[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 11856-11868]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            TRIBUTE TO FORMER PRESIDENT RONALD WILSON REAGAN

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I join my colleagues on both sides of the 
aisle in paying tribute to Ronald Reagan. As all of us who had the 
privilege of working with him know, he brought a special grace to the 
White House and the country in everything he did. We often disagreed on 
specific issues, but he had an undeniably unique capacity to inspire 
and move the Nation.
  The warmth of his personality always shone through, and his 
infectious optimism made us all feel that it really was ``morning in 
America.'' It was impossible not to respect and admire the way he 
revived the spirit of the Nation in that era, restored the power and 
vitality of the Presidency, and made it a vigorous and purposeful place 
of effective national and international leadership.
  It was no coincidence that he opened his 1984 re-election campaign 
year by citing two Democratic Presidents, John F. Kennedy and Franklin 
D. Roosevelt, in his State of the Union address. Nor was it a 
coincidence that at the Republican Convention that year, not the 
Democratic Convention, the band played ``Happy Days Are Here Again.''
  He governed as a conservative Republican, often very conservative. 
But he had a special genius for reaching out to all Americans. Somehow, 
the hard edges of his policies always seemed smoother when he discussed 
and defended them. He was willing to step back from them when 
necessary, such as when it proved impossible to cut taxes, increasing 
spending for defense, and balance the budget at the same time.
  He was an intense competitor who wanted to win, not just for himself 
but for his beliefs. But his goal was to defeat his opponents, not 
destroy them. He taught us that even though the battle would inevitably 
resume the next morning, at the end of each day we could put aside the 
divisions and debates. We could sit down together and laugh together, 
especially at his endless stream of stories. He took issues seriously, 
but he had a sense of perspective that never let him or us take 
ourselves too seriously. As a leader, he was a President of large 
principles, not small details. Some criticized him for that, but it was 
often the source of his strength.
  On foreign policy, he will be honored as the President who won the 
cold war, and his famous words ``Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall'' 
will be linked in history with President Kennedy's ``Ich bin ein 
Berliner.'' He came to office convinced that we could not trust the 
Communists, or perhaps even negotiate with them, and his commitment to 
a strong national defense was never doubted by Soviet leaders.
  But he also understood the importance of working with our allies to 
protect our security, and he also understood the madness of ``mutually 
assured destruction.'' He had an instinct that Michail Gorbachev might 
be different, and was quick to respond when I learned on a visit to 
Moscow in 1986 that President Gorbachev was prepared to negotiate a 
separate arms control treaty on the critical issue of nuclear missiles, 
in Europe. The Intermediate-Range Nuclear-Force Treaty they negotiated 
the following year eased tensions in Europe, and became the needed 
breakthrough in U.S.-Soviet relations that made it possible to see 
light at the end of the long dangerous tunnel of the cold war.
  President Reagan was never afraid to be controversial, to confront 
when he had to, and lead where he believed. There were intense 
disagreements with many of his policies, then and now. But beyond all 
that was a defining reality. He came to power at a time of self-
fulfilling pessimism, a pervasive belief that public policy could 
barely move molehills, let alone mountains. The true achievement of the 
Reagan Revolution was the renewal of America's faith in itself.
  It was more than the fact that he was a superb communicator. Some 
attributed at least part of his success to the fact that he had been an 
actor. But his deepest convictions were matters of heart and mind and 
spirit, and on them, he was no actor at all.
  He was very generous to the Kennedy family on many public and private 
occasions. Caroline and John went to see him in the White House early 
in 1985 to ask if he might be willing to participate in some way in a 
dinner we were planning at my home in support of my brother's 
presidential library. He was delighted to attend. ``Of course I'll help 
you,'' he said. ``You don't have a father to help.''
  At the dinner a few weeks later, he stood with us in the receiving 
line and shook the hand of every guest. He was quick to mention that he 
had not supported President Kennedy in 1960. ``I was for the other 
fellow,'' he told us. ``But you know, it's true, when the battle's over 
and the ground cooled, well, it's then that you see the opposing 
general's valor.''
  He proceeded to give one of the finest tributes that my brother ever 
received. As he said of Jack, ``He seemed to grasp from the beginning 
that life is one fast-moving train, and you have to jump aboard and 
hold on to your hat and relish the sweep of the winds as it rushes 
by.''
  He summed it up by saying of my brother, ``You have to enjoy the 
journey. . . . I think that's how his country remembers him, in his 
joy, and it was a joy he knew how to communicate.'' That's how America 
remembers Ronald Reagan, too.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Kentucky.
  Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to the memory of 
our 40th President, Ronald Wilson Reagan.

[[Page 11857]]

  Mary and I have deep sadness today and we send out our heartfelt 
condolences to Nancy and the rest of the Reagan family.
  I didn't personally meet Ronald Reagan until 1983, but I wish I had 
known him before.
  I will never forget how even though we hardly knew each other, he was 
there when I needed him.
  This first happened when I was running for Governor of Kentucky in 
1983. To be honest, not many people were helping me. I entered the race 
late to try to help the Republican party because we didn't have a 
candidate. Most people either weren't very interested or weren't giving 
me much of a chance. But I called President Reagan and he helped me and 
even came out to campaign for me. I'm sure some of his advisers told 
him not to, and told him there was nothing in it for him. But he came 
anyway.
  At a time when not many other people believed in me, Ronald Reagan 
did. That was very special to me personally.
  I didn't win that race, but President Reagan's faith in me and his 
support transformed me from someone who had merely watched him from 
afar to an appreciative admirer.
  He had no reason to come and assist me other than to help because of 
the goodness in his heart.
  I asked, and that was enough for him.
  Later I was at the 1984 Republican Convention in Dallas when he gave 
the great speech about believing in America and how our Nation 
symbolized hope to the world as a shining city on the hill.
  It was spellbinding and uplifting. Even though it was a political 
convention, I think his message of optimism and his belief in the 
goodness of America touched all Americans.
  President Reagan believed in me again when I ran for Congress in 
1986. To be honest, I wasn't really interested at first in coming to 
Washington. But when Ronald Reagan and his White House turned on the 
power of persuasion, it was almost impossible to say ``no.'' And with 
Ronald Reagan's support, I was fortunate enough to win and to come join 
him as a Member of Congress for his last 2 years in office. Again, he 
believed in me and I've never forgotten it.
  I attended his last two State of the Union speeches as a Member of 
the House and they were spectacular performances.
  I remember during his last State of the Union when he dropped a copy 
of the enormous continuing resolution spending bill Congress had passed 
in late 1987 and warned us that we'd better get our work done on time 
because he wouldn't sign another bill like that.
  We knew he meant it and Congress listened and the next year we did 
get our work done on time.
  I believe the secret to Ronald Reagan's appeal was that he had such 
strong and profound fundamental beliefs about the role of Government 
and he was so confident in his ability to communicate those beliefs in 
simple, but powerful ways that average Americans could understand.
  People sensed that he was sincere in his own beliefs. They knew he 
was comfortable in his own skin and had a clear idea of the direction 
where he wanted to lead the country. Because he was confident in 
himself and believed in America and its people, the American people 
returned that faith. They believed in him and they listened to him. 
When he led, they followed.
  They followed Ronald Reagan when it came to his staunch opposition to 
taxes.
  They listened to him when he warned us about the evils of communism 
and asserted our moral superiority in the struggle between the East and 
the West.
  Many in Washington criticized him when he warned that the old Soviet 
Union was an evil empire.
  But Ronald Reagan understood that the Soviets were a moral threat to 
our way of life, and that we were engaged in a struggle that we had to 
win.
  The naysayers said Ronald Reagan was dangerous, but the American 
people knew he was fundamentally right, and history will show him to be 
a visionary who probably saved our Nation and the world.
  Like every other President, Ronald Reagan had his critics. And he 
made mistakes. But there is no doubt that the strong consensus among 
the American people is that Ronald Reagan was a great President.
  He was an unusually strong and optimistic leader that we all want to 
emulate. That's why his passing has hit so many of us so hard.
  Even his strongest critics will tell you that they liked Ronald 
Reagan the man and human being. They knew that even though he might 
disagree with their policies that he still liked them as people and 
that he would treat them with respect.
  That was a hallmark of Reagan and another strength of his 
administration--he was always a gentleman and treated others with 
respect. He might not have won every policy and political argument, but 
he fought cleanly and conducted himself with civility and grace.
  In the end, I believe that few of us will see another leader the 
likes of Ronald Reagan during our lifetime.
  I believe that when he took office he set out to change not only the 
Nation but the face of the world. That is exactly what he did.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Utah is recognized.
  Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, on the passing of former President 
Reagan, my mind, like everyone else's, goes back to a personal 
experience--not one that I had with Ronald Reagan himself because I did 
not know him that well, but in 1976, I was being interviewed for a job 
in the Reagan campaign for President. The individual, the former 
President's campaign manager at the time, who was conducting the 
interview, went through all of the specifics of the job he wanted me to 
take. The interview went very well. I seemed to have the credentials 
they wanted, and it was clear that a job offer was sitting there on the 
table. But I was a little troubled, even though things were going well, 
because I wanted to make something very clear.
  I did not know Ronald Reagan. I had met him, but I did not know him. 
I only knew the caricature of Reagan which was out there in the media, 
which was that he was a rigid, ideological, hard-line conservative who 
would never, ever budge from an ideological position. So I said, in the 
spirit of full disclosure in this job interview, I want to make one 
thing clear. I said: I am not a true believer.
  The individual conducting the interview smiled a little and he said: 
That's all right, neither is the Governor.
  That was my first glimpse into what made Ronald Reagan a truly 
successful politician. He was a politician of absolutely firm resolve, 
there is no question about that. There were things he believed and he 
believed with such passion that he would never, ever deviate from them. 
But there were also some things he realized could be compromised that 
did not require an absolute, hard-line ideological stance, and the 
great genius of the man is that he had the wisdom to be able to discern 
which issue fell into which category, which issue was one in which 
there must be no compromise, and which issue was one where he could, in 
the words of former Senator Dole, take 80 percent of the deal and be 
happy with it. That requires a degree of wisdom and sensitivity that 
very few of us possess. Ronald Reagan possessed it, and that was the 
core of his genius.
  In the words of the country music song, he knew when to hold them and 
when to fold them.
  On the issue of the evil empire, that was a time when he would hold 
them. On the issue of the evil empire, he would give no quarter, and he 
was criticized firmly for that, even within his own administration. The 
story is told of a meeting where members of the administration were 
discussing how they would deal with the Soviet Union in a certain 
situation, and after one point of view was presented President Reagan 
turned to the individual and said: If you believe that, what are you 
doing in this administration? He was that firm in his determination 
that the Soviet Union was, indeed, an evil empire and had to be 
confronted as such.

