[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 5 (Tuesday, February 3, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H213-H219]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FURTHER TRIBUTE TO THE HONORABLE RONALD DELLUMS AND THE NAMING OF
RONALD REAGAN WASHINGTON NATIONAL AIRPORT
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 7, 1997, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay) is recognized for
60 minutes as the designee of the Majority Leader.
Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I came down to the floor to take a special
order to talk about another Ronald; but I am going to take this
opportunity to talk about this Ronald that I have come to respect, a
gentleman that, when he was Chairman of the then Arms Services
Committee, was one of the most giving, open, and stalwart, a real
stalwart man when he was Chairman.
I was shocked this morning. I knew it was coming, but I was shocked
this morning as I was sitting in that chair waiting for 1-minutes, and
the Chair read the gentleman's resignation.
It came home that the gentleman from California (Mr. Dellums) is
actually leaving this House. We are losing one of its finest Members, a
Member that I have great respect for, because he always did his
homework, was so articulate and eloquent on this floor.
He always got my attention when he stood up and took the microphone.
He would stop every Member in their tracks to hear what he had to say,
and there are very few Members that have served in this body that can
claim the respect that both sides of the aisle had for the gentleman
from California.
And the incredible reputation that the gentleman from California (Mr.
Dellums) has brought to this House; he has elevated this House. He has
elevated the distinction of this House by serving here, and this House
will greatly miss him when he leaves.
Mr. Speaker, I am glad to yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr.
Kasich).
Mr. KASICH. Mr. Speaker, let me just say that there really are not
enough minutes here for me to speak, and I am going to have to visit my
friend in his office, my great friend, Mr. Dellums.
He and I started hanging out together. That early day, I was very
much alone, as you remember, Ron, because a lot of Republicans could
not figure out why you and I had become such great friends; and it is
so amazing to see so many Republicans come to the floor and salute you.
The fact is that we relate to each other best when we can touch each
other's hearts; and it really does not matter in the Congress of the
United States if, at the end of the day, whether we think differently.
What matters at the end of the day is, are we honest of heart and are
we willing to put ourselves on the line for what we believe in. That is
why people come here today and salute you, because you are pure of
heart, and you do put your shoulder to the wheel to try to bring about
change.
No one ever questions your sincerity or your dedication to your
country. That is why I feel so strongly about you.
But it is not as a colleague, is it, Ron, for you and me? Ron Dellums
came to my wedding; and he gave me an elephant, a crystal elephant,
which was hard for him to begin with, not give me a crystal donkey,
right? He gave me a crystal elephant.
He wrote a note to my wife and to me, and it said: Dear John and
Karen, no matter where I am and no matter where you are, you should
know that I love you both.
That may be one of the most prized, maybe is the most prized gift
that I have ever received from anybody in the House of Representatives.
Because no matter where you are, my wife and I love you and yours, your
family. You are going to leave here, but you are not going to be able
to get away from me, and I am not going to be able to get away from
you.
You are a very special man that has been able make all of us feel
better about our work in the House of Representatives. But what I am
most proud of is that I have made a lifelong friend who will stand with
me and I with him no matter what the circumstances, no matter what the
day. Whether the sun shall rise or whether the rain shall fall, we will
be together for the rest of our lives.
God bless you and Godspeed, friend Ron Dellums.
{time} 1730
Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Ohio.
I yield to the gentlewoman from Houston, Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr.
DeLay), and I thank my friend, the gentleman from California (Mr.
Cunningham). I think in this time of personal acknowledgment, when we
all have issues to discuss, I think we should let the American people
realize that we are part of the human family. I have said to someone
that I was going to come and hug the gentleman on the floor so that I
might get some time to be able to share my thoughts. And I did not hug
the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay), but I appreciate him realizing
how important it is for me to come and share some very personal
moments.
Ron, my dilemma and my frustration, my sadness is that I cannot say
that I had 30 years or 10 years or even 5 years. But I think I have
reminded you on a regular basis that I got by extension some of the
kindness and the love and the brotherhood that you shared with our
mentor and friend from Texas, Mickey Leland. It was through Mickey that
the 18th Congressional District, the people of the 18th Congressional
District got to claim Ron Dellums.
I would say to you that I am sad that you are not my President, not
my Secretary of Defense or my national security chairman, if you will,
or advisor to the President. I would have liked that, though I respect
all that you have done and what you chose to be.
Interestingly enough, we have words on paper, but I want to just say
these words as I share briefly with you, this is your story. It is his
story, the story is yours of what you have done for this Congress and
for the American people. We could come here and humorously talk about
the time that he came first to this body and first to the committee
that you chaired and had to sit in one chair with another colleague of
yours, Pat Schroeder. We can all laugh about that, but we can take the
intensity of the time and how unique you were. But we can also take
from that that you did not lay down the gauntlet, refusing to continue
and persevere, and you wound up as the chairman of the Committee on
National Security, now
[[Page H214]]
named, and as well you now pose in that committee with the most
striking portrait that I think we will ever see and your humorous
comments to the artist who said, do you want me to take this wrinkle
out, this blemish out, this wrinkle out. And you said, absolutely not.
It took me a long time to get all these warts and wrinkles and I want
everybody to realize it. I am proud that you did that.
