 

to place President REAGAN’s name on the park. 

In this year of tributes to a man I know as a 

hero, I can think of very few higher than this 

one. 

Wednesday, October ã, áÖÖâ 

Hon. Trent Franks 

OF ARIZONA

Mr. Speaker, one of the core principles on 

which our Nation is founded is the belief in an 

individual’s God-given right to pursue happiness 

without government interference. Traditionally 

this has been understood as an endorsement of 

the quintessential entrepreneurial spirit and of 

free-market economics. The great, late President 

RONALD REAGAN liked to talk about America 

as a ‘‘city on a hill,’’ a light that offers guidance 

to the nations of the world. 

I rise today to pay tribute to a small island 

nation that has been a shining example in a 

sometimes troubled region of the world. Under 

the capable leadership of Prime Minister Nelson 

Oduber, the Government of Aruba has led the 

way in exemplifying stable and democratic good 

governance and in creating an ownership society 

with a growing, prospering private sector. Most 

of us understand the vital role a lively private 

sector plays in a nation’s success. 

During Mr. Oduber’s terms in office, a long 

list of government-owned companies were either 

fully or partially privatized. Among them were 

water production facilities and power plants, the 

public transportation company, the seaport and 
176 Ronald Reagan 

the airport, the national telecommunications 

company and the postal services. Many of these 

former government agencies today are 100 per 

cent privately owned. The government has demonstrated that its belief in a free market with a 

plethora of empowered stakeholders is much 

more than lip service. 

The companies on their part showed that they 

were well able to get the capital from the financial markets without help from the government. 

Today, not one of these companies’ employees is 

on the taxpayer-funded government payroll. In 

addition, the companies can quickly and 

proactively respond to market forces without any 

government interference. 

While it sometimes seems easier to criticize 

countries that are doing things wrong, I thank 

you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to pay 

tribute to a small nation, a stable ally of the 

United States, that has put into practice the 

principles we believe are essential in creating a 

better, freer, more prosperous and more secure 

world. 
Memorial Tributes 

I N T H E 

Senate of the United States 

I N E U L O G Y O F 

Ronald Reagan 

179 

In the Senate of the United States 

Monday, June å, áÖÖâ 

PRAYER

The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, offered the 

following prayer: 

Let us pray. 

Almighty God, generous giver of wonderful 

gifts, thank You for the life of former President 

RONALD WILSON REAGAN and for the gift of 

talented leaders. We praise You for people with 

vision who see things that are not and ask why 

not. Thank You for visionaries who call us out 

of the night of selfish living to the sunrise of 

sacrifice and service. Help us to celebrate the 

lives of faithful leaders while they can still hear 

our appreciation. 

Thank You for the Members of Congress who 

provide stellar leadership. Keep them from evil 

and infuse them with a spirit of kindness. 

As death reminds us of life’s brevity, we turn 

our eyes toward You, O God. You are our refuge 

and strength and not even death can separate us 

from Your love. We pray in Your changeless 

Name. Amen. 

Hon. William H. Frist 

OF TENNESSEE

Mr. President, this week we mourn the passing of RONALD WILSON REAGAN, the 40th 

President of the United States. My wife Karyn 

and I, and indeed the entire Senate family, extend our deepest sympathies to his beloved 

Nancy and the entire Reagan family. More than 

15 years have passed since RONALD REAGAN gave 

his final cheerful salute as President of the 

United States. He left the Oval Office with the 

highest approval rating since Franklin Delano 

Roosevelt. 

RONALD REAGAN had restored our confidence 

and our optimism in what it meant to be an 

American. The countless tributes and recollections of the past few days have brought forth a 

flood of memories, not only of his extraordinary 

leadership but of his truly exceptional character. 

We remember RONALD REAGAN and love him 

as we did the day he left the highest post in the 

land. We feel a strong personal and unbreakable 

connection with our 40th President. 

Some attribute RONALD REAGAN’s ability to 

connect with the American people to his abilities 

as an actor. No politician was better or more 

comfortable around the camera. When he looked 

into the lens, he was looking directly into the 

eyes of the American people. His timing was 

flawless, and he had a soft touch that could disarm even his most stubborn political opponents. 

After being wounded by an assassin’s bullet as 

he lay on a hospital gurney drifting toward unconsciousness, RONALD REAGAN quipped to his 

beloved Nancy, ‘‘Honey, I forgot to duck.’’ 

So many stories like this remind us that RONALD REAGAN was a man of remarkable courage, 

coupled with boundless good humor. There was 

more to him than what he said and how he said 

it, as there was more to Abraham Lincoln than 

his stirring speeches, and more to Franklin Roosevelt than his fireside chats. RONALD REAGAN

believed in what he said, and that conviction 

came through. He believed there is good and evil 

in the world and that America stands for the 

good. He believed we must protect freedom 

wherever it may be threatened and plant its seeds 

wherever freedom may take root. He believed democracy to be not the privilege of a fortunate 

few but the rightful and ordained destiny for all 

mankind. 
180 Ronald Reagan 

At the 1992 Republican Convention in Houston, TX, he expounded on these beliefs, telling 

the American people: 

Whether we come from poverty or wealth; whether we are 

Afro-American or Irish-American; Christian or Jewish, from 

big cities or small towns, we are all equal in the eyes of 

God. But as Americans that is not enough. We must be equal 

in the eyes of each other. 

There was one thing—second only to the Almighty—in which he had more faith than all 

else, and that was the American people. We 

trusted RONALD REAGAN, we respected RONALD

REAGAN, we loved RONALD REAGAN, because he 

trusted, respected, and loved each and every one 

of us. 

This week we will bear witness to a rare and 

extraordinary tribute to one of our greatest leaders. Half-masted flags will snap in the wind. 

Cannons will pound the air with salutes. And a 

horse-drawn caisson will solemnly pull the flagdraped casket of RONALD WILSON REAGAN up 

to the Hill of our Capital City. 

Americans will line up by the thousands to 

pause at his side, bow their heads, and pay their 

final respects. Hundreds of leaders will gather at 

the National Cathedral to show their deep appreciation of a grateful Nation and a grateful world, 

and on Friday, when President REAGAN is laid 

to rest, each of us will give a moment of our 

day to remember a man who gave us his very 

best. 

All of this is right and fitting. This is how 

we honor the lives of great leaders whom we 

love. But our tribute to RONALD REAGAN must 

be more than a passing historical moment. Although we say goodbye to the man, we must 

never say goodbye to his values. Let this week 

reaffirm the goodness of our Nation. Let it reaffirm our faith in freedom. Let it reaffirm democracy as the destiny of all mankind. And let our 

fond memories, our deep affection and regard for 

RONALD WILSON REAGAN reaffirm that we believe, above all, in ourselves as Americans. 

Hon. Elizabeth Dole 

OF NORTH CAROLINA

Mr. President, this past weekend we lost one 

of America’s greatest leaders, RONALD REAGAN. 

I had the privilege of serving under President 

REAGAN’s strong, principled leadership for 7 

years—2 years in his White House as assistant 

to the President, or public liaison, and almost 

5 years as his Secretary of Transportation. 

Greatness in a President is marked by the ability to chart and implement a new course, a better 

course, and by his level of decency and integrity. 

RONALD REAGAN knew why he wanted to be 

President. He came to office with the clearest of 

vision, a passion for achieving his goals and in 

conveying them with an eloquence almost unsurpassed. 

RONALD REAGAN made all of us, the American people, believe in ourselves again. He literally changed the world. Despite conventional 

wisdom, he determined that communism had to 

be defeated, not tolerated. He rejected the Iron 

Curtain, rejected the status quo, and his legacy 

to the world is freedom. His strength of character 

and bedrock belief in right and wrong ended the 

cold war, and his leadership unshackled the yoke 

of tyranny for millions upon millions of people 

who had known only oppression. 

I will always remember his remarkable rapport 

with the American people and what a true gentleman he was. During my time on his White 

House staff, I brought scores and scores of people, organizations, and groups into the Oval Office, the Cabinet Room, the Roosevelt Room, 

and he treated every person with courtesy and 

respect. Occasionally, there would be some who 

had a difference of opinion with him on some 

issue or another, and they were going to give 

him a piece of their mind. Well, they came into 

his presence and you could almost see that anger 

just fading away. He would express his views, 

he would address their concerns, and then he 

might sit back and tell them a story or two— 

perhaps a humorous one—and maybe pass jellybeans around. They would be ready to climb any 

hill for RONALD REAGAN. When the President 

explained his position, obviously, he did it in a 

very eloquent manner. 

What a remarkable person his wife Nancy is. 

What a tremendous partner. She was his best 

friend, his confidant, his trusted, beloved spouse. 

She deserves great credit for his accomplishments 

and hers. 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 181 

When I left the Cabinet, a farewell function 

was planned, and we talked about the fact that 

it would be nice to invite to that farewell party 

people who would not otherwise be able to meet 

the President of the United States. He readily 

agreed. 

I can remember one young woman from Arkansas. She was a part of the Make a Wish group. 

She had a terminal illness and her great desire 

was to meet President RONALD REAGAN. I can 

still see her there in the White House and the 

compassionate way in which he greeted her and 

talked with her. 

There was a young man named Tommy, from 

my hometown of Salisbury, NC, who was in a 

wheelchair; he had to wear a helmet most of the 

time because if he were to fall, it would be very 

severe. His mother and his uncle very tenderly 

brought him to Washington to carry out his 

wish to meet the great RONALD REAGAN, President of the United States. Once again, to watch 

the President and his compassion as he talked 

with Tommy is something I will remember forever. 

One of the things that will really be an inspiration to me for the rest of my life is a conversation I had with the President when the two of 

us were alone. We were waiting in the holding 

room for him to give a speech. You don’t often 

find yourself alone with the President of the 

United States. On this particular day, as we waited for the speech I said: 

Mr. President, I just cannot resist. I have to ask you how 

in the world, when you have the weight of the world on 

your shoulders, are you able to be so gracious, so thoughtful, 

and so kind? I never see you flustered or frustrated. How 

do you do it with such weight on your shoulders? 

He kind of leaned back, and he loved to tell 

a story and to reminisce. He said: 

Well, Elizabeth, when I was Governor of California, it 

seemed like every day yet another disaster would be placed 

on my desk, and I had the urge to hand it to someone behind 

me to help me. One day I realized I was looking in the wrong 

direction; I looked up instead of back. I am still looking up. 

I don’t think I could go 1 more day in this office if I didn’t 

know that I could ask God’s help and it would be given. 

There is no doubt in my mind that President 

REAGAN was welcomed into the gates of Heaven 

with open arms and with the words ‘‘Well done, 

good and faithful servant.’’ Well done, indeed. 

God bless President RONALD REAGAN and his 

family, and God bless this great land of the free, 

America. 

Hon. Lamar Alexander 

OF TENNESSEE

Mr. President, a few years ago when RONALD

REAGAN was President of the United States, he 

attended one of the many press dinners which 

are held. I think it was the gridiron dinner. I 

think it is well known that maybe 90 percent 

of the press corps in Washington had a different 

point of view on issues than President REAGAN

did, but they liked him anyway, and they respected him and he had fun with them, just as 

they did with him. 

I remember on that evening he strode into the 

gridiron dinner looking like a million dollars, 

smiling big. The press rose, smiling back, applauding. He stood in front of them until it subsided, and then he said to his adversaries in the 

media, ‘‘Thank you very much. I know how hard 

it is to clap with your fingers crossed.’’ And they 

laughed, and they had a wonderful time with 

President REAGAN. 

The first thing we think about, those of us 

who had any opportunity to get to know him— 

a great many of us—was that RONALD REAGAN

was a very friendly man. He was a congenial person, an easy person to know, the kind of person 

you want to spend a lot of time with, if you had 

the opportunity, and that what you saw in private was what everyone else saw in public. 

Howard Baker, the former majority leader of 

the Senate when RONALD REAGAN was President, got to know him especially well, and then 

in 1987, President REAGAN invited former Senator Baker to come to be his Chief of Staff, which 

he was for nearly 2 years. 

I remember Senator Baker telling me that, to 

his surprise, when his 9 a.m. meetings came 

every morning with President REAGAN, he discovered that Mr. REAGAN had a funny little 

story to tell to Senator Baker, his Chief of Staff. 

What surprised Senator Baker even more was 

President REAGAN expected Senator Baker to 

have a funny little story to tell back. So for that 
182 Ronald Reagan 

whole 2 years, virtually every morning at 9 a.m. 

when the President of the United States and the 

Chief of Staff of the White House met, they 

swapped funny little stories. It is very reassuring 

to me that two men who have maybe the two 

biggest jobs in the world were comfortable 

enough with themselves, each other, and their responsibilities to begin the day in that sort of easy 

way. That is the part of RONALD REAGAN we 

think more about. 

Another part of RONALD REAGAN which I 

think is often overlooked is that he was a man 

of big ideas. I would say intellectual, although 

I guess there is a little difference between being 

devoted to ideals and being intellectual but not 

much difference. 

Unlike most people who are candidates for 

President of the United States, RONALD REAGAN

wrote many of his own speeches. When he had 

a few minutes, he would sit in the back of a campaign airplane and make notes on cards in the 

shorthand that he had. His former aide, Marty 

Anderson, has written a book about that and told 

that, to a great extent, RONALD REAGAN’s words 

were his own words, ideas he expressed or ideas 

he gathered himself and ideas he had thought 

through and wanted to promulgate. 

Maybe that is partly why he seemed so comfortable with himself when he finally entered 

public life. He came to it late in life. He was 

55 when he became Governor of California, so by 

then he knew what he thought, and he had a 

sense of purpose, and he knew what he wanted 

to do. 

I got an idea of that kind of big thinking 

when I went to see President REAGAN in my second year as Governor—third year, I guess it was, 

his first year as President in 1981. I talked to him 

about a big swap which I thought would help 

our country. 

I suggested, ‘‘Mr. President, why doesn’t the 

Federal Government take over all of Medicaid 

and let the State and local governments take over 

all responsibility for kindergarten through 12th 

grade?’’ ‘‘That would make it clear,’’ I said, 

‘‘where the responsibility lies. You cannot fix 

schools from Washington, and it would make 

our health care system more efficient if we did 

things that way.’’ He liked the idea. It fit his 

unconventional brand of thinking. He advocated 

it. It was a little too revolutionary for most people in Washington in the early eighties. 

He had the same sort of unconventional attitude toward national defense policy. Many people 

overlooked the fact that RONALD REAGAN did 

not just want us to have as many nuclear weapons as the Soviet empire did, he wanted to get 

rid of nuclear weapons. He saw them as wrong, 

as bad, and he wanted a world without nuclear 

weapons. Instead of mutual assured destruction, 

which was the doctrine at the time, he built up 

our strength so we could begin to reduce nuclear 

weapons and then unilaterally begin to do it before the Soviets did, hoping they would then follow. We can see the results. 

At the time, some people said RONALD

REAGAN was naive to think we could transfer 

power from Washington, from an arrogant empire at home, or naive to think we could face 

down an evil empire abroad, and especially naive 

to think our policy should be based upon getting 

rid of nuclear weapons. It turned out RONALD

REAGAN saw farther than most of those critics 

did. 

Perhaps his most famous speech, not my favorite speech—my favorite speech is the one we 

heard a lot about this weekend, 20 years ago at 

Normandy, which moved the whole world to 

tears and reminded Americans why we are Americans and what we fought for—but his most famous speech may be the one in 1987 at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin where he said, ‘‘Mr. 

Gorbachev, tear down this wall!’’ 

Earlier this year, I visited Berlin with John 

Kornblum who at the time was U.S. minister 

and deputy commandant in the American sector 

of West Berlin where tanks challenged tanks and 

white crosses marked gravesites of those who 

were killed trying to escape over the wall from 

East Berlin. Mr. Kornblum talked about the development of that speech that RONALD REAGAN

gave that day. Those words, or the thought, ‘‘tear 

down this wall,’’ went into the speech at an early 

stage. Some fought to keep it in. Many fought 

to take it out. Those who had thought RONALD

REAGAN was wrong to say the Soviet Union was 

an evil empire were not anxious for him to say, 

‘‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!’’ 

Some suggested that President REAGAN try 

his hand at German as President Kennedy had 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 183 

in a memorable speech at the Berlin Wall in the 

early sixties. Some suggested that the speech 

should not be made at the Brandenburg Gate. 

That was too provocative, Mr. Kornblum remembers. But the speech was made at the Brandenburg Gate, and Mr. REAGAN did keep his words 

in that speech. He did make his point, and his 

point was clear: ‘‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this 

wall!’’ 

For those of us who had a chance to see the 

new countries of Eastern Europe and their enthusiasm for freedom and for a free market system, 

we can see the legacy of RONALD REAGAN and 

his unconventional thinking. I think it is important for us to remember that this genial President was a man of ideas. 

RONALD REAGAN also taught us something 

about leadership. I recall in 1980 when he and 

Mrs. Reagan visited the Tennessee Governor’s 

mansion during the Presidential campaign. I had 

not known him very well. He had served as Governor. He was several years older. He was from 

the West. It was really my first chance to meet 

him. 

After an hour or an hour and a half of breakfast with him the next morning, I remember 

going away thinking this man has a better concept of the Presidency than anyone I have ever 

been privileged to meet. 

RONALD REAGAN understood what George 

Reedy said in his book, ‘‘The Twilight of the 

Presidency,’’ is the definition of Presidential 

leadership: First, see an urgent need; second, develop a strategy to meet the need; and, third, 

persuade at least half the people that you are 

right. 

RONALD REAGAN was as good as anyone at 

persuading at least half the people that he was 

right. He taught that and he also taught us the 

importance of proceeding from principles. 

Sometimes we are described in Washington 

these days as being too ideological, too uncompromising, too partisan. President REAGAN was 

a principled man. He operated from principles 

in all of his decisions, insofar as I knew. He advocated his principles as far as he could take them, 

but he recognized that the great decisions that 

we make here are often conflicts between principles on which all of us agree. It might be equal 

opportunity versus the rule of law. And once we 

have argued our principle and the solution, and 

strategy has been taken as far as it could go, if 

we get, as he said 75, 80, or 85 percent of what 

we advocated, well, then that is a pretty good 

job. 

So he was very successful because he argued 

from principles. He argued strenuously. He was 

good at persuading at least half the people he 

was right. Then he was willing to accept a conclusion because most of our politics is about the 

conflict of principles. 

There is another lesson that he taught us, and 

that was to respect the military. Now, that seems 

unnecessary to say in the year 2004 where we 

have a volunteer military that is better than any 

military we have ever had in our history; when 

we have witnessed the thousands of acts of courage, charity, kindness, and ingenuity in Iraq and 

Afghanistan recently; when the men and women 

of our National Guard and Reserves are also 

being called up. We have a lot of respect for our 

military. 

In 1980, we were showing a lot less respect 

for the men and women of our military. I remember riding with President REAGAN in a car 

in Knoxville during the 1980 campaign. As we 

pulled out of the airport by the National Guard 

unit, there were a number of the soldiers waving 

at him, understanding and sensing that he respected them. He turned to me and said something like this: I wish we could think of some 

way to honor these men and women more. He 

said, We used to do that in the movies in the 

thirties and forties. We would make movies honoring men and women in the military and that 

is how we showed our respect for them. 

Well, he did find a way to honor them during 

his Presidency in the eighties, and by the time 

he left at the end of that decade there was no 

question but that the American people remembered to honor the men and women in the military. 

There is one other aspect of President 

REAGAN’s leadership that I would like to mention, which is probably the most important aspect of the American character, and that is the 

belief that anything is possible. The idea that we 

uniquely believe in this country, and people all 

around the world think we are a little odd for 

believing it, is that no matter where you come 
184 Ronald Reagan 

from, no matter what race you are, no matter 

what color your skin, if you come here and work 

hard, anything is possible. 

That is why we subscribe to ideals such as all 

men are created equal, even though we know 

achieving that goal will always be a work in 

progress and we may never reach it. That is why 

we say we will pay any price, bear any burden, 

as President Kennedy said, to defend peace, even 

though we know that is a work in progress and 

we may never reach it. 

That is why we say more recently we want to 

leave no child behind when it comes to learning 

to read. We know that is a work in progress and 

we may not reach it, but that is our goal. 

We Americans say that anything is possible, 

and nothing symbolizes that more than the 

American Presidency. And no President has symbolized that more in the last century than RONALD REAGAN. He has reminded us of what it 

means to be an American. He lifted our spirits, 

he made us proud, he strengthened our character, 

and he taught us a great many lessons. 

Hon. Thad Cochran 

OF MISSISSIPPI

Mr. President, with the death of President 

RONALD REAGAN, our Nation has lost a very 

successful and inspirational leader. He led us to 

believe in ourselves and our system of government, our market economy, and our ability to 

defend freedom and liberty against all threats. 

President REAGAN had a contagious sense of 

optimism. He believed deeply America was capable of solving our problems through our democratic process of self-government, and that other 

nations could do the same. 

His greatest success was improving our economy and establishing a more peaceful and cooperative relationship with the former Soviet 

Union, in particular with the former communist 

countries of Eastern Europe. 

The Berlin Wall was a symbol of intransigent 

tyranny. He called for it to be torn down and 

it was, giving the people of Eastern Europe the 

opportunity for freedom and hope for a brighter 

future. We will always remember President 

REAGAN’s great smile, his good humor, his sincerity, and his love of country. We are a better 

Nation and the world is a safer place because of 

RONALD REAGAN. 

Hon. John Cornyn 

OF TEXAS

Mr. President, as the whole world knows by 

now, America and the world lost a great man, 

RONALD REAGAN, last Saturday. After battling 

Alzheimer’s disease for the last 10 years, he finally succumbed and left this life for the next. 

This week, in this Senate, on television, in the 

newspapers, and all around the world we will 

hear people talking of their memories of this 

great man and what a difference he made in this 

country and to freedom-loving people all around 

the world. I offer a few of my own comments 

in that regard out of respect for him and his family and the great example he was for all who believe in freedom, hope, and opportunity. 

RONALD REAGAN, perhaps during his entire 

political career, was underestimated. He was 

written off by some as an actor or by some as 

a nice man but maybe not particularly effective. 

Because he was a man of good humor who loved 

a good joke, some thought he could not and 

should not be taken seriously. 

The fact is, RONALD REAGAN demonstrated 

for everyone how a serious person—that is, someone who believes deeply in their principles, indeed in the principles upon which this country 

was founded, and who is willing to put themselves out in the public domain and to argue and 

fight, sometimes to lose but sometimes to win, 

in advocacy of those principles—RONALD

REAGAN reminded us that a good man, indeed 

a kind human being, a gentle person, a loving 

husband and father, can also survive in this 

sometimes difficult, some might even say ugly, 

world of electoral politics. 

In many ways, his death gives another reason 

to remember that politics today seems in many 

ways to become personal, so adversarial. Indeed, 

it need not be. There is no reason why individuals cannot disagree about public policy and differing points of view. There is no reason they 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 185 

cannot do that without becoming personal and 

hurtful. 

I believe it was Margaret Thatcher who once 

said that a person who reverts to name-calling 

simply has run out of anything else to say. Indeed, what we ought to be focused on is the policies we believe are in the best interests of the 

American people and avoid the sort of personal 

acrimony and hurt which too often seems a characteristic of our modern politics. 

RONALD REAGAN taught us you can be a successful politician, you can rise to the greatest 

heights in our system—indeed, to be the leader 

of the free world—and still keep your good 

humor, still treat every person with dignity and 

respect, and still show the milk of human kindness to others. 

The one thing that made RONALD REAGAN

such an attractive person in public life was his 

basic principles. Indeed, there are some who underestimated him his entire political career. 

What they failed to appreciate was the power of 

his convictions and the ideals for which he stood. 

One of those convictions was putting people 

first. RONALD REAGAN said putting people first 

has always been America’s secret weapon. It is 

the way we have kept the spirit of our revolution 

alive, a spirit that drives us to dream and dare, 

and to take great risks for a greater good. 

I know RONALD REAGAN has been touted as 

a great man. I believe he was a great man. But 

he never considered himself to be a great man, 

merely a man committed to great ideas. 

He also was sometimes criticized for being too 

much of a dreamer, but he made no apologies 

about that. He said, ‘‘There’s no question I am 

an idealist, which is another way of saying I am 

an American.’’ 

But when I think of the policies of the Reagan 

administration and the successes of what some 

have called the Reagan revolution, but which I 

think in many ways was not revolutionary as 

much as it was a restoration of our basic principles upon which this country was founded, I 

think of the fall of communism and the subsequent liberation of tens of millions of people who 

had known nothing other than oppression and 

tyranny and dictatorship, and, also, the resurgence of the American economy. 

First, so far as his role in the fall of communism, although he was a genial, friendly, 

humor-loving optimist, he was a hardnosed realist when it came to the terrible impact and consequences of communism on people across this 

globe. Indeed, he knew it was important for us 

to maintain a strong military and made no apologies when it came to the importance of ‘‘peace 

through strength,’’ not going hat in hand to our 

allies or our enemies asking them to do us a favor 

but recognizing that America has a unique role 

in the world as the one remaining superpower, 

after the fall of the Soviet Union, and recognizing the failure of communism as an alternative 

to freedom and democracy. 

But it was, in large part, his commitment to 

rebuilding our military and ‘‘peace through 

strength’’ and hardnosed negotiating across the 

conference table with various opponents of our 

country and leaders of other countries that caused 

freedom to reign for tens of millions of people 

who had never known freedom. 

The other thing he believed in was the freedom here at home. He believed that big government was the enemy of individual freedom, and 

that if, in fact, we were going to be able to continue to enjoy the kind of prosperity and opportunity that has been synonymous with America, 

we needed to get a handle on big government. 

Indeed, when RONALD REAGAN became President, it is hard to believe now, but the highest 

marginal income tax rate was 70 percent. By the 

time he left office, it was 28 percent. Today it 

stands at 35 percent. 

But RONALD REAGAN understood, as all 

Americans understand—all folks outside of 

Washington especially understand—that in order 

to grow the economy you do not tax it more, 

you cut taxes, because only then can you provide 

the incentive for the individual American worker 

to work hard, save their money, invest their 

money, perhaps in their small business, and then 

create jobs and opportunity for others who may 

not have those jobs or that opportunity. It was 

by growing the economy, by providing that incentive for work and investment and savings and 

risk taking that we have all been the beneficiaries 

in modern times of the new economic freedom 

that was brought in by RONALD REAGAN’s leadership. 
186 Ronald Reagan 

Most of all, I think my memories of RONALD

REAGAN center around his call for us to believe 

in ourselves once again, to believe in America 

again, and believe in the ideals we all identify 

with this great country of ours. America is different from virtually every other country in the 

world in that it was founded on ideals, on an 

ideal of liberty and justice for all, something not 

shared by any other country in the world that 

was formed or based on history or collective experience. But, of course, our country was formed 

on the basis of these ideals, and RONALD

REAGAN believed in them fervently and, more 

importantly, he fought for them, even against 

those who suggested that perhaps it was not possible for America to be great again. 

There were those who suggested that somehow 

America’s greatest days were behind us. RONALD

REAGAN never believed that. He always believed 

America’s greatest days lay ahead of us. And indeed they do, even today. 

He understood and preached, perhaps better 

than anyone, that big government and high taxes 

are the enemy of individual freedom, that smaller 

government and lower taxes would be an incentive to work and savings. 

I mentioned a moment ago his belief in the 

individual initiative of risk takers, of entrepreneurs, of those who would take the risks, 

make the investment, and create jobs for the 

American people. At one point he said: 

Too often, entrepreneurs are forgotten heroes. We rarely 

hear about them. But look into the heart of America, and 

you’ll see them. They’re the owners of that store down the 

street, the faithfuls who support our churches, schools, and 

communities, the brave people everywhere who produce our 

goods, feed a hungry world, and keep our homes and families 

warm while they invest in the future to build a better America. 

Now, those who only saw the genial, friendly, 

humor-loving side of RONALD REAGAN did not 

know the entire man. As I mentioned, behind 

that genial countenance was a man of strong 

principle and a man as tough as they come. For 

example, when the air traffic controllers defied 

a back-to-work order, he fired them, emphasizing 

the fact that the greater good is always paramount and more important than special interests. 

Of course, he survived an assassin’s bullets 

with great humor, telling his wife, ‘‘Honey, I 

forgot to duck,’’ and expressing to his physicians, 

the ones who saved his life in the emergency 

room, ‘‘I hope you’re all Republicans.’’ 

With every fearsome challenge he encountered 

in life, he met it with good humor, humanity, 

kindness, and optimism in a way that inspired 

and continues to inspire the American people, 

which, to me, will be one of his greatest legacies. 

He also taught us that politics can be a noble 

calling. Unfortunately, today, it seems that is 

forgotten too often and people ask: How in the 

world can you be involved in politics and be a 

good person? How can you believe in doing the 

right thing and be involved in politics since it 

is all about getting reelected and raising money 

and a fight for power? But, indeed, RONALD

REAGAN exemplified the fact that a good person, 

with strong convictions, committed to great 

ideals and the principles upon which this country 

was founded, can be successful in life and in politics. Indeed, he was as the leader of the free 

world. 

Mr. President, as the Nation grieves with his 

family, we also celebrate the life of this great 

man, a quintessential American whose hopes and 

dreams knew no bounds. 

RONALD REAGAN loved America, and America loved him back. 

Hon. Conrad Burns 

OF MONTANA

Madam President, I come to the floor today 

after receiving the news over the weekend of the 

passing of President REAGAN. I see today these 

young folks called pages who work for us on the 

floor of the U.S. Senate. They will be here this 

week during a very historic period. Here are 

young people who never met President REAGAN. 

They have never seen him give a speech live, nor 

have had conversations with him, and never really will be able to hold the man in their hearts 

like some of us who were inspired to go into political life by his words and by the example that 

he set for political life. It is too bad they didn’t 

get to do that. But that is not their fault. 

This week, we will be celebrating his life. He 

will come to this town, and there will be a lot 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 187 

of recollections from those who knew him. I did 

not get to serve with him because he left the 

Presidency the same year that I was elected to 

the Senate. I came here under the Presidency of 

President George Herbert Walker Bush. 

One of the photographs of which I am most 

fond, of the President and me, one I shall cherish 

to the end of my life, was taken in 1982 when 

he came to Billings, MT. We had a little bit 

to do with that meeting. I think it was the first 

personal meeting I ever had with the President. 

You could tell from the way he carried himself, 

the way he walked, the way he spoke, the way 

he treated people, the handshake, that he was not 

only the Commander in Chief and President of 

the United States, but he was also a man of the 

people. He had midwestern roots—Illinois, the 

great prairies. He was successful in Hollywood. 

He was a successful broadcaster. He was of an 

age, at the time he was called to political life, 

that basically everyone said he was too old. Yet 

he went on to serve two terms. 

You may not have agreed with everything he 

stood for, but you didn’t ever have any problem 

figuring out where he stood. He never wavered. 

He was the same the day he left office as the 

day he came into office. That example probably 

put into public life a lot of us who never thought 

of it. 

I can remember something that happened in 

1988, when I ran. In this political life, they said 

you have to come back to Washington, DC, and 

you have to have your picture taken with President REAGAN. They gave me the date to be here. 

I said, ‘‘I am sorry, I can’t be there that date.’’ 

They reminded me and said, ‘‘This is the 

White House calling. This is the date.’’ 

I said that I wasn’t concerned about what color 

their house was, but on that date I happened to 

have an auction. I am an auctioneer. I had to 

make a living first, in 1988. 

So that conversation closed. Then all at once, 

the political director called up. I explained the 

same thing to him. I said, ‘‘It is not that important, no big deal. I am busy, he is busy, we have 

a date, they didn’t jibe, so we will move on.’’ 

Well, as it turned out, even the President 

called. He said, ‘‘I understand about auctions, 

once you have one advertised. You go ahead and 

have the auction.’’ 

That surprised me a lot. He was something. 

He was one of those who really won the cold 

war without firing a shot. And the chemistry between him and Prime Minister Thatcher of England was one of an unbelievable partnership. 

They stood alone against the world on the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons as a deterrent to the aggression of a country that he called 

evil. You see, he had come to the Presidency 

knowing that about communism. He knew it for 

what it was—degrading, dehumanizing. There 

was no upward mobility, no chance of any individual ever attaining any kind of freedom—either economically or politically. There was no 

opportunity to take their own talents and go into 

the field of their endeavor. He understood communism for what it was and he said, ‘‘This cancer 

has to go.’’ 

As a result, through his steadfast leadership— 

and I know there were lonely times with decisions that he made—he brought down the Berlin 

Wall without a shot being fired. 

We honor him. This should be a week of celebration of a life—a life in the history of this 

country that will live as long as the country lives, 

as long as free men want to breathe. His name 

will be remembered. He has made his mark. 

At that first meeting in Billings, I was sitting 

on a horse, and we were getting ready to take 

him into a building. There were two others who 

were supposed to escort the stagecoach. I can remember him saying, ‘‘You know, the rowels on 

those spurs aren’t very big.’’ And I said, ‘‘You 

don’t need a big rowel if you have a spirited 

horse.’’ He said, ‘‘I understand that.’’ 

We will celebrate this man’s life this week. 

We named a post office in Billings, MT, 59105, 

after RONALD REAGAN this year. I am proud of 

that. 

But what a gifted man he was, the way he 

could communicate, the way he could touch people, the time he gave to this country for which 

we should be very thankful. He wasn’t a perfect 

man. I haven’t seen one yet who didn’t have a 

few bruises, scars, marks, bumps, warts, and 

such. But he was an American, and he was an 

American who took those principles to heart. He 

lived them every day he drew breath—while he 

was in the White House and after he left the 

White House. 
188 Ronald Reagan 

Mr. President, we welcome you back to Washington this week to celebrate your life and your 

contribution to this great country. We say, 

Thank you. 

SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS 

Mr. FRIST (for himself, Mr. Daschle, Mr. 

Lott, and Mr. Dodd) submitted the following 

concurrent resolution; which was considered and 

agreed to: 

S. CON. RES. 115 

Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 

That in recognition of the long and distinguished service rendered to the Nation and to the world, by the late RONALD

WILSON REAGAN, the 40th President of the United States, 

his remains be permitted to lie in state in the rotunda of 

the Capitol from June 9 until June 11, 2004, and the Architect of the Capitol, under the direction of the President pro 

tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, shall take all necessary steps for the accomplishment of that purpose. 

IN MEMORY OF RONALD WILSON REAGAN, 40TH 

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous 

consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate 

consideration of S. Res. 371, which was submitted 

earlier today. 

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that 

the resolution be agreed to and the motion to 

reconsider be laid upon the table. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. 

The resolution (S. Res. 371) was agreed to, as 

follows: 

S. RES. 371 

Resolved, That in recognition of the long and distinguished 

service rendered to the Nation by the late RONALD WILSON

REAGAN, the 40th President of the United States, when the 

Senate recesses or adjourns on each of the days during the 

period from June 7 through June 11, 2004, it do so as a further mark of respect to the memory of RONALD WILSON

REAGAN. 

Tuesday, June ç, áÖÖâ 

PRAYER

The guest Chaplain, Dr. Prentice Meador, of 

Prestoncrest Church of Christ, Dallas, TX, offered the following prayer: 

Shall we pray. 

Holy Father, we affirm You as Lord of our 

lives and our Nation. We are comfortable to 

come into Your presence on this special moment 

because You have invited us before Your throne. 

Gratitude and praise flows from our hearts for 

giving our Nation blessings that would have astonished our ancestors. 

Lord, in this historic week, our Nation mourns 

the death of President RONALD REAGAN. Father, 

we celebrate his patriotism, optimism, and courage. Bless Mrs. Reagan, her family, and our Nation with peace from Your heart. 

And, Father, may we never forget our heritage. 

Sovereign Lord, we are keenly aware that 60 

years ago today, heroic men were fighting their 

way off the beaches of Normandy. Lord, we shall 

never forget places like ‘‘Bloody Omaha,’’ 

Carentan, Sainte-Me`re-Eglise, Caen, Bastogne. 

Keep in our memory those who fought together 

and now lie together in death that we might be 

free. Father, may their voices of valor be heard 

in this Chamber in clear, crisp tones. 

Merciful Father, in a world that sometimes 

drowns out such voices, empower the women and 

men of this great body to hear again words from 

our past: integrity, faith, bravery, sacrifice, and 

godliness. At this special time, I pray that each 

Senator might recommit to the clarity of Your 

truth, the depth of Your wisdom, and the power 

of Your love. 

Father, help the Senators to know that many 

in this Nation pray for them and their faithfulness to their most solemn obligations. May they 

bow their knees before You so they may know 

what is right for our country. Lord, sanctify this 

assembly by dwelling in the hearts of each of 

these respected leaders. May glory, honor, and 

dominion be Yours forever and ever. 

In Your most holy Name. Amen. 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 189 

Hon. Judd Gregg 

OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

I rise today, as many Americans, to pay my 

respect and thanks, and also to celebrate the life 

of RONALD REAGAN, an extraordinary man who 

has had such a huge impact on our generation 

and the generations to come in the world—especially Americans’ place in the world. 

I have a lot of fond and personal memories 

about Governor and President REAGAN. First, I 

had the opportunity to meet him with my wife 

Kathy when he and Nancy Reagan came to New 

Hampshire to campaign in 1976. He was running 

against a sitting Republican President, Gerald 

Ford, appointed, of course, coming out of the 

Watergate era. Some in our party thought maybe 

it was time to move on, put a new face on our 

party, and put someone forward who had a certain charisma and attitude which was a little different. Certainly REAGAN met that test. 

As we traveled around New Hampshire, he 

was not the national figure he is today, although 

he was a significant figure. In fact, he was a 

movie star. People were flocking to meet him 

and see him. They wanted to hear what he had 

to say. But as we traveled around, a fairly small 

contingent in a bus and a few cars, we had a 

chance to get to know him a little bit. What 

came through most apparently to myself and 

Kathy was he was a genuine person who had a 

real sense of self and who had a way of making 

people feel at ease around him. He had a charisma, to say the least. 

Then I had the great fortune of being elected 

to Congress in 1980. Prior to that, ironically I 

had been at the famous national debate in January 1980 where President REAGAN actually set 

the course for getting the nomination and moving on to become the President with the famous 

comment, ‘‘I am paying for this microphone, Mr. 

Green.’’ Ironically, I was at the site and in charge 

of the site in advance of the nomination. So I 

had a chance to see a bit of history there. 

But in 1990, along with 54 other Republicans, 

I was elected to the House of Representatives, 

and we came here with President REAGAN. We 

had a purpose. We had a definite purpose. People 

will recall at that time coming out of the seventies the inflation rate was 12 percent, interest 

rates were 22 percent, and we had American citizens being held captive in Iran. The President— 

then-President Jimmy Carter—said we were in 

a period of national malaise. We didn’t feel that 

way. We felt America was a great and wonderful 

Nation. RONALD REAGAN epitomized that view 

of the future being bright rather than dark—the 

future being one of unlimited opportunities rather than one of a decreasing pie. So 54 of us arrived in the House of Representatives. 

It was a unique situation because the House 

of Representatives was being controlled at that 

time—and people do not appreciate it today, but 

it had been controlled by the Democratic Party 

for 26 years; continuously controlled by the same 

party, and it produced a lot of very interesting 

and very aggressive and strong individuals to 

manage the House. The strongest, of course, was 

Tip O’Neill, who was then the Speaker. He was 

not going to tolerate those 54 new Republican 

Members who arrived in the House of Representatives and were carrying the water for President 

REAGAN. We were treated with an experience in 

education on how politics really works by Tip 

O’Neill, as we were exposed to what real power 

can do and how it can be managed in a congressional body. 

We continued to charge the Hill, however, for 

the President, because President REAGAN had a 

clear and defined agenda. He intended to fundamentally shift this country. The shift was 

going to be toward strengthening our national 

defense capabilities, toward reducing the burden 

of government, toward reducing the burden of 

taxation, and toward reestablishing our confidence as a Nation. There was a lot of legislation 

brought forward, with very difficult battles over 

the budget, very difficult battles over issues of 

making our defense capability stronger once 

again. 

We became known as REAGAN’s robots. That 

was a derisive term used by some of our friends 

in the media and it was thrown at us. As 

REAGAN’s economics were called Reaganomics, a 

derisive term put out in the intelligentsia community by our friends who saw it as inappropriate economics and saw it as waterbearers for 

a President whom they considered to be superficial, and in some cases a caricature, but we took 
190 Ronald Reagan 

that as sort of a red badge of courage, those who 

came in that class. We enjoyed the fact we were 

tweaking the institution of the House at the time 

led by Speaker O’Neill, whom I happened, over 

the years, to come to like as an individual very 

much. He obviously had a very strong personality and led the House very aggressively in a 

very partisan way. It was a unique and special 

time to have a chance to serve under a President 

such as President REAGAN. 

Going to the White House with Kathy and 

our two oldest children, I remember a lot of fond 

personal memories of how kind he was. Our 

daughters were then quite young. I think they 

were 4 and 5 or maybe 5 and 6. He took them 

aside and got hotdogs for them; he got popcorn 

for them. 

He was just a wonderful, inclusive individual 

and had a naturalness about him that was extraordinary and made everybody who was around 

him, when they had the chance, feel good. It was 

that personality that I think caused him to be 

able to be President during a time when there 

was a fair amount of strident partisanship. At the 

same time, there was less of a personal vindictiveness in the atmosphere, which was nice at 

that time, to have at least that sort of atmosphere 

where people were not into the personal assassination level that we sometimes see occur in politics, although it did happen to some degree. 

The fond memories are there from an individual standpoint, but the real memory, the real 

force of President REAGAN goes beyond the personal contact. It goes to what his mission was, 

what he accomplished for our Nation, which was 

so extraordinary, and what he accomplished for 

the world. It has been discussed. There is nothing unique about the discussion because it is so 

broadly accepted now what he did accomplish. 

That was, essentially, this: He took a Nation 

which was, as I said by its own definition, by 

its then-leader, Jimmy Carter, in a period of national malaise and he turned us and reawakened 

our natural optimism. We are a Nation of optimists. We are a Nation that believes we can accomplish whatever we seek to pursue, whatever 

goal we set. He made us believe in that again. 

His ‘‘city on the hill’’ belief in our Nation was 

deep in him, but, more important, he was able 

to project it across our country and give people 

a sense of self and a sense of purpose that was 

optimistic and upbeat, that was essential to our 

country at that time. 

Probably equally important to the world, he 

set America back on a course of leading us in 

what was then the true great confrontation of the 

20th century, which was the question of whether 

communist, socialist economics, and a totalitarian state would dominate or whether democracy and market-oriented economies would dominate. 

There were three major trends of the 20th century that were tested. The first, of course, was 

the issue of the philosophy of communist versus 

market-oriented economies. The second, of 

course, was totalitarianism, first presented in fascism and second presented in the communist 

states of Stalin, by Stalin and Mao, versus democracy. The third was the issue of relativism. On 

those first two issues, he led the world and delivered the results which said unequivocally that democracy and market-oriented economies were the 

future for mankind and that individual rights 

meant something. 

In accomplishing that, he passed on to our 

generation and all the generations to come a gift 

of freedom and a gift of possibility in the area 

of economic well-being that was not necessarily 

a given. It would not necessarily have occurred 

without him. It is possible the Soviet Union and 

certainly the mutations of the Soviet Union could 

have proceeded for a considerable amount of 

time. We could still be dealing with that issue 

today had he not been willing to stand up, because he had unequivocal confidence in our Nation and in the values that drive our Nation, had 

he not been willing to stand up and say essentially that we were going to compete in that race 

at a level that would essentially make it impossible for the Soviet Union and communist-style 

regimes to compete with us. That is what he did. 

He did it first in the military where he essentially said to the Soviet Union, we are just simply going to outbuild you and we are going to 

exceed your ability to compete, so they crumbled 

from within. Second, he did it by establishing, 

once again, that the basic values of democracy 

far exceeded any values that were being put forward, and clearly our much better lifestyle than 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 191 

anything being put forward by a Soviet communist state. 

So we owe him a great debt of thanks and we 

certainly owe his family a great debt of thanks. 

We thank Nancy Reagan for her wonderful service to this Nation. We thank his family for the 

gift of this great man to our country. 

Hon. Olympia J. Snowe 

OF MAINE

Our Nation mourns the passage of a man who 

called Americans to their common purpose and 

renewed our age-old faith in the limitless possibilities of freedom. 

With heavy but immensely grateful hearts, 

our country grieves the passing of President 

RONALD REAGAN and extends our collective 

thoughts and prayers to his extraordinary wife 

Nancy and his children, Michael, Patti, and Ron. 

Reflecting today on the hope that President 

REAGAN inspired in America, I am reminded of 

the story of Benjamin Franklin near the close of 

the Constitutional Convention. Franklin pointed 

to the painting behind Washington’s chair, a 

landscape of the Sun just on the horizon and remarked: 

I have often looked at that sun behind the President without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting. But 

now I have the happiness to know it is a rising and not a 

setting sun. 

Let the record forever show that in a time of 

great consequence, President REAGAN assured an 

uncertain Nation that ours remains always a rising Sun. He brought a passionate belief in American ideas to bear in advancing freedom as a force 

for good in the world and heralded a new dawn 

of confidence at home. 

Like so many Americans, I remember well the 

steep challenges facing the Nation in 1980. At 

that time, having already served 2 years in the 

House of Representatives, we could look back to 

the late seventies as an incubator of change that 

foreshadowed the transformation to come. 

Before President REAGAN, we had become 

conditioned to accept limitations on what we 

might aspire to as individuals and as a Nation. 

But out of those days of national disillusionment 

and political drift came a bold leader to inspire 

confidence. 

The year 1980 was the culmination of a period 

of self-doubt for America. Internationally, our 

country was mired in the cold war and reeling 

from the Iranian hostage crisis. On the domestic 

front, our economy had been sapped by doubledigit inflation, double-digit prime interest rates, 

and stifled by massive tax burdens, including a 

top tax rate of 70 percent. We also had been undercut by a serious energy crisis. In fact, we had 

gasoline lines here in Washington and all 

through the country. So suffice it to say, these 

were not bright days in Washington or America. 

As I said at the time, whoever won the White 

House would bear the responsibility for making 

America productive once again, and President 

REAGAN did. With his conviction that the greatest untapped potential lies in the American people themselves—by embracing hope, not resignation, and by projecting an optimism in our Nation and her people that was as genuine as the 

man himself—he charted a course for America 

for greater prosperity and security. 

As President, as we know, he confronted the 

world’s only other superpower, laying the foundation for victory in the cold war. He campaigned to reduce the size of the Federal bureaucracy, to return tax dollars to the families that had 

earned them, and to devolve out of Washington 

and back to local governments—all ideas whose 

time had come, just as President REAGAN’s had. 

Not only that, but he reinvigorated America 

with his unabashed faith in her essential goodness. 

The other night, I had the opportunity to recount the Reagan era with my husband, former 

Governor Jock McKernan, who also served 4 

years in Congress under the Reagan Presidency 

representing the other congressional district in 

the State of Maine. We were recalling a time in 

which we visited the White House, regarding 

the shaping of defense policy. As Senator Gregg 

has mentioned, we were building up our national 

defense. 

We remembered the statement the President 

made at the time, which I think summed up his 

belief in trying to make a distinction between 

the United States of America and the Soviet 

Union. He said, ‘‘You know, it tells something 
192 Ronald Reagan 

about a country when more people want to leave 

the country than want to come in.’’ His simple 

logic was indeed compelling. 

President REAGAN was a conservative Republican from California, and I, of course, was a 

moderate Republican from New England. Obviously, there were times—and many times, in 

fact—when we differed on policy. Yet I can also 

recall meeting with him and other members of 

the Republican Caucus, as well as Democrats. 

We had numerous meetings at the White House 

either in the Cabinet room or within the Oval 

Office itself. We were able to negotiate our differences, whether it was within our party or 

across party lines. The issues ranged from defense 

policy, to the MX missile, to Central America, 

to the budget. Indeed, we had numerous budget 

discussions where we negotiated the actual budget resolutions and the budget numbers themselves. 

Thinking back this week, I also recall how the 

President was willing to hear disparate views on 

trade policy. In fact, Jock and I met with the 

President in the Oval Office to discuss the potential negative impact of trade proposals on Maine’s 

industries such as potatoes, shoes and lumber in 

advance of the President meeting with Canadian 

Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Indeed, coincidentally, I saw the former Prime Minister in the 

Capitol prior to the viewing in the rotunda on 

Wednesday night, and I recounted that meeting 

with the President. 

Moreover, I spearheaded an effort for Republican women in the House and Senate to meet 

with President REAGAN to discuss matters critical to America’s women. In the end, these initiatives led to ultimately passing landmark child 

support enforcement legislation and pension reform for widows that previously had not even 

been part of the Federal lexicon, let alone part 

of Federal policy. And in speaking of women’s 

issues, I fondly reflect on my cherished friendship 

with the President’s daughter, the late Maureen 

Reagan who died in 2001, and how we also 

worked together on behalf of issues of concern 

for women in this country. 

And on an entirely different issue once again, 

to this day I have on my wall a letter of appreciation from President REAGAN for my efforts to 

help develop and pass the 1986 Omnibus Diplomatic Security and Antiterrorism Act, which he 

signed and which contained a provision I authored to create an accountability review board 

within the State Department to investigate all 

incidents involving serious security failures. 

He was always respectful of divergent views 

and willing to keep his Oval Office door open, 

even as he always knew what he believed. In 

terms of his principles, his compass was steady. 

At the same time, he was certainly committed 

to the fine and, in Washington, all too rare art 

of listening. He was also willing to seek consensus, even though we surely had a partisan environment at that time. 

We had a divided government, and obviously 

a Republican Presidency. But again, he was willing to forge a consensus because he believed that 

was the only way you could get things done. 

Rather than by controversy and division, in the 

end he recognized you had to reach your goals 

with persuasion and openness. So he was willing 

to develop pragmatic approaches in the final 

analysis because he was a problem-solver. Actually, he gave life to what he once said, ‘‘if I can 

get 70 or 80 percent of what it is I’m trying 

to get . . . I’ll take that and then continue to try 

to get the rest in the future.’’ 

He certainly did live by that axiom throughout his tenure of 8 years, regardless of the differences. Ultimately, he wanted to achieve the 

great things he set out to do when he became 

President and also to ensure he could be resolute 

in implementing his vision for this country. 

He was entirely comfortable with stepping 

outside of others’ conventional perception of 

himself and his politics. He was extremely credible as Commander in Chief, as leader of this 

country when he set about to build up our military and to defy the Soviet Union and to ultimately bring down the Wall. The fact is, he also, 

on the other side of the coin, ultimately negotiated the first pact to reduce the United States 

and Soviet nuclear arsenals—he negotiated that 

with Mikhail Gorbachev—because, again, he understood what needed to be accomplished in the 

end. 

His legacy will forever be his vision that 

brought about the end of the cold war because, 

again, he saw the difference between dictatorships and democracy and our ability to foster lib-
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 193 

erty in the dark corners of the world. Indeed, I 

will never forget the meeting I participated in 

with members of Solidarity in January 1988 in 

Poland. There was no question that, for them, 

knowing of our resolutions in Congress in support of freedom for the people of Poland, Vice 

President Bush’s 1987 visit to Warsaw, and certainly President REAGAN’s relentless pursuit of 

the ideal of freedom for people everywhere, gave 

them a hope they translated into strength and 

persistence in finally prevailing. How extraordinary that Solidarity’s leader would become Poland’s President—and how fitting that Lech 

Walesa would attend President REAGAN’s funeral 

to express his profound appreciation and deepest 

respect. 

And who would have predicted two decades 

ago that Mikhail Gorbachev—leader of the 

former Soviet Union—would be attending the 

funeral of President RONALD REAGAN, who 

brought about the collapse of the Soviet Union 

and urged Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin 

Wall? But that is yet another testament to President REAGAN’s legacy. 

Some thought President REAGAN’s bold descriptions of the wide chasm that separated democracy from despotism were ill considered. Yet 

he viewed the world through that crystal clear 

prism of, in the words of Shakespeare, ‘‘simple 

truth miscalled simplicity.’’ I believe that says 

it all because President REAGAN understood that 

in order to be an effective leader, to be a strong 

President, to be the leader of this country who 

was a force for good and to project that force 

for good, you ultimately had to move the process, 

and you had to work within the system and with 

the other branch of government to make that 

happen. 

Another great of the 20th century refused 

praise for having lent his lionhearted strength to 

an entire nation. Instead, Winston Churchill remarked, it was his nation that had the ‘‘lion’s 

heart’’ all along, and it fell to him only to ‘‘give 

the roar.’’ 

So it was with President RONALD REAGAN. 

His words summoned our resolve and our goodness, and his steady hand guided America to a 

triumph for all free people. As providence would 

have it, President REAGAN gave America’s roar 

during what would become—in no small part, 

thanks to him—the last decade of the cold war. 

With ‘‘peace through strength,’’ RONALD

REAGAN called America to a purpose he described in his own hand in 1980 when he wrote: 

I believe it is our pre-ordained destiny to show all mankind that they too can be free without having to leave their 

native shore. 

For this legacy, the American people and free 

people everywhere are in his debt, just as he is 

in our hearts and his family, as well, in our prayers. 

Hon. Barbara Boxer 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. President, I rise today to pay my respects 

to one of California’s own, President RONALD

REAGAN. 

I first met President REAGAN right after I was 

elected to Congress in 1982. We were a large 

Democratic freshman class, and when I was invited to the White House, I wondered how 

President REAGAN would greet us. After all, he 

had campaigned hard for a Republican Congress, 

and having lost an election myself I knew the 

feeling of disappointment. When we arrived at 

the White House, President REAGAN could not 

have been more gracious to us; the same for Mrs. 

Reagan. I still have the photo from that evening 

hanging in my home office. 

Twenty-two years ago, RONALD REAGAN

taught me that you can disagree without being 

disagreeable, that you could set aside those disagreements even though they were deep. 

President REAGAN once said, ‘‘A lot of trouble 

in the world would disappear if we were talking 

to each other instead of about each other.’’ 

He believed if we were all respectful and pleasant to one another, we could find those areas of 

common ground. We can reach across the aisle. 

We can get things done. Believe me, that was 

a good lesson for me and for all of us that 

evening because clearly, in the Senate, with the 

rules of the Senate, the only way to get things 

done is by working together. I look at the occupant of the chair, and I know that with our disagreements on many issues, we have come to-
194 Ronald Reagan 

gether on a few occasions, and we have won for 

our constituents and for this country. 

When I look back to President REAGAN’s 

record, I realize that not only did he bring this 

kind of an attitude of working together to Washington, but that had been his hallmark in California as well. As a Republican Governor, he was 

working with a Democratic State legislature. So 

it seems President REAGAN had to learn how to 

do this both in the State and in the Nation’s 

Capital. 

In those years as Governor, in keeping with 

the values and wishes of most Californians, he 

helped to establish the Redwood National Park. 

He regulated auto emissions to reduce pollution. 

He signed a bill that liberalized a woman’s right 

to choose. He opposed the State proposition that 

discriminated against teachers based on sexual 

orientation. You can see Governor REAGAN was 

willing to reach across and find consensus. 

RONALD REAGAN, of course, did continue to 

reach across the aisle when he became President. 

Although there were serious disagreements, he 

worked closely with a Democratic House to ratify 

and sign important arms control agreements, increasing funds for math and science education, 

reauthorizing the Superfund hazardous waste 

cleanup program, which is so important. The 

basis of the program is that the polluter should 

pay. Interestingly, we don’t seem to have that 

kind of support today. 

President REAGAN once said, ‘‘There is no 

limit to what a man can do or where he can go, 

if he doesn’t mind who gets the credit.’’ And 

how important that quote is when it comes to 

politics. President REAGAN was a conservative. 

He was not an ideologue. He fulfilled a campaign promise to appoint the first woman to the 

Supreme Court. He chose Sandra Day O’Connor 

as the first woman Justice of the U.S. Supreme 

Court, even though she was considered too moderate by many conservatives. He tried to abolish 

the National Endowment for the Arts but, after 

losing that fight, he moved on. I remember that. 

He moved on without trying to force the issue 

through the backdoor. I respect that. 

I remember the fight to keep the National Endowment for the Arts. Many Republicans in my 

State didn’t agree with President REAGAN. They 

mobilized with the Democrats. President 

REAGAN said, Well, this is what I think. He 

went forward, and when he lost, that was it. 

Of course, there are other issues of disagreement—from offshore oil drilling to the role of 

the National Government, to the fight against 

AIDS, to policies in Central America. Those disagreements were deep, but they were never taken 

personally by President REAGAN. He and House 

Speaker Tip O’Neill were genuinely fond of each 

other. They often shared a drink after work, and 

they laughed after a day of locking horns. Their 

good nature was infectious. It raised the level of 

comity throughout the Nation’s Capital. How I 

long for those days. It is time that in the spirit 

of RONALD REAGAN and Tip O’Neill, we see 

more bipartisan spirit in our work. 

In California, there are tributes to RONALD

REAGAN running around the clock. I know it is 

true nationally, but because he was our Governor 

and we are so proud he is part of our legacy, 

we are seeing and listening to RONALD

REAGAN’s stories and RONALD REAGAN quotes. 

I found one of these very interesting. 

There was a question asked to President 

REAGAN after he had completed his 8 years in 

office. The question was: What do you most 

want to be remembered for? His answer was this: 

The millions of jobs that were created while he 

was President and America regaining respect in 

the world. Millions of jobs created and America 

regaining respect in the world. You think about 

how universal those two achievements are because right now that is a lot of the focus of attention—job creation and respect in the world. It 

is interesting how prophetic those words are. 

I personally believe that 50 years from now, 

if not now, President REAGAN will be remembered for his focus on freedom for the people behind the Iron Curtain. He saw in Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev a man he could successfully challenge to step to the plate. And when 

President REAGAN said, ‘‘tear down this wall!’’ 

he said it directly to Mr. Gorbachev. He touched 

Mr. Gorbachev, and he touched America. He 

touched people around the world. 

In a moving eulogy in yesterday’s New York 

Times Mr. Gorbachev wrote: 

REAGAN was a man of the right but while adhering to 

his convictions, with which one could agree or disagree, he 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 195 

was not dogmatic. He was looking for negotiations and for 

cooperation. 

In that, you have to understand that respect 

for other people and their ideas, the ability to 

step into their shoes is very important. 

We name buildings and rooms and public 

places after leaders, and we have named many 

public places after RONALD REAGAN. But I truly 

believe that now the greatest thing we can do 

in RONALD REAGAN’s memory is to find a cure 

for the disease that took his life and took him 

away from his loved ones and the world stage 

long before his physical life ended. 

Alzheimer’s disease is a plague that ravages 

millions of Americans and those who love them. 

Caused by abnormal plaques and tangled nerve 

fibers in the brain, the disease attacks the cells 

that control thought, memory, and language. 

The brain, if you look at it, becomes more and 

more like a child’s brain. It kills nerve cells that 

are vital to memory. If you think about it, when 

you lose your memory, you lose who you are. 

And to see someone like RONALD REAGAN, who 

held all the power for 8 years that anyone could 

ever dream to hold, and to have him not be able 

to remember that is a tragedy. 

Alzheimer’s lowers the level of chemicals that 

carry messages between nerve cells and the brain. 

The progress of Alzheimer’s is usually slow, but 

it is inexorable. Beginning with mild symptoms, 

such as forgetfulness, Alzheimer’s gradually robs 

its victims of the ability to think clearly, speak 

clearly, understand others, or care for themselves 

in any way. 

Ten years ago RONALD REAGAN knew he was 

battling Alzheimer’s. He knew he was losing the 

battle. In an act of tremendous courage and in 

a handwritten open letter, he told the American 

people he was suffering from the illness. He 

wrote, ‘‘I now begin this journey that will lead 

me into the sunset of my life.’’ 

And he movingly wrote, ‘‘I know that for 

America there will always be a bright dawn 

ahead.’’ 

So even in his darkest hour, President 

REAGAN’s eternal optimism shone through. 

Nancy Reagan stood by her husband throughout this long ordeal, protecting him in his most 

vulnerable time. In recent years, she has become 

a leading advocate of increased funding for medical research to fight Alzheimer’s and other diseases. She has been brave and courageous in her 

advocacy. 

Ironically, just a few weeks ago, I wrote an 

open letter to her praising her for her strength 

and moving forward to use her considerable influence to push forward stem cell research. 

To honor RONALD REAGAN and relieve the 

suffering of millions of American families, we 

must pursue every avenue of research and treatment for Alzheimer’s and other diseases. 

In memory of RONALD REAGAN and all of the 

families who have lost loved ones to Alzheimer’s, 

let us seek a brighter dawn for Alzheimer’s victims and their families. 

So, Mr. President, Californians are speaking 

across party lines for a man who was able to set 

aside ideology to make progress, to work with 

those who might not have agreed with him on 

every point. I think it is a terrific lesson to all 

of us in this time and in this place in our Nation’s history. 

Hon. Harry Reid 

OF NEVADA

Mr. President, RONALD REAGAN is seen by 

the State of Illinois as being his birthplace, as 

well it should. They feel very strongly about the 

legacy of RONALD REAGAN in Illinois. California, of course, is where RONALD REAGAN became famous. They have tremendous ties to 

RONALD REAGAN. The State of Nevada has lots 

and lots of ties to RONALD REAGAN. Not only 

are we a neighbor to the State of California, but 

the history of RONALD REAGAN and the State 

of Nevada are intertwined. I come to the Senate 

today to join a procession to praise RONALD

REAGAN as a great leader and a fine man. 

My first trip to the Oval Office was to meet 

with RONALD REAGAN. I was a young Congressman and I was called to the Oval Office to discuss with the President the situation in Nicaragua, aid to the Contras. I was joined there by 

three other Members of Congress. Vice President 

Bush, at the time, was there. It is the first time 

I had the opportunity to visit with, in any depth, 
196 Ronald Reagan 

RONALD REAGAN as President of the United 

States. 

There was a time when I was Lieutenant Governor of Nevada, and Governor O’Callaghan was 

unable to go to an event at Lake Tahoe. I represented the State. Governor REAGAN at the 

time, and I spent time together, but it was in 

a public setting and really not a time where you 

got to know anyone well. 

My first trip to the Oval Office was one that 

I will always remember. Not only was it my first 

trip to the Oval Office, it was my first experience 

in sitting down and talking with RONALD

REAGAN, President of the United States. His 

personality came through in that meeting. I have 

often repeated the story of my visit there. 

A Congressman said to RONALD REAGAN at 

the time, ‘‘Mr. President, I’m afraid you’re going 

to invade Nicaragua.’’ President REAGAN did not 

wait a second. He came back so quickly, with 

that smile on his face, and said, ‘‘I’m not going 

to invade Nicaragua, but I want those SOBs 

going to bed every night thinking I’m going to.’’ 

That was RONALD REAGAN. His views of the 

world were views that all of us could understand. 

He made it very clear to us that he was not going 

to invade Nicaragua but he was not about to 

show any weakness to the Nicaraguans. That is 

exactly how he said it. From where I come, that 

was talk that I understood. 

I have fond memories of RONALD REAGAN. 

RONALD REAGAN, of course, is someone we all 

watched on TV, ‘‘Death Valley Days.’’ But those 

in Nevada remember him also, and the papers 

in Nevada have been full the last few days about 

his entertainment qualities in Las Vegas. 

He came to Las Vegas as an entertainer. He 

appeared on the Las Vegas strip as an entertainer. 

We were discussing what he did. I don’t know 

what he did, but he came all the time. He was 

a headliner. I don’t know if he sang or danced. 

I don’t know what he did. He made money and 

they kept bringing him back. 

He was born in the Midwest but he was really 

a son of the West. He stood for a lot of what 

we now identify with RONALD REAGAN. He believed in freedom, independence, and opportunity. These are the values that all Americans 

share. We probably understand them a little better in the West. 

He handled the Soviet Union much as he handled the situation in my first meeting in the 

Oval Office. He was direct and to the point with 

us about how he felt about Nicaragua. In the situation with the Soviet Union, he was direct and 

to the point. 

The first breakthrough in peace for Israel in 

the Middle East came as a result of a hawk by 

the name of Menachem Begin. Menachem Begin 

was the leader of the underground against the 

British. He was someone who fought the British 

as no one else did. He did it in secret. But he 

was the leader. And Menachem Begin’s own family did not know that he was the leader of the 

underground until after the British announced 

that he was. It took Menachem Begin, somebody 

who was very hawkish, to make a deal with 

Egypt. None of the other Israeli leaders could 

have done it because they would have been seen 

as capitulating to the Egyptians. 

The same with President REAGAN. No one 

could take away his communist-fighting credentials. He had them from the time he was an 

actor, with the Screen Actors Guild, Governor, 

and President. 

I watched a TV program, and the same speech 

that RONALD REAGAN gave as head of the Screen 

Actors Guild, he gave as Governor, he gave as 

President. He was a certified anticommunist. So 

who could better make a deal with the communists than RONALD REAGAN? 

No one could question his credentials, no 

more than they could question the credentials of 

Menachem Begin. Had it been Jimmy Carter or 

Bill Clinton, it would not have happened. But 

no one could question his communist-fighting 

credentials, and, therefore, people accepted the 

deal we made with the Soviet Union, which was 

good for the world and good for our country. 

RONALD REAGAN has been a good neighbor 

to the State of Nevada. The State of Nevada 

shares a national treasure. It is called Lake Tahoe. 

There is only one other lake like it in the whole 

world, and that is Lake Baikal in Russia. I acknowledge that Lake Tahoe is smaller than Lake 

Baikal, but so is every other lake in the world. 

But it is an alpine glacial lake that is a wonder 

of beauty. RONALD REAGAN identified that 

something needed to be done about this beautiful 

lake. 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 197 

I spoke yesterday to Paul Laxalt. Paul Laxalt 

and I have been political adversaries all of my 

adult life and a lot of his life. But I do not have 

a better friend than Paul Laxalt. We are friends. 

We call each other all the time. We have done 

that for many years. Even though we have been 

political adversaries, we are friends. 

Anyway, I called Paul Laxalt yesterday and 

asked him to talk to me about his relationship 

with RONALD REAGAN. Everyone in Nevada 

knows and most everyone knows in Washington—my distinguished friend from New 

Mexico is in the Chamber who served with Senator Laxalt in the Senate—RONALD REAGAN’s 

No. 1 guy in the Senate was Paul Laxalt, period. 

I do not say that saying, oh, somebody may question that. That is a fact of life. RONALD REAGAN

said it. That is the way it was. 

Paul Laxalt said RONALD REAGAN should be 

remembered for two things by Nevadans. First 

is the bi-State compact to which the two Republican Governors, Laxalt and REAGAN, agreed. 

They sent it to the California and Nevada State 

legislatures, and it was ratified eventually by 

both legislatures. They recognized that something had to be done to preserve Lake Tahoe. 

Second is what he did to stop the MX missile 

from coming to the State of Nevada. The MX 

missile—most people don’t know what that 

means—but it was a missile, the MX, with 10 

warheads on each missile. It was to cover hundreds and hundreds of square miles through Nevada and parts of Utah. That would have been 

a blight to the environment there, but it was also 

deemed to be wasteful moneywise. So RONALD

REAGAN personally intervened, and that never 

came to be. 

That is what Paul Laxalt wanted the people 

of Nevada to remember about his best friend, 

RONALD REAGAN—what he did for the State of 

Nevada. Of course, there were many other 

things. 

Paul told a story that they were campaigning 

together. Paul Laxalt gave every one of his nominating speeches, the time he did not win and the 

two times he won. He said RONALD REAGAN

was such a forgiving man that he never held a 

grudge. They were campaigning in some northeastern State, and somebody had given a 

speech—somebody RONALD REAGAN had helped 

a lot—and he gave a speech blasting RONALD

REAGAN’s economic program. He was a Republican, and everybody around REAGAN was mad 

at him. So he was getting ready to give this 

speech, and he said to Paul, ‘‘I can’t remember, 

why am I mad at this guy?’’ It was because he 

did not hold grudges. It was not in his nature. 