[[Page 11858]]

  But when the confrontation truly came and the Soviet Union found they 
were up against an immovable object in Ronald Reagan and they began to 
maneuver, then he could see the areas in which 80 percent was good 
enough. He could discern the difference between where he had to stand 
absolutely firm and where he had to negotiate. He skillfully exploited 
all of those differences in such a way that the ``evil empire'' first 
ceased to be evil and then ultimately ceased to be an empire.
  I find one of the great ironies of history the fact that upon his 
passing, on the pages of the New York Times, Mikhail Gorbachev is 
quoted in praise of Ronald Reagan. The man whom Reagan outmaneuvered, 
outnegotiated, and ultimately forced from office was singing his 
praises at his passing. That is an indication of how good Ronald Reagan 
was at the job of being President of the United States.
  We have all talked about how optimistic he was, how filled with hope 
he was, what a congenial fellow he was, what a great communicator he 
was. And all of that is true and all of that is right and proper in 
this eulogy. But we should not allow ourselves to forget in these 
discussions of his wonderful qualities how effective a President he 
was. We live in Ronald Reagan's America. Indeed, we live in Ronald 
Reagan's world. He is more responsible for the kind of America we have 
today than any other man. He is more responsible for the kind of world 
in which we live than any other man.
  That does not mean he is solely responsible, by any means, because 
there are many people who have affected America and have affected the 
world for good and ill, and no one man can be solely responsible for 
what happened. But he is more responsible than any other individual for 
the kind of country we have and for the kind of world in which we 
live--and both are substantially better than that which he found when 
he became President.
  Let us look back for a minute at what America was like when Ronald 
Reagan became President.
  We think of the Great Depression and how devastating that was as an 
economic event in our lives. When Ronald Reagan came to the Presidency, 
we were in the midst of the great inflation. I remember it very 
clearly. I was delighted in that period--absolutely delighted--to be 
able to get a bank loan, so I could meet payroll in the business I was 
running, at an interest rate of 21 1/5 percent. I remember talking to 
my banker who said to me, Today the Treasury auction has sold 30-year 
Government securities at 15 percent. It was absolutely stunning. The 
great inflation was destroying value, destroying confidence, and 
created what is the most serious recession we have had since the Great 
Depression--the double digits of the 1980s which occurred in Reagan's 
Presidency but were the consequence of the great inflation that went 
before. This President stood absolutely firm on his economic policy 
that was being ridiculed, that was being castigated, that was being 
sneered at; and his message to the country was stay the course. We did 
stay the course. His party lost a lot of seats in that next election, 
but he stood firm. Along with Paul Volcker at the Federal Reserve, they 
squeezed inflation out of the economy, created an economic situation 
where today as the heirs of that enormously difficult but significant 
effort we find the time when interest rates are at their lowest in 20, 
30, or 40 years.
  I remind people who derided Ronald Reagan as the playboy, lifeguard, 
football player with no intellectual base that he was the only 
President of the United States who had a degree in economics--classic 
economics, Keynesian economics--and he viewed the world in Keynesian 
terms and set an economic course that produced the base of prosperity 
we live in today. Yes, he was an optimist. Yes, he was a politician of 
joy. Yes, he was a pleasant fellow. But he was an enormously successful 
President in his domestic policies.
  During his Presidency, the American economy grew as measured in terms 
of gross domestic product as much as if it had acquired the entire 
economy of Germany. We added as much gross domestic product--that is as 
much output in the American economy--during the time he was President 
as the entire economy of Germany.
  Let us not forget that contribution as we remember and properly 
celebrate his sterling personal qualities.
  Internationally, of course, we have talked about that. Other Senators 
have talked about that. But let us remember once again at the time his 
policies were very controversial, at the time his policies were derided 
by the wise men, at the time they said he was a cowboy who was going to 
set off all kinds of danger internationally, and at the end of his 
Presidency, as I say, the ``evil empire'' was no longer evil and very 
quickly it was no longer an empire. And instead of setting off 
dangerous international consequences, what he did by standing firm on 
his resolve was transform the world by ridding it of its greatest 
threat. That was not bad for a B actor who presumably didn't know 
anything beyond what was on those 3-by-5 cards.
  The best summary comes from one of his staffers who wrote a book. The 
staffer was named Dinesh D'Souza. He wrote a book called ``Reagan,'' 
and the first chapter of that book is entitled, ``The Wise Men and The 
Dummy.''
  In that chapter, D'Souza said when Reagan came to the Presidency, it 
was widely assumed among all the liberal wise men in the country that 
he was a dummy. The untold secret is the conservative wise men felt the 
same way. The conservative wise men thought he won the Presidency 
because he was a great actor: He looks good on television, but we can't 
allow him to make any of the decisions. He is a front, and we will put 
together the conservative agenda. Then we will have him as our puppet 
to go out and sell it to the American people, and we will have the best 
of all possible worlds.
  Well, as D'Souza records, at the end of the day, on every major issue 
that came before the Reagan Presidency, it turned out the wise men were 
wrong and the dummy was right. And the dummy, because he was President 
of the United States and because he understood the proper use of power 
and he exercised it with tremendous skill, had views that prevailed, 
and we are the beneficiaries of his wisdom.
  At this time of his passing, I do not mourn because Ronald Reagan has 
been released by death from a tremendously debilitating, frustrating, 
and ultimately tragic situation. Ronald Reagan is now in a better place 
that does not require us to mourn but to rejoice. This time is a time 
to celebrate, a time to be grateful, and a time to thank Providence for 
giving America at this time in its history this particular statesman, 
the one who knew when to stand with absolute resolve, when to be 
willing to make the deal, and possess the innate wisdom to know the 
difference.
  We live in Ronald Reagan's America. Indeed, we live in Ronald 
Reagan's world, and we are all better off for that fact.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The journal clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Graham of South Carolina). Without 
objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, it is a great honor for me to be a 
Member of this body at this point in history and to be able to have the 
privilege of making a few comments on the life and career of Ronald 
Reagan.
  My words are inadequate to the task. Many have spoken more eloquently 
than I. Many have written beautifully about his life and the meaning of 
his Presidency.
  I will just say that I do remember being personally inspired by him. 
As a young high school student, I came to believe Barry Goldwater would 
be a good President. I believed that from the values he was 
articulating. I did what I could. I put a bumper sticker on my daddy's 
pickup truck. Although he had never been involved in politics in any 
way, he allowed me to do that.
  Of course, things did not go well in that election. Things were going 
poorly. But on the eve of that election, the

[[Page 11859]]