You have always been willing in debate to listen to the other fellow
or the other lady. You have always been willing, though you have had an
independent voice in time of crisis, and I came here during Bosnia, and
you were eloquent in explaining to those who would be for or against
what your position was, so I think that in this Congress we have been
blessed, one by your power and your eloquence, your love. I have been
blessed by brotherhood through Mickey. His family has been blessed. His
boys have been blessed because they know Ron Dellums. And certainly I
would say that you have taken the responsibility of chairmanship, and I
respect the leadership role of our majority leader and our majority
whip, in this instance the gentleman from Texas (Tom DeLay). They have
to gather people together. You had the chairmanship. Therefore, you had
to gather people together. But as the chairman, you wielded a lot of
power.
I think the American people need to realize that you never impeded
someone else from gaining, from expressing, from fighting and from
being successful. That is key. Robert Frost said that the road less
traveled by, and that has made all of the difference. I believe that
you went the road less traveled by for the other road was so very
crowded but an easy road to travel. You took it upon yourself to say,
as the others go this way, I am going the road that may be the most
difficult or the bridge or the mountain most difficult to climb.
As I close, so many of us always quote Dr. Martin Luther King. I have
always said that he left us a legacy, whether we realize it or not,
more than his actions during his life but it was his words. And we
always quote the famous words that he offered about the content of
one's character not being judged by the color of one's skin. I always
believe that those words are easy to say. But it is really doing and
acting upon those words, to really have character that others can watch
and see and feel and touch and say, I like that guy. I like that lady.
I like what they exude or what they stand for.
So I simply want to say that my frustration comes to a close. The
words are not enough. They are not eloquent enough. They are not
spiritual enough. They are not strong enough. I am leaving sort of not
complete because I do not feel that I have captured your spirit of who
you are. But I hope you know by my presence here this evening by a
small measure you not only have my love and admiration and respect, but
the people of the 18th Congressional District and the spirit of Mickey
Leland watches you every day and wishes you the very best with your
family, continuing to be strong.
I always tell my children, fly high where the eagles fly, fly high
where you belong. God bless you, Ron Dellums. God bless you and your
family. The United States is blessed by your legacy and your story. God
bless you.
With the announcement of his sudden retirement from the Congress last
month, Representative Ronald V. Dellums, the esteemed Former Chairman
of the House National Security Committee (previously called the House
Armed Services Committee), began to write the final chapter of a
brilliant legacy of public service spanning well over three decades,
that simply can not go without recognition.
After a distinguished tour service in the United States Marine Corps,
Congressman Dellums began to prepare himself to pursue a career of
helping others. Congressman Dellums was the first member of his family
to attend college, and completed his studies with a Masters degree in
Social Work from the University of California. The Congressman's chosen
field was that of psychiatric social work before he realized his true
calling was in the area of public interest.
While serving as a well-respected community activist in the Bay Area,
Congressman Dellums was persuaded by friends that he could be an even
greater good to the local community by serving on the Berkeley City
Council. The Congressman consented to these requests, and was elected
to the Berkeley City Council in 1966. After four years on the City
Council, in 1970, Congressman Dellums challenged the incumbent of the
Ninth Congressional District of California, and won. From this point
on, I guess one could say that the ``rest was history''.
Dellums, upon his arrival in Washington in 1971, emerged as one of
the most controversial figures on Capitol Hill. Always willing to be a
balanced and independent voice in times of crisis, Congressman Dellums
soon rose to national prominence as one of the most intelligent and
articulate members of this Congress. Congressman Dellums was widely
recognized as the kind of man that did not just give lipservice to his
announced legislative priorities, but actually worked tirelessly to
meet these objectives in order to better serve his constituency and the
nation at large. There is only one word that can accurately describe a
man like this, integrity.
Mr. Dellums, first as Chairman of the Acquisitions Subcommittee and
then as the Full Committee Chairman, showed the kind of exemplary
dignity befitting of the Chairman's gavel. Even though, Congressman
Dellums was always an advocate of lower military spending, he never
used the power of the Chair as a means of impeding any opposing views
held by his colleagues. Dellums used only his intellect and his vote as
a way of expressing his views on pending legislation, and I am sure
that this is how the framers of the Constitution envisioned a
Congressional Representative would conducted his or herself.
I honestly can not think of a higher compliment to give to a lawmaker
than to say that he consistently stood upon their convictions in the
face of opposition with honor and dignity. Ronald V. Dellums, without
exception, remained this kind of man of convictions, during his nearly
thirty years of service in the United States Congress, and this must be
applauded, Like Robert Frost said, Congressman Dellums took ``the road
less traveled by, and that has made all of the difference''. In
conclusion, I believe that few will disagree with me when I say,
Congressman Dellums, it is unlikely that we will see your kind again
any time soon, rest assured that your labors in this place will not be
forgotten.
Mr. DeLAY. I thank the gentlewoman from Texas.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr.
Cunningham), my dear friend.
Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas for
yielding to me. This is really special for me because quite often it is
hard to say you are wrong. When I came to Congress, I did not respect
Ron Dellums. Coming out of the military, I had preconceived ideas,
notions. As a matter of fact, I thought he was unfair at times, and we
even came once, when there was an issue on the conference where they
had 14 Members one year on conference, and I had winnowed my way to
number 13, and then they cut it to 12. I came to the chairman and said,
Mr. Chairman, you are unfair. It got pretty heated right back here in
this back room. And both of us in the heat of the battle looked at each
other both with tears in our eyes, and we ended up embracing each
other, I would like to state for the record in a manly way, Mr.
Speaker.
