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Posted on 06/05/2004 9:37:03 PM PDT by jmstein7
Please write to your Senators and Congressmen and tell them to pass a Joint Congressional Resolution honoring the life and achievements of Ronald Reagan. Please strongly urge them to pass, both in the House and Senate, a joint Congressional Resolution. Please be specific in your letter.
It is not enough to honor Ronald Reagan as "the Great Communicator" -- please be sure to tell your Congressmen and Senators to honor his specific achievements as a leader in their resolution.
You can either (#2 is easier, IMHO):
1) Find your Representative contact info Here and your Senators' Here OR
2) Go to a generic "SoapBox" alert, HERE, and enter your ZipCode. The alert itself doesn't matter (ignore the title)... if you put in your ZipCode in the box provided, it will give you an easy-to-use form that is blank and that will send your message to your Senators and Representative. Bottom line, you can use the form provided here to send your message conveniently and easily.
Specific Achievements:
For example, Ted Kennedy said of Ronald Reagan: "On foreign policy he will be honored as the president who won the Cold War, and his 'Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall' will be linked forever with President Kennedy's 'Ich bin ein Berliner.' President Reagan and Nancy were always very gracious to the Kennedy family and they are both very much in our thoughts and prayers in this difficult time."
Sen. Richard Lugar gave an excellent summary of some of Ronald Reagan's greatest achievements. You might want to include them in your letter. He said the following: "The service of President Reagan to our country can only be approached by understanding how wide he cast the net of potential achievement, and fulfillment of dreams, hopes and visions.
President Reagan actually believed and articulated that our country had a special destiny, that no barriers were insurmountable because we are Americans. He actually believed and said that the Soviet Union was an Evil Empire, that its political and economic institutions were disintegrating, and that if its leadership and people knew the alternatives which our country presented, they would choose democracy and market economics.
President Reagan was prepared to invest an increasing portion of our national treasure in military defense with the certainty that we would negotiate successfully with our adversaries from a position of strength. He shocked foreign policy and defense specialists by proposing that all intermediate nuclear missiles be destroyed, a negotiating position labeled universally as a bizarre arms-control non-starter.
He affirmed the staying power of NATO by deploying Pershing missiles to Germany and cruise missiles to Italy even after the Soviets declared that such deployment would end all arms control negotiations and stimulate Soviet nuclear buildup.
Add to this, President Reagan's startling proposal that the United States should develop a Strategic Defense Initiative to protect our country against incoming missiles fired upon us. He contended that we SHOULD and COULD try to defend ourselves against the so-called balance of terror.
He proposed to President Gorbachev that the United States and the Soviet Union ban all nuclear weapons. In fact, he was confident that if he could take Gorbachev on an extended tour of America that Gorbachev would want to shape the Soviet Union into many of our successful traditions.
Meanwhile, President Reagan knew that substantial new growth must occur in our domestic economy to pay for the special leadership role he had envisioned in foreign policy. He was confident that substantial cuts in individual marginal tax rates and a host of investment incentives would establish and sustain the longest peacetime prosperity we had ever enjoyed. Our prosperity underwrote the magnificent gains in free and fair trade which he championed and world wide wealth grew abundantly.
When Ronald Reagan stood on a balcony of the Reichstag in Berlin and challenged Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall, he could see white crosses just below where courageous persons seeking freedom had lost their lives in that pursuit. Everything still appeared to be so locked up and grim, and sophisticated observers were barely patronizing in comment on his Berlin Wall challenge.
The Evil Empire crumbled, the Berlin Wall and other walls fell, all of the Intermediate Nuclear Force weapons were destroyed exactly in three years as the INF Treaty provided, and the United States became the only superpower with the strongest economy and the ability, uniquely, to extend military authority around the world.
All of this occurred because President Reagan persuaded the Congress and his countrymen to build our armed forces, to build our economy through the growth incentives termed "Reaganomics," to maintain the successful strategies of our NATO alliance, to utilize military force to support foreign policy as required, and to commence Strategic Defense Initiative research.
We now know that the Soviets were much weaker than experts estimated. We now know that they could not keep up the pace and that desperate attempts to do so led to the collapse of the Soviet Empire and then to the collapse of the Union, itself.
President Reagan advocated two more things which were inspiring and critically important in world history.
First, he rejected the Brezhnev Doctrine - the idea that territory which socialism had occupied could never be reclaimed. When he advocated this roll back of the iron curtain, he created deep anxiety and alarm among most international foreign policy advisers who loved liberty a lot, but loved stability even more.
U.S. Stinger missiles shipped to the expert ministrations of the Mujadahin in Afghanistan were a major instrument of the Soviet roll back, and the world watched in awe as the Soviet troops withdrew to a smaller Socialist world.
Second, President Reagan enunciated a new policy in a statement sent to the Congress after the Philippine election and revolution. He stated that henceforth, we would oppose tyranny of the left AND tyranny of the right, that we were for democracy developed by people who sought to know and enjoy democracy and human rights. this statement was SEVERELY criticized by experts who suggested that in the "real world" a good number of dictators were friendly to the U.S. and certainly useful in waging the Cold War against Communism.
In articulating his vision on the roll back of the Iron Curtain; in identifying with nations all over the world who applauded our passion for building Democratic institutions; in celebrating human rights and free market principles; in all of these areas, Ronald Reagan was far ahead of the prevailing wisdom. Yet he ultimately brought other leaders in America and around the world to his point of view in a relatively short interval.
President Reagan was courageous and on the right side of history. he performed these deeds in a very public way which instructed and inspired others. Those of us in public service learned much from President Reagan as we watched him speak and act. He was charismatic, he was determined and consistent, and he enjoyed a remarkable batting average of being right."
Honor Ronald Reagan BUMP!!!
Tell Congress to replace Roosevelt's face on the dime with Reagan's!
God Bless Ronald Reagan. God Bless America. God Bless George W. Bush.
Reagan's face would make the dollar coin worth using.
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How about a stamp! Let's have a Reagan stamp!
I suppose if a majority in Congress vote for such a resolution, I won't mind too much, but since most congresscritters wouldn't be fit to tie Mr. Reagans shoes, I'm not sure such a resolution would really mean much.
It will be interesting to see who votes "no" to this kind of resolution...
Even Grenada has a Reagan stamp!
I love Ronald Reagan---my 3 year old son that I didn't have until the age of 42 is named Reagan---but do you think he would need a resolution from CONGRESS to in any way validate his life. He didn't give a flying .... what the powers that be thought of him. He knew he was right and knew that was good enough. That is what allowed him to be the Great, my hero.
Ooooooooh they are beautiful! Good for Granada!!
I actually agree. Resolutions from Congress are about as meaningful as... well, I'll save the slamming for another time.
President Reagan introduced me to politics in 8th grade. I wrote him a letter congratulating him for winning the election, and also told him our class had a "vote" and he won soundly, and received a whole White House packet back full of pictures and a letter. He'll never be forgotten for everything he did for this country and for us.
"How do you tell a Socialist:- It's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an Anti-Socialist someone who understands Marx and Lenin" -Ronald Reagan
Each of the presidents on Mount Rushmore would beam with glee to have Ronald Wilson Reagan find a home next to them.
So would every decent loving and law abiding American.
There are still plenty of those to go around - irregardless of what one might see on CNN.
BTTT!!!!!!
Two Reagan landslides and no one at the NYT's or Washington Post editorial departments knew anyone who had voted for him.
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