Nation and many of the people who shared those basic values about 
classical America, what we as a nation represent--limited government, 
individual responsibility, personal freedom, a strong national 
defense--were electrified by a speech by Ronald Reagan. I think they 
call it ``Rendezvous With Destiny.'' Some just call it ``The Speech.'' 
I remember it to this day.
  After the Goldwater campaign ended--and it certainly was a major 
defeat for him--Ronald Reagan sort of inherited the flame of classical 
American values and made them the basis of his personal beliefs and his 
campaign for the Presidency.
  I was also later honored to be President Reagan's U.S. attorney for 
the Southern District of Alabama. It was a Presidential appointment, 
confirmed by the Senate. I was a U.S. attorney, and I served in that 
job as one of his lieutenants in the war on crime for the entire two 
terms of his Presidency, and, indeed, for 4 more years under former 
President Bush. That was a great honor for me.
  As we talk about what President Reagan accomplished, I do want to 
take a moment to talk about crime and drugs. Crime and drugs had been 
surging for 20 years when President Reagan took office. The elites in 
this country actually believed that prison was noneffective, that it 
did not work, that it was counterproductive, that you should not put 
people in prison, that we ought to ask how they committed the crime, 
what the root causes of criminal behavior were, and what we could do to 
help the criminal.
  We lost sight of the victim. We lost sight of accountability. We lost 
sight of righting wrong. And it resulted in crime rates that doubled 
and tripled in the 20 years prior to President Reagan taking office.
  Drug use had surged during the 1960s and 1970s. By the time President 
Reagan took office, one-half of high school seniors in America admitted 
to having used an illegal drug in their life. That is a stunning 
number. That is according to a University of Michigan study.
  Nancy Reagan began her ``Just Say No'' program. President Reagan 
passed mandatory sentencing policies. He eliminated parole and passed 
through the Congress the Federal Sentencing Guidelines that eliminated 
parole, had guaranteed sentences for incarceration, with many 
substantial sentences for serious violations of the law. I believe the 
sentencing guidelines were probably the biggest change in law 
enforcement in the history of this country since its founding.
  The result was that drug use went down. It went down every year 
President Reagan was President. For 12 years it declined steadfastly. 
We now have less than half of high school seniors who say they have 
used an illegal drug in their life. The crime rate began to fall. We 
are still seeing declines in crime. That is because we went back to the 
fundamental precepts of crime and punishment, and how you do it. Some 
people are just dangerous. They need to be incarcerated. They need to 
be removed from society for the protection of society.
  States picked up on this. Most crimes are prosecuted in the States, 
but that leadership of the bully pulpit by the President led to State 
reforms and crackdowns and improved capacity in prisons to deal with 
repeat offenders. It has been a key element in the reduction of crime 
and why Americans are safer today than they were in 1980. It is 
something that I think we have not heard much about in the discussion 
of the accomplishments of President Reagan.
  I was also honored to have been his nominee for a Federal judgeship. 
It turned into a very unpleasant experience for me and my nomination 
did not clear the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which I am now a 
member and on which I am honored to serve. But he stood steadfastly for 
me. The fact he believed in my ability to be a Federal judge was 
something I cherish. And I cherish the letter he wrote me when I asked 
that my name be withdrawn from that appointment. It is something I will 
always cherish. It was personal and meaningful to me.
  Ronald Reagan had a deep and fully formed philosophy about America 
and American ideals when he came to office at age 69. This is something 
that did not come to him lightly. It was over a lifetime of evaluation. 
Even in the face of the most fierce opposition, he never wavered in 
those beliefs. Indeed, his very life seemed to embody the highest and 
best of American values. His very life, the way he carried himself, 
embodied American values. His courage to remain true to the highest of 
these ideals was his greatest strength, I believe.
  His goal was to free the greatness of individual Americans, assured 
that their goodness and industry would lift the Nation and inspire the 
world to freedom and progress. He believed in the individual American 
citizen. He believed that government should allow their creativity and 
industry to flourish, and as they flourished, and as they worked hard, 
and as they were creative, the world and America would benefit from it.
  His courage to be true to those ideals, I believe, was his secret 
strength. He understood that intuitively, and he remained true to it. 
He called us, in his very special way, to the natural optimistic spirit 
of America.
  His record of achievement was extraordinary. He led us with courage 
and steadfastness to defeat the evil empire. He cut our taxes. He 
called on us to renew our spiritual, moral, and family values. He said 
criminals should be punished. He not only communicated these values 
with words, but his actions and policies and life were dedicated to 
that.
  As a result of his constancy and courage to fight for these values, a 
serious period of pessimism abounding in our land at that time ended. 
The Soviet Union collapsed. The economy began its 20 years of 
remarkable growth. Matters of faith, morality, and family were lifted 
up. The crime rate fell, and drug use fell.
  The success of the Reagan Presidency was stunning in its scope, and 
it could not have come at a better time for the country. Like President 
Washington, President Reagan's life was given over to the country. He 
loved his country and he was selfless in his commitment to it. His 
selflessness and the purity of his principles inspired those who worked 
for him.
  I remember--and I will close; I know there are others who would like 
to speak--but I do remember how, as a U.S. attorney, we did not need to 
be told in detail what the President wanted. We heard his philosophy. 
We heard his campaign. We knew he wanted us to be more productive. We 
knew he wanted us to take charge of our governmental office and make it 
work for the people and produce as high an output as it could possibly 
achieve. We also knew he expected us to crack down on criminals and 
crime.
  I think that was good leadership because all the departments of the 
Government understood where Reagan came from, what administration they 
were a part of. They did not have to be instructed in detail on how to 
accomplish the goals of his administration. That was one of his great 
strengths. The impact of it was incalculable in many ways around the 
world.
  I will just close with this story. In 1993, several years after 
President Reagan left office, I had the opportunity to go with a church 
group to Russia. It was a Methodist group. We went and stayed in a town 
5 hours from Moscow, about 40,000 people, many of whom had not seen 
Americans before. We had a very nice time there. I stayed for a number 
of days with a Russian family.
  The first day we got there, the Russian host's daughter was to be 
baptized. Father Gannati was the Russian orthodox priest. He came and 
he did a nice service, and it took some time. Then we had dinner after 
the baptism. Father Gannati explained that just 2 years before, he was 
not able to wear his robes in public. The state caused him to be moved 
from town to town every year so that he could not build bonds and roots 
in a given community. He could not meet the governmental leaders. They 
would not meet with him because they were atheists and they

[[Page 11860]]

would not meet with believers. So it was a very interesting time.
  He described how since then he could wear his robe, the mayor had him 
down to meet with him the day before this event, and that he was able 
to stay and rebuild the church there that had been damaged ever since 
the Russian revolution had occurred.
  At the conclusion of those remarks, our host jumped up and said: I 
propose a toast to Ronald Reagan, who allowed us to believe in God 
again. Right in the center of the evil empire, the impact Ronald Reagan 
had to change the nature of the world in which we lived was felt in a 
very real way.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wyoming.
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, I rise to join other colleagues in talking 
about President Ronald Reagan, the Great Communicator, the great 
humanitarian.

       I will lie down and bleed awhile, and then I will rise and 
     fight again.

  Ronald Reagan quoted Sir Andrew Barton's words after returning home 
from campaigning against Gerald Ford. Poignant words for a man who just 
4 years later was elected the 40th President of the United States.
  The Nation and the world have lost a great treasure. Ronald Reagan 
was a master wordsmith, an international diplomat, a man whose genuine 
humanity gave Americans and people around the world a new sense of 
self-worth. He loved America first and foremost, so we stood behind our 
leader, our captain, our coach--to win one for the Gipper.
  Ronald Reagan held a deep devotion to principle, sought peace through 
strength, and encouraged everyone to believe in their convictions. He 
had a keen intellect, but he was underestimated by his critics. He 
disarmed many naysayers with his quick wit, crooked smile, thoughtful 
words, and a jar of jelly beans.
  He will forever be remembered by ending the cold war. His words ``Mr. 
Gorbachev, tear down this wall'' echo in our mind's eye. Known as the 
Great Communicator, his philosophies changed the political direction 
this country was taking. His domestic policies gave us a smaller 
government rather than a larger one. These are just a handful of 
changes that will be the legacy left by Ronald Reagan. Certainly, we 
can all be very proud of the leadership he has given and follow the 
example he left behind.
  Beneath the steely smile, Ronald Reagan was a cowboy. Westerners 
remember Reagan for his love of horses, his Wrangler jeans, his cowboy 
hats, something we all appreciated out West. In fact, in 1968, Ronald 
Reagan came to Wyoming to speak to the Wyoming Republican State 
Convention in Cheyenne. Clarence Brimmer, now a U.S. district judge in 
Cheyenne, remembered the cowpoke from California who delivered a 
motivating speech. He said recently:

       He was really outstanding, not just as a speaker, but in a 
     cowboy suit he was really sharp. He wowed all the ladies.

  The passing of Ronald Reagan has brought about a great deal of grief 
for all of us in the country and throughout the world. But through his 
dignified leadership, universal diplomatic skills, and his energetic 
persona, Ronald Reagan established a legacy that will live for 
generations to come. We should take pride in his life, in his 
accomplishments, and recognize what he left us--the great dawning of a 
new America.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I, too, rise to join my colleagues in 
honoring our Nation's 40th President, Ronald Reagan. It is most fitting 
and I know that I have watched, as have Americans across the country, 
as we see the stories of Ronald Reagan and his life and his 
contributions to this country, stories coming from not only those of us 
standing on the Senate floor but from other countries, from small 
communities. People are focusing on the man that was Ronald Reagan, a 
great leader for this country. The stories that have been told have 
been wide-ranging, covering President Reagan's role in the cold war, 
his truly undying sense of optimism for the country, the discussions 
about Reaganomics, and, of course, all those personal stories that make 
President Reagan so unforgettable.
  Alaska certainly has its stories to add and to share as well. 
President Reagan's impact on Alaska began before he even entered the 
office of the Presidency. In 1980, the Alaska National Interest Lands 
Conservation Act, putting over 100 million acres of land under Federal 
control, was pending before the Congress. With Reagan's election that 
year, leaders in the House and Senate--at the time, both were under 
Democratic control--knew that if they were going to get a bill signed 
into law, it would have to be then, before President Reagan was sworn 
in, and the Act, for better or for worse, was signed into law on 
December 2, 1980. But President Reagan understood Alaska and Alaskans.
  In his book, entitled ``Reagan, In His Own Hand,'' the President 
asked this very important question:

       Will Alaska wind up as our biggest state, or will it be our 
     smallest state surrounded by our biggest national park?

  He tried to ease the impact these land withdrawals had on Alaskans 
living in and around the new parks and refuges. He fought for access to 
these lands to provide for economic development, and it was his 
administration that determined that oil drilling should be allowed in a 
small section of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a debate that 
continues today.
  Alaskans remembered all that President Reagan did for us in both 
Presidential elections by giving him wide and broad-based support 
throughout the State.
  President Reagan had the opportunity to visit Alaska several times. 
He liked to talk about his ties to the State. He was a big fan of 
Robert Service, and one of his favorites was a poem entitled ``The 
Shooting of Dan McGrew.'' It is a poem about a particular barroom 
brawl, and most people may remember the beginning of it:

       A bunch of the boys were whooping it up at the Malamute 
     Saloon.

  It is a wonderful, kind of down-and-dirty, rough-and-tumble poem that 
personified what many wanted to believe about Alaska and the last 
Frontier.
  But President Reagan was quite fond of that. I had an opportunity 
last night to pull out ``The Shooting Of Dan McGrew'' and read it yet 
one more time, and it brought good smiles to my face.
  I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the full 
contents of ``The Shooting Of Dan McGrew.''
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                       The Shooting of Dan McGrew

     A bunch of the boys were whooping it up in the Malamute 
           saloon;
     The kid that handles the music-box was hitting a jag-time 
           tune;
     Back of the bar, in a solo game, sat Dangerous Dan McGrew,
     And watching his luck was his light-o'-love, the lady that's 
           known as Lou.