But since then I think over these past few years, I say quite a few
years since I have been here, Ron and I have become good friends. And
it does not mean that we do not differ on issues. I disagree vehemently
with national security issues with my friend from California and come
from a different perspective. But I want to tell you one thing, one of
the hardest things that there is on this floor, and I think my
colleagues would agree with, is when you are really dedicated in your
heart trying to help something and someone accuses you, whether it is
cutting education or cutting Medicare, and you are trying your best to
do what you believe is right for this country, Ron Dellums never did
that. He always spoke to the issue. He never spoke through partisanship
or anything. I think that is part of the reason, Ron, that you were
fair. I was wrong.
I think there is a Jewish proverb that I think that best exudes what
the gentleman from California represents. It was taken from a movie
called the Jazz Singer. He and I are old enough to remember Al Jolson.
And then Neil Diamond later played in that movie. But it was about a
father who had lost a son, not to death but to an argument. And the
father wanted his son to be a cantor, and the son wanted to be a jazz
singer. And there was so much conflict between them that the father
ripped his coat in a Jewish fashion and disavowed that he had a son. I
have two daughters. You can use this same proverb. But the proverb goes
like this, the
[[Page H215]]
father calls to his son and says, son, come home. We have argued too
long. And his son replies, father, I cannot. There is too much between
us. And the father replies, son, come as far as you can, and I will
come the rest of the way.
Ron Dellums has always come the rest of the way. I think that is why
most of us, even though we disagree a lot of times with politics, do I
want you as President? No. Do I want you as Secretary of Defense? No.
But I want you as my friend for life, and I want you to always know you
are welcome at my table in my home with my family. God bless you, Ron.
Mr. DeLAY. I thank the gentleman from California.
For other Members on the floor, I came down to the floor to give
another kind of special order, so I have agreed to two more speakers,
and then I will go to Mr. Dellums. Then I have to, because I am running
out of time, go to my special order.
I yield to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton).
Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my friend from Texas allowing
me to speak.
The tribute that we have witnessed this evening on the floor of the
House of Representatives has never been equal. I took out an hour
special order that was used. The gentleman from South Carolina (Mr.
Spratt) took out an hour which was used. We are very grateful to our
friend from Texas for allowing us to have a few more words of tribute
honoring Ron Dellums.
This gentleman will be sorely missed. But I tell you, Ron Dellums,
that this tribute that we have participated in and witnessed this
evening hopefully in days and years ahead will warm your heart to know
of the friendship, the respect and the affection with which we hold
you. We wish you the very, very best in the days to come.
Just the other day you received a distinguished service medal from
the Secretary of Defense. He told a story about how Bishop Tutu was
honored. And he spoke about how the words ``thank you'' sound so little
but yet mean so much. So let me say to my friend, thank you.
Mr. DeLAY. I thank the gentleman from Missouri.
I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis), the
distinguished chairman of the Subcommittee on VA, HUD and Independent
Agencies.
Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague from
Texas yielding to me. It indeed is a great honor for me in just a few
moments sharing the thoughts that I shared personally on more than one
occasion with and about my dear friend Ron Dellums. It is one thing to
talk about how you feel about public affairs. It is one thing to talk
about how you feel about friends and family. But if you have spent much
of your life in a thing called public affairs and serving people, it is
impossible to begin to tell your colleagues and your friends just how
much you would wish that your life could in a small part emulate that
which has been my experience with Ron Dellums.
I first heard about this fellow at a time when he certainly had no
idea that I might be around. I was then a graduate intern in the San
Francisco area, assigned as a part of that work to the East Bay Labor
Council where I had the privilege to spend a good deal of time with a
fellow by the name of Jeffrey Cohelan. When I really heard about Ron
Dellums was a few years after that when Ron Dellums had the audacity to
run against Congressman Cohelan in a primary and defeat that incumbent
Member of the Democratic Party in the House.
Ron Dellums, from the perspective that was a Republican perspective,
was from the radical left. I mean, indeed, he was the heyday of the
Berkeley days. And my perception of him was so different than one could
get from afar by way of just that background and experience of mine. I
mean, he beat a guy who had been good to me, and he was obviously one
of these guys from the nutty left.
And then years after that, as I began to look at public affairs in a
different kind of way, recognizing that very few of our problems are
solved by partisan politics alone, recognizing that the importance of
work in public affairs comes down to the quality of the people that we
attract. It says on one of those buildings in California, bring me men
to match my mountains. And in many a way, our people have a way of
doing that regardless of the label.
Ron Dellums is one of the great Americans to ever serve in the House
of Representatives. I want to say that from the bottom of my heart, but
I want to say much more than time will allow. So I will take this
moment to tell Ron that the time that we have spent together here on
the floor, the time we have spent together, special time in other parts
of this building, I have grown to have an affection for you that I can
express about few others outside of my family, there are few that I
care for more. Ron Dellums is exactly the kind of person that gives me
hope for the future of our society as well as the future of our
government. If we can continue to attract people of this talent, of
this ability to communicate verbally and otherwise, people who really
care as he cares, then the country, the Republic and indeed much of the
world, not only will be better for it but has a great future in
reflecting upon his work.
{time} 1745
Ron, God bless you and your family, and to say the least, we will
miss you. So farewell, my friend.
Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, as usual, when we get on the floor, we have
to yield to more Members, and I will yield to the other Californians
that are here. But I warn anybody that may be on their way over to the
floor, that in 5 minutes I am going to take my special order.
So I will yield to the gentleman from California, (Mr. Farr).
Mr. FARR of California. Well, Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman very
much for yielding to me. I appreciate the fact that he is on the floor
tonight to take special order time to talk about another great
Californian, Ronald Reagan, and we are taking that time to talk about
another great Ronald, Ronald Dellums, both from California, and I
appreciated the gentleman's yielding.
