[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 22 (Tuesday, March 5, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H661-H663]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  PERMITTING USE OF ROTUNDA OF CAPITOL FOR CEREMONY TO PRESENT A GOLD 
 MEDAL ON BEHALF OF CONGRESS TO FORMER PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN AND HIS 
                           WIFE NANCY REAGAN

  Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 305) permitting the use of the 
Rotunda of the Capitol for a ceremony to present a gold medal on behalf 
of Congress to former President Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy 
Reagan, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 305

       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That the Rotunda of the Capitol is authorized to 
     be used on May 16, 2002, for a ceremony to present a gold 
     medal on behalf of Congress to former President Ronald Reagan 
     and his wife Nancy Reagan. Physical preparations for the 
     ceremony shall be carried out in accordance with such 
     conditions as the Architect of the Capitol may prescribe.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Linder) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) will 
each control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Linder).
  Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to stand up on behalf of awarding the 
Congressional Medal to former President Reagan and his wife, Nancy.
  I had a long-standing personal relationship with President Reagan, 
having traveled in his campaign plane going back to the East in 1976. 
He was a remarkable human being who knew who he was and what he was 
about, and he left office exactly as he entered it. Uninflated by the 
trappings of power, he came to do some things, he did them, and then he 
left.
  On the night before he announced his candidacy for President in 
October of 1975, he gave a speech at the 20th anniversary celebration 
of the National Review. It was a remarkably confident, uplifting, and 
humorous speech; but toward the end of that speech, he looked at the 
world as we see it, and it was not all pretty.
  He quoted something written 40 years earlier, or so, by Whittaker 
Chambers, a former Communist and popular writer in the 1940s and '50s. 
He said, ``It is idle to speak of saving western civilization because 
western civilization is already a wreck from within. That is why we can 
hope to do little more than snatch a fingernail from a saint on the 
rack, or a handful of ash from the faggots, and bury them secretly in 
the flower pot against that day ages hence when a few men will dare to 
believe that there once was something else, that something else was 
thinkable; and that there are those who, at the dark moments, took 
loving care to preserve the tokens of hope and truth.''
  Reagan was looking at a very, very dark time in America. He went on 
to run for President, and he did not win. In some ways, it does not 
matter that he did not win in that race. The day after President Ford 
won the nomination in Kansas City, Ronald Reagan assembled the friendly 
troops that had followed him so ardently for the past year, and he told 
them that it was just the beginning, and that we would one day reach 
that shining city on the Hill.
  Four years later, he ran for President again. It is valuable to 
remember what kind of circumstances the United States faced in 1980 as 
he ran for President. We have heard for the last 10 years that I have 
been here on this floor that the 1980s was a decade of greed and that 
he ran us into all kinds of debt. But let us lay some facts on the 
table. Facts, as it has been said, are stubborn things.
  When Ronald Reagan ran for President, we had interest rates of 21 
percent, we had home mortgages at 17 percent, inflation at 14 percent, 
and double-digit unemployment. He faced these challenges on that 
January day when he was sworn into office, and he listed them one after 
the other. Then he told the American people that we can conquer this, 
because, after all, we are Americans.
  Over the next 10 years, not Ronald Reagan and not government policy, 
but the American people, changed the world with a cut in taxes to take 
the burden of paying for government off the backs of small businesses, 
the creators of jobs, with a significant reduction in regulations 
across the board. The American people, over the next 8 or 10 years, 
created 4 million businesses and nearly 20 million new jobs. The 
revenues to the Federal Government after reducing taxes doubled from 
$519 billion in 1980 to $1 trillion 54 billion in 1990.
  The American people are a generous sort and also increased their 
contributions to strangers, people they have never met, through 
charities from $48 billion in 1980 to around $100 billion in 1990. It 
is now $195 billion.
  Ronald Reagan would be reluctant to take any credit for any of this. 
He set a tone. He set a tone for the United States, and they followed 
it. In the 4 years before he became President, from 1976 to 1980, 
communist influence had increased in 14 major areas around the world 
from Afghanistan to Zambia. When Ronald Reagan took office, he was 
facing probably the largest expansion of communist activity in the 
history of this past century.
  As he left office, quietly, without bragging, without talking, 
communism was collapsing on its own. Shortly thereafter, the Berlin 
Wall fell, and the