     When out of the night, which was fifty below, and into the 
           din and glare,
     There stumbled a miner fresh from the creeks, dog-dirty, and 
           loaded for bear.
     He looked like a man with a foot in the grave and scarcely 
           the strength of a louse,
     Yet he tilted a poke of dust on the bar, and he called for 
           drinks for the house.
     There was none could place the stranger's face, though we 
           searched ourselves for a clue;
     But we drank his health, and the last to drink was Dangerous 
           Dan McGrew.

     There's men that somehow just grip your eyes, and hold them 
           hard like a spell;
     And such was he, and he looked to me like a man who had lived 
           in hell;
     With a face most hair, and the dreary stare of a dog whose 
           day is done,
     As he watered the green stuff in his glass, and the drops 
           fell one by one.
     Then I got to figgering who he was, and wondering what he'd 
           to,
     And I turned my head--and there watching him was the lady 
           that's known as Lou.

     His eyes went rubbering round the room, and he seemed in a 
           kind of daze,
     Till at last that old piano fell in the way of his wandering 
           gaze.
     The rag-time kid was having a drink; there was no one else on 
           the stool,
     So the stranger stumbles across the room, and flops down 
           there like a fool.
     In a buckskin shirt that was glazed with dirt he sat, and I 
           saw him sway,

[[Page 11861]]

     Then he clutched the keys with his talon hands--my God! but 
           that man could play.

     Were you ever out in the Great Alone, when the moon was awful 
           clear,
     And the icy mountains hemmed you in with a silence you most 
           could hear;
     With only the howl of a timber wolf, and you camped there in 
           the cold,
     A half-dead thing in a stark, dead world, clean mad with the 
           muck called gold;
     While high overhead, green, yellow, and red, the North Lights 
           swept in bars?--
     Then you've a hunch what the music meant . . . hunger and 
           might and the stars.

     And hunger not of the belly kind, that's banished with bacon 
           and beans,
     But the gnawing hunger of lonely men for a home and all that 
           it means;
     For a fireside far from the cares that are, four walls and a 
           roof above;
     But oh! so cramful of cosy joy, and crowded with a woman's 
           love--
     A woman dearer than all the world, and true as Heaven is 
           true--
     (God! how ghastly she looks through her rouge,--the lady 
           that's known as Lou.)

     Then on a sudden the music changed, so soft that you scarce 
           could hear;
     But you felt that your life had been looted clean of all that 
           it once held dear;
     That someone had stolen the woman you loved; that her love 
           was a devil's lie;
     That your guts were gone, and the best for you was to crawl 
           away and die.
     'Twas the crowning cry of a heart's despair, and it thrilled 
           you through and through--
     ``I guess I'll make it a spread misere,'' said Dangerous Dan 
           McGrew.

     The music almost dies away . . . then it burst like a pent-up 
           flood;
     And it seemed to say, ``Repay, repay,'' and my eyes were 
           blind with blood.
     The thought came back of an ancient wrong, and it stung like 
           a frozen lash,
     And the lust awoke to kill, to kill . . . then the music 
           stopped with a crash,
     And the stranger turned, and his eyes they burned in a most 
           peculiar way;

     In a buckskin shirt that was glazed with dirt he sat, and I 
           saw him sway;
     Then his lips went in in a kind of grin, and he spoke, and 
           his voice was calm,
     And ``Boys,'' says he, ``you don't know me, and none of you 
           care a damn;
     But I want to state, and my words are straight, and I'll bet 
           my poke they're true,
     That one of you is a hound of hell . . . and that one is 
           Dangerous Dan McGrew.''

     Then I ducked my head and the lights went out, and two guns 
           blazed in the dark;
     And a woman screamed, and the light went up, and two men lay 
           stiff and stark.
     Pitched on his head, and pumped full of lead, was Dangerous 
           Dan McGrew.
     While the man from the creeks lay clutched to the breast of 
           the lady that's known as Lou.

     These are the simple facts of the case, and I guess I ought 
           to know.
     They say that the stranger was crazed with ``hooch,'' and I'm 
           not denying it's so.
     I'm not so wise as the lawyer guys, but strictly between us 
           two--
     The woman that kissed him and--pinched his poke--was the lady 
           known as Lou.

  Ms. MURKOWSKI. I have a wonderful personal anecdote about President 
Reagan. He visited Fairbanks, Alaska, in 1984. It was a monumental 
visit because he joined Pope John Paul II in Fairbanks for a summit 
there. The President and Nancy Reagan arrived in Fairbanks on their way 
back from China. The following day, the Pope was arriving on his way to 
Korea. As we do in Alaska, we can facilitate great unions because of 
our strategic location at the top of the globe. So they were able to 
meet at the Fairbanks International Airport.
  During his stopover in Fairbanks, the President spent his time at my 
parent's home out on the Chena River. They were there for a couple of 
days. It would not be much of a story except that the home was brand 
spanking new. It had not yet been furnished. So in an effort to make 
sure the President and Mrs. Reagan were comfortable, the community 
literally furnished the home, complete with very fine Alaskan artwork. 
It was perhaps a showcase home for a couple of days. Everything from 
the city's artwork to the china ultimately had to be returned to 
wherever it came from. The community went all out for the President and 
Mrs. Reagan.
  Because this was a new house, there were some kinks that still needed 
to be worked out, specifically the water. It didn't have hot water. 
Apparently, after a long flight, it is quite nice to stop and take a 
shower, or perhaps Mrs. Reagan needed a warm bath. But there was no hot 
water. A call was made to then-Senator Murkowski at about 3 a.m. asking 
how come there was no hot water. As the story goes, the President and 
my father were wandering around outside trying to figure out how to 
make the hot water come on. They learned you had to keep the water 
running for a while. That was the way President Reagan was. He was 
willing to go out and try to be helpful and fix the problem. He was a 
man who wanted to make things work, to cut through the redtape and 
bureaucracy, reduce the size of Government, and a man who was not 
afraid to stand up and promote his vision for America, but also knowing 
when it was time to compromise on issues. He was an individual who 
truly made America feel good about itself again.
  I will close by reading a quote from Ronald Reagan during his speech 
at the 1992 National Republican Convention. I feel it is truly a 
fitting reminder of this great man's legacy. I read as follows:

       My fellow citizens--those of you here in this hall and 
     those of you at home--I want you to know that I have always 
     had the highest respect for you, for your common sense and 
     intelligence, and for your decency. I have always believed in 
     you and in what you could accomplish for yourselves and for 
     others.
       And whatever else history may say about me when I'm gone, I 
     hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not 
     your worst fears, to your confidence rather than your doubts. 
     My dream is that you will travel the road ahead with 
     liberty's lamp guiding your steps and opportunity's arms 
     steadying your way.
       My fondest hope for each one of you--and especially for the 
     young people here--is that you will love your country, not 
     for her power or wealth, but for her selflessness and her 
     idealism. May each of you have the heart to conceive, the 
     understanding to direct, and the hand to execute works that 
     will make the world a little better for your having been 
     here.
       May all of you as Americans never forget your heroic 
     origins, never fail to seek divine guidance, and never lose 
     your natural, God-given optimism.
       And finally, my fellow Americans, may every dawn be a great 
     new beginning for America and every evening bring us closer 
     to that shining city upon a hill.

  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri.


                Unanimous Consent Agreement--S. Res. 374

  Mr. TALENT. Mr. President, on behalf of the leader, I ask unanimous 
consent that following the scheduled vote, the Senate proceed to a 
second resolution, which is at the desk, and further that the 
resolution and preamble be agreed to, with the motion to reconsider 
laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. TALENT. Mr. President, it is an honor for me to join the Senate 
in honoring the memory and celebrating the life of Ronald Reagan. I 
want to say, first of all, how much I have appreciated the eloquence 
and the personal memories that have been offered on the Senate floor 
and in public by those who knew and remembered President Reagan. I, of 
course, remember him. I didn't know him personally.
  I also want to say how much especially I have appreciated the grace 
and the charity shown to the former President by those here who were, 
when he was in office, his political opponents. I think it is a great 
testimony to their charity of spirit that they have done so and also a 
comment on how our system operates in times such as this. We can 
remember and appreciate a person for his good qualities without 
necessarily having to retreat from any disagreements we may have had 
with that person over political issues.
  I am reminded of what Winston Churchill said on a similar occasion 
when he was offering remembrances of a colleague who had died, with 
whom he had had many differences. He said:

       The fierce and bitter controversies which hung around him 
     in recent times were hushed by the news of his illness and 
     are silenced by his death. In paying a tribute of respect and 
     of regard to an eminent man who has been taken from us, no 
     one is obliged to alter the opinions which he has formed or 
     expressed upon issues which have become a part of history; 
     but at the Lychgate, we may all pass our own conduct and our 
     own judgments under a searching review. It's not given to 
     human beings, happily for them for otherwise life would be 
     intolerable, to foresee or to predict to any large extent the 
     unfolding course of events. In one phase men

[[Page 11862]]

     seem to have been right, in another they seem to have been 
     wrong. Then again, a few years later, when the perspective of 
     time has lengthened, all stands in a different setting. There 
     is a new proportion. There is another scale of values. 
     History with its flickering lamp stumbles along the trail of 
     the past, trying to reconstruct its scenes, to revive its 
     echoes, and kindle with pale gleams the passion of former 
     days. What is the worth of all this? The only guide to a man 
     is his conscience; the only shield to his memory is the 
     rectitude and sincerity of his actions. It is very imprudent 
     to walk through life without this shield, because we are so 
     often mocked by the failure of our hopes and the upsetting of 
     our calculations; but with this shield, however the fates may 
     play, we march always in the ranks of honour.