I am here as a relatively new Member, only having served 5\1/2\ years
in the House. But I think that the history of the 70s, the history of
the 80s, the history of the 90s saw incredible change in our country.
And this House, during all that period, probably spent more time
discussing our national security, our national defense, the Vietnam
War, Panama, and the Middle East. We had lots of problems.
Probably history will point out that the most talked about person of
these eras, two-and-a-half decades, is going to be Ron Dellums, because
in the people's House, he was an unusual person. He represented people
that had not been represented before in Congress. He spoke about
unusual ideas, many of which were unpopular. And they became the
position of our Nation. He just said them before anyone else.
He provided new leadership. Nobody of African-American descent had
ever been chair of the Committee on Armed Services. And the fact he was
taking that chair and had the opportunity to be there, he had life
threats against him in this building as a Member of Congress.
So as a newer Member to the people's House and one who is interested
in the history of this House, I think that Ron Dellums' legacy will be
something that will be talked about for decades to come. Our country
will be proud of him, and is, but most importantly our grandchildren
will know about Ron Dellums.
You served us well. You will be remembered forever. Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
Mr. Speaker, it is with both honor and sadness that I rise to pay
tribute to one of our colleagues, and a fellow Californian, Ron
Dellums, who is retiring from Congress after nearly three decades of
service in the House of Representatives.
Ron has had a long and honorable career in public service, and his
district knew him well long before he ran for Congress. He was involved
in social work, economic development, and community politics for many
years before being elected to the Berkeley City Council in 1967, a
momentous time in Bay Area politics. Three years later, he ran for
Congress for a seat which had been held for decades by the Republican
Party. Ron not only won the seat, he has kept it ever since, frequently
winning by sizeable margins.
Needless to say, Ron came to the House of Representatives in 1970 as
one of the most
[[Page H216]]
progressive progressives. When he joined the Armed Services Committee,
he was considered so extreme that he had to fight--literally--for a
seat on the dias. Knowing his views were in the minority, Ron
nonetheless spoke out eloquently and repeatedly against bloated and
wasteful defense spending. His speeches on the subject stand among the
very best ever delivered on the floor of the House: well-reasoned,
intelligent, compelling, and eloquent.
As many will attest, one of Ron's greatest talents is his ability to
balance his strong, outspoken beliefs with a deep sense of fairness. I
was honored to serve under his leadership when I served on the
Committee on Armed Services; in fact, Ron was my first Chairman when I
came to Congress in 1993. As the most junior Member of the Committee,
Ron accorded me the upmost respect and assistance, for which I am
deeply grateful. As Chairman, Ron was always open, fair, and willing to
listen to all arguments, whether he agreed or disagreed with them. His
respect for the minority, acceptance of opposing views, and tremendous
rhetorical skills are worthy of emulation by those in positions of
leadership.
Ron's long tenure attests to his effective service to his district.
So beloved is Ron that some of his constituents have actually become
offended when someone dares challenge him in an election year. Indeed,
Ron's stature is such that he is known and admired by people throughout
California. I know that some of my constituents were just as sad to
hear of Ron's retirement as those from his own district.
It has been a tremendous honor to serve in the House of
Representatives with Ron Dellums. The Bay Area, the State of
California, and the U.S. House of Representatives will greatly miss his
presence, and I wish him and his family the very best in the years
ahead.
Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr.
Engel).
Mr. ENGEL. Well, it is actually the gentleman from New York.
Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I apologize to the gentleman.
Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the majority whip for
yielding me this time, and it just shows that Ron Dellums is
appreciated all the way from California to New York, across the country
and then back.
One of the nice things about serving in this body, and this is my
10th year in this body, is when you first come to Congress you meet
people who are giants, you meet people you have read about, you meet
people you have seen and that you really did not know. And the thought
that you, as an elected Member of Congress, as a new Member, are a
colleague of somebody whom you have heard about and read about and seen
is really something to behold.
I felt that way when I first came to Congress, and I still feel that
way with regard to Ron Dellums. And I would never have forgiven myself
if I had not come to the floor this evening to say just a few words in
tribute to Ron, because you can never say enough to really capture the
whole image of the man.
I think of all the people I have served with in Congress, there is
nobody kinder, there is nobody greater, there is nobody who cares more
about this country. There is nobody who is a better friend than Ron
Dellums. We have broken bread many times together at lunch and had
many, many great talks.
At first Ron Dellums came to my attention when he was leading the
protests against the Vietnam war. And a lot of us at that time felt as
he did, but he seemed to capture everything and knew just exactly what
to say. And in the course of the 10 years I have served with Ron, I
have never known anyone to have more integrity, more concern for this
country, more love for this country, more love for the people with whom
he served in the House of Representatives.
We are really going to miss Ron. It's very nice, Ron, to be able to
hear people say all these nice things about you while you are still
alive. It is really, really nice. But I think you can see from the
heart both sides of the aisle, people who would call themselves
liberals and conservatives and moderates and everything in between, are
all saying the exact same things.
And at a time in Congress when many people do not agree with many
other people, we all agree about one thing, and that is that Ron
Dellums is a class act. Thank you, my friend. I am going to miss you,
and I hope you will keep in touch. But you have served this country
well, you have served your friends well, and class act is really the
word.
And I want to thank the majority whip for granting me the time.
Mr. DeLAY. And, Mr. Speaker, once again I apologize to the gentleman
from New York, but well said.
