[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 11707-11715]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               TRIBUTE TO FORMER PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN

  Mr. GREGG. Thank you, Madam President.
  I rise today, as many Americans, to pay my respect and thanks, and 
also to celebrate the life of Ronald Reagan, an extraordinary man who 
has had such a huge impact on our generation and the generations to 
come in the world--especially Americans' place in the world.
  I have a lot of fond and personal memories about Governor and 
President Reagan. First, I had the opportunity to meet him with my wife 
Kathy when he and Nancy Reagan came to New Hampshire to campaign in 
1976. He was running against a sitting Republican President, Gerald 
Ford, appointed, of course, coming out of the Watergate era. Some in 
our party thought maybe it was time to move on, put a new face on our 
party, and put someone forward who had a certain charisma and attitude 
which was a little different. Certainly Reagan met that test.
  As we traveled around New Hampshire, he was not the national figure 
he is today, although he was a significant figure. In fact, he was a 
movie star. People were flocking to meet him and see him. They wanted 
to hear what he had to say. But as we traveled around, a fairly small 
contingent in a bus and a few cars, we had a chance to get to know him 
a little bit. What came through most apparently to myself and Kathy was 
he was a genuine person who had a real sense of self and who had a way 
of making people feel at ease around him. He had a charisma, to say the 
least.
  Then I had the great fortune of being elected to Congress in 1980. 
Prior to that, ironically I had been at the famous national debate in 
January of 1980 where President Reagan actually set the course for 
getting the nomination and moving on to become the President with the 
famous comment, ``I paid for this microphone, Mr. Green.'' Ironically, 
I was at the site and in charge of the site in advance of the 
nomination. So I had a chance to see a bit of history there.
  But in 1990, along with 54 other Republicans, I was elected to the 
House of Representatives, and we came here with President Reagan. We 
had a purpose. We had a definite purpose. People will recall at that 
time coming out of the 1970s the inflation rate was 12 percent, 
interest rates were 22 percent, and we had American citizens being held 
captive in Iran. The President--then-President Jimmy Carter--said we 
were in a period of national malaise. We didn't feel that way. We felt 
America was a great and wonderful Nation. Ronald Reagan epitomized that 
view of the future being bright rather than dark--the future being one 
of unlimited opportunities rather than one of a decreasing pie. So 54 
of us arrived in the House of Representatives.
  It was a unique situation because the House of Representatives was 
being controlled at that time--and people do not appreciate it today, 
but it had been controlled by the Democratic Party for 26 years; 
continuously controlled by the same party, and it produced a lot of 
very interesting and very aggressive and strong individuals to manage 
the House. The strongest, of course, was ``Tip'' O'Neill, who was then 
the Speaker. He was not going to tolerate those 54 new Republican 
Members who arrived in the House of Representatives and were carrying 
the water for President Reagan. We were treated with an experience in 
education on how politics really works by ``Tip'' O'Neill, as we

[[Page 11708]]

were exposed to what real power can do and how it can be managed in a 
congressional body.
  We continued to charge the Hill, however, for the President, because 
President Reagan had a clear and defined agenda. He intended to 
fundamentally shift this country. The shift was going to be toward 
strengthening our national defense capabilities, toward reducing the 
burden of Government, toward reducing the burden of taxation, and 
toward reestablishing our confidence as a nation. There was a lot of 
legislation brought forward, with very difficult battles over the 
budget, very difficult battles over issues of making our defense 
capability stronger once again.
  We became known as ``Reagan's robots.'' That was a derisive term used 
by some of our friends in the media and it was thrown at us. As 
Reagan's economics were called Reaganomics, a derisive term put out in 
the intelli-
gentsia community by our friends who saw it as inappropriate economics 
and saw it as water bearers for a President who they considered to be 
superficial, and in some cases a caricature, but we took that as sort 
of a red badge of courage, those who came in that class. We enjoyed the 
fact we were tweaking the institution of the House at the time led by 
Speaker O'Neill, who I happened, over the years, to come to like as an 
individual very much. He obviously had a very strong personality and 
led the House very aggressively in a very partisan way. It was a unique 
and special time to have a chance to serve under a President such as 
President Reagan.
  Going to the White House with Kathy and our two oldest children, I 
remember a lot of fond personal memories of how kind he was. Our 
daughters were then quite young. I think they were 4 and 5 or maybe 5 
and 6. He took them aside and got hotdogs for them; he got popcorn for 
them.
  He was just a wonderful, inclusive individual and had a naturalness 
about him that was extraordinary and made everybody who was around him, 
when they had the chance, feel good. It was that personality that I 
think caused him to be able to be President during a time when there 
was a fair amount of strident partisanship. At the same time, there was 
less of a personal vindictiveness in the atmosphere, which was nice at 
that time, to have at least that sort of atmosphere where people were 
not into the personal assassination level that we sometimes see occur 
in politics, although it did happen to some degree.
  The fond memories are there from an individual standpoint, but the 
real memory, the real force of President Reagan goes beyond the 
personal contact. It goes to what his mission was, what he accomplished 
for our Nation, which was so extraordinary, and what he accomplished 
for the world. It has been discussed. There is nothing unique about the 
discussion because it is so broadly accepted now what he did 
accomplish.
  That was, essentially, this: He took a nation which was, as I said by 
its own definition, by its then leader, Jimmy Carter, in a period of 
national malaise and he turned us and reawakened our natural optimism. 
We are a nation of optimists. We are a nation that believes we can 
accomplish whatever we seek to pursue, whatever goal we set. He made us 
believe in that again. His ``city on the hill'' belief in our Nation 
was deep in him, but, more importantly, he was able to project it 
across our country and give people a sense of self and a sense of 
purpose that was optimistic and upbeat, that was essential to our 
country at that time.
  Probably equally important to the world, he set America back on a 
course of leading us in what was then the true great confrontation of 
the 20th century, which was the question of whether Communist, 
Socialist economics, and a totalitarian state would dominate or whether 
democracy and market-oriented economies would dominate.
  There were three major trends of the 20th century that were tested. 
The first, of course, was the issue of the philosophy of Communist 
versus market-oriented economies. The second, of course, was 
totalitarianism, first presented in fascism and secondly presented in 
the Communist states of Stalin, by Stalin and Mao versus democracy. The 
third was the issue of relativism. On those first two issues, he led 
the world and delivered the results which said unequivocally that 
democracy and market-oriented economies were the future for mankind and 
that individual rights meant something.
  In accomplishing that, he passed on to our generation and all the 
generations to come a gift of freedom and a gift of possibility in the 
area of economic well-being that was not necessarily a given. It would 
not necessarily have occurred without him. It is possible the Soviet 
Union and certainly the mutations of the Soviet Union could have 
proceeded for a considerable amount of time. We could still be dealing 
with that issue today had he not been willing to stand up, because he 
had unequivocal confidence in our Nation and in the values that drive 
our Nation, had he not been willing to stand up and say essentially 
that we were going to compete in that race at a level that would 
essentially make it impossible for the Soviet Union and Communist-style 
regimes to compete with us. That is what he did.
  He did it first in the military where he essentially said to the 
Soviet Union, we are just simply going to outbuild you and we are going 
to exceed your ability to compete, so they crumbled from within. 
Second, he did it by establishing, once again, that the basic values of 
democracy far exceeded any values that were being put forward, and 
clearly our much better lifestyle than anything being put forward by a 
Soviet Communist state.
  So we owe him a great debt of thanks and we certainly owe his family 
a great debt of thanks. We thank Nancy Reagan for her wonderful service 
to this Nation. We thank his family for the gift of this great man to 
our country.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the unanimous consent, the Senator from 
Maine is recognized.
  Ms. SNOWE. Our Nation mourns the passage of a man who called 
Americans to their common purpose and renewed our age-old faith in the 
limitless possibilities of freedom.
  With heavy but immensely grateful hearts, our country grieves the 
passing of President Ronald Reagan and extends our collective thoughts 
and prayers to his extraordinary wife Nancy and his children, Michael, 
Patti, and Ron.
  Reflecting today on the hope that President Reagan inspired in 
America, I am reminded of the story of Benjamin Franklin near the close 
of the Constitutional Convention. Franklin pointed to the painting 
behind Washington's chair, a landscape of the Sun just on the horizon 
and remarked:

       I have often . . . looked at that sun behind the President 
     without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting. 
     But now . . . I have the happiness to know it is a rising and 
     not a setting sun.

  Let the record forever show that in a time of great consequence, 
President Reagan assured an uncertain nation that ours remains always a 
rising sun. He brought a passionate belief in American ideas to bear in 
advancing freedom as a force for good in the world and heralded a new 
dawn of confidence at home.
  Like so many Americans, I remember well the steep challenges facing 
the Nation in 1980. At that time, having already served 2 years in the 
House of Representatives, we could look back to the late 1970s as an 
incubator of change that foreshadowed the transformation to come.
  Before President Reagan, we had become conditioned to accept 
limitations on what we might aspire to as individuals and as a nation. 
But out of those days of national disillusionment and political drift 
came a bold leader to inspire confidence.
  The year 1980 was the culmination of a period of self-doubt for 
America. Internationally, our country was mired in the cold war and 
reeling from the Iranian hostage crisis. On the domestic front, our 
economy had been sapped by double-digit inflation, double-digit prime 
interest rates, and stifled by

[[Page 11709]]

massive tax burdens, including a top tax rate of 70 percent. We also 
had been undercut by a serious energy crisis. In fact, we had gasoline 
lines here in Washington and all through the country. So suffice it to 
say, these were not bright days in Washington or America. As I said at 
the time, whoever won the White House would bear the responsibility for 
making America productive once again, and President Reagan did. With 
his conviction that the greatest untapped potential lie in the American 
people themselves--by embracing hope, not resignation, and by 
projecting an optimism in our Nation and her people that was as genuine 
as the man himself--he charted a course for America for greater 
prosperity and security.
  As President, as we know, he confronted the world's only other 
superpower, laying the foundation for victory in the cold war. He 
campaigned to reduce the size of the Federal bureaucracy, to return tax 
dollars to the families that had earned them, and to devolve out of 
Washington and back to local governments--all ideas whose time had 
come, just as President Reagan's had. Not only that, but he 
reinvigorated America with his unabashed faith in her essential 
goodness.
  The other night, I had the opportunity to recount the Reagan era with 
my husband, former Governor Jock McKernan, who also served 4 years in 
Congress under the Reagan Presidency representing the other 
congressional district in the State of Maine. We were recalling a time 
in which we visited the White House, regarding the shaping of defense 
policy. As Senator Gregg has mentioned, we were building up our 
national defense.
  We remembered the statement the President made at the time, which I 
think summed up his belief in trying to make a distinction between the 
United States of America and the Soviet Union. He said: You know, it 
tells something about a country when more people want to leave the 
country than want to come in. His simple logic was indeed compelling.
  President Reagan was a conservative Republican from California, and 
I, of course, was a moderate Republican from New England. Obviously, 
there were times--and many times, in fact--when we differed on policy. 
Yet I can also recall meeting with him and other members of the 
Republican caucus, as well as Democrats. We had numerous meetings at 
the White House either in the Cabinet room or within the Oval Office 
itself. We were able to negotiate our differences, whether it was 
within our party or across party lines. The issues ranged from defense 
policy, to the MX missile, to Central America, to the budget. Indeed, 
we had numerous budget discussions where we negotiated the actual 
budget resolutions and the budget numbers themselves.
  Thinking back this week, I also recall how the President was willing 
to hear disparate views on trade policy. In fact, Jock and I met with 
the President in the oval office to discuss the potential negative 
impact of trade proposals on Maine's industries such as potatoes, shoes 
and lumber in advance of the President meeting with Canadian Prime 
Minister Brian Mulroney. Indeed, coincidentally, I saw the former Prime 
Minister in the Capitol prior to the viewing in the Rotunda on 
Wednesday night, and I recounted that meeting with the President.
  Moreover, I spearheaded an effort for Republican women in the House 
and Senate to meet with President Reagan to discuss matters critical to 
America's women. In the end, these initiatives led to ultimately 
passing landmark child support enforcement legislation and pension 
reform for widows that previously had not even been part of the Federal 
lexicon, let alone part of federal policy. And in speaking of women's 
issues, I fondly reflect on my cherished friendship with the 
President's daughter, the late Maureen Reagan who died in 2001, and how 
we also worked together on behalf of issues of concern for women in 
this country.
  And on an entirely different issue again, to this day I have on my 
wall a letter of appreciation from President Reagan for my efforts to 
help develop and pass the 1986 Omnibus Diplomatic Security and 
Antiterrorism Act, which he signed and which contained a provision I 
authored to create an accountability review board within the State 
Department to investigate all incidents involving serious security 
failures.
  He was always respectful of divergent views and willing to keep his 
Oval Office door open, even as he always knew what he believed. In 
terms of his principles, his compass was steady. At the same time, he 
was certainly committed to the fine and, in Washington, all too rare 
art of listening. He was also willing to seek consensus, even though we 
surely had a partisan environment at that time.
  We had a divided Government, and obviously a Republican Presidency. 
But again, he was willing to forge consensus because he believed that 
was the only way you could get things done. Rather than by controversy 
and division, in the end he recognized you had to reach your goals with 
persuasion and openness. So he was willing to develop pragmatic 
approaches in the final analysis because he was a problem solver. 
Actually, he gave life to what he once said: ``If I can get 70 or 80 
percent of what it is I'm trying to get . . . I'll take that and then 
continue to try to get the rest in the future.''
  He certainly did live by that axiom throughout his tenure of 8 years, 
irrespective of differences. Ultimately, he wanted to achieve the great 
things he set out to do when he became President and also to ensure he 
could be resolute in implementing his vision for this country.
  He was entirely comfortable with stepping outside of others' 
conventional perception of himself and his politics. He was extremely 
credible as Commander in Chief, as leader of this country when he set 
about to build up our military and to defy the Soviet Union and to 
ultimately bring down the Wall. The fact is, he also, on the other side 
of the coin, ultimately negotiated the first pact to reduce the United 
States and Soviet nuclear arsenals--he negotiated that with Mikhail 
Gorbachev--because, again, he understood what needed to be accomplished 
in the end.
  His legacy will forever be his vision that brought about the end of 
the cold war because, again, he saw the difference between 
dictatorships and democracy and our ability to foster liberty in the 
dark corners of the world. Indeed, I will never forget the meeting I 
participated in with members of Solidarity in January, 1988 in Poland. 
There was no question that, for them, knowing of our resolutions in 
Congress in support of freedom for the people of Poland, Vice President 
Bush's 1987 visit to Warsaw, and certainly President Reagan's 
relentless pursuit of the ideal of freedom for people everywhere, gave 
them a hope they translated into strength and persistence in finally 
prevailing. How extraordinary that Solidarity's leader would become 
Poland's President--and how fitting that Lech Walesa would attend 
President Reagan's funeral to express his profound appreciation and 
deepest respect.
  And who would have predicted two decades ago that Mikhail Gorbachev--
leader of the former Soviet Union--would be attending the funeral of 
President Ronald Reagan, who brought about the collapse of the Soviet 
Union and urged Gorbachev to ``tear down'' the Berlin Wall? But that is 
yet another testament to President Reagan's legacy.
  Some thought President Reagan's bold descriptions of the wide chasm 
that separated democracy from despotism were ill-considered. Yet he 
viewed the world through that crystal clear prism of, in the words of 
Shakespeare, ``simple truth miscalled simplicity.'' I believe that says 
it all because President Reagan understood that in order to be an 
effective leader, to be a strong President, to be the leader of this 
country who was a force for good and to project that force for good, 
you ultimately had to move the process, and you had to work within the 
system and with the other branch of Government to make that happen.
  Another great of the 20th century refused praise for having lent his 
lion-hearted strength to an entire nation. Instead, Winston Churchill 
remarked, it was his nation that had the ``lion's heart'' all along, 
and it fell to him only to ``give the roar.''