So it is wonderful we had someone like Paul 

Laxalt who had such close contact with the President of the United States. But not only did he 

have contact with Paul Laxalt, President 

REAGAN did many other things for the people 

in Nevada. 

Sig Rogich was a special assistant to the President. Because of RONALD REAGAN, Sig Rogich 

developed a great personal friendship with the 

first President Bush. They are friends. People 

wonder why President Bush always comes back 

to Nevada. It is to see his friend Sig Rogich. He, 

of course, made Sig Rogich an Ambassador to 

Iceland, where Sig Rogich was born. 

Sig Rogich is an extremely successful businessman. But people should also understand Sig 

Rogich was head of the Tuesday Team that developed that great campaign slogan for President 

REAGAN: ‘‘It’s morning in America.’’ 

Rogich wrote and directed most of those 

pieces. He was heavily involved in the life of 

President REAGAN. He came and moved back 

here. But, as a result, not only do we have 

Rogich back here, but Frank Fahrenkopf became 

chairman of the National Republican Committee. I talked to Frank Fahrenkopf today. He 

said REAGAN did this in typical fashion. He had 

been offered the job in 1980. He had a great law 

practice in Nevada and did not want to come 

to Washington. 

Jim Baker called him and said, The President 

wants you to give a report about what happened 

in the 1982 elections—where the Democrats did 

very well; the Republicans did very poorly. He 

was asked to come back and give a report. 

Frank said, ‘‘Well, I have to fly all night because I’m going with 10 State chairs. We are 

going to China.’’ 

And Baker said, ‘‘I think it would be a good 

idea if you came. The President wants you to 

come back here.’’ 

So he got back here. And Senator Laxalt said 

to Frank Fahrenkopf, ‘‘Would you reconsider 
198 Ronald Reagan 

being the national chairman of the Republican 

Party?’’ 

And Frank said, ‘‘Well, Paul, I have a problem. I have this law practice.’’ 

He said, ‘‘Well, think about it.’’ He said he 

knew he was in trouble when he went to breakfast at the White House and they seated him 

right across from the President, and the President said, ‘‘Dick Richards is retiring as chairman 

of the National Republican Party.’’ He said, ‘‘We 

have here Frank Fahrenkopf who has said he is 

going to think about it.’’ 

So he knew right then he was going to be the 

national chairman because the President asked 

him to do it. So Frank Fahrenkopf became the 

national chairman of the Republican Party. 

But my favorite RONALD REAGAN memento—I have always been opposed to term limits. I have opposed term limits for the House and 

Senate. I have always spoken forcefully against 

that. I think it is wrong. It is wrong that we 

have the 22d amendment to limit the Presidents 

to 2 terms. 

RONALD REAGAN agreed with me. He did not 

like term limits. He thought the 22d amendment 

was bad. I offered a resolution to do away with 

the 22d amendment. I spoke out against term 

limits. President REAGAN, after he had retired 

as President of the United States, wrote me a 

handwritten note. Here is what he said, ‘‘Dear 

Harry, I’m glad . . .’’—it is in RONALD

REAGAN’s handwriting, and I have that in my 

scrapbook. I love my scrapbook and have this in 

it. I had announced that I supported repeal of 

the 22d amendment. Here is what he wrote: 

I’m glad you are moving on repeal of the 22nd Amendment. I’ve made a number of speeches to national business 

groups. . . In every speech I’ve announced my support for repeal and have received an ovation from every audience. I 

charge that the 22nd is a violation of the people’s right to 

vote for whomever they want. 

RONALD REAGAN

Here is the guy. He believed in States rights. 

He believed in people being able to make their 

determination, not some arbitrary law that we 

passed saying: You can’t serve in the Senate because you have been there two terms. He believed the people have the right to choose their 

representatives. 

I have a number of pictures with RONALD

REAGAN. I liked him as a person. I did not agree 

with everything he did politically, as we all 

know, but I liked him as a person. 

So I stand here today honored that I had a 

chance to work with President RONALD

REAGAN, someone with whom I knew and felt 

comfortable. He surrounded himself with good 

people. They were not mean spirited. They were 

good people. They were pragmatists. I liked the 

people with whom he surrounded himself. 

He is going to be remembered in history, of 

course, as one of our great Presidents. This is a 

time to mourn his death, but it is more important to appreciate his life. 

I can remember a person with whom I practiced law when RONALD REAGAN was President. 

He said, ‘‘He has no chance of winning. He is 

an actor. Look how old he is.’’ 

Well, people liked him for who he was, not 

how old he was or what he had done before he 

was elected Governor of the State of California. 

His amazing journey was the American dream 

come true. He helped bring the dream a little 

closer to all of us. 

Hon. Pete V. Domenici 

OF NEW MEXICO

Mr. President, I was privileged to become 

chairman of the Senate Budget Committee at the 

same time RONALD REAGAN was sworn in as 

President. I never thought I was going to have 

that job, but with his victory, we took over the 

Senate. I recall Senator Howard Baker called me 

at home, and his greeting was ‘‘Mr. Chairman.’’ 

I kind of wondered what he was talking about, 

and then he told me. That was quite startling 

because I knew I was going to be chairman when 

RONALD REAGAN would be asking that we carry 

out his program. 

From January 1981 until President REAGAN

left office in January 1989, it was my privilege 

to work closely with him and his senior advisers, 

as with any President before or since. I suspect 

I saw President REAGAN exhibit all his legendary 

traits: the man of principle, the man of strength, 

the man of strong convictions, the man of 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 199 

humor, and, in one famous case, a man with an 

Irish temper. 

Even before he was sworn in, Mr. REAGAN

asked Cap Weinberger to head up his transition 

team for the Reagan budget and fiscal policy. I 

worked closely with Cap and then Dave Stockman, whom I knew when he was a Member of 

the House. He was announced to be the incoming OMB Director. 

I was impressed by the three principles that 

RONALD REAGAN insisted on in the budget that 

I would prepare: Restraint of domestic spending, 

long overdue increases in defense spending, and 

tax cuts to stimulate the economy. The economy 

was a dormant economy. Those three principles 

guided every decision that I had with the President and his senior staff. He was not going to 

compromise on these three principles. 

I saw his strength on many occasions, most 

notably, of course, after the assassination attempt. But I also saw his strength when he insisted that the air traffic controllers either go to 

work or lose their jobs. That signal, clear and 

strong, persuaded me this man was, in fact, a 

man who would risk political standing in order 

to stand for the good of the public. 

I saw his humor time and time again. Once 

when I showed up late for a meeting with him, 

there were other Senators present. It was very 

embarrassing. He was amused. And when my 

good friend, Senator Howard Baker, became 

Chief of Staff to the President, he told me one 

of his jobs was to try to come up with a good 

joke to tell the President, that REAGAN’s humor 

came from the same sense of perspective that produced his strength and commitment to the 

American people. 

I learned first-hand that the Irish in President 

REAGAN also included a bit of an Irish temper. 

In 1993, I had the delicate task of telling the 

President that I would not put off my budget 

for the upcoming fiscal year, and that I would 

not be able to supply him with the entire increase in defense spending for the upcoming fiscal year. Cap Weinberger had made that request 

on behalf of the President. Cap and I discussed 

this for weeks, and we put off this action over 

the Easter holiday and for weeks to give them 

a chance to work on their defense budget. 

The Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, Senator John Tower, and I discussed it, and 

Senator Tower knew we couldn’t get the entire 

request. Finally, just as the markup of the budget 

was to occur, at about 10 minutes until 10 in 

the morning, the President called me on the telephone in the back room of the Budget Committee’s hearing. 

‘‘Hello,’’ I said to the President. 

‘‘Hello, Pete,’’ he said pleasantly. ‘‘You know, 

I really need you to put off the markup of the 

budget until we can get an agreement on the defense spending.’’ 

‘‘Mr. President, I really appreciate and am 

honored by your call, but I have delayed this for 

too long and just cannot get the full number that 

you have requested for defense.’’ 

‘‘Well, will you postpone the markup?’’ he 

asked with little amiability in his voice. 

‘‘No, sir; I cannot do that,’’ I replied. 

At that point, the President said goodbye. At 

least I think that is what he said. I was told later 

by someone who was present in his office during 

the call that the President turned a little red in 

his face and threw the phone on the floor. Yet 

he was absolutely wonderful to me after that. He 

campaigned for me. He turned his budget over 

to me for implementation. And I had a great relationship not only with him but with those who 

served him, in particular Dave Stockman. 

Let me note something about the first budget 

exercise. The President and his staff had some 

thoughts about the proper legislative approach. 

I disagreed and argued for something we now 

know and have learned to use, and we understand 

it well. But it was truly historic, the use of a 

process called reconciliation. That was the first 

time we ever did it. Nobody understood it. The 

President, with the guidance of Leader Howard 

Baker, went along with our recommendation. 

Senator Fritz Hollings joined me in this historic 

reconciliation effort. We had all the President’s 

budget restraints in it. We had his tax cuts in 

that extraordinary document. And in the budget 

resolution for fiscal year 1992, we had room for 

all the President’s defense spending increases to 

which he ended up agreeing. 

Some Members of the Senate expressed dismay 

and even anger over the use of this process called 

reconciliation. Even some Republicans were per-
200 Ronald Reagan 

plexed by its complications and wondered how 

it would really work. I know the President and 

his staff relied on us in the Senate and on the 

committee to carry out what we promised. 

It is to President REAGAN’s credit that he supported us every step of the way. Perhaps that was 

one of the things I admired most about this man. 

He made a decision, entrusted it to those on 

whom he relied, and used all of his power to 

make a plan succeed. 

I cannot tell you how complimented I felt 

when Howard Baker came to me and said, ‘‘The 

President says if you and I think we can do this, 

then he will back us all the way.’’ And he did. 

What a great President. What a great American. What a great man. It was truly my privilege to work with him. I think history will 

record that our work was of historic importance 

as the President moved toward making this economy stronger than ever, this Nation more secure 

than ever, and the world safer than ever. 

In closing, let me say I honestly wish I had 

occasion to know him even better. I didn’t have 

the opportunity to get to know him on a personal basis. Most of what I learned of him is expressed and explained in the remarks I have 

made. But the wonderful stories I have heard 

about him are clearly believable, because what I 

saw of him was remarkable. What I saw of him 

in the numerous meetings was truly incredible. 

Some spoke ill of him during those days. It 

is wonderful to note that most of those have forgotten those days and are now part of this great 

chorus in our country that is praising him as one 

of our greatest. 

I knew most about the economic situation because of the Budget Committee, but it is easy 

for me to see how he succeeded in foreign affairs. 

It is clear no one could have accomplished what 

he did with the Soviet Union, because most 

Presidents would not be believed, and most 

Presidents would not be permitted to propose 

and make the kinds of agreements with the Soviet Union that he did. 

To sum it up, he made a stronger America. 

Our economy grew somewhere between 18 and 

20 million jobs. Think of that. We are now talking about 2.2 million jobs. He took an economy 

that was in terrible shape. Does anybody remember 21-percent interest? We have grown so accustomed to low inflation and low interest rates in 

the last few years that most of us don’t understand inflation was so rampant and interest rates 

so high that, in our grocery stores, those who 

filled the shelves would also bring along a stamp 

and they would change the price as they walked 

down the aisles, because the foodstuff had to go 

up day by day, week by week. Can you imagine 

what Americans would think about that today? 

But we had to take it back then and we had to 

wait for something else to work. That something 

else was RONALD REAGAN’s policy, his approach 

to lower taxes, which stimulated this economy. 

So it is with deep regret that I join with many 

others and many in the Senate who will have 

words to say about him. Again, my best to his 

wife Nancy and his family. I understand their 

great grief. But they had him for a very long 

time, and I am sure with the passage of time 

they will begin to understand that. I hope they 

can and I hope they will. 

Hon. Arlen Specter 

OF PENNSYLVANIA

Mr. President, I have sought recognition to 

comment about the passing of President RONALD

REAGAN, and to comment about the great legacy 

he has left and the occasions when I had an opportunity to meet and deal personally with President REAGAN. 

While I had met him prior to the 1980 election cycle, I had an opportunity to work with 

him during that Presidential election year when 

he was elected President of the United States and 

I was first elected to the Senate. I recollect his 

presence in Philadelphia on one August day, 

when the timing for his presentation was to coincide with the beginning of the 6 o’clock news 

cycle, so he would be carried live over the broadcast stations. I recollect standing behind the curtains at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, where he 

was later to be the guest of honor at a fundraiser 

on my behalf. 

What a sense of expectation there was by thenGovernor REAGAN and Mrs. Nancy Reagan, with 

Mrs. Reagan expressing the question: Do you 

really think it is possible we will be successful 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 201 

in this Presidential bid? I commented that I 

thought the chances were excellent. Precisely at 

6 o’clock, the curtain was pulled back, and the 

President-to-be stepped forward and made an eloquent speech. 

He traveled to Pittsburgh where again he was 

the guest of honor at a fundraiser. I recollect attending that event, and at one appropriate moment he demonstrated his insight into the drama 

and to the field by grabbing my hand by the 

wrist and lifting it high in a traditional victory 

celebration. Watching him as a campaigner was 

a very instructive opportunity. 

The day after the election, when he was victorious, I, along with the other 15 Republican 

Senators who were elected on that same day, was 

called by President REAGAN to hear words of 

congratulations. The Republicans took control of 

the Senate in that 1980 election with a 53 Senate 

majority. President REAGAN’s sense of cheer and 

sense of optimism was with him at all times. I 

was to learn as I got to know him better that 

he really liked to make congratulatory phone 

calls when there was good news in the offing. 

As President, he had the practice of calling every 

nominee to the Federal bench to personally tell 

the nominee that he, the President, had nominated the individual to be a Federal judge, and, 

of course, that is great news, but that was the 

sort of moment that President REAGAN relished. 

When we were sworn in, in January 1981, Senator Howard Baker, the majority leader, designated me as spokesman for the group. He did 

that because I was last in seniority. Seniority at 

that time among Republican Senators was decided on the basis of alphabetical listing, after 

the preference was given to former Members of 

the House and former Governors. 

As the spokesman for the class, I had the 

honor of sitting next to the President during our 

frequent luncheon meetings. At one of the meetings, Senator Mack Mattingly was seated across 

the table. This was after the President had been 

reelected in 1984. Senator Mattingly said to the 

President, ‘‘Why is it, Mr. President, that you 

don’t age at all?’’ 

President REAGAN was fast with one of his famous stories. He said: 

Well, Mack, it is like the two psychiatrists who came to 

work the same time every day. Both were immaculately 

dressed. When they left in the afternoon at the same time, 

one psychiatrist was totally disheveled, and the other continued to be immaculately dressed. After day after day, week 

after week, month after month of this happening, finally one 

day when they left, the disheveled psychiatrist said, ‘‘How 

is it that we come to the office the same time every day 

to see our patients, and day after day, week after week, month 

after month, you leave immaculately dressed and I am disheveled?’’ The immaculately dressed psychiatrist looked at his 

colleague and said, ‘‘Who listens?’’ 

This was President REAGAN’s way of saying 

he can take all of the tough spots of the Presidency and still retain his composure and still retain his vigor and his freshness. 

I was very much impressed with President 

REAGAN when he was near the end of his first 

term and he was asked a question about whether 

he was going to run for reelection. His answer 

was, ‘‘The people will tell me whether I should 

run for reelection.’’ I have been asked the same 

question from time to time. I have used President REAGAN’s answer because I believe it is a 

really terrific answer. 

The first legislation which I proposed after 

being elected to the Senate involved the armed 

career criminal bill. I sought a meeting with the 

President. That was a bill, which has been enacted into law, that provides for mandatory sentences of 15 years to life for career criminals who 

have three or more major felonies on their record. 

When I described it and discussed it with 

President REAGAN, he immediately related that 

to his own experience, and referred to a James 

Cagney movie in which there was a three-time 

loser. He became a supporter and ultimately 

signed that bill into law. 

President REAGAN traveled frequently to 

Pennsylvania and on those occasions would invite 

Senator Heinz and me to join him. One such occasion was extraordinarily memorable. It was on 

the 200th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. 

Constitution. It was a real experience to ride 

with the President in Air Force One and in a 

limousine and to have a chance to talk with him 

and discuss with him some of the major issues. 

He had made a comment that when we develop the strategic defense initiative, we would 

share it with other nations. I asked him about 

those plans and how he could carry that forward 

since the strategic defense initiative was not likely to be accomplished for many years and it 
202 Ronald Reagan 

would require an act of Congress to share one 

of our national assets. The President’s reply was 

that this was a matter of leadership, and that in 

moving toward the strategic defense initiative, 

we wanted to assure other countries we would 

not use it only for ourselves but would make it 

available to others. 

At that time, the mutual assured destruction 

doctrine was operative with the stalemate between the United States and the Soviet Union, 

each knowing that if there were to be an aggressive act, it would be responded to. So the mutual 

assured destruction doctrine was in effect, and to 

move to a strategic defense initiative required assurances that this kind of defense would be 

shared. 

President REAGAN leaves a phenomenal legacy. Perhaps his greatest achievement was presiding over the end of the cold war, in which 

the United States defeated the Soviet Union. 

When the United States was rearmed, the Soviet 

Union could not keep up and ultimately was 

bankrupt. 

President REAGAN led the arms control talks 

with Soviet President Gorbachev. With his famous words at the Berlin Wall to tear the wall 

down, and ultimately with the demise of the Soviet Union, all of Eastern Europe was free, and 

liberty and democracy has come to so much of 

Eastern Europe and to so many people in the 

world because of President REAGAN’s leadership. 

His optimism and sense of buoyancy were just 

what the United States needed when he came to 

office in 1981. His emphasis on less government, 

his determination to lower taxes, and his spirit 

of determination to defeat communism were 

trademarks and legacies which will last forever. 

One final note. When President REAGAN

came to Independence Hall on the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution on September 17, 1987, we arrived at the hall and there 

was an enormous wheel with George Washington 

and then sequenced, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and the wheel came all the way around and 

RONALD REAGAN was situated right next to 

President George Washington. I asked President 

REAGAN how it felt to be on that wheel right 

next to President Washington. He said, ‘‘Arlen, 

it is a humbling experience.’’ 

I think the humility of President REAGAN in 

the context of his great achievements is another 

addition to a really great legacy. 

Hon. Tom Daschle 

OF SOUTH DAKOTA

Mr. President, we have heard many remembrances of President REAGAN these last few days. 

One of my own favorite stories about President 

REAGAN appeared in the Boston Globe on St. Patrick’s Day, 1983. It begins: 

In his corner office, House Speaker Thomas P. O’Neill Jr. 

has proudly hung a photograph of President REAGAN. It 

shows the two men, their faces agitated in the heat of a argument over jobs and the economy, each jabbing a finger at 

each other. 

Underneath, a puckish inscription from ‘RON REAGAN’ to 

‘Tip’ reads, ‘From one Irishman to another—Top o’ the 

morning to you.’ That photograph conveys the flavor of perhaps the most important political relationship in Washington, for it juxtaposes the sharp partisan confrontations between the two men with the personal cordiality that suits 

the current mood of bipartisanship. 

The headline on that article read: ‘‘REAGAN

and O’Neill: Each One Needs the Other.’’ 

RONALD REAGAN was many things in life: An 

actor, a Governor, the President. 

For countless millions throughout the world, 

he was the voice and the image of American confidence and optimism. 

Even those who disagreed strongly with many 

of his policies admired his sunny disposition, his 

easy grace and charm, his quick wit, and his 

unshakable conviction, as he said so often, that 

America’s best days are just ahead of us. 

He was a self-made son of small-town, middle 

America who loved this Nation because of the 

chance it gave him—and generations of Americans before and after him—to go as far in life 

as their talents and ambitions could take them. 

Historians will still be taking the measure of 

RONALD REAGAN and his Presidency for decades 

to come. But even now, it is clear that President 

REAGAN presided over, and helped bring about, 

enormous changes in America, and in the world. 

His unflinching opposition to communism 

helped bring down the wall and bring about the 

end of the Soviet Union. For that, the world owes 

RONALD REAGAN a great debt of gratitude. 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 203 

Americans, and friends of America throughout 

the world, are saddened by President REAGAN’s 

death. 

Our hearts go out to the Reagan family, especially Mrs. Reagan and the Reagan children and 

grandchildren, as well as to President and Mrs. 

REAGAN’s friends. Even when someone has been 

slipping away for a long time, as President 

REAGAN did, the final goodbye is still heartbreaking. We wish them comfort in this time 

of great sorrow. 

In his 1987 autobiography, ‘‘Man of the 

House,’’ Tip O’Neill recalled the time Presidentelect REAGAN visited him in his office in early 

1981. The Speaker told the man who was soon 

to be President that in the House, Democrats 

and Republicans ‘‘are always friends after 6 

o’clock and on weekends.’’ 

For the next 6 years, until he retired, Tip 

O’Neill recalled, President REAGAN always 

began their phone conversations by asking, ‘‘Tip, 

is it after 6 o’clock?’’ 

It has been nearly 10 years since President 

REAGAN wrote his courageous letter to America 

telling us that he had Alzheimer’s disease. 

In the decade since President REAGAN began 

his quiet withdrawal from public life, the civility 

and personal decency that we associate with him 

seems, at times, to have all but disappeared from 

much of our public discourse. The elbows in politics have become sharper, the words have become meaner—and the accomplishments have 

become scarcer. 

Sadly, there is a tendency today to assume ill 

will and bad motives of those who belong to the 

other party—or even another wing of one’s own 

party. 

This decline of civility in politics and public 

discourse is not good for America. It does not 

make us safer, or stronger. 

President REAGAN spoke to all that was good 

and decent in America. We would honor him by 

restoring decency to our politics. 

RONALD REAGAN was a man who believed 

deeply in his core principles. He would not want 

any of us to compromise our own core principles 

in his memory. But there is such a thing as principled compromise. President REAGAN understood that. He knew that accommodation was 

needed to make the system work. 

Like many conservatives, President REAGAN

had some basic philosophical qualms about Social 

Security. But he appointed a bipartisan commission to find ways to save Social Security from imminent insolvency—and he backed the commission’s plan. That was principled compromise at 

work. 

Twenty-four years ago this week, RONALD

REAGAN had just clinched the delegates needed 

to win his party’s 1980 Presidential nomination. 

It was a nomination he had worked for for 12 

years. 

A newspaper reporter asked him what he 

thought he needed to do next. 

He replied that he wanted to dispel the notion 

that he was a hardnosed radical who would oppose compromise on principle. As he put it: You 

know, there are some people so imbued with 

their ideology that if they can’t get everything 

they want, they’ll jump off the cliff with the flag 

flying. As Governor, I found out that if I could 

get half a loaf, instead of stalking off angrily, I’d 

take it. 

Perhaps because he himself was a Democrat 

early in his life, President REAGAN never demonized his political opponents—even when he disagreed profoundly with them. 

When Tip O’Neill turned 70, President 

REAGAN hosted a reception for him at the White 

House. There they were: the opposing champions 

of laissez-faire economics and New Deal liberalism. President REAGAN toasted Tip O’Neill 

by saying, ‘‘Tip, if I had a ticket to Heaven and 

you didn’t have one too, I would give mine away 

and go to Hell with you.’’ 

President REAGAN and Tip O’Neill, I am convinced, are reunited in Heaven now. 

As we prepare here in the Capitol to say our 

final goodbye to President REAGAN, let us remember his capacity to see the best in everyone, 

including those whose political views differed 

starkly from his own. Let us remember that there 

is no dishonor in accepting a half a loaf. 

In the months ahead and for as long as we 

are given the honor of serving in Congress, let 

us search and work for principled compromises 

that serve the interests of the vast majority of 

Americans. In that way, we can help to preserve 

President REAGAN’s great belief and hope that 

America’s best days are, indeed, just ahead. 
204 Ronald Reagan 

Hon. Richard C. Shelby 

OF ALABAMA

Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to 

the life and the legacy of former President RONALD REAGAN. President REAGAN served our 

country with honor and distinction, and I feel 

privileged to have the opportunity to reflect on 

the contributions he made to our country and to 

the world. 

Upon hearing the news of his death, I thought 

back to the footprints he left on my memory. 

He was, indeed, one of the greatest leaders, I believe, of our time, and I was honored to know 

him. 

President REAGAN provided our country with 

an enormous amount of hope following a period 

of national remorse and confusion about the direction of our country and about its place in the 

world. Let us not forget the context into which 

he emerged to seize his place in history and to 

move the United States forward with a determination and an optimism about the future that 

was so recently lacking. 

The ghost of Vietnam haunted our foreign 

policy and the specter of Watergate informed our 

politics. 

The election of RONALD REAGAN, however, 

truly changed America. He instilled hope that 

every American could be optimistic about his or 

her future; hope that communism would not endure and that freedom and democracy could ultimately vanquish the forces that sought to pull 

our country, and many others, into the abyss of 

despair and hostility that permeated much of the 

world; hope that personal freedom without the 

encumbrances of big government would revitalize the economy; hope that the rejuvenated 

Armed Forces he would lead as Commander in 

Chief could make the United States once again 

truly the leader of the free world in a struggle 

for survival against the Soviet Union. 

President REAGAN’s eternal optimism gave 

our country a renewed sense of self, a belief that 

the American dream was possible and that every 

individual had the opportunity to create his or 

her own success. RONALD REAGAN believed that 

each new day was filled with high purpose and 

opportunity for accomplishment. He gave America back the hope we had lost for many years. 

President REAGAN’s leadership and courage 

were central to ending the cold war. He was certain that freedom and democracy could prevail 

in all corners of the globe if only the one country 

with the capacity to do so would step in and 

show the way. 

Many Americans who were not yet born or 

were too young to understand could not appreciate what this man accomplished. The first half 

of the 20th century was marked by warfare on 

a global scale. The First World War—the war 

to end all wars—had decimated much of Europe. 

A generation was lost to the trenches and newly 

introduced technologies of destruction such as 

the machine gun and the tank. 

The war that followed, World War II, managed to go well beyond its predecessor, as the 

failure of European diplomacy once again 

dragged the continent into the continued horrors 

and devastation that man wrought. The epic 

struggle against the forces of fascism, a struggle 

we remembered this past weekend with the anniversary of the Normandy landings, was a fight 

against evil in every sense of the word. Its ending, however, set the stage for a new type of conflict—a conflict that would take the second half 

of the century to resolve, mercifully without the 

nuclear war that existed as the logical culmination of the standoff that came to be known as 

the cold war. 

The skills, strengths and enormous fortune 

that kept the cold war from turning hot transcended, of course, multiple Presidential administrations. It was brought to its successful resolution, however, through the vision and strength 

of exactly one man: President REAGAN. Decades 

of conflict management, in which experienced 

diplomats and elected officials sought primarily 

to prevent nuclear war and to contain the Soviet 

threat, had succeeded in preventing nuclear war. 

That was an incredible feat, to be sure. 

What set RONALD REAGAN apart, however, 

was his vision of a world without the nuclear 

standoff that had become an indelible image in 

the public psyche of virtually the entire world. 

What set RONALD REAGAN apart was his visceral belief that the United States, and the freedom and prosperity it represented, had to, and 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 205 

could, not just contain the threat but eliminate 

it without the awful specter of nuclear war coming to fruition. 

Derided by his opponents both here and 

abroad as a dangerous cowboy, President 

REAGAN stood firm in his beliefs and led the 

country to victory. He believed, correctly, and at 

variance with the views of many a university professor and politician, that the United States could 

force the Soviet Union over the cliff on which 

it rested, buttressed on the backs of the millions 

it held in its tyrannical grip. 

This was a truly great man. 

Limited government, lower taxes, and individual responsibility will also be part of President REAGAN’s legacy. He believed that each 

American and each community were the best 

problem-solvers. Rather than making government bigger to address the challenges our country faced, REAGAN stood firm in his commitment to the contributions that could be made 

through personal empowerment and a renewed 

sense of political and social responsibility. 

I was just a second-term Congressman when 

President REAGAN came into office. Although a 

Democrat at the time, I closely identified with 

his commitment to lower taxes, limit government and rebuild the military. I shared President 

REAGAN’s conservative philosophies, and he 

helped me, and millions of other Americans have 

a restored faith in the purpose of our government. 

I also recall a time when President REAGAN

asked me to breakfast at the White House. I, a 

second-term Congressman at the time, was certainly impressed. I had always been a conservative Democrat, and he had hoped that I would 

change parties, as he had done when the Democratic Party ceased to represent the values he held 

dear. I declined his offer to do so at the time, 

explaining my strong desire to work to fix the 

Democratic Party from within. The President 

knew better, telling me that the party was in the 

midst of a transformation that would not be reversed any time soon. It took me more years to 

fully appreciate the President’s wisdom. But appreciate it, I did, and I followed his lead in abandoning the party of my youth in deference to another. While I took a little longer to change than 

he would have liked, he did provide me with 

much of the foundation as to why I needed to 

leave the Democratic Party. I have always appreciated his guidance, humility and humor. 

I believe history will treat RONALD REAGAN

well. He uplifted a frustrated country through 

his optimism and hope. He changed a troubled 

world with his devotion to the spread of freedom. 

RONALD REAGAN embodied the American spirit, 

and our country and the world are forever grateful for his service. 

I offer my condolences to Mrs. Reagan and the 

entire family. They have endured much heartache 

with his illness, much grief with his passing, and 

much joy with his life. My thoughts and prayers 

are with them in this difficult time. 

May God bless RONALD REAGAN and his 

memory. 

Hon. George Allen 

OF VIRGINIA

Mr. President, my colleagues, and Americans, 

President RONALD REAGAN will be returning to 

Washington tomorrow for the very last time. I 

rise to honor the memory and life of the greatest 

leader of the 20th century and to express my 

sympathy to his wonderful and loyal family—in 

particular, his loving wife and partner Nancy. 

Nancy Reagan has always been an outstanding 

and inspirational role model for our entire Nation. And that has never been more clearly displayed than through her wonderful courage and 

love during the difficult journey she and President REAGAN traveled during the past decade. 

Like so many, I was inspired to actually answer the call of public service because of thenGovernor RONALD REAGAN’s positive, principled message. In 1976, I began as a young lieutenant in the Reagan revolution when I was 

asked to chair Young Virginians for REAGAN. 

Today, I am still motivated to work to advance 

his individual empowering philosophy in government. 

RONALD REAGAN entered the political stage 

in 1964 with a speech which summed up a philosophy that would guide him through his Presidency two decades hence, and which turned the 

tide of world history. 
206 Ronald Reagan 

Mr. REAGAN said in 1964: 

You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, 

or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children 

. . . say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did 

all that could be done. 

Indeed, RONALD WILSON REAGAN did have 

a rendezvous with destiny. President REAGAN rejuvenated the spirit of America. His determined, 

optimistic leadership lit the torch of liberty and 

allowed it to shine in the dark recesses of oppressed countries around the world. 

RONALD REAGAN believed in the innate goodness of mankind. He believed and advocated the 

wisdom of our country’s foundational principles. 

He believed that given the opportunity, all men 

and women would seek freedom and liberty and 

with it unleash creativity, ingenuity, hard work, 

and economic growth. 

He touched deeply the hearts and minds of 

Americans through his genuinely believed, commonsense conservative words of encouragement—from his first inaugural speech in 1981, 

to his inspirational State of the Union Addresses, 

to his moving memorial tribute to our lost Challenger explorer, to his strong demand to tear 

down the wall of oppression, to his passionate 

tribute to the defenders of liberty at Normandy 

20 years ago this week. Those were the words 

he delivered. Those words which he delivered are 

now as much a part of the fabric of America as 

the threads of our flag, Old Glory. Lee Greenwood’s song, ‘‘God Bless the U.S.A.,’’ was an anthem to RONALD REAGAN’s renewed America. 

Historians will surely discuss and debate the 

impact of RONALD REAGAN’s 8 years as President for generations to come. But there is no 

doubt his legacy has already been revealed. In 

fact, he foresaw his legacy. He was there at the 

bicentennial in 1981 of the Battle of Yorktown. 

He gave a wonderful speech at Yorktown, VA. 

He said as follows: 

We have come to this field to celebrate the triumph of 

an idea—that freedom will eventually triumph over tyranny. 

It is and always will be a warning to those who would usurp 

the rights of others: Time will find them beaten. The beacon 

of freedom shines here for all who will see, inspiring free 

men and captives alike, and no wall, no curtain, nor totalitarian state can shut it out. 

To put this in context, when RONALD

REAGAN became our 40th President, Americans 

had lost their faith in our leaders and in the role 

of America in the world. Government at home 

was restraining its citizens with oppressive taxation and burdensome regulations. Our national 

malaise led to historically high unemployment, 

high interest rates and inflation, low productivity, and a stagnant stock market. 

Our moral authority around the world had 

been eroding, and confidence in the ideals of liberty and democracy were replaced by the fear of 

expanding tyranny, communism, and repression. 

America yearned for a leader who could change 

the direction of our Nation and make them 

proud of our heritage once again. RONALD

REAGAN answered that call. 

Many tributes this week rightfully point to 

President REAGAN’s unwavering optimism and 

belief in the inner strength of Americans, and 

indeed all human beings. He understood that 

they could be motivated and inspired to higher 

ideals with our competitive nature. No more 

handwringing. He wanted action. Indeed, he 

challenged us to look no further than his administration and ourselves for solutions. He said, ‘‘If 

not us, who? And if not now, when?’’ 

Beyond his unshakable faith in mankind was 

his consistent adherence to principles which were 

unfashionable and often scorned when he came 

to office but today which are solidly embraced 

and winning the minds of people across our 

country and throughout the world. He acted on 

his beliefs that government interference should 

be restrained and that free people should be unrestrained, without limits. We prospered and we 

thrived with the creation of jobs and opportunities. 

One of my very favorite principles of President 

REAGAN was declared in his 1985 State of the 

Union Address when he said, ‘‘Every dollar the 

. . . Government does not take from us, every decision it does not make for us will make our 

economy stronger, our lives more abundant, and 

our future more free.’’ 

And so it is. Through tax cuts that return tax 

dollars to those whose hard work and ingenuity 

earned them, to reducing burdensome regulations, President REAGAN presided over the be-
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 207 

ginning of the most robust peace expansion of 

our economy in the history of our Nation. 

But President REAGAN believed the blessings 

of liberty must not be bestowed only on a few 

nations and only to those blessed to be born on 

free soil; RONALD REAGAN, with the strength of 

his convictions, exported and advanced democracy to continents, countries, and people yearning 

to taste the sweet nectar of liberty. 

He knew the evil communistic empire could 

not be sustained and would collapse under the 

weight of a determined effort to challenge the 

Soviets on their failed policies, both foreign and 

domestic. He reversed decades of policy calling 

for containment of that oppressive tyrannical system, and he boldly asserted that the advancement 

of freedom and liberty must be America’s No. 

1 foreign policy objective. Indeed, he believed 

that it is our solemn moral obligation to do so. 

Now we are seeing his greatest legacy. Hundreds of millions of free people, from the Baltics 

in Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia through Poland, 

Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, 

Bulgaria and Romania, all people once repressed 

behind the Iron Curtain are now joining NATO. 

They are true friends and allies. Yes, they are 

breathing that invigorating wind of freedom. 

One of the last public statements RONALD

REAGAN made was in 1983. He provided us with 

a vision which will guide us now and in the future. RONALD REAGAN said: 

History comes and history goes, but principles endure and 

ensure future generations to defend liberty—not as a gift 

from the government, but a blessing from our Creator. Here 

in America the lamp of individual conscience burns bright. 

By that I know we will all be guided to that dreamed of 

day when no one wields a sword and no one drags a chain. 

It is RONALD REAGAN’s inspiring character, 

courage, unflinching adherence to principles, 

policies, and eloquence that brought forth a renaissance for the United States of America, a rebirth of freedom, and the world also experienced 

that renaissance at a crucial juncture in history. 

He fanned the flames of freedom and that torch 

of liberty will continue to burn brightly by his 

inspiration and example. We all thank God for 

blessing the United States and the world with 

RONALD REAGAN. 

President REAGAN, as you finally enter the 

gates of that ‘‘shining city on the hill’’ you always talked about, rest peacefully, knowing you 

left the world a much better place than it was 

when you arrived. For that, the free people of 

your Nation are eternally grateful. 

Hon. Ted Stevens 

OF ALASKA

Mr. President, I come to the Senate today to 

join others to remember a good friend and a 

great American leader. 

In 1977, I was elected to the Senate leadership 

and served as assistant minority leader until the 

1980 election. I don’t think anyone at that time 

could have predicted the sweeping changes that 

were about to take place. When RONALD

REAGAN was elected, he ushered in a new era 

of government so profound it became known as 

the Reagan revolution. That was an exciting time 

in Washington. 

I became assistant majority leader and began 

a new life—Howard Baker was the majority leader. The day before I was to marry my wife Catherine, Howard called and asked me to replace 

him on a trip to China because Deng Xiaoping 

wanted to understand what Reaganism meant. 

My wife Catherine and I were married on December 30, and we left for China on December 

31. To prepare for those talks, I reviewed all of 

President REAGAN’s actions as Governor of California and his promises made during the election. 

I was honored to be offered the opportunity to 

explain and defend his record. 

When Congress convened in 1981, those of us 

in the Senate leadership went down almost weekly for meetings at the White House. Occasionally, President REAGAN came up to Howard 

Baker’s office as majority leader to meet with us. 

I don’t think any other President has done that 

as often as RONALD REAGAN. President REAGAN

always tackled very serious subjects in these 

meetings, but he kept us relaxed. He usually 

began our discussions in the Cabinet room with 

a joke or a story. His leadership brought out the 

best in all of us. 

During his administration we were able to accomplish a lot for the American people and set 

the Nation and the world on a new course. Much 
208 Ronald Reagan 

has been said already about the mark President 

REAGAN left on our national defense and foreign 

policy. Those were his greatest contributions as 

President, and I viewed those decisions from a 

unique advantage point. 

I was sworn in as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee just days before President REAGAN took the oath of office. 

He immediately began to move toward a 600- 

ship Navy, new aircraft development, and spacebased missile defense systems. President REAGAN

understood that the first thing we had to do was 

restore our military capability. The Soviets were 

outspending us at that time and stealing our secrets. The President took control of that situation, and in the years since President REAGAN

left office, either Senator Inouye or I have been 

chairman of the Appropriations Defense Subcommittee. Each of us has carried forth the vision 

President REAGAN had for our military. 

History has overlooked President REAGAN’s 

personal commitment to arms control, however. 

In 1985, the President supported the creation of 

the Arms Control Observer Group in the Senate, 

a group of Senators that served as official observers at any arms control negotiations involving the 

United States. I co-chaired that group along with 

Senators Lugar, Nunn, and Pell. Our goal was 

to avoid the problems we faced in the seventies 

when three successive arms control treaties were 

unable to achieve ratification in the Senate. Our 

group went to Geneva three or four times a year 

and came back and briefed the President, Secretary Shultz, and the Senators who were involved in arms control matters. 

The President encouraged the Soviets to decrease the size of their arsenals and to reduce the 

size of our nuclear forces. This was one of the 

most significant parts of the Reagan agenda, the 

overall concern with arms control. 

The President also created a revolutionary new 

approach to defense space research. He brought 

down the walls between isolated research projects 

and advocated a more comprehensive approach. 

A lot of the aspects of the missile defense system, 

which he called star wars, were based upon the 

research he put into effect then. 

When President REAGAN passed away on Saturday, I noted that his death coincided with another sad day in American history: On June 5, 

36 years ago, another great American leader, Senator and Presidential candidate Robert Kennedy, 

was struck down by an assassin’s bullet in Los 

Angeles. Although they were from different generations and different political parties, Robert 

Kennedy and RONALD REAGAN had a lot in 

common. Both men were leaders who did more 

than just point the country in the right direction. In the words of Bobby Kennedy, they inspired Americans to envision a ‘‘world that never 

was and ask ‘Why not?’ ‘’ 

On June 12, 1987, President REAGAN inspired 

all of us to envision a new world when he gave 

his famous speech at the Brandenburg Gate. I 

will never forget the image of President REAGAN

standing before that gate demanding that Gorbachev ‘‘Tear down this wall!’’ 

Weeks before he gave that speech, the President learned that his remarks would be carried 

in East Germany over the radio, and in one part 

of the speech he spoke directly to the people of 

East Germany. One can only imagine the hope 

the people on the other side of that wall must 

have felt when they heard the President of the 

United States declare in their native tongue: 

‘‘There is only one Berlin.’’ 

Here at home, President REAGAN built, as he 

called it, a ‘‘shining city upon a hill.’’ He borrowed that phrase from John Winthrop, an early 

Pilgrim who used it to describe the kind of 

America he envisioned. 

For REAGAN, the idea of a shining city was: 

A tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, 

wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all 

kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports 

that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had 

to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open 

to anyone with the will and the heart to get there. 

I will always be grateful to President REAGAN

for teaching us to believe in that shining city 

and for opening its doors so Alaska could finally 

enjoy full citizenship. 

Under President RONALD REAGAN, the freeze 

on the transfer of Alaskan lands to our new State 

and to the Alaskan Native people was finally lifted, and we began to receive the land that rightfully belonged to us under the Statehood Act 

that admitted Alaska into our Union. President 

REAGAN instructed the Department of the Interior to move as quickly as possible on that. I do 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 209 

not believe it would have happened that fast had 

he not been elected. 

Under President REAGAN, the Village Built 

Clinic Program began, and we set out to establish Indian health service clinics in every Native 

village in Alaska. 

Under President REAGAN, we finally addressed the injustice of Aleut internment during 

World War II by awarding reparations to Aleuts 

who had been taken from their homes and sent 

to what were called ‘‘duration villages’’ in southeastern Alaska for the duration of the war. 

President REAGAN understood Alaska’s military and geopolitical significance better than any 

other President. The modernization of Alaska’s 

military bases accelerated during his administration. 

What most Alaskans probably remember best 

about President REAGAN is how well he understood our State and our way of life. When he 

came to Fairbanks to meet Pope John Paul II, 

he told the crowd that every time he came to 

Alaska he thought of the poet Robert Service and 

threatened to recite ‘‘The Shooting of Dan 

McGrew.’’ In fact, he did that just that one night 

when Catherine and I were attending a dinner 

in Chicago. We had just flown in from Fairbanks, and I told the crowd that was present that 

the 20-degree weather in Chicago could not compete with the harsh weather back home, where 

the temperature was 50 below. RONALD REAGAN

got up to give his remarks, and he recited Robert 

Service’s poem ‘‘The Shooting of Dan McGrew’’ 

from memory. 

I distinctly remember him saying this phrase 

from Service’s poem: 

When out of the night, which was fifty below, and into the 

din and the glare, 

There stumbled a miner fresh from the creeks, dog-dirty, and 

loaded for bear. 

On the plane ride home, the President told 

my wife Catherine that his mother had kept a 

first edition of Robert Service’s poetry by his 

bedside and read those poems to him as a child. 

Catherine later sent him a first edition of Robert 

Service that she found in a bookstore in New 

York, and he wrote her a nice letter back telling 

her he planned to memorize ‘‘The Cremation of 

Sam McGee’’ once more. 

I tried many times to get the President to 

come back to Alaska, but, unfortunately, he decided, as the years went by, that he wanted to 

go back to California to ride horses. 

We understood that, and honored him for it. 

Alaskans took comfort in knowing that even if 

his heart belonged to California, he was raised 

on the words of Robert Service, our favorite poet. 

One of my fondest memories of President 

REAGAN is, strangely enough, a phone call I received from him as chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense. The President 

called to ask me if I had placed funding in the 

Defense bill that year to procure a new pair of 

Air Force I airplanes. I told him that I had. 

President REAGAN told me that he had not requested that funding and would veto the bill. 

He said, ‘‘Ted, I’m the President.’’ 

I said, ‘‘Sir, I understand that, but you won’t 

be President by the time the new planes arrive.’’ 

There was silence on the other end of the line, 

and when he finally spoke, the President said, 

‘‘Ted, do you have a design for these planes?’’ 

I will never forget that because the first time 

a President flew in those new planes was when 

one of them took the retired President and 

Nancy back to California in 1989. 

This week, President REAGAN will fly back to 

Washington for the last time. Thousands of 

Americans will pay tribute to him in the Capitol 

rotunda and millions more will reflect on his life. 

Catherine and I extend our deepest sympathies 

to Nancy and the Reagan family, as all of us will 

mourn the loss of a true American hero. 

Hon. Jon Kyl 

OF ARIZONA

Mr. President, America mourns the loss of an 

epoch-making leader, RONALD WILSON

REAGAN. 

As the biographer Lou Cannon has said, 

REAGAN ‘‘possessed a special ‘something’ that 

transcended the appeal of ordinary politicians,’’ 

and he knew it. Even so—and this is an important point—he was neither a vain man nor in 

love with power. In not misusing that special appeal that he had, he showed such character and 
210 Ronald Reagan 

goodness. He could have been, but was not, a 

demagog. He was trying to accomplish his exalted vision of this country, only that. And in 

large measure, he succeeded. 

Militarily, he rebuilt America’s capacity to defend itself and its allies. REAGAN’s defense buildup led to U.S. victories in the cold war, the Persian Gulf war, and beyond. In fact, dealing skillfully with a Congress controlled during most of 

his Presidency by the other party, he secured 

funding for weapons systems that are still being 

used. 

Diplomatically, he achieved with the Soviet 

Union, our adversary during most of the last century, an accord that eliminated whole classes of 

nuclear weapons from the stockpiles of both 

countries. 

Politically, he enabled us to regain confidence 

in America. His confidence in his country and 

its goodness was utterly unshakable, so he was 

just the right leader to rise to the fore when the 

national spirit had been battered by our withdrawal from Vietnam, the scandal of Watergate, 

and the malaise that his predecessor identified 

but could not seem to counteract. 

Economically, he slew the dragon of doubledigit inflation. He braved unpopularity to stay 

the course with Paul Volcker, Chairman of the 

Federal Reserve, in tightening the money supply. 

This steadfastness saw the United States through 

its worst economic crisis in 50 years. The economy slid deep into a recession before recovering 

in late 1982. 

Along with tightening the money supply to 

kill inflation, REAGAN was convinced that marginal tax rates must be cut to stimulate growth. 

These anti-inflation and tax policies defied the 

conventional wisdom of that time. But they 

worked. They gave us what the late, great journalist Robert Bartley called ‘‘the seven fat years,’’ 

a time of unprecedented job creation and economic expansion in America. 

Even as RONALD REAGAN won through in domestic policy, he was a statesman who left his 

mark on the world. 

During his two terms in office, early 1981 to 

the end of 1988, he championed the cause of 

human rights in the Soviet Union and Central 

and Eastern Europe, standing up for freedom, democracy, and civil society. He spoke passionately 

of God-given rights and said self-government 

and free markets were the only way to vindicate 

those rights. He wanted the people who were living under oppression to regain their dignity, and 

his words gave hope to millions. 

In his 1982 ‘‘Evil Empire’’ speech before the 

British House of Commons, President REAGAN

said: 

While we must be cautious about forcing the pace of 

change, we must not hesitate to declare our ultimate objectives and to take concrete actions to move toward them. We 

must be staunch in our conviction that freedom is not the 

sole prerogative of a lucky few, but the inalienable and universal right of all human beings. 

The Reagan administration fostered democracy 

around the world in the eighties, in Central 

America, South America, Asia. The Philippines, 

Taiwan, and South Korea all liberalized their societies in ways that may not have been possible 

without the Reagan administration’s support. 

President REAGAN will go down in history for 

his doctrine of ‘‘peace through strength.’’ It 

turned this country around militarily and diplomatically and turned the course of the cold war 

dramatically in our favor. It was also a negotiating strategy—just not the right one, it turned 

out—for dealing with a communist power that 

was ailing economically but still aggressive. The 

Soviet Union had last invaded a country the year 

before he was elected, Afghanistan in 1979. The 

U.S.S.R. was engaged in the seventies in a rapid 

military buildup. I remember also that the prevailing nuclear standoff between the two superpowers when REAGAN came into office was 

frightening. They were locked in a decades-old 

equilibrium under which neither attacked the 

other because each could, at the push of a button, 

destroy the other’s populations with nuclear 

weapons. President REAGAN once said this nuclear standoff, which was called mutual assured 

destruction, was ‘‘a sad commentary on the 

human condition.’’ 

He had the courage and the imagination to 

think of a way out of it: erecting a defense 

against nuclear arms. This would end the practice of holding civilian populations hostage to 

the atomic bomb. It was, he believed, both militarily and morally necessary to strike off in this 

new direction. As he pointed the way, he en-
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 211 

dured heavy criticism and even ridicule, but it 

didn’t faze him. 

His idea was brilliant, for even if embarking 

on this high-tech shield against missiles did not 

lead to a deployable U.S. system right away, he 

knew the Soviets would pour their resources into 

matching our progress toward missile defense. It 

was a competition they could ill afford. The extra 

burden—economically, and even psychologically, 

of keeping up with missile defense and the entire 

REAGAN military buildup—hastened the collapse 

of the Soviet economy and the communist system 

itself. 

People who didn’t agree with President 

REAGAN called him a saber rattler and worse. 

Opponents wrung their hands at this peacethrough-strength approach, insisting a buildup 

of U.S. military capabilities couldn’t possibly 

help us if the goal was a safer and more peaceful 

world. Yet the critics were wrong. President 

REAGAN, the so-called saber rattler, sat down 

with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in Washington in December 1987 and the two men 

signed the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty 

which abolished the use of all intermediate and 

shorter range missiles by the United States and 

the Soviet Union. 

The following year the Reagan administration 

created the On-Site Inspection Agency to conduct U.S. inspections of Soviet military facilities 

and to aid Soviet inspections at our facilities. The 

REAGAN-Gorbachev diplomacy set the stage for 

the 1990 signing between NATO and the Warsaw Pact of the Conventional Forces in Europe 

Treaty. 

One of the well-known personal traits of RONALD REAGAN was that he didn’t care who got 

credit for successful policies. Goodness knows, 

his detractors, then and even now, will deny him 

any credit he might deserve for making the 

world safer. He did make the world safer, 

though. That is the truth of it. And history will 

remember him that way. 

We can say of RONALD REAGAN what Lincoln 

said in praise of his, Lincoln’s, personal role 

model Henry Clay: 

He loved his country partly because it was his own country, but mostly because it was a free country. 

The role model of our time is RONALD

REAGAN. His principles are the principles we 

now embrace. They will help us to keep this a 

free country and to help others who want to be 

free. 

As we continue in the wake of September 11 

to fight the war on terror, we all take comfort 

and inspiration from the jaunty optimism and 

the seriousness of purpose of RONALD REAGAN. 

And President George W. Bush practices 

REAGAN’s doctrine of ‘‘peace through strength.’’ 

He has done so by confronting and defeating tyranny in Afghanistan and Iraq; by pursuing deployment of missile defenses; by leading the 

international community to stop the spread of 

weapons of mass destruction; and by demonstrating to the world that the United States 

is willing to rally free peoples in defense of our 

civilization and our democratic way of life. 

Thank you, RONALD REAGAN, for showing 

the way. 

Hon. Sam Brownback 

OF KANSAS

Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to RONALD

REAGAN, my political guiding light. I came to 

Congress on the second REAGAN wave in the 

1994 election, when Republicans took over the 

House of Representatives. Many of us were raised 

on RONALD REAGAN. His was my first Presidential campaign in 1976, when I was still a student at Kansas State University. I was riding in 

a tractor in Kansas when I heard the ‘‘Evil Empire’’ speech. I started pounding on the dashboard, saying, That is right, that is right. Then 

all the pundits came on afterward and said how 

terrible it was. I was a bit confused but decided 

REAGAN was right and the pundits were wrong. 

He went on to prove that. 

He was a great contributor to our time and 

our legacy. I only had the pleasure of meeting 

RONALD REAGAN once. I was a White House 

fellow in the Bush 1 White House. We met him 

in southern California. People had always given 

examples of his legendary humor. This meeting 

was no exception. We were having a meeting for 

a period of time, and then one of the people with 

whom I was traveling asked him a question, 

‘‘What one thing didn’t you get done as Presi-
212 Ronald Reagan 

dent that you wish you had gotten done.’’ I think 

he had heard this question before and he had 

given this line before, but he tilted his head 

back, and you could see the glint in his eye and 

the smile comes across the face, and he said, ‘‘I 

wished I had brought back the cavalry.’’ That 

was a line people enjoyed at the time, and it was 

the sort of humorous thing he was so known for 

in his policies. It was part of his greatness. 

While he was a great President, he didn’t consider greatness to be inherent to him. He considered this country great. He considered the position of President to be great. But he wasn’t full 

of the feeling of greatness for himself, and he always had self-deprecating humor. That was part 

of him. 

Following on the previous speaker, Senator 

Kyl, I had a chance several years back to talk 

with Eduard Shevardnadze, Foreign Secretary 

under Mikhail Gorbachev, about when REAGAN

and Gorbachev were negotiating on missile reduction and nuclear weapons reduction. This was 

a meeting that took place within the last 3 or 

4 years with Mr. Shevardnadze. I asked him to 

reflect on that time period when we were having 

a military defense buildup here under RONALD

REAGAN and what took place in the Soviet 

Union in that time period. I wanted to get a 

measure from him on that. 

He said of REAGAN: 

REAGAN saw the central weakness of the Soviet Union. 

That was its inability to produce goods and services. They 

were spending somewhere between 60 to 80 percent of the 

GDP of the Soviet Union on the military. Along comes 

REAGAN and says: I am moving more chips on the table. 

You will have to match me if you want to stay in this race. 

The Soviet Union then was looking around 

saying, how do we stay in the race when we are 

putting virtually every chip we have right now 

into this military buildup for the cold war. And 

it was a long way from secure at that point in 

time that the Soviet Union was going to fall any 

time soon. This was a very well-established, militarily strong country. What it forced in the Soviet Union was for them to restructure their 

economy and move to openness to try to get 

more chips on the table to grow their economy. 

They introduced the likes of glasnost and 

perestroika, openness and restructuring of the 

economy. But when you looked at the totalitarian communist system, glasnost and 

perestroika were inherent inconsistencies and led 

to the demise of the Soviet Union, that along 

with RONALD REAGAN’s words. These words are 

from Eduard Shevardnadze. Many talked about 

star wars and how the Soviet Union, at that time 

when REAGAN announced star wars—the Soviet 

Union’s leadership sent its best scientists to come 

back and appraise it and tell the political leadership if the Americans could do this. The Soviet 

scientists came back after a few months of studying the American proposal—the Reagan proposal—for star wars and said we could not. They 

spent another few months looking at it and then 

returned to the Soviet leadership and said if the 

Americans are willing to stay on this path and 

put the money into doing it, they can do it. 

It sent a shock wave through the leadership 

in the Soviet system that the United States could 

get this accomplished. Clearly, the deciding factor of opening that system led to the demise of 

the Soviet Union and the end of the cold war. 

There was this wave of freedom for people who 

had been in oppressed societies for their entire 

existence, and that was RONALD REAGAN. He 

understood the source of our national greatness 

was not our wealth or our military power but, 

rather our belief in the dignity of the individual 

and in the God-given freedom of ordinary people 

to order their lives as they wished. That was the 

source of his view of the United States being a 

‘‘shining city on a hill’’ and a model to people 

the world over, and an inspiring example of a 

political system that put power in the hands of 

the people, not bureaucrats or judges. That was 

RONALD REAGAN. 

We remember President REAGAN for restoring 

our national confidence at a time when our country was on the heels of the Vietnam war and the 

impeachment of a President, uncertain about the 

way forward. We remember him for his staunch 

defense of innocent, unborn human life—an issue 

on which he never wavered—and for the extraordinary step he took in authoring a book as President, entitled ‘‘Abortion and the Conscience of 

the Nation,’’ because he felt so strongly about 

the prolife cause. We remember his brave challenge to a new Soviet leader to ‘‘tear down this 

wall,’’ because it was an affront to human dignity. We remember his vital role in bringing the 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 213 

cold war to an end—an end hastened by both 

President REAGAN’s military buildup and his revitalization of the American economy. 

In all of RONALD REAGAN’s political life was 

his passionate belief in two core principles: 

human freedom and human dignity, both inalienable because they were given by God. He 

believed in the unbounded inventiveness and ingenuity of the individual freed from the tyranny 

of government but firmly rooted in our recognition of a higher moral authority. He understood 

that, in his words, ‘‘The City of Man cannot survive without the City of God, that the Visible 

City will perish without the Invisible City.’’ 

President REAGAN recognized that the vitality 

of our society and culture has always been dependent on the religious faith and practice of the 

people. As he said: 

Those who created our country . . . understood that there 

is a divine order which transcends the human order. They 

saw the state, in fact, as a form of moral order and felt that 

the bedrock of moral order is religion. 

RONALD REAGAN was never reticent in speaking about his own faith and the primary place 

it held in his life. In all of these things, President 

REAGAN was, and continues to be, an inspiration 

to millions, and certainly to me. He transformed 

the world for the better, and we are thankful he 

graced this Nation with his life, his example, and 

his divine calling. 

Our thoughts and prayers go out to him and 

to his family. And for all of us who mourn his 

passing, may we continue to be inspired and elevated by all he was, all he achieved, and all he 

sought for us to be. 

God bless you, RONALD REAGAN. 

Hon. Byron L. Dorgan 

OF NORTH DAKOTA

Mr. President, I would like to extend my 

deepest sympathy to the Reagan family, and to 

send a thank you from a grateful Nation to someone who served this country so well. And I know 

that the citizens I represent in North Dakota feel 

the same way. 

President REAGAN had a profound impact on 

the demise of the Soviet Union and the end of 

the cold war. I recall in the eighties, in the middle of the cold war, when the lives of two men 

intersected—RONALD REAGAN and Mikhail 

Gorbachev. These two men were very different 

in many ways, but they changed the course of 

history. Together, President REAGAN and Mikhail Gorbachev sat down together to reduce the 

threat of nuclear weapons, to reduce the stockpile 

of nuclear weapons in both countries. 

The Soviet Union no longer exists. Eastern Europe and the Warsaw Pact no longer exist. The 

communist threat and cold war that stemmed 

from them is gone. And much of the credit, in 

my judgment, belongs to President RONALD

REAGAN. 

We all recall the historic occasion when he 

stood at the wall in Berlin and said, ‘‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!’’ It was a moment I 

will never forget. 

But President REAGAN was defined by more 

than this moment. 

When hundreds of American troops were 

killed in Lebanon, it was RONALD REAGAN who 

went to the press room and said he was accountable. You don’t see many in politics do that, but 

he did. 

In 1986, I served on the House Ways and 

Means Committee, in which we provided the 

most significant tax reform that had been done 

in many decades in this country—under the leadership of a President who said let’s reduce tax 

rates for all Americans and get rid of some of 

the tax loopholes. This President led and the 

Congress followed. I was proud to be a part of 

that. 

His Presidency was not without substantial 

controversy and difficulty. I felt his fiscal policy 

would produce very large budget deficits, and it 

did. And the Iran-Contra scandal was a serious 

problem for the administration. Yet, despite 

those problems and setbacks and controversies, I 

think President REAGAN provided leadership in 

some very important areas. 

The charm of President REAGAN was considerable. He had that cowboy hat kind of cocked 

back on his head. He had movie-star good looks. 

He had that famous smile. He was a great storyteller with a gleam in his eye. He told the story 

often about the pile of manure and the child who 

insisted that if there is a pile of manure, there 
214 Ronald Reagan 

must be a pony somewhere. The President loved 

to regale people with stories. 

I don’t pretend to have known him well, but 

I sat behind him on the west front of the Capitol 

in 1981, when he gave his inaugural address. I 

recall that he announced to the country that 

planes had just left the tarmac in Iran with the 

American hostages now freed. It was a gray, cold 

day and the first inaugural of President REAGAN. 

As he began to speak, the clouds began to part 

and rays of sunshine began to come through. It 

was a remarkable moment. 

And I was a freshman Member of the House 

when, one day, I was called to the bank of telephones in the Democratic Cloakroom. They told 

me it was President REAGAN calling. 

The President wanted my vote for a policy he 

was proposing to the Congress. I listened to him, 

but in the end, I felt he was not right on that 

particular issue, and I said I could not support 

him on it. He said, ‘‘Well, you are a good man, 

and thanks for taking my call.’’ It was just like 

him to frame it that way. 

I had the opportunity to have breakfast with 

him, along with a handful of my colleagues, one 

morning in the White House. Once again, he regaled all of us with wonderful, charming stories. 

I have always said that if you could have dinner with anyone, you could not do better than 

RONALD REAGAN or Tip O’Neill, both Irish, 

both wonderful people with a wit and a charm, 

and both great storytellers. 

I believe that for President REAGAN, politics 

was not bitter or rancid. In fact, he used to talk 

about the ‘‘11th commandment’’ for his party: 

Thou shalt not speak ill of someone in his own 

political party. It is a commandment that has 

been long forgotten, regrettably. I am afraid that 

today’s politics have taken a turn for the worse. 

President REAGAN was aggressive in debate 

but always respectful. I believe he personified the 

notion that you can disagree without being disagreeable. 

He was a man of great strength. After he was 

shot during an assassination attempt—seriously 

wounded—he was wheeled into the hospital 

emergency room, and he was ready with a quip 

for the doctors. 

He was a remarkable person. When the Challenger accident occurred and this country was horrified by seeing the explosion of the Challenger 

and the death of those astronauts, it was RONALD

REAGAN who came on television and talked 

about that ill-fated flight. But he did it in such 

an inspiring way, and finished with the refrain 

from that poem: ‘‘jThey havek slipped the surly 

bonds of earth’’ and ‘‘touchjedk the face of God.’’ 

Later in life, as President REAGAN lived in retirement in California, he began a long journey 

into the darkness of a devastating illness called 

Alzheimer’s. His last statement to the American 

people was a poignant statement, in which he 

described his illness and its consequences. 

This is a man who served his country with 

great distinction, someone with whom I had disagreements from time to time, but someone 

whom I believe is owed the admiration of an entire Nation. 

I am reminded of a book that David 

McCullough wrote about another President, John 

Adams. In the book, you learn that John Adams 

wrote to his wife Abigail, as our Founding Fathers tried to put this country of ours together— 

and he asked these questions: From where will 

the leadership come? Who will be the leaders? 

How will the leadership emerge to create this 

new country of ours? And then he would plaintively say to his wife: There is only us. There 

is me. There is Ben Franklin. There is George 

Washington. There is Thomas Jefferson and 

James Madison. There is George Mason. 

Of course, in the rearview mirror of history, 

we recognize that these men were some of the 

greatest human talent ever assembled on Earth. 

But every generation has asked that same question for this great democracy. From where will 

the leadership come? Who will be the leaders? 

And this country has been fortunate that, in generation after generation, men and women of virtually all political persuasions have stepped forward to say: Let me serve this great country. 

RONALD REAGAN was one of those leaders. He 

served in California as Governor and then served 

two terms as President of the United States. He 

had, in my judgment, a kind of a peculiar quality, a quality that gave him an almost quenchless 

hope, boundless optimism, an indestructible belief that something good was going to happen, 

and he communicated that to a grateful Nation. 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 215 

So today we say thank you. Thank you for 

your service. God bless your memory, and God 

bless your family. 

Hon. Wayne Allard 

OF COLORADO

Mr. President, some people have the capacity 

to change your life. For me, RONALD REAGAN

was one of those people. RONALD REAGAN’s 

message of strengthening individual liberties, 

maintaining a strong national defense, cutting 

through the thicket of government regulations 

and lowering taxes inspired me to run for public 

office in the eighties. He made me believe it is 

possible to bring about change for the better. 

I first ran for the Colorado State Senate in 

1982, the second year of REAGAN’s Presidency, 

and fought to pass resolutions there supporting 

the policies that the President advocated, such 

as the balanced budget amendment. 

I was a small businessman. I operated a private 

veterinary practice. So RONALD REAGAN’s vision 

of strengthening America’s small businesses, because they are the backbone of our economy and 

way of life, had a great deal of appeal. His belief 

in small government and cutting taxes to allow 

people to decide how best to spend their own 

money have been two of my guiding principles 

since I was first elected to public office. I believe 

him to be the father of the modern Republican 

Party. 

My wife Joan and I never had the opportunity 

to meet RONALD REAGAN until he came to Colorado in 1988. Talking to him one on one was 

an emotional high point of my life. We smiled 

all the way back home to Loveland, CO. I have 

kept his picture hanging in my office, first in 

the U.S. House of Representatives and now in 

the Senate, ever since. 

It is hard to describe to the young people who 

live in our vibrant economy and confident culture just how unsure and discouraged Americans 

were in the late seventies. Everything that could 

go wrong had. America seemed to be shrinking 

before our eyes. Those in charge of our government had apparently given up on winning the 

cold war. The Soviet Union loomed dangerous 

and, we were told, invincible. We were being admonished to get used to a dysfunctional economy 

that combined high inflation with low growth, 

a demoralized military, an ever more intrusive 

and intruding government, a depressed and depressing spiritual malaise that left many in doubt 

about our fundamental values. No one offered a 

way out. 

RONALD REAGAN’s fresh voice of optimism 

was like manna to our hungry spirits. He talked 

about how our idling economy could regain its 

formidable power. He talked about how great 

our country was and how much greater it could 

be. He talked about facing down our foes and 

our fears. He talked about restoring American 

pride and patriotism. He, more than any other 

individual in the second half of the 20th century, 

brought America back from the brink of selfimposed defeat and despair. He made us proud 

once again. 

RONALD REAGAN was a monumentally gifted 

man, and a man of many gifts. 

To those in doubt, he brought the gift of optimism. 

To his supporters and allies, he brought the 

gift of confidence and assurance. 

To an audience, he brought a magnificent gift 

of humor. 

To his opponents, he brought the gift of disagreeing without being disagreeable. 

His gift to the world was even more significant. He brought about the end of a cold war 

that had cast a 50-year shadow of fear over all 

the people on the planet. 

RONALD REAGAN never doubted his country’s 

need to defend itself from all foes. ‘‘Of the four 

wars in my lifetime,’’ President REAGAN said, 

‘‘none came about because the United States was 

too strong.’’ 

It is of paramount importance for us to remember, during this period of threat and conflict, the wisdom of one of his favorite phrases: 

‘‘Peace through strength.’’ Among his greatest 

achievements was to rearm us, to reinvigorate the 

American military, and to let our adversaries 

know, beyond any doubt, that they were in a race 

they were not going to win. 

In the past 15 years or so, the United States 

has decisively fought and won two significant 

wars. The keys to those victories were highly mo-
216 Ronald Reagan 

tivated and skilled combat personnel fighting 

with unmatched military equipment and employing unprecedented tactics. 

How did this renewed and reinvigorated 

American military might come about? 

Let’s look back to RONALD REAGAN’s acceptance speech at the 1980 Republican Nominating 

Convention. As only the Great Communicator 

could, he laid out his vision for us with not only 

clarity, but with a conviction that rings true and 

is still good counsel today. 

He said: 

We are awed—and rightly so—by the forces of destruction 

at loose in the world in this nuclear era. But neither can 

we be naive or foolish. . . . We know only too well that war 

comes not when the forces of freedom are strong, but when 

they are weak. It is then that tyrants are tempted. 

He added: 

Let our friends and those who may wish us ill take note: 

the United States has an obligation to its citizens and to the 

people of the world never to let those who would destroy 

freedom dictate the future course of human life on this planet. . . . This nation will once again be strong enough to do 

that. 

He was, of course, as good as his word. Once 

assuming office, President REAGAN launched a 

military renaissance that not only led to the demise of the Soviet Union, Soviet communism, 

and the cold war, but also set the course for our 

military leadership that continues to this day ensuring our safety. 

President REAGAN’s initiative was threefold: 

upgrade our military equipment; improve the 

training and morale of our service men and 

women to improve recruitment and retention; 

and restore national pride in—and global respect 

of—the U.S. military. 

A major accomplishment of President 

REAGAN’s was the development of a credible, 

modern strategic deterrent. He reinvested in our 

strategic ballistic missile weapons inventories, 

modernized a complement of land, sea, and aircraft-based platforms to project our strategic 

force. 