My last Speaker is the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey).
Ms. WOOLSEY. And, Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for letting us
do this. I promise I would have been here earlier, but I was on an
airplane coming from a very rainy, rainy California.
I tell Ron this story because it made such an impact on me. Ron
Dellums came to my district and spoke in front of a group of my
friends. He spoke outside and the birds stopped singing because they
were listening to him. There was not a person listening that had a dry
eye. Every single person in that group, and there was at least 100 some
people, had a story that they remembered about Ron Dellums and what he
has done for this country. So then I had the fortune to come here and
work with you, Ron, and I am so privileged that that has been part of
my growing up here as a very junior Member of this Congress.
And I appreciate you for daring all of us in this House of
Representatives by giving us the challenges to go and do more than we
thought we should do and could do. You dared us to not just settle for
what is politically possible. You dared us and you inspired us to think
beyond the day-to-day battles, to look at the big picture; to think
about what we are doing and how it relates to our children, our
families, our seniors, our communities. You did not ever have one small
vision of what you were doing and talking about.
I, like those ahead of me, could go on and on, but I want to tell
you, Ron, that I have always thought of you as the dean of our
delegation, of the Bay Area delegation, the California delegation; the
person that has taught me the most about integrity. But what I am going
to miss the most with your leaving us is that booming voice here on
this House floor. I am going to miss that. I am going to miss your
leadership and I will miss your message, but I will not forget it.
Thank you for being my friend.
Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr.
Dellums) for a response.
Mr. DELLUMS. Mr. Speaker, I thank my distinguished colleague from
Texas for his generosity, and in respect to the special order that the
gentleman is calling, I shall be brief and I appreciate his gesture of
generosity to my colleagues as well as to myself.
First, let me say in a humorous spirit, to capture the notion of my
colleague from New York, it is kind of like a funeral, but the
marvelous thing is I am still alive to hear it and to walk away, and so
that is good. Hopefully, at some point before my service has ended on
Friday the 6th, I will have some opportunity to take the well and to
speak to all of my colleagues about what for me has been an
extraordinary journey of 31 years across four decades in public life,
27 years of them here.
Suffice to say at this moment that I want to thank the gentleman from
Missouri (Mr. Ike Skelton) for setting up this special order and to all
of my colleagues who took the time to participate. My heart is full at
this moment. My heart soars like an eagle at this moment. And in the
course of these few hours, I have felt every emotion from laughter and
joy to tears and sadness.
Just suffice at this moment to say that I never came here to become a
celebrity. I never came here to become a big personality. I am just a
guy from the Bay Area who came here to try to do a job. I have been
extremely honored to serve in the Congress of the United States. Late
night talk show host jokes about politicians notwithstanding, it is
indeed an honor to have gotten up every single day to march to the
floor of the United States Congress with life and death in my hands,
along with 434 other colleagues, to try to shape the course of history
in this country and throughout the world. It has been an extraordinary
honor.
Later, hopefully, I will be able to say more, but I leave without
cynicism. The day that I take the plane out of Washington for the last
time, know that I go with my optimism and my idealism intact and that I
will miss all of you here, friends and foes alike, supporters and
adversaries alike.
We have become a family. You are part of my consciousness. Those of
you
[[Page H217]]
I had to challenge, stay up to 3 and 4 and 5 in the morning to try to
be sharp enough to debate you because I figured you would be up to 3
and 4 getting ready for me, hopefully, we made each other better
people. I am a better person for having served here.
Thank you very much for an evening that I will remember. It has been
a most stunning and extraordinary and amazing evening. I am full by the
evening and I am humbled by the evening. I thank you for your
generosity, and I yield back to the gentleman.
Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I can only say that it is indeed a tribute to
have as many Members come down to this floor. It shows you what kind of
man the gentleman is. He is a great American, as the gentleman from
California says, and the House will remember him and revere him and he
will go down in history and young people will read about him. So we say
farewell, but we always want him to come back.
I also rise to pay tribute to another Californian, another Ron, one
of the greatest Presidents of this century, Ronald Wilson Reagan.
Now, later this week the House will take up a bill that will name the
National Airport after Ronald Reagan. This legislation will be a
fitting tribute to the greatness of Ronald Reagan. It will signify the
soaring spirit of this man who did so much to lift the spirits of the
American people.
Now, some people, especially my colleagues who occupy the far left of
the political spectrum, disagree with this legislation. They say that
we should not name the National Airport after Reagan because of his
actions with the air traffic controllers. Well, let me just set the
record straight. By breaking the PATCO union, Ronald Reagan struck a
blow for the American people and for the American taxpayer.
Let me quote President Reagan. ``I believe in the collective
bargaining in the private sector. I do not believe in it for the public
sector because I do not believe that public employees can be allowed to
strike. Public employees are striking against the people, and the
people are the highest sources of power, other than the Lord himself,
that the government has.''
Ronald Reagan sat a very important precedent when he battled against
that union. He established that no special interest could hold hostage
the whole of the American people. Some Democrats may not appreciate
that principle. After all, the Democrats are the party of the special
interests.
Ronald Reagan was a President of principle. That is why the American
people still love him so much. That is why we will celebrate his
birthday this week. They knew where he stood on any issue. They knew he
believed in the American spirit and that he lived the American dream.
Born in a small town in Illinois, Ronald Reagan came not from a
background of wealth or privilege. He worked his way up from tough
circumstance to become the President of the United States, a President
we could all believe in.
It was Reagan who said, ``Don't let anyone tell you that America's
best days are behind her; that the American spirit has been vanquished.
