On the recordFebruary 9, 2011
I thank the gentleman from California for yielding. It's such an honor to be able to pay tribute to Ronald Reagan here on the House floor, especially remembering his 100th birthday. It was special about a week and a half ago to be in the gentleman from California's district, going to the Presidential Library--Ronald Reagan's library; actually walking through that Air Force One plane that, among other places, took President Reagan to Germany, where he gave that famous speech and demanded, Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall. It was Reagan's optimism that pulled our country out of the malaise of the 1970s. We need some more of that optimism here today. But while he is no longer with us, Ronald Reagan's legacy still endures today as an example of how we can get to that ``shining city on a hill'' again.
