Celebrating the life of President Ronald Wilson Reagan on the anniversary of his birth.

Whereas, on February 6, 1911, Ronald Wilson Reagan was born to Nelle and John Reagan in Tampico, Illinois; Whereas Ronald Reagan's childhood years laid the foundation for his becoming a man of unfettered principle, who was not afraid to do what was right, and who was tenaciously committed to doing only that which he believed was right in his own heart, regardless of any political cost; Whereas his small-town values of hard work and commitment to God and family were deeply rooted in his early childhood experiences; Whereas as a young man in Illinois, Ronald Reagan saved 77 people from drowning through his courage, physical strength, and vigilance as a lifeguard; Whereas he attended high school in nearby Dixon, Illinois, and then worked his way through Eureka College, where he studied economics and sociology, played on the football team, and acted in school plays; Whereas in 1937, a screen test won him a contract in Hollywood, leading to his appearance in over 53 films over the next 2 decades; Whereas beginning in 1947, Ronald Reagan served as President of the Screen Actors Guild for 13 years; Whereas, on March 4, 1952, Ronald Reagan married Nancy Davis, who remained his best friend and lifelong companion and confidant for more than 5 decades; Whereas in 1966, Ronald Reagan was elected as the 33rd Governor of California, and won reelection 4 years later; Whereas Ronald Reagan believed in United States exceptionalism and asserted that the Nation has a unique role to play in the world; Whereas in 1980, Ronald Reagan won the Republican presidential nomination and was subsequently elected the 40th President of the United States, winning reelection again in 1984 and becoming the first president in 3 decades to serve 2 full terms; Whereas Ronald Reagan declared in 1981 in a speech at the University of Notre Dame that, “the West will not contain communism, it will transcend communism”, and stated that “For the West, for America, the time has come to dare to show to the world that our civilized ideas, our traditions, our values, are not—like the ideology and war machine of totalitarian societies—just a facade of strength. It is time for the world to know our intellectual and spiritual values are rooted in the source of all strength, a belief in a Supreme Being, and a law higher than our own”, thereby recognizing that the source of the Nation’s strength and ultimately its victory over communism would come from God, the “source of all strength”; Whereas in June 1982, Ronald Reagan lifted up the flagging morale of the democracies and gave hope to millions living under communist rule with an address to the British Parliament at Westminster Hall in which he proclaimed an imminent free world victory in the Cold War that would leave communist totalitarianism, like Nazi totalitarianism before it, “on the ash heap of history”; Whereas, on March 8, 1983, President Reagan warned all people in the Nation to beware of the temptation to draw a moral equivalence between the United States and the Soviet Union, and the tendency 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 ourselves from the struggle between right and wrong, good and evil”, thereby educating people in the United States about the moral bankruptcy of Soviet communism and reminding them that “the real crisis that we face is a spiritual one; at root, it is a test of moral will and faith”; Whereas, on March 23, 1983, President Reagan gave a landmark speech at the zenith of the Cold War, in which he proposed what became known as the Strategic Defense Initiative, to protect the United States, its allies, and its vital interests from ballistic missile attack, thereby putting the United States on a path to ending its vulnerability to missile attack and harnessing the Nation’s scientific and technological advantages in support of a military effort that the Soviet Union ultimately could not match; Whereas less than 6 years later, the world watched the Revolutions of 1989 which culminated in the fall of the Berlin Wall, the disintegration of communism, and the dissolution of the once unshakeable Soviet Union; Whereas Ronald Reagan made millions of people believe again that the United States was still capable of being victorious, of rising out of and above difficult circumstances, and of facing devastating challenges; Whereas Ronald Reagan believed in the sanctity of all human life, saying “[w]e cannot diminish the value of one category of human life—the unborn—without diminishing the value of all human life”; Whereas Ronald Reagan stated that “the future does not belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave”, and desired for people of the United States to continue to make the Nation great by preserving its goodness, by persevering in the struggle between right and wrong and good and evil; Whereas the policies of the Reagan Administration led to an enduring economic recovery, the defeat of Soviet communism, and a renewal of United States patriotism and self-confidence; Whereas in his Farewell Address, President Reagan warned of the need to develop an “informed patriotism” so that we can teach our children “what America is and what she represents in the long history of the world”, thereby warning that if we forget our history, we won’t know who we are; Whereas Ronald Reagan's life was a transformed one, one that reflected a light from within, and one that he willingly shared in the brightness and warmth of his smile and in his grace and good humor; Whereas Ronald Reagan's faith in God, and his love of family and country were evident and strong even to the end of his life; Whereas Ronald Reagan was a patriotic, humble leader and noble American for 93 years; Whereas hundreds of millions of people now live in freedom because of Ronald Reagan's conviction and courage; and Whereas Ronald Reagan stated that “freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction” and called upon all the people of the United States to remember their “rendezvous with destiny”: Now, therefore, be it That the House of Representatives— (1) celebrates the extraordinary life of President Ronald Wilson Reagan on the anniversary of his birth and expresses its deepest appreciation for his profound public service; and (2) recognizes the significance of the Presidency of Ronald Wilson Reagan, and its enduring legacy for the United States and the rest of the world, and expresses its commitment to protect, affirm, and defend the heritage of human freedom left by President Ronald Wilson Reagan.

Summary: Celebrates the life of President Ronald Wilson Reagon on the anniversary of his birth. Expresses appreciation for his public service and a commitment to protecting his legacy.