[[Page 11710]]

  So it was with President Ronald Reagan. His words summoned our 
resolve and our goodness, and his steady hand guided America to a 
triumph for all free people. As providence would have it, President 
Reagan gave America's roar during what would become--in no small part, 
thanks to him--the last decade of the cold war. With peace through 
strength, Ronald Reagan called America to a purpose he described in his 
own hand in 1980 when he wrote:

       I believe it is our pre-ordained destiny to show all 
     mankind that they too can be free without having to leave 
     their native shore.

  For this legacy, the American people and free people everywhere are 
in his debt, just as he is in our hearts and his family, as well, in 
our prayers.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senator from 
California is recognized for 10 minutes.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I rise today to pay my respects to one of 
California's own, President Ronald Reagan.
  I first met President Reagan right after I was elected to Congress in 
1982. We were a large Democratic freshman class, and when I was invited 
to the White House, I wondered how President Reagan would greet us. 
After all, he had campaigned hard for a Republican Congress, and having 
lost an election myself I knew the feeling of disappointment. When we 
arrived at the White House, President Reagan could not have been more 
gracious to us; the same for Mrs. Reagan. I still have the photo from 
that evening hanging in my home office.
  Twenty-two years ago, Ronald Reagan taught me that you can disagree 
without being disagreeable, that you could set aside those 
disagreements even though they were deep.
  President Reagan once said:

       A lot of trouble in the world would disappear if we were 
     talking to each other instead of about each other.

  He believed if we were all respectful and pleasant to one another, we 
could find those areas of common ground. We can reach across the aisle. 
We can get things done. Believe me, that was a good lesson for me and 
for all of us that evening because clearly, in the Senate, with the 
rules of the Senate, the only way to get things done is by working 
together. I look at the occupant of the Chair, and I know that with our 
disagreements on many issues, we have come together on a few occasions, 
and we have won for our constituents and for this country.
  When I look back to President Reagan's record, I realize that not 
only did he bring this kind of an attitude of working together to 
Washington, but that had been his hallmark in California as well. As a 
Republican Governor, he was working with a Democratic State 
legislature. So it seems President Reagan had to learn how to do this 
both in the State and in the Nation's Capital.
  In those years as Governor, in keeping with the values and wishes of 
most Californians, he helped to establish the Redwood National Park. He 
regulated auto emissions to reduce pollution. He signed a bill that 
liberalized a woman's right to choose. He opposed the State proposition 
that discriminated against teachers based on sexual orientation. You 
can see Governor Reagan was willing to reach across and find consensus.
  Ronald Reagan, of course, did continue to reach across the aisle when 
he became President. Although there were serious disagreements, he 
worked closely with a Democratic House to ratify and sign important 
arms control agreements, increasing funds for math and science 
education, reauthorizing the Superfund hazardous waste cleanup program, 
which is so important. The basis of the program is the polluter should 
pay. Interestingly, we don't seem to have that kind of support today.
  President Reagan once said: ``There is no limit to what a man can do 
or where he can go, if he doesn't mind who gets the credit.'' And how 
important that quote is when it comes to politics. President Reagan was 
a conservative. He was not an ideologue. He fulfilled a campaign 
promise to appoint the first woman to the Supreme Court. He chose 
Sandra Day O'Connor as the first woman Justice of the U.S. Supreme 
Court, even though she was considered too moderate by many 
conservatives. He tried to abolish the National Endowment for the Arts 
but, after losing that fight, he moved on. I remember that. He moved on 
without trying to force the issue through the backdoor. I respect that.
  I remember the fight to keep the National Endowment for the Arts. 
Many Republicans in my State didn't agree with President Reagan. They 
mobilized with the Democrats. President Reagan said, Well, this is what 
I think. He went forward, and when he lost, that was it.
  Of course, there are other issues of disagreement--from offshore oil 
drilling to the role of the national Government, to the fight against 
AIDS, to policies in Central America. Those disagreements were deep, 
but they were never taken personally by President Reagan. He and House 
Speaker Tip O'Neill were genuinely fond of each other. They often 
shared a drink after work, and they laughed after a day of locking 
horns. Their good nature was infectious. It raised the level of comity 
throughout the Nation's Capital. How I long for those days. It is time 
that in the spirit of Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neill, we see more 
bipartisan spirit in our work.
  In California, there are tributes to Ronald Reagan running around the 
clock. I know it is true nationally, but because he was our Governor 
and we are so proud he is part of our legacy, we are seeing and 
listening to Ronald Reagan's stories and Ronald Reagan quotes. I found 
one of these very interesting.
  There was a question asked to President Reagan after he had completed 
his 8 years in office. The question was: What do you most want to be 
remembered for? His answer was this: The millions of jobs that were 
created while he was President and America regaining respect in the 
world. Millions of jobs created and America regaining respect in the 
world. You think about how universal those two achievements are because 
right now that is a lot of the focus of attention--job creation and 
respect in the world. It is interesting how prophetic those words are.
  I personally believe that 50 years from now, if not now, President 
Reagan will be remembered for his focus on freedom for the people 
behind the Iron Curtain. He saw in Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev a 
man he could successfully challenge to step to the plate. And when 
President Reagan said, tear down this wall, he said it directly to Mr. 
Gorbachev. He touched Mr. Gorbachev, and he touched America. He touched 
people around the world.
  In a moving eulogy in yesterday's New York Times Mr. Gorbachev wrote:

       Reagan was a man of the right but while adhering to his 
     convictions, with which one could agree or disagree, he was 
     not dogmatic. He was looking for negotiations and for 
     cooperation.

  In that, you have to understand that respect for other people and 
their ideas, the ability to step into their shoes is very important.
  We name buildings and rooms and public places after leaders, and we 
have named many public places after Ronald Reagan. But I truly believe 
that now the greatest thing we can do in Ronald Reagan's memory is to 
find a cure for the disease that took his life and took him away from 
his loved ones and the world stage long before his physical life ended.
  Alzheimer's disease is a plague that ravages millions of Americans 
and those who love them. Caused by abnormal plaques and tangled nerve 
fibers in the brain, the disease attacks the cells that control 
thought, memory, and language. The brain, if you look at it, becomes 
more and more like a child's brain. It kills nerve cells that are vital 
to memory. If you think about it, when you lose your memory, you lose 
who you are. And to see someone like Ronald Reagan, who held all the 
power for 8 years that anyone could ever dream to hold, and to have him 
not be able to remember that is a tragedy.
  Alzheimer's lowers the level of chemicals that carry messages between 
nerve cells and the brain. The progress of Alzheimer's is usually slow, 
but it is

[[Page 11711]]

inexorable. Beginning with mild symptoms, such as forgetfulness, 
Alzheimer's gradually robs its victims of the ability to think clearly, 
speak clearly, understand others, or care for themselves in any way.
  Ten years ago Ronald Reagan knew he was battling Alzheimer's. He knew 
he was losing the battle. In an act of tremendous courage and in a 
handwritten open letter, he told the American people he was suffering 
from the illness. He wrote:

       I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset 
     of my life.

  And he movingly wrote:

       I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn 
     ahead.

  So even in his darkest hour, President Reagan's eternal optimism 
shone through.
  Nancy Reagan stood by her husband throughout this long ordeal, 
protecting him in his most vulnerable time. In recent years, she has 
become a leading advocate of increased funding for medical research to 
fight Alzheimer's and other diseases. She has been brave and courageous 
in her advocacy.
  Ironically, just a few weeks ago, I wrote an open letter to her 
praising her for her strength and moving forward to use her 
considerable influence to push forward stem cell research.
  To honor Ronald Reagan and relieve the suffering of millions of 
American families, we must pursue every avenue of research and 
treatment for Alzheimer's and other diseases.
  In memory of Ronald Reagan and all of the families who have lost 
loved ones to Alzheimer's, let us seek a brighter dawn for Alzheimer's 
victims and their families.
  So, Mr. President, Californians are speaking across party lines for a 
man who was able to set aside ideology to make progress, to work with 
those who might not have agreed with him on every point. I think it is 
a terrific lesson to all of us in this time and in this place in our 
Nation's history.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Enzi). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, Ronald Reagan is seen by the State of 
Illinois as being his birthplace, as well it should. They feel very 
strongly about the legacy of Ronald Reagan in Illinois. California, of 
course, is where Ronald Reagan became famous. They have tremendous ties 
to Ronald Reagan. The State of Nevada has lots and lots of ties to 
Ronald Reagan. Not only are we a neighbor to the State of California, 
but the history of Ronald Reagan and the State of Nevada are 
intertwined. I come to the Senate today to join a procession to praise 
Ronald Reagan as a great leader and a fine man.
  My first trip to the Oval Office was to meet with Ronald Reagan. I 
was a young Congressman and I was called to the Oval Office to discuss 
with the President the situation in Nicaragua, aid to the contras. I 
was joined there by three other Members of Congress. Vice President 
Bush, at the time, was there. It is the first time I had the 
opportunity to visit with, in any depth, Ronald Reagan as President of 
the United States.
  There was a time when I was Lieutenant Governor of Nevada, and 
Governor O'Callaghan was unable to go to an event at Lake Tahoe. I 
represented the State. Governor Reagan, at the time, and I spent time 
together, but it was in a public setting and really not a time where 
you got to know anyone well.
  My first trip to the Oval Office was one that I will always remember. 
Not only was it my first trip to the Oval Office, it was my first 
experience in sitting down and talking with Ronald Reagan, President of 
the United States. His personality came through in that meeting. I have 
often repeated the story of my visit there.
  A Congressman asked Ronald Reagan at the time: Mr. President, I'm 
afraid you are going to invade Nicaragua. President Reagan did not wait 
a second. He came back so quickly, with that smile on his face, and 
said: I'm not going to invade Nicaragua, but I want those SOBs going to 
bed every night thinking I'm going to.
  That was Ronald Reagan. His views of the world were views that all of 
us could understand. He made it very clear to us that he was not going 
to invade Nicaragua but he was not about to show any weakness to the 
Nicaraguans. That is exactly how he said it. From where I come, that 
was talk that I understood.
  I have fond memories of Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan, of course, is 
someone we all watched on TV, ``Death Valley Days.'' But those in 
Nevada remember him also, and the papers in Nevada have been full the 
last few days about his entertainment qualities in Las Vegas.
  He came to Las Vegas as an entertainer. He appeared on the Las Vegas 
strip as an entertainer. We were discussing what he did. I don't know 
what he did, but he came all the time. He was a headliner. I don't know 
if he sang or danced. I don't know what he did. He made money and they 
kept bringing him back.
  He was born in the Midwest but he was really a son of the West. He 
stood for a lot of what we now identify with Ronald Reagan. He believed 
in freedom, independence, and opportunity. These are the values that 
all Americans share. We probably understand them a little better in the 
West.
  He handled the Soviet Union much as he handled the situation in my 
first meeting in the Oval Office. He was direct and to the point with 
us about how he felt about Nicaragua. In the situation with the Soviet 
Union, he was direct and to the point.
  The first breakthrough in peace for Israel in the Middle East came as 
a result of a hawk by the name of Menachem Begin. Menachem Begin was 
the leader of the underground against the British. He was someone who 
fought the British as no one else did. He did it in secret. But he was 
the leader. And Menachem Begin's own family did not know that he was 
the leader of the underground until after the British announced that he 
was. It took Menachem Begin, somebody who was very hawkish, to make a 
deal with Egypt. None of the other Israeli leaders could have done it 
because they would have been seen as capitulating to the Egyptians.
  The same with President Reagan. No one could take away his Communist-
fighting credentials. He had them from the time he was an actor, with 
the Screen Actors Guild, Governor, and President.
  I watched a TV program, and the same speech that Ronald Reagan gave 
as head of the Screen Actors Guild, he gave as Governor, he give as 
President. He was a certified anti-Communist. So who could better make 
a deal with the Communists than Ronald Reagan?
  No one could question his credentials, no more than they could 
question the credentials of Menachem Begin. Had it been Jimmy Carter or 
Bill Clinton, it would not have happened. But no one could question his 
Communist-fighting credentials, and, therefore, people accepted the 
deal we made with the Soviet Union, which was good for the world and 
good for our country.
  Ronald Reagan has been a good neighbor to the State of Nevada. The 
State of Nevada shares a national treasure. It is called Lake Tahoe. 
There is only one other lake like it in the whole world, and that is in 
Russia, Lake Baikal. I acknowledge that Lake Tahoe is smaller than Lake 
Baikal, but so is every other lake in the world. But it is an alpine 
glacial lake that is a wonder of beauty. Ronald Reagan identified that 
something needed to be done about this beautiful lake.
  I spoke yesterday to Paul Laxalt. Paul Laxalt and I have been 
political adversaries all of my adult life and a lot of his life. But I 
do not have a better friend than Paul Laxalt. We are friends. We call 
each other all the time. We have done that for many years. Even though 
we have been political adversaries, we are friends.
  Anyway, I called Paul Laxalt yesterday and said: Talk to me about 
your

