[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 11751]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               RONALD WILSON REAGAN--HELPING US REMEMBER

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, last week as I reflected on the anniversary 
of D-Day, I recalled President Reagan's speech on the 40th anniversary 
of that first day of liberation of Europe on June 6, 1984. President 
Reagan spoke of ``the men of Normandy'' who ``had faith that what they 
were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith 
that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead, or on the 
next.''
  As he so often did, his conviction and passion, his grace and 
sincerity connected a distant event to the struggle each and every 
human being faces every day, fighting to know what we are doing is 
right.
  Later that day he told a different audience, ``We will always 
remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared so that 
we may always be free.''
  Newsweek called this freedom, which President Reagan mentioned in 
1984, the freedom ``from self-doubt, from the Soviet threat, from 
uneasiness about our national power and capacity to do great things.''
  This was Reagan's gift to his country. He knew that America was great 
and that our greatness had not come without a price. Indeed, we will 
always remember, Mr. President. We will always remember so that we may 
always be free.

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