Remembering Ronald Wilson Reagan

Mr. TODD RUSSELL PLATTS:  Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Ronald Wilson Reagan, our Nation's 40th President, a true statesman and patriot, a husband and father, and a Great American.  I offer my sincerest condolences to Mrs. Reagan and the entire Reagan family.  My prayers are with them in this time of mourning and remembrance.

When Ronald Reagan was elected President in 1980, America was facing a crisis.  The crisis went deeper than the economic problems of double-digit inflation, rising unemployment, long gas lines, and threatening military actions of the Soviet Union.  After Vietnam, Watergate, and the hostage situation in Iran, America actually began to experience a crisis of faith in itself.  More than any other person, President Reagan helped us to overcome our doubts and remind us that America is, in fact, a "shining city on a hill."

Ronald Reagan was the eternal optimist, a believer in America's abilities, ideals, and innate goodness. His faith in the greatness of our Nation was perhaps best expressed when he said, "In this land of dreams fulfilled where greater dreams may be imagined, nothing is impossible, no victory is beyond our reach, and no glory will ever be too great."  Through his outlook and conviction, President Reagan restored America's confidence in itself.

As a result of Ronald Reagan's inspiring leadership as our President, the world changed dramatically.  Economic stagnation was replaced with a dynamic economy.  President Reagan challenged the Soviet Union to "tear down this wall," and the Berlin wall came down. He saw a day when Eastern Europe would join the Free World, and it did. He stayed firm at Reykjavik and, for the first time, Russia and America stopped building, and started destroying, nuclear weapons.

Ronald Reagan understood the price of freedom.  Forty years after D-Day, and 19 years and 364 days before he passed away, President Reagan commemorated "the boys of Pointe du Hoc" who took the cliffs at Normandy for the Allies during World War II.  He said:

"The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead or on the next. It was the deep knowledge-and pray God we have not lost it-that there is a profound moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt.

"You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One's country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty. All of you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people of your countries were behind you."

It is this understanding of history, this moral clarity, that helped Ronald Reagan to lead us to the freer world we have today.  It is what helps to make President Reagan one of the giants of the 20th Century, along with his personal hero, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Six years ago, in commemoration of Ronald Reagan's 87th birthday, I had the pleasure of joining First Lady Nancy Reagan and Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick at the Reagan Library in California. I was there as an elected member of the Pennsylvania General Assembly. But I was there, most importantly, as an American citizen who was honored to pay tribute to and to express my deep gratitude to President Reagan for his tremendous service to our Nation. In my conversation with Mrs. Reagan that day, my message was simply one of thanks. Thanks to her and, through her, to President Reagan for their dedicated, hard-working and outstanding service to our great Nation and its citizens.

Ronald Reagan's service to others, his statesmanship, his love of country, and his unwavering commitment to the principles of freedom, liberty, and justice for which our Nation stands, were great examples for all of us fellow citizens to emulate.  President Reagan was truly inspiring to countless citizens. His example helped to affirm my own commitment to the ideals of public service, to the ideals of giving back to one's Nation, and certainly helped to affirm my interest in serving in public office, including here in Congress.

I am greatly honored to join with fellow Americans in saying:  Mr. President, thank you for a job well done and a life well lived.  You will long be missed and never forgotten.  God bless you and God bless this great Nation you loved so dearly, the United States of America.