[[Page H662]]

whole idea of communism and socialism were both empirically and 
theoretically discredited. We now face expansions of freedom around the 
world.
  He was an unassuming and decent man, and the American people saw 
that. They saw what he was, and they gave him two huge Presidential 
victories. But my favorite story about him was told by his friend of 
many, many years, Mike Deaver, who, while walking with Ronald Reagan on 
the streets of Manhattan in 1978, I believe it was, after he had run 
for President, and much of the world knew who he was from that 
campaign, he was walking down the street in Manhattan and saw someone 
inching toward him, wanting to get his autograph, thinking he knew who 
he was, but not sure.
  Reagan, ever the polite gentleman, turned to him and put his hand out 
and said hello. The gentleman looked at Ronald Reagan and said, Could I 
get your autograph, Mr. Milland? Ronald Reagan signed ``Ray Milland'' 
and moved on. Mike Deaver said, why didn't you tell him who you were? 
Ronald Reagan said, I know who I am. He wanted to meet Ray Milland.
  That is the kind of guy he was, the kind of President he was. He and 
Mrs. Reagan deserve to be honored with a Congressional Medal as a 
marvelous team in the history of this great country.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1415

  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the concurrent resolution to 
authorize a ceremony to present a Congressional Gold Medal to former 
President Ronald Reagan and to Nancy Reagan. I regret that President 
Reagan will not be present for that ceremony.
  H.R. 3591, enacted in the last Congress as Public Law 106-251, 
authorized presentation of this gold medal to our 40th President and 
our First Lady.
  Mr. Speaker, President Reagan was a strong leader, both substantively 
in terms of policy and symbolically in terms of the image he projected 
to the American people. He was a significant figure at a critical point 
in time in our history. Ronald Reagan was clearly an effective advocate 
for his views, and he retained the affection of the American people 
throughout his Presidency. President Reagan was skilled at representing 
the office of the Presidency as well as his policies. He was an 
individual, as the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Linder) has said, 
simple, unassuming, profound in some ways and a thoroughly decent human 
being.
  I want to take this opportunity as well to salute Nancy Reagan his 
wife, an active First Lady and a devoted spouse both in the White House 
and in the difficult days since she has coped with the former 
President's tragic Alzheimer's disease. Nancy Reagan has been a 
tireless proponent of programs to prevent alcohol and drug abuse as 
well.
  Mr. Speaker, I may disagree with the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. 
Linder) in terms of some of the policies and some of the reasons for 
what has happened in America. We will have those kind of differences 
appropriately. But what neither of us disagree on and what we both 
agree on is that Ronald Reagan is in fact a decent human being who 
cares greatly about his country, who cares about its people, who cares 
about freedom, and who cares about justice. He was a leader of 
significance, as I said earlier, a leader who made a difference, a 
leader who set before the world an image of freedom, a leader who was 
prepared to commit himself to the defense of freedom and, as a result, 
in my opinion, gave to those who would undermine freedom in the Kremlin 
and other places in the world second thoughts.
  In the final analysis, I am convinced that Gorbachev, the leader of 
Soviet Union, looked at his people and said, Ronald Reagan, the 
Congress, the American people are prepared to pay the price of 
defending freedom and are not going to let it go by default. We cannot 
compete, I am sure Gorbechev said, with a President, a Congress and a 
people with such resolve. As a result, I think, as the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Linder) has pointed out, shortly after the Reagan 
Presidency, communism was certainly in retreat, the Iron Curtain came 
