Dana Rohrabacher: “Today, I rise with a sense of awe and gratitude that God and the voters have permitted me to be a Member of this body…”

“Today, I rise with a sense of awe and gratitude that God and the voters have permitted me to be a Member of this body, the House of Representatives, for the last 30 years. At least for me, my time here has permitted me the opportunity to earn a living by advocating policies and programs that I believed would improve the well-being of the American people and would be consistent with the ideals and principles of our country, the United States of America. I came here after spending 7 years as a senior speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan as well as 2 years of that in the Reagan White House as a special assistant to the President. My experiences in the Reagan White House gave me valuable understandings of many issues of the day as well as contacts that, over the years, I put to good use. The longer I have been here in Washington, the more appreciative I am for the leadership and policies of President Ronald Reagan. When he left office 30 years ago, our economy was strong; the Cold War was ending as the Soviet Union disintegrated; and Ronald Reagan handed over to our generation, a new generation of Americans, a country with an upward trajectory and with tremendous potential. He restored to America that sense of optimism that is so much a part of our character.…”