Pete Sessions: “I have the honor to speak on this legislation sponsored by the distinguished Senator from Georgia. I so greatly admire…”

“I have the honor to speak on this legislation sponsored by the distinguished Senator from Georgia. I so greatly admire him. I admire his principle, integrity, ability, and passion for this issue. I think it is an important issue, and I am proud to be a cosponsor of this resolution. We ought to recognize people who have made great differences in this Nation's history. I think President Reagan is one of those people. I thought I would take a very few minutes to tell a story that illustrates how deeply and how important President Reagan's life is to the American people and to the people of the world. In 1993, I went on a church trip to Russia and spent a week there. Our group went to a small city of 40,000 people that is located 5 hours east of Moscow in an area where very few Americans were allowed in over the years because it was a security area in the Soviet Union. We went to the town of Sovetsk. I was able to stay with another American in the home of a Russian businessman who was beginning to develop a business in Sovetsk. The first night we arrived they were going to celebrate the baptism of their daughter. A Russian Orthodox priest appeared in his great robes. The mother, father, and the grandparents had come in from the Ural Mountains, and it was a goodly group of people there. It was a marvelous ceremony as the priest performed that baptism.”