down, the Berlin Wall, which he asked to be torn down, in fact was torn 
down.
  So although during the course of his Presidency I differed on some 
policies and, frankly, agreed on others, but what we all can agree on 
is that this was an American who served his country well, an American 
who gave of himself, of his philosophy, of his intellect, of his 
devotion to country. Americans and America and, indeed, the world 
benefitted by that contribution.
  I am pleased, Mr. Speaker, to rise with my friend, the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Linder), in support of this most appropriate use of the 
rotunda of the Capitol of the United States.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Gibbons).
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend and colleague, the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Linder), for allowing me the time today to 
appear and present a few remarks on this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, yesterday marked the 50th wedding anniversary of former 
President and First Lady Ronald and Nancy Reagan, a half a century of 
commitment not just to themselves and to each other but a commitment to 
the American people.
  Mr. Speaker, today we plan for another milestone, the Congressional 
Gold Medal ceremony for this distinguished couple.
  In the 106th Congress I, along with my good friend and colleague, the 
gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Dunn), introduced legislation to award 
the Reagans the highest honor that Congress can bestow, the 
Congressional Gold Medal. Ronald and Nancy Reagan have dedicated their 
lives to promoting national pride and bettering the quality of life for 
every American. Certainly the Congressional Gold Medal is a fitting 
tribute to their enduring commitment to public service.
  Recently, I introduced House Concurrent Resolution 305 to authorize 
the use of the Capitol Rotunda for their Congressional Gold Medal award 
ceremony to be held on May 16 of this year.
  The Reagans have stood as leaders and icons in our Nation's history 
for years. A popular two-term governor and later as President of the 
United States, Ronald Reagan was dedicated to encouraging economic 
growth, recognizing the value of hard work and sparking hope and pride 
among all Americans. He believed that everyone can rise as high and as 
far as their abilities will take them. This principle became a guiding 
creed of Reagan's Presidency as he successfully turned the tide of 
public cynicism and sparked a national renewal of faith and hope. He 
fulfilled his pledge to restore the great confident roar of American 
progress, growth and optimism; and Americans once again believed in the 
good old-fashioned American dream.
  Always standing by his side, President Reagan's wife, Nancy, served 
as a gracious First Lady and a distinguished leader in her own right. 
Perhaps her most notable and longest-lasting achievement was her ``Just 
Say No'' campaign aimed at preventing alcohol and drug abuse among our 
youth.
  Even today, Mrs. Reagan continues to be an active public leader as a 
champion for increasing funding for research on Alzheimer's disease.
  Together, the Reagans have dedicated much of their lives to our 
Nation. Their leadership and service extended well beyond President 
Reagan's tenure in office.
  It has been an honor for me to lead the effort of awarding the 
Congressional Gold Medal to this deserving couple.
  I encourage all of my colleagues to support this resolution which 
will allow for the Congressional Gold Medal ceremony to occur here, in 
the People's House, our Nation's Capitol.
  Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the 
gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Dunn).
  Ms. DUNN. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of this resolution to 
allow the use of the Capitol to honor President and Mrs. Reagan.
  I so much appreciate hearing the words of our colleague, the 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), who was eloquent in his 
description of how this President was able to bring hope to this 
country and work across the aisle to achieve great things for the 
United States.

[[Page H663]]

