Expressing the profound regret and sorrow of the House of Representatives on the death of Ronald Wilson Reagan, former President of the United States of America.

Mr. Speaker, I offer a privileged resolution (H. Res. 663) and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, he was a gift to us: the healthy, hearty child handed down from God to John and Nelle Reagan in Tampico, Illinois, in 1911; the strong, athletic young man handed up from the bustling, laughing, big-shouldered Midwest of his youth; the underrated actor, the underrated labor leader, the underrated politician; and the visionary who foresaw America's victory in the Cold War and brought about that victory with wit, will, and undaunted valor for 8 heroic years.

Everything that America is, and everything that mankind can be, was in our 40th President: wisdom, mercy, humor, honesty, honor, and courage.

In an hour of doubt and fear, Ronald Reagan rose in the West, reminded his Nation of its unique mission in history, and with the help of a few million friends, worked the great miracle of the age. And he did it all smiling through the condescending insults of his critics, who, bless their hearts, could never quite get past his infuriating optimism.

They said Ronald Reagan could ruin the economy, but in fact he led it to heights of strength and prosperity never before witnessed in history.

They said Reagan would provoke our enemies to war, but in fact he bent our enemies to surrender without firing a single shot.

They said Ronald Reagan was an ``amiable dunce,'' but in fact he was a fearless intellectual warrior, who marshaled words like soldiers to fight battles of ideas across a table or across a continent, and won.

Which is why his death, even after a decade of slow, agonizing decline, comes as a shock to all of us. For Ronald Reagan was not just a man. He was the personification of an idea. And not just an idea, but the idea: the irreducible American idea that this Nation, founded by a generation of heroes upon the self-evident truth of equality under God, is possessed of a special commission in the affairs of men.

According to Ronald Reagan, and according to Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Kennedy before him, America is not just another Nation. Instead, we are the last, best hope on Earth; the torch of freedom guiding mankind through the darkness; the living promise to all times and men that despite the relentless march of tyranny, the ultimate victory of liberty is assured.

And people wonder where he got his optimism. Of course Ronald Reagan was an optimist. He was an American. In his life, the United States pulled the world through the Great Depression, two great world wars, and back from the brink of nuclear holocaust. And all the while, despite all the hardship, indeed perhaps because of it, America got stronger, richer, and, as far as he was concerned, better.

Reagan's confidence and optimism in his country were simply extensions of his confidence and optimism in his countrymen. He knew the things Americans had done, repelling the British, freeing the slaves, settling the West, liberating Europe, shooting the Moon, and simply could not see this arc of history as anything but the irresistible advance of freedom against oppression; or as Reagan sublimely put it: ``We win, and they lose.''

``We'' are those who seek to defend human dignity, and ``they'' are those who seek to stifle it. This was not a mere political calculation. To Ronald Reagan, the innate dignity of man was a spark of the Divine, a light created in God's image that the darkness could not overcome. He saw it as his role in our Nation and America's role in the world, for that matter, to liberate people from the shackles of government, so that they might first enjoy their right of self-determination, and then share with their neighbors the blessings of faith, hope, and charity.

Reagan knew these were the virtues that built our Nation and remain the essential ingredients of American achievement, the tonic that has sustained the United States for more than 200 years, in Emerson's words, as ``the country of tomorrow.''

Reagan loved that quote, and the idea behind it; that even as we stand today as the oldest democracy on Earth, we remain the youthful champion of liberty and justice, best poised of all nations to lead mankind in the uncertain future. He believed it was true because he knew it had to be.

He knew that without the American Nation, that is without the American people and their steadfast adherence to the true and the good, the West could fail in the Cold War and fail the cause of freedom around the world. And so he never let failure become an option.

From the earliest days of his administration, President Reagan stood before the world and proclaimed the United States' commitment to freedom. He called the Soviet Union the Evil Empire and declared that ``regimes planted by bayonets do not take root.'' He met with Pope John Paul II and pledged to assist and equip the Solidarity movement in Poland. He called the Soviet's bluff at Reykjavik and went to the Brandenburg Gate to challenge Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev to ``tear down this wall.''

