Darrell Issa: “on this second week of June, 17 years ago, President Ronald Reagan stood in the then-divided city of Berlin and called…”

“on this second week of June, 17 years ago, President Ronald Reagan stood in the then-divided city of Berlin and called on Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev to ``tear down this wall.'' Then, as perhaps now, critics did what they so often do. They cast aside the genuineness of his statement and, in fact, said that his speech was a publicity ploy. The Soviets and East Germans called it an infringement of East German sovereignty, an unwarranted meddling by the American President. Two years later the wall came down. Mr. Speaker, President Reagan was a leader with the foresight and strong conviction to get things done. He believed in America so much that he made America believe in itself again. He valued freedom, especially for those who had none. He understood that for America to be great, it first had to be good. He understood that America's problems, the malaise of the years preceding his Presidency, were simply America's not understanding how great it was and how great it could be.”