This display of offensive force proved to be an 

effective deterrent, but President REAGAN envisioned a world with far fewer of these destructive 

weapons, and pressed throughout his Presidency 

for significant reductions of nuclear weapons. In 

1983, President REAGAN launched the Strategic 

Defense Initiative in the hopes of one day rendering all such ballistic missiles impotent and 

obsolete. 

Today we are building on his legacy by deploying strategic missile defenses and aggressively eliminating excessive nuclear stockpiles. 

President REAGAN’s legacy to us, of a safer 

world, is one we must constantly guard and 

honor. 

There is no doubt that President REAGAN was 

one of the greatest Presidents of the modern era. 

A man of huge confidence and unwavering principle, he revived the American spirit, revitalized 

our economy and engineered the fall of communism. He changed the world for the better. 

We share his family’s grief, and keep them in 

our prayers. 

In his memory, let us recommit ourselves to 

President REAGAN’s goal of ensuring that America always remains the bright, ‘‘shining city on 

the hill.’’ 

Hon. Chuck Hagel 

OF NEBRASKA

Mr. President, on January 20, 1981, RONALD

REAGAN, after being sworn in as the 40th President of the United States, looked out over The 

Mall and addressed the Nation. He told us that 

the challenges of our day required: 

Our best effort and our willingness to believe in ourselves 

and to believe in our capacity to perform great deeds, to believe that together with God’s help we can and will resolve 

the problems which now confront us. And after all, why 

shouldn’t we believe that? We are Americans. 

I remember the celebrations that evening as 

if they happened yesterday. It was a bitterly cold 

evening. As our Nation celebrated a new beginning, it was as if the cold January winds swept 

away a Nation’s doubts and fears and replaced 

them with a renewed American spirit. 

RONALD REAGAN was a unique American 

leader who understood the greatness and the 

goodness of America. He knew who he was and 

what he believed. Over the last century, no 

American President was as well grounded as 

RONALD REAGAN. He had faith and confidence 

in the people of America, and that trust was reciprocated. 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 217 

As much as anyone who came before or after 

him, RONALD REAGAN possessed an innate understanding of the significance of the American 

Presidency. RONALD and Nancy REAGAN set the 

gold standard for grace, dignity and class in the 

White House. REAGAN understood the weight 

and consequences of his office beyond the borders 

of the United States. The world looked to him 

as a standard bearer of freedom. REAGAN also understood the importance of the Presidency to 

young people. The responsibility of being a role 

model to a nation’s youth rested easily on his 

shoulders. 

RONALD REAGAN is known as the Great Communicator. While he certainly was one of the 

best communicators ever to hold the Presidency, 

he was far more than just a talented communicator. REAGAN was a thinker and a writer. He 

was constantly writing beautiful letters and his 

speeches in longhand. Today, these speeches and 

letters are national treasures. REAGAN thought 

deeply about the great issues of his time without 

getting dragged down into the underbrush of detail and trivia. He was not a superfluous man. 

Our Nation was guided by his clarity of purpose, 

understanding of the purpose of power and the 

limitations of government. 

Since President REAGAN left the American political stage, we have missed his imagination and 

creativity. Since his days of sitting in a radio studio doing play-by-play broadcasts for baseball 

games from news wire service copy, he had a 

genuineness that served him well. He was a masterful storyteller. In today’s age of processed politics and politicians, President REAGAN’s candor 

and humor are sorely lacking. 

RONALD REAGAN was a child of humble beginnings who never forgot the little guy. He believed every American had something special to 

contribute. REAGAN let people know that each 

thread of the American fabric mattered. In late 

September 1980, I was working as an adviser on 

the REAGAN-Bush campaign. 

One evening, I was part of a group invited to 

an estate near Middleburg, VA, where thenGovernor and Nancy REAGAN were staying. 

They wanted to thank us for the work we had 

done for the campaign with a wonderful dinner. 

As the evening was ending, an aide to Governor 

REAGAN asked me to remain after the dinner because Governor REAGAN wanted to speak with 

me. I was taken into the house where Governor 

REAGAN was staying. He sat down next to me 

and told me he wanted to talk about Vietnam. 

He wanted to know about my experience and 

what I thought about the war. That was the kind 

of man he was. He wanted to understand things. 

He wanted to know things and he wanted to 

make the world better than it was. 

Though his individual accomplishments are 

great, RONALD REAGAN will be remembered for 

something far greater than the sum of his individual accomplishments; he will be remembered 

for renewing the American spirit. He was a true 

American original. We will never see one like 

him again. 

Over the last decade as we struggled to meet 

the challenges of our time, RONALD REAGAN

slipped away from us. He now belongs to the 

warmth of eternity and the pages of history. 

However, he has not left us to meet our challenges alone. The lessons of his leadership and 

the strength of his spirit that swept across our 

country on a cold day in January 24 years ago, 

guide us still today. 

Hon. Don Nickles 

OF OKLAHOMA

Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to 

a man who meant a great deal to me and a great 

deal to my State and to our country. That, of 

course, is President RONALD REAGAN. It is with 

sadness I learned that he recently passed away. 

But I have great confidence he has moved on to 

a better home. I express my condolences and 

sympathies to his family and also thank them for 

their generosity in sharing RONALD REAGAN

with us in the public life, both as Governor of 

the great State of California, and also as President 

of the United States for 8 wonderful years. 

I had the privilege, in the same year as RONALD REAGAN was elected President, to be elected 

to the Senate. I have many fond memories of 

RONALD REAGAN. I remember very well during 

his inaugural address when the rumors were coming out, and then later confirmed, that the 

American citizens who were held hostage in Iran 
218 Ronald Reagan 

for 444 days were released. I remember the euphoria that came across the stage. I remember 

the euphoria that came across America. It was 

such an exciting, positive change. Americans 

really felt great. This was suppressing our country, the very fact that we had American citizens 

held hostage for over a year, in many cases being 

beaten or tortured or abused, with American 

flags burning in Tehran continually. It was such 

a great day when they were released. 

I happen to think it was because, in many respects, the leadership of Iran decided they did 

not want to worry about this new President, 

RONALD REAGAN, and what actions he might 

take. I think they made a very good decision. 

I was very pleased they did so. I was very 

euphoric at the time and probably could not have 

been much more excited at that time. 

When we were sworn in, there were 18 new 

Senators elected in 1980 and sworn in early in 

1981. Of the 18, 16 were Republicans. The leadership of the Senate changed for the first time, I 

believe, since 1954. So we had new committee 

chairmen; we had new leadership. Howard Baker 

assumed the responsibility and role as majority 

leader and did an outstanding job. The Senate 

was a great place to work and to serve, and to 

work with a President as generous, as humorous, 

and with such strong leadership as RONALD

REAGAN. 

I look at the economy that RONALD REAGAN

inherited, and I see great accomplishments. A lot 

of people do not remember that in 1980 the inflation rate was 13.5 percent and it fell to 4.8 percent by 1989. The interest rate in 1980 was 15.27 

percent and fell to 10.87 percent by 1989. Actually, the interest rate had risen to 18.87 percent 

in 1981. I remember that now. Interest rates were 

at 18 and 19 percent. The unemployment rate in 

1980 was over 7 percent. In 1981 it reached 7.6 

percent but by 1989 it was down to 5.3 percent. 

So we had record high inflation rates, record 

high interest rates, and maybe not record high 

but very high unemployment rates. We inherited 

an economy that was going nowhere fast. It was 

going in the wrong direction. You could not afford to build a home. You could not afford to 

expand your business. It was a very difficult 

time. 

RONALD REAGAN came in with such great enthusiasm, such an optimist. He did not say, ‘‘let’s 

moan about it,’’ but ‘‘let’s do something about 

it.’’ He had an economic game plan for which 

we fought, and we passed in the House and the 

Senate. These were remarkable accomplishments 

when I think about it. 

He actually was responsible for pushing Congress, Democrats and Republicans, to pass enormous changes in the Tax Code. I happened to 

enjoy working on taxes, and during his 8 years 

he actually moved the maximum tax rate from 

70 percent to 28 percent. That is a phenomenal 

accomplishment. Phenomenal. And he was able 

to do it with a bipartisan majority. It was not 

a strictly partisan House and Senate. As a matter 

of fact, the House was always controlled by the 

Democrats. Tip O’Neill, who was the Democrat 

leader, the House Speaker at the time, was opposed. So we had big confrontations, political 

confrontations, big battles over the tax cuts, and 

over the budgets. Yet they passed them. 

Even though we had big battles, we had a certain dignity and respect in large part because of 

RONALD REAGAN. And because of his affection 

for individuals, Democrats and Republicans, even 

political adversaries who would have political 

battles still had a collegial, working relationship. 

They respected each other and respected individuals regardless of their political philosophy. As 

a result, he was able to enact enormous changes 

in the Tax Code and budgets, and increase defense. 

RONALD REAGAN came in with an agenda, 

and he largely accomplished those objectives. 

The result has been economic freedom in this 

country. 

He was not satisfied, frankly, with just expanding and improving the economic lot of 

Americans. He wanted to improve the economic 

lot and the freedom of people throughout the 

world. RONALD REAGAN was the leader of the 

free world, and he spoke eloquently and often 

and encouraged freedom through the world and 

countless countries that have been oppressed or 

suppressed through communist leadership. RONALD REAGAN was speaking to them. He would 

go right over the leaders of Congress. If he wanted to get something done budgetwise, taxwise, 

or defensewise, and if Congress was not listening, 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 219 

he would go to the American people. And when 

he would travel internationally he would go over 

the leadership of those countries and speak to 

their people with great success. 

We all remember his speech when he was in 

Berlin, the speech that says: ‘‘Mr. Gorbachev, 

tear down this wall!’’ 

The favorite picture of all my memorabilia 

that I have in my home is a picture of me standing before the Berlin Wall, and behind it somebody spray-painted on the wall: ‘‘When this wall 

falls, the rest will, too.’’ And they did. The Berlin Wall did fall, and I think it was in large part 

because of RONALD REAGAN’s leadership. 

When that wall fell, other countries that had 

been suppressed and under the reins of the Iron 

Curtain of communism began speaking up, exercising their rights, and demanding freedom and 

obtaining it. 

RONALD REAGAN was the leader in winning 

the fight in the cold war. As Mr. Gorbachev said, 

probably no one else in the world could have 

done it, but RONALD REAGAN did it. And he 

was able to do it with Mr. Gorbachev. Many 

times they were political adversaries in negotiating arms control treaties and so on. Yet they 

still became friends as only RONALD REAGAN

could do. He could become friends with his adversaries and eventually that kind of friendship 

and bond would lead to arms control reduction, 

would lead to a significant reduction in nuclear 

weapons, would lead to agreements with our 

NATO allies and other countries to expand freedom. 

RONALD REAGAN, probably more than any individual since Churchill or Roosevelt, was responsible for expanding freedom throughout the 

world. I compliment him for his great contributions in doing so. 

He became somewhat of a role model for many 

of us. I was elected with this group in 1980. 

Many of us called ourselves Reaganites and considered ourselves part of the soldiers in the field 

trying to get an agenda done to expand freedom. 

I am proud to have been part of that. I am proud 

to have had the opportunity to serve with such 

a great individual. 

I remember many times going down to the 

White House, talking issues. I remember RONALD REAGAN almost always having humor, almost always not caring who got the credit as 

long as we accomplished our objective. 

I remember many times he let other people 

wrestle with the details, but he knew where he 

wanted to go. He knew the course he was trying 

to direct our ship of state, and he managed it 

very well. 

I have a lot of fond memories. I remember 

RONALD REAGAN coming in to campaign for me 

in 1986. We had him visit Norman, OK, the 

University of Oklahoma, Lloyd Noble Arena. We 

packed the place. It was more than packed. The 

fire marshal had to turn down people who could 

not get in. We had thousands and thousands of 

people. I told President REAGAN: This is Reagan 

country. They love you here. You don’t need to 

make a prepared speech. You can say whatever 

you want. They will applaud. They love you 

here. 

There was a nice, big sign: ‘‘This is Reagan 

country.’’ Very positive. The entire rally speech 

could not have gone better from my standpoint. 

It was great. 

RONALD REAGAN concluded his speech. He 

said, ‘‘That is why we need Don Rickles in the 

Senate.’’ And I thought: Did he really say that? 

I told him to wing it, and he did. I have had 

that honor of being able to call myself Don 

Rickles for a long time. 

But RONALD REAGAN leaves a legacy. He 

leaves a legacy of decency. He leaves a legacy of 

integrity. I think he helped restore so much 

pride in America. He was a true patriot, a patriot 

who loved this country from the very inner core 

of his being. And it was contagious. It was contagious through the fact that not only did he love 

America, but he made Americans feel better 

about our country. 

He made other people envy us to some extent. 

They wanted to be like us. They wanted to be 

free. What does America have that we don’t 

have? They have freedom, optimism. And that 

freedom would be economic freedom, personal 

freedom, and political freedom. 

RONALD REAGAN wanted to expand it all for 

all people. He believed everybody—even if they 

lived in China or Russia or North Korea or El 

Salvador—if people were trying to take that freedom away, he was freedom’s friend. He carried 

that banner very well. 
220 Ronald Reagan 

He helped people learn to love and respect the 

United States. I can honestly say I have the 

greatest admiration and respect for RONALD

REAGAN. I loved RONALD REAGAN. He has 

moved this country forward in a way that I think 

all of us can be very proud. 

Again, I express my condolences and sympathy 

to Nancy Reagan and to the family. Nancy 

Reagan was one great First Lady. The love and 

affection she showed toward her husband 

throughout not only his Presidency and governorship but, frankly, throughout the last 10 years 

is more than commendable, and it is the kind 

of role model that we expect from Nancy 

Reagan. She is a first-class First Lady, a first-class 

lady for all of us. 

Again, my condolences and sympathy to her. 

And I thank her and her family for allowing us 

to share RONALD REAGAN for many years as the 

leader of our country. He has made this country 

and this world a much better place to live. 

Hon. Barbara A. Mikulski 

OF MARYLAND

Mr. President, I, too, rise in memory of President RONALD REAGAN. President REAGAN will 

be remembered for his strong convictions, his 

unfailing optimism, and his deep and abiding 

patriotism. 

My heartfelt condolences go out to the Reagan 

family. They have been through so much in the 

last 10 years. 

Our former First Lady, Nancy Reagan, has met 

one of the greatest challenges that one can face 

with grace, dignity, and dedication. Her courage 

is a model for the Nation. I know how tremendously difficult it is for a family when a loved 

one has Alzheimer’s. My own dear father suffered 

from this disease. And, my family and I know 

what the long goodbye meant. So, I speak for 

my family, and I think all families who have endured this disease when we salute Nancy Reagan 

as we pay our respects to our President. 

Mr. President, as our country reflects on President REAGAN’s life, many will ask, how should 

we honor him? I believe the greatest tribute we 

could give to President REAGAN and the Reagan 

family is a living memorial, something that he 

would want to see us do, not something we 

would like to do, and something that would have 

lasting value. Therefore, I would like to issue a 

bipartisan call to support legislation that Senator 

Kit Bond and I will be introducing next week, 

legislation to create breakthroughs for Alzheimer’s disease. 

Let’s honor President REAGAN’s life with new 

research and new initiatives on how to prevent 

Alzheimer’s, how to care for those who have it, 

how to support the gallant caregivers, and how, 

ultimately, to find a cure. 

President REAGAN was a man of vigor. Let’s 

attack Alzheimer’s with the same type of vigor 

that President REAGAN demonstrated during his 

life. 

The time to act for real breakthroughs is now. 

Just last month, Senator Bond and I held a hearing on Alzheimer’s research. Expert after expert 

told us: We are on the verge of amazing breakthroughs; we will lose opportunities if we don’t 

move quickly; we are at a crucial point where 

National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding can 

make a real difference. 

Researchers, families, and advocates all said 

the same thing, we need to do more, we need 

to do better. 

Let’s answer that call by introducing and passing the RONALD REAGAN Alzheimer’s Breakthrough Act of 2004. 

Friends, we are on the brink of something that 

could make a huge difference in the lives of 

American families. We know that families face 

great difficulties when a loved one has Alzheimer’s. There is great emotional cost as well 

as financial cost. We know that for our public 

investment we could get new treatments that 

would prolong a patient’s cognitive abilities. 

Each month we delay admission to a longterm care facility is important to the family and 

to the taxpayer. Everybody wants a cure; that is 

our ultimate goal. But even if we keep people 

at home for 1 or 2 more years, to help them with 

their memory, their activities of daily living, it 

would be an incredible breakthrough, and what 

a great tribute it would be to President REAGAN. 

It is amazing how far we have come. From the 

time President REAGAN took office in 1981 until 

the time he wrote that incredibly moving good-
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 221 

bye letter to the Nation—and I note it with 

great emotion because, again, I know how my 

own father felt. Back in the early eighties, when 

President REAGAN first came to office, Alzheimer’s was a catch-all term. Today, doctors diagnose Alzheimer’s with 90-percent accuracy. 

Every day NIH is making progress to identify 

risks, looking at new kinds of brain scans for appropriate detection, and understanding what this 

disease does to the brain. 

How did we get this far, this fast? With a 

bipartisan commitment like the one represented 

by Senator Bond, Senators Specter and Harkin, 

the Alzheimer’s Task Force that is led by Senators Collins and Clinton, and all of us who are 

working on this issue. With a bipartisan commitment of the authorizers and appropriators, we 

have been working to increase the funding for 

the National Institute on Aging. Remember, 

there are 19 institutes at the NIH. One of them 

is the National Institute of Aging. 

In 1998 the National Institute on Aging was 

funded at approximately $500 million. Thanks to 

our bipartisan effort, it is at $1 billion. Now is 

the time to do more. 

That is why I want to join with my esteemed 

colleague, Senator Kit Bond, who himself has 

been a very strong advocate for research and 

breakthroughs, to introduce the RONALD

REAGAN Alzheimer’s Breakthrough Act of 2004. 

We want to strengthen our national commitment to Alzheimer’s research, to increase and 

double the funding of research at NIA, to give 

them the resources they need to make those 

breakthroughs they say they are on the horizon 

of doing. This will mean more clinical trials to 

test the best way to detect, prevent, and treat 

Alzheimer’s. 

NIH is looking at a range of behaviors and 

therapies that can make an incredible difference. 

In our legislation, we also call for a national 

summit on Alzheimer’s to bring together the 

best minds to examine current research, to look 

at priorities, and also to look at how we can help 

families. 

While we are looking at research to find the 

cure or the cognitive stretch out, we have to support the caregivers. God bless the caregivers. 

These are family members, often spouses, who 

take care of someone with Alzheimer’s. The first 

caregiver is always the family. We saw that with 

Nancy Reagan who went from being First Lady 

to first caregiver. 

We need to support families. We need to give 

help to those families practicing self-help. We 

now have legislation on the books to do that. 

But, we need to add more to the Federal checkbook. Most families don’t know where to turn 

to get what services are available. I have a family 

caregiver tax credit that would reimburse families for prescription drugs, home health care, and 

specialized daycare. Too often, for families with 

Alzheimer’s, family responsibility brings them to 

the brink of family bankruptcy. 

There are other things we want to be able to 

do with this legislation, such as providing news 

people can use. The legislation would establish 

a network so information can get out people 

about the advances, and things that could be 

done right now to slow the onset of symptoms. 

We need to get the word out, such as the wonderful program developed by the Alzheimer’s Association called ‘‘Maintain Your Brain.’’ But private philanthropy cannot be a substitute for public policy and public funding. We have to fund 

these initiatives. 

I believe very strongly in this. There are 4.5 

million people with Alzheimer’s. They live in 

every State, in cities and suburbs and on farms. 

They are from every walk of life, like my father, 

who owned a small grocery store, or a man who 

was the President of the United States. Alzheimer’s is an all-American disease. It affected an 

all-American President. Now we need an allAmerican effort to find the breakthroughs. 

I encourage everyone to consider this when 

Senator Bond and I introduce this legislation. 

This research and treatment is very important. 

I do not want to be so bold as to speak for Mrs. 

Reagan, but based on what I know she has gone 

through and what other families have gone 

through, I believe the legacy she would approve 

of is an all-American effort—an effort to speed 

up the day when no family ever has to have that 

very long goodbye. 
222 Ronald Reagan 

Hon. Christopher S. Bond 

OF MISSOURI

Mr. President, I thank and commend my colleague from Maryland who has been a great 

champion of the effort to deal with the terribly 

distressing and fatal disease of Alzheimer’s in 

proposing—and I am happy to join her—a measure to honor RONALD REAGAN, his memory, his 

life, his work, and his family with a living tribute, a redoubled effort on behalf of this Nation 

to deal with Alzheimer’s. 

Senator Mikulski and others who have lived 

with and lost a loved one from Alzheimer’s can 

say very clearly how difficult it must have been 

for Mrs. Reagan and the Reagan family as this 

true leader went through the final stages of his 

life, crippled and debilitated by Alzheimer’s, to 

see this man who was so vigorous, who had contributed so much be reduced to the indignities 

of Alzheimer’s. 

His life and legacy can be honored in many 

ways. People will remember him for many reasons. I will speak of those in a moment. But by 

increasing research for Alzheimer’s disease, helping to limit the number and maybe even eliminate Alzheimer’s, providing assistance to families 

who must deal with patients with Alzheimer’s, 

and providing assistance in identifying and preventing Alzheimer’s is vitally important. 

One of the facts that struck me as we listened 

to the experts was that as we get older more and 

more of us are going to suffer from Alzheimer’s 

disease. We were told in our hearing about a 

month ago that if you reach 85, you have a 50- 

percent chance of getting Alzheimer’s disease. 

What a tragic figure. There is something we 

must do, and we believe this legislation is one 

way of making a major effort, showing a commitment, reaching out a hand of hope to the 

families of those who have Alzheimer’s, providing information to all of us on what we might 

be able to do to lessen the likelihood we will 

be struck with Alzheimer’s. 

As Senator Mikulski said, this bill will serve 

as a tribute to President REAGAN by doubling 

the funding for Alzheimer’s research at the National Institutes of Health. It would increase 

funding for the National Family Caregiver Support Program to $250 million. It would reauthorize the Alzheimer’s demonstration grant program 

that provides grants to States to fill in gaps in 

Alzheimer’s services, such as respite care, home 

health care, and daycare. 

I have done a fair amount of work in home 

care and daycare. I can tell you that a family living with a patient with Alzheimer’s needs a 

break. They need someone to care for that loved 

one so they can get out and renew their batteries, 

refresh their view on life. This can help. 

We would authorize $1 million for a safe return program to assist in the identification and 

safe, timely return of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias who too 

frequently wander off from their caregivers. We 

hear the tragedies where they can’t find their way 

home and fall victim to natural or even automobile accidents while they are gone. We would 

establish a public education program to educate 

members of the public about prevention techniques, how you can maintain your brain, as you 

age, based on the current research being undertaken by NIH. 

We would establish a $5,000 tax credit to help 

with the high health costs of caring for a loved 

one at home. 

Today, as Senator Mikulski said, about 4.5 

million Americans have Alzheimer’s, costing 

about $100 billion a year. But if current trends 

continue, and as more of us age, by 2050, 11 to 

16 million individuals could have this disease. 

Over the past 20 years tremendous progress 

has been made in the prevention, diagnosis, and 

treatment of Alzheimer’s. It is now possible to 

diagnose Alzheimer’s with more than 90-percent 

accuracy. There are new drugs, new treatments 

introduced each year, and investments in research 

have set the stage for scientific and medical advances to prevent or slow down the progression 

of Alzheimer’s. Quite frankly, most of the successful research to date has been in slowing the 

impact, not preventing it. But this research offers 

hope for the 4.5 million people and their families 

who suffer from the disease today. 

These are some of what we can do as an honor 

to the President. It is my great pleasure to speak 

in this Chamber about the life and leadership and 

the truly remarkable legacy of the 40th President 

of the United States, RONALD REAGAN. 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 223 

We mourn his loss. We pray for comfort for 

his family. But most of all, we give thanks for 

his life, his leadership, and his contributions. 

Truly, he is a man who changed the mood of 

the country. He changed the economy of the 

country. And in many ways, he changed the 

mood and the attitude of the world. 

People talk about President REAGAN as the 

Great Communicator. Nobody could deliver a 

line better than he could. But do you know 

something about communication? Communication is only as good as the message you have to 

communicate. The power of RONALD REAGAN

was that he delivered with enthusiasm, with optimism, with cheer, with love, a message of hope, 

freedom, and opportunity, not just for Americans 

but for the world. 

I had the pleasure of getting to know RONALD

REAGAN. He was a genuinely optimistic person 

who brought the spirit of optimism and hope to 

us as Americans and to enslaved peoples around 

the world. RONALD REAGAN was a man who 

took disappointment and moved on. He was a 

man of unfailing good humor, care, and thoughtfulness. Even people who disagreed with his policies across the board could not help but like him. 

And those of us who may have disappointed 

him found it did not interfere with his friendship. He campaigned for me in 1972 when I was 

a 33-year-old kid running for Governor of the 

State of Missouri. I had never seen anything like 

it. When he came into town, we had all of the 

security and escorts. But it wasn’t until he went 

up on stage and started making his presentation 

that I saw what it was that had brought so many 

people from southwest Missouri in to hear this 

leader. He had a message then—the same message—of optimism, growth, and hope for the future. 

I was fortunate enough to be elected and to 

serve with him for 2 years. Two years after that, 

I hosted the Republican National Convention, 

and I had made a commitment to our President 

at the time, who selected our State for the national convention. So I supported him and not 

President REAGAN. But about 10 years later, 

when I was running for the Senate, he came to 

Missouri three times and he put on the most 

amazing campaign rallies I ever had. We still 

talk about it, because people came to hear his 

message. I stood there, side by side with Jack 

Danforth, and we smiled and glowed in the wonderful feeling he generated. He helped me a great 

deal. 

President REAGAN helped the United States. 

He came to the Presidency at a time when a lot 

of people were saying maybe the Presidency cannot work, maybe nobody can govern this country, maybe it is too much to expect somebody 

to lead. Well, he led very boldly. Quite simply, 

he thought that if you returned tax dollars to 

the average American and took off the fetters on 

small business, you would create jobs and build 

the economy. By the significant lowering of the 

tax rates, as my friend from Oklahoma, Senator 

Nickles, said, he put money back into the pockets of small businesses, and small business became the engine of economic growth, creating 

three-quarters of the new jobs. He built an economy, and that economy allowed us to put money 

into defense. 

He tried to negotiate with the Soviets. He 

asked Mr. Gorbachev if he would sit down and 

talk with him about how we could end the competition between Soviet communism and the 

United States. Mr. Gorbachev didn’t respond. So 

he built up our defenses and showed the Russians, the Soviets, that they could not defeat us. 

He went boldly to Berlin and called on Mr. 

Gorbachev—much to the distress of the State 

Department, I might add, and some of his own 

team—‘‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!’’ 

Well, that wall came down literally and figuratively. He had a message that went far beyond 

Mr. Gorbachev. That message went to the 

enslaved peoples behind the Iron Curtain. I had 

the pleasure of visiting some of those countries 

right before and right after they fell, a few years 

after President REAGAN had set in motion the 

inexorable machine of freedom. His message of 

hope, freedom, and opportunity continues to reverberate around the world. I have had the pleasure of meeting with people and traveling to other 

countries and seeing how this message—the 

American dream—he championed is taking hold. 

He wasn’t the only one responsible for it, but 

we never had a better proponent of it. I believe 

this message of the American hopes and the 

American ideals, for which RONALD REAGAN

spoke so eloquently, is winning the battle. 
224 Ronald Reagan 

Finally, in his last and boldest move, when 

RONALD REAGAN learned he had Alzheimer’s— 

a disease which was not spoken about often because people hated to think of what would happen to their loved ones, so they didn’t talk about 

it—he said, ‘‘I have . . . Alzheimer’s disease,’’ and 

Americans woke up and they thought, this is a 

world leader who is suffering from this disease; 

let’s do something about it. Let’s get serious 

about Alzheimer’s disease. That public announcement gave us a push that I believe we can continue by carrying on with his work with a living 

memorial. 

So as we say goodbye to this remarkable 

American, we join in our prayers and thoughts 

with Mrs. Nancy Reagan and her family, and we 

celebrate the life of a great American who made 

a real difference for people throughout the world. 

Let us honor his memory by helping millions 

more whom we might be able to save from the 

scourge of Alzheimer’s disease and the burdens 

and the sorrow that imposes on their families. 

Hon. Gordon Smith 

OF OREGON

Mr. President, in the elections of 1980 and 

1984, the State of Oregon sent its electors to the 

electoral college to vote for RONALD REAGAN. 

He was the last Republican to win the State of 

Oregon in a Presidential election, and he did so 

at a time of great peril both for my State and 

our country. 

When that occurred, America was in economic 

malaise, communism seemed to be in its ascendancy, and America was struggling for leadership. 

Winston Churchill once said of a predecessor as 

British Prime Minister, ‘‘He had had the misfortune to live in a time of great men and small 

events.’’ When you think of where America was 

and where it ended after 8 years of the administration of RONALD REAGAN, truly it can be said 

that all free men and women are better and freer, 

more prosperous and more at peace because RONALD REAGAN was a great man called to a great 

time. 

As I contemplated what I could do in my 

small way to add some measure of tribute to the 

life of RONALD REAGAN and to express to Nancy 

Reagan and her family my heartfelt condolences, 

I thought I should keep my words to a minimum 

and focus, instead, on the warm and wise words 

of President REAGAN in his farewell address. It 

has been the practice of the Senate for the last 

140 years that on or around the birthday of 

George Washington, a Senator is selected to read 

Washington’s farewell address. I thought I would 

begin that tradition this day, with President 

REAGAN’s great speech, to come to the floor on 

or around President REAGAN’s birthday, and 

share his speech—or if one of my colleagues 

would like to do so, I would offer them the opportunity. I believe that this new tradition would 

be a fitting tribute to RONALD REAGAN, to let 

RONALD REAGAN’s words speak again to the 

American people, far more eloquently than I 

could on an occasion when we all struggle to find 

the right superlatives to say thank you to him. 

So with the Chair’s indulgence, I will read the 

farewell address of President RONALD REAGAN, 

given shortly before he left the Oval Office and 

George Herbert Walker Bush became the President. 

The words of President REAGAN: 

FAREWELL ADDRESS

This is the 34th time I’ll speak to you from the Oval Office 

and the last. We’ve been together eight years now, and soon 

it’ll be time for me to go. But before I do, I wanted to share 

some thoughts, some of which I’ve been saving for a long 

time. 

It’s been the honor of my life to be your president. So 

many of you have written the past few weeks to say thanks, 

but I could say as much to you. Nancy and I are grateful 

for the opportunity you gave us to serve. 

One of the things about the presidency is that you’re always somewhat apart. You spend a lot of time going by too 

fast in a car someone else is driving, and seeing the people 

through tinted glass—the parents holding up a child, and 

the wave you saw too late and couldn’t return. And so many 

times I wanted to stop and reach out from behind the glass, 

and connect. Well, maybe I can do a little of that tonight. 

People ask how I feel about leaving. And the fact is, ‘‘parting is such sweet sorrow.’’ The sweet part is California, and 

the ranch and freedom. The sorrow—the goodbyes, of course, 

and leaving this beautiful place. 

You know, down the hall and up the stairs from this office 

is the part of the White House where the president and his 

family live. There are a few favorite windows I have up there 

that I like to stand and look out of early in the morning. 

The view is over the grounds here to the Washington Monument, and then the Mall and the Jefferson Memorial. But 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 225 

on mornings when the humidity is low, you can see past 

the Jefferson to the river, the Potomac, and the Virginia 

shore. Someone said that’s the view Lincoln had when he saw 

the smoke rising from the Battle of Bull Run. I see more 

prosaic things: the grass on the banks, the morning traffic 

as people make their way to work, now and then a sailboat 

on the river. 

I’ve been thinking a bit at that window. I’ve been reflecting on what the past eight years have meant and mean. And 

the image that comes to mind like a refrain is a nautical 

one—a small story about a big ship, and a refugee and a 

sailor. It was back in the early eighties, at the height of the 

boat people. And the sailor was hard at work on the carrier 

Midway, which was patrolling the South China Sea. The sailor, like most American servicemen, was young, smart, and 

fiercely observant. The crew spied on the horizon a leaky little boat. And crammed inside were refugees from Indochina 

hoping to get to America. The Midway sent a small launch 

to bring them to the ship and safety. As the refugees made 

their way through the choppy seas, one spied the sailor on 

deck, and stood up, and called out to him. He yelled, ‘‘Hello, 

American sailor. Hello, freedom man.’’ 

A small moment with a big meaning, a moment the sailor, 

who wrote it in a letter, couldn’t get out of his mind. And, 

when I saw it, neither could I. Because that’s what it was 

to be an American in the eighties. We stood, again, for freedom. I know we always have, but in the past few years the 

world again, and in a way, we ourselves rediscovered it. 

It’s been quite a journey this decade, and we held together 

through some stormy seas. And at the end, together, we are 

reaching our destination. 

The fact is, from Grenada to the Washington and Moscow 

summits, from the recession of 1981 to 1982, to the expansion 

that began in late 1982 and continues to this day, we’ve made 

a difference. The way I see it, there were two great triumphs, 

two things that I’m proudest of. One is the economic recovery, in which the people of America created—and filled— 

19 million new jobs. The other is the recovery of our morale. 

America is respected again in the world and looked to for 

leadership. 

Something that happened to me a few years ago reflects 

some of this. It was back in 1981, and I was attending my 

first big economic summit, which was held that year in Canada. The meeting place rotates among the member countries. 

The opening meeting was a formal dinner for the heads of 

government of the seven industrialized nations. Now, I sat 

there like the new kid in school and listened, and it was 

all Franc ̧ois this and Helmut that. They dropped titles and 

spoke to one another on a first-name basis. Well, at one point 

I sort of leaned in and said, ‘‘My name’s RON.’’ Well, in 

that same year, we began the actions we felt would ignite 

an economic comeback—cut taxes and regulation, started to 

cut spending. And soon the recovery began. 

Two years later, another economic summit with pretty 

much the same cast. At the big opening meeting we all got 

together, and all of a sudden, just for a moment, I saw that 

everyone was just sitting there looking at me. And one of 

them broke the silence. ‘‘Tell us about the American miracle,’’ he said. 

Well, back in 1980, when I was running for president, it 

was all so different. Some pundits said our programs would 

result in catastrophe. Our views on foreign affairs would cause 

war. Our plans for the economy would cause inflation to soar 

and bring about economic collapse. I even remember one 

highly respected economist saying, back in 1982, that ‘‘the 

engines of economic growth have shut down here, and they’re 

likely to stay that way for years to come.’’ Well, he and the 

other opinion leaders were wrong. The fact is, what they 

called ‘‘radical’’ was really ‘‘right.’’ What they called ‘‘dangerous’’ was just ‘‘desperately needed.’’ 

And in all of that time I won a nickname, ‘‘The Great 

Communicator.’’ But I never thought it was my style or the 

words I used that made a difference: It was the content. I 

wasn’t a great communicator, but I communicated great 

things, and they didn’t spring full bloom from my brow, they 

came from the heart of a great nation—from our experience, 

our wisdom, and our belief in principles that have guided 

us for two centuries. They called it the Reagan revolution. 

Well, I’ll accept that, but for me it always seemed more like 

the great rediscovery, a rediscovery of our values and our 

common sense. 

Common sense told us that when you put a big tax on 

something, the people will produce less of it. So, we cut the 

people’s tax rates, and the people produced more than ever 

before. The economy bloomed like a plant that had been cut 

back and could now grow quicker and stronger. Our economic program brought about the longest peacetime expansion in our history: real family income up, the poverty rate 

down, entrepreneurship booming, and an explosion in research and new technology. We’re exporting more than ever 

because American industry became more competitive and at 

the same time, we summoned the national will to knock 

down protectionist walls abroad instead of erecting them at 

home. Common sense also told us that to preserve the peace, 

we’d have to become strong again after years of weakness and 

confusion. So, we rebuilt our defenses, and this New Year 

we toasted the new peacefulness around the globe. Not only 

have the superpowers actually begun to reduce their stockpiles of nuclear weapons—and hope for even more progress 

is bright—but the regional conflicts that rack the globe are 

also beginning to cease. The Persian Gulf is no longer a war 

zone. The Soviets are leaving Afghanistan. The Vietnamese 

are preparing to pull out of Cambodia, and an Americanmediated accord will soon send 50,000 Cuban troops home 

from Angola. 

The lesson of all this was, of course, that because we’re 

a great nation, our challenges seem complex. It will always 

be this way. But as long as we remember our first principles 

and believe in ourselves, the future will always be ours. And 

something else we learned: Once you begin a great movement, there’s no telling where it will end. We meant to 

change a nation, and instead, we changed a world. 

Countries across the globe are turning to free markets and 

free speech and turning away from ideologies of the past. For 

them, the great rediscovery of the 1980s has been that, lo 

and behold, the moral way of government is the practical 

way of government: Democracy, the profoundly good, is also 

the profoundly productive. 
226 Ronald Reagan 

When you’ve got to the point when you can celebrate the 

anniversaries of your 39th birthday, you can sit back sometimes, review your life, and see it flowing before you. For 

me there was a fork in the river, and it was right in the 

middle of my life. I never meant to go into politics. It wasn’t 

my intention when I was young. But I was raised to believe 

you had to pay your way for the blessings bestowed on you. 

I was happy with my career in the entertainment world, but 

I ultimately went into politics because I wanted to protect 

something precious. 

Ours was the first revolution in the history of mankind 

that truly reversed the course of government, and with three 

little words: ‘‘We the people.’’ ‘‘We the people’’ tell the government what to do; it doesn’t tell us. ‘‘We the people’’ are 

the driver, the government is the car. And we decide where 

it should go, and by what route, and how fast. Almost all 

the world’s constitutions are documents in which governments tell the people what their privileges are. Our Constitution is a document in which ‘‘We the people’’ tell the government what it is allowed to do. ‘‘We the people’’ are free. 

This belief has been the underyling basis for everything I’ve 

tried to do these past eight years. 

But back in the 1960s, when I began, it seemed to me 

that we’d begun reversing the order of things—that through 

more and more rules and regulations and confiscatory taxes, 

the government was taking more of our money, more of our 

options, and more of our freedom. I went into politics in 

part to put up my hand and say, ‘‘Stop.’’ I was a citizen 

politician, and it seemed the right thing for a citizen to do. 

I think we have stopped a lot of what needed stopping. 

And I hope we have once again reminded people that man 

is not free unless government is limited. There’s a clear cause 

and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of 

physics: As government expands, liberty contracts. 

Nothing is less free than pure communism—and yet we 

have, the past few years, forged a satisfying new closeness 

with the Soviet Union. I’ve been asked if this isn’t a gamble, 

and my answer is no because we’re basing our actions not 

on words but deeds. The detente of the 1970s was based not 

on actions but promises. They’d promise to treat their own 

people and the people of the world better. But the gulag 

was still the gulag, and the state was still expansionist, and 

they still waged proxy wars in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. 

Well, this time, so far, it’s different. President Gorbachev 

has brought about some internal democratic reforms and 

begun the withdrawal from Afghanistan. He has also freed 

prisoners whose names I’ve given him every time we’ve met. 

But life has a way of reminding you of big things through 

small incidents. Once, during the heady days of the Moscow 

summit, Nancy and I decided to break off from the entourage 

one afternoon to visit the shops on Arbat Street—that’s a 

little street just off Moscow’s main shopping area. Even 

though our visit was a surprise, every Russian there immediately recognized us and called out our names and reached 

for our hands. We were just about swept away by the 

warmth. You could almost feel the possibilities in all that 

joy. But within seconds, a KGB detail pushed their way toward us and began pushing and shoving the people in the 

crowd. It was an interesting moment. It reminded me that 

while the man on the street in the Soviet Union yearns for 

peace, the government is Communist. And those who run 

it are Communists, and that means we and they view such 

issues as freedom and human rights very differently. 

We must keep up our guard, but we must also continue 

to work together to lessen and eliminate tension and mistrust. My view is that President Gorbachev is different from 

previous Soviet leaders. I think he knows some of the things 

wrong with his society and is trying to fix them. We wish 

him well. And we’ll continue to work to make sure that the 

Soviet Union that eventually emerges from this process is a 

less threatening one. What it all boils down to is this: I want 

the new closeness to continue. And it will, as long as we 

make it clear that we will continue to act in a certain way 

as long as they continue to act in a helpful manner. If and 

when they don’t, at first pull your punches. If they persist, 

pull the plug. It’s still trust but verify. It’s still play, but 

cut the cards. It’s still watch closely. And don’t be afraid 

to see what you see. 

I’ve been asked if I have any regrets. Well, I do. The deficit is one. I’ve been talking a great deal about that lately, 

but tonight isn’t for arguments. And I’m going to hold my 

tongue. But an observation: I’ve had my share of victories 

in the Congress, but what few people noticed is that I never 

won anything you didn’t win for me. They never saw my 

troops, they never saw Reagan’s regiments, the American 

people. You won every battle with every call you made and 

letter you wrote demanding action. Well, action is still needed. If we’re to finish the job, Reagan’s regiments will have 

to become the Bush brigades. Soon he’ll be the chief, and 

he’ll need you every bit as much as I did. Finally, there is 

a great tradition of warnings in Presidential farewells, and 

I’ve got one that’s been on my mind for some time. But 

oddly enough it starts with one of the things I’m proudest 

of in the past eight years: the resurgence of national pride 

that I called the new patriotism. This national feeling is 

good, but it won’t count for much, and it won’t last unless 

it’s grounded in thoughtfulness and knowledge. 

An informed patriotism is what we want. And are we 

doing a good enough job teaching our children what America 

is and what she represents in the long history of the world? 

Those of us who are over 35 or so years of age grew up in 

a different America. We were taught, very directly, what it 

means to be an American. And we absorbed, almost in the 

air, a love of country and an appreciation of its institutions. 

If you didn’t get these things from your family, you got them 

from the neighborhood, from the father down the street who 

fought in Korea or the family who lost someone at Anzio. 

Or you could get a sense of patriotism from school. And if 

all else failed, you could get a sense of patriotism from popular culture. The movies celebrated democratic values and 

implicitly reinforced the idea that America was special. TV 

was like that, too, through the mid-sixties. 

But now, we’re about to enter the nineties, and some 

things have changed. Younger parents aren’t sure that an 

unambivalent appreciation of America is the right thing to 

teach modern children. And as for those who create the popular culture, well-grounded patriotism is no longer the style. 

Our spirit is back, but we haven’t reinstitutionalized it. 

We’ve got to do a better job of getting across that America 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 227 

is freedom—freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom 

of enterprise. And freedom is special and rare. It’s fragile; 

it needs protection. 

So, we’ve got to teach history based not on what’s in fashion but what’s important: Why the Pilgrims came here, who 

Jimmy Doolittle was, and what those 30 seconds over Tokyo 

meant. You know, four years ago on the 40th anniversary 

of D-Day, I read a letter from a young woman writing of 

her late father, who’d fought on Omaha Beach. Her name 

was Lisa Zanatta Henn, and she said, ‘‘We will always remember, we will never forget what the boys of Normandy 

did.’’ Well, let’s help her keep her word. If we forget what 

we did, we won’t know who we are. I’m warning of an eradication of the American memory that could result, ultimately, 

in an erosion of the American spirit. Let’s start with some 

basics: more attention to American history and a greater emphasis on civic ritual. And let me offer lesson No. 1 about 

America: All great change in America begins at the dinner 

table. So, tomorrow night in the kitchen I hope the talking 

begins. And children, if your parents haven’t been teaching 

you what it means to be an American, let ’em know and 

nail ’em on it. That would be a very American thing to do. 

And that’s about all I have to say tonight. Except for one 

thing. The past few days when I’ve been at that window upstairs, I’ve thought a bit of the ‘‘shining city upon a hill.’’ 

The phrase comes from John Winthrop, who wrote it to describe the America he imagined. What he imagined was important because he was an early Pilgrim, an early freedom 

man. He journeyed here on what today we’d call a little 

wooden boat; and like the other Pilgrims, he was looking 

for a home that would be free. 

I’ve spoken of the shining city all my political life, but 

I don’t know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when 

I said it. But in my mind it was a tall proud city built on 

rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and 

teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and 

peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce 

and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls 

had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will 

and the heart to get here. That’s how I saw it and see it 

still. 

And how stands the city on this winter night? More prosperous, more secure, and happier than it was eight years ago. 

But more than that; after 200 years, two centuries, she still 

stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow 

has held steady no matter what storm. And she’s still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all 

the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through 

the darkness, toward home. 

We’ve done our part. And as I walk off into the city 

streets, a final word to the men and women of the Reagan 

revolution, the men and women across America who for eight 

years did the work that brought America back. My friends: 

We did it. We weren’t just marking time. We made a difference. We made the city stronger. We made the city freer, 

and we left her in good hands. All in all, not bad, not bad 

at all. 

And so, good-bye, God bless you, and God bless the 

United States of America. 

I would only add, God bless RONALD and 

Nancy REAGAN, and God bless the United States 

of America. 

Hon. Mike Enzi 

OF WYOMING

Mr. President, this past weekend, the news 

quickly made its way across the country and 

around the world. RONALD REAGAN, our 40th 

President, had died. For many of us, we received 

the news with a mixture of sadness together with 

a sense of relief that his long battle with illness 

was now over and he had now found peace at 

the end of his life. 

I first met RONALD REAGAN when I was 

president of the Wyoming Jaycees at the National Convention which was held in California, 

and he was the Governor. I next met the President when I was mayor of Gillette, WY, and the 

National League of Cities held its national meeting and the President flew to California and addressed it. 

Now the greatest thinkers and writers will 

take up their pens in an attempt to determine 

his place in history and his significance as one 

of our greatest Presidents. For those of us who 

observed his service as our President and admired 

his leadership, those questions had been long 

since answered. For us, his place in history was 

long ago determined by his place in our hearts. 

Many of those who will examine his life in 

detail will tell a story about a man who was born 

without the great privileges and trappings you 

might expect of such a successful life. That is 

true, but there is so much more to the story. 

RONALD REAGAN was born in Illinois, the son 

of a traveling shoe salesman. Growing up he was 

strongly influenced by his mother who taught 

him how to read at an early age. She urged him 

to read good books that would encourage him 

to dream and set goals in his life. She knew that 

he could be anything he wanted to be if he was 

willing to work hard and expect more of himself 

than anyone else had any reason to expect. That, 

more than anything else, really determined his 

character and ultimately mapped his destiny. 
228 Ronald Reagan 

His natural confidence and determination 

began to show itself during his school years and 

again, later, when he began his career as an actor. 

He was a natural leader and he took a leadership 

role at virtually every stage of his life. In his college days he served as student body president. 

In his acting days he served as the president of 

the Screen Actors Guild. In between he worked 

hard and built a career as a successful actor in 

film and on television. 

If that had been all he had done, it would have 

been a remarkable life. He would have earned the 

rags to riches label and inspired others to follow 

his path just by his success in Hollywood and 

on television. That would have been enough for 

just about everyone. It was not, however, enough 

for RONALD REAGAN. 

With his beloved wife, Nancy, by his side, 

RONALD REAGAN began to pursue his dream. He 

wanted to make a greater impact on the world 

than he could by being a television and movie 

star, so he began to take a more active role in 

politics. He discovered he had a talent for that, 

too. After a great deal of thought and deliberation, he decided to put his vision for America 

to the test. He took his case to the people and 

began a run for Governor of California. 

People thought it was an impossible dream 

and he could never win a State like California. 

RONALD REAGAN proved them wrong. He put 

together a coalition of both Republican and 

Democratic voters and, when all the votes were 

counted, he had made it happen and he was 

elected Governor by almost 1 million votes. 

REAGAN then set his sights on the Presidency 

of the United States and, after a narrow loss to 

Gerald Ford, he spent the next few years traveling around the country, sharing his dream for 

a better United States with the people who came 

to hear him speak. Many doubted he could do 

it, but once again, he found the support he needed to win the Republican nomination. The contest for the Presidency put him up against an 

incumbent who talked about the serious problems facing the Nation. RONALD REAGAN, on 

the other hand, spoke with passionate certainty 

that working together the Nation could overcome them. When the votes were counted, RONALD REAGAN had won the Presidency in a landslide. 

As President, RONALD REAGAN proved himself to be a man of principle, someone who said 

what he believed and believed what he said. He 

had excellent communication skills, and his 

speeches on television were extremely effective. 

When he took the oath of office as our 40th 

President, he took over the reins of a country 

that had great problems. He had often referred 

to our economic woes as the ‘‘misery index.’’ 

There was high inflation, high interest rates, and 

high unemployment. Perhaps worst of all, the 

Nation seemed to have lost its confidence in its 

ability to dare to do great things—and succeed. 

There was a lot of doubt and cynicism that 

any one individual could do much to change 

things and reenergize the Nation. Again, RONALD REAGAN proved the doubters wrong. As 

President, his spirit of optimism, patriotism and 

personal pride in his country proved to be infectious. Before long, there was a new spirit in the 

United States, a renewed sense of pride and excitement about our flag and our Nation that 

hadn’t been around for a while. RONALD

REAGAN was just what we needed. He inspired 

a generation to look toward the future with hope 

and a renewed commitment to the principles 

upon which our Nation was founded. It is still 

alive today. It is his legacy that he left with us, 

his gift to the younger generations of the Nation. 

During his two terms in the White House, 

RONALD REAGAN spoke the truth, regardless of 

the sensitivities of those who might not want to 

hear it. It was over the objections of much of 

his staff that he challenged Soviet leader Mikhail 

Gorbachev to ‘‘tear down this wall!’’ when he was 

in Berlin. It was against the advice of much of 

his staff to refer to the Soviet Union as an evil 

empire. For RONALD REAGAN, it was simple. If 

it was the truth, it must be said. For him, there 

were good guys and bad guys in the world. If 

the good guys worked hard and were determined 

to succeed, they won. In RONALD REAGAN’s 

world, we were the good guys. And, during 

RONALD REAGAN’s Presidency, more often than 

not, we won. 

For historians and the history books, RONALD

REAGAN will be remembered as the President 

who brought a successful end to the cold war; 

had a great deal to do with the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and the destruction 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 229 

of the Berlin Wall; and, dramatically turned the 

Nation’s economy around. For those of us who 

observed his style as our President, he will also 

be remembered for his spirit, and his attitude of 

patriotic optimism, which rejuvenated the Nation when our spirit was low. He was a great 

leader and a great American. His words and his 

actions will long be remembered. 

RONALD REAGAN dared to do the impossible, 

not because it was easy but because it had to be 

done. The challenges he encountered in his life 

brought out the best in him, and the challenges 

we faced as a Nation under him brought out the 

best in all of us. His is a legacy that we will 

always cherish. We will miss him. 

Hon. Bill Nelson 

OF FLORIDA

Mr. President, on this occasion, when the Nation is mourning the loss of President REAGAN, 

I wish to bring to the attention of the Senate 

a couple of stories which are fresh in my memory 

about President REAGAN. 

I had the privilege during his two terms as 

President of serving in the House of Representatives, representing a district from the State of 

Florida. 

The first story I wish to share is of a time 

of great loss to this country, the loss of the space 

shuttle Challenger. The American people could 

hardly believe it. The entire technological prowess of our country was symbolized by America 

having a very successful space program. We were 

the first to the Moon. This new contraption 

called a space transportation system was reusable, 

with new technologies that had been developed. 

America was quite proud. 

I had the privilege of flying on the 24th flight 

of the space shuttle, 6 days in orbit, returning 

on January 18, 1986. Only 10 days later, the crew 

that we had stayed with in quarantine—we had 

been one of the most delayed flights in the history of the space program—was the crew of the 

Challenger. 

We all know the story. Ten miles high in the 

Florida sky, the Challenger’s solid rocket booster 

had hot gases escaping from a field joint in that 

rocket. The gases happened to come out at a 

place where the strut was burned. That caused 

the solid rocket motor to then cantilever and it 

punctured the big apricot-colored fuel tank that 

held all of the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. The whole space shuttle then disintegrated. 

Naturally, the feelings I had were very raw 

and very emotional on that day, having trained 

with that crew and having just returned from 

space 10 days earlier. 

America’s feelings were as raw and as emotional because our whole symbol of technological 

and scientific prowess had suddenly disintegrated 

in front of our eyes on our television screens. 

At a time of a grieving Nation, there can be 

only one person who can speak for the country. 

That is the President. President REAGAN rose to 

the occasion. That speech on television that 

night, delivered from the Oval Office, was a masterpiece, in which he ends up quoting a Canadian 

pilot from World War II—a pilot who had experienced the joys of flying—and those immortal 

words that ended the poem that he had reached 

out and touched the face of God. 

President REAGAN applied that poem to the 

feelings of the country at the time about what 

the seven astronauts had experienced. That is political genius. That is a leader. That is a leader 

who has the ability through communication to 

connect, to inspire, and in this particular case, 

on January 28, 1986, to help the Nation through 

the process of grieving, to accept what had happened and then pick up and move on, which we 

have. 

And of course, 17 years later, we had another 

very similar kind of experience when we lost 

seven astronauts. 

That speech, in my mind, was only exceeded 

by the speech that occurred 3 days later by President REAGAN at the Johnson Space Center in 

Houston in a memorial service for the astronauts, 

the astronauts whose bodies at that point still 

had not been recovered from the floor of the Atlantic Ocean where, hopefully, they had perished 

before they ever hit the water. Somehow that 

crew compartment had been punctured at that 

altitude and therefore there would have been instant decompression and there would have been 

instant loss of consciousness. 
230 Ronald Reagan 

But with all of that swirling in all of our 

minds, with all of that swirling in the minds of 

that NASA community—NASA really is a family—again, the leader of the Nation had to rise 

to the occasion to summarize and to continue the 

process of healing in the time of grief. 

I saw rough, tough test pilots who were some 

of the best of the best of our astronaut pilots 

grabbing each other and hugging in that time 

of grief. And President REAGAN, in the moment, 

gave comfort to all of those, especially to the 

families of that crew who were lost, led by the 

commander of that mission, Dick Scobee. 

Another story I wish to tell about President 

REAGAN is very personal to me as well. It was 

just about the middle of the decade of the 

eighties. I was a Member of the House of Representatives. There was a particular vote coming 

up that was critically close. I had already made 

up my mind that the way I was going to vote 

in this particular case was the way President 

REAGAN had wanted the vote to go but had not 

telegraphed that to the leadership of either side 

because there was something I wanted to tell the 

President. 

There was a 6-month-old infant in my hometown of Melbourne, FL, who was dying because 

he needed a liver transplant. Mind you, this is 

20 years ago. Twenty years ago we did not have 

the very sophisticated system we have set up 

today which allowed people to exchange information about organ donors. Twenty years ago it was 

catch as catch can. Twenty years ago, if a donor 

became available, it was just almost accidental 

that you found out if there was a donor of a particular organ. And when it involved an infant, 

like a 6-month-old infant, you not only had to 

match the blood type for a liver transplant, but 

the liver had to be the exact size in order to successfully transplant. You can see the difficulty. 

You can see this child lie dying, with only hours 

to live. 

The preparation had been made for the jet airplane to fly the child to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center where all the surgeons 

were standing by. They kept waiting and waiting 

for a donor. No donor was produced because we 

did not know when any became available. There 

was not an exchange of information. 

So at my home in Melbourne, on a weekend, 

the call from the President of the United States 

came. He said, ‘‘Bill, this is President REAGAN. 

We are going to have a close vote and I need 

your vote.’’ I said, ‘‘Mr. President, I have already 

decided that I am voting with you. Now there 

is something that I would like to ask you—to 

help in the saving of the life of a child.’’ I told 

him the story, and he said he would have Margaret Heckler, the Secretary of HHS, call me the 

next day and get the particulars, which he did. 

Margaret Heckler immediately held a press 

conference, and because of that press conference, 

within 3 days, a tragic death of a child on the 

west coast of the United States that we would 

have never known about was known, and the parents donated the child’s liver, which was of the 

same blood type and the same size. That liver 

was packaged and cooled and flown to Pittsburgh, arriving at the same time Ryan 

Osterblom arrived, as they wheeled him into surgery. 

Mr. President, as you can see, I have a catch 

in my voice because that little boy is going to 

college this year. He wants to be a surgeon. After 

that successful transplant, the President had 

called the mother, Karen Osterblom, and for 

years he continued to correspond with them. 

It is going to be my pleasure to have the family come up here on Thursday as the President 

is lying in state and have them walk through the 

line in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol to show 

their respects to President REAGAN. 

Hon. James M. Inhofe 

OF OKLAHOMA

Mr. President, we have heard so many stories 

about a great man, the GIPPER, and none of them 

are surprising because he was always such a 

gentle person. I have to share with you that I 

had the honor, about a month ago, of giving the 

commencement address at Oral Roberts University. When I did, I used a lot of the 1964 speech 

‘‘A Rendezvous with Destiny.’’ I said it should 

be required reading for anyone to graduate at any 

level in America to read ‘‘A Rendezvous with 

Destiny.’’ It is a speech that changed my life. 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 231 

RONALD REAGAN gave it in 1964. I remember 

I almost memorized that speech. In fact, I still 

have most of it memorized. As a result of that, 

the next year I decided, well, if he did it, if he 

really feels this concerned, I should, too, and I 

went and filed for office and ran for the State 

legislature. So that is how I happened to get 

started. 

But that is not as far back as we go. I believe 

I have had the honor of knowing RONALD

REAGAN longer than any other Member of this 

U.S. Senate. In fact, I am sure that is true. Even 

though I represent the State of Oklahoma, I 

moved to the State of Oklahoma when I was 8 

years old. I moved from Des Moines, IA. We 

were enduring the poverty of the Depression at 

that time. Everyone was poor, not just us. 

My dad was an insurance adjuster. RONALD

REAGAN was a sports announcer for WHO Radio 

in Des Moines, IA, and they shared the same office. They became very close friends, and they 

used to play the pinball machine at that time. 

You guys would not know what that is. I guess 

they don’t have those anymore. On Saturdays 

they would play cards for a couple hours. All I 

know is, it was a room above the drugstore. 

But the man I had seen occasionally at that 

time I thought of as a giant. He was a very large 

person. We were not all that large. I remember 

that when I was growing up. 

Well, we moved to Tulsa, OK, shortly after 

that. But we did not lose contact. As the years 

went by, RONALD REAGAN, who my dad affectionately referred to as ‘‘DUTCH,’’ ‘‘DUTCH

REAGAN’’—every time there was a DUTCH

REAGAN movie we would see it. You see, we 

never went to movies. In those days, we just 

didn’t go to movies except when there was a 

DUTCH REAGAN movie. It did not matter what 

it was conflicting with. 

One time we went to Durant, OK, in the 

southern part of Oklahoma. My home was in the 

northern part. I remember driving on those roads 

at that time. I say to my good friend from Minnesota, the roads were—if you could average 30 

miles an hour, you were doing well. So we drove 

5 hours down, watched a DUTCH REAGAN movie, 

and drove 5 hours back. We never would consider 

missing a DUTCH REAGAN movie. 

Then, of course, the famous speech took place 

in 1964. That is when he expressed his interest 

in politics. But at that time my father was much 

better off and so was our family. So when DUTCH

REAGAN was going to run for Governor of California, my father became one of his first large 

contributors. Again, the friendship had never 

stopped at any point. So he won. 

At the time, after he served in that capacity 

and ran for President—I know that the presiding 

officer right now knows what I am talking about 

because he and I were both mayors of major cities 

back at the same time in 1980 when RONALD

REAGAN was elected President. I was the mayor 

of Tulsa, OK, for 4 years. RONALD REAGAN and 

I were closer together than we had ever been before—I was out in Oklahoma—because he had 

me do his domestic policy stuff. He would have 

me on TV. At that time, they did not have CNN 

and Fox, but they had ‘‘Good Morning America’’ 

and the ‘‘Today’’ show. So I was debating all 

these liberal Democrat mayors on the Reagan 

policy—the dynamics of the free enterprise system as opposed to the government doing everything, and my arguments worked beautifully. So 

I am sure I spent 10 times as much time with 

him at that time than I do with George W. 

today, and I am here in Washington. But it was 

a real pleasure. 

Those of us present—and right now I see in 

the Chamber the Senator from Minnesota, Mr. 

Norm Coleman, and the Senator who is presiding, Mr. Voinovich—all three of us were mayors. We understand what a hard job it is. When 

I was mayor, I was able to build a low-water 

dam, and President REAGAN referred to it in his 

speeches as the largest totally privately funded 

public project in America. Those were the dynamics of RONALD REAGAN. That is what he 

thought, that government should be doing less, 

people doing more. And it worked. 

What a visionary the guy was. When I see 

things that are going on today and I remember 

things that he said many, many years ago. Right 

now we have a serious problem in America. 

Probably one of our most serious problems is we 

do not have an energy policy. So we make 

speeches. All of us make speeches on a regular 

basis about why we do not have an energy policy 

and why we should have one. I would like to 
232 Ronald Reagan 

read to you what RONALD REAGAN said. This 

was in 1979. Listen carefully because this applies 

to today, but it was 1979: 

Solving the energy crisis will not be easy, but it can be 

done. First we must decide that ‘‘less’’ is not enough. Next, 

we must remove government obstacles to energy production. 

And, we must make use of those technological advantages 

we still possess. 

It is no program simply to say ‘‘use less energy.’’ 

Sound familiar? 

Of course waste must be eliminated and efficiency promoted, but for the government simply to tell people to conserve is not an energy policy. At best it means we will run 

out of energy a little more slowly. But a day will come when 

the lights will dim and the wheels of industry will turn more 

slowly and finally stop. . . . 

The answer, obvious to anyone except those in the administration it seems, is more domestic production of oil and 

gas. We must also have wider use of nuclear power within 

strict safety rules, of course. There must be more spending 

by the energy industries on research and development of substitutes for fossil fuels. 

And on and on and on. That speech very well 

could have been made today because the problem 

still exists today. And he knew it was coming. 

When he talked about the SDI, the Strategic 

Defense Initiative, that was something no one 

seemed to care about, and no one believed there 

was any great risk facing the American people. 

Yet he saw that risk. The risk was there. We 

all know now the risk is very real, even today. 

So he looked back at the ABM Treaty that was 

put in place in 1972. 

He said, ‘‘This is senseless now. It may have 

made sense in 1972 when Henry Kissinger and 

Richard Nixon put this in, but the policy of mutual assured destruction is not a good policy.’’ 

So he said, ‘‘What we will have to do is have 

a very strong country.’’ And he was quite scriptural. He quoted from Luke, ‘‘If a strong man 

shall keep his court well guarded, he shall live 

in peace.’’ And that is exactly what he was doing 

in his rebuilding of the defense system of America. We are so thankful he did that in those days. 

But he was saying we must do away with the 

ABM Treaty. Finally, after all this time, we recognized 2 years ago he was right, and we got 

rid of the ABM Treaty—how prophetic. 

As for tax cuts, he gave credit to his predecessors. He said, ‘‘We do need more money. The 

best way to get more revenue for government is 

to reduce tax rates.’’ He said, ‘‘That is what 

President Kennedy did 25 years ago. He reduced 

tax rates.’’ And keep in mind, that was a Democratic President. And by reducing tax rates, he 

almost doubled the revenue coming in at the end 

of his term. It gave people the freedom and 

money to invest and to breathe and to reinvest 

in the country. So that is the problem. That is 

what President George W. Bush has been trying 

to do. That is the reason we are out of the recession he inherited, and we are now coming out 

because we have reduced some of those marginal 

rates. We know we need to do more. This is 

what the President did. 

If you remember, in 1980, the total amount 

of revenue that was generated from marginal 

rates, taxes paid by people, was $244 billion. In 

1990, it was $446 billion. It almost doubled in 

that 10-year period. Yet that 10-year period was 

the period where we had the largest reduction 

in taxes, thanks to RONALD REAGAN, of any 10- 

year period or 8-year period in our Nation’s history: marginal rates going down from 70 percent 

to 28 percent. Yet it had the effect of doubling 

the revenues. This guy knew it, and he did it. 

That is good advice for us today. 

I have mentioned quite often that it should 

have been required for all of our graduates to 

read ‘‘A Rendezvous with Destiny.’’ Let me read 

a couple things to remind us on this very solemn 

occasion how grateful we are now to have had 

a President who was so prophetic. 

In talking about the freedom of our country, 

he told a story about Castro and how a Cuban 

had escaped Cuba in a small craft and had floated 

over to the south shores of Florida. As his small 

craft came up there was a refugee there, and he 

told the refugee about the atrocities of Castro’s 

communist Cuba. After he was through, the refugee said, I guess we don’t know how lucky we 

are in the United States. 

He said, How lucky you are? We are the ones 

who are lucky. We had a place to escape to. 

That is what RONALD REAGAN said, that we 

would be the beacon of freedom, the last place 

in the world to escape to. If we lose it here, there 

is nowhere else to escape to. 

On the recognition of the dynamics of the free 

enterprise system, he said, 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 233 

They also knew, those Founding Fathers, that outside of 

its legitimate functions, government does nothing as well or 

as economically as the private sector of the economy. 

He practiced that. It worked. His domestic 

policies worked. 

He was prophetic. He accurately described 

such things as: 

We have so many people who can’t see a fat man standing 

beside a thin one without coming to the conclusion that the 

fat man got that way by taking advantage of the thin one. 

RONALD REAGAN talked about bureaucracy, 

how difficult it would be for him to cut down 

the size of government. He is the one who said, 

in that very famous speech in 1964, there is nothing closer to life eternal on the face of this Earth 

than a government agency once formed. And he 

went on to explain the reason for it. The reason 

for it is very simple. Once a government agency 

is formed to respond to a problem, the problem 

goes away, and the bureaucracy stays there. The 

longer they stay there with nothing to do, the 

stronger they become. So that happens. He was 

able to cut that down by reminding people that 

that problem did exist. 

He said in 1964: 

Let’s set the record straight. There is no argument over 

the choice between peace and war, but there is only one guaranteed way you can have peace—and you can have it in the 

next second—surrender. 

That was the message he had. You had to be 

strong. You had to have a Nation that believes 

in God, and you had to stand up for those things 

and not lie down and surrender. That is what 

people were trying to do at that time. 

He said in that speech: 

There is a price we will not pay. There is a point beyond 

which they must not advance. 

That was his rendezvous with destiny. 

I look at American heroes like the senior Senator from Hawaii who fought so valiantly and 

is very familiar with what this President did for 

our U.S. military. 

I will say this: The rendezvous with destiny 

was a very real one. Military historians have 

looked at us and said there is no way we could 

have won the Revolutionary War. Here we were, 

a handful of farmers and trappers with crude 

weapons and the greatest army on the face of the 

Earth was marching toward Lexington and Concord, and they fired the shot heard round the 

world. 

As RONALD REAGAN would reflect on that 

great speech by Patrick Henry, he said there are 

three sentences in that speech that answer the 

questions of military historians, but people have 

forgotten about it. We are not weak when we 

make the proper use of those means which the 

God of nature has placed in our power. Armed 

in the holy cause of liberty in such a country 

as that which we possess, we are invincible by 

any force our enemy will send against us. And 

besides, we will not fight our battles alone. There 

is a just God who reigns over the destiny of nations who will raise up friends to fight our battles with us. 

Those are the favorite three sentences out of 

the ‘‘Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death’’ speech 

Patrick Henry made. 

For me, I think about the honor to be able 

to stand here in the Senate and, on behalf of the 

American people and on behalf of my wife and 

myself and our family of 20 children and grandchildren, to say we thank RONALD REAGAN for 

his sacrifices. We thank God for RONALD

REAGAN. We thank God for his life. We thank 

God for allowing us to share that rendezvous 

with destiny with RONALD REAGAN. 

Hon. Norm Coleman 

OF MINNESOTA

Mr. President, I share that sense of humility 

that has been so eloquently expressed by my 

friend from Oklahoma, to be able to stand on 

this Senate floor and to thank God for RONALD

REAGAN, for what he gave us and what we 

learned from him. I must admit to being a bit 

envious to be in the Chamber with my friend 

from Oklahoma who knew RONALD REAGAN

when he was a young man. 

