John Joseph Moakley: “I am not insinuating in any way that former President Ronald Reagan is for this bill. All I want to do was to read a…”

“I am not insinuating in any way that former President Ronald Reagan is for this bill. All I want to do was to read a statement he put out in a press release. Once a President speaks, use of that language is never unauthorized because that is his statement. It is history. Once again, he said, in statehood, the language and culture of the island, rich in history, rich in tradition, would be respected, for in the United States the cultures of the world live together with pride. Ronald Reagan. The reason I wanted to make it so plain is because I know my dear friend, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Solomon), idolizes President Reagan, and rightly so. I just wanted to be sure he knew what the President's thoughts were when he did address the Puerto Rican situation.”