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E194 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks February 10, 2011 suit he wore the day he was shot, the condo- In Reagan’s candidacy the American peo- EXPRESSING HOPES FOR A FULL lence book signed by world leaders at his fu- ple were being asked to choose a former AND SPEEDY RECOVERY TO DEP- neral. (Margaret Thatcher: ‘‘Well done, Thou movie star (never had one as president) who UTY JOHN ROY STACY AND DEP- good and faithful servant.’’) was divorced (ditto) and who looked like he Much recently has been written about who UTY ANDREW EJDE, WHO WERE might become the most conservative presi- he was—a good man who became a great INJURED IN THE LINE OF DUTY president—but recent conversations about dent since Calvin Coolidge. To vote for ON JANUARY 23RD, 2011 IN PORT Reagan have me pondering some things he Reagan was not only to take a chance on an ORCHARD, WASHINGTON was not. unusual man with an unusual biography, but He wasn’t, for instance, sentimental, also to break with New Deal-Great Society though he’s often thought of that way. His assumptions about the proper relationship HON. JAY INSLEE nature was marked by a characterological between the individual and the state. Ameri- OF WASHINGTON sweetness, and his impulse was to be kind cans did, in a landslide—but only after IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES and generous. (His daughter Patti Davis cap- Jimmy Carter’s four years of shattering fail- tured this last week in a beautifully remem- Thursday, February 10, 2011 bered essay for Time.) But he wasn’t senti- ure. Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mental about people and events, or about None of it was inevitable. The political les- speak to the tragic injury and loss of life that history. Underlying all was a deep and nat- son of Ronald Reagan’s life: Nothing is writ- occurred in Port Orchard, Washington on Sun- ural skepticism. That, in a way, is why he ten. day, January 23rd. was conservative. ‘‘If men were angels.’’ They are not, so we must limit the govern- He didn’t see himself as ‘‘the great commu- Responding to a call of a man with a gun, mental power they might wield. But his nicator.’’ It was so famous a moniker that he two Kitsap County Sheriff’s deputies were dis- skepticism didn’t leave him down. It left him could do nothing but graciously accept the patched to a local Wal-Mart. After making con- laughing at the human condition, and at compliment, but he well understood it was tact with the individual, the suspect sprinted himself. Jim Baker, his first and great chief bestowed in part by foes and in part to un- away and fired his gun at the deputies. During of staff, and his friend, remembered the dercut the seriousness of his philosophy: the encounter there was an exchange of fire, other day the atmosphere of merriness ‘‘It’s not what he says, it’s how he says it’’ resulting in the death of the armed man and around Reagan, the constant flow of humor. He answered in his farewell address: ‘‘I never But there was often a genial blackness to a young woman. In this exchange, both of the thought it was my style or the words I used it, a mordant edge. In a classic Reagan joke, Sheriff’s deputies sustained gunshot wounds a man says sympathetically to his friend, that made a difference: it was the content. I and were transported to a local hospital. ‘‘I’m so sorry your wife ran away with the wasn’t a great communicator, but I commu- I am very saddened by this incident, and re- gardener.’’ The guy answers, ‘‘It’s OK, I was nicated great things.’’ It wasn’t his elo- gret the harm that was done to the innocent going to fire him anyway.’’ Or: As winter quence people supported, it was his stands— people involved. Law enforcement officials in began, the young teacher sought to impart opposition to the too-big state, to its intru- this country risk their lives every day so that to her third-graders the importance of dress- sions and demands, to Soviet communism. we may all live without fear of harm, and at ing warmly. She told the heart-rending story Voters weren’t charmed, they were con- moments like these I believe it is important to of her little brother, a fun-loving boy who vinced. went out with his sled and stayed out too reflect on the sacrifices that are made by long, caught a cold, then pneumonia, and His most underestimated political achieve- these public servants on our behalf. Deputy days later died. There was dead silence in the ment? In the spring of 1981 the Professional John Roy Stacy has been with the Kitsap schoolroom as they took it in. She knew Air Traffic Controllers Organization called County Sheriff’s Office for 9 years, while Dep- she’d gotten through. Then a voice came an illegal strike. It was early in Reagan’s uty Andrew Ejde has served our community as from the back: ‘‘Where’s the sled?’’ presidency. He’d been a union president. He a Deputy Sheriff for more than 6 years. Both The biggest misunderstanding about Rea- didn’t want to come across as an antiunion gan’s political life is that he was inevitable. represent the selfless commitment to the safe- Republican. And Patco had been one of the He was not. He had to fight for every inch, he ty of their community that we prize in law en- few unions to support him in 1980. But the had to make it happen. What Billy Herndon forcement officials and members of our armed said of Abraham Lincoln was true of Reagan strike was illegal. He would not accept it. He services. too: He had within him, always, a ceaseless gave them a grace period, two days, to come I would like to send my best wishes for a full little engine of ambition. He was good at not back. If they didn’t, they’d be fired. They and speedy recovery to these brave men who showing it, as was Lincoln, but it was there. didn’t believe him. Most didn’t come back. were hurt while protecting our community. He was knowingly in the greatness game, at So he fired them. It broke the union. Federal They and their families will be in our thoughts least from 1976, when he tried to take down workers got the system back up. The Soviet and prayers during these difficult times. a sitting president of his own party. Union, and others, were watching. They He was serious, and tough enough. Every- f thought: This guy means business. It had one who ever ran against him misunderstood deeply positive implications for U.S. foreign this. He was an actor, they thought, a HONORING THE THANKFUL marshmallow. They’d flatten him. ‘‘I’ll wipe policy. But here’s the thing: Reagan didn’t MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH the smile off his face.’’ Nothing could wipe know that would happen, didn’t know the the smile off his face. He was there to com- bounty he’d reap. He was just trying to do HON. HENRY C. ‘‘HANK’’ JOHNSON, JR. pete, he was aiming for the top. His uncon- what was right. OF GEORGIA scious knew it. He told me as he worked on The least understood facet of Reagan’s nu- his farewell address of a recurring dream IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES clear policies? He hated the rise of nuclear he’d had through adulthood. He was going to weapons, abhorred the long-accepted policy Thursday, February 10, 2011 live in a mansion with big rooms,‘‘high ceil- ings, white walls.’’ He would think to him- of mutually assured destruction. That’s Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I self in the dream that it was ‘‘a house that where the Strategic Defense Initiative came submit the following: was as available at a price I could afford.’’ from, his desire to protect millions from po- Whereas, the Thankful Missionary Baptist He had the dream until he moved into the tential annihilation. The genius of his pro- Church has been and continues to be a bea- White House and never had it again. ‘‘Not gram: When developed, America would share con of light to our county for the past one hun- once.’’ it with the Soviet Union. We’d share it with dred twenty-eight years; and He ran for president four times and lost everybody. All would be protected from. Whereas, Pastor Jack Marks and the mem- twice. His 1968 run was a flop—it was too doomsday. early, as he later admitted, and when it’s too bers of the Thankful Missionary Baptist early, it never ends well. In 1976 he took on The Soviets opposed this; the Rejkavik Church family today continues to uplift and in- an incumbent Republican president of his summit broke up over it, and in the end the spire those in our county; and own party, and lost primaries in New Hamp- Soviets’ arms spending helped bankrupt Whereas, the Thankful Missionary Baptist shire, Florida, Illinois (where he’d been them and hasten their fall. Years later I Church family has been and continues to be born), Massachusetts and Vermont. It was would see Mikhail Gorbachev, who became a place where citizens are touched spiritually, hand-to-hand combat all the way to the con- Reagan’s friend.

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