Natalie Gonnella
From foreign secretaries to former staffers, in recognition of what would have been President Ronald Reagan's 100th birthday, people around the world have warmly reflected on the leadership and legacy of America's 40th President.
With an enormous outpouring of appreciation and admiration, some of the most interesting reflections have come from members of the GOP freshman class, many of whom were only teenagers during Reagan's White House years.
In tribute to an American icon, here's a look at what a few of Washington's newest Republicans had to say about "The Gipper":
Representative Kristi Noem, The Corner: National Review Online:
As a little girl, I remember seeing Pres. Ronald Reagan on the television. I liked him because, like my father, he was a cowboy. His horses were beautiful and his California ranch was an enchanting place I wanted to visit. But because my family wasn’t very political while I was growing up, it wasn’t until later that I began to admire Reagan as a leader. The trait that sticks with me to this day was President Reagan’s optimism. Reagan was the right leader at the right time and we desperately needed his vision in order to restore America’s greatness. Beyond his unwavering support for cutting taxes and strengthening national defense, he believed our country was in fact a “shining city on a hill.” That optimism was contagious.
Senator Marco Rubio, remarks on the Senate Floor:
I will never forget my parents’ reaction the day the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. Having lost their country to Fidel Castro’s Communism, they had spent 30 years divided from their homeland, friends, and relatives — just as the Wall had done to millions in Europe. Especially for my parents’ generation of Cuban exiles, whose hopes and dreams were shattered by Communism, the Wall’s fall was an historic event they questioned would ever come. It was a day of celebration and rekindled hope that all lands within Communism’s grip would soon be free as well. Ronald Reagan helped bring about the change that made Communism’s fall possible. By joining with other world leaders like Pope John Paul II, he seized the opportunity to highlight Communism’s failures. In doing so, he helped make millions of oppressed people more self-aware of their intrinsic dignity, more confident that their pursuit of freedom was justified, and more hopeful that they were not alone in their struggles. In commemorating Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday, we also remember the work that remains to be done to tear down other oppressive walls that still stand. America’s responsibilities in this effort cannot be underestimated.
Senator Ron Johnson, commermorative statement:
Simply put, Ronald Reagan was the greatest President of my lifetime. He had the extraordinary gift of distilling a complex set of problems into a solution that people could understand and rally around. Faced with the combination of a sluggish economy, high unemployment, and incredibly high interest rates and inflation, he recognized that government was not the solution, but a major part of the problem. So he set out to limit the size of government by dramatically reducing taxes. Working with a Democratic Congress, he enacted real tax reform that reduced the top tax rate to 28%. As a result, for a brief period of time, we were actually 72% free. This landmark achievement ushered in two decades of peace and prosperity. We will serve his legacy well by remembering this history, and honoring the principals that defined him as one of our nation’s finest leaders.
Representative Tim Scott, The Post and Courier:
The greatest president in the modern era would have turned 100 years of age today. I was in high school when he became the 40th president of the United States, and his leadership inspired me to enter public service. I am thankful for President Reagan's life, for what he did for our country and for our world. He caused us to believe in ourselves again and to believe in the American dream. He loved his country. And he loved the cause of freedom. He knew then what we know to be true today -- that the answer to our problems lies not in the hands of government but in each of us. He famously said, "Government isn't the solution to our problem. Government is the problem." He didn't say it for any other reason except that he meant it. He believed it. And he was right. President Reagan believed that government had grown too big. He believed that high taxes stifled the economy and American creativity. And he was right.
Representative Joe Walsh, Facebook post:
I am proud today to honor the memory of a great leader and a great American. And I am privileged to serve the people of President Reagan’s home state, Illinois. Like President Reagan, we still face that long twilight struggle. Our nation is burdened by debt, unsustainable spending, and runaway government. But this past November, the American people remembered his old fundamental truth—‘government is not the solution, government is the problem.’ And they spoke loud and clear: cut taxes, cut spending, and cut government. That was Reagan’s philosophy, and I am proud to carry on his tradition. Yet as we face the tough decisions ahead, we must keep alive Reagan’s eternal optimism. We must affirm as he did, that ‘for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead,’ that we are and must always be that shining city on a hill. Let’s go out there and win won for the Gipper.
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