  I stand here for a few minutes to remember a man who always marched 
in the ranks of honor and whose shield was the sincerity and rectitude 
of his actions at all times. He was not a mentor, because I did not 
know him personally, but he was a hero of mine.
  Much has been said in the last few days about his humor and 
amiability. I agree that was a very important part of Ronald Reagan, of 
who he was and of his success. When I think of him, when I visualize 
him, I visualize him smiling, telling a joke, or offering some 
witticism or some piece of humor. I think that was a big part of his 
success.
  It is important not to take yourself too seriously. That is a quality 
that often is lacking in this town. I think I can say that without 
being deemed uncharitable. But it was not a quality that was lacking in 
Ronald Reagan. He thought deeply about issues. He thought deeply about 
the country. I think people underestimated, to some extent, how deeply 
he thought and understood what was going on. He never pretended to know 
everything. I think that helped him a lot in his Presidency.
  We should also remember President Reagan, however, not just for his 
qualities and his personality, but also for what he believed. He 
thought ideas were important, and he was right. I remember George Will 
said a few years ago--and I am paraphrasing him; he probably said it 
more eloquently than this--but the gist of his remarks was, the 
collapse of the Soviet Union proves that ideas not only have 
consequences, but that maybe only ideas have consequences.
  President Reagan's friends and opponents have sometimes characterized 
his political philosophy as being an anti-Government philosophy or a 
simplistic belief in making Government smaller whatever the 
circumstances the country was confronting. I do not think that is 
correct. I think at best it is oversimplistic.
  President Reagan understood that the issue of our time during his 
Presidency and the issue of our time now, I suggest, is not whether 
Government is going to be big or small, certainly in an absolute sense 
and often in a relative sense as well, but whether the Government, in 
doing whatever functions we believe it ought to do, will consistently 
respect the values and institutions of private life.
  It is not a question of whether Government is important, because it 
is; it is a question of whether the Government believes it is more 
important than the private society and culture and people it is 
governing. That is where President Reagan drew the consistent line of 
his philosophy in his public life. His faith was in what the American 
people had built and have built and are continuing to build on their 
own, and in the associations and networks of private life that give 
life meaning, that give people a chance for happiness and opportunity. 
He believed in what people build in their families, in their small 
businesses, in their local schools, in their voluntary associations and 
organizations, in their churches, synagogues, and temples. He believed 
in the great traditions of American culture. He knew those traditions 
and the institutions that represent them grow and evolve organically 
over time and that they represent the wisdom of many generations of 
people about how we ought to live in our society so that we can have 
the maximum amount of justice and freedom and opportunity for all of 
our people.
  What he wanted was for the Government to be vigorous in the areas it 
was supposed to operate but to respect those institutions rather than 
trying to overthrow them.
  He said once in 1970:

       It is not my intention to do away with government. It is 
     rather to make it work--work with us, not over us; stand by 
     our side, not ride on our back. Government can and must 
     provide opportunity, not smother it; foster productivity, not 
     stifle it.

  I remember a few years ago when we were debating welfare reform in 
the Congress--and I was in the House at the time--a key point in that 
debate was when the Congress decided collectively that we were not 
talking about whether we were going to try in some sense to get rid of 
the welfare system. We were not going to retreat from the impulse of 
the 1960s to help people who were in poverty get out of poverty.
  What we wanted, however, was a system that tried to do that in a way 
that respected and upheld the values that generations and generations 
of Americans have relied on to move up the economic ladder. We wanted a 
system that instead of punishing work, encouraged and required it. We 
wanted a system that instead of providing incentives against marriage, 
encouraged marriage and talked about its importance. We wanted a system 
that did not uproot neighborhoods and neighborhood institutions, that 
did not sweep them aside in the name of an all powerful and 
prescriptive government, but rather a system that helped build up again 
the vital parts of neighborhoods.
  The reason that bill has been so successful, the reason it was 
supported by a vast majority in both Houses, and why it has been 
successful all over the country is not because it represented, I 
submit, a retreat by the Government from its commitment to helping 
people achieve the American dream, but rather because it represented a 
conscious commitment by the Government to work with the values of 
Americans, to respect those values and not to uproot them.
  There is no question where President Reagan would have been in that 
fight, where he was in that fight, because the seeds of welfare reform 
were planted during his administration.
  I am not going to go on. There are others who wish to speak. I thank 
the Senator from Florida for allowing me to go out of order because we 
try to go back and forth on both sides of the aisle.
  Let me close with one of my favorite quotes from President Reagan. We 
are all doing that. It is from his second Inaugural Address in January 
1985, and many have commented on President Reagan's optimism about 
America, how he was optimistic about America because he not only 
believed in those values and the institutions that represented them, 
but he had a tremendous faith in their power. I think he knew we were 
going to triumph over the Soviet Union in the cold war because he knew 
what we believed in was right, was powerful, and was good, and he was 
not afraid to state it in those terms.
  Here is an example of his optimism from his second Inaugural Address:

       Now we hear again the echoes of our past: a general falls 
     to his knees in the hard snow of Valley Forge; a lonely 
     president paces the darkened halls, and ponders his struggle 
     to preserve the Union; the men of the Alamo call out 
     encouragement to each other; a settler pushes west and sings 
     a song, and the song echoes out forever and fills the 
     unknowing air.
       It is the American sound. It is hopeful, big-hearted, 
     idealistic, daring, decent, and fair. That's our heritage; 
     that is our song. We sing it still. For all our problems, our 
     differences, we are together as of old, as we raise our 
     voices to the God who is the Author of this most tender 
     music. And may he continue to hold us close as we fill the 
     world with our sound--sound in unity, affection, and love--
     one people, under God, dedicated to the dream of freedom that 
     he has placed in the human heart, called upon now to pass 
     that dream on to a waiting and hopeful world.

  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.
  Mr. GRAHAM of Florida. Mr. President, later today, the body of 
President Ronald Reagan will be brought into this Capitol so that all 
Americans can pay their final respects.
  Much has been said, much has been written about our 40th President 
and the impact he had on our Nation and the world. In at least one 
respect, I believe part of his legacy has been

[[Page 11863]]

mischaracterized, and I rise today, as has my friend and colleague from 
Missouri, to set the record straight.
  The issue that I would like to address is Ronald Reagan's view of the 
size of Government. It is true that President Reagan believed the 
Federal Government was too large and too costly, but he did not believe 
that was true of all governments.
  As a former Governor of California, he believed governments closer to 
the people, governments at the State and local level, had the primary 
responsibility for essential public service and, thus, they should have 
the resources to respond to public needs.
  The people would serve as the control of whether the State and local 
officials had fulfilled the voters' expectation of the role of their 
State, their county, or their city. I know this firsthand.
  My tenure as Governor of Florida overlapped with President Reagan's 
administration for 6 years. During that time, President Reagan and key 
members of his administration, even as they attempted to eliminate the 
U.S. Department of Education and shrink Federal spending on education, 
helped me pass a tax increase in Florida that led to great improvements 
in our State education system.
  An education reform movement swept the country in 1983 and 1984 with 
the issuance in April of 1983 by the National Commission on Excellence 
in Education of a landmark report entitled ``Nation at Risk: The 
Imperative for Educational Reform.''
  At the time that report was issued, President Reagan made this 
statement:

       Parental authority is not a right conveyed by the state; 
     rather, parents delegate to their elected school board 
     representatives and state legislators the responsibility for 
     their children's schooling.

  During a meeting of the National Governors Association in 1983 
President Reagan told the Governors they would be responsible for 
implementing reforms, including how to cover the costs of those 
reforms. He was not interested in having the Federal Government play a 
larger role; in fact, he was intent on cutting the Federal role in 
education.
  I recalled those words when back in Tallahassee I began to push a 
major educational reform package through the legislature. I was not 
alone. For instance, our colleague, the then-Governor of Tennessee, 
Lamar Alexander, was instrumental in the development and adoption of a 
similar reform package in Tennessee, and we had the opportunity to work 
together during that process with then-Governor Alexander talking to 
Republican members of the Florida legislature as I reciprocated in 
conversations with Democratic members of the Tennessee legislature.
  The Florida package had a goal. The goal was we would raise the level 
of education in Florida as judged by student performance on 
standardized tests and other measurements and also per-student funding 
of education to among the top 25 percent of the States in America. We 
increased student performance standards at all levels and had the most 
challenging standards for graduation from high school of any State in 
the Nation.
  The package included basic things such as smaller class sizes, more 
class and curriculum opportunities for students, and a career ladder 
with pay increases which recognized our best teachers. But all of those 
reforms depended upon additional State financing. I proposed several 
steps to raise the necessary revenue, including a revision of our 
corporate profits tax. I advocated the plan with the assurance that 
better schools would improve our State's economic climate. We even 
printed up buttons which read: ``Education Means Business.''
  I was therefore very disturbed that the success of the educational 
reform program was threatened by the lack of support by Republicans in 
the State Senate and the State House of Representatives. I called 
President Reagan's Education Secretary, Dr. Terrell Bell from Utah. I 
reported that I was attempting to do exactly what the President had 
said States should be doing, but could not get any Republican support.
  After consulting with the White House and gaining the President's 
personal permission, Secretary Bell called me back and asked: What can 
I do to help?
  I gave him the names of a half dozen or more Republican legislators. 
Secretary Bell called them on behalf of the President to ask them to 
support the reform package. I am pleased to say that with strong 
bipartisan support, the education reform program in Florida passed in 
1983, and then by 1986 Florida had moved to 13th in the Nation in our 
per-pupil spending, and our test scores had the greatest rate of 
increase in 1986 of any State in the Nation.
  This program showed that greater gains in student performance can be 
achieved through the right set of educational reform. This would not 
have happened without the support of President Ronald Reagan.
  My point is Ronald Reagan was a more nuanced political leader in 
terms of his view of the role of Government than he is generally given 
credit for by both his critics and his fans. On behalf of all 
Floridians, I express my appreciation for his support of improved 
education in Florida, and on behalf of all Floridians I express my 
condolences to President Reagan's family, especially his beloved Nancy.
  Thank you.
  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.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I would feel really bad if I didn't take a 
few moments to speak about my friend, Ron Reagan. I, as much as anybody 
in this body, revered him, respected him, and loved him.
  When I was running back in 1976, I filed literally on the last day, 
May 10. I had zero name recognition except among the legal community 
and among my initial church community. But it was zero in the public 
polls. I ran through the preconvention, the convention, and came out 
second in the convention, which enabled me to force a primary, and 
through the primary on $35,000, $18,000 of which was my own, which was 
a lot of money then back in 1976. I was about 9 points ahead and 
pulling away at that time against the favored in the race--the 
Republican Party favorite and the favorite of most of the delegates of 
the State convention. But he had spent about $150,000, and he was 
starting to slip. I was starting to pull ahead by about 9 points, 
according to the polls.
  Since I was the first to come out for Ronald Reagan in that race at 
that particular time in Utah as a candidate, we decided to ask Ronald 
Reagan if he would pre-primary endorse me in my race for the U.S. 
Senate.
  I have to say when I called it didn't take them long, recognizing my 
friendship and my support for the first time in his political career, 
as far as I know--at least that is what I was told by those who were 
running his campaign, that he was going to pre-primary endorse me, and 
he did. By that time I was probably known by about 60 to 65 percent of 
the people in Utah.
  After the endorsement, I won the primary. I probably would have won 
the primary between 10 or 15 percentage points. But after his 
endorsement, I won the primary 2 to 1, and I was known by, I believe, 
well over 95 percent of my fellow constituents in Utah.
  I went to 36 States for Ronald Reagan as one of his major surrogates. 
I went to New Hampshire, and I was Nancy Reagan's date that night as I 
spoke for Ronald Reagan in the cattle call. That is what it was called 
in New Hampshire.
  In 1980, I gave the keynote address at Plains High School, Jimmy 
Carter's own high school in Plains, GA, before 2,000 people.
  I did everything in my power to elect Ronald Reagan. We had a 
friendship that transcended the usual friendships that are lovely and 
wonderful around here but nevertheless usually don't rise to the level 
that his friendship for me and mine for him really rose to.