  Two years ago the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Gibbons) and I sponsored 
a bill that awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to President Reagan 
and his wife and his long-time supporter, Mrs. Nancy Reagan. That bill, 
as the gentleman from Nevada told us, was passed in both houses; and it 
was signed by the President. With passage of today's resolution we will 
have the privilege to present our Nation's highest award to Mrs. Reagan 
this May in the Capitol Rotunda.
  President Reagan delivered his second inaugural address in the 
Rotunda. I well remember that day because it was about one degree above 
zero and they actually canceled the parade to be held that day for the 
inauguration of the President. So President Reagan went ahead with his 
inaugural address, but he moved it to the Rotunda, so that has 
significance to us. In that address he personified our country as 
hopeful, big-hearted, idealistic, daring, decent and fair. Those are 
the exact words I would use to describe President Reagan himself.
  Together, the President and the First Lady dedicated their lives to 
lifting the American spirit and bettering the quality of life for all 
Americans.
  I continue and I know so many people also continue to be inspired by 
President Reagan's ideals of lowering the tax burden on individual 
working Americans, of strengthening families, limiting the control of 
government and achieving peace through strength here for our United 
States.
  In the early 1980s President Reagan's policy and leadership lifted us 
out of a terrible economic situation. I well remember the record 
unemployment, the 21 percent interest rates, the double-digit inflation 
that we lived through during that time. He stated in his campaign that 
he would bring America back, and he did.
  As we all know, the First Lady has been very instrumental in every 
Presidency. This is especially true of First Lady Nancy Reagan who 
traveled tirelessly around this Nation promoting her Just Say No 
campaign in order to stop substance abuse among young people. She knew 
she was not elected to office. She was not elected to office and yet 
she put to the best use the clout that she had as First Lady of this 
Nation to make what I believe was a lasting impact on our Nation's 
youth.
  President and Mrs. Reagan believed in the promise of the American 
dream. In an era of growing cynicism, they worked in their own upbeat 
and hopeful ways to make America a place where everybody can rise as 
high and as far as their ability will take them.
  My best wishes go out to President and Mrs. Reagan who have just 
celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. Although he has withdrawn 
from public life and we will be here forever to remember his 
accomplishments, his wife will come to receive this honor in the 
Rotunda on May 16. We will be there to greet her, to thank her for her 
constant support of this great man and the wonderful activities she 
herself initiated on behalf of our Nation's youth. We will never forget 
their achievements.
  Now it is time for us to honor these two individuals and to say thank 
you to our Nation's most magnificent President and his First Lady, 
Nancy Reagan.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of this resolution.
  Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to my 
colleague, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Isakson).
  Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. 
Linder), and I thank the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Gibbons) for 
introducing House Concurrent Resolution 305, and I subscribe to 
everything that the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Gibbons) thereafter has 
said and the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Dunn) has said.
  President Reagan was an unusually great President of this country. He 
lowered the burden of taxation on Americans. He in a large measure was 
solely responsible through his policies and his tenacity for bringing 
down the Berlin Wall and ending the Cold War. He was a leader of great 
proportion. But I rise for a different reason, not just to repeat the 
same.
  It is really appropriate that we use the Rotunda to present this 
award to Nancy Reagan, and it is because she and the President are 
still achieving great things for our country.
  Mr. Speaker, I lost my mother 4 years ago to Alzheimer's, and I have 
the greatest of regard for the caregivers of America who today deal 
with the care and the tragedy of that disease that afflicts their loved 
ones. I am so proud of the President, President Reagan, in the way he, 
in such a dignified manner, let the American people know of his 
debilitating disease; and he met it with the same positive influence 
that he met every challenge, no matter how great it was, in his life.
  As President of the United States, he did wonderful things for our 
country. As First Lady, Nancy Reagan did wonderful things for our 
country. And when the Gold Medal is presented, it will be for all the 
positive accomplishments that he made. But at this time in their lives 
it also recognizes a couple who are a shining beacon to millions of 
Americans whose loved ones have been confronted with Alzheimer's, who, 
as caregivers, give every moment of their day to make the life of their 
loved one as easy as possible.
  So on the 50th anniversary of their marriage, on their recognition of 
the accomplishments as First Lady and the President, it is also 
appropriate that we point out to the American people that even today, 
as a past President and a past First Lady, Ronald Reagan and Nancy 
Reagan continue to be a beacon to the American people in their handling 
of the most difficult of diseases in the latter years of their lives.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Gibbons), and I 
thank the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Linder) for yielding me time, and 
I urge the support of House Concurrent Resolution 305.

                              {time}  1430

  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to 
urge all of our colleagues to support this resolution in honor of 
President and Mrs. Reagan.
  Mr. Speaker, I said much about President Reagan in the opening of 
this conversation about his life, and let me close by honoring Mrs. 
Reagan. President Reagan said for many years that his life started 50 
years ago yesterday, that was the day he married Nancy Reagan. She has 
been a full partner in all of his successes, of which there are many.
  It is often the partner, the spouse, that does a lot of the work, 
while the person up front gets a lot of the credit. She was there from 
day one, 50 years ago yesterday. She deserves this tribute just as does 
he. I look forward to their coming here on May 16 to receive this 
tribute.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Culberson). The question is on the 
motion offered by the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Linder) that the 
House suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. 
Res. 305, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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