My friend, the presiding officer, on the way 

to the Chamber—again, we were all fellow mayors—talked about when he was mayor of Cleveland. There were some difficult times, and he 

talked to the President. He talked about what 

a good man the President was. What a good 

man, that he really cared, that he listened, and 
234 Ronald Reagan 

that he wanted to do things, wanted to make a 

difference. Sometimes when those around him 

were not making a difference, he took care of it 

and got it done. I think my colleagues were part 

of history being made. 

I was able to watch history during that time. 

But I am honored and humbled to be here today. 

To those of us who grew up in the Midwest and 

for those like myself who made it our home, 

RONALD REAGAN has a very special significance. 

Places like Dixon, IL, have been dubbed flyover 

zones by sophisticated, powerful people who live 

on the coast. But we know places like that are 

the heartland, strong, simple, and true. That was 

RONALD REAGAN. 

What we love about the Midwest is what 

America and the world came to know and understand and love about RONALD REAGAN. 

To go on and on in flowery rhetoric about 

RONALD REAGAN would not fit the subject matter. Like he did so well, his life deserves a few 

well-chosen words. 

Oscar Wilde once said, ‘‘Life is not complex. 

We are complex. Life is simple and the simple 

thing is the right thing.’’ 

RONALD REAGAN could have said that because, surely, he lived it. 

Democracy is superior to communism. America is the world’s best hope. Liberty requires limited government. The best is yet to come. Those 

were RONALD REAGAN’s moral anchors from the 

start of his public life to the end. Without deviation, they shaped his outlook and actions for 

half a century. 

He certainly didn’t originate any of them, but 

we all know they are far more prominent in the 

fabric of American life today because of the 

power of his witness, as he lived his life, the 

power of what he did with those moral anchors 

as part of him. 

In the last few days, we are hearing a lot about 

REAGAN as the Great Communicator. I think we 

put too much emphasis on the craft. As far as 

RONALD REAGAN was concerned, the key to 

being a good communicator was having something to say. He was the message he delivered, 

and so he touched hearts and changed minds. 

He understood the key to American progress 

was our spirit. Resources, wealth, and past accomplishments have ruined more people and nations than they have made. He knew we needed 

a sense of the heroic, a stirring of our souls to 

rise above selfishness, division, and fear. He inspired us. 

He restored our confidence in the idea of leadership. Vietnam, Watergate, inflation, gas lines, 

and the hostage crisis were causing many to wonder if the American hour had passed. Not RONALD REAGAN. He stubbornly held onto a wonderful vision of the future rather than focus on 

temporary negative circumstances. He led us. 

And perhaps of greatest importance, by his 

own choice, RONALD REAGAN was not the star 

of our dramatic national resurgence. Neither was 

government. In REAGAN’s mind and words, the 

heroes who restored the American economy and 

won the cold war were ordinary Americans doing 

simple things, doing their duty—kind of like a 

national bond raising. He united us. 

Mr. President, I also grew up as a Democrat. 

President REAGAN deeply inspired me, and he 

had a lot to do with the fact that I am standing 

on this side of the aisle today. He inspired me 

with ideas, such as if you want to grow an economy, you cut taxes and put money in people’s 

pockets; they will spend it on a product or service, and there is a job connected to that. He understood that. He showed the power of it. I understood that. It wasn’t just about policy, it was 

about optimism. 

When I ran for mayor in St. Paul in 1993, my 

slogan was ‘‘St. Paul’s best days are yet to come.’’ 

When I switched parties in 1996, Jack Kemp 

came over to my house, and I made the announcement. It was that spirit of hope, optimism, entrepreneurship, and opportunity that he 

showed worked. That was the key, by the way. 

For him, it was not about politics; it was about 

results. 

My friend from Oklahoma quoted President 

REAGAN saying that solving the energy crisis 

will not be easy, but jthatk it can be done. He 

understood the importance of getting it done. 

I think RONALD REAGAN would be honored 

to know we are shutting down the Federal Government on Friday. His only concern might be 

that we are starting it again on Monday. He 

changed us and transformed the world, without 

a doubt. Some days, Mr. President, I get concerned that we are changing back. 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 235 

As we remember his life, I hope we all remember that the simple things are the right things: 

Freedom, hope, liberty, and optimism. 

I thank God that he gave us RONALD REAGAN

when we needed him most. Now, this is our 

time. I pray that we will courageously follow his 

example and embrace America’s destiny in this 

challenging hour. 

Hon. John McCain 

OF ARIZONA

Mr. President, the strength of Abraham Lincoln’s resolve to restore the Union, whatever the 

terrible cost to do so, was his unshakable faith 

that in America any father’s child could come to 

occupy the same place that his father’s child had 

attained. That uniquely American conviction also 

inspired RONALD REAGAN to reach his great 

place in our country’s history and in the hearts 

of his countrymen. I doubt RONALD REAGAN

was much surprised to become President, despite 

his humble origins. And I know for certain he 

never took for granted a single day he occupied 

the office. He believed such an honored privilege 

was within the reach of any American with principles, industry and talent, and that once attained, it was to be held with great care to preserve for succeeding generations the blessings of 

liberty that had so enriched his own life. His patriotism, which he expressed eloquently and 

often in his public remarks, was never affected. 

He believed every word. Nor was his unfailing 

good humor and optimism an actor’s performance. He lived in a ‘‘shining city on a hill,’’ and 

he never forgot it. 

I first met President REAGAN and his lovely 

wife, Nancy, not long after I returned from Vietnam. But I knew of him in the years before I 

regained my liberty, when my fellow prisonersof-war and I would discuss in tap codes and 

whispered conversations the Governor of California who was giving such eloquent voice to the 

convictions we believed we had been sent to war 

to advance. In the more than 30 years that have 

passed since I first met him, I have never lived 

a day that I wasn’t grateful for the privilege of 

the REAGANs’ friendship, and the strength of his 

faith in America that inspired my own, and so 

many others. 

His accomplishments in office were historic, 

and will be long remembered as will the humility, grace and decency with which he achieved 

them. It was an honor to have known him, and 

Cindy and I shall miss him very much. We offer 

our sincerest condolences to Nancy, and to Michael, Patti and Ron, and pray that God grants 

this good man eternal life, reunites him with his 

daughter, Maureen, and with all his loved ones 

who have preceded him. 

Hon. Ernest F. Hollings 

OF SOUTH CAROLINA

Mr. President, at a luncheon with Bernard Baruch, Mr. Baruch commented that Harry Truman 

‘‘had a good memory’’ and ‘‘he also had a good 

bad memory.’’ We are hearing both at the passing of former President RONALD REAGAN. There 

is no question that if a President is to be credited 

for the end of the cold war that credit should 

go to RONALD REAGAN. We were anxious about 

the depletion of our defenses in the U.S. Senate 

in the year preceding President REAGAN’s administration so we passed a 5 percent across-theboard increase in the defense budget. But President REAGAN came on board and really moved 

to strengthen our defenses, building a 600-ship 

Navy and not hesitating to deploy intermediate 

missiles in Europe. He also moved to formalize 

our ballistic missile defense system, calling it the 

Strategic Defense Initiative and increasing its 

support. President REAGAN can also be credited 

with a competitive trade policy. Though he had 

the power to rescind the antidumping order on 

the importation of motorcycles, he let the order 

stand; reviving as we all know the Harley Davidson industry. Moreover, he imposed voluntary restraint agreements in steel, semiconductors, machine tools and automobiles. There is no question, for example, that Intel would have had a 

hard time surviving had it not been for Sematech 

and REAGAN’s VRA (voluntary restraint agreement) on semiconductors. 

But at this time of praise, those with ‘‘good 

bad memory’’ forget it was RONALD REAGAN
236 Ronald Reagan 

who started supply side economics. Former Senator Bob Dole led the opposition to its forerunner, Kemp-Roth, and former President 

George Herbert Walker Bush characterized this 

cutting revenues to increase them as ‘‘voodoo.’’ 

With REAGAN looking for an issue at a low 

point in his administration, he locked onto supply side, ignoring his campaign pledge to ‘‘balance the budget within one year.’’ It is good to 

note that in this country after 200 years existence, with the cost of all the wars from the Revolution up to the war in Vietnam, the national 

debt stood at less than $1 trillion. REAGAN’s supply side or ‘‘voodoo’’ gave us the first trillion dollar debt and he left office having increased the 

national debt $1.7 trillion. Under Bush 41, in 4 

years the debt increased $1.4 trillion. President 

Clinton over 8 years slowed the increase of the 

debt to $1.6 trillion with spending cuts and tax 

increases, leaving a projected surplus. President 

George W. Bush, with three tax cuts or Reagan 

‘‘voodoos,’’ has eliminated the surplus and increased the debt over $2 trillion in 4 years. As 

his chief counselor Vice President Cheney said, 

‘‘Deficits don’t matter.’’ Since the beginning 

days, this country has shown sacrifice at a time 

of war by adopting a tax measure to pay for the 

war. But not for the war on terrorism. We in 

the Congress need a fourth tax cut, voodoo, to 

get reelected. Today the GI fighting the war is 

also going to have to pay for the war. At this 

time of remembrance, let’s not forget that 

REAGAN dignified ‘‘voodoo.’’ 

Hon. Dianne Feinstein 

OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. President, on Saturday, our Nation lost a 

strong leader and the State of California lost an 

adopted son. 

As a citizen, RONALD WILSON REAGAN embodied the American dream. He personified the 

image of California—can-do, risk-taking, cutting-edge. RONALD REAGAN was all of those 

things. 

As a President, he unified a country and 

helped bring an end to the cold war, the premier 

struggle of his time in public life. 

My fondest memory of President REAGAN

took place while I was mayor of San Francisco 

at a March 1983 dinner the President and First 

Lady hosted for Queen Elizabeth II in San Francisco. The Queen was thrilled to visit California 

for the first time and especially pleased to be 

welcomed by a President from California. 

During that trip the Queen quipped at one 

point that she knew England had exported many 

traditions to the United States, but she hadn’t 

realized the weather was one of them. 

San Francisco’s London-like weather aside, as 

mayor I was enormously proud of the wonderful 

welcome we had provided for the Queen of England. 

Growing up in small-town central Illinois in 

the years leading up to the Great Depression, 

President REAGAN was instilled with the values 

that would guide him as a person and as a leader. 

There he learned the importance of hard work 

and optimism as the key ingredients for success. 

It was this optimism combined with his everpresent sense of humor that characterized him 

best, enabling him to both ‘‘fill the screen’’ and 

make a stellar entrance wherever he went. 

After 4 years at Eureka College, where he was 

known as a gritty, though undersized tackle on 

the football team, he began searching for a job 

in broadcasting. In 1932, at the height of the Depression, he headed into the job market confident 

that a job would be his soon. 

After several years as a broadcaster covering 

University of Iowa football games and later recreating Chicago Cubs’ games based on telegraph 

reports, a young RONALD REAGAN traveled to 

California to cover the Cubs’ spring training. 

It was his first trip west of Kansas City and 

it nurtured his fascination with Hollywood. 

While he was there, he used his considerable 

charm to convince a movie agent to arrange a 

screen test for him at Warner Brothers Studios. 

Before long, he returned to the Midwest, 

packed his bags and started the quintessential 

American journey westward in search of opportunity. Of course, he found it as a movie star. 

He won many fans through his on-screen charisma. The optimism he inspired was exemplified 

by his role as Notre Dame football player George 

Gipp in the film ‘‘Knute Rockne—All-American.’’ Years after Gipp’s death, Coach Rockne 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 237 

gave a pep talk to his team urging them to ‘‘win 

one for the Gipper’’ one of the more memorable 

lines in American sports history. 

But President REAGAN’s greatest impact on 

the world was as a politician. As a labor leader 

with the Screen Actors Guild, his roots as an activist were shaped significantly by a deep concern 

about communism. 

Yet despite his strongly anticommunist views, 

he condemned the unfair smearing of many liberals by Senator Joseph McCarthy and the House 

Un-American Activities Committee. He refused 

to reveal names publicly, but exposed some people to the FBI privately. 

As Governor of California he had a strong 

record of environmental protection: adding 

145,000 acres to the State’s park system, protecting Lake Tahoe from rampant development, 

blocking the construction of dams on the Dos 

Rios and Eel Rivers, and stopping the paving of 

a Federal highway through the Sierra Nevada 

Mountains that would have cut through the John 

Muir Trail. 

He also signed legislation to protect rivers on 

California’s north coast and approved strict car 

emissions standards that forced the Nation’s 

automakers to manufacture cleaner-burning cars. 

But he lobbied against the Coastal Protection 

Act approved by voters in 1972 and resisted air 

pollution controls imposed by the Federal Government. 

Despite his personal opposition to abortion, 

Governor REAGAN loosened an 1872 statute to 

allow abortion in cases of rape, incest, when a 

mother’s health was at stake, or when there was 

a high risk that a baby would be born with birth 

defects. Many States followed Governor 

REAGAN’s lead on this important issue. 

However, his move to close down mental 

health facilities in California resulted in widespread homelessness in urban areas. Though he 

sought to steer the mentally ill into communitybased mental health facilities the end result was 

a spike in homelessness, a problem that we continue to deal with to this day. 

While in Sacramento, he generally approached 

fiscal policy as a moderate, first presiding over 

a $1 billion tax increase to balance the State 

budget and another subsequent increase. He 

eventually lowered taxes, but in his two terms 

as Governor, State spending doubled overall and 

the State’s work force grew by 34,000. 

As President, he was a unifier and an optimist. 

His infectious, upbeat attitude rallied people to 

his goals. He was extremely successful in passing 

legislation by joining that optimism with a willingness to compromise with a Democratic Congress. 

In his dealings, he was tough, but ready to 

negotiate. There is no better example of this than 

his relationship with former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. He often used harsh rhetoric in 

challenging the actions of our cold war adversary, 

but it was always backed by his core beliefs. 

Once, as he prepared for his first summit with 

the Soviet leader, he met with a room full of foreign policy advisors, each offering their suggestions about what he should say. After a half-hour 

of discussion, President REAGAN turned to his 

advisors and said, ‘‘Gentlemen, I’ve been thinking about what I’m going to say to this man my 

whole life. And I know exactly what I’m going 

to say.’’ 

Gorbachev described REAGAN as ‘‘a great 

President, with whom the Soviet leadership was 

able to launch a very difficult but important dialogue.’’ 

His tough negotiating stance yielded some important accomplishments including signing treaties reducing intermediate-range nuclear missiles 

and limiting strategic arms. These acts of diplomacy combined with his relentless advocacy for 

freedom played a major role in bringing about 

an end to the cold war. 

At the same time, REAGAN had a tendency to 

overreach in the area of foreign policy. The invasion of Grenada, the intervention in Lebanon that 

left American soldiers uncertain of their role and 

vulnerable to attack, and, above all, the IranContra scandal—were all cases in which the 

Reagan administration went too far in seeking 

to reshape the world. 

At home, President REAGAN sought to limit 

the size of government and tap the entrepreneurial spirit of the American people. And 

though he was famous for cutting taxes, he approved two tax increases during his first term in 

the White House. 

Unfortunately, the tax cuts were coupled with 

sharp increases in defense spending that resulted 
238 Ronald Reagan 

in massive deficits. The Federal budget finally recovered from those years of deficit spending during the late nineties, but the surpluses that were 

generated disappeared in the blink of an eye 

under the current administration’s fiscal policies. 

President REAGAN’s cuts to public housing, 

job training, and the broader social safety net 

were another serious blow domestically. And, as 

cities and mayors across the country were reeling 

from the advent of AIDS—no place suffered 

more than San Francisco—President REAGAN

failed to act. He would not even publicly comment on the AIDS crisis. 

Though people did not always agree with his 

policies, it cannot be denied that President 

REAGAN redefined politics through his tremendous skills as a communicator. In particular, his 

ability to define clear goals and persuade others 

to support those goals earned him the admiration 

of many Americans. 

As we all know, President REAGAN suffered 

from Alzheimer’s Disease during the last decade 

of his life. 

As we honor his memory in the days and 

weeks to come, it is my hope that we will consider what we can do here in Congress to battle 

this terrible disease. 

A good first step would be to approve legislation that supports embryonic stem cell research. 

This research offers tremendous hope, not only 

to those who suffer from Alzheimer’s, but also 

the millions of people with cancer, diabetes, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injuries. What a fitting tribute passage of this bill 

would be to President REAGAN. 

In closing, there probably is no American who 

has more fully lived the American dream from 

actor to Governor to President than RONALD

REAGAN. Today, we mourn his loss, but recognize that his was a full life. 

Thank you for your service to this country, 

President REAGAN. 

Hon. Russell D. Feingold 

OF WISCONSIN

Mr. President, today I pay my respects to a 

beloved leader who, with grace, wit, and charisma, led our country through some of the great 

challenges of the 20th century. President RONALD WILSON REAGAN was a dedicated public 

servant whose confidence and optimism reinvigorated the American people and made him one of 

the most honored and respected Presidents in our 

Nation’s history. 

Although he lived most of his life in California, President REAGAN was a fellow midwesterner. Born in 1911 in Tampico, IL, RONALD

WILSON REAGAN attended high school in nearby 

Dixon and worked his way through Eureka College. There he earned his B.A., played on the 

football team, and participated in school plays. 

He eventually won a contract in Hollywood and 

appeared in 53 films over 2 decades. 

The father of four children became increasingly involved in politics and in 1966 was elected 

the Governor of California, and was reelected in 

1970. His optimistic message, at a time when the 

country was beset by inflation and by the taking 

of American hostages in Iran, helped him to win 

the Presidency in 1980. Four years later, he was 

reelected in a 49-State sweep. 

In foreign affairs, it is impossible to separate 

President REAGAN’s legacy from the astounding 

change in world affairs that began while he was 

in office: the collapse of the U.S.S.R. and the end 

of the cold war. President REAGAN spoke frankly 

and frequently about the bankruptcy—both 

moral and economic—of the Soviet regime. His 

words and actions energized dissidents and activists struggling for change and for justice in the 

face of communist repression and tyranny. His 

optimism helped to give them confidence that 

they were, indeed, on the right side of history. 

President REAGAN not only recognized the 

monstrous nature of communist totalitarianism, 

but he also understood the horror of a geopolitical reality that made the entire world hostage to the threat of nuclear annihilation. He had 

the courage to act, to reach out to the Soviet 

leadership and to craft landmark arms control 

agreements, including one that, for the first 

time, eliminated a class of nuclear weapons. 

On the domestic front, it was under the leadership of President REAGAN that the solvency of 

the Social Security Program was extended 

through reforms to the existing program. Although modest in their overall scope, those re-
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 239 

forms were seen by many as politically risky, and 

President REAGAN provided critical leadership 

that helped assure both a reluctant Congress and 

an uncertain public. Today, we should build on 

the REAGAN reforms, and strengthen the existing 

program, as he did. 

Another significant domestic policy challenge 

that President REAGAN tackled was the simplification of our Tax Code. In the face of special 

interest pressures, and under the leadership of his 

Secretary of Treasury, Donald Regan, as well as 

a bipartisan group of Members of the House and 

Senate, President REAGAN was able to push 

through the last significant reforms to our increasingly complex Tax Code in 1986. 

At the time, I was the chairman of the Taxation Committee in the Wisconsin State Senate 

and we were holding a variety of hearings around 

the State, addressing parallel reforms. These hearings and reforms were driven by President 

REAGAN’s proposal. Though far from perfect, 

that reform effort is another model for action we 

need to undertake again. And policymakers in 

Congress and the executive branch would do well 

to follow President REAGAN’s example in this 

matter. 

Of course, no review of President REAGAN’s 

legacy would be complete without acknowledging his Alzheimer’s disease which, sadly, defined the last 10 years of his life as well as the 

lives of his family. As the author of Wisconsin’s 

Alzheimer’s program, I have become all too 

aware of the heartbreaking tragedy that this 

dread disease brings to a family. 

President REAGAN’s brave, public acknowledgment of the disease, and the wonderful efforts 

of his wife Nancy, have done a great deal to educate the country about this horrible affliction. 

They have also helped to spur government investment in the research needed to find a cure, 

and to raise awareness of the need for long-term 

care services for those suffering from Alzheimer’s. 

President RONALD WILSON REAGAN helped 

to transform America and the world. He and his 

achievements will forever be honored and remembered. 

Hon. Mark Pryor 

OF ARKANSAS

Mr. President, the Capitol today is overflowing with visitors, flags stand at half-staff, 

and the Nation has collectively stopped this 

week—all to honor a remarkable man who accomplished remarkable things during a remarkable time. 

President RONALD REAGAN gave his life to 

public service and has left a legacy of leadership 

that will always be remembered. 

We remember President REAGAN’s strong vision for political and economic freedom which 

was instrumental in the fall of communism and 

the spread of democracy in Eastern Europe. The 

world held its breath as America stared communism in the face, but in the end we peacefully 

won over the respect and cooperation of our 

enemy. Less than a year after REAGAN left office, 

Mr. Gorbachev stepped down, the Berlin Wall 

fell and the cold war ended. 

I will never forget President REAGAN’s historic speech on June 12, 1987, in front of the 

Brandenburg Gate near the Berlin Wall when he 

called on Mikhail Gorbachev to ‘‘Open this gate! 

Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!’’ 

Today, the United States is working with Russia to replace tyranny and fear in Iraq with peace 

and stability. 

Of President REAGAN, Gorbachev said: 

A true leader, a man of his word and an optimist, he traveled the journey of his life with dignity and faced courageously the cruel disease that darkened his final years. He 

has earned a place in history and in people’s hearts. 

We also remember DUTCH, the Great Communicator, the GIPPER, as a man of great optimism and humor. My kids’ history books recall 

the dates and facts of this time, but they do not 

convey this Hollywood actor turned President’s 

good-natured spirit or genuine optimism for a 

better tomorrow. Nor can they express his 

unyielding dedication and love for our country. 

However, I believe the outpouring of respect and 

affection shown by the American public this 

week says we will forever remember his character 

and personality. 

Finally, we remember a man who never 

stopped believing, never stopped advocating 
240 Ronald Reagan 

America’s ability to succeed and prosper. He 

stuck to his convictions and his visions for America, whether popular or not. 

RONALD REAGAN’s initiatives didn’t please all 

Americans and Democrats and Republicans did 

not always agree on President REAGAN’s foreign 

policy or domestic agenda, but he never encouraged or played the biting partisan games that 

exist today. Even with those people whom he had 

genuine ideological differences, President 

REAGAN always showed a level of respect and acknowledged that we are all Americans and we 

are in this together. 

Years ago, President REAGAN and Speaker of 

the House Tip O’Neill used to joke that, ‘‘between 9 and 6 we are enemies, but at 6 o’clock 

let’s go have a cocktail together.’’ To truly honor 

and remember President REAGAN—this man of 

great accomplishment, optimism, and oratory— 

perhaps we could find ways to work better together for a better tomorrow. 

I extend my deepest sympathies to the Reagan 

family in their time of sorrow, and I hope it is 

of some comfort that Americans and many others 

throughout the world mourn by their side. 

A COMMUNICATION FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE 

UNITED STATES OFFICIALLY NOTIFYING THE 

CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES OF THE DEATH 

OF FORMER PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN—PM 84 

The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the 

Senate the following message from the President 

of the United States, together with an accompanying report; which was ordered to lie on the 

table: 

To the Congress of the United States: 

By this message, I officially inform you of the death of 

RONALD REAGAN, the fortieth President of the United 

States. 

RONALD REAGAN was a great leader and a good man. He 

had the confidence that comes with conviction, the strength 

that comes with character, the grace that comes with humility, and the humor that comes with wisdom. 

Through his leadership, spirit, and abiding faith in the 

American people, President REAGAN gave our Nation a renewed optimism. With his courage and moral clarity, he enhanced America’s security and advanced the spread of peace, 

liberty, and democracy to millions of people who had lived 

in darkness and oppression. As America’s President, he 

helped change the world. 

The sun has now set on RONALD REAGAN’s extraordinary 

American life. Just as he told us that our Nation’s best days 

are yet to come, we know that the same is true for him. 

GEORGE W. BUSH. 

THE WHITE HOUSE, June ç, áÖÖâ. 

ADJOURNMENT UNTIL 9:30 A.M. TOMORROW 

Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, if there is no 

further business to come before the Senate, I ask 

unanimous consent that the Senate stand in adjournment under the provisions of S. Res. 371 as 

a mark of further respect for President RONALD

WILSON REAGAN. 

There being no objection, the Senate, at 6:10 

p.m., adjourned until Wednesday, June 9, 2004, 

at 9:30 a.m. 

Wednesday, June é, áÖÖâ 

PRAYER

The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, offered the 

following prayer: 

Let us pray. 

Eternal God, author of true freedom and shelter from life’s storms, as our Nation pays its final 

respects to former President Ronald REAGAN, we 

look again to You, the source of our hope for 

years to come. 

In a world of change and decay, You remain 

the same yesterday, today, and forever. Undergird this land with a foundation of right living 

that exalts a nation. Deliver us from the evils 

that bring national decline. Surround our military with the shield of Your presence and give 

wisdom to all warriors for freedom. Guide our 

lawmakers as they seek to keep America strong. 

Strengthen them with Your spirit and inspire 

them with Your precepts. 

In these challenging days, we place our confidence in You, for Your steadfast love and faithfulness sustains us. 

We pray in Your strong Name. Amen. 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 241 

Hon. William H. Frist 

OF TENNESSEE

Mr. President, I wish to make a few remarks 

regarding President RONALD REAGAN. It was in 

January 1977, as Jimmy Carter prepared to take 

the oath of office as President, that RONALD

REAGAN met with the man who would become 

his chief foreign policy adviser for the next several years, Richard Allen. 

The two spent several hours together discussing in detail the vast array of issues. As Allen 

recalls—and some people have heard this on the 

news—Mr. REAGAN said a whole range of memorable things, but none was more profound than 

this: 

My idea of American policy toward the Soviet Union is 

simple and some would say simplistic. It is this: We win 

and they lose. What do you think of that? 

RONALD REAGAN’s words would have been 

shocking to the trained ears of any foreign policy 

expert of that day. The consensus was the cold 

war simply could not be won. We could not defeat communism. That is what people thought. 

That is what they felt. All we could do was to 

hope to contain the Soviet Union and chip away 

at the fringes of its influence. 

After his meeting with RONALD REAGAN, 

Richard Allen never looked at the world in the 

same way. When RONALD REAGAN entered the 

White House and laid out his vision for winning 

the cold war, America never looked at the world 

the same way. And when RONALD REAGAN left 

the White House and events he helped put in 

motion came to pass, the world, indeed, would 

never be the same. 

What were the reasons for RONALD REAGAN’s 

historic foreign policy success? How did he come 

to leave a more indelible mark on the world than 

any American President since Franklin Delano 

Roosevelt? 

First, RONALD REAGAN believed in a strong 

military to defend our Nation and to protect 

peace. He marshaled the resources from this body 

for a remarkable 35-percent increase in defense 

spending during his Presidency. Critics accused 

REAGAN of unnecessarily provoking the Soviet 

Union and putting America on a path to nuclear 

war. But for RONALD REAGAN, a strong national 

defense was an instrument for peace. It was government’s first and foremost duty to its people. 

He knew the Soviet Union could not match our 

capacity to fund our national defense, and should 

the Soviets attempt to keep pace, as they did, 

the communist state would be unable to sustain 

itself. 

Second, RONALD REAGAN believed that 

America, our allies, and our common values were 

on that winning side of history. The destiny of 

mankind was not to live in the shadow of tyranny, dictatorship, but to be guided by the light 

of liberty, by the light of democracy. That was 

the destiny. 

As REAGAN said in his watershed ‘‘Westminster’’ speech: 

jTkhe march of freedom and democracy . . . will leave 

Marxism-Leninism on the ash-heap of history as it has left 

other tyrannies which stifle the freedom and muzzle the selfexpression of the people. 

Third, RONALD REAGAN viewed the world 

through a lens of moral clarity. He believed there 

was right and wrong and good and evil, strength 

and weakness, but, most importantly, he was not 

afraid to talk about the world as he saw it or 

use his words to help shape the world in that 

vision. 

He called the Soviet Union the evil empire. 

Why? Because the Soviet regime was repressive 

and godless and imperialist. 

In 1987, he stood before the Brandenburg Gate 

in Berlin and challenged the Soviet leadership: 

jMr.k Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity 

for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this 

gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! 

Within months, the wall was torn down. The 

cold war was won, and the new and lengthy era 

of peace for America and among the major powers of the world was born. 

In this week of tribute to the life of RONALD

REAGAN, let us remember the simple ideas upon 

which his foreign policy was based: a strong 

military as an instrument of peace; liberty and 

democracy as the destiny of mankind; and the 

moral clarity to see the world as it was and what 

it should be. 

Let us also remember that without the courage 

and the character of RONALD REAGAN, his ideas 
242 Ronald Reagan 

would have remained just ideas, and the world 

would have remained the same. 

As Mr. REAGAN once wrote of his determination to stand up for what he believed: 

But bearing what we cannot change and going on with 

what God has given us, confident there is a destiny, somehow 

seems to bring a reward we wouldn’t exchange for any other. 

It takes a lot of fire and heat to make a piece of steel. 

Hon. Edward M. Kennedy 

OF MASSACHUSETTS

Mr. President, I join my colleagues on both 

sides of the aisle in paying tribute to RONALD

REAGAN. As all of us who had the privilege of 

working with him know, he brought a special 

grace to the White House and the country in 

everything he did. We often disagreed on specific 

issues, but he had an undeniably unique capacity 

to inspire and move the Nation. 

The warmth of his personality always shone 

through, and his infectious optimism made us all 

feel that it really was ‘‘morning in America.’’ It 

was impossible not to respect and admire the way 

he revived the spirit of the Nation in that era, 

restored the power and vitality of the Presidency, 

and made it a vigorous and purposeful place of 

effective national and international leadership. 

It was no coincidence that he opened his 1984 

reelection campaign year by citing two Democratic Presidents, John F. Kennedy and Franklin 

D. Roosevelt, in his State of the Union Address. 

Nor was it a coincidence that at the Republican 

Convention that year, not the Democratic Convention, the band played ‘‘Happy Days Are Here 

Again.’’ 

He governed as a conservative Republican, 

often very conservative. But he had a special genius for reaching out to all Americans. Somehow, 

the hard edges of his policies always seemed 

smoother when he discussed and defended them. 

He was willing to step back from them when 

necessary, such as when it proved impossible to 

cut taxes, increase spending for defense, and balance the budget at the same time. 

He was an intense competitor who wanted to 

win, not just for himself but for his beliefs. But 

his goal was to defeat his opponents, not destroy 

them. He taught us that even though the battle 

would inevitably resume the next morning, at 

the end of each day we could put aside the divisions and debates. We could sit down together 

and laugh together, especially at his endless 

stream of stories. He took issues seriously, but 

he had a sense of perspective that never let him 

or us take ourselves too seriously. As a leader, 

he was a President of large principles, not small 

details. Some criticized him for that, but it was 

often the source of his strength. 

On foreign policy, he will be honored as the 

President who won the cold war, and his famous 

words ‘‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!’’ 

will be linked in history with President Kennedy’s ‘‘Ich bin ein Berliner.’’ He came to office 

convinced that we could not trust the communists, or perhaps even negotiate with them, 

and his commitment to a strong national defense 

was never doubted by Soviet leaders. 

But he also understood the importance of 

working with our allies to protect our security, 

and he also understood the madness of ‘‘mutually 

assured destruction.’’ He had an instinct that Mikhail Gorbachev might be different, and was 

quick to respond when I learned on a visit to 

Moscow in 1986 that President Gorbachev was 

prepared to negotiate a separate arms control 

treaty on the critical issue of nuclear missiles, in 

Europe. The Intermediate-Range Nuclear-Force 

Treaty they negotiated the following year eased 

tensions in Europe, and became the needed 

breakthrough in U.S.-Soviet relations that made 

it possible to see light at the end of the long 

dangerous tunnel of the cold war. 

President REAGAN was never afraid to be controversial, to confront when he had to, and lead 

where he believed. There were intense disagreements with many of his policies, then and now. 

But beyond all that was a defining reality. He 

came to power at a time of self-fulfilling pessimism, a pervasive belief that public policy 

could barely move molehills, let alone mountains. The true achievement of the Reagan revolution was the renewal of America’s faith in 

itself. 

It was more than the fact that he was a superb 

communicator. Some attributed at least part of 

his success to the fact that he had been an actor. 

But his deepest convictions were matters of heart 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 243 

and mind and spirit, and on them, he was no 

actor at all. 

He was very generous to the Kennedy family 

on many public and private occasions. Caroline 

and John went to see him in the White House 

early in 1985 to ask if he might be willing to 

participate in some way in a dinner we were 

planning at my home in support of my brother’s 

Presidential library. He was delighted to attend. 

‘‘Of course I’ll help you,’’ he said. ‘‘You don’t 

have a father to help.’’ 

At the dinner a few weeks later, he stood with 

us in the receiving line and shook the hand of 

every guest. He was quick to mention that he 

had not supported President Kennedy in 1960. 

‘‘I was for the other fellow,’’ he told us. ‘‘But 

you know, it’s true, when the battle’s over and 

the ground cooled, well, it’s then that you see 

the opposing general’s valor.’’ 

He proceeded to give one of the finest tributes 

that my brother ever received. As he said of Jack, 

‘‘He seemed to grasp from the beginning that 

life is one fast-moving train, and you have to 

jump aboard and hold on to your hat and relish 

the sweep of the winds as it rushes by.’’ 

He summed it up by saying of my brother, 

‘‘You have to enjoy the journey. . . . I think that’s 

how his country remembers him, in his joy, and 

it was a joy he knew how to communicate.’’ 

That’s how America remembers RONALD

REAGAN, too. 

Hon. Jim Bunning 

OF KENTUCKY

Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to the 

memory of our 40th President, RONALD WILSON

REAGAN. 

Mary and I have deep sadness today and we 

send out our heartfelt condolences to Nancy and 

the rest of the Reagan family. 

I didn’t personally meet RONALD REAGAN

until 1983, but I wish I had known him before. 

I will never forget how even though we hardly 

knew each other, he was there when I needed 

him. 

This first happened when I was running for 

Governor of Kentucky in 1983. To be honest, not 

many people were helping me. I entered the race 

late to try to help the Republican Party because 

we didn’t have a candidate. Most people either 

weren’t very interested or weren’t giving me 

much of a chance. But I called President 

REAGAN and he helped me and even came out 

to campaign for me. I’m sure some of his advisers 

told him not to, and told him there was nothing 

in it for him. But he came anyway. 

At a time when not many other people believed in me, RONALD REAGAN did. That was 

very special to me personally. 

I didn’t win that race, but President 

REAGAN’s faith in me and his support transformed me from someone who had merely 

watched him from afar to an appreciative admirer. 

He had no reason to come and assist me other 

than to help because of the goodness in his heart. 

I asked, and that was enough for him. 

Later I was at the 1984 Republican Convention 

in Dallas when he gave the great speech about 

believing in America and how our Nation symbolized hope to the world as a ‘‘shining city on 

the hill.’’ 

It was spellbinding and uplifting. Even 

though it was a political convention, I think his 

message of optimism and his belief in the goodness of America touched all Americans. 

President REAGAN believed in me again when 

I ran for Congress in 1986. To be honest, I wasn’t 

really interested at first in coming to Washington. But when RONALD REAGAN and his 

White House turned on the power of persuasion, 

it was almost impossible to say ‘‘no.’’ And with 

RONALD REAGAN’s support, I was fortunate 

enough to win and to come join him as a Member of Congress for his last 2 years in office. 

Again, he believed in me and I’ve never forgotten 

it. 

I attended his last two State of the Union 

speeches as a Member of the House and they 

were spectacular performances. 

I remember during his last State of the Union 

when he dropped a copy of the enormous continuing resolution spending bill Congress had 

passed in late 1987 and warned us that we’d better get our work done on time because he 

wouldn’t sign another bill like that. 
244 Ronald Reagan 

We knew he meant it and Congress listened 

and the next year we did get our work done on 

time. 

I believe the secret to RONALD REAGAN’s appeal was that he had such strong and profound 

fundamental beliefs about the role of government 

and he was so confident in his ability to communicate those beliefs in simple, but powerful ways 

that average Americans could understand. 

People sensed that he was sincere in his own 

beliefs. They knew he was comfortable in his 

own skin and had a clear idea of the direction 

where he wanted to lead the country. Because he 

was confident in himself and believed in America 

and its people, the American people returned 

that faith. They believed in him and they listened to him. When he led, they followed. 

They followed RONALD REAGAN when it 

came to his staunch opposition to taxes. 

They listened to him when he warned us about 

the evils of communism and asserted our moral 

superiority in the struggle between the East and 

the West. 

Many in Washington criticized him when he 

warned that the old Soviet Union was an evil empire. 

But RONALD REAGAN understood that the Soviets were a moral threat to our way of life, and 

that we were engaged in a struggle that we had 

to win. 

The naysayers said RONALD REAGAN was dangerous, but the American people knew he was 

fundamentally right, and history will show him 

to be a visionary who probably saved our Nation 

and the world. 

Like every other President, RONALD REAGAN

had his critics. And he made mistakes. But there 

is no doubt that the strong consensus among the 

American people is that RONALD REAGAN was 

a great President. 

He was an unusually strong and optimistic 

leader that we all want to emulate. That’s why 

his passing has hit so many of us so hard. 

Even his strongest critics will tell you that 

they liked RONALD REAGAN the man and 

human being. They knew that even though he 

might disagree with their policies that he still 

liked them as people and that he would treat 

them with respect. 

That was a hallmark of REAGAN and another 

strength of his administration—he was always a 

gentleman and treated others with respect. He 

might not have won every policy and political 

argument, but he fought cleanly and conducted 

himself with civility and grace. 

In the end, I believe that few of us will see 

another leader the likes of RONALD REAGAN

during our lifetime. 

I believe that when he took office he set out 

to change not only the Nation but the face of 

the world. That is exactly what he did. 

Hon. Robert F. Bennett 

OF UTAH

Mr. President, on the passing of former President REAGAN, my mind, like everyone else’s, 

goes back to a personal experience—not one that 

I had with RONALD REAGAN himself because I 

did not know him that well, but in 1976, I was 

being interviewed for a job in the REAGAN campaign for President. The individual, the former 

President’s campaign manager at the time, who 

was conducting the interview, went through all 

of the specifics of the job he wanted me to take. 

The interview went very well. I seemed to have 

the credentials they wanted, and it was clear that 

a job offer was sitting there on the table. But 

I was a little troubled, even though things were 

going well, because I wanted to make something 

very clear. 

I did not know RONALD REAGAN. I had met 

him, but I did not know him. I only knew the 

caricature of REAGAN which was out there in the 

media, which was that he was a rigid, ideological, hardline conservative who would never, ever 

budge from an ideological position. So I said, in 

the spirit of full disclosure in this job interview, 

I want to make one thing clear. I said, ‘‘I am 

not a true believer.’’ 

The individual conducting the interview 

smiled a little and he said, ‘‘That’s all right, neither is the Governor.’’ 

That was my first glimpse into what made 

RONALD REAGAN a truly successful politician. 

He was a politician of absolutely firm resolve, 

there is no question about that. There were 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 245 

things he believed and he believed with such passion that he would never, ever deviate from 

them. But there were also some things he realized could be compromised that did not require 

an absolute, hardline ideological stance, and the 

great genius of the man is that he had the wisdom to be able to discern which issue fell into 

which category, which issue was one in which 

there must be no compromise, and which issue 

was one where he could, in the words of former 

Senator Dole, take 80 percent of the deal and be 

happy with it. That requires a degree of wisdom 

and sensitivity that very few of us possess. RONALD REAGAN possessed it, and that was the core 

of his genius. 

In the words of the country music song, he 

knew when to hold them and when to fold them. 

On the issue of the evil empire, that was a 

time when he would hold them. On the issue 

of the evil empire, he would give no quarter, and 

he was criticized firmly for that, even within his 

own administration. The story is told of a meeting where members of the administration were 

discussing how they would deal with the Soviet 

Union in a certain situation, and after one point 

of view was presented President REAGAN turned 

to the individual and said, ‘‘If you believe that, 

what are you doing in this administration?’’ He 

was that firm in his determination that the Soviet Union was, indeed, an evil empire and had 

to be confronted as such. 

But when the confrontation truly came and 

the Soviet Union found they were up against an 

immovable object in RONALD REAGAN and they 

began to maneuver, then he could see the areas 

in which 80 percent was good enough. He could 

discern the difference between where he had to 

stand absolutely firm and where he had to negotiate. He skillfully exploited all of those differences in such a way that the evil empire first 

ceased to be evil and then ultimately ceased to 

be an empire. 

I find one of the great ironies of history the 

fact that upon his passing, on the pages of the 

New York Times, Mikhail Gorbachev is quoted in 

praise of RONALD REAGAN. The man whom 

REAGAN outmaneuvered, outnegotiated, and ultimately forced from office was singing his 

praises at his passing. That is an indication of 

how good RONALD REAGAN was at the job of 

being President of the United States. 

We have all talked about how optimistic he 

was, how filled with hope he was, what a congenial fellow he was, what a great communicator 

he was. And all of that is true and all of that 

is right and proper in this eulogy. But we should 

not allow ourselves to forget in these discussions 

of his wonderful qualities how effective a President he was. We live in RONALD REAGAN’s 

America. Indeed, we live in RONALD REAGAN’s 

world. He is more responsible for the kind of 

America we have today than any other man. He 

is more responsible for the kind of world in 

which we live than any other man. 

That does not mean he is solely responsible, 

by any means, because there are many people 

who have affected America and have affected the 

world for good and ill, and no one man can be 

solely responsible for what happened. But he is 

more responsible than any other individual for 

the kind of country we have and for the kind 

of world in which we live—and both are substantially better than that which he found when he 

became President. 

Let us look back for a minute at what America 

was like when RONALD REAGAN became President. 

We think of the Great Depression and how 

devastating that was as an economic event in our 

lives. When RONALD REAGAN came to the Presidency, we were in the midst of the great inflation. I remember it very clearly. I was delighted 

in that period—absolutely delighted—to be able 

to get a bank loan, so I could meet payroll in 

the business I was running, at an interest rate 

of 211§5 percent. I remember talking to my banker 

who told me, Today the Treasury auction has 

sold 30-year government securities at 15 percent. 

It was absolutely stunning. The great inflation 

was destroying value, destroying confidence, and 

created what is the most serious recession we 

have had since the Great Depression—the double 

digits of the eighties which occurred in 

REAGAN’s Presidency but were the consequence 

of the great inflation that went before. This 

President stood absolutely firm on his economic 

policy that was being ridiculed, that was being 

castigated, that was being sneered at; and his 

message to the country was stay the course. We 
246 Ronald Reagan 

did stay the course. His party lost a lot of seats 

in that next election, but he stood firm. Along 

with Paul Volcker at the Federal Reserve, they 

squeezed inflation out of the economy, created 

an economic situation where today as the heirs 

of that enormously difficult but significant effort 

we find the time when interest rates are at their 

lowest in 20, 30, or 40 years. 

I remind people who derided RONALD

REAGAN as the playboy, lifeguard, football player 

with no intellectual base that he was the only 

President of the United States who had a degree 

in economics—classic economics, Keynesian economics—and he viewed the world in Keynesian 

terms and set an economic course that produced 

the base of prosperity we live in today. Yes, he 

was an optimist. Yes, he was a politician of joy. 

Yes, he was a pleasant fellow. But he was an 

enormously successful President in his domestic 

policies. 

During his Presidency, the American economy 

grew as measured in terms of gross domestic 

product as much as if it had acquired the entire 

economy of Germany. We added as much gross 

domestic product—that is as much output in the 

American economy—during the time he was 

President as the entire economy of Germany. 

Let us not forget that contribution as we remember and properly celebrate his sterling personal qualities. 

Internationally, of course, we have talked 

about that. Other Senators have talked about 

that. But let us remember once again at the time 

his policies were very controversial, at the time 

his policies were derided by the wise men, at the 

time they said he was a cowboy who was going 

to set off all kinds of danger internationally, and 

at the end of his Presidency, as I say, the evil 

empire was no longer evil and very quickly it 

was no longer an empire. And instead of setting 

off dangerous international consequences, what 

he did by standing firm on his resolve was transform the world by ridding it of its greatest 

threat. That was not bad for a B actor who presumably didn’t know anything beyond what was 

on those 3 × 5 cards. 

The best summary comes from one of his staffers who wrote a book. The staffer was named 

Dinesh D’Souza. He wrote a book called 

‘‘REAGAN,’’ and the first chapter of that book is 

entitled, ‘‘The Wise Men and The Dummy.’’ 

In that chapter, D’Souza said when REAGAN

came to the Presidency, it was widely assumed 

among all the liberal wise men in the country 

that he was a dummy. The untold secret is the 

conservative wise men felt the same way. The 

conservative wise men thought he won the Presidency because he was a great actor: He looks 

good on television, but we can’t allow him to 

make any of the decisions. He is a front, and we 

will put together the conservative agenda. Then 

we will have him as our puppet to go out and 

sell it to the American people, and we will have 

the best of all possible worlds. 

Well, as D’Souza records, at the end of the 

day, on every major issue that came before the 

REAGAN Presidency, it turned out the wise men 

were wrong and the dummy was right. And the 

dummy, because he was President of the United 

States and because he understood the proper use 

of power and he exercised it with tremendous 

skill, had views that prevailed, and we are the 

beneficiaries of his wisdom. 

At this time of his passing, I do not mourn 

because RONALD REAGAN has been released by 

death from a tremendously debilitating, frustrating, and ultimately tragic situation. RONALD

REAGAN is now in a better place that does not 

require us to mourn but to rejoice. This time is 

a time to celebrate, a time to be grateful, and 

a time to thank providence for giving America 

at this time in its history this particular statesman, the one who knew when to stand with absolute resolve, when to be willing to make the 

deal, and possess the innate wisdom to know the 

difference. 

We live in RONALD REAGAN’s America. Indeed, we live in RONALD REAGAN’s world, and 

we are all better for that. 

Hon. Jeff Sessions 

OF ALABAMA

Mr. President, it is a great honor for me to 

be a Member of this body at this point in history 

and to be able to have the privilege of making 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 247 

a few comments on the life and career of RONALD REAGAN. 

My words are inadequate to the task. Many 

have spoken more eloquently than me. Many 

have written beautifully about his life and the 

meaning of his Presidency. 

I will just say that I do remember being personally inspired by him. As a young high school 

student, I came to believe Barry Goldwater 

would be a good President. I believed that from 

the values he was articulating. I did what I 

could. I put a bumper sticker on my daddy’s 

pickup truck. Although he had never been involved in politics in any way, he allowed me to 

do that. 

Of course, things did not go well in that election. Things were going poorly. But on the eve 

of that election, the Nation and many of the people who shared those basic values about classical 

America, what we as a Nation represent—limited government, individual responsibility, personal freedom, a strong national defense—were 

electrified by a speech by RONALD REAGAN. I 

think they call it ‘‘A Rendezvous with Destiny.’’ 

Some just call it ‘‘The Speech.’’ I remember it 

to this day. 

After the Goldwater campaign ended—and it 

certainly was a major defeat for him—RONALD

REAGAN sort of inherited the flame of classical 

American values and made them the basis of his 

personal beliefs and his campaign for the Presidency. 

I was also later honored to be President 

REAGAN’s U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama. It was a Presidential appointment, confirmed by the Senate. I was a U.S. attorney, and I served in that job as one of his lieutenants in the war on crime for the entire two 

terms of his Presidency, and, indeed, for 4 more 

years under former President Bush. That was a 

great honor for me. 

As we talk about what President REAGAN accomplished, I do want to take a moment to talk 

about crime and drugs. Crime and drugs had 

been surging for 20 years when President 

REAGAN took office. The elites in this country 

actually believed that prison was ineffective, that 

it did not work, that it was counterproductive, 

that you should not put people in prison, that 

we ought to ask how they committed the crime, 

what the root causes of criminal behavior were, 

and what we could do to help the criminal. 

We lost sight of the victim. We lost sight of 

accountability. We lost sight of righting wrong. 

And it resulted in crime rates that doubled and 

tripled in the 20 years prior to President 

REAGAN taking office. 

Drug use had surged during the sixties and 

seventies. By the time President REAGAN took 

office, half of the high school seniors in America 

admitted to having used an illegal drug in their 

life. That is a stunning number. That is according to a University of Michigan study. 

Nancy Reagan began her ‘‘Just Say No’’ program. President REAGAN passed mandatory sentencing policies. He passed through the Congress 

the Federal sentencing guidelines that eliminated 

parole and had guaranteed sentences for incarceration, with many substantial sentences for serious 

violations of the law. I believe the sentencing 

guidelines were probably the biggest change in 

law enforcement in the history of this country 

since its founding. 

The result was that drug use went down. It 

went down every year President REAGAN was 

President. For 12 years it declined steadfastly. We 

now have less than half of high school seniors 

who say they have used an illegal drug in their 

life. The crime rate began to fall. We are still 

seeing declines in crime. That is because we went 

back to the fundamental precepts of crime and 

punishment, and how you do it. Some people are 

just dangerous. They need to be incarcerated. 

They need to be removed from society for the 

protection of society. 

States picked up on this. Most crimes are prosecuted in the States, but that leadership of the 

bully pulpit by the President led to State reforms 

and crackdowns and improved capacity in prisons 

to deal with repeat offenders. It has been a key 

element in the reduction of crime and why 

Americans are safer today than they were in 1980. 

It is something that I think we have not heard 

much about in the discussion of the accomplishments of President REAGAN. 

I was also honored to have been his nominee 

for a Federal judgeship. It turned into a very unpleasant experience for me and my nomination 

did not clear the Senate Judiciary Committee, of 

which I am now a member and on which I am 
248 Ronald Reagan 

honored to serve. But he stood steadfastly for me. 

The fact he believed in my ability to be a Federal 

judge was something I cherish. And I cherish the 

letter he wrote me when I asked that my name 

be withdrawn from that appointment. It is something I will always cherish. It was personal and 

meaningful to me. 

RONALD REAGAN had a deep and fully formed 

philosophy about America and American ideals 

when he came to office at age 69. This is something that did not come to him lightly. It was 

over a lifetime of evaluation. Even in the face of 

the most fierce opposition, he never wavered in 

those beliefs. Indeed, his very life seemed to embody the highest and best of American values. 

His very life, the way he carried himself, embodied American values. His courage to remain 

true to the highest of these ideals was his greatest 

strength, I believe. 

His goal was to free the greatness of individual 

Americans, assured that their goodness and industry would lift the Nation and inspire the 

world to freedom and progress. He believed in 

the individual American citizen. He believed 

that government should allow their creativity 

and industry to flourish, and as they flourished, 

and as they worked hard, and as they were creative, the world and America would benefit from 

it. 

His courage to be true to those ideals, I believe, was his secret strength. He understood that 

intuitively, and he remained true to it. He called 

us, in his very special way, to the natural optimistic spirit of America. 

His record of achievement was extraordinary. 

He led us with courage and steadfastness to defeat the evil empire. He cut our taxes. He called 

on us to renew our spiritual, moral, and family 

values. He said criminals should be punished. He 

not only communicated these values with words, 

but his actions and policies and life were dedicated to that. 

As a result of his constancy and courage to 

fight for these values, a serious period of pessimism abounding in our land at that time 

ended. The Soviet Union collapsed. The economy 

began its 20 years of remarkable growth. Matters 

of faith, morality, and family were lifted up. The 

crime rate fell, and drug use fell. 

The success of the REAGAN Presidency was 

stunning in its scope, and it could not have come 

at a better time for the country. Like President 

Washington, President REAGAN’s life was given 

over to the country. He loved his country and 

he was selfless in his commitment to it. His selflessness and the purity of his principles inspired 

those who worked for him. 

I remember—and I will close; I know there 

are others who would like to speak—but I do 

remember how, as a U.S. attorney, we did not 

need to be told in detail what the President 

wanted. We heard his philosophy. We heard his 

campaign. We knew he wanted us to be more 

productive. We knew he wanted us to take 

charge of our governmental office and make it 

work for the people and produce as high an output as it could possibly achieve. We also knew 

he expected us to crack down on criminals and 

crime. 

I think that was good leadership because all 

the departments of the government understood 

where REAGAN came from, what administration 

they were a part of. They did not have to be instructed in detail on how to accomplish the goals 

of his administration. That was one of his great 

strengths. The impact of it was incalculable in 

many ways around the world. 

I will just close with this story. In 1993, several years after President REAGAN left office, I 

had the opportunity to go with a church group 

to Russia. It was a Methodist group. We stayed 

in a town 5 hours from Moscow, about 40,000 

people, many of whom had not seen Americans 

before. We had a very nice time there. I stayed 

for a number of days with a Russian family. 

The first day we got there, the Russian host’s 

daughter was to be baptized. Father Gannati was 

the Russian Orthodox priest. He came and he 

did a nice service, and it took some time. Then 

we had dinner after the baptism. Father Gannati 

explained that just 2 years before, he was not able 

to wear his robes in public. The state caused him 

to be moved from town to town every year so 

that he could not build bonds and roots in a 

given community. He could not meet the governmental leaders. They would not meet with 

him because they were atheists and they would 

not meet with believers. So it was a very interesting time. 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 249 

He described how since then he could wear 

his robe, the mayor had him down to meet with 

him the day before this event, and that he was 

able to stay and rebuild the church there that 

had been damaged ever since the Russian revolution had occurred. 

At the conclusion of those remarks, our host 

jumped up and said, ‘‘I propose a toast to RONALD REAGAN, who allowed us to believe in God 

again.’’ Right in the center of the evil empire, 

the impact RONALD REAGAN had to change the 

nature of the world in which we lived was felt 

in a very real way. 

Hon. Craig Thomas 

OF WYOMING

Mr. President, I rise to join other colleagues 

in talking about President RONALD REAGAN, 

the Great Communicator, the great humanitarian. 

‘‘I will lie down and bleed awhile, and then 

I will rise and fight again’’. RONALD REAGAN

quoted Sir Andrew Barton’s words after returning home from campaigning against Gerald 

Ford. Poignant words for a man who just 4 years 

later was elected the 40th President of the 

United States. 

The Nation and the world have lost a great 

treasure. RONALD REAGAN was a master 

wordsmith, an international diplomat, a man 

whose genuine humanity gave Americans and 

people around the world a new sense of selfworth. He loved America first and foremost, so 

we stood behind our leader, our captain, our 

coach—to win one for the GIPPER. 

RONALD REAGAN held a deep devotion to 

principle, sought ‘‘peace through strength,’’ and 

encouraged everyone to believe in their convictions. He had a keen intellect, but he was underestimated by his critics. He disarmed many 

naysayers with his quick wit, crooked smile, 

thoughtful words, and a jar of jelly beans. 

He will forever be remembered by ending the 

cold war. His words ‘‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down 

this wall!’’ echo in our mind’s eye. Known as the 

Great Communicator, his philosophies changed 

the political direction this country was taking. 

His domestic policies gave us a smaller government rather than a larger one. These are just a 

handful of changes that will be the legacy left 

by RONALD REAGAN. Certainly, we can all be 

very proud of the leadership he has given and 

follow the example he left behind. 

Beneath the steely smile, RONALD REAGAN

was a cowboy. Westerners remember REAGAN

for his love of horses, his Wrangler jeans, his 

cowboy hats, something we all appreciated out 

West. In fact, in 1968, RONALD REAGAN came 

to Wyoming to speak to the Wyoming Republican State Convention in Cheyenne. Clarence 

Brimmer, now a U.S. district judge in Cheyenne, 

remembered the cowpoke from California who 

delivered a motivating speech. He said recently, 

‘‘He was really outstanding, not just as a speaker, 

but in a cowboy suit he was really sharp. He 

wowed all the ladies.’’ 

The passing of RONALD REAGAN has brought 

about a great deal of grief for all of us in the 

country and throughout the world. But through 

his dignified leadership, universal diplomatic 

skills, and his energetic persona, RONALD

REAGAN established a legacy that will live for 

generations to come. We should take pride in 

his life, in his accomplishments, and recognize 

what he left us—the great dawning of a new 

America. 

Hon. Lisa Murkowski 

OF ALASKA

Mr. President, I, too, rise to join my colleagues in honoring our Nation’s 40th President, 

RONALD REAGAN. It is most fitting and I know 

that I have watched, as have Americans across 

the country, as we see the stories of RONALD

REAGAN and his life and his contributions to this 

country, stories coming from not only those of 

us standing on the Senate floor but from other 

countries, from small communities. People are 

focusing on the man that was RONALD REAGAN, 

a great leader for this country. The stories that 

have been told have been wide-ranging, covering 

President REAGAN’s role in the cold war, his 

truly undying sense of optimism for the country, 

the discussions about Reaganomics, and, of 
250 Ronald Reagan 

course, all those personal stories that make President REAGAN so unforgettable. 

Alaska certainly has its stories to add and to 

share as well. President REAGAN’s impact on 

Alaska began before he even entered the Office 

of the Presidency. In 1980, the Alaska National 

Interest Lands Conservation Act, putting over 

100 million acres of land under Federal control, 

was pending before the Congress. With 

REAGAN’s election that year, leaders in the 

House and Senate—at the time, both were under 

Democratic control—knew that if they were 

going to get a bill signed into law, it would have 

to be then, before President REAGAN was sworn 

in, and the act, for better or for worse, was 

signed into law on December 2, 1980. But President REAGAN understood Alaska and Alaskans. 

In his book entitled ‘‘REAGAN, In His Own 

Hand,’’ the President asked this very important 

question, ‘‘Will Alaska wind up as our biggest 

State, or will it be our smallest State surrounded 

by our biggest national park?’’ 

He tried to ease the impact these land withdrawals had on Alaskans living in and around the 

new parks and refuges. He fought for access to 

these lands to provide for economic development, 

and it was his administration that determined 

that oil drilling should be allowed in a small section of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a 

debate that continues today. 

Alaskans remembered all that President 

REAGAN did for us in both Presidential elections 

by giving him wide and broad-based support 

throughout the State. 

President REAGAN had the opportunity to 

visit Alaska several times. He liked to talk about 

his ties to the State. He was a big fan of Robert 

Service, and one of his favorites was a poem entitled ‘‘The Shooting of Dan McGrew.’’ It is a 

poem about a particular barroom brawl, and 

most people may remember the beginning of it: 

‘‘A bunch of the boys were whooping it up at 

the Malamute saloon.’’ 

It is a wonderful, kind of down-and-dirty, 

rough-and-tumble poem that personified what 

many wanted to believe about Alaska and the 

Last Frontier. 

But President REAGAN was quite fond of that. 

I had an opportunity last night to pull out ‘‘The 

Shooting of Dan McGrew’’ and read it yet one 

more time, and it brought good smiles to my 

face. 

I ask unanimous consent to have printed in 

the Record the full contents of ‘‘The Shooting of 

Dan McGrew.’’ 

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: 

THE SHOOTING OF DAN MCGREW

(By Robert Service) 

A bunch of the boys were whooping it up in the Malamute 

saloon; 

The kid that handles the music-box was hitting a jag-time 

tune; 

Back of the bar, in a solo game, sat Dangerous Dan McGrew, 

And watching his luck was his light-o’-love, the lady that’s 

known as Lou. 

When out of the night, which was fifty below, and into the 

din and glare, 

There stumbled a miner fresh from the creeks, dog-dirty, and 

loaded for bear. 

He looked like a man with a foot in the grave and scarcely 

the strength of a louse, 

Yet he tilted a poke of dust on the bar, and he called for 

drinks for the house. 

There was none could place the stranger’s face, though we 

searched ourselves for a clue; 

But we drank his health, and the last to drink was Dangerous 

Dan McGrew. 

There’s men that somehow just grip your eyes, and hold them 

hard like a spell; 

And such was he, and he looked to me like a man who had 

lived in hell; 

With a face most hair, and the dreary stare of a dog whose 

day is done, 

As he watered the green stuff in his glass, and the drops 

fell one by one. 

Then I got to figgering who he was, and wondering what 

he’d do, 

And I turned my head—and there watching him was the 

lady that’s known as Lou. 

His eyes went rubbering round the room, and he seemed in 

a kind of daze, 

Till at last that old piano fell in the way of his wandering 

gaze. 

The rag-time kid was having a drink; there was no one else 

on the stool, 

So the stranger stumbles across the room, and flops down 

there like a fool. 

In a buckskin shirt that was glazed with dirt he sat, and 

I saw him sway; 

Then he clutched the keys with his talon hands—my God! 

but that man could play. 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 251 

Were you ever out in the Great Alone, when the moon was 

awful clear, 

And the icy mountains hemmed you in with a silence you 

most could hear; 

With only the howl of a timber wolf, and you camped there 

in the cold, 

A half-dead thing in a stark, dead world, clean mad for the 

muck called gold; 

While high overhead, green, yellow and red, the North 

Lights swept in bars?— 

Then you’ve a haunch what the music meant . . . hunger and 

night and the stars. 

And hunger not of the belly kind, that’s banished with bacon 

and beans, 

But the gnawing hunger of lonely men for a home and all 

that it means; 

For a fireside far from the cares that are, four walls and a 

roof above; 

But oh! so cramful of cosy joy, and crowned with a woman’s 

love— 

A woman dearer than all the world, and true as Heaven is 

true— 

(God! how ghastly she looks through her rouge,—the lady 

that’s known as Lou.) 

Then on a sudden the music changed, so soft that you scarce 

could hear; 

But you felt that your life had been looted clean of all that 

it once held dear; 

That someone had stolen the woman you loved; that her love 

was a devil’s lie; 

That your guts were gone, and the best for you was to crawl 

away and die. 

’Twas the crowning cry of a heart’s despair, and it thrilled 

you through and through— 

‘‘I guess I’ll make it a spread misere,’’ said Dangerous Dan 

McGrew. 

The music almost died away . . . then it burst like a pentup flood; 

And it seemed to say, ‘‘Repay, repay,’’ and my eyes were 

blind with blood. 

The thought came back of an ancient wrong, and it stung 

like a frozen lash, 

And the lust awoke to kill, to kill . . . then the music stopped 

with a crash, 

And the stranger turned, and his eyes they burned in a most 

peculiar way; 

In a buckskin shirt that was glazed with dirt he sat, and 

I saw him sway; 

Then his lips went in in a kind of grin, and he spoke, and 

his voice was calm, 

And ‘‘Boys,’’ says he, ‘‘you don’t know me, and none of you 

care a damn; 

But I want to state, and my words are straight, and I’ll bet 

my poke they’re true, 

That one of you is a hound of hell . . . and that one is Dan 

McGrew.’’ 

Then I ducked my head, and the lights went out, and two 

guns blazed in the dark, 

And a woman screamed, and the lights went up, and two 

men lay stiff and stark. 

Pitched on his head, and pumped full of lead, was Dangerous 

Dan McGrew. 

While the man from the creeks lay clutched to the breast 

of the lady that’s known as Lou. 

These are the simple facts of the case, and I guess I ought 

to know. 

They say that the stranger was crazed with ‘‘hooch,’’ and I’m 

not denying it’s so. 

I’m not so wise as the lawyer guys, but strictly between us 

two— 

The woman that kissed him and—pinched his poke—was the 

lady that’s known as Lou. 

I have a wonderful personal anecdote about 

President REAGAN. He visited Fairbanks, AK, in 

1984. It was a monumental visit because he 

joined Pope John Paul II in Fairbanks for a summit there. The President and Nancy Reagan arrived in Fairbanks on their way back from China. 

The following day, the Pope was arriving on his 

way to Korea. As we do in Alaska, we can facilitate great unions because of our strategic location 

at the top of the globe. So they were able to meet 

at the Fairbanks International Airport. 

During his stopover in Fairbanks, the President spent his time at my parent’s home out on 

the Chena River. They were there for a couple 

of days. It would not be much of a story except 

that the home was brand spanking new. It had 

not yet been furnished. So in an effort to make 

sure the President and Mrs. Reagan were comfortable, the community literally furnished the 

home, complete with very fine Alaskan artwork. 

It was perhaps a showcase home for a couple of 

days. Everything from the city’s artwork to the 

china ultimately had to be returned to wherever 

it came from. The community went all out for 

the President and Mrs. Reagan. 

Because this was a new house, there were some 

kinks that still needed to be worked out, specifically the water. It didn’t have hot water. Apparently, after a long flight, it is quite nice to stop 

and take a shower, or perhaps Mrs. Reagan needed a warm bath. But there was no hot water. 

A call was made to then-Senator Murkowski at 

about 3 a.m. asking how come there was no hot 

water. As the story goes, the President and my 

father were wandering around outside trying to 
252 Ronald Reagan 

figure out how to make the hot water come on. 

They learned you had to keep the water running 

for awhile. That was the way President REAGAN

was. He was willing to go out and try to be helpful and fix the problem. He was a man who 

wanted to make things work, to cut through the 

redtape and bureaucracy, reduce the size of government, and a man who was not afraid to stand 

up and promote his vision for America, but also 

knowing when it was time to compromise on 

issues. He was an individual who truly made 

America feel good about itself again. 

I will close by reading a quote from RONALD

REAGAN during his speech at the 1992 National 

Republican Convention. I feel it is truly a fitting 

reminder of this great man’s legacy. I read as follows: 

My fellow citizens—those of you here in this hall and 

those of you at home—I want you to know that I have always 

had the highest respect for you, for your common sense and 

intelligence, and for your decency. I have always believed in 

you and in what you could accomplish for yourselves and for 

others. 

And whatever else history may say about me when I’m 

gone, I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, 

not your worst fears, to your confidence rather than your 

doubts. My dream is that you will travel the road ahead with 

liberty’s lamp guiding your steps and opportunity’s arm 

steadying your way. 

My fondest hope for each one of you—and especially for 

the young people here—is that you will love your country, 

not for her power or wealth, but for her selflessness and her 

idealism. May each of you have the heart to conceive, the 

understanding to direct, and the hand to execute works that 

will make the world a little better for your having been here. 

May all of you as Americans never forget your heroic origins, never fail to seek divine guidance, and never lose your 

natural, God-given optimism. 

And finally, my fellow Americans, may every dawn be a 

great new beginning for America and every evening bring 

us closer to that ‘‘shining city upon a hill.’’ 

Hon. James M. Talent 

OF MISSOURI

Mr. President, it is an honor for me to join 

the Senate in honoring the memory and celebrating the life of RONALD REAGAN. I want to 

say, first of all, how much I have appreciated the 

eloquence and the personal memories that have 

been offered on the Senate floor and in public 

by those who knew and remembered President 

REAGAN. I, of course, remember him. I didn’t 

know him personally. 

I also want to say how much especially I have 

appreciated the grace and the charity shown to 

the former President by those here who were, 

when he was in office, his political opponents. 

I think it is a great testimony to their charity 

of spirit that they have done so and also a comment on how our system operates in times such 

as this. We can remember and appreciate a person for his good qualities without necessarily 

having to retreat from any disagreements we may 

have had with that person over political issues. 

I am reminded of what Winston Churchill 

said on a similar occasion when he was offering 

remembrances of a colleague who had died, with 

whom he had had many differences. He said: 

The fierce and bitter controversies which hung around him 

in recent times were hushed by the news of his illness and 

are silenced by his death. In paying a tribute of respect and 

of regard to an eminent man who has been taken from us, 

no one is obliged to alter the opinions which he has formed 

or expressed upon issues which have become a part of history; 

but at the Lychgate, we may all pass our own conduct and 

our own judgments under a searching review. It’s not given 

to human beings, happily for them for otherwise life would 

be intolerable, to foresee or to predict to any large extent 

the unfolding course of events. In one phase men seem to 

have been right, in another they seem to have been wrong. 