[[Page 11712]]

relationship with Ronald Reagan. Everyone in Nevada knows and most 
everyone knows in Washington--my distinguished friend from New Mexico 
is in the Chamber who served with Senator Laxalt in the Senate--Ronald 
Reagan's No. 1 guy in the Senate was Paul Laxalt, period. I do not say 
that saying, oh, somebody may question that. That is a fact of life. 
Ronald Reagan said it. That is the way it was.
  Paul Laxalt said Ronald Reagan should be remembered for two things by 
Nevadans. No. 1 is the bi-State compact to which the two Republican 
Governors, Laxalt and Reagan, agreed. They sent it to the California 
and Nevada State legislatures, and it was ratified eventually by both 
legislatures. They recognized that something had to be done to preserve 
Lake Tahoe.
  No. 2 is what he did to stop the MX missile from coming to the State 
of Nevada. The MX missile--most people don't know what that means--but 
it was a missile, the MX, with 10 warheads on each missile. It was to 
cover hundreds and hundreds of square miles through Nevada and parts of 
Utah. That would have been a blight to the environment there, but it 
was also deemed to be wasteful moneywise. So Ronald Reagan personally 
intervened, and that never came to be.
  That is what Paul Laxalt wanted the people of Nevada to remember 
about his best friend, Ronald Reagan--what he did for the State of 
Nevada. Of course, there were many other things.
  Paul told a story that they were campaigning together. Paul Laxalt 
gave every one of his nominating speeches, the time he did not win and 
the two times he won. Paul Laxalt gave his nominating speeches. He said 
Ronald Reagan was such a forgiving man that he never held a grudge. 
They were campaigning in some northeastern State, and somebody had 
given a speech--somebody Ronald Reagan had helped a lot--and he gave a 
speech blasting Ronald Reagan's economic program. He was a Republican, 
and everybody around Reagan was mad at him. So he was getting ready to 
give this speech, and he says to Paul: I can't remember, why am I mad 
at this guy? It was because he did not hold grudges. It was not in his 
nature.
  So it is wonderful we had someone like Paul Laxalt who had such close 
contact with the President of the United States. But not only did he 
have contact with Paul Laxalt, President Reagan did many other things 
for the people in Nevada.
  Sig Rogich was a special assistant to the President. Because of 
Ronald Reagan, Sig Rogich developed a great personal friendship with 
the first President Bush. They are friends. People wonder why President 
Bush always comes back to Nevada. It is to see his friend Sig Rogich. 
He, of course, made Sig Rogich an Ambassador to Iceland, where Sig 
Rogich was born.
  Sig Rogich is an extremely successful businessman. But people should 
also understand Sig Rogich was head of the Tuesday Team that developed 
that great campaign slogan for President Reagan: ``It's morning in 
America.''
  Rogich wrote and directed most of those pieces. He was heavily 
involved in the life of President Reagan. He came and moved back here. 
But, as a result, not only do we have Rogich back here, but Frank 
Fahrenkopf became chairman of the National Republican Committee. I 
talked to Frank Fahrenkopf today. He said Reagan did this in typical 
fashion. He had been offered the job in 1980. He had a great law 
practice in Nevada and did not want to come to Washington.
  Jim Baker called him and said: The President wants you to give a 
report about what happened in the 1982 elections--where the Democrats 
did very well; the Republicans did very poorly. He was asked to come 
back and give a report.
  Frank said: Well, I have to fly all night because I'm going with 10 
State chairs. We are going to China.
  And Baker said: I think it would be a good idea if you came. The 
President wants you to come back here.
  So he got back here. And Senator Laxalt said to Frank Fahrenkopf: 
Would you reconsider being the national chairman of the Republican 
Party?
  And Frank said: Well, Paul, I have the same problem. I have this law 
practice.
  He said: Well, think about it. He said he knew he was in trouble when 
he went to breakfast at the White House and they seated him right 
across from the President, and the President said: Dick Richards is 
retiring as chairman of the National Republican Party. He said: We have 
here Frank Fahrenkopf who has said he is going to think about it.
  So he knew right then he was going to be the national chairman 
because the President asked him to do it. So Frank Fahrenkopf became 
the national chairman of the Republican Party.
  But my favorite Ronald Reagan memento--I have always been opposed to 
term limits. I have opposed term limits for the House and Senate. I 
have always spoken forcefully against that. I think it is wrong. It is 
wrong that we have the 22nd amendment to limit the Presidents to two 
terms.
  Ronald Reagan agreed with me. He did not like term limits. He thought 
the 22nd amendment was bad. I offered a resolution to do away with the 
22nd amendment. I spoke out against term limits. President Reagan, 
after he had retired as President of the United States, wrote me a 
handwritten note. Here is what he said: ``Dear Harry, I'm glad . . 
.''--it is in Ronald Reagan's handwriting, and I have that in my 
scrapbook. I love my scrapbook and have this in it. I had announced 
that I supported repeal of the 22nd amendment. Here is what he wrote:

       I'm glad you are moving on repeal of the 22nd Amendment. 
     I've made a number of speeches to national business groups. . 
     . . In every speech I've announced my support for repeal and 
     have received an ovation from every audience. I charge that 
     the 22nd is a violation of the people's right to vote for 
     whomever they want.