[[Page 11864]]

  I truly love Ronald Reagan. I know what a great President he was. I 
know he did bring down the Iron Curtain, that he was the primary mover 
and articulator of the themes that actually ended the cold war.
  Most scholars will now say there are four reasons why Reagan was able 
to win the cold war: No. 1, his military buildup; he put too much 
pressure on the Soviets; No. 2, the placing of the Pershing II missiles 
in Europe, which was a very gutsy thing to do at the time, and highly 
criticized; No. 3 was the threat to build SDI, the Space Defense 
Initiative, and the Soviets knew we could do it; and, No. 4 was a 
placing of the Stinger missiles Afghanistan. I was here through all of 
those times.
  I honor this great President, and I honor his dear wife who has been 
a wonderful wife and supporter, who I know deeply, who has been an 
advocate for so many things that are right, and especially in later 
times. Embryonic stem cell research--she is right on that issue, and I 
support her. I honor both of them this day.
  I join my colleagues, millions of Americans, and indeed countless 
more around the world in mourning the loss of the greatest American 
President of the 20th century, President Ronald Wilson Reagan.
  After suffering nearly a decade, our beloved President died this 
weekend. I join those in this body here today in sending our 
condolences to Mrs. Reagan and their entire family.
  It is hard to imagine any American alive who has not been touched by 
the legacy of Ronald Reagan. Even those born after he left office in 
1989 have benefited from his selfless service, as they grew up in an 
era of unprecedented global freedom, a result of the end of the cold 
war brought on by President Reagan's bold vision of this country and 
our faithful mission in the world.
  Certainly, I was touched by the life of President Reagan.
  Perhaps I might not be here today were it not for the invigorating 
support of this great leader, whose endorsement of my candidacy in my 
first Senate run was certainly instrumental in my service to the people 
of Utah.
  I was pleased and honored to return the favor at every opportunity--
and, in 1980 and 1984, I campaigned for Ronald Reagan in almost every 
State of the Union.
  Let no one believe that this repaid my debt, political or personal, 
to this great man--because I believe I will remain in his debt as long 
as I live, and so will our country.
  President Reagan was both political mentor and inspiration to me as a 
young Senator.
  We both started as Democrats.
  We were inspired by our country's bold international leadership and 
sacrifice during World War II, under a Democratic president.
  Yet we both saw the political landscape shift early in our adult 
lives.
  We both grew dismayed at our country's direction, as citizens lost 
faith, lost optimism and lost the dynamism that once made this land 
great.
  At the same time, we both grew to appreciate the principles of the 
Republican Party, where individual initiative and personal freedom are 
enshrined, and where the fight against international communism took a 
backseat to no other foreign policy.
  When I came to the Senate in 1977, our country was still fresh from 
the defeat symbolized by communist tanks crashing into Saigon in 1975.
  By the time Ronald Reagan became President, the defeat in 1975 had 
been interpreted by our global nemesis, the Soviet Union, as a weakness 
in American resolve; it inspired the Soviets to proxy adventures in 
Latin America, Africa and Asia.
  As the liberal elites of the 1970s denounced and disparaged our 
international sacrifices of the past decade, as it became commonplace 
to equate the use of American force with the encroachments of communist 
tyranny, America became uncertain of itself and turned inward.
  It was not our finest moment.
  Our late colleague, Senator Moynihan, once remarked, ``the central 
conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines 
the success of a society. The central liberal truth is that politics 
can change a culture and save it from itself.''
  In the 1970s, liberal culture had brought this country to a period of 
social decline and international withdrawal.
  As communist tyranny gained around the world, drug use here reached 
an all-time high.
  The economy of the most productive nation in the world was unraveling 
with high taxes and higher inflation.
  Our sense of mission was gone; our belief in our natural strengths 
and goodness receded.
  One of the things I loved the most about Ronald Reagan was that he 
recognized his duty to lead a conservative movement back into the 
political majority; by so doing he declared that we would never concede 
to cultural decline.
  Reagan's victory in 1980 put an end to this malaise and changed our 
country forever.
  Originally from the Midwest, Reagan moved to California and found his 
talent in the industry of American dreams, showing our country that an 
American everyman could be a star.
  Many scorned Reagan the actor for seeking political office.
  But, once again, he showed them wrong. He won our hearts as a 
President--as he had as an actor--showing us all that a man well-
practiced in the arts of both heart and mind could be a perfect leader 
for a nation which had lost its sense of imagination.
  Only in America could a man from the middle class, from the middle of 
the country, rise to become the greatest American leader of the 20th 
century.
  Ronald Wilson Reagan achieved this by appealing to the essential 
American values in all of us--the values of individualism and 
enterprise, initiative and optimism, charity and sacrifice. And he 
restored those values in our country's policies.
  Many misjudged Reagan. Many underestimated him. Many confused a man 
of simple beliefs with a simple man.
  Those of us who knew him well recognized Reagan as a man of deep 
convictions. Deft of wit, he always deflected a tough moment with 
humor. But, under it all, a gravity of purpose shone through.
  What I came to admire in Ronald Reagan was his core belief that 
government could lead society, but not build society. He recognized 
that government's most important economic role was to foster American 
innovation and industry. And his policies followed that principle.
  In foreign policy, he knew that communism was an abominable scourge 
on the face of the planet. He eagerly tackled that challenge as he had 
most obstacles in his life, and in so doing left a legacy unparalleled 
by any American leader.
  Who can forget his momentous call, ``Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that 
Wall?''
  And who can forget watching as the wall fell just 2 years later?
  In the most fundamental way, President Ronald Reagan inspired us all 
to believe in our great nation, and what it could do to help its people 
lead better lives.
  As a junior Senator, I watched President Reagan take office, facing 
his first challenge: an economy misfiring on all cylinders, mired in 
the mud of inflation, high taxes and bureaucracy.
  With a strong voice of optimism, President Reagan unfurled an 
ambitious plan to rejuvenate the economy and lead the nation to 
economic recovery.
  I remember how excited we were to see his bold plan, the change in 
direction that our new President charted.
  He led us to pass the landmark Economic Recovery and Tax Act, 
including the Kemp-Roth personal income tax cuts of 25 percent over 
three years.
  This major initiative stimulated the economy by providing for 
accelerated depreciation deductions and an investment credit.
  It also enhanced the retirement of millions of Americans by 
introducing Individual Retirement Accounts.
  And perhaps most significantly, it indexed income tax brackets to 
inflation, limiting this punishing form of spending growth.