Then again, a few years later, when the perspective of time 

has lengthened, all stands in a different setting. There is a 

new proportion. There is another scale of values. History with 

its flickering lamp stumbles along the trail of the past, trying 

to reconstruct its scenes, to revive its echoes, and kindle with 

pale gleams the passion of former days. What is the worth 

of all this? The only guide to a man is his conscience; the 

only shield to his memory is the rectitude and sincerity of 

his actions. It is very imprudent to walk through life without 

this shield, because we are so often mocked by the failure 

of our hopes and the upsetting of our calculations; but with 

this shield, however the fates may play, we march always in 

the ranks of honour. 

I stand here for a few minutes to remember 

a man who always marched in the ranks of honor 

and whose shield was the sincerity and rectitude 

of his actions at all times. He was not a mentor, 

because I did not know him personally, but he 

was a hero of mine. 

Much has been said in the last few days about 

his humor and amiability. I agree that was a very 

important part of RONALD REAGAN, of who he 

was and of his success. When I think of him, 

when I visualize him, I visualize him smiling, 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 253 

telling a joke, or offering some witticism or some 

piece of humor. I think that was a big part of 

his success. 

It is important not to take yourself too seriously. That is a quality that often is lacking in 

this town. I think I can say that without being 

deemed uncharitable. But it was not a quality 

that was lacking in RONALD REAGAN. He 

thought deeply about issues. He thought deeply 

about the country. I think people underestimated, to some extent, how deeply he thought 

and understood what was going on. He never 

pretended to know everything. I think that 

helped him a lot in his Presidency. 

We should also remember President REAGAN, 

however, not just for his qualities and his personality, but also for what he believed. He thought 

ideas were important, and he was right. I remember George Will said a few years ago—and I am 

paraphrasing him; he probably said it more eloquently than this—but the gist of his remarks 

was, the collapse of the Soviet Union proves that 

ideas not only have consequences, but that maybe 

only ideas have consequences. 

President REAGAN’s friends and opponents 

have sometimes characterized his political philosophy as being an antigovernment philosophy or 

a simplistic belief in making government smaller 

whatever the circumstances the country was confronting. I do not think that is correct. I think 

at best it is oversimplistic. 

President REAGAN understood that the issue 

of our time during his Presidency and the issue 

of our time now, I suggest, is not whether government is going to be big or small, certainly 

in an absolute sense and often in a relative sense 

as well, but whether the government, in doing 

whatever functions we believe it ought to do, 

will consistently respect the values and institutions of private life. 

It is not a question of whether government is 

important, because it is; it is a question of 

whether the government believes it is more important than the private society and culture and 

people it is governing. That is where President 

REAGAN drew the consistent line of his philosophy in his public life. His faith was in what 

the American people had built and have built 

and are continuing to build on their own, and 

in the associations and networks of private life 

that give life meaning, that give people a chance 

for happiness and opportunity. He believed in 

what people build in their families, in their small 

businesses, in their local schools, in their voluntary associations and organizations, in their 

churches, synagogues, and temples. He believed 

in the great traditions of American culture. He 

knew those traditions and the institutions that 

represent them grow and evolve organically over 

time and that they represent the wisdom of many 

generations of people about how we ought to live 

in our society so that we can have the maximum 

amount of justice and freedom and opportunity 

for all of our people. 

What he wanted was for the government to 

be vigorous in the areas it was supposed to operate but to respect those institutions rather than 

trying to overthrow them. 

He said once in 1970: 

It’s not my intention to do away with government. It is 

rather to make it work—work with us, not over us; to stand 

by our side, not ride on our back. Government can and must 

provide opportunity, not smother it; foster productivity, not 

stifle it. 

I remember a few years ago when we were debating welfare reform in the Congress—and I 

was in the House at the time—a key point in 

that debate was when the Congress decided collectively that we were not talking about whether 

we were going to try in some sense to get rid 

of the welfare system. We were not going to retreat from the impulse of the sixties to help people who were in poverty get out of poverty. 

What we wanted, however, was a system that 

tried to do that in a way that respected and 

upheld the values that generations and generations of Americans have relied on to move up 

the economic ladder. We wanted a system that 

instead of punishing work, encouraged and required it. We wanted a system that instead of 

providing incentives against marriage, encouraged marriage and talked about its importance. 

We wanted a system that did not uproot neighborhoods and neighborhood institutions, that did 

not sweep them aside in the name of an all powerful and prescriptive government, but rather a 

system that helped build up again the vital parts 

of neighborhoods. 

The reason that bill has been so successful, the 

reason it was supported by a vast majority in 
254 Ronald Reagan 

both Houses, and why it has been successful all 

over the country is not because it represented, 

I submit, a retreat by the government from its 

commitment to helping people achieve the 

American dream, but rather because it represented a conscious commitment by the government to work with the values of Americans, to 

respect those values and not to uproot them. 

There is no question where President REAGAN

would have been in that fight, where he was in 

that fight, because the seeds of welfare reform 

were planted during his administration. 

I am not going to go on. There are others who 

wish to speak. I thank the Senator from Florida 

for allowing me to go out of order because we 

try to go back and forth on both sides of the 

aisle. 

Let me close with one of my favorite quotes 

from President REAGAN. We are all doing that. 

It is from his second inaugural address in January 

1985, and many have commented on President 

REAGAN’s optimism about America, how he was 

optimistic about America because he not only believed in those values and the institutions that 

represented them, but he had a tremendous faith 

in their power. I think he knew we were going 

to triumph over the Soviet Union in the cold war 

because he knew what we believed in was right, 

was powerful, and was good, and he was not 

afraid to state it in those terms. 

Here is an example of his optimism from his 

second inaugural address: 

jNowk we . . . hear again the echoes of our past: a general 

falls to his knees in the hard snow of Valley Forge; a lonely 

President paces the darkened halls and ponders his struggle 

to preserve the Union; the men of the Alamo call out encouragement to each other; a settler pushes west and sings a song, 

and the song echoes out forever and fills the unknowing air. 

It is the American sound. It is hopeful, big-hearted, idealistic, daring, decent, and fair. That’s our heritage; that’s our 

song. We sing it still. For all our problems, our differences, 

we are together as of old. We raise our voices to the God 

who is the author of this most tender music. And may He 

continue to hold us close as we fill the world with our 

sound—in unity, affection, and love—one people under God, 

dedicated to the dream of freedom that He has placed in the 

human heart, called upon now to pass that dream on to a 

waiting and hopeful world. 

Hon. Bob Graham 

OF FLORIDA

Mr. President, later today, the body of President RONALD REAGAN will be brought into this 

Capitol so that all Americans can pay their final 

respects. 

Much has been said, much has been written 

about our 40th President and the impact he had 

on our Nation and the world. In at least one respect, I believe part of his legacy has been 

mischaracterized, and I rise today, as has my 

friend and colleague from Missouri, to set the 

record straight. 

The issue that I would like to address is RONALD REAGAN’s view of the size of government. 

It is true that President REAGAN believed the 

Federal Government was too large and too costly, 

but he did not believe that was true of all governments. 

As a former Governor of California, he believed governments closer to the people, governments at the State and local level, had the primary responsibility for essential public service 

and, thus, they should have the resources to respond to public needs. 

The people would serve as the control of 

whether the State and local officials had fulfilled 

the voters’ expectation of the role of their State, 

their county, or their city. I know this first-hand. 

My tenure as Governor of Florida overlapped 

with President REAGAN’s administration for 6 

years. During that time, President REAGAN and 

key members of his administration, even as they 

attempted to eliminate the U.S. Department of 

Education and shrink Federal spending on education, helped me pass a tax increase in Florida 

that led to great improvements in our State education system. 

An education reform movement swept the 

country in 1983 and 1984 with the issuance in 

April 1983 by the National Commission on Excellence in Education of a landmark report entitled ‘‘Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform.’’ 

At the time that report was issued, President 

REAGAN made this statement: 

Parental authority is not a right conveyed by the state; 

rather, parents delegate to their elected school board rep-
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 255 

resentatives and State legislators the responsibility for their 

children’s schooling. 

During a meeting of the National Governors 

Association in 1983 President REAGAN told the 

Governors they would be responsible for implementing reforms, including how to cover the 

costs of those reforms. He was not interested in 

having the Federal Government play a larger 

role; in fact, he was intent on cutting the Federal 

role in education. 

I recalled those words when back in Tallahassee I began to push a major educational reform 

package through the legislature. I was not alone. 

For instance, our colleague, the then-Governor of 

Tennessee, Lamar Alexander, was instrumental in 

the development and adoption of a similar reform 

package in Tennessee, and we had the opportunity to work together during that process with 

then-Governor Alexander talking to Republican 

members of the Florida legislature as I reciprocated in conversations with Democratic members of the Tennessee legislature. 

The Florida package had a goal. The goal was 

we would raise the level of education in Florida 

as judged by student performance on standardized tests and other measurements and also perstudent funding of education to among the top 

25 percent of the States in America. We increased 

student performance standards at all levels and 

had the most challenging standards for graduation from high school of any State in the Nation. 

The package included basic things such as 

smaller class sizes, more class and curriculum opportunities for students, and a career ladder with 

pay increases which recognized our best teachers. 

But all of those reforms depended upon additional State financing. I proposed several steps to 

raise the necessary revenue, including a revision 

of our corporate profits tax. I advocated the plan 

with the assurance that better schools would improve our State’s economic climate. We even 

printed up buttons which read: ‘‘Education 

Means Business.’’ 

I was therefore very disturbed that the success 

of the educational reform program was threatened by the lack of support by Republicans in 

the State senate and the State house of representatives. I called President REAGAN’s Education 

Secretary, Dr. Terrell Bell from Utah. I reported 

that I was attempting to do exactly what the 

President had said States should be doing, but 

could not get any Republican support. 

After consulting with the White House and 

gaining the President’s personal permission, Secretary Bell called me back and asked what he 

could do to help. 

I gave him the names of a half dozen or more 

Republican legislators. Secretary Bell called them 

on behalf of the President to ask them to support 

the reform package. I am pleased to say that with 

strong bipartisan support, the education reform 

program in Florida passed in 1983, and then by 

1986 Florida had moved to 13th in the Nation 

in our per-pupil spending, and our test scores 

had the greatest rate of increase in 1986 of any 

State in the Nation. 

This program showed that greater gains in 

student performance can be achieved through the 

right set of educational reform. This would not 

have happened without the support of President 

RONALD REAGAN. 

My point is RONALD REAGAN was a more 

nuanced political leader in terms of his view of 

the role of government than he is generally given 

credit for by both his critics and his fans. On 

behalf of all Floridians, I express my appreciation 

for his support of improved education in Florida, 

and on behalf of all Floridians I express my condolences to President REAGAN’s family, especially his beloved Nancy. 

Hon. Orrin G. Hatch 

OF UTAH

Mr. President, I would feel really bad if I 

didn’t take a few moments to speak about my 

friend, Ron REAGAN. I, as much as anybody in 

this body, revered him, respected him, and loved 

him. 

When I was running back in 1976, I filed literally on the last day, May 10. I had zero name 

recognition except among the legal community 

and among my initial church community. But 

it was zero in the public polls. I ran through the 

preconvention, the convention, and came out second in the convention, which enabled me to force 

a primary, and through the primary on $35,000, 

$18,000 of which was my own, which was a lot 
256 Ronald Reagan 

of money then back in 1976. I was about 9 points 

ahead and pulling away at that time against the 

favored in the race—the Republican Party favorite and the favorite of most of the delegates of 

the State convention. But he had spent about 

$150,000, and he was starting to slip. I was starting to pull ahead by about 9 points, according 

to the polls. 

Since I was the first to come out for RONALD

REAGAN in that race at that particular time in 

Utah as a candidate, we decided to ask RONALD

REAGAN if he would preprimary endorse me in 

my race for the U.S. Senate. 

I have to say when I called it didn’t take them 

long, recognizing my friendship and my support 

for the first time in his political career, as far 

as I know—at least that is what I was told by 

those who were running his campaign, that he 

was going to preprimary endorse me, and he did. 

By that time I was probably known by about 60 

to 65 percent of the people in Utah. 

After the endorsement, I won the primary. I 

probably would have won the primary by 10 or 

15 percentage points. But after his endorsement, 

I won the primary 2 to 1, and I was known by, 

I believe, well over 95 percent of my fellow constituents in Utah. 

I went to 36 States for RONALD REAGAN as 

one of his major surrogates. I went to New 

Hampshire, and I was Nancy Reagan’s date that 

night as I spoke for RONALD REAGAN in the cattle call. That is what it was called in New 

Hampshire. 

In 1980, I gave the keynote address at Plains 

High School, Jimmy Carter’s own high school in 

Plains, GA, before 2,000 people. 

I did everything in my power to elect RONALD

REAGAN. We had a friendship that transcended 

the usual friendships that are lovely and wonderful around here but nevertheless usually don’t 

rise to the level that his friendship for me and 

mine for him really rose to. 

I truly love RONALD REAGAN. I know what 

a great President he was. I know he did bring 

down the Iron Curtain, that he was the primary 

mover and articulator of the themes that actually 

ended the cold war. 

Most scholars will now say there are four reasons why REAGAN was able to win the cold war: 

first, his military buildup; he put too much pressure on the Soviets; second, the placing of the 

Pershing II missiles in Europe, which was a very 

gutsy thing to do at the time, and highly criticized; third was the threat to build SDI, the Strategic Defense Initiative, and the Soviets knew we 

could do it; and fourth was a placing of the 

Stinger missiles in Afghanistan. I was here 

through all of those times. 

I honor this great President, and I honor his 

dear wife who has been a wonderful wife and 

supporter, who I know deeply, who has been an 

advocate for so many things that are right, and 

especially in later times. Embryonic stem cell research—she is right on that issue, and I support 

her. I honor both of them this day. 

I join my colleagues, millions of Americans, 

and indeed countless more around the world in 

mourning the loss of the greatest American 

President of the 20th century, President RONALD

WILSON REAGAN. 

After suffering nearly a decade, our beloved 

President died this weekend. I join those in this 

body here today in sending our condolences to 

Mrs. Reagan and their entire family. 

It is hard to imagine any American alive who 

has not been touched by the legacy of RONALD

REAGAN. Even those born after he left office in 

1989 have benefited from his selfless service, as 

they grew up in an era of unprecedented global 

freedom, a result of the end of the cold war 

brought on by President REAGAN’s bold vision 

of this country and our faithful mission in the 

world. 

Certainly, I was touched by the life of President REAGAN. 

Perhaps I might not be here today were it not 

for the invigorating support of this great leader, 

whose endorsement of my candidacy in my first 

Senate run was certainly instrumental in my service to the people of Utah. 

I was pleased and honored to return the favor 

at every opportunity—and, in 1980 and 1984, I 

campaigned for RONALD REAGAN in almost 

every State of the Union. 

Let no one believe that this repaid my debt, 

political or personal, to this great man—because 

I believe I will remain in his debt as long as 

I live, and so will our country. 

President REAGAN was both political mentor 

and inspiration to me as a young Senator. 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 257 

We both started as Democrats. 

We were inspired by our country’s bold international leadership and sacrifice during World 

War II, under a Democratic President. 

Yet we both saw the political landscape shift 

early in our adult lives. 

We both grew dismayed at our country’s direction, as citizens lost faith, lost optimism and 

lost the dynamism that once made this land 

great. 

At the same time, we both grew to appreciate 

the principles of the Republican Party, where individual initiative and personal freedom are enshrined, and where the fight against international 

communism took a backseat to no other foreign 

policy. 

When I came to the Senate in 1977, our country was still fresh from the defeat symbolized by 

communist tanks crashing into Saigon in 1975. 

By the time RONALD REAGAN became President, the defeat in 1975 had been interpreted by 

our global nemesis, the Soviet Union, as a weakness in American resolve; it inspired the Soviets 

to proxy adventures in Latin America, Africa and 

Asia. 

As the liberal elites of the seventies denounced 

and disparaged our international sacrifices of the 

past decade, as it became commonplace to equate 

the use of American force with the encroachments of communist tyranny, America became 

uncertain of itself and turned inward. 

It was not our finest moment. 

Our late colleague, Senator Moynihan, once remarked, 

jTkhe central conservative truth is that it is culture, not 

politics, that determines the success of a society. The central 

liberal truth is that politics can change a culture and save 

it from itself. 

In the seventies, liberal culture had brought 

this country to a period of social decline and 

international withdrawal. 

As communist tyranny gained around the 

world, drug use here reached an all-time high. 

The economy of the most productive nation 

in the world was unraveling with high taxes and 

higher inflation. 

Our sense of mission was gone; our belief in 

our natural strengths and goodness receded. 

One of the things I loved the most about 

RONALD REAGAN was that he recognized his 

duty to lead a conservative movement back into 

the political majority; by so doing he declared 

that we would never concede to cultural decline. 

REAGAN’s victory in 1980 put an end to this 

malaise and changed our country forever. 

Originally from the Midwest, REAGAN moved 

to California and found his talent in the industry 

of American dreams, showing our country that 

an American everyman could be a star. 

Many scorned REAGAN the actor for seeking 

political office. 

But, once again, he showed them wrong. He 

won our hearts as a President—as he had as an 

actor—showing us all that a man well-practiced 

in the arts of both heart and mind could be a 

perfect leader for a nation which had lost its 

sense of imagination. 

Only in America could a man from the middle 

class, from the middle of the country, rise to become the greatest American leader of the 20th 

century. 

RONALD WILSON REAGAN achieved this by 

appealing to the essential American values in all 

of us—the values of individualism and enterprise, initiative and optimism, charity and sacrifice. And he restored those values in our country’s policies. 

Many misjudged REAGAN. Many underestimated him. Many confused a man of simple beliefs with a simple man. 

Those of us who knew him well recognized 

REAGAN as a man of deep convictions. Deft of 

wit, he always deflected a tough moment with 

humor. But, under it all, a gravity of purpose 

shone through. 

What I came to admire in RONALD REAGAN

was his core belief that government could lead 

society, but not build society. He recognized that 

government’s most important economic role was 

to foster American innovation and industry. And 

his policies followed that principle. 

In foreign policy, he knew that communism 

was an abominable scourge on the face of the 

planet. He eagerly tackled that challenge as he 

had most obstacles in his life, and in so doing 

left a legacy unparalleled by any American leader. 

Who can forget his momentous call, ‘‘Mr. 

Gorbachev, tear down this wall!’’? 
258 Ronald Reagan 

And who can forget watching as the wall fell 

just 2 years later? 

In the most fundamental way, President RONALD REAGAN inspired us all to believe in our 

great Nation, and what it could do to help its 

people lead better lives. 

As a junior Senator, I watched President 

REAGAN take office, facing his first challenge: an 

economy misfiring on all cylinders, mired in the 

mud of inflation, high taxes and bureaucracy. 

With a strong voice of optimism, President 

REAGAN unfurled an ambitious plan to rejuvenate the economy and lead the Nation to economic recovery. 

I remember how excited we were to see his 

bold plan, the change in direction that our new 

President charted. 

He led us to pass the landmark Economic Recovery and Tax Act, including the Kemp-Roth 

personal income tax cuts of 25 percent over 3 

years. 

This major initiative stimulated the economy 

by providing for accelerated depreciation deductions and an investment credit. 

It also enhanced the retirement of millions of 

Americans by introducing individual retirement 

accounts. 

And perhaps most significantly, it indexed income tax brackets to inflation, limiting this punishing form of spending growth. 

The result? The economic boom in the 

eighties. 

Inflation dropped from 13.5 percent in 1980 to 

3.2 percent in 1983. 

By 1986, the 4th year of the tax cuts, economic 

growth had increased a cumulative 18 percent. 

And, when RONALD REAGAN left office in 

January 1989, more than 18 million jobs had been 

created. 

Some have criticized the REAGAN era as years 

of profligate spending and an irresponsible increase in the Federal deficit. 

However, only in 1 year, 1983, did either personal income tax collections or total receipts go 

down from the previous year. It is true that the 

budget deficit did increase during the REAGAN

Presidency, but this was clearly due to large increases in spending, not because of the REAGAN

tax cuts, without which we would not likely have 

had the increase in prosperity most Americans 

enjoyed. 

President REAGAN also led the way for Congress to approve the landmark 1986 Tax Reform 

Act. 

Despite the naysaying of critics, President 

REAGAN did it again. The 1986 act lowered the 

top marginal income tax rate from 50 percent to 

just 28 percent. Also, it reduced the number of 

tax brackets from 14 to just 2. 

While I did not support some of the provisions in the final product of the 1986 act, particularly some of the drastic changes in depreciation, 

which I believed would help contribute to a crisis 

in real estate and the savings and loan industry, 

the act itself with its simplification and lower 

tax rates was a major accomplishment. 

The fact that subsequent Presidents and Congresses have reversed the gains made in terms of 

simplicity does not take away from the monumental victory that President REAGAN scored by 

his leadership of the Tax Reform Act of 1986. 

Throughout the REAGAN era, I had the privilege of serving on the Labor and Human Resources Committee, much of it as chairman. I 

worked closely with the President and his staff 

on issues related to public health and welfare 

issues showcasing the President’ compassion and 

dedication to improving the quality of life of all 

Americans. 

The country was still in a major recession, and 

we worked to pass the Job Training Partnership 

Act. This legislation changed the emphasis of job 

assistance from providing government jobs to unemployed workers to providing them job training which would help unemployed find jobs in 

the private sector. 

The President’s initiatives often focused on releasing decisionmaking initiatives from an old 

Federal bureaucracy, as with the innovative 

health block grants that returned decisionmaking 

to the States, providing them with the resources 

and flexibility to deliver preventive services, maternal and child health care, and mental health 

services in a totally new model. 

As chairman of the committee, I was criticized 

for putting this legislation through. But we were 

vindicated when the General Accounting Office 

reviewed these initiatives several years after their 

creation. It concluded that they were successful, 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 259 

and provided a more efficient way to address the 

health needs of America’s diverse population. 

I also remember how strongly the Reagan administration supported biomedical research, a 

love for and appreciation of the power of scientific inquiry Mrs. Reagan carries forward to 

this day. 

Other key accomplishments under President 

REAGAN’s tenure were significant Food and Drug 

Administration legislation, such as the Orphan 

Drug Act, the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Resolution Act, the National Organ 

Transplantation Act, pediatric emergency medical services, vaccine compensation, tobacco 

warning labels, and the national practitioner data 

bank. 

How well I remember the battle President 

REAGAN waged to seat C. Everett Koop as the 

Surgeon General. 

Again recognizing that the country needed inspired leadership more than bureaucracy, President REAGAN informed us that he wanted to 

nominate C. Everett Koop to be the Surgeon 

General. 

Many balked, citing Dr. Koop’s age—65—as 

a barrier. The Public Health Service Act limited 

the age of PHS Commission Corps officers to 

641§2. 

But our President, himself past that age, recognized the superior leadership skills of Dr. 

Koop. 

It was a long battle, but one which had to 

be fought. Dr. Koop defined the modern-day role 

of Surgeon General, and today is revered by all, 

Democrats and Republicans alike, for his independent-minded advocacy of public health, from 

AIDS awareness and prevention to antitobacco 

initiatives. 

I would be remiss if I didn’t highlight President REAGAN’s other significant health care accomplishment. 

As we know, the use of illegal drugs had hit 

a historic high in the late seventies. 

Again, President REAGAN recognized that 

government needed to find new ways to address 

this social blight. He proposed and we legislated 

the creation of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, which has taken the leadership role 

in anti-drug policy ever since. 

Once again, however, the President recognized 

that leadership was as much in the message as 

in the bureaucracy. 

His beloved First Lady introduced the ‘‘Just 

Say No’’ campaign, a flat rebuttal to an ingrown 

acceptance of drug use in our society. 

Derided by some elites, this program of declaring unequivocally the unacceptable use of illegal drugs has become a foundation of all subsequent drug use. 

No one suggests—then or now—that the 

problem of drug use is simple, and that prevention and treatment policies can be cauterized 

from interdiction policies. 

But no one suggests, after years of confirming 

studies, that a drug policy can be effective absent 

a strong component of social rhetoric. 

I loved President REAGAN, and I loved his 

personal style of leadership. 

But I loved even more his undying love and 

affection for one of the classiest First Ladies this 

country has come to know. 

Nancy Reagan’s quiet support of her husband, 

so evident in all his successes, is often overlooked, as is her courage in leading the ‘‘Just Say 

No’’ campaign. 

I remember as if it were today when President 

REAGAN signed the 1986 drug law, the one that 

created the Office of the Drug Czar and gave 

added resources to prevention and treatment. 

I was standing behind the President when he 

signed the bill. He said with that special twinkle 

in his eye, ‘‘I am going to give this pen to the 

woman who has crusaded to end drug use in this 

country.’’ 

With that, he walked past expectant advocates 

and lawmakers straight to his wife Nancy, and 

presented her with the pen. 

Some focus on President REAGAN’s talents as 

an actor and imagemaker. Yet I have never 

known a more authentic man. 

And when he concluded that AIDS was a challenge to the public health that was reaching 

emergency proportions, he declared this as national policy. 

At the time, some criticized his administration. They wanted him to act sooner. They wanted more money. They wanted more research. 

But what I remember was a compassionate 

man who recognized that we needed to build the 
260 Ronald Reagan 

research infrastructure to make effective use of 

new funding. 

While the HIV virus was not identified until 

1983, the Reagan administration invested close to 

$6 billion in fighting the disease by the end of 

his term in 1989. Once the President recognized 

the challenge, he radically increased the response 

of the government, and the breakthroughs with 

retroviral medicines in the nineties would simply 

have not occurred were it not for those investments. 

We all know that one of a President’s greatest 

legacies is his nominations to the third branch 

of government. 

In appointing more judges than any President 

in American history, President REAGAN’s judicial legacy can be seen on two levels. 

First, he described, in both principled and 

practical terms, the kind of judge America needs. 

We had seen decades of judicial activism, 

through which judges took more and more control over the policies governing the country and 

the culture in which Americans lived. 

President REAGAN came into office not just 

saying judges were going too far, but explaining 

why. He refocused Americans on the principles 

America’s Founders laid down at the dawn of the 

Republic: the people, through their elected representatives, decide how they wish to be governed and make the law to do so. Judges can only 

interpret and apply that law, they cannot make 

or change it. 

Implementing those basic principles, President 

REAGAN shaped the judiciary by the individuals 

he nominated and appointed. He appointed some 

of the legal academy’s best minds to the U.S. 

Court of Appeals—such as Ralph Winter to the 

Second Circuit, Frank Easterbrook and Richard 

Posner to the Seventh Circuit, and of course Robert Bork to the District of Columbia Circuit. 

I served on the Judiciary Committee during 

those years, seeing first-hand the depth and 

breadth and quality of President REAGAN’s 

nominees. 

America’s Founders insisted that this separation of powers, this restriction on judicial power, 

was absolutely critical for the freedom that selfgovernment under a written constitution makes 

possible. 

For some whose agenda the people do not 

favor, however, a judiciary that won’t make law 

means their preferred law just won’t get made. 

And they fought President REAGAN’s nominees 

with increasingly intensity. 

The first cloture vote ever taken on an appeals 

court nominee, for example, occurred during 

President REAGAN’s first term, and the confirmation process changed entirely in his second. 

The seeds sown then have borne fruit today 

in the filibusters being used against President 

Bush’s nominees. But the issue remains the same, 

whether unelected Federal judges may take over 

from the people the business of making law and 

defining the culture. 

President REAGAN’s record of judicial appointments is certainly a profound legacy. He truly 

blazed a trail on this issue and, through his leadership, Americans now know more about how 

appointing the right kind of judge is so important to protect their freedom. 

Many believe that President REAGAN’s lasting 

legacy will be his successful leadership during 

the last stage of the cold war. 

RONALD REAGAN’s tenure began at what was 

our lowest point in the cold war. The loss in 

Vietnam and the Watergate debacle led to a 

withdrawal from our global policy of containment. The Soviets filled the gap, and their proxies gained around the globe. 

Emboldened, the Soviet Union engaged in its 

most extensive military expansion in that dictatorship’s history; during the seventies, the Soviets 

expanded their nuclear missile arsenals as well as 

their conventional arsenals in virtually every armament category. At the end of the seventies, 

the previous President was left shamefaced, following the invasion of Afghanistan, declaring his 

‘‘surprise’’ at Soviet behavior. 

President REAGAN came to office dedicated to 

redressing the military balance and engaging the 

cold war. 

His administration saw the largest peace-time 

growth of military spending in modern American 

history. That escalation combined American resolve with American ingenuity, and this was no 

more evident than in President REAGAN’s Strategic Defense Initiative. 

The President rejected conventional deterrence 

doctrine when he stated, ‘‘jWek must seek an-
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 261 

other means of deterring war. It is both militarily and morally necessary . . . I propose to 

channel our technological prowess toward building a more secure and stable world . . . Our only 

purpose is to search for ways to reduce the danger 

of nuclear war.’’ 

What President REAGAN imagined, when he 

stated this back in 1984, is slowly coming to be, 

20 years later. We have moved too slowly, but 

not because we lacked in vision. 

President REAGAN was willing to challenge 

the Soviets diplomatically, militarily and by 

proxy. He was unabashed in declaring that regime an evil empire. Who today denies the inherent evil of the gulag? 

He was bold in responding to the emplacement of Soviet SS–20s in occupied Europe with 

Pershing’s in Germany. Who today denies that 

this didn’t signal to the Soviets our new-found 

resolution to combat them geopolitically? 

RONALD REAGAN rejected the so-called ‘‘Vietnam syndrome’’ long before our victory in the 

first Gulf war allowed Americans to believe in 

the justice of our use of force. He knew that the 

United States had a role in the world, that the 

use of American force was not immoral and that 

the United States could do good for the world. 

This military escalation challenged the Soviet 

leadership and ultimately bankrupted its coffers. 

The decision to roll back directly challenged and 

refuted the fundamental ideological tenet of communism, that it would prevail as an inexorable 

law of history. 

This perverted notion was based, of course, on 

the acceptance that the highest stage of history 

would rest on imprisoning nations and extinguishing history. 

REAGAN knew in his heart that this was the 

greatest falsehood perpetrated on modern history 

and he built his foreign policy—the Reagan doctrine—on the idea of rolling back this ideology, 

this tyrannical power, and tearing down the walls 

that kept its citizens imprisoned. 

RONALD REAGAN did not accept the status 

quo. 

He did not accept a static geopolitical division 

of the world between the free nations and the 

captive nations of the evil empire. 

He and his allies—and I will be proud to my 

dying day to have considered myself one of his 

allies—believed that we could roll back communism, on the ground, and in the minds of 

people. 

RONALD REAGAN went to England in 1983, 

before the leftist Oxford Union, and announced 

the creation of what would become the National 

Endowment for Democracy, which would support programs around the world fostering democratic principles and practices. 

Last year, on the 20th anniversary of this bold 

initiative, President Bush announced a major 

push by the NED into the Arab world. 

Democracy remains relevant after it has triumphed over communist tyranny. 

But for democracy to succeed, people striving 

to break the yoke of tyranny had to have a friend 

in the United States. RONALD REAGAN did not 

limit his friendship to diplomacy and military 

posturing. 

A key aspect of the Reagan legacy was the 

Reagan doctrine’s policy of support for 

anticommunist movements around the world. 

We supported Solidarity in Poland, using the 

International Labor Organization. 

We supported the resistance in Nicaragua— 

and the wars over that policy were sometimes almost as intense here on Capitol Hill. 

And we supported the Afghan resistance. 

We’ve had democracy in Poland for over a decade, and Poland is the shining example of the 

New Europe, a country whose government and 

soldiers have bravely and proudly served besides 

ours in Iraq. 

Nicaragua has also had democratic elections 

over the past decade. 

And while the Iran-Contra episode was a policy debacle, I remain proud of my service in this 

Senate during that investigation, as I remain unflinching in my belief that it was right to help 

Nicaraguans resist the tyranny and thuggery of 

the Sandinistas. 

And our support for the Afghan resistance led 

to the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan, dealing the Soviet Union a military, financial and psychological blow from which it would 

never recuperate. This blow created a major fissure in the notion of communist inevitability 

that, many of us believe, would lead to the crumbling of the Soviet empire. 
262 Ronald Reagan 

Many are quick to disparage that policy, because of what arose from the tumult of the Afghan resistance and the rise of the Taliban. We 

made mistakes in implementing the policy, we 

now see, primarily having to do with recruiting 

Saudi participation and relying on Pakistani 

management of arms flows. 

But our biggest mistake was abandoning Afghanistan after the collapse of the Soviet puppet 

regime, leaving that poor country an orphan 

child of the cold war. But we made no mistake 

in contributing to a devastating Soviet defeat, a 

defeat that brought about the end of the cold 

war. 

When RONALD REAGAN left office, this country had been transformed. 

Malaise was not associated with the American 

economy, nor the American spirit. 

Optimism, that personal trait of RONALD

REAGAN, was what characterized our standing in 

the world, our economy, and our belief in ourselves. 

REAGAN, a child of the Midwest who understood mythically the role of the western frontier 

in the American psyche, left us looking to the 

horizon, to the future. 

RONALD REAGAN was a humble man, who left 

office gladly, having served his term, but who 

never stopped loving the American people. 

It was such love that led to one of the most 

moving letters to the American public ever written in our history, the letter he wrote on November 5, 1994, announcing that he was slowly succumbing to Alzheimer’s Disease. 

This is a horrible disease, as so many American 

families know. 

My colleagues in the Senate know that, after 

much soul searching and study, I have become 

a strong proponent of embryonic stem cell research, because of the promise it offers for treatment of some of the most wrenching illnesses 

Americans face today, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and juvenile diabetes. 

President REAGAN’s widow, my dear friend 

Nancy, knows that I will remain dedicated to 

supporting this research through all my days in 

the Senate. 

Even though retired and enjoying the privacy 

that was always important for him and his family, President REAGAN wrote on November 5, 

1994 one of the bravest and most moving letters 

in American history. 

He said: 

Upon learning this news, Nancy and I had to decide 

whether as private citizens we would keep this a private matter or whether we would make this news known in a public 

way. . . . 

So now, we feel it is important to share it with you. In 

opening our hearts, we hope this might promote greater 

awareness of this condition. Perhaps it will encourage a clearer understanding of the individuals and families who are affected by it. 

After speaking of the burdens he knew his 

long illness had in store—not for him, but for 

his beloved Nancy, he thanked his fellow Americans. He said: 

jLket me thank you, the American people for giving me 

the great honor of allowing me to serve as your President. 

When the Lord calls me home, whenever that may be, I will 

leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future. 

I now begin this journey that will lead me into the sunset 

of my life. I know that for America there will always be a 

bright dawn ahead. 

These are the virtuous and loving words of a 

patriot, of a brave and humble man, of a man 

who lived every day in the belief that our best 

days lie ahead. It is America that pauses this 

week, and I thank God for the gift of the greatest 

American President of the 20th century, RONALD REAGAN. 

We have lost a great American. 

I think it is fitting to quote another great 

American, Daniel Webster who spoke so eloquently about the passing of two other Presidents, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Webster’s words were never more true than today: 

A superior and commanding human intellect, a truly great 

man, when Heaven vouchsafes so rare a gift, is not a temporary flame, burning brightly for a while, and then giving 

place to returning darkness. It is rather a spark of fervent 

heat, as well as radiant light, with power to enkindle the 

common mass of human kind; so that when it glimmers in 

its own decay, and finally goes out in death, no night follows, 

but it leaves the world all light, all on fire from the potent 

contact of its own spirit. 

I pray that America will always be alight with 

the spirit of RONALD REAGAN. 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 263 

Hon. Trent Lott 

OF MISSISSIPPI

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the remarks of our former colleague, Senator Connie 

Mack, be printed in the Record. 

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: 

RONALD W. REAGAN

1911–2004 

(A tribute by former U.S. Senator Connie Mack (R–FL)) 

RONALD REAGAN was more than the President, he was 

an inspiration, he was my friend. 

As America mourns the passing of former President RONALD REAGAN, one of the most loved American Presidents in 

history, it is appropriate that our Nation take a moment to 

reflect on the life of this remarkable man. He will not only 

be remembered for his vision and leadership, but also for his 

conviction to principles, his sense of pride and love of country. 

President REAGAN made a difference in my life both personally and politically. When he was elected in 1980, I remember vividly saying to my wife Priscilla ‘‘this is such an 

important election for our Nation that I have to become involved. I had no idea his election would one day lead me 

to seek elective office and eventually to represent Florida in 

the U.S. Senate. 

Knowing RONALD REAGAN and serving in the U.S. Congress when he was President of the United States has been 

one of the greatest honors of my life. I remember when he 

came to Florida in 1988 to campaign for me in my race for 

the U.S. Senate. I introduced him saying: ‘‘Mr. President, 

we will never forget that you gave us back a belief in ourselves and our Nation. You restarted our economy giving 

people hope and opportunity. You rebuilt America’s military 

and led the fight for freedom around the world.’’ RONALD

REAGAN was more than the President, he was an inspiration 

. . . he was a friend. 

Each year, the magnitude of President REAGAN’s accomplishments at home and abroad become increasing apparent. 

As recognition of his achievements and their impacts on our 

lives today grows so does the Nation’s gratitude toward him. 

He embodied the American spirit that helped lift the morale 

of our country. 

American Presidents affect history in their own way, but 

fewer have made more of an impact or shaped the history 

of their times than RONALD REAGAN. 

In the election of 1980, Americans were faced with one 

of the most simple, yet defining questions in American politics: ‘‘Are you better off now than you were 4 years ago?’’ 

Were we as Americans willing to accept that the once proud 

land of the free and the home of the brave was now worn 

and tired and lacked direction? America said ‘‘No!’’ 

RONALD REAGAN reaffirmed my philosophy as well as that 

of a whole generation which believed that wealth and prosperity emerge from the spirit of creativity that resides in individuals not government, and to the belief in the principles 

of less taxing, less spending, less government and more freedom. Freedom deeply mattered to RONALD REAGAN, and 

freedom deeply matters to me. 

With RONALD REAGAN’s election came a renewed vitality 

in America. He brought a belief that freedom must ring from 

the bells of this great Nation and that opportunity should 

not be limited. He reminded us of the America that was there 

all along. A freedom-loving country waiting to be unshackled 

from a government that had grown too big and cost too 

much which dictated what was best for us. No, we wanted 

better and RONALD REAGAN led us there. 

Under President REAGAN’s leadership, the spirit of America was rekindled and the flame of freedom burned bright— 

free markets, free ideas, free trade and freedom as the centerpiece of our foreign policy. The Reagan revolution had no 

boundaries. The winds of freedom swept across America and 

gained momentum throughout the world. Freedom’s ring was 

heard in Latin America, where nations turned back communism and accepted the free will of the people. In Eastern 

Europe, freedom broke the rusted chains of totalitarianism 

and caused the Berlin Wall to fall. 

RONALD REAGAN never lost faith in the freedom, dignity 

and liberty of mankind. He understood that freedom is never 

more than one generation away from extinction. He never 

doubted that freedom was more than a virtue. It was a right 

given to each of us by a sovereign God. 

RONALD REAGAN did not invent freedom. He defined it. 

For through his wit and humility, he carried his role in history as the man who gave freedom a face. And through his 

undying faith in those who entrusted in him the role as their 

leader, RONALD REAGAN achieved greatness. 

Even though President REAGAN has now completed the 

journey he began so many years ago, our Nation has not yet 

completed the path we began under his leadership. RONALD

REAGAN made America stronger, more prosperous and more 

confident. We still need to do more to make our country 

and the world a better and safer place to live, work and raise 

a family. We must continue his legacy so as to ensure that 

America remains that shining city on the hill that President 

REAGAN described to us. 

To Nancy and the Reagan family, our Nation is forever 

in your debt for sharing this unique and special individual 

with us, the American people. 

President REAGAN, we say goodbye for now. You have 

touched our lives deeply. You have indeed lived the words 

of Sacred Scripture: ‘‘You have fought the good fight, you 

have finished the race, you have kept the faith.’’ 

Godspeed Mr. President. 

Hon. William H. Frist 

TENNESSEE

Mr. President, these past few days we have 

seen an extraordinary outpouring of affection for 

our 40th President, RONALD WILSON REAGAN. 
264 Ronald Reagan 

In a few short hours, he will lie in state under 

the Capitol dome where dignitaries from around 

the world and citizens from across the country 

will pay their respects to the man from Dixon. 

In his 1982 State of the Union Address, President REAGAN told the Nation, ‘‘We don’t have 

to turn to our history books for heroes. They’re 

all around us.’’ In life, RONALD REAGAN was a 

hero to millions. To the freedom fighters in the 

Soviet Union, to his fellow citizens striving toward that American dream, RONALD REAGAN

told the world that we are meant to be free. 

He was a man of faith and deeply held convictions. Like James Madison, RONALD REAGAN

believed that in the creation of our Republic was 

the hand of God. He believed our freedoms flow 

not from the State but from the Almighty. Our 

task was and remains to awaken in the people 

this essential truth. 

I close with a story I believe captures RONALD

REAGAN’s remarkable character, his courage, and 

his vision. It was 1997. From a news report was 

a story of an emigre. 

Walking in Arm and Hammer Park near his home, 

REAGAN was approached by an elderly tourist and his 12- 

year-old grandson, Ukranian emigres now living near Toledo, 

OH. They spoke with him for a moment and the grandfather 

snapped a picture of the boy sitting with the former President. An article about the encounter and the picture appeared 

first in the Toledo Blade and then in newspapers around the 

country. The other day, the grandfather recalled their meeting. We went to the park for a picnic with our friends, he 

said, and then he saw President REAGAN. And we began to 

cheer him and said, Mr. President, thank you for everything 

you did for the Jewish people, for Soviet people, to destroy 

the Communist empire. And he said, yes, that is my job. 

RONALD WILSON REAGAN was raised in a 

small town. Part of him remained a small town 

citizen all of his life. Not in the self-conscious 

way one thinks of a politician stumping on the 

campaign trail. RONALD REAGAN’s small town 

roots informed the way he viewed the body politic—what he believed people wanted from life, 

from each other and from government. 

As he explained, when a person grows up in 

a small town: 

You get to know people as individuals, not as blocs or 

members of special interest groups. You discover that, despite 

their differences, most people have a lot in common . . . jWke 

all want freedom and liberty, peace, love and security, a good 

home, and a chance to worship God in our own way; we 

all want the chance to get ahead and make our children’s 

lives better than our own. We all want the chance to work 

at a job of our own choosing and to be fairly rewarded for 

it. 

RONALD REAGAN believed that the government should serve the people. He believed that 

the strength of our economy came from the creativity, ingenuity and productivity of the individual, not from the plans and schemes of government bureaucrats or intellectual elites. 

This view of America’s economic success guided his economic policies here at home, and, in 

no small way, shaped his political policies 

abroad. 

When RONALD REAGAN became President, 

the American economy was in a shambles. Inflation was in the double digits. Interest rates were 

soaring. Americans had to wait in endless lines 

to pump overpriced gas. Real incomes had stagnated and the American worker was demoralized. 

In his 1989 ‘‘Speaking My Mind’’ collection of 

essays and speeches, RONALD REAGAN reflected 

that: 

Here we were, a country bursting with economic promise, 

and yet our political leadership had gone out of its way to 

frustrate America’s natural economic strength. It made no 

sense. My attitude had always been—let the people flourish. 

So, he set about slashing Federal income taxes 

and cutting burdensome regulations. It was his 

mission to free the American worker and unleash 

the American entrepreneur. When he came to office, the top marginal tax rate was 70 percent. 

By the time he left, it was a mere 28 percent. 

His sweeping tax reforms overhauled the Tax 

Code and removed 6 million taxpayers from the 

tax rolls. 

At the same time, President REAGAN gave 

Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker free 

reign to tighten the money supply and bring 

down inflation. 

Together, these policies worked. 

True to the President’s forecast, as the economy grew, so, too, did tax revenues. Tax revenues 

increased faster than GDP. By 1990, the economy 

had grown by a third—or as the Wall Street Journal put it, ‘‘roughly the size of Germany.’’ Over 

the course of his Presidency, the economy created 

19 million jobs and the stock market hit a record 

high. America enjoyed the longest economic expansion up to that time. 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 265 

Throughout, President REAGAN was assailed 

for the growing deficit. In typical Washington 

fashion, he got the blame for adverse economic 

numbers, but never the credit for economic success. Contrary to his critics, however, the Federal 

deficit fell from 6.3 percent of GNP in fiscal year 

1983 to 2.3 percent in 1988. The deficit actually 

shrank as a percentage of gross national product. 

At the time, his policies were dubbed Reaganomics. Now, they’re considered common sense. 

President REAGAN’s guiding principle was simple, yet profound: government policies should 

grow the economy, not manage it. The impact 

of this idea was so great that, now, even the other 

side of the aisle speaks of targeted tax cuts and 

tax credits, and no longer openly campaigns to 

raise our taxes. 

Indeed, President Clinton crystallized the 

Reagan revolution when he declared, ‘‘The era of 

big government is over.’’ 

President REAGAN believed in the dreams and 

dignity of the individual. As he said in his second inaugural address, ‘‘There are no limits to 

growth and human progress when men and 

women are free to follow their dreams.’’ 

RONALD REAGAN reminded the American 

people that economic liberty and human freedom 

are two sides of the same coin. 

Some call it the Reagan revolution. Others call 

it the Reagan restoration. I prefer the latter term. 

The man from Dixon—lifeguard, radio announcer, actor, Governor, father, adoring husband, and President of the United States—restored not only our confidence, but our fundamental understanding of the source of America’s 

greatness: the American people. 

Indeed, America was blessed to have such a 

President. Now he will enter the history books 

as one of our greatest. God bless RONALD WILSON REAGAN. God bless America. 

Hon. Mitch McConnell 

OF KENTUCKY

Mr. President, I rise today because a mighty 

oak has fallen. RONALD REAGAN has left his life 

here on Earth, but oh what a life it was. Born 

in the middle of our great Republic in the beginning of the last century, his was an American 

tale from start to finish. 

Jack and Nelle Reagan brought a son into the 

world in Tampico, IL, in 1911. Jack was a shoe 

salesman with an Irishman’s flare for storytelling. 

Nelle was a devout Christian who made ends 

meet by doing other people’s sewing out of their 

home. When Jack first saw their healthy baby 

in his crib, he looked at this little baby and said 

he looked like a ‘‘little fat Dutchman.’’ And the 

nickname stuck, ‘‘DUTCH.’’ 

Times were hard for the Reagans. RONALD

REAGAN commented years later that: 

Our family didn’t exactly come from the wrong side of 

the tracks, but we were certainly within sound of the train 

whistles. 

Even then, it was in RONALD REAGAN’s character to look for the Sun behind the clouds. 

Growing up, he lived a typical American boy’s 

life. He was a lifeguard in the summer and a 

football player in the fall. In the fading years, 

when Alzheimer’s robbed him of most of his 

memory, he could still summon up his youth in 

Illinois, proudly recalling the 77 lives he saved 

as a lifeguard from the teeming Rock River, 

notching each one on a log on the shore. 

In Illinois, he discovered there was more to 

life than just football and lifeguarding. There 

was also acting. Connecting with an audience 

plugged him into a broader world. As he later 

said, ‘‘For a kid suffering childhood pangs of insecurity, the applause was music.’’ 

Ambition led him westward out of Illinois; 

Hollywood, to be exact. There, as we all know, 

he started his successful acting career and, more 

important, met a young actress from Chicago 

named Nancy Davis. She became the love of his 

life. Nancy was focused, smart, and loved her 

RONNIE. Jimmy Stewart once remarked, ‘‘If 

RONNIE had married Nancy the first time, he 

would have won an Academy Award.’’ 

But gradually his time in front of an audience 

changed from the stage and screen to the assembly hall. Time constraints prevent me from following his ascent to the highest office in the 

land. Let me simply comment that for most of 

us being a successful actor and pitchman, union 

president, two-term Governor of our Nation’s 

largest State, and a national figure to boot would 

have been enough of a career, especially at the 
266 Ronald Reagan 

age of 69. But RONALD REAGAN had other 

thoughts, and so began his run against President 

Jimmy Carter for the Presidency in 1980. 

Neck and neck until the debate a week before 

the election, REAGAN broke it wide open when 

he closed by asking Americans a simple question: 

Are you better off than you were 4 years ago? 

On election day, REAGAN won a smashing victory, winning 44 of 50 States. He would top that 

mark in 1984, winning 49 out of 50 States. 

I have listened to and read countless people 

reflecting on what President REAGAN meant to 

them and to America. Were there enough time, 

I would fill up the rest of the afternoon with 

my thoughts about this great man. But I will 

limit my observations to what I think will be, 

in addition to restoring America’s faith in itself, 

the way history will remember RONALD

REAGAN, the peacemaker. 

I want to address the question, What does it 

mean to have won the cold war? Revisionists 

suggest that RONALD REAGAN had little to do 

with the Soviet Union’s fall which they now 

claim was just inevitable. I can tell you no one 

thought that in 1979. Communism was on the 

rise and freedom was in retreat. The United 

States was the toothless tiger with the uncertain 

future. Energy shortages crippled us, and rampant crime hunted us down. Interest rates for 

homes, cars, and businesses were sky high. Our 

economy was wrenched back and forth between 

bouts of recession and inflation, both at the same 

time. America’s decline was marked by new, unfamiliar words. We learned ‘‘stagflation,’’ 

‘‘taxflation,’’ and, of course, we learned malaise. 

America’s economy was not the only thing in 

decline. So, too, was our foreign policy. Still suffering from a Vietnam syndrome, we watched 

and did nothing as Afghanistan was invaded by 

the Soviets, as hostages in Iran were seized, and 

as Cuban puppets invaded Africa and Central 

America. Our Navy was weak. Our planes 

couldn’t fly. Our Army lacked volunteers and 

morale. The nuclear balance was tipping, and our 

intelligence services were ravaged by firings and 

mismanagement. 

We were declining and the Soviet Union was 

rising. Some people were ready to give up. Others suggested the Presidency was too big and 

complicated a job for any single person. It 

seemed as if we had lost our nerve. But not RONALD REAGAN. You see, he had a vision. 

In 1982, he explained his ‘‘sick bear’’ theory: 

The Soviet empire is faltering because it is rigid—centralized control has destroyed . . . innovation, efficiency, and individual achievement . . . the Soviet dictatorship has forged the 

largest armed force in the world . . . by preempting the 

human needs of its people and, in the end, this course will 

undermine the foundations of the Soviet system. 

With his customary humor, he had a memorable way of explaining this. He talked of a Soviet citizen who went to a Soviet bureau of transportation to buy a car. After paying and filling 

out all the forms, he is told by the seller of the 

car to come back in 10 years to get his car. 

The man asks, ‘‘In the morning or the afternoon?’’ 

The official responds, ‘‘Well, we are talking 

about 10 years from now; what difference does 

it make whether it is the morning or afternoon?’’ 

The man replies, ‘‘Well, the plumber is coming in the morning.’’ 

Beneath the humor, President REAGAN knew 

the serious truth. The Soviet Union was as inherently weak as the U.S. economy was inherently 

strong, a fact too few recognized. So when President REAGAN’s policies began to revitalize our 

economy, the confidence restored here was 

matched by new uncertainty over in the Soviet 

Union. 

Others have and will talk about the Reagan 

revolution here at home, but in terms of our victory in the cold war, the Reagan economic recovery was the first body blow that eventually exorcised the demon of communism from the Soviet 

Union. 

The real trouble for the Soviet Union was not 

REAGAN’s policies, but REAGAN’s values, his 

courage, and his willpower. Before he was ever 

elected, President REAGAN recognized that the 

Soviet Union was an ‘‘arsenal of anarchy’’ 

throughout the world. It was a ‘‘sickness of the 

human condition,’’ he said. And President 

REAGAN was never afraid to do that which so 

many leaders lack the courage to do: look at evil 

and call it by its name. In this regard, REAGAN

was like Churchill. REAGAN was the nemesis of 

communism, just as Churchill was of nazism. He 

understood the evil that communism represented 

and what it would do if unchecked. 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 267 

Interestingly, REAGAN’s understanding of this 

evil did not begin with the fate of millions, but 

of just one. In May 1975, a 5-year-old boy fell 

into the Spree River, which divided then-communist East Berlin from free West Berlin. As 

firemen from West Berlin—firemen, not soldiers—started to go to the boy’s rescue, an East 

German patrol boat barred their entry into East 

German waters. The boy drowned. 

The mayor of West Berlin described that refused rescue as ‘‘an incomprehensible and frightful act, placing political considerations before the 

saving of a human life.’’ But for REAGAN, it was 

the sad personification of a harsh and enduring 

reality: Communism is a system where every 

human life is sublimated to the ruthless needs 

of the state. 

Focused on the value of a single human life, 

RONALD REAGAN looked across the globe and 

saw 600 million people living like slaves under 

the communist lash. He did not mince words or 

deeds. He dubbed the Soviet Union the evil empire, a description brutally accurate, yet offensive 

to the tender sensibilities of most of the media 

and intelligentsia here at home. He called for a 

massive defense increase—‘‘peace through 

strength,’’ he called it—and some even in his 

own Cabinet opposed it. 

In the face of criticism, REAGAN strengthened 

our defense. He quoted Demosthenes in dismissing the Soviets’ empty assurances of their 

good intentions on arms control, ‘‘What sane 

man would let another man’s word rather than 

his deeds tell him who is at war and who is at 

peace with him?’’ 

He then translated that demand into a Russian 

saying of no uncertain words—doveryai, no 

proveryai. In Russian, that means ‘‘trust but 

verify.’’ 

RONALD REAGAN did not have timid dreams. 

He wasn’t interested in slowing the decline of 

freedom or just holding its position steady; he 

wanted freedom to ring across the globe and 

communism to be relegated to the ash heap of 

history. So he went to the Berlin Wall to call 

out in front of that colossal affront to freedom, 

‘‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!’’ 

He left Reykjavik when it was clear that Mr. 

Gorbachev was only bargaining for the end of the 

Strategic Defense Initiative, which matching, the 

Soviets knew, would spend them into oblivion. 

Margaret Thatcher notes that Reykjavik, deplored as a loss by REAGAN’s critics, particularly 

by the European and American intelligentsia, 

marked the beginning of the end of the Soviet 

Union. 

Of course, all the significant arms control reductions came after REAGAN walked away from 

Reykjavik. But today, President REAGAN is vindicated by some 600 million people who breathe 

freely because of the collapse of the Soviet empire. 

So what does it mean to liberate almost 600 

million from fear and terror? It means 49 million 

Ukrainians will never again worry about a class 

purge. 

It means 17 million former East Germans will 

never be grabbed in the night by the STASI, the 

secret police of Eric Honneker. 

It means 38 million Poles will never fear General Jaruzelski attempting to crush the Solidarity 

free labor movement. 

It means 22 million Romanians will never 

know the torture, madness and human experimentation of Nicolae Ceausescu. 

It means 16 million in the Czech Republic and 

Slovakia will never hear tanks rumbling through 

their city streets to crush self-rule. 

It means tens of millions of former West Germans lead lives oblivious to the cosmic nervousness that gripped their mother’s and father’s generation. 

It means that 5 million in Finland no longer 

look across the Gulf of Finland with dread at 7.2 

million people in Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania, 

who lived in slavery as a warning to any neighbors who would dare dissent from the Soviet 

world view. 

In all, 600 million lives were emancipated by 

the victory in the cold war—the greatest liberation in the history of mankind, and hopefully for 

all time. 

Now, having said all of that, let me just mention how much I miss that sweethearted man, 

especially his sense of humor. I have been reminded from all the replayed speeches just how 

wonderful he was. For example, during an exchange with the press one day, he said: 
268 Ronald Reagan 

I have given my aides instructions that if trouble breaks 

out in any of the world’s hot spots, they should wake me 

up immediately—even if I am in a cabinet meeting. 

It makes you wonder what President REAGAN

said to Saint Peter. Something witty, no doubt, 

and delivered with a warm smile. 

So now the long goodbye that Mrs. Reagan, 

his rock and strength and the love of his life, 

has spoken of so movingly is nearly complete. 

So I will close with President REAGAN’s own 

words in his courageous letter to the American 

people upon discovery of the disease that would 

ultimately bring about his fall. President 

REAGAN said 10 years ago: 

When the Lord calls me home, whenever that may be, I 

will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and 

eternal optimism for its future. 

I now begin this journey that will lead me into the sunset 

of my life. I know that for America there will always be a 

bright dawn ahead. 

God bless RONALD REAGAN, an American 

hero. 

Hon. Tom Harkin 

OF IOWA

Madam President, our Nation has come together this week to mourn the passing of former 

President RONALD REAGAN. However anticipated his death may have been, it is still a profound loss for the Reagan family. Our thoughts 

and prayers are with them all and especially with 

former First Lady Nancy Reagan. 

However, knowing the kind of man RONALD

REAGAN was, knowing his relentless optimism 

and his sunny disposition, something tells me he 

would prefer that Americans spend this week remembering and celebrating his unique character 

and quality. ‘‘America in mourning’’ just does 

not seem Reaganesque because RONALD REAGAN

was always about ‘‘morning in America.’’ He always looked at the bright side of every situation 

or circumstance. I remember the story he told 

about the little boy who walked into a barn and 

encountered a huge pile of manure. The boy, who 

was not the least bit disappointed, broke into a 

big smile and said: I just know there is a pony 

in here somewhere. That was the RONALD

REAGAN we remember and admire. 

Iowans relate strongly to RONALD REAGAN

because his roots were our roots. He grew up 

next door in smalltown Illinois and spent 5 formative years in Iowa. In fact, this was where the 

young RONALD REAGAN found his voice as the 

Great Communicator—first as a radio announcer 

at WOC Radio in Davenport and later at WHO 

Radio in Des Moines where he became one of 

the most popular sports broadcasters in the region. That was at the height of the Great Depression. 

He remembered this period with obvious 

fondness. In his autobiography, ‘‘An American 

Life,’’ he wrote: 

I spent four years at station WHO in Des Moines and they 

were among the most pleasant of my life. At 22, I’d achieved 

my dream; I was a sports announcer. If I had stopped there, 

I believe I would have been happy the rest of my life. 

During his two terms in the White House, 

I met President REAGAN on many occasions, and 

just about every time he would eagerly tell me 

he had been an announcer at WHO Radio. He 

regaled me with stories of how, sitting in his studio in Des Moines, he faked the play by play 

of the Chicago Cubs baseball game based upon 

wire reports as they came through. He seemed 

to have this fixed in his mind, that when he 

would see me, it was Tom Harkin and WHO. 

If this is Harkin, I am going to tell him about 

my time at WHO. It sort of became a thing that 

every time we met, he, again, would tell me 

some story about his time at WHO Radio. So 

that was my experience with the REAGAN charm. 

We disagreed on many important issues, but 

you could not come into contact with this man 

and not feel his personal warmth and charm. In 

fact, I have been struck this week by the bipartisan affection for this former President. He was 

the genuine article, a man who embodied so 

many of the traits we hold dear as Americans. 

We remember his conviction, his courage, his 

lack of pretentiousness, and, yes, his optimism. 

On a personal note, I will always be grateful 

to President REAGAN for signing into law my 

bill to establish the National Institute on Deafness and Communication Disorders at the National Institutes of Health in 1988. Quite frankly, 

his advisers urged him to veto the bill, but the 

President, who himself suffered from hearing 

loss, vetoed his advisers. He signed the bill into 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 269 

law. As a result, we have had a series of medical 

breakthroughs that are helping millions of Americans cope with hearing loss and communication 

disorders. 

Last, he and Nancy fought a heroic battle with 

Alzheimer’s disease, and they did a great deal to 

raise the level of awareness and understanding of 

this terrible disease. I am especially proud of the 

courageous leadership Nancy Reagan has displayed in our efforts to find a cure for this deadly 

disease by her advocating a more expanded stem 

cell research program in America. 

As I said, the most fitting way to pay tribute 

to President REAGAN is not so much to mourn 

his death as to celebrate his life and to honor 

his service to our country. As he lies in state at 

the Capitol this week, a thankful American Nation will say farewell to a truly unique American. 

Hon. Kay Bailey Hutchison 

OF TEXAS

Madam President, I rise today to pay tribute 

to an American legend, President RONALD

REAGAN. Like all Americans, I was saddened to 

learn of his passing over the weekend. I had left 

our Republican State Convention at a time when 

it was moving across the floor that he might be 

in his final hours. Of course, all of us started 

reminiscing. It was a moment of great loss, but 

yet a recollection of his humor, his contagious 

optimism, and the historic accomplishments he 

made for our country really were comforting and 

engendered so many wonderful moments. 

Although I was not a Member of this body 

while he was in office, I have lived and served 

under his conservative principles and ideologies. 

He was in his political prime when I was just 

beginning in politics. During his first campaign, 

my husband Ray was chairman of the Texas Republican Party and spent many hours traveling 

with him across Texas. In 1992, I was honored 

to be temporary chair of the Republican National 

Convention in Houston, TX, when he delivered 

his very important message that turned out to 

be his goodbye to America. It was there that he 

left us with these final thoughts: 

jWkhatever else history may say about me when I’m gone, 

I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not 

your worst fears, to your confidence rather than your doubts. 

My dream is that you will travel the road ahead with liberty’s 

lamp guiding your steps and opportunity’s arm steadying 

your way. . . . May each of you have the heart to conceive, 

the understanding to direct, and the hand to execute works 

that will make the world a little better for your having been 

here. . . . my fellow Americans, may every dawn be a great 

new beginning for America and every evening bring us closer 

to that shining city upon a hill. 

At a time of great despair in our Nation, 

RONALD REAGAN came into office and restored 

hope. He was an unequaled champion of freedom, smaller government, and market-oriented 

principles. His philosophies guided our Nation 

to become the economic and military superpower 

it is today. Of course, he was often called the 

Great Communicator for his ability to give a 

rousing speech that could both rally the troops 

and yet make an individual in the crowd of thousands feel as if they were having a heart-to-heart 

talk. 

Beyond his optimism, his confidence, and 

graceful charm was a man of action who implemented great change in the United States of 

America. Under his leadership, our Nation sowed 

seeds of prosperity and reduced regulatory burdens on small business. He lowered taxes for all 

Americans, including reducing the top marginal 

rate from an oppressive 70 percent to approximately half that, offering new incentives to create 

wealth and jobs and rebuild America. 

He encouraged Americans to embrace their 

own destiny and realized that government was 

not the answer to social ills; people were. Good 

people working in concert to better their communities and their fellow man could accomplish 

far more than bureaucracy, from his vantage 

point. 

Perhaps most important, President REAGAN

took the steps to ultimately win the cold war. 

He pursued ‘‘peace through strength’’ and 

achieved an overwhelming victory that was inconceivable to a generation that was raised with 

fallout drills and backyard bunkers. 

Who can forget the famous challenge he laid 

down when he cried, ‘‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down 

this wall!’’? They were indeed great, dramatic 

words but more important, words of action. Two 

and a half years later, what once seemed a perma-
270 Ronald Reagan 

nent divider through the heart of Berlin was torn 

down piece by piece, section by section, until it 

was reduced to a pile of rubble. 

Visitors to the Ronald Reagan Building and 

International Trade Center in Washington, DC, 

can view a section of that wall donated by the 

people of Berlin in honor of the President and 

in recognition of his leadership. The segment, 

which is over 9 feet high and weighs almost 3 

tons, is from a section of the wall near the Brandenburg Gate where President REAGAN issued 

that challenge. It stands as a stark reminder of 

the great shift in global politics that spread freedom in Europe and encouraged new generations 

to pursue democracy. 

Today, we again find ourselves in a fight for 

freedom. This generation, like their World War 

II grandparents and cold war parents, has been 

called to stand and fight for freedom. Today, we 

are grappling with a new threat: global terrorism, an enemy with no borders, no uniforms, 

no respect for traditional rules of war, and more 

important, no respect for human life. 

World War II took bitter years of fighting and 

sacrifice. The cold war took decades of dedication 

and patience. This battle against terrorism requires all that and more. The question is: Will 

our generation meet the test? Will we have what 

it takes to win the peace? I believe we do. I believe the strength, perseverance, and patriotism 

that RONALD REAGAN embodied will help see 

us through. 

In 1987, he addressed a joint session of Congress saying: 

Let it never be said of this generation of Americans that 

we became so obsessed with failure that we refused to take 

risks that could further the cause of peace and freedom in 

the world. 

Since learning of his passing last weekend, 

elected officials, former Cabinet members, and 

newspapers across the world have been penning 

eulogies, remembrances, and tributes to the beloved President. 

James Baker, his former Chief of Staff and 

Treasury Secretary: 

President REAGAN restored America’s source of pride and 

confidence in itself. He was a wonderful person to work for 

and a truly great President. His willingness to stick to his 

principles changed the world. 

Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher: 

He will be missed not only by those who knew him, and 

not only by the nation that he served so proudly and loved 

so deeply, but also by the millions of men and women who 

live in freedom today because of the policies he pursued. To 

have achieved so much against so many odds and with such 

humor and humanity made RONALD REAGAN a truly great 

American hero. 

Secretary of State Colin Powell, who served as 

his National Security Adviser, said: 

President REAGAN fueled the spirit of America. His smile, 

his optimism, his total belief in the ultimate triumph of democracy and freedom, and his willingness to act on that belief, helped end the cold war and usher in a new and brighter 

phase of history. 

Mikhail Gorbachev, once REAGAN’s adversary, 

called him: 

A true leader, a man of his word and an optimist . . . He 

has earned a place in history and in people’s hearts. 

Finally, his Vice President, later our President, 

George H.W. Bush, has been giving interviews 

about how much fun he was and how they had 

lunch every week together and sometimes they 

would talk substance, sometimes they would talk 

policy, and sometimes they would just have a 

good time. They were very close, and yet he 

never lost that laser beam focus on the big issues, 

the things that really mattered that would move 

us one step toward the ‘‘peace through strength’’ 

that was his guiding principle. 

Indeed, his lasting place in the hearts of all 

Americans has been evidenced by the outpouring 

of love and admiration that we have seen across 

the Nation and around the world. RONALD

REAGAN was a leader who touched people with 

his words, inspired them with his actions, and 

led by his example. 

On November 5, 1994, nearly a decade ago, 

President REAGAN announced to the world that 

he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, 

the illness that would ultimately take his life. 

His poise and hopeful spirit, even in the face of 

the heartbreaking years ahead, were remarkable. 

He said: 

jLket me thank you, the American people for giving me 

the great honor of allowing me to serve as your President. 

When the Lord calls me home, whenever that may be, I will 

leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future. 

I now begin this journey that will lead me into the sunset 

of my life. I know that for America there will always be a 

bright dawn ahead. 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 271 

Thank you my friends. May God always bless you. 

Standing by his side through good times and 

bad, was his beloved wife Nancy, a beautiful 

woman, very slight in stature but strong as steel. 

Theirs was a partnership in every respect and one 

of the great love stories of our time. RONALD

WILSON REAGAN was a great President. He left 

an indelible impression on our country. As we 

say farewell, our thoughts and prayers are with 

Nancy and his family. We thank them and we 

thank the Lord that he gave us RONALD REAGAN

at a time when our country needed him the 

most. 

Hon. John E. Sununu 

OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

Madam President, as Americans gather in our 

Capitol and across the country to remember and 

pay tribute to President RONALD REAGAN, we 

have been provided a very special opportunity to 

reflect on his great achievements as our Commander in Chief, as well as the tremendous personal strength which he brought to the Oval Office. 

But as we salute President REAGAN for his 

leadership, his integrity, and his vision, I am 

struck by the very personal nature of so many 

of these memories and stories. Whether here in 

Washington or out across the country, whether 

it is a U.S. Senator or a teacher in a small school, 

it seems that so many of these recollections begin 

with phrases such as, ‘‘I remember seeing him 

during his first visit to our State,’’ or ‘‘I shook 

his hand when he visited our factory,’’ or ‘‘I recall 

a story that President REAGAN loved to tell,’’ or 

even ‘‘because of RONALD REAGAN, I chose to 

run for office.’’ 

These recollections are enormously personal, 

but I think they are a testament to the way he 

touched people in a very deep and unique way. 

He affected the lives of millions of people in 

America and around the world in countless encounters. Many of these encounters may have 

been for only a moment or two in a life that 

spanned decades, but his gift was in his ability 

to make a strong connection that had real power, 

the power to bridge generations, the power to 

last a lifetime, and the power to change a life 

as well. 

