C. Cox

Mr. COX

Mr. COX. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. The first time I met Ronald Reagan was the day I began work for him in the White House. We shook hands and exchanged pleasantries in the Oval Office. Of course, it is difficult to forget one's first meeting with the President of the United States, but what I particularly remember is how quickly he put me at ease. Of course, he told a joke. Learning that I was a Harvard graduate, he told me the story of a friend of his who had graduated from Harvard Law School, had become a partner in a large firm but had lost his position due to a problem with drinking and drugs, and consequentially, in succession, he lost his wife, his family, his income, and even ran afoul of the law, being put in jail for shoplifting. But now he was out of jail. He had cleaned up his life and, most importantly, he had met a wonderful woman to whom he wished to propose marriage. But, and it was on this point that he asked the President's advice, he had not told this woman about his background for fear of losing her. So he asked the President, should I tell her that I went to Harvard? I knew immediately where I stood. Two years later, I was with the President in the Oval Office, and I have a picture hanging on my desk of this moment, and I am sitting across from his desk, across from him, just the two of us. He has a big smile on his face, and I am about to burst out laughing because he was, of course, telling another joke. It was a special privilege to travel with the President on Air Force 1, and what I particularly remember is the way the President came back to cheer up the staff, to regale us with stories and jokes. I was particularly fond of his amazingly authentic Irish brogue. But I will not forget especially the last time I saw him as President. It was here in this Capitol. He had summoned us, the Republican Members, just days before the inauguration to give us a private valediction. No press, no public, just us. And he spoke from the Democratic sides of the aisle, from the rostrum on the left, a mistake I attributed to his lack of familiarity with House procedure. It was a mistake of mine, however. He knew exactly what he was doing. And as he described his political career, he described how I did not leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left me; and he strode purposefully to this other rostrum to the delight of the Republican Members. But what he told us that day rose far above party and partisanship. Because, of course, he saw a consistent thread throughout his career in his support for FDR, his campaigning for Harry Truman, his support and campaigning for Ike, and of course his own administration. A few moments after he finished here on the floor, we went to Statuary Hall and he mingled with the Members and we had a few private moments there. This was, of course, just a few feet from where in the rotunda later today his body will lie in repose. He did not tell me a joke at that time. Instead, after congratulating me on my recent election to Congress, something we had had the chance more exuberantly to celebrate after me and my new colleague, the gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher), visited with him in the Oval Office in June, he told me never forget to trust the people who sent you here and always fight for the principles that you and I share. It was the serious side of him because he was all about ideas. And while his humor, his gregariousness, his avuncularity has been much remarked upon in recent days, that was an important aspect of his leadership; but it does not tell us about the substance of his leadership, where he was taking the country. And it was the ideas that President Reagan brought to Washington that mattered most of all. It is well known and much remarked upon that Ronald Reagan won the Cold War without firing a shot. He led the global movement to tear down the Berlin Wall. He led an economic renaissance at home by dramatically reducing the burden of taxes across the board, from a marginal rate of 70 percent down to 28 percent. But it is just as important to recognize the leading role that President Reagan played in supporting our country, such issues as the civil rights of women and men here at home. President Reagan, of course, appointed the first woman to be ambassador of the United Nations. He appointed the first woman to be a Justice of the United States Supreme Court. He appointed the first woman to be Secretary of Transportation, the first Latina to be Treasurer of the United States. On November 2, 1983, he made Martin Luther King's birthday a national holiday. He appointed the first African American chairman of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, my good friend and great American, the late Clarence Pendleton. He extended the Voting Rights Act for a quarter century. He named the first Hispanic to the Cabinet, Lauro Cavasos, as Secretary of Education. On August 10, 1988, he provided compensation to Japanese Americans who had been deprived of their civil liberties and their property during the infamous internment of World War II ordered by FDR. Today, we can see the wisdom of President Reagan's policies from a distance. He appointed the first-ever Presidential Commission on AIDS and gave national direction to the effort to stop the spread of this terrible disease. His was the statesmanship of a true leader. While fighting Soviet expansion in Africa, he fought apartheid and imposed sanctions on the racist Government of South Africa by executive order. He demanded as a condition of lifting those sanctions the release of Nelson Mandela. And yet he refused to declare economic warfare against the civilian population of that country, black, white, and all races as the United Nations had done in imposing its sanctions on Zimbabwe. So today, whereas Zimbabwe has become a living hell, an autocracy that has stripped away all pretense of law or property or personal safety, South Africa has a real democracy where all men and women can vote and where all are equal before the law. In Central America, he prevented the Soviet Union from establishing a beachhead in our own hemisphere, and likewise in Nicaragua. And throughout Central and South America and the Caribbean, just as in Central Europe and Asia, democracy grew and prospered. Mr. Speaker, from that day in January of 1981, when President Reagan was sworn in, until last Saturday, the American people always knew where to look for a hero. President Reagan did great things not only for our country but for our world. Today, more than 1 billion people live in freedom because of his global leadership. In fact, all of the people of the world, those who enjoy the sweet blessings of liberty and those who still yearn for freedom, will always know where to look for a hero. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. COX. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole). (Mr. COLE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. COX. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton).

Mr. COX. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Buyer).

Mr. COX. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Kennedy).

Mr. COX. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Weldon). (Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. COX. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Ferguson).

Mr. COX. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner).

Mr. COX. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake).

Mr. COX. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from West Virginia (Mrs. Capito).

Mr. COX. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Miller).

Mr. COX. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Hostettler). (Mr. HOSTETTLER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. COX. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Crane).

Mr. COX. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman very much for his kindness. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Aderholt).

Mr. COX. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murphy).

Mr. COX. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. McCotter).

Mr. COX. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Pryce), the chairman of the Republican conference.

Mr. COX. Madam Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the distinguished gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Burr).

Mr. COX. Madam Speaker, I yield 2\1/4\ minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Portman).

Mr. COX. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Washington (Mr. Nethercutt).

Mr. COX. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Akin).

Mr. COX. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Cantor), the chief deputy whip. (Mr. CANTOR asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. COX. Madam Speaker, I yield 2\1/4\ minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Weller). (Mr. WELLER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. COX. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Lewis).

Mr. COX. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Graves).