[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 80 (Wednesday, June 9, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6651-S6652]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              RELATIVE TO THE DEATH OF RONALD WILSON REAGAN

  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The hour of 11:30 having arrived, the 
Senate will proceed to consideration of a resolution honoring the 
former President Ronald Wilson Reagan, which the clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 373) relative to the death of Ronald 
     Wilson Reagan, a former President of the United States.

                              S. Res. 373

       Resolved, That the Senate has heard with profound sorrow 
     and deep regret the announcement of the death of the 
     Honorable Ronald Wilson Reagan, a former President of the 
     United States, and a former Governor of the State of 
     California.
       Resolved, That in recognition of his illustrious 
     statesmanship, his leadership in national and world affairs, 
     his distinguished public service to his State and his Nation, 
     and as a mark of respect to one who has held such eminent 
     public station in life, the Presiding Officer of the Senate 
     appoint a committee to consist of all the Members of the 
     Senate to attend the funeral of the former President.
       Resolved, That the Senate hereby tender its deep sympathy 
     to the members of the family of the former President in their 
     sad bereavement.
       Resolved, That the Secretary communicate these resolutions 
     to the House of Representatives and transmit a copy thereof 
     to the family of the former President.

  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. By request, Senators are asked to vote 
from their desks.
  The majority leader is recognized.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, these past few days we have seen an 
extraordinary outpouring of affection for our 40th President, Ronald 
Wilson Reagan. In a few short hours, he will lie in state under the 
Capitol dome where dignitaries from around the world and citizens from 
across the country will pay their respects to the man from Dixon.

[[Page S6652]]

  In his 1982 State of the Union address, President Reagan told the 
Nation: We don't have to turn to our history books for heroes; they are 
all around us. In life, Ronald Reagan was a hero to millions. To the 
freedom fighters in the Soviet Union, to his fellow citizens striving 
toward that American dream, Ronald Reagan told the world that we are 
meant to be free.
  He was a man of faith and deeply held convictions. Like James 
Madison, Ronald Reagan believed that in the creation of our Republic 
was the hand of God. He believed our freedoms flow not from the State 
but from the Almighty. Our task was and remains to awaken in the people 
this essential truth.
  I close with a story I believe captures Ronald Reagan's remarkable 
character, his courage, and his vision. It was 1997. From a news report 
was a story of an emigre.

       Walking in Arm and Hammer Park near his home, Reagan was 
     approached by an elderly tourist and his 12-year-old 
     grandson, Ukranian emigres now living near Toledo, OH. They 
     spoke with him for a moment and the grandfather snapped a 
     picture of the boy sitting with the former president. An 
     article about the encounter and the picture appeared first in 
     the Toledo Blade and then in newspapers around the country. 
     The other day, the grandfather recalled their meeting. We 
     went to the park for a picnic with our friends, he said, and 
     then he saw President Reagan. And we began to cheer him and 
     said, Mr. President, thank you for everything you did for the 
     Jewish people, for Soviet people, to destroy the Communist 
     empire. And he said, yes, that is my job.

  Ronald Wilson Reagan was raised in a small town. Part of him remained 
a small town citizen all of his life. Not in the self conscious way one 
thinks of a politician stumping on the campaign trail. Ronald Reagan's 
small town roots informed the way he viewed the body politic--what he 
believed people wanted from life, from each other and from government.
  As he explained, when a person grows up in a small town,

       You get to know people as individuals, not as blocs or 
     members of special interest groups. You discover that, 
     despite their differences, most people have a lot in common . 
     . . [W]e all want freedom and liberty, peace, love and 
     security, a good home, and a chance to worship God in our own 
     way; we all want the chance to get ahead and make our 
     children's lives better than our own. We all want the chance 
     to work at a job of our own choosing and to be fairly 
     rewarded for it.