Around the world, his words and deeds filtered down to the oppressed citizens behind the Iron Curtain who knew, for the first time, that the American President and his people were coming to the rescue; that the truth about the evils of Communism

was being exposed to the world, and that the West had made a conscious decision that the Cold War was not to be managed, but fought and won.

To Ronald Reagan, the answers to the world's problems were ``not simplistic,'' ``but they were simple.'' In foreign policy, evil must be confronted. Domestically, more government is not the solution; it is the problem. Publicly, honesty is the best policy. And privately, follow the golden rule.

This was not merely the recipe for a spectacular career, which dominated and forever altered the map of the world, or for the national pride he restored to an America that, under his watch, became freer, stronger, and more prosperous than any nation in history. It was also the recipe for a full life of love and friendship, an ineffable romance with his wife, Nancy.

In short, he left the world a better place than he found it and left his country with policies in place to solve problems great and small. It is for us, then, who inhabit the world he shaped, to finish the work he began. For we honor him best not by our words today, but our deeds tomorrow, and the next day and the next, to do right by each other, right by our Nation, and right by our responsibilities to history.

Though he may no longer be with us, Mr. Speaker, we still live in an Age of Reagan. Come Friday afternoon, he will be laid to rest, after making one final journey home to his beloved California coast. But even as we say our tearful goodbyes that evening, and the sun sets out West over the Pacific, we will find in ourselves the strength to carry on without our hero.

We will simply do as Reagan did at the end of any long and difficult day. We will turn and look to the east with anticipation and wonder, and wait for another hopeful dawn.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), the minority leader.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Illinois (Speaker Hastert).

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time.

Mr. Speaker, with the death of Ronald Reagan and the dignity with which he left us, there is truly mourning in America. If the meaning of a life can be measured by the hearts touched by one's death, the outpouring of grief at the death of our 40th President speaks to the distinctly American life that was Ronald Wilson Reagan.

We Californians mourn Ronald Reagan as our Governor; all Americans mourn Ronald Reagan as our President; and people the world over mourn Ronald Reagan, the passionate voice for freedom.

Today a grateful Nation remembers Ronald Reagan the man. We remember his indomitable optimism and abiding love of country. Ronald Reagan understood the greatness of America has always been the character of the American people. As Americans, we have always dared to dream. And so President Reagan appealed to the enduring belief that sustains us as a people: That America's best days are yet to come.

We remember his leadership. Those of us on this side of the aisle may not have always stood with him on matters of policy, but we always knew where he stood, as he did us, when it came to matters of principle. And though firm in his convictions, President Reagan was not afraid of compromise. Indeed, the lifelong crusader against communism will be remembered for signing the first agreement with the Soviet Union to actually destroy nuclear weapons.

We remember his eloquence. After the loss of our Challenger astronauts, President Reagan consoled a grieving Nation. And whether in front of the Berlin Wall, or overlooking the beaches of Normandy, he echoed the democratic aspirations of freedom-loving people everywhere.

We remember his grace and humor. This is a story that perhaps our colleague, the gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis), understands and appreciates better than most in the Chamber. When Ronald Reagan was Governor of California, he came to the legislative chamber to deliver the State of the State Address. Because it was near the time of his birthday, they wheeled in a birthday cake and sang Happy Birthday to then-Governor Reagan. I have to add at that time, the Speaker of the Assembly of California was a giant of a man, Jess Unruh, and who sometimes did not see eye to eye with then-Governor Reagan. They sang Happy Birthday, and Governor Reagan blew out the candles. Someone said, ``Governor, did you make a wish?''

Mr. Speaker, the Governor looked up and said, ``Yes, I made a wish, but it did not come true; he is still there,'' as he spoke to the then- speaker.

At the end of the day, though, President Reagan knew whatever may divide us by party is dwarfed by what unites us as Americans. Speaker Tip O'Neill famously told of how he and the President clashed by day, but were friends after 6 p.m., prompting the President to begin his phone calls, ``Tip, is it after 6 p.m.?''

We remember Ronald Reagan's faith in his country, in his family, and in his God. In that poignant letter 10 years ago announcing his battle with Alzheimer's disease, President Reagan wrote, ``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 know that for America, there will always be a bright new dawn ahead,'' that dawn referenced by the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay).

