E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 108 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION Vol. 150 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, JUNE 8, 2004 No. 79 House of Representatives The House met at 12:30 p.m. and was ‘‘We have lost Ronald Reagan, but ‘‘Ronald Reagan had and could ex- called to order by the Speaker pro tem- his ideas remain with us, as vital as press a clear and simple view of a com- pore (Mr. BOOZMAN). ever. We can remember the gifts he plex world. Every Sunday, he brought f gave us, his advocacy of freedom, his acorns down from Camp David to feed contributions to our security, his belief the squirrels outside the Oval Office. DESIGNATION OF SPEAKER PRO in America and his restoration of our The squirrels at the White House TEMPORE belief in ourselves. hadn’t had it so good since Ike cleared The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be- ‘‘When he took office as Governor of the area to put in a putting green. His fore the House the following commu- California, Ronald Reagan took respon- most endearing aspect was his funda- nication from the Speaker: sibility for a state that was in rocky mental decency. He appealed to peo- shape; when he left office, California ple’s best hopes, not their fears; to WASHINGTON, DC, was golden again. When Ronald Reagan June 8, 2004. their confidence, rather than their I hereby appoint the Honorable JOHN took office as the President of the doubts. BOOZMAN to act as Speaker pro tempore on United States, the country was adrift, ‘‘Ronald Reagan was a doer, a prag- this day. inflation was out of control, the econ- matist, a man who enjoyed hard phys- J. DENNIS HASTERT, omy was in the doldrums, and the Cold ical tasks, as in the ranch work he Speaker of the House of Representatives. War was as cold as it had ever been. loved to do. But that brush clearing f When he left office inflation was under and fence fixing was a symbol, too; he control, the economy was expanding, MORNING HOUR DEBATES wanted to be doing it himself because the Cold War was all over but the from the land came not only strength The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- shouting, and America once again and clarity, but a vision, the vision of stood tall. ant to the order of the House of Janu- the West and the endless horizon. The ary 20, 2004, the Chair will now recog- ‘‘Ronald Reagan brought so much to this country. He started with carefully American people liked Ronald Reagan nize Members from lists submitted by and reelected him in one of the biggest the majority and minority leaders for thought-out ideas and he put them to work effectively. He had a strong and landslides in history because he trusted morning hour debates. The Chair will them and he conveyed to them that alternate recognition between the par- constructive agenda, much of it labeled impossible and unattainable in the they need not be bound, tied down by ties, with each party limited to not to class or race, or childhood misfortune, exceed 30 minutes, and each Member, early years of his presidency. He chal- lenged the conventional wisdom: On or poverty, or bureaucracy. They, the except the majority leader, the minor- arms control, on the possibility of people, could make something of them- ity leader, or the minority whip, lim- movement toward freedom in the com- selves; indeed, they could remake ited to not to exceed 5 minutes. munist-dominated world, on the need themselves endlessly. The Chair recognizes the gentleman to stand up to Iran in the Persian Gulf, ‘‘But beneath this pragmatic attitude from California (Mr. DREIER) for 5 min- on the superiority of market and enter- lay a bedrock of principle and purpose utes. prise-based economies. The world with which I was proud to be associ- f learned when Ronald Reagan faced ated. He believed in being strong enough to defend our interests, but he REMEMBERING RONALD REAGAN down the air traffic controllers in 1981 that he could dig in and fight to win. viewed that strength as a means, not Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, not 24 The world learned in Grenada that he an end in itself. Ronald Reagan had hours after Ronald Reagan had passed would use military force if needed. He confidence in himself and in his ideas away, I had the opportunity to talk to did not accept that extensive political and was ready to negotiate from the a great American, Ronald Reagan’s opposition doomed an attractive idea. strength so evident by the mid-1980s. Secretary of State, George P. Shultz. He would fight resolutely for an idea, ‘‘He was a fervent anti-communist He already by Sunday afternoon had believing that, if it was valid, he could who could comprehend and believe that penned a statement, which was so mov- persuade the American people to sup- people everywhere would choose to ing that I asked him if I could share it port it. He changed the national and throw off the communist system if with my colleagues. Secretary Shultz international agenda on issue after they ever had the chance. And he agreed, so I would like to do that at issue. He was an optimist; he spoke the worked hard to give them that chance. this point, Mr. Speaker. vocabulary of opportunity. He had a vi- He favored open trade because he had He entitles this ‘‘Remembering Ron- sion of what he stood for and what we confidence in the ability of Americans ald Reagan.’’ It reads as follows: aspire to as a nation. to compete, and he had confidence that b This symbol represents the time of day during the House proceedings, e.g., b 1407 is 2:07 p.m. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. H3787 . VerDate jul 14 2003 04:32 Jun 09, 2004 Jkt 029060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4634 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A08JN7.000 H08PT1 H3788 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE June 8, 2004 an integrated world economy would My wife Anne and I had the privilege all here today as servants of Your will, benefit America. He stuck to his agen- of meeting President Reagan at the and that of this Nation’s people, in giv- da. White House for a St. Patrick’s Day ing honor for service to country, this ‘‘The points he made, however con- event in 1982. As we chatted for a few land of the free. And strengthen all summate the delivery, were unmistak- minutes, I remember being in the pres- here today in the work of this body, to ably real in his mind and heart, an ence of someone great. I told him that establish steadfast and righteous rules American creed: Defend your country, we were praying for him. He shook my of law to guide and direct the way of value your family, make something of hand, and in a genuine, soft-spoken this Nation. yourself, tell government to get off voice, he thanked us. O Lord God, that here would be fron- your back, tell the tyrants to watch His convictions guided him on social tiers of freedom just as there were in their step. Ronald Reagan conveyed issues as well. In 1983, on the tenth an- foreign fields on beachheads of libera- simple truths that were especially wel- niversary of Roe v. Wade, he wrote a 9 tion which are remembered and hon- come because ‘nowadays everything page article to the American people ored in these days. seems so complicated.’ What he said laying out his opposition to the abomi- O Lord God, before You, and gathered ran deep and wide among the people. nable practice of abortion. In it he here, we are met to lift up to You and ‘‘Reagan as president was a Repub- wrote: remember those who have given of lican, a conservative, a man of the ‘‘We cannot thrive as a free nation themselves in highest service to this right. But these labels will mislead his- when some men decide that others are Nation. O Lord, You have been our torians who do not see beyond them, not fit to live and should be abandoned dwelling place in all generations and for Americans could see some of Ron- to abortion and infanticide. My admin- now this House, this Chamber would ald Reagan in themselves. You couldn’t istration is dedicated to the preserva- prepare to receive under its dome, a figure him out like a fact, because to tion of America as a free land, and hallowed place of honor for one who Reagan, the main fact was a vision. He there is no cause more important for served as highest leader of this Nation. came from the heartland of the coun- preserving that freedom than affirming Prepare here now, O Lord, those assem- try, where people could be down-to- the transcendent right to life of all bled to give honor for service and dedi- earth, yet feel the sky is the limit, not human beings, the right without which cation to America of Ronald Reagan, ashamed of or cynical about the Amer- no other rights have any meaning.’’ that in honoring his service, that the ican dream. Our founders believed in the idea of service to Nation given by those here ‘‘Not far from Ronald Reagan’s small America.