We remember his touch, his smile, and his encouragement, not simply because when he 

walked into a room RONALD REAGAN conveyed 

a great personal warmth. That was certainly special in and of itself, and something that anyone 

who had the chance to meet him or see him in 

person would always remember, but it was because this personal connection conveyed a sense 

of purpose, a sense of kindness, and an enormous 

love for public service. That was the power of 

the Great Communicator, the power of the personal connection that he made. 

I consider this the greatest tribute of all. Despite the myriad and extraordinary legislative and 

foreign policy victories of President REAGAN

such as cutting taxes and reforming the Code, 

rebuilding our Nation’s defenses, turning back 

the Soviets in Afghanistan, or leading the West 

to a lasting victory in the cold war—despite the 

enormous substance of these achievements, RONALD REAGAN, in the end, is not remembered first 

and foremost as a clever politician with great 

machinations of political strategy or hardball political tactics. Instead, the descriptive words that 

we heard here and across the country over and 

over again are integrity, character, courage, and 

leadership. These are qualities that transcend politics and qualities that transcend time. They are 

qualities that inspire the young and comfort the 

aged. They are the qualities of heroes. 

RONALD REAGAN was fond of describing the 

heroes he saw in audiences at every speech he 

made or heroes he would see as he traveled across 

the country in every corner of America and coming from every walk of life. He saw in these men 

and women the very strength of character, courage, integrity, and leadership that he knew made 

our country unique and which kept our country 

prosperous and free. But by bringing these very 

same qualities to the Oval Office and drawing 

on them time and time again to guide our Nation through demanding and even dark times, he 

left a legacy that shined like the ‘‘city on a hill’’ 

which he knew America could be and would 

again become. It is a heroic legacy, and it is the 

legacy of a great American. 
272 Ronald Reagan 

Hon. John W. Warner 

OF VIRGINIA

Mr. President, I join with my colleagues in 

paying profound respects to our late President 

RONALD REAGAN, and I do so with a deep, deep 

sense of humility. 

It is interesting, I walked into my reception 

room just the other day. No matter how long 

one is around here, I think you sort of have to 

go back and refresh your recollection as to what 

you put up in your reception room, and I found 

six different photographs of myself with the good 

fortune to be in the presence of our former great 

President. 

I think back over my 26 years in the Senate, 

having had the privilege of working with all the 

Presidents in that period of time and, prior 

thereto, those Presidents when I was in the Department of Defense. Again, I say with a deep 

sense of respect and humility, I believe it is clear 

in my mind that I had the greatest opportunity 

to work with President REAGAN, and probably 

had more opportunities to be with him in a professional capacity than any other President. 

I was ranking for a period of time on the 

Armed Services Committee and in every way 

supported him in his remarkable vision to build 

and restore the Armed Forces of the United 

States, which buildup, in my judgment, was a 

major contributor, if not the major contributor, 

to the eventual demise of the Soviet Union. 

There are several pictures of when he visited 

my home, which was a farm in Virginia, a farm 

in an area where I grew up in the summers as 

a very young man. He loved coming down to 

the farm. My farm was adjacent to the home of 

former President Kennedy, and the owner at that 

time was Bill Clements, who was a former Deputy Secretary of Defense. I served under him as 

Secretary of the Navy. He and I were very close 

friends. I introduced him to that countryside, 

and he bought the Kennedy home, which is a 

very small, modest home, reconstructed, so to 

speak, and enlarged by President Kennedy and 

Jacqueline Kennedy, his lovely, dear wife. 

President RONALD REAGAN and Bill Clements 

set it up so he could come down there and spend 

some quiet downtime. And he loved to ride 

horses. In those days, I had a pretty good collection of horses, and I was happy to share them 

with him on occasion. He rode around on my 

farm. I certainly enjoyed being with him on several occasions. I have one of the pictures of the 

two of us riding together. 

I mention that because in that informal setting 

when there was just the two of us riding 

horses—I remember one time Mrs. Reagan was 

with us—this particular time I remember very 

well. We rode high up on the hill on the back 

of the farm. The hill has a vista down into the 

valley of Virginia. We checked the horses and 

began to talk about his great admiration for 

Stonewall Jackson and the various campaigns 

Jackson had up and down that valley during the 

Civil War. 

I was so impressed with his remarkable knowledge of the facts of that period of history, and 

in later years, in other discussions with him, 

again he would frequently make reference to the 

history of the United States. His knowledge was 

really second to none. He had a magnificent 

command of American history. 

But on this particular day, he reflected on a 

little self-deprecating humor, which he was very 

good at. He told me when Pearl Harbor occurred, he was a lieutenant in the Army Reserve 

Cavalry, again because he loved horses, he loved 

to ride. He promptly went down, Pearl Harbor 

Day or the day after, whatever the case may be, 

and said, ‘‘I want to be activated.’’ And sure 

enough, he was eventually activated. He wanted 

to take, as we say in the horse world, the bit 

in his teeth and charge—‘‘Send me right away 

out to the front.’’ 

I remember he gestured with his hand. But, 

no, they sent him to an old cavalry post, which 

was down in one of the Indian territories, and 

he laughed and joked and said: 

When we put those posts out there, the primary thing 

was to secure the settlers and to hopefully strike a peaceful 

balance with the Indians and make life such that those territories could be developed. 

But he said, ‘‘I did a little homework’’—as he 

always did—‘‘before I went to this cavalry post 

and studied who the commanding officer and the 

other officers were.’’ 

Well, in those days, the custom in the military, particularly the Army, was that when a sol-
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 273 

dier reported, perhaps with his wife, whatever 

the case may be, the commanding officer would 

have them over to pay their respects, to get to 

know each other as soon as they arrived on the 

post. In the old days with the covered wagons, 

it was a long journey. By the time they reached 

their destination, they were pretty well exhausted—food and otherwise. So this was a 

chance to introduce them. 

REAGAN described the evening with great 

humor. He said, ‘‘I walked in and there was the 

little colonel. He was a rather short fellow. He 

was all dressed in his uniform, with his riding 

boots, his Sam Browne belt. I was there in my 

lieutenant’s uniform. He greeted me very warmly. He looked at me.’’ 

And President REAGAN had a remarkable way 

of cocking his head. His body language was extraordinary. His walk, his mannerism, it was a 

great part of his character that I admired, how 

he conveyed so much feeling with just the way 

he would use his hands and his head, his stride. 

It emulated such tremendous confidence he had 

in himself. 

But anyway, the colonel said, ‘‘Now, REAGAN, 

where have I seen you? Do I know you?’’ 

Lieutenant REAGAN said, ‘‘No, sir, we have 

never met.’’ 

The colonel failed to guess. He circled back 

again and said, ‘‘Look here, young man, I know 

somehow I have seen you. Let’s figure out where 

that was. What do you do?’’ 

And Lieutenant REAGAN said, ‘‘Well, sir, I am 

involved in making movies.’’ 

Suddenly this colonel became silent. Then he 

said, ‘‘That is where I have seen you. You were 

in that movie called ‘Brother Rat,’ which was 

about the Virginia Military Institute, and that 

movie didn’t exactly, in my judgment, properly 

characterize the magnificence of that institute. 

As a matter of fact, I think it reflected dishonor 

upon that institute. And I remember you were 

in that movie. Lieutenant, your duty on this post 

is over. I will transfer you.’’ 

In due course the President said he was transferred off the post, but I mention that because 

those of us who had the opportunity to be with 

him, particularly in informal settings, remember 

so well the magnificence of this man, the lessons 

he taught each of us. 

Again, going back to those days in the buildup of the Soviet Union, he was very conscious 

of the fact that the Soviet Union was on pretty 

shaky financial status at that stage and that the 

cold war posed a threat to the United States— 

intercontinental missiles, the threat to the standard forces of NATO, the Warsaw Pact nations, 

all of which are now, save one, members of 

NATO. 

Those of us who worked in the Senate—I remember John Stennis and Barry Goldwater, 

Scoop Jackson, John Tower, to name but a few— 

formed a group to work with the President in 

a bipartisan way on trying to strengthen America 

such that we could send a strong signal to the 

world, particularly the Soviet Union, that we 

mean business. Don’t ever entertain the idea of 

striking out against the free world, be it the 

United States or our NATO allies. 

And the rest is history. ‘‘Tear down that wall, 

Mr. Gorbachev.’’ And that wall did come down. 

Those were extraordinary days I was able to share 

with him, and I say that with the deepest sense 

of humility. But I don’t want to prolong my remarks. 

I do want to tell one other chapter. Just a few 

days ago I was a part of a delegation that went 

over to the Normandy 60th anniversary. Senator 

Akaka was with me and the distinguished Senator from New Jersey and his lovely new bride 

were with me. So there were three of us who had 

some experience in World War II, of the six here 

in the Senate. We spent a wonderful day at the 

ceremonies. But the next day we took time to 

go out to Pointe du Hoc. It was fascinating. 

There on June 6, 2004, I had been on that 

same spot of land 20 years before with RONALD

REAGAN. I remember the delegation. Strom 

Thurmond led it. Three of us went with him. 

Of course, Senator Thurmond had made a landing on the beaches on D-day. Other Senators, the 

Senator from Nevada, and Howard Cannon had 

likewise participated in the D-day landings. Of 

course, I was at that time the youngster, 17 years 

old, in that group back in the United States getting prepared to take our training and become 

replacements someday. That is all history. There 

I stood on that ground, and he had passed away 

within that 24-hour period. 
274 Ronald Reagan 

So I thought today I would read some of the 

remarks he made. 

I ask unanimous consent to print the entire 

speech, a very short speech, in the Record. 

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: 

PRESIDENT REAGAN’S SPEECH AT THE U.S. RANGER

MONUMENT, POINTE DU HOC, NORMANDY, FRANCE, ON

THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF D-DAY

JUNE 6, 1984 

We’re here to mark that day in history when the Allied 

peoples joined in battle to reclaim this continent to liberty. 

For four long years, much of Europe had been under a terrible 

shadow. Free nations had fallen, Jews cried out in the camps, 

millions cried out for liberation. Europe was enslaved, and 

the world prayed for its rescue. Here in Normandy the rescue 

began. Here the Allies stood and fought against tyranny in 

a giant undertaking unparalleled in human history. 

We stand on a lonely, windswept point on the northern 

shore of France. The air is soft, but forty years ago at this 

moment, the air was dense with smoke and the cries of men, 

and the air was filled with the crack of rifle fire and the 

roar of cannon. At dawn, on the morning of the 6th of June 

1944, 225 Rangers jumped off the British landing craft and 

ran to the bottom of these cliffs. Their mission was one of 

the most difficult and daring of the invasion: to climb these 

sheer and desolate cliffs and take out the enemy guns. The 

Allies had been told that some of the mightiest of these guns 

were here and they would be trained on the beaches to stop 

the Allied advance. 

The Rangers looked up and saw the enemy soldiers—at 

the edge of the cliffs shooting down at them with machineguns and throwing grenades. And the American Rangers 

began to climb. They shot rope ladders over the face of these 

cliffs and began to pull themselves up. When one Ranger 

fell, another would take his place. When one rope was cut, 

a Ranger would grab another and begin his climb again. 

They climbed, shot back, and held their footing. Soon, one 

by one, the Rangers pulled themselves over the top, and in 

seizing the firm land at the top of these cliffs, they began 

to seize back the continent of Europe. Two hundred and 

twenty-five came here. After two days of fighting only ninety 

could still bear arms. 

I thought I would read part of this very moving speech. It starts midway in the speech and 

lays out the history of the brave men who participated in D-day landings, and in particular the 

Rangers. 

Behind me is a memorial that symbolizes the Ranger daggers that were thrust into the top of these cliffs. And before 

me are the men who put them there. 

These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the men 

who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free 

a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war. 

Gentlemen, I look at you and I think of the words of Stephen Spender’s poem. You are men who in your ‘‘lives fought 

for life . . . and left the vivid air signed with your honor.’’ 

Forty summers have passed since the battle that you fought 

here. You were young the day you took these cliffs; some 

of you were hardly more than boys, with the deepest joys 

of life before you. Yet you risked everything here. Why? 

Why did you do it? What impelled you to put aside the 

instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take these 

cliffs? What inspired all the men of the armies that met here? 

We look at you, and somehow we know the answer. It was 

faith, and belief; it was loyalty and love. 

The men of Normandy had faith that what they were 

doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith 

that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead 

or on the next. It was the deep knowledge—and pray God 

we have not lost it—that there is a profound moral difference 

between the use of force for liberation and the use of force 

for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and 

so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you 

were right not to doubt. 

You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One’s 

country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying 

for, because it’s the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty. All of 

you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people 

of your countries were behind you. 

The presiding officer, with his distinguished 

military service, understands, as do I, those 

words. The vision that he had not only for America but the free world, the strength of his convictions, the strength of his actions—it reestablished the strength of the Armed Forces which 

today have carried on, since that speech, with 

missions in the Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq, and 

other areas of the world. 

It takes time to restructure and build up a 

military. I find this President is doing just that, 

President Bush. I am happy and privileged to be 

a part of the team that is working in the Senate 

to achieve that. As a matter of fact, the bill for 

the Armed Forces in 2005 is the current business 

before the Senate. 

Before I leave the speech, I was privileged, because of Senator Thurmond and the other Senators with me, we were not more than 15, 20 

yards from the President when he gave the 

speech, right on this little spit of land that I visited 2 days ago. 

And suddenly you saw the Secret Service men 

sort of break and go off and quickly perform the 

duties they have to protect the President. There 

was this figure which came up the cliff unexpectedly, unannounced, because there had been a re-
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 275 

enactment with men of the Armed Forces currently on duty to scale the cliffs for all to see. 

So that part was over. Yet suddenly there appeared another individual who had scaled the 

cliffs and the Secret Service tackled him. I remember the President, always composed, stood 

there and looked at this scene. Suddenly, an aide 

went over and whispered in his ear and the President went over and grasped this man and gave 

him a hug. He was one of the original rangers 

who scaled that cliff. He wanted to show the 

President and the world that he was still able 

to do it. He had bits and pieces of his own uniform on. 

Last, what are the ways in which we can honor 

this great President? Our hearts are so filled with 

gratitude and a sense of deep remorse at his loss. 

But it was his wisdom and foresight that 

strengthened America’s military, and I think that 

requires some special recognition. I don’t have 

all the answers now. I will be happy to work 

with others. 

I am not trying to be the sole author of anything, but some thought has been given to the 

Department of Defense—and I went back last 

night and did a little research, and this morning 

I called the former Secretary of Defense Melvin 

Laird, a very dear and valued friend, under whom 

I served as Secretary of the Navy, and we reminisced about our days and some of the initiatives 

he took. He mentioned one specifically. There 

was some thought about naming the Department 

of Defense Building for President Eisenhower. 

After some very considerable thought, the decision was made not to do that. One of the main 

reasons—and I remember this very well—is that 

that building stands as a symbol of the bipartisanship that must be present as we work with 

the men and women in the Armed Forces. I 

strive to achieve that, as does the presiding officer and many others. 

I am proud of the committee on which I have 

served—Armed Services—for 26 years, under a 

series of chairmen and ranking members. We 

have always tried to put partisanship aside and 

we have been successful. But it is important that 

the building be viewed as bipartisan. 

Therefore, I remember Secretary Laird saying 

the naming of the building was not, in his judgment, what we should do. He confirmed that this 

morning, and I shared that feeling. He said he 

conceived the idea of naming a corridor for General Eisenhower. There is a technical thing there. 

The corridor is named after him as a general of 

the Armed Forces, a five-star general. His picture 

in uniform and many other pieces of memorabilia 

are along the corridor by the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Previous Secretaries of Defense 

have honored the commanders in chief, the Presidents. So there is a corridor set aside for the commanders in chief, with portraits of every President since George Washington. Five living Presidents are there. You have Ford, Carter, George 

Herbert Walker Bush, President Clinton, and 

our current President Bush. All of their portraits 

are there. The way the Department of Defense 

has handled this in the past is to treat with 

equality the Presidents and their portraits, the 

recognition being bipartisan in nature in that 

building. 

We will have to put our minds together to 

see how best to do it. There is no question that 

RONALD REAGAN gave a tremendous impetus to 

the concept of defending this Nation against 

missiles—missiles fired in anger or accidentally. 

Those things happen. He had the star wars concept. I was on the committee and we looked at 

this program. We began to do the initial work 

in the Congress to give support to the President’s 

program. But eventually, from the standpoint of 

technology and costs, we looked at different ways 

to achieve our defense against missiles. It started 

way back under President REAGAN when we put 

emphasis on this situation. Some of the thinking 

preceded President REAGAN on how to defend 

this country against missiles. Today, we don’t 

have a thing to interdict an intercontinental ballistic missile that would be fired in the direction 

of our 50 States. That is a separate matter. 

Therefore, I think we have to give a lot of 

careful thought and be ever mindful of how we 

recognize our commanders, with five still living, 

in terms of their contributions to the defense of 

this country. We will come up with an idea. I 

hope we can, in some way, appropriately recognize this great President for his extraordinary accomplishments in strengthening America. 

I conclude my remarks with the deepest sense 

of humility and gratitude toward the recollec-
276 Ronald Reagan 

tion, modest friendship, and the teachings I received from this great President. 

Hon. Thomas R. Carper 

OF DELAWARE

Mr. President, today and this week, as we 

pause to reflect on the life of RONALD REAGAN

and his role in leading our Nation and the State 

in which I lived when I was in the Navy, I was 

thinking back and talking with my children 

about my first recollection of RONALD REAGAN. 

My first recollection was when I was about 

their age, early in my teenage years, seeing him 

on television. I may have seen him earlier than 

that as a kid in the movies, but I do not remember. I remember fully—and the presiding officer 

is probably too young to remember this—a television show called ‘‘Death Valley Days’’ and 

watched later, I remember, a television show 

called ‘‘General Electric Theater.’’ He was the 

host and introduced each week’s segment. My 

family would watch those shows, not religiously, 

but regularly. I enjoyed them as a kid growing 

up in Danville, VA. 

At the time, RONALD REAGAN, who, I guess, 

was maybe in his fifties at that time, or maybe 

forties, had a reasonably successful career in motion pictures, certainly a lot more successful than 

any of us, except for former Senator Fred Thompson. But he had a reasonably successful career. 

We were in this in-between place where television was coming of age and playing a role with 

respect to ‘‘Death Valley Days’’ and ‘‘General 

Electric Theater.’’ 

I remember my first thoughts of him were 

that he was a nice-looking guy, a handsome kind 

of rugged fellow. He seemed to be amiable. He 

came across as amiable and exuded a certain 

warmth and also a sense of sincerity that came 

across clearly on that small television screen that 

we owned back in those days. 

I remember being surprised in 1964. I think 

I was 17 years old. I was about to enroll in Ohio 

State University. I was going to be a Navy 

ROTC midshipman. I was at the age of 17 a 

young Republican for Barry Goldwater. I do not 

know how I ended up on this side of the aisle. 

Churchill said, ‘‘If you are young and not liberal, 

you don’t have a heart; if you are old and not 

conservative, you don’t have a brain.’’ Somehow 

I ended up as a 17-year-old supporting Barry 

Goldwater. 

I remember watching the convention which 

was in San Francisco at the Cow Palace. Ironically, another one of our colleagues was there 

as a Goldwater supporter, too. She was there as 

a ‘‘golden girl.’’ Her seat is right behind me. It 

is ironic we both ended up where we are in the 

U.S. Senate. I remember watching on television 

the 1964 Republican Convention and actually 

watching the Democratic Convention that year. 

I remember being surprised to see RONALD

REAGAN speak and address the convention. I 

knew he had been a film star. I knew he played 

a role on these two television shows I watched 

as a kid growing up, but I had no idea. I heard 

he had been involved in the Actors Guild, sort 

of a labor union for actors, but I had no idea 

he was involved in politics to any extent and that 

he would end up with a major role at that convention speaking on behalf of Barry Goldwater. 

He came across in this speech a bit differently 

than he did in his other roles on television, but 

he did project a great deal of sincerity, a lot of 

conviction. 

He also suggested a good-naturedness and a 

certain warmth I have always found refreshing 

and endearing about him. 

We learned that evening, as we watched that 

speech, that this was a man who had some strong 

convictions and gave a powerful speech and one 

who got a lot of people to think about him as 

a future leader. Not long after that, he was elected Governor of California, served there for the 

most part with distinction and then ran against 

Gerald Ford for President, lost and came back 

a couple of years later, ran against Jimmy Carter 

and won. 

It is interesting, conventions were different 

then. The first convention I ever remember paying much attention to was in 1964. It was a convention with serious questions about who was 

going to be the President. 

We had the Republicans. Conservatives were 

supporting Barry Goldwater and we had the 

Rockefeller Republicans. There was a lot of give 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 277 

and take, and real primaries. It was hard fought 

right up until the convention. 

I remember in 1968 I was a supporter for Eugene McCarthy who was running for President. 

I respected both McCarthy and Goldwater because they were standup guys. They were willing 

to take tough positions and not mince their 

words. I respected them both for that. Conventions were different than they are today. 

Although I was impressed by the speech that 

then-citizen RONALD REAGAN gave, I never 

imagined he would be Governor of California, 

and I certainly never imagined he would be 

President of the United States. I never imagined 

I would be a Congressman, Governor, or Senator, 

either. I am probably more surprised by that 

than I am about him ending up as Governor and 

President. 

As luck would have it, he ended up as President of the United States and I ended up here 

serving with our presiding officer, and that is 

something I enjoy very much. 

Before I was Governor, I served in the House 

of Representatives for 10 years. RONALD REAGAN

was elected President in 1980; I was elected to 

the House in 1982. I had a chance to interact 

with him from time to time during limited opportunities as a Democratic Congressman. He 

had qualities I admired all those years ago when 

he was hosting those television shows. His 

warmth, his sincerity, his good humor, those 

were qualities he possessed in the real world off 

the TV screen. 

Sometimes the folks we see or admire on television and film or other venues do not turn out 

to be quite the same when we meet them in person. He was very much the same. 

While I did not always see eye to eye with 

him on environmental issues, for example, and 

I had concerns about the budget deficits we were 

starting to rack up, and questions about deploying space weapons, star wars, and the way we 

conducted our business in Central America, there 

was a lot he wanted to do and sought to do with 

which I did agree. He was an early proponent 

of welfare reform. He was a guy who believed 

work should pay more than welfare. We have all 

heard of the earned income tax credit. He was 

a major proponent of the earned income tax credit because he felt people who worked ought to 

be better off than folks who were on welfare. 

He presided over big tax cuts in the early 

eighties, 1981, and later on, faced with ever-growing tax deficits, he presided over some of the 

largest tax increases that were adopted in our Nation’s history. 

He was a staunch opponent of communism, 

but a fellow who could reach out not just across 

the aisle but across the world to Gorbachev to 

become friends, and they embraced one another 

at the end of their tenures as they together 

helped to change the world in a better way. 

I find in RONALD REAGAN that he was someone who would stake out a position; he would 

adhere to that position with his convictions for 

as long as he could, and at the end, if he had 

to change, he would. He was willing to do that, 

but he did not back off easily or readily. He was 

willing in the end to compromise. 

In reacting to folks in my own State in Delaware this week who asked me for my reaction 

to what he was like, I said, well, whether or not 

you liked the man’s policies, it was hard not to 

like the man. 

Since his death, there has been a fair amount 

of conjecture about what we should do to pay 

tribute to him and his memory. Some people 

have suggested we ought to rework Mount Rushmore and find a way to put his image on Mount 

Rushmore. We have had a few people suggest 

maybe RONALD REAGAN’s picture should be on 

the $10 bill instead of Alexander Hamilton. I 

heard our Republican leader suggest yesterday 

that maybe we should rename the Pentagon in 

honor of RONALD REAGAN. I do not know that 

those are good or bad ideas. I have not given 

those a lot of thought. 

I ask we consider a couple of other legacies 

that might even be more important and more enduring. One of those deals with the disease that 

dogged him for the last years of his life, Alzheimer’s disease, a disease my mom also suffers 

from. She lives in Kentucky. I visited her over 

the weekend. She does not remember much. Actually, she remembers a few things that happened a long time ago, but she does not have 

any recollection of RONALD REAGAN and all of 

those years we watched him on television when 

I was a kid growing up. 
278 Ronald Reagan 

My mom is going to be 82 years old this August and my hope is she will live to be as old 

as RONALD REAGAN. I do not think that is likely, but that would be wonderful if it happened. 

My mom is 1 of 4 million people in the world 

today who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. It 

was something we saw the first signs of 5, 6, 7 

years ago, and we knew where it was leading. 

Her mom suffered the same fate. Her grandmother had suffered the same fate as well. 

While there are roughly 4 million Americans 

today who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, by the 

year 2020 we are told there could be as many 

as 14 million Americans who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. It is a tough disease not so 

much for the person who suffers from it but certainly for their families and those who love them 

and who are unable to have the kind of relationship we once did. 

I know Senator Mikulski is going to be leading the effort, I think with Senator Bond, for us 

to focus anew as a Congress, as a Senate, on providing meaningful increases in funding to find 

a cure for Alzheimer’s disease; not simply a way 

to treat the symptoms, but a way to stop it dead 

in its tracks. I commend them for their actions 

and I stand fully ready to support them. I hope 

others will as well. 

The other legacy I suggest that may be as important or we may be inspired to address and do 

something about other than dealing with Alzheimer’s disease is civility. I am not the first person who has noticed this of late, but there has 

been a huge loss of civility not only in Washington, DC, but shortly after I heard of President 

REAGAN’s death I was flipping through the radio 

channels in my car and I came across one of these 

right-wing talk shows. There was pure vitriol 

coming out of the speaker on my radio. I find 

it hard to listen to that stuff so I turned it off. 

I find it hard to watch the television shows anymore because it seems there is no meaningful discourse; they are really shouting matches. 

RONALD REAGAN, for whatever faults he may 

have had, was a civil person, he was a gentleman, 

and at a time when that kind of behavior characterizes too little of what not only goes on here 

but what takes place in politics throughout our 

country, he is a good role model in that the way 

he treated people was the way he would like to 

have been treated. It is a lesson that was good 

and meaningful then and it is one we can certainly take again today. 

I have heard our own leader, Tom Daschle, 

begin to speak of late of a new civility, and we 

need a new civility. We need some civility, not 

going through the formalities, but treating one 

another the way we would want to be treated; 

not just in this Chamber, not just in this Capitol, 

but throughout this country, even in a Presidential election year. 

Hon. Peter G. Fitzgerald 

OF ILLINOIS

Mr. President, as one of the two Senators from 

Illinois, I am very proud of RONALD REAGAN

and his contributions to this country. RONALD

REAGAN is the only American President who 

was, in fact, born in Illinois. Many people think 

of Abraham Lincoln as having been born in Illinois, but he was actually born in Kentucky and 

later moved there. Of course, I think there is no 

question that RONALD REAGAN will join Abraham Lincoln as one of our Nation’s greatest 

Presidents. I only want to say a few words about 

him. 

I didn’t actually serve in the Senate when he 

was President. I didn’t ever have the opportunity 

to get to know him. I did, however, get the opportunity to meet him once as a very young man, 

when I was about 20 years old or so and he was 

campaigning for President in 1980. 

But my first real recollection of him came 

from watching his address on television in 1976 

at the Republican National Convention. He had 

lost the primaries to incumbent President Gerald 

Ford but had nonetheless had a very strong showing. He gave a speech at that 1976 convention 

that literally brought down the house and fired 

up the delegates. I remember watching that at 

home and thinking, What an outstanding leader. 

You could see that this man certainly still had 

a great contribution to make. 

He won against all the odds. All the pundits 

and many of the commentators dismissed RONALD REAGAN. They thought he was too old. 

They thought he was too conservative to run and 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 279 

be elected President in 1980. But he proved them 

all wrong. 

I think a pivotal moment came in 1980 during 

his primary elections. At that time he lost the 

Iowa caucuses and he had a lot of pressure on 

him to win the New Hampshire primary. Many 

of us will recall that New Hampshire primary 

debate where he grabbed the microphone as others tried to shut it off. He grabbed the microphone and said, ‘‘I am paying for this microphone, Mr. Green.’’ He wanted his other opponents to be allowed the opportunity to speak at 

that debate, as opposed to just having a one-onone debate with George Bush, who later became 

his Vice President and succeeded him as President. 

I remember watching that Nashua, NH, debate in 1980 from the basement television room 

of my fraternity house in Hanover, NH, at Dartmouth College. I was very much paying attention to that primary because it was happening 

in New Hampshire where I was attending college. I will never forget seeing RONALD REAGAN

in that debate and his remarkable performance. 

Later, in 1980, I had the opportunity to meet 

him when he came to Illinois to campaign for 

a U.S. Senate candidate in October, about a 

month before REAGAN was elected President. I 

was an intern on the campaign of a fellow by 

the name of Dave O’Neal who was running for 

the Senate in Illinois. He actually lost. But as 

an intern on that campaign, I had the opportunity to meet RONALD REAGAN and to welcome him into the back room before we had the 

dinner in honor of Dave O’Neal. 

I will never forget RONALD REAGAN. Everybody called him Governor at that time. That was 

the most recent office he had. They didn’t call 

him President REAGAN yet. But when he walked 

into the holding room, the bartender immediately told him, ‘‘Governor REAGAN, we have 

squeezed some fresh oranges for you. We have 

some freshly squeezed orange juice for you. 

Would you like some of this?’’ 

Governor REAGAN looked at him and said, 

‘‘I’ll take it if you put a little vodka in that.’’ 

I was struck immediately at the time by his 

charm and his sense of humor and his relaxed 

nature, even though he was just a few weeks out 

from the election day in what everyone thought 

would be a very close election with President 

Carter. But, of course, as we know, RONALD

REAGAN went on to win in a landslide. 

He had a remarkable career. He was an enormous source of inspiration to me as I was finishing college and going on to law school. I was 

very proud at the time to be a Republican and 

to have him as the leader of our party, but also 

to be an American and have him lead our country 

and represent us in the world. I thought he handled himself with incredible poise and dignity. 

His achievements are monumental. You will 

recall that he had few allies in Congress. The 

other party controlled both Houses of Congress 

while he was President. Yet he was able to work 

his will through Congress by calling upon the 

American people to lobby Congress for some of 

his important initiatives, such as lowering taxes. 

President REAGAN succeeded in lowering the 

highest tax rates, which at that time were up to 

70 percent. He dramatically lowered the tax rates 

and unleashed a flurry of economic activity that 

is still with us today. 

He went on to achieve major arms control 

agreements, and also, with the threat of his willingness to spend whatever it took to defend our 

country—his will in that regard, his sheer will 

to succeed in defeating what he saw as an evil 

ideology, communism—in ending the cold war 

with the Soviet Union, he ultimately succeeded 

in doing that. No one has a greater claim on ending the cold war than RONALD REAGAN and, as 

Margaret Thatcher has said, he did so without 

firing a single shot. 

I think one of his greatest accomplishments 

occurred in his second term, and that was the 

simplifying of the Tax Code. If you recall, we 

went for a time where we got rid of a lot of the 

Swiss cheese loopholes and deductions that are 

in our Tax Code. We dramatically simplified the 

Tax Code, collapsed the rates, and it held for a 

few years. We have gone back now and allowed 

all the special interests to fill up the Tax Code 

with all sorts of special interest loopholes and 

giveaways to politically connected interests. 

Sometimes I wish we were rereading what RONALD REAGAN said at the time about the necessity 

of cleaning up that Tax Code. 

One of the most cherished treasures in the 

State of Illinois is the boyhood home in which 
280 Ronald Reagan 

RONALD REAGAN grew up in the twenties, in 

Dixon, IL. That home has been purchased and 

lovingly restored by a foundation and by members of the Dixon, IL, community. It is a wonderful place for Americans who want to pay their 

respects to RONALD REAGAN and his legacy, to 

go by and visit on Interstate 88 in Dixon, IL, 

just off Interstate 88. I certainly hope a lot more 

Americans who are interested in the history of 

RONALD REAGAN will visit that home. 

RONALD REAGAN himself went back to visit 

it, I believe, after he left the White House even. 

He has recounted many tales of his growing up 

there. 

He was actually born in Tampico, IL, in an 

apartment above a commercial building in downtown Tampico, and later moved to Dixon, IL. 

Some of his fondest memories are of growing up 

in Dixon, along the Rock River. 

Of course, many people will remember RONALD REAGAN talking about one of his proudest 

accomplishments in life, saving 77 people from 

drowning over the 7 years that he was a lifeguard 

along the Rock River in Dixon, IL. 

If you go to Dixon, IL, you can see this wonderful small town that shaped RONALD REAGAN, 

his character, his values, his common sense, his 

midwestern way of thinking, of looking at the 

world. I don’t think that ever left him. 

There is also an interesting story not many 

people are aware of, but President REAGAN wrote 

about this in his biography. He graduated from 

Eureka College, about 130 miles south of Dixon, 

in Illinois. After graduating from college, he 

went back to Dixon and he applied for a job in 

the sporting goods department, I believe, at a 

Montgomery Ward store in Dixon, IL. 

Guess what happened. Montgomery Ward 

turned down RONALD REAGAN for that job. 

That set him off in different pursuits, and he ultimately went to Iowa and became an announcer, 

did Cubs games from a regional radio station 

there. But he wrote in his biography he wonders 

what would have happened had he actually gotten that job at the Montgomery Ward store in 

Dixon, IL. He suspected he might never have left 

Dixon, IL. 

We need to thank somebody who failed to hire 

RONALD REAGAN at Montgomery Ward in 1932, 

I think, because it was that little twist, that little 

turn in his life that turned out for the better, 

not only for him but certainly for our entire Nation and the world. 

I ask that we not forget the example of RONALD REAGAN and his cheerful optimism about 

our country and our future. No one could communicate their thoughts as well as RONALD

REAGAN, in my judgment. I know of no equal 

he had in public service in terms of communicating with people. He was an inspiring leader. 

RONALD REAGAN came to the Presidency of 

a self-doubting nation, a nation more suspicious 

of its power than inspired by its possibilities. 

And he understood—as magnificently as any 

American leader—the restorative force of faith, 

of conviction, of pride. He was the Great Communicator, not because he mastered the sound 

bite, but because this midwestern man of 10,000 

handwritten letters knew that words matter— 

words with simple, self-evident integrity, words 

that reach into the vagueness of a volatile democracy and perfectly describe the essential goodness 

of our character. 

RONALD REAGAN returned us to ourselves. He 

did not work miracles. But he emboldened us 

to see the grace of God in the destiny of our 

great Nation. He enabled us to hear the still, 

small voice in the clamor of great historical conflicts. He reminded us to treasure the simple 

miracles of life, laughter and love. 

This man, who survived into the 21st century, 

embodied as perhaps none other the panoramic 

sweep of America’s 20th century. REAGAN was 

born in the small town of Tampico, IL. It was 

1911, the year of the first coast-to-coast airplane 

flight, a 49-day ordeal with 69 stops and 16 crash 

landings. It was also the year of the first aircraft 

landing—crude though it was—on a ship anchored in San Francisco Bay. A series of ropes 

stopped the aircraft. Ninety years later, on March 

4, 2001, the United States christened the Navy’s 

newest Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, a 90,000-ton nuclear-powered fighting ship, and the pride of the most powerful 

navy in the world. 

RONALD REAGAN fundamentally changed the 

face of American politics—and profusely contributed his name to the new political lexicon. What 

American before or since RONALD REAGAN has 

become the popular namesake for a theory of eco-
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 281 

nomics, a political and electoral sea change, and 

a decisive partisan crossover? I speak of Reaganomics, the Reagan revolution, and Reagan 

Democrats. 

The man was that large. He had strong and 

distinct views which he was able to communicate 

with remarkable effectiveness. He had an irresistibly winning personality and was irrepressibly 

optimistic. Though the establishment of both 

political parties often ridiculed his beliefs, the 

people somehow always seemed to have faith and 

confidence in him. In fact, they loved as perhaps 

they have loved no other President in modern 

history. 

Conventional intellects and comfortable pundits were aghast when President REAGAN spoke 

so freely of evil in the world. In a world where 

evil is neatly banished because it is too 

judgmental, the moral declarations of RONALD

REAGAN were inevitably revolutionary. The 

Great Communicator understood perfectly well 

that communication without a moral compass 

becomes all talk. And so we are the heirs of a 

more civilized and less menacing world because 

RONALD REAGAN had the courage to maintain 

firm beliefs and to stand up for those beliefs. 

As a Senator from Illinois, I am proud to remark briefly and comparatively about another 

great son of Illinois, the only President to be 

elected from Illinois, Kentucky-born but Illinoissettled Abraham Lincoln, whom our history honors as few others. Lincoln and REAGAN both 

grew up humbly and gained a natural comfort 

with people from all walks of life. They were 

both frequently underestimated by opponents 

who imagined themselves intellectually, culturally or socially superior. They both possessed 

an equanimity and fortitude that kept them serene while navigating treacherous waters. They 

both loved the United States of America. And 

they both cherished American freedom and 

staked their public lives on the resolute promotion of it—for Lincoln, against the forces of 

disunity and enslavement at home, and for 

REAGAN, against a godless imperial tyranny 

abroad. I am proud to hail from the State of Illinois. 

When we finally measure the worth of a 

statesman, the words of political or ideological 

adversaries can speak volumes. And here RONALD REAGAN—a statesman with many more converts than implacable enemies—is a shining beacon in his own shining city. When President 

Clinton announced in 1996 that ‘‘the era of big 

government is over,’’ it was homage to the durable influence—across the political landscape—of 

RONALD REAGAN’s faith in the American people. When Mikhail Gorbachev recently said of 

RONALD REAGAN, ‘‘he was sincere,’’ he captured 

with fitting simplicity the worldwide power of 

the American dream in the hands of America’s 

finest dreamer. 

RONALD REAGAN stayed the course, throughout and after his Presidency, until a progressive 

illness consumed him. Indeed, sliding 

irretrievably into forgetfulness a decade ago, 

RONALD REAGAN remembered to say goodbye to 

his beloved American people. 

When the Lord calls me home, whenever that may be, I 

will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and 

eternal optimism for its future. 

I now begin this journey that will lead me into the sunset 

of my life. I know that for America there will always be a 

bright dawn ahead. 

Thank you my friends. May God always bless you. 

May God rest his soul, and may God bless 

Nancy Reagan, who is also from Illinois, and all 

the Reagan children and their families. 

Hon. Richard J. Durbin 

OF ILLINOIS

Mr. President, I join my colleague from Illinois in paying tribute to the late President RONALD REAGAN. 

Today the Senate passed by an overwhelming 

vote a resolution commemorating RONALD

REAGAN for his service to America and recalling 

his legacy. 

There has been a lot said on the floor about 

President REAGAN. I come to this task with a 

little different perspective than some. Were it 

not for RONALD REAGAN, I wouldn’t be in the 

Senate today. I say that because I made three vain 

and futile attempts to be elected to public office. 

In 1982, I ran for the House of Representatives 

against an incumbent Republican Congressman. 

Were it not for the sorry state of the economy 

in Illinois after the first 2 years of President 
282 Ronald Reagan 

REAGAN’s Presidency, I would have lost. But because of the economy and the troubles faced at 

that moment in time, I was successful in my 

campaign against a long-time Republican incumbent Congressman. 

I will not mislead anyone before making these 

remarks. I will tell you that while a Member of 

the House of Representatives during the 6 remaining years of President REAGAN’s Presidency, 

there were very few things I agreed with in reference to him. In fact, over 90 percent of the 

time we didn’t see eye to eye. I had some very 

strong philosophical differences with President 

REAGAN on economic policy, foreign policy, and 

many other things. But I will tell you this: He 

was an extraordinary person, and I think even 

those of us who disagreed with him politically 

respected him very much. 

I recall when I was elected in one of the largest 

new classes of Congressmen since Watergate, in 

1982, that President REAGAN and Mrs. Reagan 

invited all of the new Members of the House of 

Representatives and their spouses to come for a 

dinner at the White House. It was an amazingly 

heady experience to walk in as Congressmen-elect 

with our wives and shake hands with the President and Mrs. Reagan, realizing full well that 

most of the people in the room were new Democratic Congressmen who had been running 

against President REAGAN and his policies. But 

he was gracious to a fault and could not have 

been more cordial to all of us who gathered that 

evening. One of my great memories of that period of time between the election and being 

sworn in was sitting there in the White House 

at this dinner hosted by President REAGAN and 

Mrs. Reagan. At the same table was my Senate 

colleague, then-Congressman Mike DeWine, and 

his wife Fran, who had made the trip from Ohio 

for that special dinner with the REAGANs and 

new Members of Congress days after she had 

given birth to a little baby girl, whom she 

brought to the same dinner in a basket which 

she had right next to the table. We have laughed 

about it all the time, because obviously after 23 

years that little girl has grown up to be a remarkable young woman. 

But those are some of the memories I have of 

President REAGAN opening the door and welcoming in some new Congressmen who had 

spent months running against him and his policies. 

The same thing held true when it came to his 

State of the Union Addresses. I can remember 

so many different times when I marched to the 

House of Representatives Chamber for the State 

of the Union Address by President REAGAN. 

After a while I came to understand what the 

rules were. The rules were these: You didn’t have 

a chance as a Democrat to say anything critical 

and be successful the night of President 

REAGAN’s speech. He had such a magical style 

and was so affable and friendly and approachable 

that after he concluded his State of the Union 

Address, the best for the loyal opposition was to 

wave and leave the stage because he was so good. 

He was one of the best. We did learn that after 

24 or 48 hours had passed, perhaps a closer look 

at what he said could lead to some constructive 

criticism. But we knew right off the bat when 

President REAGAN took to the floor of the House 

of Representatives for the State of the Union Address and walked up those stairs, the best thing 

the loyal opposition could do was to be quiet. 

There was another aspect of RONALD REAGAN

which I miss so much. It is part of the political 

life which unfortunately we don’t have enough 

of. He was President in an era of some great people—Tip O’Neill, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Bob Michel, Republican minority leader from Illinois. They brought to this 

business of politics a certain humanity and civility which we have lost almost completely. 

I can recall the bitter battles we had on the 

floor of the House of Representatives with President REAGAN over very contentious issues and 

the debates going on for days. Ultimately, someone would prevail, and many times it would be 

President REAGAN and his position. Without 

fail, when it came to those critical votes, Tip 

O’Neill, then-Speaker of the House, the leading 

Democrat, would pick up the phone, call the 

President and congratulate him. It was a gesture, 

but it was an important gesture to say that, 

frankly, we have both given it a good fight; the 

decision has been made; now let us move on to 

the people’s business. 

President RONALD REAGAN understood that, 

Tip O’Neill understood that, and Bob Michel 

understood that. I wish our generation of leaders 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 283 

could understand that more, that even though we 

disagree, and disagree with a great deal of conviction, we should try to look for that human 

side we can all share. I think time and again 

President REAGAN did that. I commend him for 

it. 

Even though you have disagreed with him 

during the course of the debate, when it was all 

over, you knew you would be treated with respect. 

Time and again, my wife Loretta and I would 

go down to the White House for the Christmas 

party, the barbeques and picnics. It was always 

a warm welcome and greeting, even though the 

President was of a different party where there 

were very serious differences. 

I would like to reflect, too, for a moment on 

the former First Lady, Nancy Reagan. She has 

been a pillar of strength since it was announced 

that the late President was suffering from Alzheimer’s; 10 years watching the man she loved 

the most of any in the world slip into darkness. 

She said in a few interviews since President 

REAGAN passed away, the worst part was the advancing years and not being able to share memories anymore because President REAGAN was inflicted with Alzheimer’s disease. That takes a 

toll. 

We have had friends who have gone through 

it. It takes a special commitment and sacrifice 

to make it through that terrible illness. My heart 

goes out to Nancy Reagan and her family, all 

of them, for what they have endured for 10 years, 

standing by the former President while he was 

afflicted with this disease. 

My colleague Senator Carper mentioned earlier 

that many people are now talking about tributes 

to President REAGAN, and he is deserving. Despite my differences with him politically, I voted 

for the renaming of the Washington National 

Airport in his memory. I thought that was appropriate for someone who had served our Nation 

as President of the United States. Now people 

are trying to think of other things they can do. 

They are kind of upping the ante: Well, you 

know, not the 50-cent piece, maybe the $10 bill; 

no, maybe Mount Rushmore. I would like to 

suggest to them the most enduring legacy for 

this President would be to help others in his 

name. I can’t think of anything more important 

to ask for when the time comes for those to consider what to do in his memory than the contribution suggested by our colleagues Senators 

Mikulski and Bond, one which I think is worthy 

of our immediate consideration. They called for 

the establishment of the RONALD REAGAN Alzheimer’s Breakthrough Act of 2004. They believe 

we are near a breakthrough in treating Alzheimer’s and they want us to put special attention and special resources and special efforts in 

that regard. That not only will serve the memory 

of President REAGAN and his courageous family 

who stood by him, but it will also serve to help 

4.5 million Americans inflicted with Alzheimer’s 

disease today, and their husbands, wives, children, and their loved ones who stand by helplessly at their side as they drift into the darkness 

of this dreaded disease. That would be such a 

great tribute to President REAGAN. I hope we 

can do it on a bipartisan basis with the civility 

and humanity which President REAGAN demonstrated during the course of his life. 

I might also add that the First Lady’s commitment to stem cell research is an exceptional statement on her part. She has broken with some 

members of the Republican Party on this issue. 

I know her position is controversial, even within 

this administration, but she understands, as 

many do, that unless we are committed to medical research, including stem cell research, the 

chances that we can successfully deal with Alzheimer’s, diabetes, spinal cord injuries, and other 

terrible afflictions will be diminished. I salute 

the First Lady and I hope we will, in recognition 

of her commitment and in memory of President 

REAGAN, also decide we will step forward in this 

critical area of medical research involving stem 

cells. 

I am honored that President REAGAN was a 

friend, at least in passing, on a political basis. 

I am happy he came from Illinois and happened 

to believe that perhaps his midwestern roots 

might have helped him in his various careers. It 

certainly helped him serving this country as 

President. 

He had an amazing record of victories. I know 

because I was on the losing end of a lot of those 

campaigns. I campaigned for his opponents with 

little or no success. He carried 44 States in the 

first election and 49 States in the second. Prob-
284 Ronald Reagan 

ably few Presidents in history have had a mandate that substantial when they were reelected. 

It is a tribute to the fact that America loved that 

President, America wanted RONALD REAGAN to 

serve, and he served our Nation so well. 

Hon. Susan M. Collins 

OF MAINE

Mr. President, over the past few days, more 

than 100,000 Americans have stood in line in 

California for 12 hours or even more to pay their 

respects to President RONALD REAGAN. This 

great show of respect and affection will be repeated during the coming days in Washington. 

This overwhelming outpouring cannot be explained by merely citing the traits for which he 

was so well-known—his likability, his wit and 

optimism, his courage when attacked by a 

would-be assassin’s bullet or, at the end of his 

life, by a devastating disease, or even his skills 

as the Great Communicator. Americans are 

standing in line because of President REAGAN’s 

ideas and the principles and convictions that gave 

those ideas their power: The God-given right to 

freedom, responsibility for one’s own actions, and 

charity toward others. The very ideas that are the 

foundation of this great Nation were the foundation of President REAGAN’s character. 

President REAGAN became President at a time 

when the world had begun to question the 

strength of that foundation. It was a time when 

freedom, balanced by personal responsibility and 

justified by charity, was in danger of becoming 

just one of the many ways in which human society could be organized. Rather than appease or 

accommodate communism, he confronted it and 

exposed its moral bankruptcy. 

President REAGAN emboldened freedom-loving people everywhere—those behind the Iron 

Curtain and those in danger of being enveloped 

by it—and gave them faith and strength. He believed, as he said in his first inaugural address, 

that no weapon in the arsenals of the world is 

so formidable as the will and moral courage of 

free men and women. He was right. 

President REAGAN became President at a time 

when America had begun to question its place 

in the world and the values upon which this 

great Nation was built. He opened the gate of 

the American spirit. He tore down the wall of 

doubt. 

RONALD REAGAN was a great communicator 

because he had something great to communicate. 

He was the right man for his time; and now he 

belongs to all time. 

He will be missed, but President REAGAN’s 

ideas will always be part of the American experience. 

Hon. Larry E. Craig 

OF IDAHO

Mr. President, I have, for the last day, listened 

to a good number of my colleagues reminisce 

about the late President RONALD REAGAN, many 

of them quoting from his speeches, many of 

them quoting from books written about him, 

about his phenomenal life, and his phenomenal 

presence in this city as one of our Presidents. So 

I would guess that by this moment nearly everything that can be said about RONALD REAGAN

has been said but, then again, not everyone has 

said it. 

I find myself in that situation in these moments just prior to the adjournment of the Senate 

and hours before a coffin bearing President RONALD REAGAN will arrive at the rotunda of our 

great Capitol. 

What I might do for just a moment is reminisce about a couple of personal experiences I had 

the privilege of having with the late President 

that, to me, speaks volumes about the gentleman’s personality, his style of Presidency, and 

what he meant to my State of Idaho. 

Idaho, by its conservative character and its 

independence, was always a strong REAGAN

State. It spoke out loudly for the President. It 

voted in large numbers for the President. There 

was never a question where Idahoans would be 

when it came to supporting RONALD REAGAN

for his Presidency. 

My relationship with him began at the very 

time he came to Washington. I was a freshman 

in the House of Representatives in the winter of 

1981. Both President REAGAN and I were elected 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 285 

at the same time. I was one of those of the large 

class of 54 Republican freshmen who entered the 

U.S. House, many of them because of the 

strength of RONALD REAGAN, and we all became 

known as Reagan babies. I suspect that is a title 

that at the age of 58 I still bear with some pride. 

Because we came at a time when we had a President who was speaking of change; and the American people were wanting it, demanding it, and 

his Presidency embodied it. 

The situation I want to relate for the Record 

this afternoon occurred during the first budget 

process of the Reagan administration. David 

Stockman, a Congressman, had just been appointed Director of OMB. Of course, the major 

tax cut that our President was so well known 

for—that began to stimulate the economy and 

turn the American people back into 

entrepreneurialism—was all at hand. But there 

were deficits. So David Stockman came up with 

the idea that we should sell off our strategic minerals stockpile. 

Well, that is something you do not hear 

talked about hardly at all today, but following 

World War II, Congress had passed legislation 

saying that we should stockpile silver and magnesium and titanium and zinc and a variety of 

other metals in case we got in another war, so 

we would have these supplies of metals available 

for industrial purposes. 

By 1981, it was largely determined on the part 

of the Reagan administration and David Stockman that they were just not necessary any longer. 

It was probably true that some Members of Congress believed the same thing. So when the announcement of the sale of these stockpiles became public—and the money then from their 

sale was to return to the Treasury, and that 

money would offset some of the deficits that 

might occur as a result of the tax cuts—the silver 

market plummeted. The price of silver on the 

world market dropped because the large supply 

of silver being held by our government was 

going to enter the market at some point. So the 

market out there was beginning to adjust and 

prices fell. 

Because Idaho at that time was a primary silver producer, not only did prices fall in Idaho, 

but when they fell, many of our mines closed. 

There were 400 or 500 miners—men and 

women—out of work in the Silver Valley of 

Idaho, known as the Coeur d’Alene mining district, that was in part a direct result of this announcement. 

That was my congressional district. I had people out of work. This was largely still an old line 

labor Democrat stronghold in north Idaho, and 

the hue and cry was very loud. These men and 

women were out of work because of President 

RONALD REAGAN. 

I had thought that if RONALD REAGAN really 

understood the impact of what he was doing, he 

might change his approach. But because it was 

a directive from OMB, because it was a part of 

the budgetary policy of this administration, my 

small voice simply was not getting heard. 

I appealed one evening in a conversation to the 

then-Secretary of the Interior, Jim Watt. I said: 

Secretary Watt, how do I get to the President? 

How do I tell my story, our story, Idaho’s story, 

about this particular problem? 

He said: Well, Larry, you have to get to the 

President directly. Obviously, David Stockman is 

not interested in hearing your story. The sale of 

the strategic metals, the sale of the stockpiles, 

is his idea. He’s not going to be your champion. 

So if you’re ever down at the White House, see 

if you can get the President’s ear. 

Well, freshmen Congressmen do not often go 

to the White House. But because of the key tax 

votes that were coming up, I got invited to the 

White House to visit with RONALD REAGAN. I 

had presented on one, small sheet of paper, on 

one side, a very brief, clear explanation of the 

impact of the sale of the silver stockpile out of 

the strategic metals stockpile on the people of 

Idaho. I put it in an envelope, and wrote across 

it ‘‘To President RONALD REAGAN,’’ and stuck 

it in my pocket. 

Now when I was down at the White House 

conversations went forward. At the end of the 

conversation, I said: Mr. President, here is a note 

I would like to have you read. It’s important to 

my people in Idaho. By your actions, you have 

put 500 Idahoans out of work. 

He said: Really? 

I said: Yes, selling off the strategic metals. 

He smiled and said: We are? 

Well, that did not surprise me. The longer I 

am here in Washington, I know not everybody 
286 Ronald Reagan 

knows every detail about everything. That is why 

you hire and have around you competent people, 

and Presidents are certainly no different than 

many of us. 

He kept the note. I saw it go into the breast 

pocket of his suit coat. A day and a half or two 

later, I got a call from the White House saying: 

Congressman Craig, can you come down and 

visit with the President about your problem in 

north Idaho and the sale of the silver stockpile? 

My, I was impressed. I went to the White 

House. There in the Oval Office was the President and David Stockman, the Director of OMB, 

the man who had established the policy of selling 

off the stockpiles to bring money to the Treasury. We discussed it at length. In fact, David 

Stockman and I had a small debate in front of 

the President about the pros and cons of doing 

so. 

What I said at that time was: Mr. President, 

I am not opposed to you selling off the stockpile 

of silver, but it’s how you are approaching it, and 

how you are approaching it has had a dramatic 

impact on the market. As a result of that, it has 

dropped the price of silver worldwide, and men 

and women in Idaho are now out of work. 

He said: Well—in his inevitable way—let me 

think about that. 

A week later, there was a very small but very 

important announcement that no longer would 

there be any more sale of the silver stockpile, 

and, of course, the prices came back and the men 

and women in north Idaho went to work. 

What is the message? The message is that 

when this President, RONALD REAGAN, understood the impact of an action—if it were hurting 

people or impacting them adversely, or if it were 

doing something that was against his market 

ideas and his philosophical belief in limited government and that government should not be the 

arbiter nor should government infringe upon the 

well-being of citizens—he would make changes. 

And he did. And of course, I have told that story 

many times in Idaho. It was very clear to Idahoans that the market changed because RONALD

REAGAN saw what he was doing or saw what his 

administration was doing and was willing to 

make a very important change to impact people’s 

lives. 

Last, I remember coming to the U.S. Senate 

in 1990, certainly after President REAGAN had 

left this city. The first office I took in the Hart 

Building had on a conference wall a very large 

map of the world. It filled the whole wall, and 

it still had the Socialist Republics of the Soviet 

Union written across that map. That will tell you 

how old it was in 1990. I remember at the time 

looking at that map and saying: Thank you, 

RONALD REAGAN. You have made that map of 

the world obsolete. You as the President—not 

singlehandedly but certainly by the force of your 

beliefs and by the force of your efforts—have 

made the Soviet Union obsolete in such a way 

that it simply withered and died, almost without 

a whimper. And that, of course, is one of the 

great legacies of our President, and many of our 

colleagues have spoken about that. 

We are not going to let revisionist historians 

suggest that the Soviet Union would have crumbled anyway. There was a reality they had to face. 

The reality was RONALD REAGAN and the national resolve of this country in the cold war, 

built on the strength and the beliefs of a great 

President by the name of RONALD REAGAN, that 

we not only could overcome communism but we 

would, in essence, arm ourselves and build a 

military ready and capable of defeating the Soviet 

Union. That combination of efforts, put together 

with his willingness to deal with Gorbachev and 

others, obviously changed the dynamics of world 

politics and the environment I grew up in as a 

child, known as the cold war. 

I will attend the ceremony in the Chamber tonight, and I will mourn the loss of RONALD

REAGAN. But more important, I will celebrate. 

I will celebrate a great President, a President 

who came to our country’s call at the right time 

in our history, to lead us with optimism and enthusiasm and vision in a way few Presidents 

have. So while I will certainly miss the presence 

of the man, I celebrate his record and the history 

that will be written about him. 

I send my prayers and the prayers of my wife 

Suzanne to Nancy Reagan and all of the Reagans. 

They stand with a great legacy they are obviously 

very proud of, as we all are as Americans. 

To RONALD REAGAN I say: Thank you, you 

built a place in history that is well deserving of 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 287 

the actions you took as President of the United 

States. 

Hon. Frank Lautenberg 

OF NEW JERSEY

Mr. President, I wanted to be sure to have an 

opportunity to make some comments about 

President REAGAN before we went out of session 

tonight. I will take the opportunity to do so 

right now. 

I join with my colleagues, so many of whom 

have already spoken, in tribute to our Nation’s 

40th President, RONALD REAGAN. My first term 

in the Senate coincided with the last 6 years of 

his Presidency. I had the opportunity to work 

with him on several occasions. As someone who 

came from modest beginnings and a workingclass family, I understood the fact that he rose 

from his humble beginnings to become one of 

the crucial world leaders. He was respected greatly. I had a chance to work with him on several 

occasions, not the least of which was something 

as simple as raising the drinking age to 21 across 

the country, thereby saving thousands of families 

a year from having to mourn the loss of a young 

person in their household. The bill was signed 

in the morning at the White House, and I was 

pleased I was able to return from a convention 

in San Francisco in time to be there and share 

those good moments with President REAGAN

and then-Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth 

Dole. 

We did a lot of good for families across America with that legislation, and also offered support 

to say to those who would pollute our environment, ‘‘If you pollute, you must pay to clean it 

up,’’ and that was Superfund. It had a very important beginning in those days. 

President REAGAN is appropriately being remembered for his overpowering sense of optimism and rock-solid faith in the fundamental 

goodness of America. Many of his actions stand 

as examples of ideas that we ought to consider 

as we carry out our responsibilities in government. There was no doubt that he was the Great 

Communicator, and his ideas and his words will 

long be remembered. 

I just returned yesterday from the D-day celebration and commemoration in Normandy. No 

one will ever forget President REAGAN’s speech 

20 years ago at Normandy commemorating the 

40th anniversary of the D-day invasion; it will 

be permanently etched in our memories. Or his 

poignant remarks when the space shuttle Challenger exploded, and how he helped America recover from that terrible national tragedy. Or who 

can forget his insistence that helped break the 

iron grip of the Soviet Union on millions of people around the globe? 

President REAGAN was known for his ideological zeal. But the interesting thing about him at 

the same time was that he ultimately was a pragmatist. Perhaps the clearest example of his pragmatic side is what happened after he pushed 

through a massive tax cut in Congress in 1981. 

One thing that President REAGAN disliked enormously was Federal budget deficits. He thought 

the idea of borrowing from future generations 

was truly repugnant. 

On the campaign trail in 1980, he promised 

he would work to balance the budget. When he 

took office, he argued that a tax cut was necessary to stimulate the economy. He believed the 

Federal Government would end up with more, 

not fewer, revenues. But when the revenues 

didn’t materialize as predicted, and the Federal 

Government began running huge annual budget 

deficits, his pragmatism took over and he followed his 1981 tax cuts with tax increases that 

were necessary in 1982 and 1984, determined to 

reduce the burgeoning budget deficits. His tax 

increases were a tacit admission that the plan 

wasn’t working as expected. He was pragmatic 

enough to change the course. 

His personality was so unique for someone in 

that high office. As Mikhail Gorbachev wrote in 

a New York Times op-ed page, President REAGAN

was ultimately someone with whom you could 

negotiate. His suggestion was that he was human 

enough, he was collegial, funny, and gracious, 

and you could discuss serious issues with him 

and accomplish goals. 

One of President REAGAN’s last great acts of 

public service was to acknowledge 10 years ago 

to the American people and to the people of the 

world that he was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. 
288 Ronald Reagan 

He handled his affliction with his customary 

grace, saying that he was sharing the news with 

the public in the hope that it might ‘‘promote 

greater awareness of this condition.’’ That was a 

courageous thing to do. He went on further to 

say that he hoped it might encourage a clearer 

understanding of the individuals and families 

who are affected by it. He really brought a focus 

on the disease that ultimately consumed his remaining years. 

One truly meaningful way that we can honor 

President REAGAN is to pursue the kind of research that might produce a treatment, or even 

a cure, for Alzheimer’s disease and a host of other 

illnesses, something his beloved wife Nancy has 

called for. Since we witnessed the pain of the deterioration of this great individual, we have to 

be mindful of that for the future. 

His life yielded so many more things, besides 

those obvious ones, during his service as President of the United States. 

Hon. Lincoln D. Chafee 

OF RHODE ISLAND

Mr. President, I pay tribute to President RONALD REAGAN, a man for whom I had the utmost 

respect. 

A strong, principled leader, President REAGAN

used his optimism and humor to help the Nation 

feel better in a post-Vietnam, post-Watergate 

country coping with an energy crisis and high 

inflation. 

He brought strong leadership and could relate 

to people from all walks of life very, very easily. 

Democrats controlled the House during both of 

his terms, and the Senate during his last 2 years 

in office. In order to advance his priorities, he 

had to bridge the partisan divide and work with 

members of the other party. He was also very 

proud of his good personal relations with Tip 

O’Neill and other Democratic leaders. The proof 

of his appeal was his ability to carry a Democrat 

stronghold like my State of Rhode Island in the 

1984 election. He was the last Republican Presidential candidate to do so. 

With tremendous vision and dignity, President REAGAN will ultimately be remembered for 

ending the cold war and promoting freedom and 

democracy throughout the world in a peaceful 

way. 

In closing, I recall a large color photograph 

on my father’s office wall. It is a picture of merriment, Senator Robert Dole having just cracked 

a joke, with President REAGAN, Alan Simpson 

and John Chafee standing by, smiling from ear 

to ear. 

Later, my father obtained a copy of the photo 

and at a later meeting with the President, slid 

it down the table toward him and asked if he 

would sign it. Without hesitation, REAGAN

penned a line and slid it back. 

It read simply, ‘‘John—some times it is fun, 

isn’t it?’’ 

RONALD REAGAN, with unfailing good humor 

and optimism, made Americans feel good about 

their country again. I believe that is his lasting 

legacy. 

The Chafee family offers our sincere condolences to Nancy, and the Reagan family. 

Hon. Christopher J. Dodd 

OF CONNECTICUT

Mr. President, I rise today to offer words in 

memory of America’s 40th President, RONALD

WILSON REAGAN. 

RONALD REAGAN was elected President on 

the same day that I was first elected to the U.S. 

Senate. I was somewhat of an anomaly that year, 

being one of only two freshman Democrats elected to the Senate, compared with 16 Republicans. 

Over the years, there is no question that when 

it came to matters of policy, RONALD REAGAN

and I disagreed, in a very fundamental way, on 

a great many occasions. 

But in today’s very partisan atmosphere, it is 

easy to forget that personality can be much more 

important than agreements and disagreements. 

Many of the qualities that distinguished RONALD

REAGAN—as a President, as a leader, as an individual—went beyond policies and politics. 

RONALD REAGAN was one of our Nation’s 

most personable Presidents. His congeniality, wit 

and trademark sense of humor could bring a 

smile to the face of even the most ardent political 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 289 

opponent. And he had the uncanny ability to 

communicate his thoughts to the American people. 

As a member of the opposite side of the political aisle, I had a particular appreciation for 

RONALD REAGAN’s openness. As we all know, 

President REAGAN was a man of great conviction. It wasn’t easy to change his mind. But he 

was willing to sit down and talk. He was open 

to listening to views that were different from his 

own, even if he ultimately chose to disagree with 

them. RONALD REAGAN was able, as the saying 

goes, to disagree without being disagreeable. 

Though we had our differences on many 

issues, I would never doubt for a minute RONALD REAGAN’s commitment to this Nation, just 

as I don’t believe he doubted the patriotism of 

his political adversaries. RONALD REAGAN believed deeply in our country and in its values, 

and in its place in the history of humankind. He 

correctly saw the former Soviet Union, with its 

regime of repression, imprisonment, and stifling 

of the individual spirit, as antithetical to everything in which we believe. He presided over a 

historic time period during which we witnessed 

the beginnings of a dramatic, global political sea 

change. 

RONALD REAGAN was a leader who reflected 

the optimism and spirit of this great Nation. At 

the time he was elected President, our country 

was experiencing a crisis of confidence. Many 

wondered if America’s best days were behind it. 

RONALD REAGAN had an unflagging belief in 

America, and he helped restore a sense of possibility in our land. 

As a society, we often elevate our public figures to practically mythological proportions, and 

our Presidents are no exception. Toward the end 

of RONALD REAGAN’s life, though, we were reminded of his humanity. All of us, particularly 

those of us who have watched a loved one struggle late in life, were inspired by the dignity, 

grace, and courage with which he and his family 

battled a terrible and devastating disease—a disease that ultimately took RONALD REAGAN, in 

the words of his wife Nancy, to a place where 

she could no longer reach him. 

Many tributes have been and will be paid to 

President REAGAN’s memory. But I can’t think 

of a greater tribute than to commit our Nation 

to fully researching the causes of, and cures for, 

diseases like Alzheimer’s that cause such great 

suffering for such great numbers of people. 

At this difficult time, my heart goes out to 

Nancy and the entire Reagan family. America 

celebrated with you on so many happy occasions. 

This week, we all join you in your sorrow. 

Hon. James M. Jeffords 

OF VERMONT

Mr. President, I join my colleagues in remembering our Nation’s 40th President, RONALD

REAGAN, who passed away last weekend at his 

home in Bel-Air, CA. 

Of course, much has already been said, both 

in this Chamber and in the media, about the legend of his large life. His career in movies, his 

entry into politics and, of course, his two terms 

as President during a most tumultuous time have 

been well documented in the past several days. 

By all of these accounts, RONALD REAGAN

was a most admired politician, and while he and 

I had our policy differences, I have always shared 

in that admiration. 

RONALD REAGAN held true to a strong conservative philosophy, which often made it hard 

for the two of us to find common ground. I was 

a Member of the House of Representatives during his 8 years as President, and you might say 

I was often a thorn in his side. We were on opposing sides when it came to many issues, most 

notably tax cuts and funding for the arts. 

But through all of our sometimes heated discussions and debates, it was so evident to me that 

President REAGAN held a deep and abiding passion for his country, and an equally deep conviction for what he believed was right. 

As Americans take time this week to honor 

the life of President REAGAN, it is that passion 

and conviction that they will remember and reflect upon. I believe, that those memories of our 

Nation’s 40th President will inspire our future 

leaders. 

I extend my condolences to his wife Nancy, 

and to the entire Reagan family on the passing 

of President RONALD REAGAN. May the memories of his life’s accomplishments sustain them in 
290 Ronald Reagan 

their time of grief, and may the Nation’s prayers 

bring them comfort. 

Hon. Blanche L. Lincoln 

OF ARKANSAS

Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to 

former President RONALD WILSON REAGAN, our 

Nation’s 40th President. 

Like many Americans, I admired President 

REAGAN’s eternal optimism and his belief in 

America and her people. 

I am struck by the numbers of mourners who 

have paid their respects to our former President. 

The outpouring of respect and grief is a testament to the great impact that he had on so many 

Americans. I am sure that one of the reasons so 

many have taken time to honor President 

REAGAN is because of the great optimism and 

purpose that he showed. His trust in the fundamental decency and goodness of the American 

people is a guide and inspiration to us all. 

I admired his sense of civility and his ability 

to disagree with his opponents without being 

disagreeable. He fought hard for the policies in 

which he believed, but after the fight, he shook 

hands and moved on. We need more of that kind 

of statesmanship in Washington today. And I 

hope my colleagues will join me in trying to follow his example. 