  Signed: ``Ronald Reagan.''
  Here is the guy. He believed in States rights. He believed in people 
being able to make their determination, not some arbitrary law that we 
passed saying: You can't serve in the Senate because you have been 
there two terms. He believed the people have the right to choose their 
representatives.
  I have a number of pictures with Ronald Reagan. I liked him as a 
person. I did not agree with everything he did politically, as we all 
know, but I liked him as a person.
  So I stand here today honored that I had a chance to work with 
President Ronald Reagan, someone with whom I knew and felt comfortable. 
He surrounded himself with good people. They were not mean-spirited. 
They were good people. They were pragmatists. I liked the people with 
whom he surrounded himself.
  He is going to be remembered in history, of course, as one of our 
great Presidents. This is a time to mourn his death, but it is more 
important to appreciate his life.
  I can remember a person with whom I practiced law when Ronald Reagan 
was President. He said: He has no chance of winning. He is an actor. 
Look how old he is.
  Well, people liked him for who he was, not how old he was or what he 
had done before he was elected Governor of the State of California. His 
amazing journey was the American dream come true. He helped bring the 
dream a little closer to all of us.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I was privileged to become chairman of 
the Senate Budget Committee at the same time Ronald Reagan was sworn in 
as President. I never thought I was going to have that job, but with 
his victory, we took over the Senate. I recall Senator Howard Baker 
called me at home, and his greeting was ``Mr. Chairman.'' I kind of 
wondered what he was talking about, and then he told me. That was quite 
startling because I knew I was going to be chairman when Ronald Reagan 
would be asking that we carry out his program.
  From January of 1981 until President Reagan left office in January of 
1989, it was my privilege to work closely with him and his senior 
advisers, as with any President before or since. I suspect I saw 
President Reagan exhibit all his legendary traits: the man of 
principle, the man of strength, the man of strong

[[Page 11713]]

convictions, the man of humor, and, in one famous case, a man with an 
Irish temper on occasion.
  Even before he was sworn in, Mr. Reagan asked Cap Weinberger to head 
up his transition team for the Reagan budget and fiscal policy. I 
worked closely with Cap and then Dave Stockman, whom I knew when he was 
a Member of the House. He was announced to be the incoming OMB 
Director.
  I was impressed by the three principles that Ronald Reagan insisted 
on in my budget that I would prepare: Restraint of domestic spending, 
long overdue increases in defense spending, and tax cuts to stimulate 
the economy. The economy was a dormant economy. Those three principles 
guided every decision that I had with the President and his senior 
staff. He was not going to compromise on these three principles.
  I saw his strength on many occasions, most notably, of course, after 
the assassination attempt. But I also saw his strength when he insisted 
that the air traffic controllers either go to work or lose their jobs. 
That signal, clear and strong, persuaded me this man was, in fact, a 
man who would risk political standing in order to stand for the good of 
the public.
  I saw his humor time and time again. Once when I showed up late for a 
meeting with him, there were other Senators present. It was very 
embarrassing. He was amused. And when my good friend, Senator Howard 
Baker, became Chief of Staff to the President, he told me one of his 
jobs was to try to come up with a good joke to tell the President, that 
Reagan's humor came from the same sense of perspective that produced 
his strength and commitment to the American people.
  I learned firsthand that the Irish in President Reagan also included 
a bit of an Irish temper. In 1993, I had the delicate task of telling 
the President that I would not put off my budget for the upcoming 
fiscal year, and that I would not be able to supply him with the entire 
increase in defense spending for the upcoming fiscal year. Cap 
Weinberger had made that request on behalf of the President. I would 
not put in my budget in the upcoming year that entire defense request. 
Cap Weinberger and I discussed this for weeks, and we put off this 
action over the Easter holiday and for weeks to give them a chance to 
work on their defense budget.
  The Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, Senator John Tower, and 
I discussed it, and Senator Tower knew we couldn't get the entire 
request. Finally, just as the markup of the budget was to occur, at 
about 10 minutes until 10 in the morning, the President called me on 
the telephone in the back room of the Budget Committee's hearing.
  ``Hello,'' I said to the President.
  ``Hello, Pete,'' he said pleasantly. ``You know, I really need you to 
put off the markup of the budget until we can get an agreement on the 
defense spending.''
  ``Mr. President, I really appreciate and am honored by your call, but 
I have delayed this for too long and just cannot get the full number 
that you have requested for defense.''
  ``Well, will you postpone the markup?'' he asked with little 
amiability in his voice.
  ``No, sir; I cannot do that,'' I replied.
  At that point, the President said goodbye. At least I think that is 
what he said. I was told later by someone who was present in his office 
during the call that the President turned a little red in his face and 
threw the phone on the floor. Yet he was absolutely wonderful to me 
after that. He campaigned for me. He turned his budget over to me for 
implementation. And I had a great relationship not only with him but 
with those who served him, in particular Dave Stockman.
  Let me note something about the first budget exercise. The President 
and his staff had some thoughts about the proper legislative approach. 
I disagreed and argued for something we now know and have learned to 
use, and we understand it well. But it was truly historic, the use of a 
process called reconciliation. That was the first time we ever did it. 
Nobody understood it. The President, with the guidance of Leader Howard 
Baker, went along with our recommendation. Senator Fritz Hollings 
joined me in this historic reconciliation effort. We had all the 
President's budget restraints in it. We had his tax cuts in that 
extraordinary document. And in the budget resolution for fiscal year 
1992, we had room for all the President's defense spending increases to 
which he ended up agreeing.
  Some Members of the Senate expressed dismay and even anger over the 
use of this process called reconciliation. Even some Republicans were 
perplexed by its complications and wondered how it would really work. I 
know the President and his staff relied on us in the Senate and on the 
committee to carry out what we promised.
  It is to President Reagan's credit that he supported us every step of 
the way. Perhaps that was one of the things I admired most of this man. 
He made a decision, entrusted it to those on whom he relied, and used 
all of his power to make a plan succeed.
  I cannot tell you how complimented I felt when Howard Baker came to 
me and said: The President says if you and I think we can do this, then 
he will back us all the way. And he did.
  What a great President. What a great American. What a great man. It 
was truly my privilege to work with him. I think history will record 
that our work was of historic importance as the President moved toward 
making this economy stronger than ever, this Nation more secure than 
ever, and the world safer than ever.
  In closing, let me say I honestly wish I had had occasion to know him 
even better. I didn't have the opportunity to get to know him on a 
personal basis. Most of what I learned of him is expressed and 
explained in the remarks I have made. But the wonderful stories I have 
heard about him are clearly believable, because what I saw of him was 
remarkable. What I saw of him in the numerous meetings was truly 
incredible.
  Some spoke ill of him during those days. It is wonderful to note that 
most of those have forgotten those days and are now part of this great 
chorus in our country that is praising him as one of our greatest.
  I knew most about the economic situation because of the Budget 
Committee, but it is easy for me to see how he succeeded in foreign 
affairs. It is clear no one could have accomplished with the Soviet 
Union what he did, because most Presidents would not be believed, and 
most Presidents would not be permitted to propose and make the kind of 
agreements with the Soviet Union that he did.
  To sum it up, he made a stronger America. Our economy grew somewhere 
between 18 million and 20 million jobs. Think of that. We are now 
talking about 2.2 million jobs. He took an economy that was in terrible 
shape. Does anybody remember 21-percent interest? We have grown so 
accustomed to low inflation and low interest rates in the last few 
years that most of us don't understand inflation was so rampant and 
interest rates so high that, in our grocery stores, those who filled 
the shelves would also bring along a stamp and they would change the 
price as they walked down the aisles, because the foodstuff had to go 
up day by day, week by week. Can you imagine what Americans would think 
about that today? But we had to take it back then and we had to wait 
for something else to work. That something else was Ronald Reagan's 
policy, his approach to lower taxes, which stimulated this economy.
  So it is with deep regret that I join with many others and many in 
the Senate who will have words to say about him. Again, my best to his 
wife Nancy and his family. I understand their great grief. But they had 
him for a very long time, and I am sure with the passage of time they 
will begin to understand that. I hope they can and I hope they will.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.