We have seen it triumph too often in our lives to stop believing in it
now.'' Today, we need a President who stands for the best that America
has to offer. Ronald Reagan was that kind of President. We still feel
the impact of the vision of Ronald Reagan: It is a vision of hope, a
vision of opportunity, a vision of faith and a vision of freedom.
It was Ronald Reagan who said that the government was too big and it
spends too much. It was Ronald Reagan who said the answer to government
that is too big is to stop feeding its growth. It was Ronald Reagan who
said raising taxes will not balance the budget, it will only encourage
more government spending and less private investment; raising taxes
will slow economic growth, reduce production and destroy future jobs,
making it more difficult for those without jobs to find them and more
likely that those who now have jobs can keep them.
{time} 1800
It was Ronald Reagan who campaigned so effectively for a line item
veto, something that my colleague, the gentleman from New York (Mr.
Solomon), worked so hard to get signed into law. It was Ronald Reagan's
wife, Nancy, who led the fight against illegal drug use. Her campaign
that urged children to ``just say no'' inspired the American people to
take responsibility for their actions. It also inspired a 67-percent
drop in illegal drug use. Now that is the kind of moral leadership that
we need. It is leadership based on the principles of freedom and
personal responsibility.
Today we are working on an agenda that is inspired by the Reagan
vision for America, and this agenda has four pillars: First, we want to
make the Government smaller and smarter so that it takes up no more
than 25 percent of the average family's income. Americans are
overtaxed, overregulated and overgoverned. It is not right that most
people spend half the year working for the Government.
Mr. Speaker, I just challenge the American people who, during this
week, look at today and tomorrow. Today, the American people are still
working for the Government. Tomorrow, it will not be until after lunch
that they start working for themselves this week. Over 50 percent of
the American family's income goes to the Government.
If we add up local, State, and Federal taxes and the cost of
regulation, 50 cents out of every hard-earned dollar goes to the
Government. No wonder it takes one parent to work for the Government,
while it takes another parent to work for the family today.
Washington confiscates too many of the hard-earned dollars, spends
too much; it wastes too much and has too much power and authority over
our lives. This was true when Ronald Reagan was president, and it is
still true today. The only way to return power and authority from
Washington back to the people is to limit the amount of money
politicians get their hands on in the first place.
Look at what is happening to the Clinton budget that was introduced
just yesterday. All of a sudden, the President and the politicians have
found what they think are surpluses in our budget. Because of a good,
sound, fiscal policy, we actually may balance the budget and surpluses
may flow. And what is their first reaction is to raise the size of
government, start taxing and spending again.
Think about it. Just think about it. The less that we send to
Washington, the less Washington can waste. Hard-working Americans
deserve a break today, and we are committed to keeping more of their
money in their pockets and less in Washington.
Our focus in 1998 will be to increase family income by cutting taxes
and making Government more accountable for the way it spends the
people's money.
But tax relief is only the first step. The only way to ensure limited
government and individual freedom is to eliminate the IRS as we know it
today. We believe it is morally wrong for a free people to live in fear
of any government agency. We believe it is morally wrong for citizens
in a democracy to be assumed guilty until proven innocent.
Yet even IRS reform is not enough. The real problem lies with the Tax
Code itself. It is too long, it is too complicated, and it is simply
unfair. It makes lawyers and accountants rich and the rest of us poor.
It punishes achievement and discourages hard work and savings and
innovation.
Mr. Speaker, let us replace the Tax Code with a new system that is
fair, consistent, easy to understand, easy to comply with, and less
coercive and intrusive. We need a Tax Code that encourages savings and
investment. Most importantly, we need a Tax Code that confiscates less
for Washington and keeps more in the people's pockets. Now, that is a
Ronald Reagan vision.
A second pillar of our agenda is education. A philosopher once said
that ``only the educated are truly free.'' Our schools have to improve
if we are going to protect our freedom. Nothing is more important than
the education of our young people.
I have struggled with this issue. Because, while I believe that
education should be a top priority for the American people, I also
believe that this priority is best accomplished at the local and the
State level. But I do believe that the Federal Government can play a
role and that role should be in promoting greater freedom and greater
choices for the parents of our children.
Our education plan proposes fundamental change. Official Washington
[[Page H218]]
now has 760 education programs and 39 different bureaucracies, spending
over $100 billion a year. It is mind boggling. That does not make any
sense. It does not make any sense for Washington to tax the people's
community and then graciously give back the money with all kinds of
strings attached.
We want to cut those strings. We want to remove outdated rules and
restrictions that are holding back our schools from the future. Even
the best teachers cannot get results when their school is a dangerous,
violent place.
We hope the President will stop his opposition to our proposal to
give freedom of choice to low-income families in Washington, D.C. These
families have children who are stuck at dead-end, drug-infested
schools. We want those families to have the same option exercised by
all of us, including the President and the Vice President, the option
to choose the kind of education that best meets the needs of their own
children. Republicans believe that American education should be the
best in the world.
The third pillar of our agenda is the war on drugs and crime. When a
mother sends her son off to a foreign war, she worries ceaselessly
about his safety. Yet every day, every day, millions of mothers put
their children on the school bus and send them off into a domestic war
zone. Ronald Reagan understood the plague of drugs and he stood firmly
against illegal drug use. He was a role model for the American people.
