Date: 2011-02-08
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. I thank the gentleman from California for taking this time and for yielding this time to me and I know to others as we come about this. You and I have and the other gentleman from California were privileged to be in that crowd on Sunday where we celebrated Ronald Reagans 100th birthday. I was reminded that the last time I spoke with him was 20 years before on his birthday. his 80th birthday. when I was calling him from my office in Sacramento. and he was his usual open. affable. and interested individual who always had an expression of concern for the person he was speaking with and who didnt take himself too seriously but obviously took the job that he had very. very seriously. One of the insights into President Reagan I think is seen in a film that was done about Ronald Reagans life that I saw recently. and at the end of the film or close to the end of the film. they had an interview with the Secret Service man who continued to be with Ronald Reagan to the very end. and this Secret Service man was distinguished by the fact that he was a fellow equestrian. He rode with Ronald Reagan. and it was the last time Ronald Reagan rode a horse. He went out riding with him. and when he came back he went to Mrs. Reagan and said. the President didnt have a very good day on the horse today. and that was a nice way of saying maybe its time that he not risk injury by horse riding. And everybody knew that Ronald Reagan loved to ride horses. Probably his third greatest passionhis passion for his wife. his passion for this country. and then his passion for riding horses. And Mrs. Reagan told the Secret Service man. well. I cant tell him. youve got to tell him. And it was very uncomfortable. And the agent went up to the President and said very. very quietly. Mr. President. we didnt have a good day riding today. And Ronald Reagan sensed exactly what he was going to say. and instead of protesting. he made every effort to put the Secret Service agent at ease. knowing that it was a difficult thing for him. You have to understand that. He was being told that something that he loved almost as much as anything else in his life. his avocation. hissome people play golf. Ronald Reagan rode horses. He was being told he could no longer do that. and instead of thinking about himself and the pain it was going to cause him and the lack of opportunity to enjoy himself. his first concern was for the person who was delivering that message to him. and he wanted to put him at ease. And that gives you a bit of an understanding of the character of the man who thought about what he was doing for others rather than what they were doing for him. or. excuse me. to put it this way: He thought more about what gratitude he had for what other people were doing for him. rather than accepting praise for what he was doing in that circumstance. I remember the last great speech that I remember that Ronald Reagan gave. It was at the 1992 Republican convention in Houston. and some of you may remember it. Youve seen film of it if you werent there. He wore a suit or a sport coat and a shirt that. if we wore it. we would be told you dont wear those sorts of things when youre appearing at a political event. It was sort of a maroon or almost maroon to brown jacket. and I remember the shirt had a white collar and it had stripes that were of the same color as the coat. And when he started to speak. and I was watching closely because my son. who at that time was in college. had gotten a pass to the floor of the convention. and I said. I want you to see the master speak. using that in quotation marks. because this may be the last great speech he ever gives. When Ronald Reagan got up. he looked every bit his age. In fact. he looked a little bit tired. As he started to speak. some young people in front of him began chanting his name and cheering him. and at first he couldnt hear very well. And then he realized what they were saying. and you saw that Ronald Reagan grin begin. and you saw him start to speak. And at the end of his speech. I guarantee you he was 20 years younger than when he started that speech. And he gave that vibrancy to the entire assembled crowd there in that convention hall. and I was so happy that I had my son there to be able to see this remarkable man give this remarkable performance at the end of his career. But when you think about that. sometimes you think maybe we just think about him as the communicator. and as we know in the final address he made to the Nation from the Oval Office. he said some people say that Im a great communicator. Its not so much that Im a great communicator. its that I was able to communicate great things that came from this country. That always remained with me. I always thought Ronald Reagan had spent his whole life reading. thinking. thinking about this Nation. thinking about the principles that made this Nation great. And in my own mind. whenever I met with him with other Members of Congress or alone. you had this idea that he had developed this philosophical or political schematic. If you were speaking to him about a subject. he would put that schematic over that discussion. And if. in fact. it fit within those principles he had developed over a lifetime. he would basically allow you to go do it. He would basically give you a charge. and he would be behind youmay not tell you the details. but he would be with you. And if you didnt. if you had something that was outside that philosophical political schematic that he had developed over a lifetime. he would in some ways gently tell you that. No. I dont think were going to do that. And you knew at that point in time that he wasnt going to be with you on it. but he was. again. thinking a little bit about you and the reaction that you would receive when he would tell you "no." One of the most difficult things I ever had to do was to tell him "no" on the phone. I was in my office. He was calling on a vote. And I cant even recall what the subject was.