[[Page 11714]]


  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I have sought recognition to comment 
about the passing of President Ronald Reagan, and to comment about the 
great legacy he has left and the occasions when I had an opportunity to 
meet and deal personally with President Reagan.
  While I had met him prior to the 1980 election cycle, I had an 
opportunity to work with him during that Presidential election year 
when he was elected President of the United States and I was first 
elected to the Senate. I recollect his presence in Philadelphia on one 
August day, when the timing for his presentation was to coincide with 
the beginning of the 6 o'clock news cycle, so he would be carried live 
over the broadcast stations. I recollect standing behind the curtains 
at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, where he was later to be the guest of 
honor at a fundraiser on my behalf.
  What a sense of expectation there was by then-Governor Reagan and 
Mrs. Nancy Reagan, with Mrs. Reagan expressing the question: Do you 
really think it is possible we will be successful in this Presidential 
bid? I commented that I thought the chances were excellent. Precisely 
at 6 o'clock, the curtain was pulled back, and the President-to-be 
stepped forward and made an eloquent speech.
  He traveled to Pittsburgh where again he was the guest of honor at a 
fundraiser. I recollect attending that event, and at one appropriate 
moment he demonstrated his insight into the drama and to the field by 
grabbing my hand by the wrist and lifting it high in a traditional 
victory celebration. Watching him as a campaigner was a very 
instructive opportunity.
  The day after the election, when he was victorious, I, along with the 
other 15 Republican Senators who were elected on that same day, 16 of 
us were elected, and Republicans took control of the Senate in the 1980 
election with a 53 Senate majority, was called by President Reagan to 
congratulate us and to hear words of congratulations. President 
Reagan's sense of cheer and sense of optimism was with him at all 
times. I was to learn as I got to know him better that he really liked 
to make congratulatory phone calls when there was good news in the 
offing. As President, he had the practice of calling every nominee to 
the Federal bench to personally tell the nominee that he, the 
President, had nominated the individual to be a Federal judge, and, of 
course, that is great news, but that was the sort of moment that 
President Reagan relished.
  When we were sworn in, in January of 1981, Senator Howard Baker, the 
majority leader, designated me as spokesman for the group. He did that 
because I was last in seniority. Seniority at that time among 
Republican Senators was decided on the basis of alphabetical listing, 
after the preference was given to former Members of the House and 
former Governors.
  As the spokesman for the class, I had the honor of sitting next to 
the President during our frequent luncheon meetings. At one of the 
meetings, Senator Mack Mattingly was seated across the table. This was 
after the President had been reelected in 1984. Senator Mattingly said 
to the President: Why is it, Mr. President, that you don't age at all?
  President Reagan was fast with one of his famous stories. He said: 
Well, Mack, it is like the two psychiatrists who came to work the same 
time every day. Both were immaculately dressed. When they left in the 
afternoon at the same time, one psychiatrist was totally disheveled, 
and the other continued to be immaculately dressed. After day after 
day, week after week, month after month of this happening, finally one 
day when they left, the disheveled psychiatrist said: How is it that we 
come to the office the same time every day to see our patients, and day 
after day, week after week, month after month, you leave immaculately 
dressed and I am disheveled? The immaculately dressed psychiatrist 
looked at his colleague and said: Who listens? This was President 
Reagan's way of saying he can take all of the tough spots of the 
Presidency and still retain his composure and still retain his vigor 
and his freshness.
  I was very much impressed with President Reagan when he was near the 
end of his first term and he was asked a question about whether he was 
going to run for reelection. His answer was: The people will tell me 
whether I should run for reelection. I have been asked the same 
question from time to time. I have used President Reagan's answer 
because I believe it is a really terrific answer.
  The first legislation which I proposed after being elected to the 
Senate involved the armed career criminal bill. I sought a meeting with 
the President. That was a bill, which has been enacted into law, that 
provides for mandatory sentences of 15 years to life for career 
criminals who have three or more major felonies on their record.
  When I described it and discussed it with President Reagan, he 
referred to a James Cagney movie in which there was a three-time loser, 
immediately relating that to his own experience, and became a supporter 
and ultimately signed that bill into law.
  President Reagan traveled frequently to Pennsylvania and on those 
occasions would invite Senator Heinz and I to join him. One such 
occasion was extraordinarily memorable. It was on the 200th anniversary 
of the signing of the U.S. Constitution. It was a real experience to 
ride with the President in Air Force One and in a limousine and to have 
a chance to talk with him and discuss with him some of the major 
issues.
  He had made a comment that when we develop the strategic defense 
initiative, we would share it with other nations. I asked him about 
those plans and how he could carry that forward since the strategic 
defense initiative was not likely to be accomplished for many years and 
it would require an act of Congress to share one of our national 
assets. The President's reply was that this was a matter of leadership, 
and that in moving toward the strategic defense initiative, we wanted 
to assure other countries we would not use it only for ourselves but 
would make it available to others.
  At that time, the mutual assured destruction doctrine was operative 
with the stalemate between the United States and the Soviet Union, each 
knowing that if there were to be an aggressive act, it would be 
responded to. So the mutual assured destruction doctrine was in effect, 
and to move to a strategic defense initiative required assurances that 
this kind of defense would be shared.
  President Reagan leaves a phenomenal legacy. Perhaps his greatest 
achievement was presiding over the end of the Cold War, in which the 
United States defeated the Soviet Union. When the United States was 
rearmed, the Soviet Union could not keep up and ultimately was 
bankrupt.
  President Reagan led the arms control talks with Soviet President 
Gorbachev. With his famous words at the Berlin Wall to tear the wall 
down, and ultimately with the demise of the Soviet Union, all of 
Eastern Europe was free, and liberty and democracy has come to so much 
of Eastern Europe and to so many people in the world because of 
President Reagan's leadership.
  His optimism and sense of buoyancy were just what the United States 
needed when he came to office in 1981. His emphasis on less Government, 
his determination to lower taxes, and his spirit of determination to 
defeat communism were trademarks and legacies which will last forever.
  One final note. When President Reagan came to Independence Hall on 
the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution on September 
17, 1987, we arrived at the Hall and there was an enormous wheel with 
George Washington and then sequenced, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and 
the wheel came all the way around and Ronald Reagan was situated right 
next to President George Washington. I asked President Reagan how it 
felt to be on that wheel right next to President Washington. He said: 
Arlen, it is a humbling experience.

