[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 5 (Tuesday, February 3, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E63]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E63]]



                     RONALD REAGAN NATIONAL AIRPORT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. GERALD B.H. SOLOMON

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 3, 1998

  Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, if I had my way Ronald Reagan would not 
only have the key airport in Washington named after him, he'd have his 
face on Mt. Rushmore.
  But for now, renaming the airport will do. His birthday comes in a 
few days, and this would be a fitting present. A few years ago, Mr. 
Speaker, we sent President Reagan another fitting present, passage of 
the line item veto, which he championed so vigorously during his 
administration. Why such honors for the former President? In all due 
respect to the current and previous occupants of the White House, Mr. 
Speaker, Ronald Reagan left a positive stamp on the political life of 
this country that even present and future presidents will never erase.
  It was my great privilege, Mr. Speaker, to serve as one of Ronald 
Reagan's group of core congressional advisors, along with such 
outstanding leaders as former Congressman Bob Walker, and present 
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott. And it was a singular honor to carry 
President Reagan's water on foreign affairs in the House, because it 
was his leadership that led to the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the 
dissolution of the Soviet Empire.
  His leadership was equally effective in economic policy. Recently, a 
survey of leading American businessmen attributed today's strong 
economy precisely to Reaganomics. Those businessmen made it clear that 
although President Clinton is the beneficiary, he is by no means the 
cause, of that prosperity.
  And finally, Ronald Reagan set a moral tone for this country solidly 
rooted in traditional American virtues. His personality, his sense of 
humor, his ability to distill complex issues into language everyone 
understood, and finally, his total lack of guile and malice disarmed 
his critics and made us all feel good once again about being Americans.
  The political landscape was littered with the bones of critics who 
underestimated him until the very last moment in 1989, when he climbed 
aboard the helicopter carrying him away from Washington for the last 
time. It was not the same Washington that greeted him in 1981. Ronald 
Reagan changed the very vocabulary of this city. And when we finally 
balance the budget and dig Americans out from the mountain of debt 
built by Ronald Reagan's critics, it will be the greatest birthday 
present of all.
  Mr. Speaker, let me close by saying, ``Mr. President--and for me 
Ronald Reagan will always be `Mr. President'--I miss you, your country 
misses you, and we all wish you the happiest of birthdays with many 
returns.''

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