Paul Coverdell: “of course, during the course of the afternoon we have been talking about very personal praise for his family and the…”

“of course, during the course of the afternoon we have been talking about very personal praise for his family and the First Lady. But for Ronald Reagan there is a lot of unlikely praise that needs to be acknowledged here today from Republicans and Democrats alike. While my friends on the other side of the aisle may disagree with him on certain policies, I hope they will agree that he stood fast on conviction and provided leadership for America at a very critical time. Ronald Reagan did after all begin his career as a Democrat. He truly was a man of both sides of the aisle. He cast his first vote for Franklin Delano Roosevelt, whose name has been evoked in this debate because when we were talking about the need to have an appropriate not designation but memorial for President Roosevelt, we did not enter into any of this kind of bickering. It was done. It should be done. Now citizens from all across the country can be reminded of that era of our Nation's history.”