[[Page 11715]]

  I think the humility of President Reagan in the context of his great 
achievements is another addition to a really great legacy.
  Mr. President, in the absence of any other Senators seeking 
recognition, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Craig). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, we have heard many remembrances of 
President Reagan these last 3 days. One of my own favorite stories 
about President Reagan appeared in the Boston Globe on St. Patrick's 
Day, 1983. It begins:

       In his corner office, House Speaker Thomas P. O'Neill Jr. 
     has proudly hung a photograph of President Reagan. It shows 
     the two men, their faces agitated in the heat of a argument 
     over jobs and the economy, each jabbing a finger at each 
     other.
       Underneath, a puckish inscription from `Ron Reagan' to 
     `Tip' reads, `From one Irishman to another--Top o' the 
     morning to you.' That photograph conveys the flavor of 
     perhaps the most important political relationship in 
     Washington, for it juxtaposes the sharp partisan 
     confrontations between the two men with the personal 
     cordiality that suits the current mood of bipartisanship.

  The headline on that article read: ``Reagan and O'Neill: Each One 
Needs the Other.''
  Ronald Reagan was many things in life: An actor, a Governor, the 
President.
  For countless millions throughout the world, he was the voice and the 
image of American confidence and optimism.
  Even those who disagreed strongly with many of his policies admired 
his sunny disposition, his easy grace and charm, his quick wit, and his 
unshakable conviction, as he said so often, that America's best days 
are just ahead of us.
  He was a self-made son of small-town, middle America who loved this 
Nation because of the chance it gave him--and generations of Americans 
before and after him--to go as far in life as their talents and 
ambitions could take them.
  Historians will still be taking the measure of Ronald Reagan and his 
presidency for decades to come. But even now, it is clear that 
President Reagan presided over, and helped bring about, enormous 
changes in America, and in the world.
  His unflinching opposition to communism helped bring down the wall 
and bring about the end of the Soviet Union. For that, the world owes 
Ronald Reagan a great debt of gratitude.
  Americans, and friends of America throughout the world, are saddened 
by President Reagan's death.
  Our hearts go out to the Reagan family, especially Mrs. Reagan and 
the Reagan children and grandchildren, as well as to President and Mrs. 
Reagan's friends. Even when someone has been slipping away for a long 
time, as President Reagan did, the final goodbye is still 
heartbreaking. We wish them comfort in this time of great sorrow.
  In his 1987 autobiography, ``Man of the House,'' Tip O'Neill recalled 
the time President-elect Reagan visited him in his office in early 
1981. The Speaker told the man who was soon to be President that in the 
House, Democrats and Republicans ``are always friends after 6 o'clock 
and on weekends.''
  For the next 6 years, until he retired, Tip O'Neill recalled, 
President Reagan always began their phone conversations by asking, 
``Tip, is it after 6 o'clock?''
  It has been nearly 10 years since President Reagan wrote his 
courageous letter to America telling us that he had Alzheimer's 
disease.
  In the decade since President Reagan began his quiet withdrawal from 
public life, the civility and personal decency that we associate with 
him seems, at times, to have all but disappeared from much of our 
public discourse. The elbows in politics have become sharper, the words 
have become meaner--and the accomplishments have become scarcer.
  Sadly, there is a tendency today to assume ill will and bad motives 
of those who belong to the other party--or even another wing of one's 
own party.
  This decline of civility in politics and public discourse is not good 
for America. It does not make us safer, or stronger.
  President Reagan spoke to all that was good and decent in America. We 
would honor him by restoring decency to our politics.
  Ronald Reagan was a man who believed deeply in his core principles. 
He would not want any of us to compromise our own core principles in 
his memory. But there is such a thing as principled compromise. 
President Reagan understood that. He knew that accommodation was needed 
to make the system work.
  Like many conservatives, President Reagan had some basic 
philosophical qualms about Social Security. But he appointed a 
bipartisan commission to find ways to save Social Security from 
imminent insolvency--and he backed the commission's plan. That was 
principled compromise at work.
  Twenty-four years ago this week, Ronald Reagan had just clinched the 
delegates needed to win his party's 1980 Presidential nomination. It 
was a nomination he had worked for for 12 years.
  A newspaper reporter asked him what he thought he needed to do next.
  He replied that he wanted to dispel the notion that he was a hard-
nosed radical who would oppose compromise on principle. As he put it:

       You know, there are some people so imbued with their 
     ideology that if they can't get everything they want, they'll 
     jump off the cliff with the flag flying. As governor, I found 
     out that if I could get half a loaf, instead of stalking off 
     angrily, I'd take it.

  Perhaps because he himself was a Democrat early in his life, 
President Reagan never demonized his political opponents--even when he 
disagreed profoundly with them.
  When Tip O'Neill turned 70, President Reagan hosted a reception for 
him at the White House. There they were: the opposing champions of 
laissez-faire economics and New Deal liberalism. President Reagan 
toasted Tip O'Neill by saying:

       Tip, if I had a ticket to heaven and you didn't have one 
     too, I would give mine away and go to hell with you.

  President Reagan and Tip O'Neill, I am convinced, are reunited in 
heaven now.
  As we prepare here in the Capitol to say our final goodbye to 
President Reagan, let us remember his capacity to see the best in 
everyone, including those whose political views differed starkly from 
his own. Let us remember that there is no dishonor in accepting a half 
a loaf.
  In the months ahead and for as long as we are given the honor of 
serving in Congress, let us search and work for principled compromises 
that serve the interests of the vast majority of Americans. In that 
way, we can help to preserve President Reagan's great belief and hope 
that America's best days are, indeed, just ahead.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. In my capacity as a Senator from the State of 
Idaho, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be 
rescinded.
  Without objection, it is so ordered.

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