Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
I rise tonight to join my colleagues in paying tribute to our Nation's 40th President, Ronald Wilson Reagan on this, his 90th birthday.
When Ronald Reagan was elected President in 1980, I had just graduated high school. Already involved in politics, I followed and admired President Reagan over the next 8 years in office, and certainly ever since.
In that time, the world changed a lot. President Reagan challenged the Soviet Union to ``tear down this wall,'' and the wall came down. He saw a day when Eastern Europe would join the Free World, and it did. He stayed firm at Reykjavik and, for the first time, Russia and America stopped building, and started destroying, nuclear weapons.
Over those 8 years, America itself changed.
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the eternal optimist, a believer in America's abilities, ideals, and innate goodness. His faith in the greatness of our Nation was best expressed when he said, ``In this land of dreams fulfilled where greater dreams may be imagined, nothing is impossible, no victory is beyond our reach, and no glory will ever be too great.''
Ronald Reagan restored America's confidence in itself.
Three years ago, in commemoration of President Reagan's 87th birthday, I had the pleasure of joining First Lady Nancy Reagan at the Reagan Library in California. I was there as an elected official at that time with the Pennsylvania General Assembly, a step that helped lead me here to becoming a member of this great institution. But I was there, most importantly, to pay tribute to, and to express my deep gratitude to President Reagan for his tremendous service to our Nation. In my conversation with Nancy Reagan that day, my message was simply one of thanks. Thanks to her and, through her, to President Reagan for their dedicated, hard-working and outstanding service to our great Nation and its citizens.
President Reagan's conduct in office and his statesmanship, his love of country, were great role models for all of us citizens, and they were very inspiring to countless citizens. His example helped to reaffirm my commitment to the ideals of public service, to the ideals of giving back to one's Nation, and certainly helped to reaffirm my interest in serving in office and to serving here in Congress.
I am greatly honored to join with my colleagues tonight in saying, Mr. President, happy birthday, and God bless you and this great Nation of ours, the United States of America.