During one of our Nation’s greatest challenges—the cold war—President REAGAN was a 

strong voice against the enemies of freedom. His 

leadership and vision helped us to overcome our 

enemies. 

In the final years of his life, he and Mrs. 

Reagan were an example of the kind of sacrifice 

and love that we should all seek to emulate. Mrs. 

Reagan’s quiet dignity and support for her husband during the most difficult of times should 

be an inspiration to us all. 

My thoughts and prayers go out to his wife, 

Nancy, his sons, Michael and Ronald, Jr., and 

his daughter, Patti. 

RONALD REAGAN lived a full life and was a 

great American. His contributions to the American political system and to our way of life will 

not soon be forgotten. 

Hon. Debbie Stabenow 

OF MICHIGAN

Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to 

RONALD REAGAN, our Nation’s 40th President. 

First, my condolences and prayers go out to 

Nancy Reagan, the Reagan family, and all of 

those who are mourning his passing. 

RONALD REAGAN was an optimist. He was 

the best kind of optimist—a living example of 

the fulfillment of the American dream. From a 

small midwestern town, he rose to become leader 

of the free world and was respected around the 

world by both our allies and our Soviet bloc opponents alike. 

President REAGAN was called the Great Communicator for a reason. Many of his speeches 

touched the heartstrings of all Americans. 

Whether it was his speech at the Berlin Wall 

or his 1984 tribute to those who died on D-day, 

President REAGAN always conveyed a positive, 

optimistic sense of our shared destiny. His words 

will long be remembered. 

President REAGAN loved America, and this 

love for our country shaded every word he spoke 

to the Nation as President. He always wanted 

our country to be the ‘‘shining city on a hill.’’ 

I also pay tribute and convey my genuine respect to our former First Lady Nancy Reagan, 

a woman whose unwavering commitment to her 

husband not only provided a testament to their 

love but also extended hope and empathy to 

countless Americans who share in the role of 

caregiver. 

As we begin now to consider ways to pay 

proper tribute to our admired former President, 

let us go beyond the erecting of a monument or 

the etching of a portrait. Instead let us act to 

help the many Americans who needlessly suffer 

from the debilitating effects of Alzheimer’s disease. 

We should increase research funding for Alzheimer’s and expand stem cell research, which 

Nancy Reagan supports. 

I am pleased to be a co-sponsor of a MikulskiBond bill that will double our investment in 

Alzheimer’s research and refocus our efforts to 

find a cure. This bipartisan measure, if passed, 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 291 

would leave a lasting legacy to President 

REAGAN. 

Earlier this month, I joined with 57 other 

Members of this body, both Republican and 

Democrat alike, to urge President Bush to broaden the current Federal policy regarding stem cell 

research. By expanding stem cell research beyond 

those stem cells derived by August 9, 2001, we 

will take the necessary first step of helping millions of Americans who are plagued by Alzheimer’s—Americans, who like President 

REAGAN, live out their daily lives traveling an 

unknowable journey of solitude. 

If we allow the medical experts to do stem cell 

research, we can begin the work Mrs. Reagan so 

steadfastly promotes: finding a cure to this devastating disease. 

To find a cure of Alzheimer’s would indeed 

be the greatest tribute we could ever give to 

President REAGAN. 

In this time of grief, let us evoke President 

REAGAN’s gentlemanly service, swift wit, jovial 

candor, and unconditional patriotism. With differences in philosophy and politics aside, let’s all 

praise a man whose decorum and distinguished 

character exemplified the office for which he 

held. 

Hon. Kent Conrad 

OF NORTH DAKOTA

Mr. President, I want to take a few moments 

today to join my colleagues in celebrating the 

life of our 40th President, RONALD WILSON

REAGAN. 

In many ways, RONALD REAGAN embodied 

the American dream. He was born in the small 

town of Tampico, IL, and grew up 30 miles down 

the road in Dixon, another small town. His was 

a normal, middle class American family, and he 

was the all-American boy-next-door: Good looking, popular, an actor, and an athlete. And from 

that modest background he fulfilled the American democratic ideal that anybody can grow up 

to become President of the United States. 

That ideal—that anyone can grow up to become President—captures America’s optimism, 

so it is fitting that the word that comes most 

to mind when remembering President REAGAN

is exactly that: optimism. President REAGAN was 

an incurable and infectious optimist when it 

came to America. By insisting that, as he said, 

it was morning again in America, he connected 

with Americans, lifted their spirits, and restored 

their confidence in our future. 

This power to communicate and connect with 

Americans from all walks of life was central to 

his success as President. He could sway skeptics 

and charm supporters with his simple eloquence 

and self-deprecating wit. People came to know 

him and feel comfortable with him; and they 

were moved by his simple, clear messages. President REAGAN perfected the art of selling his 

policies to the American people and using that 

ability to pressure Congress to work his will. Not 

surprisingly, the Great Communicator, as he 

came to be known, left office with the highest 

approval rating of any recent President. 

President REAGAN was one of the truly larger 

than life figures of the post-World War II era. 

He brought a new conservative philosophy to the 

White House, and he championed freedom at 

home and abroad. One of the reasons for his success, I believe, was his willingness to compromise, to put aside partisan politics and ideological purity to do what was right for the country. When his 1981 tax cuts caused deficits to 

skyrocket, President REAGAN supported tax increases in 1982 and 1983 to contain the damage. 

After tagging the Soviet Union as the evil empire, he negotiated historic arms control treaties 

with the Soviets, coining the famous phrase 

‘‘trust but verify’’ in the process. He had, as his 

chief of staff Howard Baker once put it, ‘‘a capacity to surprise.’’ 

And throughout it all, he was a wonderful 

man, someone who you couldn’t help but enjoy 

being with. I met with President REAGAN several times during the last years of his Presidency. 

The last time I was with him, President REAGAN

was telling two or three of us in the White 

House an Irish story full of warmth and wit. I 

believe that best describes President REAGAN

himself—a man of endearing wit and great personal warmth. 

As America mourns his passing, my thoughts 

and prayers are with Nancy and the rest of President REAGAN’s family and many, many friends. 
292 Ronald Reagan 

It is my hope that their memories of his life, 

laughter, and legacy will be of some small comfort in these days and weeks ahead. 

Hon. Jon S. Corzine 

OF NEW JERSEY

Mr. President, on Saturday, June 5, 2004, 

President RONALD WILSON REAGAN, the 40th 

President of the United States, passed away after 

a decade-long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. I 

extend my deepest sympathies to the members 

of his family, who have suffered a terrible loss, 

and I want them to know that Americans 

throughout our Nation, regardless of their political party or ideology, share in their loss and 

mourn with them. 

RONALD REAGAN was an exceptional national 

leader who loved this country and its people. He 

will long be remembered for his infectious optimism and his faith in America’s future. To President REAGAN, America was always a ‘‘shining 

city on a hill’’—a beacon of hope for all mankind. He understood just what a great country 

America is, and always remained a committed 

advocate for the ideal of freedom that helps define us as Americans. 

President REAGAN was known as the Great 

Communicator, and he richly deserved the accolade. Few politicians, if any, have had his ability 

not just to connect with the American people but 

to inspire them. His speeches didn’t just make 

a point, they touched a chord. He talked to 

Americans in a powerful and personal way. 

As is widely understood, RONALD REAGAN

had strongly held views about public policy, 

from his support for lower taxes to his strong 

anticommunism. But as is less widely appreciated, President REAGAN was not inflexible or 

dogmatic. He actually was a practical and pragmatic leader who was willing to adjust his approach, sometimes dramatically, when circumstances called for change. 

For example, after pushing through a large tax 

cut at the start of his Presidency, he reversed 

course and increased taxes when the deficit started to explode. Perhaps most important, after denouncing the Soviets as an evil empire, he was 

willing to work closely and cooperatively with 

Mikhail Gorbachev, helping not only to end the 

cold war but to liberate millions of people and 

change the course of world history. In doing so, 

he was not following his party. He was not following the polls. He was following his conscience. And the entire world community owes 

him a deep debt of gratitude for his vision and 

his leadership. 

There were many issues about which I strongly 

disagreed with President REAGAN. But I always 

had great respect for him personally and for the 

way he conducted himself while in office. President REAGAN knew how to disagree without 

being disagreeable. He knew that those in the 

other party were not enemies. He knew that, at 

the end of the day, we are all Americans and, 

though we may disagree about particular policies, we all share a love of our country and a commitment to its future. 

President REAGAN’s life was marked by his 

fundamental personal decency and his sense of 

dignity. That was never more evident than when 

he announced to the world his struggle with Alzheimer’s disease in 1994. His and Nancy Reagan’s 

courageous fight against this debilitating disease 

brought a new awareness to the devastation that 

accompanies this illness. I hope it also will bring 

a new commitment to do what it takes to find 

a cure for this horrible affliction. 

In conclusion, Americans throughout our Nation are saddened at the passing of President 

REAGAN, and our hearts go out to his family. 

RONALD REAGAN was an extraordinary man 

whose impact on our Nation, and our world, will 

be felt for generations to come. Today, we join 

together to honor his memory and to give thanks 

for his historic service on behalf of the country 

he loved so deeply. 

Hon. Jon Kyl 

OF ARIZONA

Mr. President, Robert Robb is one of the great 

columnists in American journalism today, and 

his tribute to RONALD REAGAN is among his 

best work. I ask unanimous consent to have the 

following article printed in the Record. 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 293 

There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: 

jFrom the Arizona Republic, June 9, 2004k 

MY FIRST FAN LETTER WAS SIGNED ‘‘REAGAN’’ 

(By Robert Robb) 

RONALD REAGAN wrote my first fan letter. 

When he announced for president in 1976, I was editor 

of the student newspaper at Occidental College in Los Angeles. 

The Los Angeles Times had developed an obsessive dislike 

for REAGAN. And it pounded on his announcement speech, 

denouncing it and him for superficiality and a lack of specifics. 

Of course, it’s standard fare for announcement speeches to 

enunciate broad themes. And the only thing that would have 

unhinged the Times more than a lack of specifics from 

REAGAN would have been if he had been specific. 

And so I wrote a column for the student newspaper having 

a bit of sport with the Times’ hypocrisy and disequilibrium. 

Not much later, I was astonished to receive a letter from 

REAGAN. Apparently being defended in a student newspaper 

was an unusual enough event to catch the attention of his 

campaign. 

REAGAN thanked me for my ‘‘generous words,’’ and allowed that ‘‘a great part of my pleasure was your masterful 

handling of the Times.’’ 

That purposeful understatement was characteristic of 

REAGAN in political combat. He was far more inclined to 

give his opponents a gentle and humorous poke in the ribs, 

rather than a rhetorical knife in the stomach—a restraint he 

maintained even as the invective and bile against him mounted. 

Bill Buckley invented modern American conservatism—a 

sometimes uneasy blend of anti-communism, free-market economics and traditional cultural values inspired and informed 

by religious faith. Barry Goldwater launched it as a political 

movement. 

But RONALD REAGAN embodied the conservative movement. He was the glue that held its factions and strands together long enough, for a time, to be politically triumphant. 

This was no small feat. American conservatism is more naturally a dissenting movement than a governing one. 

Yet REAGAN not only governed, he transformed the country, indeed the world. 

What began as REAGAN Democrats are now simply Republicans, and the Republican Party now competes with the 

Democratic Party for majority status, rather than the semipermanent minority role the party seemed consigned to before REAGAN. 

To compete with Reaganism, Democrats had to overcome 

their legacy from the 1960s and 1970s, a belief that there 

was as much wrong as right about America. Democrats reconciled themselves to America’s essential goodness, as well 

as its defining institutions and values: free markets, enterprise, faith and family. 

Bill Clinton was a reaction to Reaganism, and today’s Republican Party, unfortunately, is as much a reaction to 

Clintonism as it is a legitimate heir to Reaganism. 

Winston Churchill believed that history was the story of 

great men altering its course. In his History of the English 

Speaking Peoples, writing about Alfred the Great, who 

united much of modern-day England in the ninth century, 

Churchill described his ‘‘sublime power to rise above the 

whole force of circumstances.’’ 

As much as REAGAN dominated and transformed the domestic political landscape, his greatness—his sublime power 

to rise above the whole force of circumstances—was in the 

way he managed the Soviet Union and communism. 

Early in his presidency, REAGAN described the Soviet 

Union as an evil empire and said it and Marxism-Leninism 

would be deposited on the ‘‘ash heap of history.’’ 

This was denounced by foreign policy sophisticates at the 

time as naive and dangerously provocative. 

Yet he quickly embraced Mikhail Gorbachev, who gained 

power in 1985, and his perestroika reforms. This made conservatives highly nervous, and they openly wondered whether 

REAGAN was being had. 

But REAGAN, having lived through the Hungarian and 

Polish rebellions, intuited that the Soviet Union could not 

both liberalize and remain intact. 

REAGAN also knew the moment to apply pressure, as in 

1987, when he stood before the Berlin Wall and, against the 

advice of his entire foreign policy team, famously called upon 

Gorbachev to tear it down. 

A few years later, I was in Berlin, after the wall had been 

torn down figuratively, but not yet physically. You could 

travel freely in eastern Berlin, but it was like Dorothy stepping from black-and-white into the colorful land of Oz, only 

in reverse—from the vibrant feel of a free people into the 

still-stale desolation of the repression of the human soul. 

You could visit the wall and even take a blow against it 

yourself. So, I clawed loose a few chunks and brought them 

home. 

They’re mounted now, pieces of history’s sadness and joy. 

I can never look at those chunks of concrete without thinking 

about RONALD REAGAN, a champion of freedom for our time. 

Hon. John Edwards 

OF NORTH CAROLINA

Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to 

the late President RONALD REAGAN. 

We were of different parties and very different 

political philosophies but I respected him as a 

strong leader—a man of principle and dignity. 

He was also good-natured and affable, never letting political differences drag him down into bitter partisanship. 

I was always impressed with President 

REAGAN’s ability to communicate and persuade 

and his talent for soothing our Nation in difficult 

times. In good times and bad, he sought to appeal to the best in all of us, to our hopes and 
294 Ronald Reagan 

better instincts, not our doubts and fears. And 

while he enjoyed a good political fight, he never 

demonized his opponents or accused those who 

differed with him of being unpatriotic. RONALD

REAGAN seemed to understand that we could 

disagree without being disagreeable and that we 

all love our country, even as we debate the best 

way to move toward a more perfect union. All 

of us can learn from his example. 

As we pay tribute to our 40th President, this 

man who rose from humble beginnings to the 

greatest heights, I offer my condolences to Nancy 

Reagan and the Reagan family. I join my colleagues in saying farewell to RONALD REAGAN, 

a modest man who was larger than life. 

Thank you, President REAGAN, for your service to our Nation and for the important example 

you set for us all. 

Hon. Robert C. Byrd 

OF WEST VIRGINIA

Mr. President, on Saturday, our Nation lost a 

good man and a great American, the 40th President of the United States, RONALD WILSON

REAGAN. 

A former sports announcer, actor, television 

performer, and Governor, this man from a small 

midwestern town was eventually elected to our 

Nation’s highest office, not once, but twice, in 

landslide victories. His was a success story, an 

American success story. He demonstrated that 

the key to the American dream is still determination, hard work, and perseverance. He did it by 

appealing to our ‘‘best hopes,’’ not our ‘‘worst 

fears.’’ 

Historians will study and evaluate the impact 

of the Reagan administration—his role in ending 

the cold war and the results of his domestic policies. 

What is beyond debate was his uncanny ability to connect with the American people. He 

knew where he wanted to take the country and 

attempted to do it with remarkable determination and charm. He restored a much needed sense 

of optimism in America, and he did it with a 

cheerfulness that was absolutely contagious. 

His optimism was prevalent and penetrating 

and inspiring even during the darkest moments 

of his administration. With the Challenger explosion, we grieved and despaired, but when President REAGAN spoke of how those courageous astronauts reached out and ‘‘touchjedk the face of 

God,’’ suddenly all of us realized that we, as a 

country, would make it through this grievous 

hour, and the American adventure into space 

would go on. He was truly the Great Communicator. 

I came to know and work with Mr. REAGAN

from a unique and important perspective. I was 

the leader of the opposition party in the U.S. 

Senate during both of President REAGAN’s terms. 

From this position, I came to understand and 

appreciate, probably even more than his strongest 

supporters, his hold on the American people, and 

the importance of the leadership that he provided. 

In fact, I found him to be as charming in person as he was when speaking to an audience or 

appearing on television. 

Never once did I hear him engage in personal 

attacks on his challengers. 

When we disagreed, which was more often 

than not, it was always in civil tones. He was 

always smiling, patting you on the back, asking 

you about your family, and wishing you the best. 

You simply could not help but like him. He 

seemed not to confuse differences of opinion with 

differences of ideals or values. After all, he liked 

to point out, ‘‘we are all Americans.’’ 

That is the way American politics is supposed 

to be. That was the decency of RONALD WILSON

REAGAN. He might consider me a political opponent, but never a personal enemy. Just as I understood his difficulties as the leader of the free 

world during 8 years of trial and turmoil, he understood my role as the loyal opposition. 

As much as I admired and respected him when 

he was President, never was my appreciation for 

him and his wife Nancy stronger than in their 

dealing with his last and greatest struggle—the 

struggle he eloquently and heartbreakingly called 

the ‘‘journey that jwouldk lead jhimk into the 

sunset of jhisk life’’—his battle with Alzheimer’s 

disease. He and Nancy confronted this cruel, 

crippling disease with an openness and dignity 

that inspired a Nation. 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 295 

Mr. President, my wife Erma and I extend our 

most heartfelt condolences to Mrs. Reagan. She 

has been an inspiration to America, gracefully 

fulfilling the role of loyal, loving spouse even as 

she has watched her greatest love drift away into 

the fog of Alzheimer’s. In the years when they 

should have been able to enjoy the warm memories of their storybook life together, she endured 

personal emotional tortures that are difficult to 

imagine. In these last years, the vigilance and 

caring she displayed throughout their marriage 

led her to become an outspoken advocate for 

medical research, a role for which she has earned 

the immense respect and gratitude of the Nation. 

A SUNSET FANCY

(A poem by an unknown author) 

I saw the sun sink in the golden west 

No angry cloud obscured its latest ray; 

Around the couch on which it sank to rest 

Shone all the splendors of a summer day, 

And long—though lost of view—its radiant light 

Reflected from the skies, delayed the night. 

Thus when a good man’s life comes to a close, 

No doubts arise to cloud his soul with gloom; 

But faith triumphant on each feature glows 

And benedictions fill the sacred room; 

And long do men his virtues wide proclaim, 

And generations rise to bless his name. 

MESSAGE FROM THE HOUSE DURING 

ADJOURNMENT 

At 3:26 p.m., a message from the House of 

Representatives, delivered by Ms. Niland, one of 

its reading clerks, announced that the House has 

agreed to the following concurrent resolution: 

S. Con. Res. 115. Concurrent resolution authorizing the use of the rotunda of the Capitol for 

the lying in state of the remains of the late RONALD WILSON REAGAN, 40th President of the 

United States. 

SUBMISSION OF CONCURRENT AND SENATE 

RESOLUTIONS 

The following concurrent resolutions and Senate resolutions were read, and referred (or acted 

upon), as indicated: 

By Mr. FRIST (for himself and Mr. Daschle): 

S. Res. 373. A resolution relative to the death of RONALD

WILSON REAGAN, a former President of the United States; 

considered and agreed to. 

By Mr. FRIST: 

S. Res. 374. A resolution honoring President RONALD

WILSON REAGAN; considered and agreed to. 

By Mr. ALLARD: 

S. Con. Res. 118. A concurrent resolution expressing the 

sense of Congress that an artistic tribute to commemorate 

the speech given by President RONALD REAGAN at the Brandenburg Gate on June 12, 1987, should be placed within the 

United States Capitol; to the Committee on Rules and Administration. 

SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS 

SENATE RESOLUTION 373—RELATIVE TO THE 

DEATH OF RONALD WILSON REAGAN A FORMER 

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 

Mr. FRIST (for himself and Mr. Daschle) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to: 

S. RES. 373 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with profound sorrow 

and deep regret the announcement of the death of the Honorable RONALD WILSON REAGAN, a former President of the 

United States, and a former Governor of the State of California. 

Resolved, That in recognition of his illustrious statesmanship, his leadership in national and world affairs, his distinguished public service to his State and his Nation, and as 

a mark of respect to one who has held such eminent public 

station in life, the Presiding Officer of the Senate appoint 

a committee to consist of all the Members of the Senate to 

attend the funeral of the former President. 

Resolved, That the Senate hereby tender its deep sympathy 

to the members of the family of the former President in their 

sad bereavement. 

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate these resolutions 

to the House of Representatives and transmit a copy thereof 

to the family of the former President. 

SENATE RESOLUTION 374—HONORING PRESIDENT 

RONALD WILSON REAGAN 

Mr. FRIST submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to: 

Whereas RONALD WILSON REAGAN, the 40th President 

of the United States, was born on February 6, 1911, in Tampico, Illinois, to Nelle and John Reagan and raised in Dixon, 

Illinois; 

Whereas as a lifeguard at Rock River in Lowell, Illinois, 

a young RONALD REAGAN saved the lives of 77 swimmers; 

Whereas RONALD REAGAN enrolled in Eureka College 

where he played football, acted in amateur theater, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics and sociology; 

Whereas RONALD REAGAN landed his first job as a radio 

announcer for WOC in Davenport, Iowa, and went on to become a popular sports announcer; 

Whereas RONALD REAGAN launched a movie career that 

spanned 50 movies, including his most famous role as the 

football legend, ‘‘The GIPPER’’; 
296 Ronald Reagan 

Whereas RONALD REAGAN, who received more fan mail 

than any other actor at Warner Brothers Studios except Errol 

Flynn, served as president of the Screen Actors Guild from 

1947 to 1960; 

Whereas on March 4, 1952, RONALD REAGAN married his 

great love, Nancy Davis, who was to become his lifelong confidante and companion; 

Whereas RONALD REAGAN was the father of 4 children: 

Maureen, Michael, Patti, and Ronald Prescott; 

Whereas RONALD REAGAN hosted the popular television 

series ‘‘GE Theater’’ from 1954 to 1962; 

Whereas in 1962, RONALD REAGAN switched his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican and 2 years later delivered a major televised speech in support of Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater; 

Whereas in 1966, RONALD REAGAN won the governorship 

of California and in 1970 was reelected to a second term; 

Whereas Governor REAGAN campaigned for the Republican nomination in 1968, and again in 1976; 

Whereas on July 16, 1980, the former Governor won the 

Republican nomination and on November 4, 1980, won the 

United States Presidency in a landslide vote; 

Whereas President REAGAN appointed the first woman to 

the United States Supreme Court, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor; 

Whereas on March 30, 1981, only 2 months into his Presidency, RONALD REAGAN survived an assassination attempt 

and upon meeting Nancy in the hospital, quipped with characteristic good humor, ‘‘Honey, I forgot to duck’’; 

Whereas President REAGAN delivered on his promise to 

cut taxes for American workers in 1981, and achieved the historic tax cuts of 1986 which overhauled the Federal tax code 

and reduced tax rates for almost all taxpayers, including removing 6,000,000 Americans from the tax rolls; 

Whereas under President REAGAN’s leadership, inflation 

fell, interest rates declined, and by the seventh year of his 

Presidency, the stock market hit an all-time high; 

Whereas President REAGAN presided over the longest economic expansion in the history of the United States until 

that time and rebuilt the national defenses of the United 

States; 

Whereas President REAGAN won reelection in 1984 carrying 49 out of 50 States—one of the biggest electoral victories in the political history of the United States; 

Whereas during summit meetings with Soviet Union 

President Mikhail Gorbachev in December 1987, President 

REAGAN signed a treaty to eliminate intermediate-range nuclear forces; 

Whereas President REAGAN’s steadfast opposition to communism, his unshakeable resolve to defeat the ‘‘Evil Empire’’, 

and his secure belief in government for and by the people, 

led to the collapse of the Berlin Wall and victory in the Cold 

War; 

Whereas President REAGAN’s belief in freedom as a Godgiven right of all peoples led to a democratic revolution 

across Central America; and 

Whereas RONALD WILSON REAGAN, father, husband, 

actor, and dedicated public servant, restored the pride, optimism and strength of the United States and earned the deep 

respect and affection of his fellow citizens: Now, therefore, 

be it: 

Resolved, That the Senate notes with deep sorrow and solemn mourning the death of RONALD WILSON REAGAN. 

Resolved, That the Senate extends its heartfelt sympathy to 

the wife and family of President REAGAN. 

Resolved, That the Senate commends the former President 

for his Presidency and its many accomplishments. 

Resolved, That the Senate calls on all the people of the 

United States to reflect on the record of the 40th President 

of the United States during this national period of remembrance. 

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate these resolutions 

to the House of Representatives and transmit a copy thereof 

to the family of the former President. 

SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 118— 

EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT AN 

ARTISTIC TRIBUTE TO COMMEMORATE THE 

SPEECH GIVEN BY PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN 

AT THE BRANDENBURG GATE ON JUNE 12, 1987, 

SHOULD BE PLACED WITHIN THE UNITED STATES 

CAPITOL 

Mr. ALLARD submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Rules and Administration: 

S. CON. RES. 118 

Whereas the people of the United States successfully defended freedom and democracy for over 40 years in a global 

Cold War against an aggressive Communist tyranny; 

Whereas President RONALD WILSON REAGAN’s demonstration of unwavering personal conviction during this conflict served to inspire millions of people throughout the 

United States and around the world to seek democracy, freedom, and greater individual liberty; and 

Whereas RONALD WILSON REAGAN’s determined stand 

against the Soviet empire during his eight years as President 

served as the catalyst for the end of that regime: Now, therefore, be it 

Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 

That it is the sense of Congress that an artistic tribute to 

commemorate the speech given by President RONALD

REAGAN at the Brandenburg Gate on June 12, 1987, during 

which he uttered the immortal lines ‘‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear 

down this wall!’’, should be placed within the United States 

Capitol. 

Hon. Joseph I. Lieberman 

OF CONNECTICUT

Mr. President, I am honored to have the opportunity to rise today to join my colleagues and, 

indeed, my countrymen and -women in paying 

tribute to our departed and, I would say, sincerely beloved former President RONALD

REAGAN. We mourn his loss and we give our 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 297 

condolences, of course, to Mrs. Reagan and their 

family. 

I cannot claim, as some can in this Chamber, 

to have known President REAGAN personally and 

well. In fact, we met a few times while he was 

serving in the White House. I was attorney general of Connecticut and visited with attorneys 

general. We did have one remarkable rendezvous. 

Our paths crossed, figuratively speaking, as 

President REAGAN was departing Washington, 

having completed his second term as President. 

I was arriving as a freshman Senator from Connecticut. It was January 14, 1989, and the outgoing President was set to give his final weekly 

radio address Saturday morning. 

As always, he gave a masterful and moving 

performance, engaging the Nation with his wisdom and his wit. Senate Majority Leader George 

Mitchell, the new Senate majority leader, asked 

me to give the Democratic response to President 

REAGAN that Saturday morning in January. It 

was a high honor, of course, for me as a freshman 

Senator to be asked to give the weekly radio address but it was, needless to say, a tough act to 

follow. 

I looked back to my remarks and in them I 

see I praised President REAGAN for his love of 

country, his fervent devotion to freedom, and his 

commitment to the values of faith, flag, and family. I said I was ‘‘inspired and encouraged by his 

sense of patriotism,’’ and I urged all Americans 

to work together on our unfinished business with 

‘‘the spirit of purpose and confidence that is the 

legacy of the REAGAN years.’’ 

Today, 15 years later, I am very proud I was 

able to speak those words, and proud of their 

truthfulness. My admiration and respect for 

President REAGAN has only grown with time. 

The optimism, the idealism, the patriotism, and 

confidence he radiated infected us all and are exactly what we need today. 

President REAGAN won the trust of the American people and used that trust to lead. I believe 

he won the trust of the American people because 

he reflected their values and they knew he was 

the real thing, that he stuck to what he believed 

was right, whether it was popular or not. His 

leadership was classic democratic leadership, with 

a small ‘‘d.’’ His moral conviction, combined 

with his pragmatism, enabled him to do an awful 

lot for our country and the world. He understood 

what America was about, which was freedom and 

opportunity, and extended both in America and 

throughout the world. 

After all, he led our country and the free world 

to victory in the final battle of the cold war 

against communism. 

RONALD REAGAN’s message of optimism and 

purpose was carried by one of the most effective 

messengers ever to occupy the Oval Office. His 

rhetoric, after all, made us swell with pride, 

sometimes harden with indignation, often resonate with emotion. He also made us laugh. 

I loved President REAGAN’s jokes and borrowed them often, sometimes with attribution, 

sometimes not. One of my favorites was the one 

that said a lot about him and about what he believed, what he was for, and what he was against. 

It was about the commissar who visited the communist collective farm in Russia. He greeted the 

farmer, who was the head of the farm, on an inspection tour and asked the farmer how the potato crop had been that year. 

The farmer said: Oh, commissar, the potato 

crop has been excellent. As a matter of fact, if 

we took all the potatoes we grew on this farm 

this year and put them one on top of the other, 

they would reach all the way up to the feet of 

God. 

Troubled, the commissar from Moscow said: 

Comrade farmer, I am glad to hear you did so 

well raising potatoes, but what do you mean 

about reaching up to the feet of God? This is 

a Soviet communist collective farm. There is no 

God. 

The comrade said, that is OK, because there 

are no potatoes, either. So it was. 

I heard someone in the last few days since 

President REAGAN’s death repeat a one-liner of 

his where the press was getting on him because 

they said he was not working hard enough as 

President. At some public gathering, President 

REAGAN said he was aware of these criticisms 

and he was also aware of the old line that hard 

work never killed anybody, but, President 

REAGAN said, ‘‘I figure why should I run the 

risk?’’ And so it was. 

His sense of humor and exuberance served him 

and the country well. Yes, he was a cold warrior, 

our leader in the final battle of the cold war, but 
298 Ronald Reagan 

he was also a happy warrior. In this and in so 

many other ways, RONALD REAGAN reflected the 

personality and values of the American people. 

You could disagree with his policies, but you 

could never find his personality or his sincerity 

disagreeable. 

He treated Democrats and Republicans alike, 

which is to say with respect. That attitude was 

contagious and even infected both Chambers of 

Congress. President REAGAN once urged an audience of young people to live lives ‘‘that were a 

statement, not an apology.’’ 

This week we remember a true American 

giant, whose life was a statement, not an apology—a statement of America’s values and its 

transcendent spirit of our faith in God and our 

love of country, of our national purpose, which 

is to uphold and extend the reality of freedom 

and opportunity in the world. 

Hon. William H. Frist 

OF TENNESSEE

It has been a different week, a very solemn 

week, and a week that has required all of us to 

work together from an organizational standpoint 

and to pull together what has been almost a celebration of this legacy of RONALD REAGAN. 

This evening Members will gather in the Senate Chamber and right around that period of 

time a number of people will be proceeding to 

the arrival ceremony. It will indeed be a historic 

moment for the Senate, for this body, but indeed 

for the American people. Over 150,000 

wellwishers are expected to line the streets as 

President REAGAN’s flag-draped caisson is drawn 

up to this building, the Capitol, by a single riderless horse. 

In the past 5 days, we have witnessed a remarkable unity in the country, a fraternity of 

spirit in many ways. Partisanship has fallen away, 

and old political foes have set aside disagreements. Americans have come together to celebrate the remarkable achievements of a truly remarkable man. Lifeguard—the pictures are imprinted in everybody’s mind—radio announcer, 

actor, Governor, father, husband, and finally 

President of the United States. RONALD WILSON

REAGAN achieved extraordinary heights. 

But he would tell you, I suspect—and it was 

reflected in so many of the comments among his 

friends and colleagues over the last several days— 

that he was simply being an American, fulfilling 

the American dream. He described the American 

dream once as ‘‘a song of hope that rings through 

night winter air; vivid, tender music that warms 

our heart when the least among us aspire to the 

greatest things.’’ 

RONALD REAGAN brought that song back to 

our hearts. He believed we could achieve great 

things, that America could achieve great things, 

and because of his unshakable belief in freedom 

and liberty and democracy and his ironclad faith 

in progress, his love and respect for his fellow 

citizen, we did. We triumphed over the Soviet 

empire. We created one of the longest economic 

expansions in American history. We regained our 

strength and our optimism. We remembered the 

special privilege it is to be an American. 

But we also remembered that freedom is not 

for us alone. It is the right of every man and 

woman across the globe, in every age, in every 

civilization. 

In 1964, two decades before he would be reelected in a landslide victory carrying 49 of the 

50 United States, RONALD REAGAN told the Nation, ‘‘You and I have the ability and the dignity 

and the right to make our own decisions and determine our own destiny.’’ 

As we would learn later, it was our destiny 

to choose RONALD REAGAN to be our leader, our 

standard bearer, and our hero. The history books 

will record RONALD REAGAN as one of our greatest Presidents. Of this I have no doubt. And the 

American people will remember him with love 

and with affection for generations to come. 

ADJOURNMENT UNTIL MONDAY, JUNE 14, 2004, AT 

1 P.M. 

Mr. FRIST. If there is no further business to 

come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent 

the Senate stand in adjournment under the provisions of S. Res. 371 as a mark of further respect 

for President RONALD WILSON REAGAN. 

There being no objection, the Senate, at 3:15 

p.m., adjourned until Monday, June 14, 2004, at 

1 p.m. 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 299 

Monday, June Üâ, áÖÖâ 

Hon. William H. Frist 

OF TENNESSEE

Mr. President, today the Senate returns to regular business. Last week the Nation and the 

world bid a final farewell to President RONALD

WILSON REAGAN. The services and ceremony 

were fitting tributes to our 40th President. I remind my colleagues that we will be printing a 

memorial book that will include all of the floor 

tributes and services related to the passing of our 

former President. For those Members who were 

unable to speak on the floor, we will allow Senators to submit statements on RONALD REAGAN

until June 25 in order to have those tributes 

printed in the memorial book. 

Hon. Jon Kyl 

OF ARIZONA

Mr. President, I, too, would like to comment 

on one of the legacies of our late President RONALD REAGAN, the legacy of ensuring that the free 

world would prevail over the Soviet Union in the 

cold war. 

I thought it was interesting that in one of the 

comments about REAGAN very recently made on 

National Public Radio, June 8 of this year, Mr. 

Gennady Gerasimov, spokesman for Mikhail 

Gorbachev, said this: 

I see President REAGAN as a gravedigger of the Soviet 

Union and the spade that he used to prepare this grave was 

SDI, the Strategic Defense Initiative, so-called ‘‘star wars.’’ 

The trick was that the Soviet leadership believed that this 

SDI defense is possible and then, because it’s possible, then 

also we must catch up with the Americans. And this was 

an invitation to the arms race, and the Soviet economy could 

not really afford it. In this way REAGAN really contributed 

to the demise of the Soviet Union. 

Who better to know that than the spokesmen 

for Mikhail Gorbachev who have said similar 

things? Twenty-one years ago, President 

REAGAN posed a very important question to the 

American people. He asked us to consider whether the free people of the world should continue 

to have to rely upon the threat of a massive retaliation of nuclear weapons to prevent an attack 

by the opposition. He asked: What would it take 

to free the world from this threat? He answered 

as follows: 

I know this is a formidable, technical task, one that may 

not be accomplished before the end of this century. Yet, current technology has attained a level of sophistication where 

it’s reasonable for us to begin this effort. It will take years, 

probably decades of effort on many fronts. There will be failures and setbacks, just as there will be successes and breakthroughs. . . . But isn’t it worth every investment necessary 

to free the world from the threat of nuclear war? We know 

it is. 

We began making that investment. It was one 

of the reasons we had a deficit during the Reagan 

years. It was part of the so-called defense buildup, to invest billions of dollars in the research— 

yes, there were failures, but there were many successes—to develop a Strategic Defense Initiative, 

an ability to defend ourselves against a ballistic 

missile attack from an enemy. A lot of Americans 

probably think we developed that strategic defense, that we have that capability today. They 

might remember that during the first Persian 

Gulf war Patriot missiles shot down some of the 

Scuds that were fired by Saddam Hussein. 

But the grim reality is strategic defense is still 

not a reality. We still don’t have the ability to 

defend against a missile attack. What happened 

during the Persian Gulf war? We used an air defense system to shoot down airplanes, and in the 

field, literally, as we shipped it from the United 

States to Israel and to Saudi Arabia and to Kuwait, made modifications in it so that we hoped 

it might work to shoot down some of the missiles that Saddam Hussein shot toward Saudi 

Arabia and Kuwait. In fact, some of those missiles—roughly a third of them—were intercepted 

by the Patriot. It was a crude weapon that was 

modified in the field. It had never been tested 

against other missiles. Yet we used what we had 

at the time because of the threat that existed. 

The point I want to make today is this: The 

Soviet Union was brought to its knees because 

it believed President REAGAN when he said we 

are going to develop a means of countering your 

most effective weapon, so you might as well not 

even try to spend the money and the effort and 
300 Ronald Reagan 

the time to create this program because we will 

be able to defeat you; we are not kidding. 

It has been over 20 years since President 

REAGAN made that announcement, and we still 

do not have the missiles in the ground. I am 

afraid some of our potential enemies are going 

to conclude that we were bluffing all along, that 

we do not have the will to spend the money and 

to put the program in place to provide this kind 

of defense. 

The point of this defense is not just to be able 

to operationally test it and have it in the ground 

to stop a missile should one be launched against 

us, but to deter nations that might believe we 

are bluffing, to deter nations from spending the 

money to build these offensive weapons in the 

first place, to deter these leaders, these people in 

places such as North Korea and Iran, from concluding that if they will simply spend the money 

it will take to build the nuclear weaponry and 

the missiles to fire them, that we will somehow 

forget about developing missile defenses or conclude that it is too expensive, and the richest Nation on Earth, the Nation that has the financial 

capability of providing this kind of defense, will 

decide not to do it. 

Now is the time for us to act. It is not the 

time for us to blink in the face of these dictatorial countries. Should we support the amendment 

that would cut the heart out of missile defense 

funding for this year, it would send a signal to 

these countries that the United States has been 

bluffing all along. We were not bluffing when 

RONALD REAGAN made that important announcement. The Soviet Union understood that. 

Can we do any less today than to make it crystal 

clear to our would-be enemies that we are not 

bluffing, that we mean what we say, that we intend to protect America, that we intend to protect others who are our allies, and that we will 

not permit an offensive ballistic missile to strike 

our land and kill our people? To do anything 

else would be morally irresponsible. 

As President REAGAN said, if we have the capability of defending ourselves and preventing 

this kind of conflagration, should we not take 

advantage of that wonderful capability? I am optimistic about our ability, and I am confident 

about the American people, and I am sure they 

want us to confirm to the world that we mean 

what we say, just as RONALD REAGAN meant 

what he said. 

Hon. Richard G. Lugar 

OF INDIANA

Mr. President, I pay special tribute to Nancy 

Reagan who has been indispensable throughout 

the public life of the Reagans, and particularly 

during this past decade. It was my privilege to 

sit beside Mrs. Reagan during several White 

House and Republican Party events and to understand her strength and shared dream for 

America. 

The service of President REAGAN to our country can only be approached by understanding 

how wide he cast the net of potential achievement, and fulfillment of dreams, hopes and visions. 

President REAGAN actually believed and articulated that our country had a special destiny, 

that no barriers were insurmountable because we 

are Americans. He actually believed and said that 

the Soviet Union was an evil empire, that its political and economic institutions were disintegrating, and that if its leadership and people 

knew the alternatives which our country presented, they would choose democracy and market 

economics. 

President REAGAN was prepared to invest an 

increasing portion of our national treasure in 

military defense with the certainty that we would 

negotiate successfully with our adversaries from 

a position of strength. He shocked foreign policy 

and defense specialists by proposing that all intermediate nuclear missiles be destroyed, a negotiating position labeled universally as a bizarre 

arms-control nonstarter. 

He affirmed the staying power of NATO by 

deploying Pershing missiles to Germany and 

cruise missiles to Italy even after the Soviets declared that such deployment would end all arms 

control negotiations and stimulate Soviet nuclear 

buildup. 

Add to this, President REAGAN’s startling 

proposal that the United States should develop 

a Strategic Defense Initiative to protect our country against incoming missiles fired upon us. He 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 301 

contended that we should and could try to defend ourselves against the so-called balance of 

terror. 

He proposed to President Gorbachev that the 

United States and the Soviet Union ban all nuclear weapons. In fact, he was confident that if 

he could take Gorbachev on an extended tour of 

America that Gorbachev would want to shape the 

Soviet Union into many of our successful traditions. 

Meanwhile, President REAGAN knew that substantial new growth must occur in our domestic 

economy to pay for the special leadership role he 

had envisioned in foreign policy. He was confident that substantial cuts in individual marginal tax rates and a host of investment incentives would establish and sustain the longest 

peacetime prosperity we had ever enjoyed. Our 

prosperity underwrote the magnificent gains in 

free and fair trade which he championed and 

worldwide wealth grew abundantly. 

When RONALD REAGAN stood on a balcony 

of the Reichstag in Berlin and challenged Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall, he could see 

white crosses just below where courageous persons seeking freedom had lost their lives in that 

pursuit. Everything still appeared to be so locked 

up and grim, and sophisticated observers were 

barely patronizing in comment on his Berlin 

Wall challenge. 

The evil empire crumbled, the Berlin Wall 

and other walls fell, all of the intermediate nuclear force weapons were destroyed in exactly 3 

years as the INF Treaty provided, and the United 

States became the only superpower with the 

strongest economy and the ability, uniquely, to 

extend military authority around the world. 

All of this occurred because President REAGAN

persuaded the Congress and his countrymen to 

build our Armed Forces, to build our economy 

through the growth incentives termed ‘‘Reaganomics,’’ to maintain the successful strategies of 

our NATO alliance, to utilize military force to 

support foreign policy as required, and to commence Strategic Defense Initiative research. 

We now know that the Soviets were much 

weaker than experts estimated. We now know 

that they could not keep up the pace and that 

desperate attempts to do so led to the collapse 

of the Soviet empire and then to the collapse of 

the Soviet Union, itself. 

President REAGAN advocated two more things 

which were inspiring and critically important in 

world history. 

First, he rejected the Brezhnev doctrine, the 

idea that territory which socialism had occupied 

could never be reclaimed. When he advocated 

this rollback of the Iron Curtain, he created deep 

anxiety and alarm among most international foreign policy advisers who loved liberty a lot, but 

loved stability even more. 

U.S. Stinger missiles shipped to the expert 

ministrations of the Mujahadin in Afghanistan 

were a major instrument of the Soviet rollback, 

and the world watched in awe as the Soviet 

troops withdrew to a smaller socialist world. 

Second, President REAGAN enunciated a new 

policy in a statement sent to the Congress after 

the Philippine election and revolution. He stated 

that henceforth, we would oppose tyranny of the 

left and tyranny of the right, that we were for 

democracy developed by people who sought to 

know and enjoy democracy and human rights. 

This statement was severely criticized by experts 

who suggested that in the ‘‘real world’’ a good 

number of dictators were friendly to the United 

States and certainly useful in waging the cold 

war against communism. 

In articulating his vision on the rollback of the 

Iron Curtain; in identifying with nations all over 

the world who applauded our passion for building democratic institutions; in celebrating 

human rights and free market principles; in all 

of these areas, RONALD REAGAN was far ahead 

of the prevailing wisdom. Yet he ultimately 

brought other leaders in America and around the 

world to his point of view in a relatively short 

interval. 

President REAGAN was courageous and on the 

right side of history. He performed these deeds 

in a very public way which instructed and inspired others. Those of us in public service 

learned much from President REAGAN as we 

watched him speak and act. He was charismatic, 

he was determined and consistent, and he enjoyed a remarkable batting average of being 

right. 
302 Ronald Reagan 

Hon. Charles E. Grassley 

OF IOWA

Mr. President, at sunset last Friday, the 40th 

President of the United States was laid to rest 

on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The consummate optimist, who etched the promise of a 

‘‘shining city upon a hill’’ into the Nation’s conscience, leaves behind a legacy that beckons us 

to stay true to the American spirit. 

Whether folks agree with his political philosophy or not, the actor-turned-politician-turnedstatesman from the Midwest helped usher in the 

dawn of a new day for millions of jobless Americans and to those living in oppression behind the 

Iron Curtain. 

Through bold, buoyant leadership, RONALD

WILSON REAGAN, 1911–2004, persuaded his fellow citizens that it was ‘‘morning again in America’’ by restoring the promise of peace and prosperity. 

The outpouring of support during last week’s 

remembrance for the former President reflects 

REAGAN’s ability to bring out the best in people 

and unite America. 

The pageantry evoked patriotism. The solemnity of the events underscored the public’s appreciation and respect for this leader who championed the cause of freedom all around the world. 

For 8 years, he served as a beacon of hope for 

those cast under the dark shadows of totalitarianism. 

The Great Communicator arrived in the Oval 

Office when America was licking wounds left by 

Watergate and Vietnam. Stifled by a sinking 

economy, joblessness and sky-high inflation, the 

national mood also wavered under the uncertainty of the cold war. Americans yearned for 

brighter days. 

Elected to his first term in November 1980, 

President REAGAN exuded optimism, charm and 

kinship with ordinary Americans. His goodnatured disposition, self-deprecating humor and 

can-do attitude launched a new era in American 

politics. Like REAGAN, I won an upset victory 

over an incumbent in that election. 

He and I shared a conservative political philosophy rooted in core beliefs spelled out by the Nation’s Founders and agreed much more often than 

not. Now 24 years after the Reagan revolution, 

I am privileged to continue advancing our shared 

principles: Big ideas instead of big government. 

Deregulation to foster free enterprise. Tax relief 

that encourages productivity, growth and individual ingenuity. Self-reliance rather than selfpity. 

REAGAN’s policies proved that economic and 

political freedom bring about peace and prosperity. As REAGAN said in his 1989 farewell address to the Nation: ‘‘Democracy, the profoundly 

good, is also the profoundly productive.’’ 

Many people grossly underestimated the 

strength of REAGAN’s convictions and the foot 

soldiers who helped sweep him into office. With 

a steely determination coupled with folksy 

charm, REAGAN masterminded the efforts that 

liberated Eastern Europe in 1989. 

Eight years earlier, he had predicted the end 

of communism as the ‘‘sad, bizarre chapter in 

human history whose last pages are even now 

being written.’’ REAGAN’s leadership helped 

change the course of history for the better. 

On June 5, 2004, REAGAN lost his 10-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease. A decade earlier, in 

a handwritten note to the American people, 

REAGAN again looked on the bright side: ‘‘When 

the Lord calls me home, whenever that may be, 

I will leave with the greatest love for this country 

of ours and eternal optimism for its future.’’ 

President REAGAN valued the gift of life. He 

used his to expand human freedom. His legacy 

shapes America’s character and lights our way as 

we continue the ‘‘march to freedom’’ against evil 

in the world. 

Hon. Rick Santorum 

OF PENNSYLVANIA

Mr. President, I rise today in great sadness, 

to speak on the passing of President RONALD

WILSON REAGAN. It is a sad time for our Nation; a monumental figure in the history of the 

United States has gone to his rest. The response 

to his passing in our Nation’s Capital and across 

this country has been overwhelming and a fitting 

tribute to this giant of 20th century politics. 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 303 

First, I would like to offer my heartfelt condolences to Nancy and the Reagan family in this 

difficult time. Mrs. Reagan was not only an incredible role model for faithfulness to her spouse, 

but was always the rock that he leaned on when 

the entire world leaned on him. 

In speeches on this floor, we have heard much 

about President REAGAN’s vision and leadership 

on foreign and economic policy, which indeed 

continue to bear fruit. Yet, I come to the floor 

to speak about an aspect of the REAGAN Presidency that is less commented upon: President 

REAGAN’s legacy on social policy, which stands 

still as a moral compass for our Nation’s future. 

As has been remarked, President REAGAN was 

a fabulous optimist. He worked to create a society where good and evil, life and death, are recognized for what they are, and are not obscured 

by the gray tones of moral relativism. After years 

of lingering malaise following Vietnam and Watergate, RONALD REAGAN came forward and 

proclaimed that America was ‘‘in the midst of 

a spiritual awakening and a moral renewal.’’ That 

was a message of hope that America sorely needed to hear. 

He believed that America’s strength came not 

just from military might, but also from its moral 

superiority. As much of a priority as he made 

foreign and military policy, he strived just as 

hard to ensure that our Nation’s roots as a people 

of faith, who value life and each other, was not 

diminished. It was that social foundation that 

made us different from the godless Soviet state 

that oppressed the Russian people. 

President REAGAN spoke forcefully and brilliantly about the importance of family, the religious foundations of American democracy, and 

the tragedy of Roe v. Wade. He knew that strong 

families were a key to America’s continued success as the land of opportunity. This conviction 

is clear in a proclamation he issued one Father’s 

Day, where he asserted: 

There is no institution more vital to our Nation’s survival 

than the American family. Here the seeds of personal character are planted, the roots of public virtue first nourished. 

Through love and instruction, discipline, guidance and example, we learn from our mothers and fathers the values that 

will shape our private lives and our public citizenship. 

His political beliefs were greatly shaped by the 

sensible religion he grew up with in small-town 

Illinois, which permeated all aspects of daily life. 

He found the attempts of some to excise religion 

from the public square wrongheaded. He knew 

that Founding Fathers barred not only the government establishment of religion, but also any 

law ‘‘prohibiting the free exercise thereof.’’ 

As President REAGAN told those gathered at 

the Ecumenical Prayer Breakfast during the Republican National Convention in Dallas, TX: 

Without God, there is no virtue, because there’s no 

prompting of the conscience. Without God, we’re mired in 

the material, that flat world that tells us only what the senses 

perceive. Without God, there is a coarsening of the society. 

And without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure. If we ever forget that we’re one nation under God, then 

we will be a nation gone under. 

I began this speech by stating I would focus 

on President REAGAN’s moral and social legacy 

rather than on the tremendous impact he had in 

bringing down the Iron Curtain and freeing Eastern Europe. But in truth, these different areas of 

policy all flowed from the same wellspring of 

faith and conscience. 

In a particularly moving speech before the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in 

1984, President REAGAN tied together these 

seemingly separate strands. He told listeners: 

Our mission stretches far beyond our borders; God’s family 

knows no borders. In your life you face daily trials, but millions of believers in other lands face far worse. They are 

mocked and persecuted for the crime of loving God. To every 

religious dissident trapped in that cold, cruel existence, we 

send our love and support. Our message? You are not alone; 

you are not forgotten; do not lose your faith and hope because 

someday you, too, will be free. 

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that 

a larger excerpt of this speech be printed in the 

Record. 

REMARKS AT THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE NATIONAL

RELIGIOUS BROADCASTERS CONVENTION, JANUARY, 30, 1984 

‘‘AMERICA IS HUNGRY FOR A SPIRITUAL REVIVAL . . . ’’ 

(By RONALD REAGAN) 

I was pleased last year to proclaim 1983 the Year of the 

Bible. But, you know, a group called the ACLU severely 

criticized me for doing that. Well, I wear their indictment 

like a badge of honor. I believe I stand in pretty good company. 

Abraham Lincoln called the Bible ‘‘the best gift God has 

given to man. But for it,’’ he said, ‘‘we could not know right 

from wrong.’’ Like that image of George Washington kneeling in prayer in the snow at Valley Forge, Lincoln described 

a people who knew it was not enough to depend on their 
304 Ronald Reagan 

own courage and goodness; they must also look to God their 

Father and Preserver. And their faith to walk with Him and 

trust in His word brought them the blessings of comfort, 

power, and peace that they sought. 

The torch of their faith has been passed from generation 

to generation. ‘‘The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but 

the word of our God shall stand forever.’’ 

More and more Americans believe that loving God in their 

hearts is the ultimate value. . . . 

My experience in this office I hold has only deepened a 

belief I’ve held for many years: Within the covers of that 

single Book are all the answers to all the problems that face 

us today if we’d only read and believe. 

Let’s begin at the beginning. God is the center of our lives: 

the human family stands at the center of society: and our 

greatest hope for the future is in the faces of our children. 

. . . 

God’s most blessed gift to His family is the gift of life. 

He sent us the Prince of Peace as a babe in a manger. I’ve 

said that we must be cautious in claiming God is on our 

side. I think the real question we must answer is, are we 

on His side? 

Our mission stretches far beyond our borders; God’s family 

knows no borders. In your life you face daily trials, but millions of believers in other lands face far worse. They are 

mocked and persecuted for the crime of loving God. To every 

religious dissident trapped in that cold, cruel existence, we 

send our love and support. Our message? You are not alone; 

you are not forgotten; do not lose your faith and hope because 

someday you, too, will be free. 

If the Lord is our light, our strength, and our salvation, 

whom shall we fear? Of whom shall we be afraid? No matter 

where we live, we have a promise . . . from Jesus jthat cank 

soothe our sorrows, heal our hearts, and drive away our fears. 

He promised there will never be a dark night that does not 

end. Our weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh 

in the morning. He promised if our hearts are true, His love 

will be as sure as sunlight. And, by dying for us, Jesus 

showed how far our love should be ready to go: all the way. 

‘‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish 

but have everlasting life’’ . . . Helping each other, believing 

in Him, we need never be afraid. We will be part of something far more powerful, enduring, and good than all the 

forces here on Earth. We will be part of a paradise. 

May God keep you always, and may you always keep God. 

RONALD REAGAN was a champion of the prolife movement and believed that abortion was a 

grave threat to the liberties we cherish as Americans. When President REAGAN came to office, 

the shock of Roe v. Wade was still fresh. It was 

commonly believed that the Supreme Court had 

had the final say on abortion, and that there was 

no hope in turning back the tide of the abortionon-demand culture. The conventional wisdom 

was that enacting legislation to regulate abortion 

was politically impossible. 

But President REAGAN chose to use the one 

tool that the Senate could not stall and the 

House could not block: his voice. His voice was 

strong and reassuring, and it reached the American people in their living rooms, bypassing 

those in Washington who thought they knew 

much better. Even his own advisors urged him 

not to speak out on abortion, yet he would not 

be silenced. He always spoke his conscience on 

the matters that weighed heavily on his heart, 

and no one could convince him to do otherwise. 

On the tenth anniversary of Roe v. Wade, President REAGAN spoke from the heart against the 

abortion-on-demand culture, to poignant effect. 

That day, he said: 

I, too, have always believed that God’s greatest gift is 

human life and that we have a duty to protect the life of 

an unborn child. Until someone can prove the unborn child 

is not a life, shouldn’t we give it the benefit of the doubt 

and assume it is? 

Perhaps the only President to publish a book 

while in the Oval Office, President REAGAN’s 

1984 volume, entitled ‘‘Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation,’’ stood as a thoughtful and 

moving essay that inspired the growing prolife 

movement. This message of this book was hopeful. ‘‘As a nation today, we have not rejected the 

sanctity of human life,’’ he writes. ‘‘I am convinced that Americans do not want to play God 

with the value of human life.’’ 

Given his remarkable legacy on foreign and 

economic policy, I am not surprised that his 

moral agenda is less commented upon. Yet in his 

March 8, 1983, ‘‘Evil Empire’’ speech, President 

REAGAN devoted as much time talking about the 

sanctity of all human life as he did addressing 

foreign policy. On abortion, he told the audience, 

‘‘Human life legislation ending this tragedy will 

some day pass the Congress, and you and I must 

never rest until it does.’’ 

Sadly, President REAGAN has gone to his rest 

without being able to see that glorious day when 

we again recognize the full and equal value of 

all human lives. But those of us who proudly follow in his footsteps will tirelessly continue the 

struggle until we correct this grievous wrong. 

President REAGAN, that day, I know you will 

be smiling down on us from above. 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 305 

Hon. John Ensign 

OF NEVADA

Mr. President, I rise today to honor and remember the greatest President of the 20th century, RONALD WILSON REAGAN. 

RONALD REAGAN is widely known for taking 

some of the most courageous stands on behalf of 

our Nation and for truly changing the course of 

the world, but RONALD REAGAN may have never 

known the impact that he had on so many individuals, including me. 

I was in college when RONALD REAGAN swept 

through our country in 1980—on a mission to 

empower Americans by reducing taxes, shrinking 

the Federal bureaucracy, and instilling a sense of 

hope for the future. Until that point, I had always considered myself a Democrat. RONALD

REAGAN’s straight talk and emphasis on common sense and individual empowerment changed 

the way I looked at politics. As RONALD

REAGAN used to say—and he would know—I 

became ‘‘a former Democrat who saw the light.’’ 

He opened my eyes to a philosophy that I truly 

felt could change the direction of our country. 

I was not alone. President REAGAN’s popularity while in the Oval Office for two terms 

showed that Americans—Republicans, Democrats, and Independents—were inspired by him 

the way I was. More impressively, tens of thousands of Americans are mourning his death and 

reflecting on how he touched and changed their 

lives. The endless line of mourners, waiting for 

hours to walk past his coffin and pay final respects, is unparalleled. The most heartwarming 

for me is to see parents with their children, 

teaching them about the legacy of this great 

President and hopefully instilling a dose of 

REAGAN optimism in the next generation. 

There are many lessons to teach our children 

about RONALD REAGAN. I know I will teach 

them to my own children. 

Respect for others: Many of the stories that 

are being shared by those who knew RONALD

REAGAN revolve around his respect for all people. Whether it was someone who washed dishes 

in the White House or the leader of another Nation, RONALD REAGAN treated each with the 

same amount of dignity and respect—and loving 

humor. 

Commitment to principles: RONALD REAGAN

never shied away from his principles. His steadfast commitment led to monumental changes in 

the world landscape—making it a better place 

for all of us. On Memorial Day 1986, President 

REAGAN said at Arlington National Cemetery: 

If we really care about peace, we must stay strong. If we 

really care about peace, we must, through our strength, demonstrate our unwillingness to accept an ending of the peace. 

We must be strong enough to create peace where it does 

not exist and strong enough to protect it where it does. 

That’s the lesson of this century . . . 

And that is a lesson from our 40th President. 

Mutual love and admiration: I would be remiss if I did not note the relationship that RONALD and Nancy REAGAN shared. Reading some 

of their old love letters, watching them together 

during his Presidency, and seeing her devotion 

over these most trying last 10 years, one cannot 

help but be touched by the feelings that emanated from their marriage. Nancy Reagan was 

every bit RONALD REAGAN’s partner in the 

White House, and his legacy is theirs. Today 

Nancy Reagan grieves—she has lost her 

soulmate. And we grieve for her loss. 

Optimism and hope for tomorrow: If nothing 

else, I hope that Americans today are inspired 

by RONALD REAGAN’s eternal optimism. He believed in this country and its people with every 

fiber of his being. He once told a gathering of 

youth in 1985 that: 

True wealth, and the real hope for the future comes from 

the heart—from the treasure of ideas and spirit, from free 

people with a vision of the future, trust in their fellow men, 

and faith in God. The better future that we all yearn for 

will not be built by skeptics who spend their lives admiring 

the complexity of the problems. It’ll be built by free men 

and women who believe in themselves. 

I know RONALD REAGAN is in a better place 

today, and, from his view, he is rooting for us 

and believing in our future. 

Leaders like RONALD REAGAN change the 

course of history with their vision and inspire a 

new generation. I serve Nevada in the U.S. Senate because I, too, was inspired by RONALD

REAGAN. Today, I thank him from the bottom 

of my heart for his service to this Nation, for 

his unwavering leadership, and for his spirit that 
306 Ronald Reagan 

will always represent our greatness and remind 

us that we can achieve anything. 

President REAGAN, may God bless you and 

watch over you. And may God continue to bless 

America. 

MESSAGE FROM THE HOUSE—JUNE 9, 2004 

At 9:33 a.m., a message from the House of 

Representatives, delivered by Mr. Hays, one of 

its reading clerks, announced that the House has 

agreed to House Resolution 663, expressing the 

profound regret and sorrow of the House of Representatives on the death of RONALD WILSON

REAGAN, former President of the United States 

of America. 

MESSAGE FROM THE HOUSE DURING 

ADJOURNMENT 

At 3:26 p.m., a message from the House of 

Representatives, delivered by Ms. Niland, one of 

its reading clerks, announced that the House has 

agreed to the following concurrent resolution: 

S. Con. Res. 115. Concurrent resolution authorizing the use 

of the rotunda of the Capitol for the lying in state of the 

remains of the late RONALD WILSON REAGAN, 40th President of the United States. 

STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT 

RESOLUTIONS 

By Mr. CAMPBELL: 

S. 2517. A bill to require the Secretary of the 

Treasury to mint coins in commemoration of 

RONALD WILSON REAGAN, the 40th President 

of the United States; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. 

Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. President, today I introduce the ‘‘RONALD WILSON REAGAN Commemorative Coin Act of 2004.’’ 

This bill is the same as one I introduced in 

the 107th Congress, and would accomplish two 

worthy goals. First, it would help honor RONALD

WILSON REAGAN, the 40th President of the 

United States, and the many worthy contributions he made to this Nation. Second, it would 

also help raise much needed resources to help 

families across the United States provide care for 

their loved ones who have been stricken by Alzheimer’s disease. 

This legislation’s timeliness is obviously without question, as we as a Nation honor RONALD

REAGAN this week and mourn his passing. The 

worthiness of the bill also goes without question. 

Most of us have seen Nancy Reagan discuss her 

husband’s illness. Watching Mrs. Reagan as she 

has so openly and eloquently shared touching insights about their struggle with Alzheimer’s disease has always been very moving. There is no 

doubt about the truly deep bonds that united 

RONALD and Nancy REAGAN and that we need 

to continue to do what we can to fight the disease that slowly took its terrible toll on the Reagans and so many other American families. 

RONALD REAGAN wore many hats in his life, 

including endeavors as a sports announcer, actor, 

Governor and President of the United States. He 

was first elected President in 1980 and served two 

terms, becoming the first President to serve two 

full terms since Dwight Eisenhower. 

His boundless optimism and deep-seated belief 

in the people of the United States and the American dream helped restore our Nation’s pride in 

itself and brought about a new ‘‘morning in 

America.’’ His challenge to Gorbachev to ‘‘tear 

down this wall!,’’ his successful revival of our 

economic power, his determination to rebuild 

our Armed Forces in order to contain the spread 

of communism, and his international summitry 

skills as seen at Reykjavik, Iceland, combined to 

help bring an end to the cold war. RONALD

REAGAN left our Nation in much better shape 

than it was in when he took office. 

As Alzheimer’s sets in, brain cells gradually 

deteriorate and die. People afflicted by the disease gradually lose their cognitive ability. Patients eventually become completely helpless and 

dependent on those around them for even the 

most basic daily needs. Each of the millions of 

Americans who is now affected will eventually, 

barring new discoveries in treatment, lose their 

ability to remember recent and past events, family and friends, even simple things like how to 

take a bath or turn on lights. RONALD REAGAN, 

one of the most courageous and optimistic Presidents in American history, was no exception. 

Shortly after being shot in an assassination attempt, RONALD REAGAN’s courage and good 

humor in the face of a life-threatening situation 

were evident when he famously apologized to his 

wife Nancy saying, ‘‘Sorry Honey, I forgot to 

duck.’’ Unfortunately, once Alzheimer’s disease 

takes hold, it delivers a slow mind destroying 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 307 

bullet that none of us can duck to avoid. As 

RONALD REAGAN wrote shortly after learning of 

his diagnosis ‘‘I only wish there was some way 

I could spare Nancy from this painful experience.’’ From the moment of diagnosis, it’s ‘‘a 

truly long, long, goodbye,’’ Nancy Reagan said. 

Fortunately for all of us, when RONALD

REAGAN courageously announced in such an 

honest and public manner that he had Alzheimer’s, rather than covering it up, he did a 

great deal to help alleviate the negative stigma 

that has long faced those suffering from this terrible disease. Much of the shame and pity traditionally associated with Alzheimer’s was transformed almost overnight into sympathy and understanding as public awareness suddenly shot up 

and those suffering from Alzheimer’s, and their 

families, knew that they were not alone. 

While RONALD REAGAN’s health didn’t deteriorate right away, according to Mrs. Reagan, he 

had his good days and bad days, ‘‘just like everybody else.’’ In recent years, however, REAGAN’s 

condition completely deteriorated—and quickly. 

‘‘It’s frightening and it’s cruel,’’ Nancy said, 

speaking of the disease and what it has done to 

her husband and family. ‘‘It’s sad to see somebody you love and have been married to for so 

long, with Alzheimer’s, and you can’t share 

memories,’’ Mrs. Reagan said. 

In the introduction to a recently released book 

based on the touching love letters exchanged between herself and REAGAN, Nancy elaborated on 

her sense of loss when she wrote, ‘‘You know that 

it’s a progressive disease and that there’s no place 

to go but down, no light at the end of the tunnel. You get tired and frustrated, because you 

have no control and you feel helpless.’’ She also 

said, ‘‘There are so many memories that I can 

no longer share, which makes it very difficult.’’ 

Nancy Reagan has earned our Nation’s admiration for her steadfast and loving dedication to 

her husband as she watched her beloved husband 

slowly fade away. Likewise, families all across our 

Nation, day in and day out, choose to personally 

provide care for their loved ones suffering from 

Alzheimer’s, rather than putting them in institutions. They deserve our respect and support. 

Fortunately, Mrs. Reagan has had access to 

vital resources that helped her care for her husband. This is how it should be. Unfortunately, 

there are many American families out there who 

do not have access to these resources. This bill 

will help alleviate that by raising money to help 

American families who are struggling while providing care for their loved ones. 

Funding for Alzheimer’s research has increased 

significantly over the past several years. RONALD

REAGAN’s courage in coming forward and publicly announcing his condition played an important role in raising public awareness of Alzheimer’s and paved the way for the recent increases in research funding. But much more 

needs to be done and this bill would complement 

these efforts. 

Once again, the legislation I am introducing 

today authorizes the U.S. Mint to produce commemorative coins honoring RONALD W. 

REAGAN while raising funds to help families care 

for their family members suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. I urge my colleagues to support 

passage of this legislation. 

RONALD REAGAN’s eternal optimism and deep 

seated belief in an even better future for our Nation was underscored when he said. ‘‘I know that 

for America, there will always be a bright future 

ahead.’’ In honoring him this week, and in honoring his struggle, this bill, in keeping with this 

quote’s spirit, will help provide for a better future for many American families. 

I ask unanimous consent that the text of the 

bill be printed in the Record. 

There being no objection, the bill was ordered 

to be printed in the Record, as follows: 

S. 2517 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 

United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION ". SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ronald Reagan Commemorative Coin Act of 2004’’. 

SEC. #. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

(a) DENOMINATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treasury 

(hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall mint 

and issue the following coins: 

(1) $5 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 100,000 $5 coins, 

which shall— 

(A) weigh 8.359 grams; 

(B) have a diameter of 0.850 inches; and 

(C) contain 90 percent gold and 10 percent alloy. 

(2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 500,000 $1 coins, 

which shall— 

(A) weigh 26.73 grams; 

(B) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and 
308 Ronald Reagan 

(C) contain 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper. 

(b) BIMETALLIC COINS.—The Secretary may mint and issue 

not more than 200,000 $10 bimetallic coins of gold and platinum instead of the gold coins required under subsection 

(a)(1), in accordance with such specifications as the Secretary 

determines to be appropriate. 

(c) LEGAL TENDER.—The coins minted under this Act 

shall be legal tender, as provided in section 5103 of title 31, 

United States Code. 

SEC. $. SOURCES OF BULLION. 

(a) PLATINUM AND GOLD.—The Secretary shall obtain 

platinum and gold for minting coins under this Act from 

available sources. 

(b) SILVER.—The Secretary may obtain silver for minting 

coins under this Act from stockpiles established under the 

Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act and from 

other available sources. 

SEC. %. DESIGN OF COINS. 

(a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—The design of the coins minted under 

this Act shall— 

(A) be emblematic of the presidency and life of former 

President RONALD WILSON REAGAN; 

(B) bear the likeness of former President RONALD REAGAN

on the obverse side; and 

(C) bear a design on the reverse side that is similar to the 

depiction of an American eagle carrying an olive branch, flying above a nest containing another eagle and hatchlings, as 

depicted on the 2001 American Eagle Gold Proof coins. 