The leadership from the White House today is less clear, and that
explains our current problems. Teen drug abuse has reached epidemic
proportions, and there are no safe havens from this insidious modern
plague. Overall, teenage drug use has nearly doubled in the 1990s; and,
perhaps most frightening of all, nearly half of all 17-year-olds say
that they can buy marijuana within an hour.
The scourge of drugs and horrible violent crimes are reminders that a
good economy is not everything. We have to guard against America
becoming rich in things but poor in spirit, and that starts at the top
with our police and our elected leaders of this country.
Too often I think Government's well-intentioned programs have
backfired, have led to dependency and illegitimacy and despair in the
area of welfare, for example. We have some solutions to this problem.
First, if we wish to solve the drug crisis, we have to start with the
family and the school and in our churches and synagogues. Teens with
families that eat together and play together and pray together are the
ones that are least likely to try drugs. If the battle against drug
abuse is waged at home, the war is half won. Ronald Reagan understood
that fact, and his lovely wife Nancy's campaign to ``just say no'' was
effective. We need that kind of moral leadership in the White House
today.
Second, parents must demand that their schools be made drug-free. We
need to empower teachers so that they can kick drug dealers out of
their schools. We have to demand accountability and zero tolerance by
principals for any drug use on school grounds; and if those principals
do not adhere to zero tolerance, we need to get rid of those principals
and replace them with ones that will.
Third, the Federal Government has an important role. We must do a
better job in defending our borders, our national borders, from drug
dealers. We have to be more diligent in our policing and arresting and
prosecution of anyone who sells this poison.
Next, we need to get as tough on these people as they are on us,
ending parole for violent offenders, increasing prison capacity,
mandatory penalties for crimes committed with a gun, cracking down on
juvenile criminals, and making the death penalty a very real threat. If
we are truly committed to protecting the innocent, we must do more to
punish the guilty.
Finally, we have to set examples for our children. For those who say
that sin is not important, that morals are not important, that setting
examples are not important, I say no wonder we cannot win this war.
The fourth pillar of our agenda for the future is also a part of the
Reagan legacy. Ronald Reagan signed the law that saved Social Security
for the next generation. Now we have to take steps today to save and
strengthen Social Security for the next century. Today, more young
people believe in UFOs than believe that they will ever see a Social
Security check; and we have to make this system one that all Americans
can believe in.
President Clinton's proposal to hold on to any surplus until we
reform Social Security is just flat wrong. In fact, it does not even
make any sense. I believe that this is just a sneaky way for the
Government to keep more of the taxpayers' money. But we need to fix
Social Security. Ultimately, it comes down to the question of control.
Who should make these key decisions about the people's retirement? The
people or the Federal Government?
Now, we believe that the American people need to play a more active
role in designing a retirement system that they can control, and I
think we can design a better system that all Americans will believe in.
A national commission or a national debate with the active
participation of the American people will help us design such a system.
Such a debate would be a further reflection of the Reagan legacy.
According to press accounts, Bill Clinton is worried about his legacy
once he leaves office. The legacy that a president leaves is not just
the legislation he signs, not the programs that he proposes or even the
speeches he makes. The legacy is also the vision he promotes for a
better America.
President Reagan saw the brighter side of an American dream. He saw a
land of boundless opportunity and a people of boundless energy. He saw
an America that served as a shining city on the hill, an America that
served as a beacon of light for the rest of the world. He believed that
a government that preserved freedom was a limited government that knew
its role in society. He believed that freedom, coupled with personal
responsibility, created wealth and fostered happiness. He knew that the
world was a dangerous place and that an America was a force for good in
making it a less dangerous place. He also knew that the position of the
president of the United States was not only a job but also a symbol of
freedom to people across the world.
Reagan also knew that, as president, he did serve as a role model for
the Nation's youth; and he did his best to bring dignity to the office
and to the Nation. I knew Ronald Reagan. I served under Ronald Reagan.
Ronald Reagan was a friend of mine.
President Clinton, you are no Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan had his
enemies, but even his enemies respected his vision of America. They had
no choice.
{time} 1815
I wanted to wish President Reagan a happy birthday, and I am sure
that the current fight to name the National Airport in his honor
bewilders him and Nancy. It bewilders me. But we should not let this
partisanship get the best of us. We should adopt Ronald Reagan's good
humor and push forward on this legislation. It will be the best thing
we can do for the image of this city and the image of our capital.
Mr. COX of California. I wonder if the gentleman would yield.
Mr. DeLAY. I would love to yield to the gentleman that worked for
Ronald Reagan in the White House, the gentleman from California and the
Chairman of the Policy Committee, Mr. Cox.
Mr. COX of California. I thank the whip, and I thank him especially
for his inspiring remarks about an inspired man, a hero of mine and his
and so many Americans.
What happened during the 20th century, which really spans Ronald
Reagan's lifetime, was nothing less than the rise of totalitarianism as
a model of the state and its defeat in the great war, World War II,
that our folks, some of us here in Congress, fought in, and its defeat
subsequently in the Presidency of Ronald Reagan, when he led the
victory of the West in the Cold War, and he led the intellectual
victory that results now in Democrats and Republicans agreeing on the
central point that free enterprise, not a state-run economy, is the
model for America and the whole world and for the creation of jobs and
opportunities for people everywhere.
In that sense, Ronald Reagan, while he was a Republican by
registration at the end of his life and a Democrat to campaign for FDR
and Harry Truman earlier in his career, was really a person who
transcended partisan politics.
[[Page H219]]
He had Democrats and Republicans voting with him every single time he
did one of the great things for which we remember him. Of course, that
was the good Democrats and the good Republicans who always were siding
on the majority with Ronald Reagan. But it took those Boll Weevil
Democrats to join with the Republicans in the House to bring us those
incredible tax cuts.