  Ronald Reagan believed that the government should serve the people. 
He believed that the strength of our economy came from the creativity, 
ingenuity and productivity of the individual, not from the plans and 
schemes of government bureaucrats or intellectual elites.
  This view of America's economic success guided his economic policies 
here at home, and, in no small way, shaped his political policies 
abroad.
  When Ronald Reagan became President, the American economy was in a 
shambles. Inflation was in the double digits. Interest rates were 
soaring. Americans had to wait in endless lines to pump overpriced gas. 
Real incomes had stagnated and the American worker was demoralized. In 
his 1989 ``Speaking My Mind'' collection of essays and speeches, Ronald 
Reagan reflected that:

       Here we were, a country bursting with economic promise, and 
     yet our political leadership had gone out of its way to 
     frustrate America's natural economic strength. It made no 
     sense. My attitude had always been--let the people flourish.

  So, he set about slashing Federal income taxes and cutting burdensome 
regulations. It was his mission to free the American worker and unleash 
the American entrepreneur. When he came to office, the top marginal tax 
rate was 70 percent. By the time he left, it was a mere 28 percent. His 
sweeping tax reforms overhauled the tax code and removed 6 million 
taxpayers from the tax rolls.
  At the same time, President Reagan gave Federal Reserve chairman Paul 
Volcker free reign to tighten the money supply and bring down 
inflation.
  Together, these policies worked.
  True to the President's forecast, as the economy grew, so, too, did 
tax revenues. Tax revenues increased faster than GDP. By 1990, the 
economy had grown by a third--or as the Wall Street Journal put it, 
``roughly the size of Germany.'' Over the course of his presidency, the 
economy created 19 million jobs and the stock market hit a record high. 
America enjoyed the longest economic expansion up to that time.
  Throughout, President Reagan was assailed for the growing deficit. In 
typical Washington fashion, he got the blame for adverse economic 
numbers, but never the credit for economic success. Contrary to his 
critics, however, the Federal deficit fell from 6.3 percent of GNP in 
fiscal year 1983 to 2.3 percent in 1988. The deficit actually shrank as 
a percentage of Gross National Product.
  At the time, his policies were dubbed, ``Reaganomics.'' Now, they're 
considered common sense. President Reagan's guiding principle was 
simple, yet profound: government policies should grow the economy, not 
manage [or redistribute?] it. The impact of this idea was so great 
that, now, even the other side of the aisle speaks of targeted tax cuts 
and tax credits, and no longer openly campaigns to raise our taxes.
  Indeed, President Clinton crystallized the Reagan Revolution when he 
declared, ``The era of big government is over.''
  President Reagan believed in the dreams and dignity of the 
individual. As he said in his second inaugural address, ``There are no 
limits to growth and human progress, when men and women are free to 
follow their dreams.''
  Ronald Reagan reminded the American people that economic liberty and 
human freedom are two sides of the same coin.
  Some call it the Reagan Revolution. Others call it the Reagan 
Restoration. I prefer the latter term. The man from Dixon--lifeguard, 
radio announcer, actor, governor, father, adoring husband, and 
President of the United States--restored not only our confidence, but 
our fundamental understanding of the source of America's greatness: the 
American people.
  Indeed, America was blessed to have such a President. Now he will 
enter the history books as one of our greatest. God bless Ronald Wilson 
Reagan. God bless America.
  Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The question is on agreeing to the resolution.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. REID. I announce that the Senator from Montana (Mr. Baucus) and 
the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) are necessarily absent.
  The result was announced--yeas 98, nays 0, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 111 Leg.]

                                YEAS--98

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Allard
     Allen
     Bayh
     Bennett
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Breaux
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Byrd
     Campbell
     Cantwell
     Carper
     Chafee
     Chambliss
     Clinton
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Collins
     Conrad
     Cornyn
     Corzine
     Craig
     Crapo
     Daschle
     Dayton
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Dole
     Domenici
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Edwards
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Fitzgerald
     Frist
     Graham (FL)
     Graham (SC)
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Hollings
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Lott
     Lugar
     McCain
     McConnell
     Mikulski
     Miller
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Nelson (NE)
     Nickles
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Santorum
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Talent
     Thomas
     Voinovich
     Warner
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--2

     Baucus
     Kerry
       
  The resolution (S. Res. 373) was agreed to.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. WARNER. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

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