We remember Ronald Reagan's dignity, the dignity with which he lived and led our country, and the dignity with which he died, turning the long good-bye of his final years into a lesson for all of us.

And all Americans, and I know everyone who serves in the Congress of the United States for sure, have been touched by the dignity, private strength and public grace of Nancy Reagan and the Reagan family to whom we offer our prayers and deepest condolences. Our Nation is in your debt for the care and love you gave our President and the dignity with which you held his hands at the end.

I hope it is a comfort to Mrs. Reagan and the Reagan family that the whole world mourns their loss and is praying for them at this sad time.

For his eloquent defense of freedom, for his leadership style of conviction and compromise, for his eternal optimism for the future, America pays tribute to President Ronald Wilson Reagan.

May God bless Ronald Reagan, may God bless this country that he loved and led, may Ronald Reagan rest in peace.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and the legacy of our Nation's 40th President, Ronald Wilson Reagan.

He was born in the small town of Tampico, Illinois, which is in my congressional district, and grew up in Dixon, another town some of my constituents call home. It was there that he learned the common-sense values and virtues that helped him reshape not only our Nation, but also the world.

When I first ran for public office in 1980, for the Illinois Legislature, Ronald Reagan was running for President. Back then people did not have a lot of faith in America and what America could do. What made him so special was his willingness to step forward at a time when the rest of the world was stepping back and remind us what made America ``The Shining City on the Hill.'' He restored our faith in America, and he made us proud to be Americans again.

His easy-going personality and a sense of humor endeared him to the people he served. His word was his bond. It was genuine. His honesty and sincerity were the foundation of his strength while working with Democrats and Republicans in both Houses of Congress.

The world struggled against communism, but our country stood tall as Ronald Reagan's perseverance led the world to freedom. As a former history teacher, I have taught students about George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. I have taught them about our fellow Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln, and I have taught them about FDR and JFK. History has now called Ronald Reagan to take his place alongside the most noble of our countrymen. Here in the

People's House, thousands of Americans will file in the Capitol Rotunda to honor the People's President.

He will be remembered as a symbol of peace through strength, but most of all we will remember him for the hope he gave to the rest of the world that freedom was possible. His grit, his sheer willpower made it possible for more people to walk in freedom today than at any other time throughout history.

Not only was he an ambassador of the American people and the American way of life, President Reagan was an ambassador of faith. He reminded us of his faith when America grieved the loss of the seven astronauts of the Challenger space shuttle. He said, ``We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning as they prepared for the journey and waved good-bye and `slipped the surly bonds of Earth' to `touch the face of God.' ''

Tonight, as we honor the man who believed America was a ``Shining City on the Hill,'' we should remember his words to the students of his alma mater, Eureka College in Illinois. He said, ``Live each day to the fullest. Live each day with enthusiasm, optimism and hope. If you do, I am convinced that your contribution to this wonderful experiment we call America will be profound.''

With Godspeed, Mr. President. God bless Ronald Reagan. God bless America.

Mr. Speaker, on June 8 and 9, 2003, I was unable to be present for rollcall votes: 229 on H. Res. 663 expressing profound regret and sorrow on the death of President Ronald Wilson Reagan, 230 on approving the journal, and 231 on H. Res. 664, mourning the passing of President Reagan.

Due to technical difficulties with our mode of transportation, a number of colleagues and I were unable to return from the events commemorating the 60th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy, and the veterans that served there, in time to cast these votes. Had I been present I would have proudly voted ``aye'' on all three resolutions.

Mr. Speaker, on June 8, 2004 I was unavoidably detained in France for the D-Day ceremonies and missed Rollcall ``votes Nos. 229 and 230. Rollcall 229 was on agreeing to the resolution for H. Res. 663, expressing the profound regret and sorrow of the House of Representatives on the death of Ronald Wilson Reagan, former President of the United States of America. I also missed rollcall vote No. 230, approving the Journal. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on both H. Res. 663 and approving the Journal. I would ask that my statement appear in the appropriate location in the Congressional Record.