[[Page 11865]]

  The result? The economic boom in the 1980s.
  Inflation dropped from 13.5 percent in 1980 to 3.2 percent in 1983.
  By 1986, the fourth year of the tax cuts, economic growth had 
increased a cumulative 18 percent.
  And, when Ronald Reagan left office in January 1989, more than 18 
million jobs had been created.
  Some have criticized the Reagan era as years of profligate spending 
and an irresponsible increase in the federal deficit.
  However, only in 1 year, 1983, did either personal income tax 
collections or total receipts go down from the previous year. It is 
true that the budget deficit did increase during the Reagan presidency, 
but this was clearly due to large increases in spending, not because of 
the Reagan tax cuts, without which we would not likely have had the 
increase in prosperity most Americans enjoyed.
  President Reagan also led the way for Congress to approve the 
landmark 1986 Tax Reform Act.
  Despite the naysaying of critics, President Reagan did it again. The 
1986 Act lowered the top marginal income tax rate from 50 percent to 
just 28 percent. Also, it reduced the number of tax brackets from 14 to 
just 2.
   While I did not support some of the provision in the final product 
of the 1986 Act, particularly some of the drastic changes in 
depreciation, which I believed would help contribute to a crisis in 
real estate and the savings and loan industry, the Act itself with its 
simplification and lower tax rates was a major accomplishment.
  The fact that subsequent presidents and Congresses have reversed the 
gains made in terms of simplicity does not take away from the 
monumental victory that President Reagan scored by his leadership of 
the Tax Reform Act of 1986.
  Throughout the Reagan era, I had the privilege of serving on the 
Labor and Human Resources Committee, much of it as chairman. I worked 
closely with the President and his staff on issues related to public 
health and welfare issues showcasing the President' compassion and 
dedication to improving the quality of life of all Americans.
  The country was still in a major recession, and we worked to pass the 
Job Training Partnership Act. This legislation changed the emphasis of 
job assistance from providing government jobs to unemployed workers to 
providing them job training which would help unemployed find jobs in 
the private sector.
  The President's initiatives often focused on releasing decision-
making initiatives from an old federal bureaucracy, as with the 
innovative health block grants that returned decision-making to the 
states, providing them with the resources and flexibility to deliver 
preventive services, maternal and child health care, and mental health 
services in a totally new model.
  As chairman of the committee, I was criticized for putting this 
legislation through. But we are vindicated when the General Accounting 
Office reviewed these initiatives several years after their creation, 
it included that they were successful, and provided a more efficient 
way to address the health needs of America's diverse population.
  I also remember how strongly the Reagan administration supported 
biomedical research, a love for and appreciation of the power of 
scientific inquiry Mrs. Reagan carries forward to this day.
  Other key accomplishments under President Reagan's tenure were 
significant Food and Drug Administration legislation, such as the 
Orphan Drug Act, the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Resolution 
Act, the National Organ Transplantation Act, pediatric emergency 
medical services, vaccine compensation, tobacco warning labels, and the 
national practitioner data bank.
  How well I remember the battle President Reagan waged to seat C. 
Everett Koop as the Surgeon General.
  Again recognizing that the country needed inspired leadership more 
than bureaucracy, President Reagan informed us that he wanted to 
nominate C. Everette Koop to be the Surgeon General.
  Many balked, citing Dr. Koop's age--65--as a barrier. The Public 
Health Service Act limited the age of PHS Commission Corps officers to 
64\1/2\.
  But our President, himself past that age, recognized the superior 
leadership skills of Dr. Koop.
  It was a long battle, but one which one which had to be fought. Dr. 
Koop defined the modern-day role of Surgeon General, and today is 
revered by all, Democrats and Republicans alike, for his independent 
minded advocacy of public health, from AIDS awareness and prevention to 
anti-tobacco initiatives.
  I would be remiss if I didn't highlight President Reagan's other 
significant healthcare accomplishment.
  As we know, the use of illegal drugs had hit a historic high in the 
late 1970s.
  Again, President Reagan recognized that government needed to find new 
ways to address this social blight. He proposed and we legislated the 
creation of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, which has taken 
the leadership role in anti-drug policy ever since.
  Once again, however, the President recognized that leadership was as 
much in the message as in the bureaucracy.
  His beloved First Lady introduced the ``Just Say No'' campaign, a 
flat rebuttal to an ingrown acceptance of drug use in our society.
  Derided by some elites, this program of declaring unequivocally the 
unacceptable use of illegal drugs has become a foundation of all 
subsequent drug use.
  No one suggests--then or now--that the problem of drug use is simple, 
and that prevention and treatment policies can be cauterized from 
interdiction policies.
  But no one suggests, after years of confirming studies, that a drug 
policy can be effective absent a strong component of social rhetoric.
  I loved President Reagan, and I loved his personal style of 
leadership.
  But I loved even more his undying love and affection for one of the 
classiest first ladies this country has come to know.
  Nancy Reagan's quiet support of her husband, so evident in all his 
successes, is often overlooked, as is her courage in leading the ``Just 
Say No'' campaign.
  I remember as if it were today when President Reagan signed the 1986 
drug law, the one that created the Office of the drug Czar and gave 
added resources to prevention and treatment.
  I was standing behind the President when he signed the bill. He said 
with that special twinkle in his eye, ``I am going to give this pen to 
the women who has crusaded to end drug use in this country.''
  With that, he walked past expectant advocates and lawmakers straight 
to his wife Nancy, and presented her with the pen.
  Some focus on President Reagan's talents as an actor and image-maker. 
Yet I have never known a more authentic man.
  And when he concluded that AIDS was a challenge to the public health 
that was reaching emergency proportions, he declared this as national 
policy.
  At the time, some criticized his administration. They wanted him to 
act sooner. They wanted more money. They wanted more research.
  But what I remember was a compassionate man, who recognized that we 
needed to build the research infrastructure to make effective use of 
new funding.
  While the HIV virus was not identified until 1983, the Reagan 
administration invested close to $6 billion in fighting the disease by 
the end of his term in 1989. Once the President recognized the 
challenge, he radically increased the response of the government, and 
the breakthroughs with retroviral medicines in the 1990s would simply 
have not occurred were it not for those investments.
  We all know that one of a President's greatest legacies is his 
nominations to the third branch of government.
  In appointing more judges than any president in American history, 
President Reagan's judicial legacy can be seen on two levels.
  First, he described, in both principled and practical terms, the kind 
of judge America needs.

[[Page 11866]]

  We had seen decades of judicial activism, through which judges took 
more and more control over the policies governing the country and the 
culture in which Americans lived.
  President Reagan came into office not just saying judges were going 
too far, but explaining why. He refocused Americans on the principles 
America's founders laid down at the dawn of the Republic: the people, 
through their elected representatives, decide how they wish to be 
governed and make the law to do so. Judges can only interpret and apply 
that law, they cannot make or change it.
  Implementing those basic principles, President Reagan shaped the 
judiciary by the individuals he nominated and appointed. He appointed 
some of the legal academy's best minds to the U.S. Court of Appeals--
such as Ralph Winter to the Second Circuit, Frank Easterbrook and 
Richard Posner to the Seventh Circuit, and of course Robert Bork to the 
District of Columbia Circuit.
  I served on the Judiciary Committee during those years, seeing first 
hand the depth and breadth and quality of President Reagan's nominees.
  America's founders insisted that this separation of powers, this 
restriction on judicial power, was absolutely critical for the freedom 
that self-government under a written constitution makes possible.
  For some whose agenda the people do not favor, however, a judiciary 
that won't make law means their preferred law just won't get made. And 
they fought President Reagan's nominees with increasingly intensity.
  The first cloture vote ever taken on an appeals court nominee, for 
example, occurred during President Reagan's first term, and the 
confirmation process changed entirely in his second.
  The seeds sown then have borne fruit today in the filibusters being 
used against President Bush's nominees. But the issue remains the same, 
whether unelected federal judges may take over from the people the 
business of making law and defining the culture.
  President Reagan's record of judicial appointments is certainly a 
profound legacy. He truly blazed a trail on this issue and, through his 
leadership, Americans now know more about how appointing the right kind 
of judge is so important to protect their freedom.
  Many believe that President Reagan's lasting legacy will be his 
successful leadership during the last stage of the cold war.
  Ronald Reagan's tenure began at what was our lowest point in the cold 
war. The loss in Vietnam and the Watergate debacle led to a withdrawal 
from our global policy of containment. The Soviets filled the gap, and 
their proxies gained around the globe.
  Emboldened, the Soviet Union engaged in its most extensive military 
expansion in that dictatorships history; during the 1970s, the Soviets 
expanded their nuclear missile arsenals as well as their conventional 
arsenals in virtually every armament category. At the end of the 1970s, 
the previous president as left shame-faced, following the invasion of 
Afghanistan, declaring his ``surprise'' at Soviet behavior.
  President Reagan came to office dedicated to redressing the military 
balance and engaging the Cold War.
  His administration saw the largest peace-time growth of military 
spending in modern American history. That escalation combined American 
resolve with American ingenuity, and this was no more evident than in 
President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative.
  The President rejected conventional deterrence doctrine when he 
stated, ``We must seek other means of deterring war. It is both 
militarily and morally necessary . . . I propose to channel our 
technological prowess toward building a more secure and stable world . 
. . Our only purpose is to search for ways to reduce the danger of 
nuclear war.''
  What President Reagan imagined, when he stated this back in 1984, is 
slowly coming to be, 20 years later. We have moved too slowly, but not 
because we lacked in vision.
  President Reagan was willing to challenge the Soviets diplomatically, 
militarily and by proxy. He was unabashed in declaring that regime an 
``evil empire''. Who today denies the inherent evil of the gulag?
  He was bold in responding to the emplacement of Soviet SS-20s in 
occupied Europe with Pershing's in Germany. Who today denies that this 
didn't signal to the Soviets our new-found resolution to combat them 
geopolitically?
  Ronald Reagan rejected the so-called ``Vietnam syndrome'' long before 
our victory in the first Gulf War allowed Americans to believe in the 
justice of our use of force. He knew that the U.S. had a role in the 
world, that the use of American force was not immoral and that the U.S. 
could do good for the world.
  This military escalation challenged the Soviet leadership and 
ultimately bankrupted its coffers. The decision to roll-back directly 
challenged and refuted the fundamental ideological tenet of communism, 
that it would prevail as an inexorable law of history.
  This perverted notion was based, of course, on the acceptance that 
the highest stage of history would be rest on imprisoning nations and 
extinguishing history.
  Reagan knew in his heart that this was the greatest falsehood 
perpetrated on modern history and he built his foreign policy--the 
Reagan Doctrine--on the idea of rolling back this ideology, this 
tyrannical power, and tearing down the walls that kept its citizens 
imprisoned.
  Ronald Reagan did not accept the status quo.
  He did not accept a static geopolitical division of the world between 
the free nations and the captive nations of the evil empire.
  He and his allies--and I will be proud to my dying day to have 
considered myself one of his allies--believed that we could roll back 
communism, on the ground, and in the minds of people.
  Ronald Reagan went to England in 1983, before the leftist Oxford 
Union, and announced the creation of what would become the National 
Endowment for Democracy, which would support programs around the world 
fostering democratic principles and practices.
  Last year, on the 20th anniversary of this bold initiative, President 
Bush announced a major push by the NED into the Arab world.
  Democracy remains relevant after it has triumphed over communist 
tyranny.
  But for democracy to succeed, people striving to break the yoke of 
tyranny had to have a friend in the United States. Ronald Reagan did 
not limit his friendship to diplomacy and military posturing.
  A key aspect of the Reagan legacy was the Reagan Doctrine's policy of 
support for anti-communist movements around the world. We supported 
Solidarity in Poland, using the International Labor Organization.
  We supported the resistance in Nicaragua--and the wars over that 
policy were sometimes almost as intense here on Capitol Hill.
  And we supported the Afghan resistance.
  We've had democracy in Poland for over a decade, and Poland is the 
shining example of the New Europe, a country whose government and 
soldiers have bravely and proudly served besides ours in Iraq.
  Nicaragua has also had democratic elections over the past decade.
  And while the Iran-Contra episode was a policy debacle, I remain 
proud of my service in this Senate during that investigation, as I 
remain unflinching in my belief that it was right to help Nicaraguans 
resist the tyranny and thuggery of the Sandinistas.
  And our support for the Afghan resistance led to the withdrawal of 
Soviet forces from Afghanistan, dealing the Soviet Union a military, 
financial and psychological blow from which it would never recuperate. 
This blow created a major fissure in the notion of communist 
inevitability that, many of us believe, would lead to the crumbling of 
the Soviet empire.
  Many are quick to disparage that policy, because of what arose from 
the tumult of the Afghan resistance and the rise of the Taliban. We 
made mistakes in implementing the policy, we now see, primarily having 
to do with recruiting Saudi participation and relying on Pakistani 
management of arms flows.