(2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On each coin 

minted under this Act, there shall be— 

(A) a designation of the value of the coin; 

(B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2005’’; and 

(C) inscriptions of the words ‘‘Liberty’’, ‘‘In God We 

Trust’’, ‘‘United States of America’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

(b) DESIGN SELECTION.—The design for the coins minted 

under this Act shall be— 

(1) selected by the Secretary, after consultation with the 

Commission of Fine Arts; and 

(2) reviewed by the Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory Committee. 

SEC. &. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

(a) QUALITY OF COINS.—Coins minted under this Act 

shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 

(b) MINT FACILITY.—Only one facility of the United 

States Mint may be used to strike any particular combination 

of denomination and quality of the coins minted under this 

Act. 

(c) PERIOD FOR ISSUANCE.—The Secretary may issue coins 

minted under this Act only during the period beginning on 

January 1, 2005 and ending on December 31, 2005. 

SEC. '. SALE OF COINS. 

(a) SALE PRICE.—The coins issued under this Act shall be 

sold by the Secretary at a price equal to the sum of— 

(1) the face value of the coins; 

(2) the surcharge provided in subsection (d) with respect 

to such coins; and 

(3) the cost of designing and issuing the coins (including 

labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead expenses, 

marketing, and shipping). 

(b) BULK SALES.—The Secretary shall make bulk sales of 

the coins issued under this Act at a reasonable discount. 

(c) PREPAID ORDERS.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall accept prepaid orders 

for the coins minted under this Act before the issuance of 

such coins. 

(2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to prepaid orders 

under paragraph (1) shall be at a reasonable discount. 

(d) SURCHARGES.—All sales of coins issued under this Act 

shall include a surcharge established by the Secretary, in an 

amount equal to not more than— 

(1) $50 per coin for the $10 coin or $35 per coin for the 

$5 coin; and 

(2) $10 per coin for the $1 coin. 

SEC. (. DISTRIBUTION OF SURCHARGES. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to section 5134(f) of title 31, 

United States Code, the proceeds from the surcharges received 

by the Secretary from the sale of coins issued under this Act 

shall be paid promptly by the Secretary to the Department 

of Health and Human Services to be used by the Secretary 

of Health and Human Services for the purposes of— 

(1) providing grants to charitable organizations that assist 

families in their efforts to provide care at home to a family 

member with Alzheimer’s disease; and 

(2) increasing awareness and educational outreach regarding Alzheimer’s disease. 

(b) AUDITS.—Any organization or entity that receives 

funds from the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

under subsection (a) shall be subject to the audit requirements of section 5134(f)(2) of title 31, United States Code, 

with regard to such funds. 

SEC. ). FINANCIAL ASSURANCES. 

(a) NO NET COST TO THE GOVERNMENT.—The Secretary 

shall take such actions as may be necessary to ensure that 

minting and issuing coins under this Act will not result in 

any net cost to the United States Government. 

(b) PAYMENT FOR COINS.—A coin shall not be issued 

under this Act unless the Secretary has received— 

(1) full payment for the coin; 

(2) security satisfactory to the Secretary to indemnify the 

United States for full payment; or 

(3) a guarantee of full payment satisfactory to the Secretary 

from a depository institution, the deposits of which are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or the 

National Credit Union Administration Board. 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 309 

Tuesday, June Üä, áÖÖâ 

Hon. Richard J. Durbin 

ILLINOIS

As we mourn the passing of President RONALD REAGAN, we should recall his vision of 

America as a ‘‘shining city upon a hill’’—a model 

of democracy, freedom and the rule of law that 

people around the world look to for inspiration. 

As President REAGAN said in his farewell address 

to the Nation: 

After 200 years, two centuries, jAmericak still stands 

strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held 

steady no matter what storm. And she’s still a beacon, still 

a magnet for all who must have freedom. 

President REAGAN was right. Our ‘‘city upon 

a hill’’ must hold steady in defense of our principles no matter what storm. Despite the threat 

of terrorism, we must stand by our opposition 

to torture and other cruel treatment. 

In fact, it was President REAGAN who first 

transmitted the Convention against Torture and 

Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment 

or Punishment to the Senate with his recommendation that the Senate ratify the treaty. 

As President REAGAN reminded us, our ‘‘city 

upon a hill’’ must stand firm. The eyes of the 

world are upon us. 

Hon. Patrick J. Leahy 

OF VERMONT

Mr. President, we have come to the close of 

several days of tribute to our late President, 

RONALD REAGAN. So much has been said about 

President REAGAN’s buoyant spirit and about the 

contributions he made to our Nation, and these 

tributes have helped millions of Americans with 

the healing process that comes with the death 

of so popular and beloved a leader. 

Though much has already been said about 

President REAGAN, I do want to pay special tribute today to our former First Lady, Nancy 

Reagan. 

For me—and, I suspect, for millions of other 

Americans—some of the most stirring images of 

this memorable week have been of Nancy Reagan 

and her family. We saw again, and so clearly, 

her strength, her compassion and her deep love 

for her husband. 

Ever since President REAGAN’s deeply moving 

announcement to his fellow citizens and to the 

world that he was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, I have watched Mrs. Reagan conduct herself 

with compassion, loyalty, competence and caring 

that have been an inspiration to the thousands 

of family members who every day struggle to 

cope with loved ones suffering from this disease 

or from any of the long variety of other disorders 

that can come upon us in our older ages—and 

sometimes far earlier than that. 

The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that 4.5 

million Americans today suffer from this debilitating disease. Often, family members and especially, spouses—end up as primary caregivers to 

their partners or other family members. Along 

with the emotional pain and heartbreak of watching the mind of a loved one slowly fade away, 

many caregivers are ill equipped to handle the 

many facets of the illness that present themselves 

over the duration of this mental and physical 

struggle. Their own physical health suffers. Managing a job or any other activity outside the 

home becomes almost impossible. 

I believe Nancy Reagan is an inspiration to 

so many Americans. The love that she and her 

husband so clearly showed to each other comforted and sustained their marriage in sickness, 

as it did in health. 

Marcelle and I extend our best wishes to Mrs. 

Reagan and to the entire Reagan family. 

Hon. Jon Kyl 

OF ARIZONA

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that 

the column ‘‘Empty Words’’ by Frank Gaffney, 

which appears in today’s Washington Times, be 

printed in the Record. I believe that this piece 

appropriately emphasizes the crucial role continued research plays in maintaining the credible 

nuclear deterrent of the United States. As more 
310 Ronald Reagan 

information becomes available regarding covert 

nuclear programs in North Korea and Iran, the 

sustainability and credibility of America’s nuclear arsenal is of paramount concern. 

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: 

jFrom the Washington Times, June 15, 2004k 

EMPTY WORDS

(By Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.) 

The U.S. Senate gets back to work today after a week of 

bipartisan mourning of RONALD REAGAN and tributes to his 

security policy legacy. It is fitting that the first orders of 

business will be votes on amendments to repudiate two of 

the initiatives most central to the GIPPER’s foreign and defense policy success: the maintenance of a credible and safe 

nuclear deterrent, and protection of Americans against missile 

attack. 

The first effort to reduce last week’s Reagan endorsements 

to empty words will be led by some of the Senate’s most 

liberal Democrats, notably Sens. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Dianne Feinstein of California. They seek to preclude the United States from even researching new nuclear 

weapons, let alone testing or deploying them. 

RONALD REAGAN hated nuclear weapons as much as anybody. What is more, he seriously worked to rid the world 

of them. Yet, unlike these legislators, President REAGAN understood—until that day—this country must have effective 

nuclear forces. He was convinced there was no better way 

to discourage the hostile use of nuclear weapons against us 

than by ensuring a ready and credible deterrent. 

Toward that end, Mr. REAGAN comprehensively modernized America’s strategic forces, involving both new weapons 

and an array of delivery systems. He built two types of intermediate-range nuclear missiles and deployed them to five 

Western European countries. And, not least, he recognized 

our deterrent posture depended critically upon a human and 

physical infrastructure that could design, test, build and 

maintain the nation’s nuclear arsenal. Without such support, 

America would inexorably be disarmed. 

In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that, but for Mr. 

REAGAN’s nuclear modernization efforts—most of them over 

the strenuous objections of senators like Mr. Kennedy and 

John Kerry—we may well not have a viable nuclear deterrent 

today. Even with his legacy, 15 years of policies more in keeping with the anti-nuclear ‘‘freeze’’ movement’s nostrums than 

Mr. REAGAN’s philosophy of ‘‘peace through strength’’ have 

undermined the deterrent by creeping obsolescence, growing 

uncertainty about its reliability and safety and loss of infrastructure to ensure its future effectiveness. 

This is especially worrisome since some of the research in 

question would explore whether a Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP) could be developed to penetrate deep underground before detonating. Such a capability would allow us 

to hold at risk some of the 10,000 concealed and hardened 

command-and-control bunkers, weapons of mass destruction 

(WMD) production and storage facilities and other buried 

high-value targets built by potential adversaries. 

If anything, the absence of a credible American capability 

to attack such targets may have contributed to rogue states’ 

massive investment in these facilities over the past 15 years. 

One thing is clear: Our restraint in taking even modest steps 

to modernize our nuclear deterrent—for example, by designing an RNEP or new, low-yield weapons—has certainly not 

prevented others from trying to ‘‘get the Bomb.’’ 

There is no more reason—Sens. Kennedy, Kerry and Feinstein’s arguments to the contrary notwithstanding—to believe continuing our unilateral restraint will discourage our 

prospective enemies’ proliferation in the future. 

Last September, the Senate recognized this reality, rejecting an earlier Feinstein-Kennedy amendment by a vote of 

53–41. Five Democrats—Sens. Evan Bayh of Indiana, Fritz 

Hollings of South Carolina, Zell Miller of Georgia, Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Bill Nelson of Florida—joined virtually 

every Republican in permitting nuclear weapons research, 

with the proviso further congressional approval would be required prior to development and production. The prudence 

of this is even more evident today in light of revelations of 

covert Iranian and North Korean nuclear activity since last 

fall. 

The other assault on the REAGAN legacy will be led by 

Democratic Sens. Carl Levin of Michigan and Jack Reed of 

Rhode Island. They hope to strip more than $500 million 

from defense authorization legislation that would buy antimissile interceptors, the direct descendant of Ronald Reagan’s 

Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). 

Just last week, former Gorbachev spokesman Gennadi 

Gerasimov, reminded the world how mistaken those like Sen. 

Carl Levin, Michigan Democrat, were when they ridiculed 

and tried to undermine the Reagan missile defense program: 

‘‘I see President REAGAN as a gravedigger of the Soviet Union 

and the spade that he used to prepare this grave was SDI.’’ 

Today, there are published reports the U.N. Security 

Council has been briefed by its inspectors that ballistic missiles and WMD components were slipped out of Iraq before 

Saddam Hussein was toppled. Such weapons, like some of 

the thousands of other short-range missiles in arsenals around 

the world, could find their way into terrorists hands and be 

launched at this country from ships off our shores. 

Can there be any doubt but that RONALD REAGAN—faced 

with today’s threat of missile attack and the proliferation of 

nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction—would have 

been any less resolute in building missile defenses and maintaining our nuclear deterrent than he was in the 1980s? If 

last week’s praise for his visionary leadership two decades ago 

was not dishonest rhetoric, it should inspire, and guide us 

all now. 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 311 

Wednesday, June Üã, áÖÖâ 

Hon. Barbara A. Mikulski 

OF MARYLAND

Mr. President, I rise today to announce the introduction of the Ronald Reagan Alzheimer’s 

Breakthrough Act of 2004. I believe the greatest 

tribute to President REAGAN and the Reagan 

family is a living memorial. That is why I am 

introducing this legislation with my colleague, 

Senator Kit Bond. Our legislation makes an allout effort to spark and accelerate breakthroughs 

for Alzheimer’s. The legislation supports research 

on how to prevent the disease, how to care for 

people who have it, and initiatives to support 

those who are caregivers. Let’s celebrate President 

REAGAN’s life of vigor by attacking Alzheimer’s 

with vigor. 

The time to act for real breakthroughs is now. 

Just last month, Senator Bond and I held a hearing on Alzheimer’s research. Expert after expert 

told us: We are on the verge of amazing breakthroughs; we will lose opportunities if we don’t 

move quickly; we are at a crucial point where 

NIH funding can make a real difference. Researchers, families, and advocates all said the 

same thing, we need to do more, and we need 

to do better. I believe that the answer to that 

call is passing the Ronald Reagan Alzheimer’s 

Breakthrough Act of 2004. 

We are truly on the brink of something that 

can make a huge difference for American families. We know that families face great difficulties 

when a loved one has Alzheimer’s. There is great 

emotional cost as well as financial cost. We know 

that for our public investment we could get new 

treatments that would prolong a patient’s cognitive abilities. Each month we delay admission 

to a long-term care facility is important to the 

family and to the taxpayer. Everybody wants a 

cure; that is our ultimate goal. But even if we 

keep people at home for 1 or 2 more years, to 

help them with their memory, and their activities of daily living, it would be an incredible 

breakthrough. 

Our bill would do three things. First, it would 

strengthen our national commitment to Alzheimer’s research. The legislation doubles the 

funding for Alzheimer’s research at the National 

Institutes of Health from $700 million to $1.4 

billion. We need to give researchers the resources 

they need to make breakthroughs that are on the 

horizon in diagnosis, prevention and intervention. Also, our bill calls for a national summit 

on Alzheimer’s that would bring together the 

best minds to look at priorities for research moving forward. 

Second, our bill provides critical support for 

caregivers. The family is always the first caregiver. The Nation saw what a family of prestige 

and means went through; imagine what other 

American families are going through. The legislation creates a tax credit for families caring for 

a loved one with a chronic condition, like Alzheimer’s, that would help them pay for prescription drugs, home health care and specialized day 

care. Also, it helps create one-stop shops across 

the country so families can find services like respite care, adult day care and training for caregivers. 

Third, our legislation promotes ‘‘News You 

Can Use’’ for families and physicians. Incredible 

advances are being made every day. We need to 

get the word out so families and doctors know 

the most current information. The Alzheimer’s 

Association has been doing a great job with their 

‘‘Maintain Your Brain’’ campaign; however, philanthropic efforts of advocacy groups are not a 

substitute for public policy. Our bill builds on 

these efforts to create an effective public education strategy. 

It is amazing how far we have come. Back in 

the early eighties, Alzheimer’s was a catchall 

term for any kind of memory loss. Today, doctors 

diagnose Alzheimer’s with 90-percent accuracy. 

Every day NIH is making progress to identify 

risks, looking at new kinds of brain scans for appropriate detection, and understanding what this 

disease does to the brain. 

How did we get this far, this fast? With a 

bipartisan commitment of the authorizers and 

appropriators. Together, we have been working 

to increase the funding for the National Institute 

on Aging. In 1998 the National Institute on 
312 Ronald Reagan 

Aging was funded at approximately $500 million. Thanks to our bipartisan effort, it is at $1 

billion. Now is the time to do more. 

My own dear father had Alzheimer’s. I remember when I would go to visit him. It didn’t matter that I was a U.S. Senator; it didn’t matter 

that I could get Nobel Prize winners on the 

phone. The research and treatments didn’t exist 

for my father, for President REAGAN, or for more 

than 4 million families. Alzheimer’s is an allAmerican disease that affected an all-American 

President. Now we need an all-American effort 

to speed up the breakthroughs so no family has 

to go through the long goodbye. 

I urge my colleagues to support this bill and 

move swiftly to enact it into law. 

Hon. Christopher S. Bond 

OF MISSOURI

Mr. President, I rise today to speak of the life, 

leadership and the truly remarkable legacy of the 

40th President of the United States, RONALD

REAGAN. 

President REAGAN was a great communicator 

with a powerful message. He preached the gospel 

of hope, freedom and opportunity not just for 

America but for the world. REAGAN was a genuinely optimistic person who brought that spirit 

of optimism and hope to the American people 

and to enslaved peoples around the world. He 

was a man who took disappointment and moved 

on. He was a man of unfailing good humor, care 

and thoughtfulness. Even people who disagreed 

with his policies across the board could not help 

but like him. 

In the United States, his policies encouraged 

the return of more tax dollars to average Americans and unfettered entrepreneurship to create 

jobs and build the economy. REAGAN’s strong 

military opposition to the Soviet Union helped 

bring down the walls that harbored communism 

and tyranny throughout Eastern Europe and 

much of the world. 

In a letter to the American people in 1994 

RONALD REAGAN announced he was one of the 

millions of Americans with Alzheimer’s disease. 

One of the most courageous things RONALD and 

Nancy REAGAN did was to announce publicly 

that he had Alzheimer’s disease. Through their 

courage and commitment, the former President 

and his wife, Nancy, changed the face of Alzheimer’s disease by increasing public awareness 

of the disease and of the need for research into 

its causes and prevention. 

In honor of RONALD REAGAN, today my colleague Senator Mikulski and I are introducing 

the Ronald Reagan Alzheimer’s Breakthrough 

Act of 2004. This bill will increase research for 

Alzheimer’s and increase assistance to Alzheimer’s patients and their families. This bill 

will serve as a living tribute to President 

REAGAN and will: (1) double funding for Alzheimer’s research at the National Institutes of 

Health; (2) increase funding for the National 

Family Caregiver Support Program from $153 

million to $250 million; (3) reauthorize the Alzheimer’s Demonstration Grant Program that provides grants to States to fill in gaps in Alzheimer’s services such as respite care, home 

health care, and day care; (4) authorize $1 million 

for the Safe Return Program to assist in the identification and safe, timely return of individuals 

with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias 

who wander off from their caregivers; (5) Establish a public education campaign to educate 

members of the public about prevention techniques that can maintain their brain as they age, 

based on the current research being undertaken 

by NIH; (6) establish a $3,000 tax credit for 

caregivers to help with the high health costs of 

caring for a loved one at home; and (7) encourage 

families to prepare for their long-term needs by 

providing an above-the-line tax deduction for the 

purchase of long-term care insurance. 

Ironically it was President REAGAN who drew 

national attention to Alzheimer’s for the very 

first time when he launched a national campaign 

against Alzheimer’s disease some 22 years ago. 

In 1983 President REAGAN proclaimed November as National Alzheimer’s Disease Month. 

In his proclamation President REAGAN said: 

The emotional, financial and social consequences of Alzheimer’s disease are so devastating that it deserves special attention. Science and clinical medicine are striving to improve 

our understanding of what causes Alzheimer’s disease and 

how to treat it successfully. Right now, research is the only 

hope for victims and families. 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 313 

Today, approximately 4.5 million Americans 

have Alzheimer’s, with annual costs for this disease estimated to exceed $100 billion. Today 

there are more than 4.5 million people in the 

United States with Alzheimer’s, and that number 

is expected to grow by 70 percent by 2030 as 

baby boomers age. 

In my home State of Missouri alone, there are 

over 110,000 people with Alzheimer’s disease. 

Based on population growth, unless science finds 

a way to prevent or delay the onset of this disease, that number will increase to over 130,000 

by 2025—that is an 18-percent increase. 

In large part due to President REAGAN, there 

has been enormous progress in Alzheimer’s research—95 percent of what we know we discovered during the past 15 years. There is real potential for major breakthroughs in the next 10 years. 

Baby boomers could be the first generation to 

face a future without Alzheimer’s disease if we 

act now to achieve breakthroughs in science. 

President and Mrs. REAGAN have been leading 

advocates in the fight against Alzheimer’s for 

more than 20 years, and millions of Americans 

have been helped by their dedication, compassion 

and effort to support caregivers, raise public 

awareness about Alzheimer’s disease and increase 

the Nation’s commitment to Alzheimer’s research. 

This bill will serve as a living tribute to President REAGAN and will offer hope to all those 

suffering from the disease today. As we celebrate 

the life and legacy of RONALD REAGAN, we are 

inspired by his legendary optimism and hope, 

and today we move forward to confront this expanding public health crisis with renewed vigor, 

passion, and compassion. 

Thursday, June Üå, áÖÖâ 

Hon. Jeff Sessions 

OF ALABAMA

Mr. President, I thank Chairman Allard for his 

leadership and his expertise. He is becoming perhaps the most authoritative Member of the Senate on this issue. He has worked on national missile defense since he has been in the Senate. It 

is great to work with him. 

We do need to do the right thing. We have 

committed as a country to deploy a national missile defense system. We voted to deploy that system as soon as technologically feasible. That was 

back in the nineties, and President Clinton 

signed the statute we passed. I believe it got 90- 

plus votes in the Senate. Although there were a 

lot of people who were opposed to it until the 

very end, in the end everybody realized that we 

needed to defend America, and we had the capability of doing so. 

There has been a cottage industry of skeptics 

out there that has made fun of President 

REAGAN. They called his vision for national missile defense star wars. Then when President 

REAGAN said no to Gorbachev’s proposal in Reykjavik, which accepted so many of the things 

President REAGAN wanted so badly but told 

President REAGAN he would have to stop national missile defense, he thought about that very 

hard on the eve of the reelection campaign. He 

knew he would be criticized, but he said, No; 

national missile defense is important to America. 

It was important to peace in the world because, 

instead of worrying about how many of the 

enemy we could kill, we could begin focusing 

on how to protect our people from being killed 

by missile attacks. It was a defining moment in 

the cold war. One expert recently said that was 

the moment that signaled the end of the Soviet 

Union. 

Hon. William H. Frist 

OF TENNESSEE

Mr. President, I would like to take a moment 

to thank all of the dedicated members of the Sen-
314 Ronald Reagan 

ate family who poured their hearts into making 

President REAGAN’s final journey to the Nation’s 

Capitol a dignified and fitting tribute. 

Lawmakers and dignitaries from all corners of 

the globe, Supreme Court justices, Federal officials and hundreds of thousands of citizens made 

their way to the rotunda last week to pay their 

final respects to our 40th President. 

It was a solemn and stately event. Each moment radiated a sense of history. I would like to 

thank some of the Senate individuals whose hard 

work made last week possible: (1) Sergeant at 

Arms Bill Pickle; his deputy, Keith Kennedy; 

protocol officer, Becky Daugherty; Capitol information officer, Laura Parker; and the Sergeant at 

Arms staff; (2) Alan Hantman, the Architect of 

the Capitol, and the Capitol Superintendent, Carlos Elias; (3) Terry Gainer and the Capitol Police 

who, under extraordinary pressure, maintained 

security with discretion and consideration; (4) 

Emily Reynolds, the Secretary of the Senate; her 

deputy, Mary Suit Jones; and their hard-working 

staff; (5) The Senate Chaplain, Pastor Barry C. 

Black whose sonorous and reflective tributes captured the public’s love for President REAGAN; (6) 

All of the volunteers who handed out bereavement cards to the public, manned the condolence 

booths, and handed out water to the thousands 

of visitors waiting patiently to see the President; 

and (7) The Capitol Guide service which worked 

round the clock. 

My sincere thanks also go to Chairman Lott 

and Senator Dodd. Their steady leadership over 

the proceedings was crucial. 

Likewise, the President of the Senate and the 

President pro tempore presided over the Senate 

on this momentous occasion with dignity and 

distinction. 

I also wish to extend my thanks to my colleagues in the House of Representatives. 

Throughout, both Chambers worked closely and 

patiently to carry out a tribute that I think all 

would agree properly reflected and celebrated 

President REAGAN’s extraordinary legacy. 

I specifically thank: (1) The Speaker and his 

dedicated staff; (2) The House Sergeant at Arms 

and Doorkeeper, Bill Livingood; (3) The House 

chief administrative officer, Jay Eagen; (4) The 

Clerk of the House, Jeff Trandahl; and (5) The 

House Chaplain, Reverend Daniel P. Coughlin. 

His stirring remarks are now a part of America’s 

history. 

Finally, to the Reagan family: Through a bleak 

and solemn weeklong procession, their love and 

respect for RONALD REAGAN was a beacon to us 

all. The Reagan family showed an uncommon 

dignity and grace that raised us up and touched 

our hearts. 

We will never forget their love. And we will 

never forget how RONNIE loved his Nancy, and 

how hard it was for her, even at the very last, 

to let him go. 

Thank you to the Reagan family. And thank 

you to the man who led us so well and loved 

his country so deeply—RONALD WILSON

REAGAN, 40th President of the United States. 

Monday, June áÜ, áÖÖâ 

Hon. Jon Kyl 

OF ARIZONA

Let me read what very recently, just before the 

Reagan funeral, Gennady Gerasimov, spokesman 

for the former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, 

had to say: 

I see President REAGAN as a gravedigger of the Soviet 

Union and the spade that he used to prepare this grave was 

SDI, the Strategic Defense Initiative, so-called ‘‘star wars.’’ 

The trick was that the Soviet leadership believed that this 

SDI defense is possible and then, because it’s possible, then 

also we must catch up with the Americans. And this was 

an invitation to the arms race and the Soviet economy could 

not really afford it. In this way REAGAN really contributed 

to the demise of the Soviet Union. 

It worked. President REAGAN was not bluffing. He meant to deploy this system. At Rey-
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 315 

kjavik, when Gorbachev said, ‘‘We can make this 

arms deal we have been talking about, if you will 

do one more thing. If you will stop development 

of your SDI Program, we have a deal.’’ 

President REAGAN thought about it overnight, came back the next morning and said, ‘‘I 

am sorry. The United States is going to proceed 

with missile defense.’’ 

Gorbachev knew at that moment it was over. 

They could not compete with us, and it wasn’t 

obviously worth the effort to try to do so because 

they knew the technology of the United States 

could produce a defense against the only real 

weapon that the Soviet Union had that could defeat us, and that was the ballistic missile. 

Thursday, June áâ, áÖÖâ 

Hon. William H. Frist 

OF TENNESSEE

Mr. President, the hour is late, and I know 

we will be wrapping up in about 30 minutes or 

so. There is a lot of business with the recess tomorrow—and we will be in tomorrow—and we 

will be wrapping up tonight. It will take a while 

to wrap up. 

Thus, I would like to take a few minutes to 

come to the floor and take advantage of the time 

to talk about the fascinating trip I had the opportunity and the privilege to take about 3 weeks 

ago. I had the privilege of traveling to Normandy, France, to celebrate the 60th anniversary 

of the D-day landings. 

That same week, as my colleagues know, we 

suspended business on the floor of the Senate to 

pay tribute to President RONALD REAGAN— 

again, a wonderful week in that the messages 

were delivered and the tributes were shared. 

In the midst of that, however, I did not have 

the opportunity to share with my colleagues 

some of my experiences from the D-day celebration in Normandy, France, and thus I would like 

to take this opportunity to do that. 

I took this particular journey with two of our 

colleagues, Senator Bob Bennett and Senator 

John Ensign. The three of us had a truly extraordinary experience. We spent the previous 2 days 

in Baghdad, Iraq, and in Kuwait, and then flew 

from Baghdad to the United States-French binational ceremony at Omaha Beach. 

Back in 1944, in the thick of war, Fortress Europe was the strongest at this point, reinforced 

with layers of obstacles, mines, and gun positions 

with hardened bunkers. Some of those structures 

are still there today. You can see the remnants 

of others. These remnants stand today almost as 

ghostly reminders of those battles that I had the 

opportunity to hear described first-hand by the 

veterans who had come back for the celebration. 

At Normandy, Nazi forces were commanded, 

as we all know, by none other than Field Marshal 

Erwin Rommel, the ‘‘Desert Fox’’ of North Africa fame who was regarded as the finest, the very 

best field commander in the German Army. He 

won practically every battle he enjoined. His defenses were considered impenetrable. 

In the early morning of June 6, 1944—of 

course, that was the day so many years later that 

we were there—American soldiers, mainly from 

the 1st Infantry Division and 29th Infantry Division, landed at that beach we visited now several 

weeks ago. They were supported by the Army 

Air Force flying over and naval gunfire. They 

struggled forward inch by inch, out of boats up 

the beach, as fellow soldiers were literally cut 

down one by one, wounded, and killed in this 

hail of enemy gunfire. 

We have all read about what went on at that 

beach, but to have that opportunity to hear firsthand, as we walked along the ridge above that 

beach, from people who were there. Many of 

them had not talked a lot—at least they said 

they had not talked a lot about their experience. 

They seemed to open up as we were there. Many 

of them were there at the age of 16, 17, 18, or 

19 years of age. And they all described the battle 

raging. Body counts swelled, and many expressed 
316 Ronald Reagan 

doubt that they would succeed—they described 

it as such—that every second seemed like an 

eternity. 

It was clear that in spite of all this, soldiers, 

through boldness and through courage, persevered. 

Further down the beach, the U.S. Army Rangers had scaled the cliffs at Pointe du Hoc and 

knocked out the German artillery positions that 

were there to disrupt any invasion force. 

By the end of that blood-soaked day, our 

American boys had pierced that Atlantic wall. 

They seized their objectives. And, as history 

would prove, because we had the opportunity to 

celebrate, they launched the liberation of Europe. 

Thousands of American soldiers perished in 

those few hours. Their heroism today is marked 

by the familiar pictures today with television and 

C–SPAN and video—the familiar pictures of all 

of those white crosses against that green grass 

and the stars of David, all in very neat rows. 

Wherever you stand, you see them lined up parallel, horizontally and vertically, or diagonally. 

Wherever you stand, the symmetry jumps out at 

you. It goes on for acres and acres. I have no 

idea how big it is. But these crosses go on for 

acres. 

There is a little path where the beach is right 

below. You can walk along these winding paths 

of the cemetery. As you do so—especially, I 

think on this day, when the sky was bright blue, 

the white crosses, the green grass—there were 

veterans by the hundreds and, indeed, by the 

thousands with their family members, with, obviously, their daughters, sons, grandchildren, and 

great-grandchildren huddling around them as 

they walked along those paths. One could not 

help but admire their bravery, their boldness at 

a time in their life when they were very young, 

at a time they had to be uncertain; they were 

far away from home, fighting a ruthless enemy. 

Each cross and each star, obviously, represents a 

young man, a young person who died on June 

6, 1944, defending his country. 

The crowds would gather as we were there. 

A lot of people had come in. There was a lot 

of security at the gathering to hear President 

Bush and President Chirac. As the crowd gathered, we were seated amidst the sea of veterans. 

Usually they put the officials in one or two rows, 

separated, but, no, you would sit in the audience 

surrounded by scores and scores of veterans. 

A few minutes ago I called Congressman Charlie Rangel to talk about another bill we will be 

talking about later tonight. In that conversation 

I was reminded of the fact that 2 weeks ago he 

was there. He called me over to meet several veterans from New York. There was another 

woman, Grace Bender, a neighbor of mine in 

Washington, DC. I had no idea I would see her 

there. She was there a few rows away with her 

father, of whom she was clearly so proud. 

The veterans were gathering with their buddies and with their family members, with their 

shipmates, with their fellow crewmen. Even after 

60 years, they clearly regarded these colleagues, 

these comrades in arms, as brothers, bonds forged 

over that period of a day, weeks, and those 

months in the midst of this war. 

I vividly remember standing for the national 

anthem. As we all stood up, the first people on 

their feet were those veterans, the ‘‘greatest generation.’’ They were the first to stand. I also 

noted, they were the ones who would be singing 

the loudest. They seemed to stand the tallest. 

Their love of country clearly had even grown over 

time. 

President Bush spoke and delivered captivating remarks. President Chirac also delivered 

stirring remarks. They both recounted specific 

moments and acts of heroism on D-day. We honored those who gathered and we paid tribute to 

those who were no longer with us, the soldiers 

and the sailors and the airmen who had made 

that ultimate sacrifice for the cause of freedom. 

The ceremony ended with a ceremony of honor 

guards. Again, my heart filled with awe and admiration to be able to walk with those veterans 

on that D-day celebration. They were then, and 

they clearly remain today, true heroes. 

After the ceremony, my colleagues and I 

boarded a bus to the town of Bayeaux, a small 

French village that was spared the heavy fighting 

and bombing on D-day and of the weeks that 

followed. As we rode the bus through the countryside, we passed through beautiful green fields, 

hedgerows, and small towns of the French countryside that were showered in 1944 by the American paratroopers of the 101st and the 82d Air-
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 317 

borne Divisions, the night before those Normandy landings. 

I specifically mention the 101st because this 

past weekend I had the opportunity to be in 

Clarksville, TN, and Fort Campbell, KY, and 

had the opportunity to witness an air show in 

which the 101st Airborne participated. You can 

see dramatically their training exercises. 

While I was in Kentucky last week, again, I 

was thinking back to what happened in 1944 

when these paratroopers of the 101st and 82d Airborne Divisions paratrooped in the night before. 

Thousands of those paratroopers, as we all know, 

were killed. Many of them drowned. Many were 

wounded that night. Many were wounded on the 

jump itself. The mission was specifically to jump 

behind enemy lines to distract the Nazis and 

seize important strategic or key terrain and to 

disrupt the Nazi reinforcements. Their heroism 

and success were ultimately crucial to the allied 

victories at Omaha Beach, at Juno, at Sword, and 

at Gold. 

When we arrived in Bayeaux, we were greeted 

by the president of the French senate. We had 

the opportunity to have lunch there with 33 

members of their senate. We also met with the 

town mayor, and many of the town citizens came 

out to speak of this. I don’t speak French, but 

as I went over to the side and shook hands and 

introduced myself to an interpreter, immediately 

a smile came on their faces with an expression 

of appreciation and thanks. 

Among the people we had the opportunity to 

meet were many survivors of war who had been 

small children at the time of the occupation. 

They did recall D-day and the American GIs who 

liberated their villages. 

They treated us to a wonderful luncheon that 

day and, once again, representing America as officials, U.S. Senators from America, we were 

showered with praise and thanks, as well as a 

promise of continued friendship and alliance. 

This was a group of French senators, so I did 

not expect that at the time, but that is what we 

received. 

Our final event for the day was also very special. It was the multinational ceremony at 

Arromanches. We were joined by gatherings of 

heads of state from around the world, senior officials from countries around the world, and a 

number of our allied nations. We watched a 

whole range of demonstrations by various multinational military marching units. We had flyovers occur where a number of these nations 

demonstrated the very best of their aircraft in 

precision flights overhead. They had a wonderful 

multimedia presentation that combined the best 

of dance and video and audio to recount that history of World War II with a very special focus 

on Normandy. 

During the final ceremony of the day, in 

which President Chirac delivered remarks, we 

did have the opportunity to reflect on those larger contours of the war and how America and her 

allies united to defeat tyranny and oppression. 

As we sat among the survivors of D-day and 

as we listened to America’s veterans recount their 

fears and exploits, I could not help but draw 

comparisons between the veterans of World War 

II and our proud troops serving abroad today, the 

very same troops which 2 days prior my colleagues and I had the opportunity to visit in 

Baghdad and Kuwait. The parallel is there, not 

just because of the temporal relationship, but because of both groups’ commitment to freedom 

and democracy and to a better life for others. 

America was blessed in World War II on that 

June 6, so long ago, yet so close, as it is now, 

to have the very same soldiers who have that 

strong character, who have that courage, that 

boldness, and that determination. Young patriots, then, as now, answered the call of duty, and 

through their bravery and through their selfless 

determination, they fought and they won the 

battle for freedom and security. 

It was these traits that inspired a whole succession of American Presidents, including the late 

President REAGAN to whom we paid tribute 2 

weeks ago. He believed in a Europe and a world 

whole and free of the shadow of communism. 

The ‘‘greatest generation’’ threat involved nazism 

and fascism. For nearly 50 years, America confronted another hegemonic ideology, that being 

communism. Under the leadership and vision of 

President REAGAN, we emerged from the cold 

war victorious and, as Margaret Thatcher rightly 

reminds us, without firing a single shot. 

Today, we do fight a different enemy, but one 

that is no less ruthless, no less determined, no 
318 Ronald Reagan 

less uncompromising than our enemies of those 

wars past. 

Once again, we must stay the course. Once 

again, we must have faith in our Armed Forces. 

Once again, we must hold tightly to the belief 

that freedom will prevail. That is our challenge. 

That is our calling. And I truly believe, like generations before us, we will look evil squarely in 

the eye, and we will not flinch, we will not run. 

We will gather up our courage to press forward 

and defeat the forces of terror and secure the 

blessings of democracy. 

Friday, June áä, áÖÖâ 

Hon. William H. Frist 

OF TENNESSEE

Madam President, the Senate has been busy 

over the past 4 weeks. I thought I would take 

a few moments to look back and then look ahead 

a bit. 

The 1 week I left out of the last 4 weeks is 

the week we spent in tribute to RONALD

REAGAN, where we recognized the life and legacy of one of America’s greatest Presidents. A little over 2 weeks ago, we paid our final respects 

to President RONALD WILSON REAGAN. Over 

the course of the week, we had the opportunity 

to mourn the passing of this great American 

leader but also to celebrate the values for which 

he stood. There were countless tributes paid to 

President REAGAN, his beloved wife Nancy, and 

to the entire REAGAN family. All of those tributes helped us celebrate the memory of this optimistic, bold, and compassionate President. 

World and national leaders filed through this 

building, the Nation’s Capitol, down the hallway 

behind me, to pay respects as the President lay 

in state. We had the opportunity to welcome 

many of those world and national leaders, but 

what was truly remarkable to me was to be able 

to be in my office or in the hallway and see the 

hundreds and then the thousands and then the 

tens of thousands of ordinary, regular, hardworking Americans who came to the Nation’s 

Capital from all around the country, people who 

would drive hundreds, indeed thousands, of 

miles. People would get on an airplane and arrive 

at 10 at night to stand in line for 4 or 5 hours 

to pay their respects. 

Throughout the week, our shining Capital 

City united peoples throughout the world, both 

those who could be here, those who watched on 

television, those who read the newspapers, and 

those who heard it on the radio. It united the 

American people and the world peoples in a way 

that is very rare. Indeed, it is the sense of national and global community that embodied the 

legacy of the 40th President, and though we said 

goodbye to the man, we carry forward his relentless faith in those values of freedom and democracy. 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 319 

Wednesday, July áÖ, áÖÖâ 

Hon. Tom Daschle 

OF SOUTH DAKOTA

Mr. President, 60 years ago Franklin Roosevelt 

gave one of the most memorable State of the 

Union speeches in our history. 

As he spoke, Germany occupied all of Europe. 

Americans were dying in battle abroad and sacrificing for the war effort at home. 

Total victory was uncertain. But that did not 

diminish President Roosevelt’s optimism and vision. 

In his address, he said the Nation had accepted 

a Second Bill of Rights that, he said, would create ‘‘a new basis of security’’ for all. 

In this Second Bill of Rights, President Roosevelt cited the right to a decent home, a good 

education, and dependable health care; the right 

to fair prices for farmers and free competition for 

business; and the right to be free of the fears of 

hardship caused by old age. But first, and most 

fundamental, he called for the right to work for 

a fair wage. 

Our country should be proud of the extraordinary progress we have made in many of these 

areas. Together we have made our country better, 

stronger, and more secure. There is, though, 

more work to be done, and today I want to focus 

on President Roosevelt’s call for a fair wage. 

No value is more fundamental to the American character than the value of work. No ideal 

is shared so widely or cherished so deeply. 

No principle binds us more closely to the generations of Americans who built up our country, 

and the millions of new Americans who came to 

our shores to join in the effort. And no conviction so unites the conservative and liberal traditions of our Nation. 

RONALD REAGAN once said that: 

People in America value family, work, and neighborhood. 

These are the things we have in common socially and politically. When it comes to the bottom line, all of us are striving 

for the same thing—a strong and healthy America and a fair 

shake for working people. 

There is a fundamental American truth in 

those words—working people deserve a fair 

shake. It has always been the promise of our 

country, and as we debate legislation here in the 

Senate, we should do all we can to give life to 

that promise. 

We should make certain that no American 

who works full time lives in poverty. Unfortunately, the gap between promise and reality is 

widening. Among full-time, year-round workers, 

poverty has doubled since the late seventies to 

2.6 million workers. All told, the working poor 

are raising 9 million American children. 

Moreover, as recent work by the Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Project shows, the level of 

income it now takes just to pay the basic bills 

is far above what we consider to be the poverty 

line. No working American wants a handout. 

These families are playing by the rules. But as 

hard as they work, they cannot escape the grip 

of poverty. 

A few weeks ago a Sioux Falls family sent me 

a letter. The father works 56 hours a week as a 

skilled welder. His wife is a substitute teacher 

who only works part time so she can care for her 

son, who suffers from autism and diabetes. They 

live in a 20-year-old mobile home that has sinking floors and a leaking ceiling. They wrote: 

We are facing possible foreclosure. Lights, heat, phone, etc. 

are all 60-plus days past due and on the verge of disconnection. . . . Medical bills have been turned over to a collection 

agency. 

Their final question was: ‘‘Now what?’’ 

They feel trapped. Since they can’t afford insurance, their son’s medical bills have erased 

their savings and destroyed their credit. Without 

good credit, interest payments eat up much of 

their income. And without affordable child care, 

the family’s mom can’t shift to full-time work, 

which could help lift them out of poverty. 

They are working as hard as they can and want 

to work even harder. But that doesn’t seem to 

be enough. They are farther away from President 

Roosevelt’s vision today than when they first 

wrote to me. It’s in our national interest not to 

look away from this difficult problem, but to face 

it squarely and honestly. 

If the people who work hard don’t get a fair 

shake, then our Nation risks losing an essential 

value that has contributed to America’s excel-
320 Ronald Reagan 

lence and ongoing success. We cannot let that 

happen. We should not kid ourselves and pretend this is an easy problem. It is not. It is enormously complicated. But there are things we can 

and must do. 

First, it is important that American business 

leaders live up to their responsibility as good corporate citizens and share the benefits of increased 

productivity with their workers, not just their 

shareholders. The chief economist at Merrill 

Lynch recently noted that there’s been a notable 

‘‘redistribution of income to the corporate sector.’’ While salaries have remained flat over the 

past 4 years, corporate profits now occupy a 

greater share of our GDP than at any point since 

tracking began nearly 60 years ago. We are moving in the wrong direction, and leaders in the 

private sector have a responsibility to help us 

move back in the right direction. 

Here in Congress, we also have a responsibility 

to address the problems confronting the working 

poor, and we should start by requiring a long 

overdue increase in the minimum wage. Today, 

the minimum wage of $5.15 per hour is worth 

$3 less than it was in 1968. Americans who work 

at the minimum wage for 40 hours a week, 52 

weeks a year, still fall $5,000 short of the poverty 

line. That means, as the Sioux Falls family 

knows, that adequate housing, enough food to 

eat, health insurance, and college funds are the 

stuff of fantasy, not reality. In the time we have 

left this year, we should increase the minimum 

wage to $7. That won’t solve all our problems, 

but it is a beginning. 

We should also revisit the earned income tax 

credit. It was created 20 years ago as an incentive 

to help working families lift themselves out of 

poverty through hard work. President REAGAN

called it the ‘‘best anti-poverty, the best pro-family, the best job creation measure to come out 

of Congress.’’ I agree. Now we need to expand 

it, so that every American child grows up seeing 

that work is rewarded and respected. 

We should also make sure all families receive 

their fair share of the child tax credit. Extending 

the credit to all working families would restore 

a basic level of fairness and offer millions of 

working families the same child tax credit given 

to those higher up the income ladder. 

We must also acknowledge that despite the 

many benefits of globalization, it has placed 

downward pressure on low-income wages. We 

won’t make progress if our wages fall faster than 

the prices for the products we need. 

‘‘What do the American people want more 

than anything else?’’ President Roosevelt asked 

in 1944. 

This was his answer: 

To my mind, they want two things: work, with all the 

moral and spiritual values that go with it; and with work, 

a reasonable measure of security. . . . Work and security. 

These are more than words. They are more than facts. They 

are the spiritual values, the true goal toward which our efforts 

should lead. 

That was the challenge 60 years ago, and it 

remains a central challenge today. It is, as President Roosevelt said, ‘‘our duty.’’ 

I hope we can all join together to make that 

vision a reality for millions of hard-working and 

honest Americans. 

Hon. Orrin G. Hatch 

OF UTAH

In a July 1, 2004 article entitled ‘‘RONALD

REAGAN, Sagebrush Rebel, Rest in Peace,’’ William Pendley of the Mountain States Legal Foundation wrote: ‘‘I am, former Governor RONALD

REAGAN proclaimed in 1980, ‘a Sagebrush 

Rebel.’ ’’ 

Now, at his hearing jto be nominated to be 

a U.S. circuit court judge for the Ninth Circuitk, 

Bill Myers was attacked merely for having used 

this same term, in an advocacy piece he wrote 

for his farming and ranching clients. In fact, he 

was mocked at this hearing, and after it, for 

merely channeling the concerns of his clients, 

who, like RONALD REAGAN, considered themselves ‘‘Sagebrush Rebels.’’ 

Mr. Pendley’s article goes on: 

When RONALD REAGAN was sworn in, he became the first 

president since the birth of the modern environmental movement a decade before to have seen, first hand, the impact 

of excessive federal environmental regulation on the ability 

of state governments to perform their constitutional functions; of local governments to sustain healthy economies; and 

of private citizens to use their own property. . . . REAGAN

thought federal agencies in the West should be ‘‘good neighbors.’’ Therefore, REAGAN returned control of western water 
Memorial Tributes in the Senate 321 

rights to the states, where they had been from the time gold 

was panned in California until Jimmy Carter took office. 

REAGAN sought to ensure that Western states received the 

lands that they had been guaranteed when they entered the 

Union. REAGAN responded to the desire of western governors 

that the people of their states be made a part of the environmental equation by being included in federal land use planning. 

I would also like to note that REAGAN criticized ‘‘excessive’’ regulation, not any regulation 

at all—neither Bill Myers nor anyone else thinks 

there is no role for the Federal Government in 

environmental regulation. And Bill Myers emphasized this at his hearing, in response to very 

hostile questioning by Democratic Senators: 

A centralized government—i.e. Congress—has 

an important role to play in environmental protection. And the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air 

Act—there are probably 70 environmental statutes that give evidence to that truth. 

But the Reagan approach, which is also the 

Bush Interior Department’s approach, which Bill 

Myers did his best to defend, is inimical to the 

environmental activist groups that oppose Mr. 

Myers’ nomination. Any attempt to give the people who actually make their living on and around 

Western lands a stake in how those lands are regulated is violently opposed by these groups. And 

then these groups label their enemies ‘‘enemies 

of the environment,’’ or ‘‘friends of polluters.’’ It 

is unfortunate that such labels are uncritically accepted by some Senators, and because these liberal groups have similarly labeled Bill Myers, he 

won’t get the up or down vote he deserves. 

Thursday, July áá, áÖÖâ 

Hon. Richard J. Durbin 

OF ILLINOIS

As we mourn the passing of President RONALD REAGAN, all Americans should recall his vision of our Nation as a ‘‘shining city upon a 

hill.’’ Here is what President REAGAN said about 

the shining city and immigration: 

If there have to be city walls, the walls have doors and 

the doors are open to anyone with the will and the heart 

to get here. . . . The city is a beacon a magnet for all who 

must have freedom, for all pilgrims from all the lost places 

who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home. 

Like me, President REAGAN was the son of an 

immigrant. We had very different political philosophies, but President REAGAN understood the 

importance of immigrants to our great country. 

AUTHORIZING PRINTING OF A COMMEMORATIVE 

DOCUMENT 

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous 

consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate 

consideration of S. Con. Res. 135, which is at the 

desk. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will 

report the concurrent resolution by title. 

The legislative clerk read as follows: 

A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 135) authorizing the 

printing of a commemorative document in memory of the 

late President of the United States, RONALD WILSON

REAGAN. 

There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the concurrent resolution. 

Hon. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous 

consent that the concurrent resolution be agreed 

to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the 

table, and that any statements relating to the 

concurrent resolution be printed in the Record. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. 

The concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 135) 

was agreed to, as follows: 

S. CON. RES. 135 

Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 

SECTION ". COMMEMORATIVE DOCUMENT AUTHORIZED. 

A commemorative document in memory of the late President of the United States, RONALD WILSON REAGAN, consisting of the eulogies and encomiums for RONALD WILSON

REAGAN, as expressed in the Senate and the House of Representatives, together with the texts of the state funeral ceremony at the United States Capitol Rotunda, the national funeral service held at the Washington National Cathedral, 

Washington, District of Columbia, and the interment cere-
322 Ronald Reagan 

mony at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Simi Valley, 

California, shall be printed as a Senate document, with illustrations and suitable binding. 

SEC. #. PRINTING OF DOCUMENT. 

In addition to the usual number of copies printed, there 

shall be printed the lesser of— 

(1) 32,500 copies of the commemorative document, of 

which 22,150 copies shall be for the use of the House of Representatives and 10,350 copies shall be for the use of the Senate; or 

(2) such number of copies of the commemorative document 

that does not exceed a production and printing cost of 

$1,000,000, with distribution of the copies to be allocated 

in the same proportion as described in paragraph (1). 

Wednesday, September áé, áÖÖâ 

MESSAGES FROM THE HOUSE 

At 3:56 p.m., a message from the House of 

Representatives, delivered by Ms. Niland, one of 

its reading clerks, announced that the House has 

passed the following bill, in which it requests 

the concurrence of the Senate: 

S. Con. Res. 135. Concurrent resolution authorizing the printing of a commemorative document 

in memory of the late President of the United 

States, RONALD WILSON REAGAN. 

Sunday, October ÜÖ, áÖÖâ 

AUTHORIZING PRINTING OF COMMEMORATIVE 

DOCUMENT IN MEMORY OF LATE PRESIDENT 

RONALD WILSON REAGAN 

Mr. FRIST. I ask that the Chair now lay before 

the Senate the House message to accompany S. 

Con. Res. 135, providing for the printing of a 

commemorative document honoring former 

President REAGAN. 

The President pro tempore laid before the Senate a message from the House, as follows: 

Resolved, That the resolution from the Senate (S. Con. Res. 

135) entitled ‘‘Concurrent resolution authorizing the printing 

of a commemorative document in memory of the late President of the United States, RONALD WILSON REAGAN’’, do 

pass with the following amendment: 

Page 1, beginning on line 13, strike jSenate document, 

with illustrations and suitable bindingk and insert ‘‘House 

document, with illustrations and suitable binding, under the 

direction of the Joint Committee on Printing’’. 

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that the 

Senate concur in the House amendment and the 

motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and 

any statements relating to the concurrent resolution be printed in the Record. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered. 
I N D E X 

325 

Memorial Tributes in the House of Representatives of the United States 

Aderholt, Robert B., of Alabama: 

Address, 112 

Remarks 

Ronald Reagan at an Ecumenical Prayer Breakfast in 

Dallas, TX, August 23, 1984, 112 

Akin, W. Todd, of Missouri, address, 117 

Alexander, Rodney, of Louisiana, address, 19 

Appointment of Members To Attend the Funeral, 159 

Baca, Joe, of California, address, 50 

Barrett, J. Gresham, of South Carolina, address, 94 

Barton, Joe, of Texas, address, 32 

Becerra, Xavier, of California, address, 149 

Berkley, Shelley, of Nevada, address, 65 

Biggert, Judy, of Illinois, address, 42 

Bilirakis, Michael, of Florida, address, 134 

Blackburn, Marsha, of Tennessee, address, 46 

Blumenauer, Earl, of Oregon, address, 33 

Blunt, Roy, of Missouri, address, 13 

Boehlert, Sherwood, of New York, address, 31 

Boehner, John A., of Ohio, addresses, 109, 175 

Bonilla, Henry, of Texas: 

Addresses, 155, 160 

Letter from Robert L. DuPont, MD, et al., 160 

Bonner, Jo, of Alabama, address, 156 

Bono, Mary, of California, address, 127 

Bordallo, Madeleine Z., of Guam, address, 48 

Bradley, Jeb, of New Hampshire, address, 139 

Brady, Kevin, of Texas, address, 125 

Brown, Henry E., Jr., of South Carolina, address, 97 

Brown-Waite, Ginny, of Florida, addresses, 52, 121 

Burgess, Michael C., of Texas, addresses, 66, 88, 149 

Burns, Max, of Georgia, address, 120 

Burr, Richard, of North Carolina, address, 115 

Burton, Dan, of Indiana, address, 101 

Buyer, Steve, of Indiana, address, 103 

Calvert, Ken, of California, address, 37 

Cannon, Chris, of Utah, address, 145 

Cantor, Eric, of Virginia, address, 117 

Capito, Shelley Moore, of West Virginia, address, 110 

Capps, Lois, of California, address, 154 

Cardin, Benjamin L., of Maryland, address, 87 

Carter, John R., of Texas, addresses, 93 

Castle, Michael N., of Delaware, address, 157 

Chocola, Chris, of Indiana, address, 38 

Cole, Tom, of Oklahoma, address, 98 

Collins, Mac, of Georgia, address, 135 

Communication from the Clerk of the House, 6 

Costello, Jerry F., of Illinois, address, 146 

Cox, Christopher, of California, addresses, 71, 95, 123 

Crane, Philip M., of Illinois, address, 111 

Crenshaw, Ander, of Florida, address, 129 

Cubin, Barbara, of Wyoming, address, 81 

Cunningham, Randy ‘‘Duke,’’ of California, addresses, 19, 57, 

171 

Davis, Artur, of Alabama, address, 105 

Davis, Danny K., of Illinois, address, 13 

Davis, Lincoln, of Tennessee, address, 81 

Davis, Tom, of Virginia, address, 62 

DeLay, Tom, of Texas, address, 7 

Diaz-Balart, Lincoln, of Florida, addresses, 50, 94 

Diaz-Balart, Mario, of Florida, address, 68 

Dreier, David, of California: 

Addresses, 3, 24 

Tribute by George P. Shultz, 3 

Duncan, John J., Jr., of Tennessee, address, 67 

Ehlers, Vernon J., of Michigan, addresses, 67, 68 

Emanuel, Rahm, of Illinois, address, 102 

Emerson, Jo Ann, of Missouri, address, 84 

Engel, Eliot L., of New York, address, 61 

Etheridge, Bob, of North Carolina, address, 104 

Everett, Terry, of Alabama, address, 90 

Faleomavaega, Eni F.H., of American Samoa, address, 57 

Feeney, Tom, of Florida, address, 88 

Ferguson, Mike, of New Jersey, address, 105 

Flake, Jeff, of Arizona, address, 109 

Foley, Mark, of Florida, address, 64 

Forbes, J. Randy, of Virginia, address, 93 

Ford, Harold E., Jr., of Tennessee, address, 150 

Franks, Trent, of Arizona, addresses, 46, 175 

Frelinghuysen, Rodney P., of New Jersey, address, 150 

Frost, Martin, of Texas, address, 81 

Gallegly, Elton, of California, address, 14 

Garrett, Scott, of New Jersey, address, 89 

Gibbons, Jim, of Nevada, address, 92 

Gilchrest, Wayne T., of Maryland, address, 87 

Gingrey, Phil, of Georgia, address, 34 

Goode, Virgil H., Jr., of Virginia, address, 44 

Goodlatte, Bob, of Virginia, address, 30 

Granger, Kay, of Texas, address, 45 

Graves, Sam, of Missouri, address, 120 

Green, Gene, of Texas, address, 49 

Green, Mark, of Wisconsin, address, 88 

Gutknecht, Gil, of Minnesota, address, 77 

Hall, Ralph M., of Texas, address, 29 

Harman, Jane, of California, address, 61 

Harris, Katherine, of Florida, address, 91 

Hart, Melissa A., of Pennsylvania, address, 28 

Hastert, J. Dennis, of Illinois, address, 10 

Hastings, Doc, of Washington, address, 91 

Hayes, Robin, of North Carolina, addresses, 38, 164 

Hayworth, J.D., of Arizona: 

Addresses, 77, 164 

Article from Free Press, 1997, 164 

Hefley, Joel, of Colorado, address, 66 

Hensarling, Jeb, of Texas, address, 41 

Herger, Wally, of California, address, 23 

Herseth, Stephanie, of South Dakota, 103 

Hill, Baron P., of Indiana, address, 76 

Hobson, David L., of Ohio, address, 138 

Hoekstra, Peter, of Michigan, address, 59 

Holden, Tim, of Pennsylvania, address, 50 

Holt, Rush D., of New Jersey, address, 122 

Hooley, Darlene, of Oregon, address, 82 

Hostettler, John N., of Indiana, address, 120 

House Concurrent Resolution 444, 68 

House Resolution 663, 7 

House Resolution 664, 11 

Hoyer, Steny H., of Maryland, address, 16 

Hunter, Duncan, of California, addresses, 39, 162, 164 

Hyde, Henry J., of Illinois, address, 75 

Isakson, Johnny, of Georgia, address, 92 

Israel, Steve, of New York, address, 24 

Issa, Darrell E., of California, addresses, 27, 51, 172 

Istook, Ernest J., Jr., of Oklahoma, address, 129 
326 Ronald Reagan 

Jackson-Lee, Sheila, of Texas, address, 20 

Jenkins, William L., of Tennessee, address, 140 

Johnson, Timothy V., of Illinois, address, 142 

Kennedy, Mark R., of Minnesota, address, 104 

Kildee, Dale E., of Michigan, address, 137 

Kind, Ron, of Wisconsin, address, 111 

King, Steve, of Iowa, address, 52 

Kingston, Jack, of Georgia, address, 122 

Kline, John, of Minnesota, address, 90 

Kolbe, Jim, of Arizona, address, 58 

Larson, John B., of Connecticut, address, 71 

Latham, Tom, of Iowa, address, 132 

Leach, James A., of Iowa, address, 147 

Lewis, Jerry, of California, addresses, 11, 13, 23, 29, 31, 37, 

41, 47 

Lewis, Ron, of Kentucky, address, 119 

Linder, John, of Georgia, address, 35 

Lipinski, William O., of Illinois, address, 147 

Matheson, Jim, of Utah, address, 75 

McCarthy, Karen, of Missouri, address, 137 

McCollum, Betty, of Minnesota, address, 153 

McCotter, Thaddeus G., of Michigan, address, 114 

McDermott, Jim, of Washington, address, 169 

McGovern, James P., of Massachusetts, address, 119 

McNulty, Michael R., of New York, address, 107 

Meehan, Martin T., of Massachusetts, address, 145 

Meek, Kendrick B., of Florida, address, 130 

Menendez, Robert, of New Jersey, address, 159 

Message from the President of the United States, 7 

Michaud, Michael H., of Maine, address, 154 

Millender-McDonald, Juanita, of California, address, 69 

Miller, Candice S., of Michigan, address, 110 

Miller, Gary G., of California, address, 152 

Miller, Jeff, of Florida, address, 82 

Moore, Dennis, of Kansas, addresses, 84, 121, 124 

Moran, Jerry, of Kansas, address, 141 

Murphy, Tim, of Pennsylvania, address, 114 

Nethercutt, George R., Jr., of Washington, address, 116 

Ney, Robert W., of Ohio, address, 73 

Northup, Anne M., of Kentucky, address, 61 

Norwood, Charlie, of Georgia, address, 80 

Nunes, Devin, of California, address, 142 

Nussle, Jim, of Iowa, address, 138 

Ortiz, Solomon P., of Texas, address, 136 

Osborne, Tom, of Nebraska, address, 34 

Oxley, Michael G., of Ohio, address, 143 

Paul, Ron, of Texas, addresses, 148, 174 

Pearce, Stevan, of New Mexico, address, 122 

Pelosi, Nancy, of California, address, 9 

Pence, Mike, of Indiana, address, 80 

Pitts, Joseph R., of Pennsylvania, addresses, 5, 65 

Platts, Todd Russell, of Pennsylvania, address, 83 

Pomeroy, Earl, of North Dakota, address, 158 

Porter, Jon C., of Nevada, address, 133 

Portman, Rob, of Ohio, address, 116 

Prayer by Rev. John Boyles, 4 

Pryce, Deborah, of Ohio, address, 115 

Putnam, Adam H., of Florida, address, 108 

Radanovich, George, of California, address, 79 

Rahall, Nick J., II, of West Virginia, address, 146 

Ramstad, Jim, of Minnesota, address, 108 

Regula, Ralph, of Ohio, address, 156 

Rehberg, Dennis R., of Montana, address, 131 

Reyes, Silvestre, of Texas, address, 132 

Rohrabacher, Dana, of California, addresses, 18 

Ross, Mike, of Arkansas, address, 98 

Royce, Edward R., of California, address, 78 

Ryan, Paul, of Wisconsin, address, 144 

Ryan, Tim, of Ohio, address, 97 

Ryun, Jim, of Kansas, address, 4 

Sandlin, Max, of Texas, address, 78 

Saxton, Jim, of New Jersey, address, 47 

Schrock, Edward L., of Virginia, address, 135 

Scott, David, of Georgia, address, 15 

Senate Concurrent Resolution 115, 74 

Senate Concurrent Resolution 135, 173 

Sensenbrenner, F. James, Jr., of Wisconsin, address, 76 

Sessions, Pete, of Texas, address, 153 

Shadegg, John B., of Arizona, address, 126 

Shays, Christopher, of Connecticut: 

Addresses, 123, 170 

Tribute by Ambassador Joseph Verner Reed, 170 

Shuster, Bill, of Pennsylvania, address, 67 

Simmons, Rob, of Connecticut, address, 62 

Simpson, Michael K., of Idaho, address, 161 

Smith, Christopher H., of New Jersey, address, 139 

Smith, Lamar S., of Texas, address, 130 

Smith, Nick, of Michigan: 

Addresses, 6, 53, 168 

Poem by Albert Carey Caswell, 53 

Souder, Mark E., of Indiana, address, 125 

Stearns, Cliff, of Florida, address, 66 

Stenholm, Charles W., of Texas, address, 26 

Stupak, Bart, of Michigan, address, 151 

Sullivan, John, of Oklahoma, address, 131 

Tauzin, W.J. (Billy), of Louisiana, address, 147 

Taylor, Charles H., of North Carolina, address, 128 

Thomas, William M., of California, address, 15 

Thornberry, Mac, of Texas, address, 86 

Tiahrt, Todd, of Kansas, address, 133 

Tiberi, Patrick J., of Ohio, address, 59 

Turner, Michael R., of Ohio, address, 60 

Udall, Tom, of New Mexico, address, 151 

Upton, Fred, of Michigan, address, 94 

Wamp, Zach, of Tennessee, address, 44 

Waxman, Henry A., of California, address, 12 

Weldon, Curt, of Pennsylvania, address, 106 

Weldon, Dave, of Florida, address, 31 

Weller, Jerry, of Illinois, address, 118 

Wicker, Roger F., of Mississippi, address, 43 

Wilson, Joe, of South Carolina, addresses, 36, 65, 163 

Wolf, Frank R., of Virginia: 

Addresses, 5, 54 

Article from Jerusalem Post, June 6, 2004, 56 

Wu, David, of Oregon, address, 101 

Young, C.W. Bill, of Florida, address, 152 
Index 327 

Memorial Tributes in the Senate of the United States 

Alexander, Lamar, of Tennessee, address, 181 

Allard, Wayne, of Colorado, address, 215 

Allen, George, of Virginia, address, 205 

Bennett, Robert F., of Utah, address, 244 

Bond, Christopher S., of Missouri, addresses, 222, 312 

Boxer, Barbara, of California, address, 193 

Brownback, Sam, of Kansas, address, 211 

Bunning, Jim, of Kentucky, address, 243 

Burns, Conrad, of Montana, address, 186 

Byrd, Robert C., of West Virginia: 

Address, 294 

Poem by an unknown author, 295 

Carper, Thomas R., of Delaware, address, 276 

Chafee, Lincoln D., of Rhode Island, address, 288 

Cochran, Thad, of Mississippi, address, 184 

Coleman, Norm, of Minnesota, address, 233 

Collins, Susan M., of Maine, address, 284 

Communication from the President, 240 

Conrad, Kent, of North Dakota, address, 291 

Cornyn, John, of Texas, address, 184 

Corzine, Jon S., of New Jersey, address, 292 

Craig, Larry E., of Idaho, address, 284 

Daschle, Tom, of South Dakota, addresses, 202, 319 

Dodd, Christopher J., of Connecticut, address, 288 

Dole, Elizabeth, of North Carolina, address, 180 

Domenici, Pete V., of New Mexico, address, 198 

Dorgan, Byron L., of North Dakota, address, 213 

Durbin, Richard J., of Illinois, addresses, 281, 309, 321 

Edwards, John, of North Carolina, address, 293 

Ensign, John, of Nevada, address, 305 

Enzi, Mike, of Wyoming, address, 227 

Feingold, Russell D., of Wisconsin, address, 238 

Feinstein, Dianne, of California, address, 236 

Fitzgerald, Peter G., of Illinois, address, 278 

Frist, William H., of Tennessee: 

Addresses, 179, 241, 263, 298, 299, 313, 315, 318 

Authorizing Printing of Commemorative Document, 321, 

322 

Graham, Bob, of Florida, address, 254 

Grassley, Charles E., of Iowa, address, 302 

Gregg, Judd, of New Hampshire, address, 189 

Hagel, Chuck, of Nebraska, address, 216 

Harkin, Tom, of Iowa, address, 268 

Hatch, Orrin G., of Utah, addresses, 255, 320 

Hollings, Ernest F., of South Carolina, addresses, 235 

Hutchison, Kay Bailey, of Texas, address, 269 

Inhofe, James M., of Oklahoma, address, 230 

Jeffords, James M., of Vermont, address, 289 

Kennedy, Edward M., of Massachusetts, address, 242 

Kyl, Jon, of Arizona: 

Addresses, 209, 292, 299, 309, 314 

Article from Arizona Republic, June 9, 2004, 293 

Article from Washington Times, June 15, 2004, 310 

Lautenberg, Frank, of New Jersey, address, 287 

Leahy, Patrick J., of Vermont, address, 309 

Lieberman, Joseph I., of Connecticut, address, 296 

Lincoln, Blanche L., of Arkansas, address, 290 

Lott, Trent, of Mississippi: 

Address, 263 

Tribute by Senator Connie Mack, 263 

Lugar, Richard G., of Indiana, address, 300 

McCain, John, of Arizona, address, 235 

McConnell, Mitch, of Kentucky, address, 265 

Messages from the House of Representatives, 295, 306, 322 

Mikulski, Barbara A., of Maryland, addresses, 220, 311 

Murkowski, Lisa, of Alaska, address, 249 

Poem by Robert Service, 250 

Nelson, Bill, of Florida, address, 229 

Nickles, Don, of Oklahoma, address, 217 

Prayers: 

Dr. Prentice Meador, 188 

Dr. Barry C. Black, Chaplain of the Senate, 179, 240 

Pryor, Mark, of Arkansas, address, 239 

Reid, Harry, of Nevada, address, 195 

Santorum, Rick, of Pennsylvania: 

Address, 302 

Remarks 

Ronald Reagan at the Annual Conference of the 

National Religious Broadcasters Convention, 

January 30, 1984, 303 

Senate 2517, 307 

Senate Concurrent Resolution 115, 188 

Senate Concurrent Resolution 118, 296 

Senate Concurrent Resolution 135, 321 

Senate Resolution 371, 188 

Senate Resolution 373, 295 

Senate Resolution 374, 295 

Sessions, Jeff, of Alabama, addresses, 246, 313 

Shelby, Richard C., of Alabama, address, 204 

Smith, Gordon, of Oregon: 

Address, 224 

Remarks 

Ronald Reagan’s Farewell Address, 224 

Snowe, Olympia J., of Maine, address, 191 

Specter, Arlen, of Pennsylvania, address, 200 

Stabenow, Debbie, of Michigan, address, 290 

Stevens, Ted, of Alaska, address, 207 

Sununu, John E., of New Hampshire, address, 271 

Talent, James M., of Missouri, address, 252 

Thomas, Craig, of Wyoming, address, 249 

Warner, John W., of Virginia: 

Address, 272 

Remarks 

Ronald Reagan’s Speech at the U.S. Ranger Monument, 

Pointe du Hoc, Normandy, France, on the 40th 

Anniversary of D-Day, June 6, 1984, 274 

Æ