I remember when President Reagan spoke when I was a freshman here in
Congress, having worked for him in the White House, he spoke to us
towards the end of his term, in January, but he did not stand at your
lectern, he stood at the one on the other side, which is, of course,
where the Democrats address the House, not Republicans.
Halfway through his remarks, some of us, since he was speaking only
to the Republican Conference, I am sure you remember it, some of us
thought he just made a mistake and didn't understand how the House
worked and showed up on the wrong side of the aisle. But halfway
through the remarks he crossed over to the lectern you are speaking at
right now, and he said, I am crossing the aisle right now to talk to
you because that is what I did midway through my adult lifetime: I
changed parties, and, as he was always so fond of saying, I didn't
leave the Democratic Party, some of the people in the Democratic Party
left me.
Nowhere was that more true than in the area of foreign policy and
national security, because while Ronald Reagan was winning the Cold War
in Europe, bringing about ultimately the collapse of the whole Soviet
empire and the freedom of what we then referred to as the captive
nations of central Europe and the Baltics and so on, he also was
fighting for democracy right here in our hemisphere, nowhere more
forthrightly than in Central America.
I remember what was at stake at that time. I remember that the
Sandinistas, the Communists, with the aid of Soviet troops, Soviet
military spending, Soviet advisors, Bulgaria and East German advisors,
were building a very expansionist Communist state that threatened the
new democracies of Central America in the 1980s. Not only Ronald Reagan
but many in Congress felt very, very strongly this had to be stopped
and contained. The Sandinista Communist Government of Nicaragua, which
had come to power by force, told all the workers who they were supposed
to be liberating that the right to strike was now abolished; it would
be illegal to go on strike, because this was, after all, a Communist
government and they didn't allow such things.
They shut down La Prensa, the main newspaper, that had been such a
wonderful outlet for the views of competing political interests in
Nicaragua, and they assassinated the editor of La Prensa. The editor's
widow, Violeta Chamorro, quit the revolutionary government of Nicaragua
to fight for democracy and to talk about democracy, to the extent that
the government would let her, in the pages of La Prensa.
Well, in this climate, the President sought humanitarian and military
aid to the people who were fighting to get democracy back in Nicaragua,
and the United States Senate went along with him. He asked, because
everything hinged on the vote here in the House of Representatives, to
come and stand where President Clinton just stood the other night, to
address us about the importance to the whole world, and certainly to
the cause of democracy, of winning this battle and of sending that aid
to the freedom fighters in Nicaragua.
But the Speaker of the House turned him down. So I got a request from
Don Regan, then the Chief of Staff, to answer this legal question, if
you will: Can the Speaker of the House, Jim Wright, turn down the
President of the United States when he asks to come and address the
body? Has this ever been done before in American history? Is there
precedent for it, and can he get away with it?
Well, it turned out as a matter of tact, judgment and political
comity, it was a huge mistake, but as a matter of law, yes, the Speaker
of the House had the right to bar the President from coming to address
the Nation and the Congress, which he did.
President Reagan was not a lawyer, so while I was disappointed to
have to give him that legal answer, what he said in reply, very
quickly, was, ``They have TV's up there on Capitol Hill in their
offices, don't they?'' Of course, you know what happened. The President
went on national television and addressed the country and,
incidentally, all the Members of the Congress in their offices, and as
a result of the speech that the President made explaining his case,
laying it out, just as Harry Truman did, he pointed out in that speech
when he was seeking aid to stop communism in Europe after the war, he
won.
Here in the Democratically-controlled House of Representatives, where
the Speaker of the House prevented the President from speaking and
making that pitch, the vote was 221 to 209 for the Edwards-Skelton-Ray-
Chandler amendment to the MILCON bill, the military construction
appropriations bill, and we provided $100 million in humanitarian and
military aid, which the Senate had already agreed to, to the freedom
fighters in Nicaragua.
Of course, Violeta Chamorro became the democratically-elected
President of Nicaragua, and Nicaragua, along with Guatemala, Honduras
and the rest of the nations enjoying democracy in Central America,
became part of this late 20th-century tide against statism, against
communism, for free enterprise, for democracy, for individual rights,
for the right to strike, for free press, for all of the things that
communism was against.
So, when I think of that story, I think not only of what Ronald
Reagan accomplished, but what it tells us about who he was. He was not
a creature of Washington. He was much closer to the American people
than he ever was to politicians on Capitol Hill. Even those of us who
are now in Congress who so strongly support and agree with everything
Ronald Reagan did understand the reason we love him is because he is
just like we are when we are at home with our constituents, not like
all the back room wheeling and dealing that we see here on Capitol
Hill.
He is a remarkable figure, and I considered it an honor to have
worked for him. I am delighted that very shortly in honor of his
birthday we will be naming, in bipartisan fashion, I am quite sure,
just like everything Ronald Reagan ever accomplished, we will be naming
the National Airport in bipartisan fashion, the National Airport, the
Ronald Reagan National Airport. It is a small thing to do in honor of a
very, very great man.
Mr. DeLAY. I thank the gentleman from California. His words are like
a paintbrush, painting who the real Ronald Reagan was. Many of us that
serve in this House serve in this House because of his inspiration, and
getting us involved in politics and dragging us out of the private
sector, and making us stand up, as he did, for freedom and personal
responsibility. I appreciate the gentleman for coming down and helping
me with this special order.
____________________