[[Page 11867]]

  But our biggest mistake was abandoning Afghanistan after the collapse 
of the Soviet puppet regime, leaving that poor country an orphan child 
of the cold war. But we made no mistake in contributing to a 
devastating Soviet defeat, a defeat that brought about the end of the 
cold war.
  When Ronald Reagan left office, this country had been transformed.
  Malaise was not associated with the American economy, nor the 
American spirit.
  Optimism, that personal trait of Ronald Reagan, was what 
characterized our standing in the world, our economy, and our belief in 
ourselves.
  Reagan, a child of the Midwest who understood mythically the role of 
the western frontier in the American psyche, left us looking to the 
horizon, to the future.
  Ronald Reagan was a humble man, who left office gladly, having served 
his term, but who never stopped loving the American people.
  It was such love that led to one of the most moving letters to the 
American public ever written in our history, the letter he wrote on 
November 5, 1994, announcing that he was slowly succumbing to 
Alzheimer's Disease.
  This is a horrible disease, as so many American families know.
  My colleagues in the Senate know that, after much soul-searching and 
study, I have become a strong proponent of embryonic stem cell 
research, because of the promise it offers for treatment of some of the 
most wrenching illnesses Americans face today, such as Alzheimer's, 
Parkinsons and juvenile diabetes.
  President Reagan's widow, my dear friend Nancy, knows that I will 
remain dedicated to supporting this research through all my days in the 
Senate.
  Even though retired and enjoying the privacy that was always 
important for him and his family, President Reagan wrote on November 5, 
1994 one of the bravest and most moving letters in American history.
  He said:

       Upon learning this news, Nancy and I had to decide whether 
     as private citizens we would keep this a private matter or 
     whether we would make this news known in a public way. So 
     now, we feel it is important to share it with you. In opening 
     our hearts, we hope this might promote greater awareness of 
     this condition. Perhaps it will encourage a clearer 
     understanding of the individuals and families who are 
     affected by it.

  After speaking of the burdens he knew his long illness had in store--
not for him, but for his beloved Nancy, he thanked his fellow 
Americans. He said:

       Let me thank you, the American people, for giving me the 
     great honor of allowing me to serve as your President. When 
     the Lord calls me home, whenever that may be, I will leave 
     with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal 
     optimism for its future.
       I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset 
     of my life. I know that for America there will always be a 
     bright dawn ahead.

  These are the virtuous and loving words of a patriot, of a brave and 
humble man, of a man who lived every day in the belief that our best 
days lie ahead. It is America that pauses this week, and I thank God 
for the gift of the greatest American president of the twentieth 
century, Ronald Reagan.
  We have lost a great American.
  I think it is fitting to quote another great American, Daniel Webster 
who spoke so eloquently about the passing of two other Presidents, 
Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Webster's words were never more true 
than today:

       A superior and commanding human intellect, a truly great 
     man, when Heaven vouchsafes so rare a gift, is not a 
     temporary flame, burning brightly for a while, and then 
     giving place to returning darkness. It is rather a spark of 
     fervent heat, as well as radiant light, with power to 
     enkindle the common mass of human kind; so that when it 
     glimmers in its own decay, and finally goes out in death, no 
     night follows, but it leaves the world all light, all on fire 
     from the potent contact of its own spirit.

  I pray that America will always be alight with the spirit of Ronald 
Reagan.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Mississippi.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the remarks of our 
former colleague, Senator Connie Mack, be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                            Ronald W. Reagan

                               1911-2004

         (A tribute by former U.S. Senator Connie Mack (R-FL))


 ronald reagan was more than the president, he was an inspiration, he 
                             was my friend

       As America mourns the passing of former President Ronald 
     Reagan, one of the most loved American Presidents in history, 
     it is appropriate that our nation take a moment to reflect on 
     the life of this remarkable man. He will not only be 
     remembered for his vision and leadership, but also for his 
     conviction to principles, his sense of pride and love of 
     country.
       President Reagan made a difference in my life both 
     personally and politically. When he was elected in 1980, I 
     remember vividly saying to my wife Priscilla ``this is such 
     an important election for our nation that I have to become 
     involved. I had no idea his election would one day lead me to 
     seek elective office and eventually to represent Florida in 
     the United State Senate.
       Knowing Ronald Reagan and serving in the U.S. Congress when 
     he was President of the United States has been one of the 
     greatest honors of my life. I remember when he came to 
     Florida in 1988 to campaign for me in my race for the United 
     States Senate. I introduced him saying: ``Mr. President, we 
     will never forget that you gave us back a belief in ourselves 
     and our nation. You restarted our economy giving people hope 
     and opportunity. You rebuilt America's military and led the 
     fight for freedom around the world.'' Ronald Reagan was more 
     than the president, he was an inspiration . . . he was a 
     friend.
       Each year, the magnitude of President Reagan's 
     accomplishments at home and abroad become increasing 
     apparent. As recognition of his achievements and their 
     impacts on our lives today grows so does the nation's 
     gratitude toward him. He embodied the American Spirit that 
     helped lift the morale of our country.
       American Presidents affect history in their own way, but 
     fewer have made more of an impact or shaped the history of 
     their times than Ronald Reagan.
       In the election of 1980, Americans were faced with one of 
     the most simple, yet defining questions in American politics: 
     ``Are you better off now than you were four years ago?'' Were 
     we as Americans willing to accept that the once proud land of 
     the free and the home of the brave was now worn and tired and 
     lacked direction? America said: ``No!''
       Ronald Reagan reaffirmed my philosophy as well as that of a 
     whole generation which believed that wealth and prosperity 
     emerge from the spirit of creativity that resides in 
     individuals not government, and to the belief in the 
     principles of less taxing, less spending, less government and 
     more freedom. Freedom deeply mattered to Ronald Reagan, and 
     freedom deeply matters to me.
       With Ronald Reagan's election came a renewed vitality in 
     America. He brought a belief that freedom must ring from the 
     bells of this great nation and that opportunity should not be 
     limited. He reminded us of the America that was there all 
     along. A freedom loving country waiting to be unshackled from 
     a Government that had grown too big and cost too much which 
     dictated what was best for us. No, we wanted better and 
     Ronald Reagan led us there.
       Under President Reagan's leadership, the spirit of America 
     was rekindled and the flame of freedom burned bright free 
     markets, free ideas, free trade and freedom as the 
     centerpiece of our foreign policy. The Reagan Revolution had 
     no boundaries. The winds of freedom swept across America and 
     gained momentum throughout the world. Freedom's ring was 
     heard in Latin America, where nations turned back communism 
     and accepted the free will of the people. In Eastern Europe, 
     freedom broke the rusted chains of totalitarianism and caused 
     the Berlin Wall to fall.
       Ronald Reagan never lost faith in the freedom, dignity and 
     liberty of mankind. He understood that freedom is never more 
     than one generation away from extinction. He never doubted 
     that freedom was more than a virtue. It was a right given to 
     each of us by a sovereign God.
       Rondald Reagan did not invent freedom. He defined it. For 
     through his wit and humility, he carried his role in history 
     as the man who gave freedom a face. And through his undying 
     faith in those who entrusted him the role as their leader, 
     Ronald Reagan achieved greatness.
       Even though President Reagan has now completed the journey 
     he began so many years ago, our nation has not yet completed 
     the path we began under his leadership. Ronald Reagan made 
     America stronger, more prosperous and more confident. We 
     still need to do more to make our country and the world a 
     better and safer place to live, work and raise a family. We 
     must continue his legacy so as to ensure that America remains 
     that shinning city on the hill that President Reagan 
     described to us.
       To Nancy and the Reagan family, our nation is forever in 
     your debt for sharing this

[[Page 11868]]

     unique and special individual with us, the American People.
       President Reagan, we say goodbye for now. You have touched 
     our lives deeply. You have indeed lived the words of sacred 
     scripture: ``You have fought the good fight, you have 
     finished the race, you have kept the faith.''
       Godspeed Mr. President.

                          ____________________