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In honor of his 113^th Birthday on February 6th, I want to highlight the statue of our 40th President, Ronald Reagan. The bronze statue, unveiled in 2009, remains in the Capitol Rotunda and is one of two statues from the State of California.

President Reagan, born in a small town in Illinois, spent much of his earlier years as a sports broadcaster covering the Chicago Cubs. Upon moving to California in 1937, he began his acting career appearing in more than fifty films over 27 years. At the beginning of World War II, Reagan was a commissioned cavalry officer. Due to his nearsightedness, Reagan never saw combat and instead spent the war making training films where he often was portrayed as an active-duty soldier.

As his film career began to die down in the late 1950s, Reagan was an acolyte of President Roosevelt and believed that unregulated businesses would be detrimental to the middle class. However, as Reagan joined General Electric as a spokesman for the company, he slowly began to see the true threat to the American economy: taxation and regulation. The years he spent with GE proved to be quite formative for the young politician, and these beliefs would form the basis of his "Reaganomics" theory of economics.

After being let go by GE, Reagan started working on several political campaigns, including Richard Nixon’s 1960 presidential campaign and 1962 Gubernatorial campaign. In 1964, Reagan supported Senator Barry Goldwater’s campaign for president and served as co-chairman of California Republicans for Goldwater. Towards the end of 1964, Reagan gave a nationally televised 30-minute address in support of Goldwater’s campaign, now known as his "Time for Choosing" speech. Preeminent politicos took notice.

Spurred on by the popularity of his nationally televised address, Reagan campaigned for Governor of California in 1966, where he won by nearly a million votes. He served as a very successful two-term Governor, before winning a landslide race for President against incumbent Jimmy Carter in 1980.

Reagan was a fierce opponent of the Soviet Union and the spread of Communism throughout the world. To counter the “evil empire” and nuclear arms race of the Soviet Union, Reagan advocated for a strong military and eagerly supported defense systems and the Strategic Defense Initiative (also known as “Star Wars.”)

Working in tandem with UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Pope John Paul II, Reagan’s devotion to anti-Communism contributed greatly to world peace. In 1987, Reagan gave his famous “Tear Down This Wall" Speech at the Brandenburg Gate.

As long as this gate is closed, as long as this scar of a wall is permitted to stand, it is not the German question alone that remains open, but the question of freedom for all mankind. . . .
General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate.
Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate!
Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

Reagan’s words proved prophetic  – the Berlin Wall would fall two years later.

President Reagan's Statue located in the Capitol Rotunda.

To commemorate this significant speech, the pedestal of President Reagan's statue in the Capitol has a section constructed entirely out of pieces of the Berlin Wall. Located on the rear of the pedestal sits a plaque with the quote from his speech at the 1992 Republican Convention that reads: "America's best days are yet to come. Our proudest moments are yet to be. Our most glorious achievements are just ahead."

President Reagan was a great orator and visionary. He was not afraid to stand against evil in the world and to believe that the United States was the “last best hope of man on earth.” He was also a humble man who said, “There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don’t care who gets the credit.” I keep this quote on my desk as a reminder. As one of our greatest Presidents, Reagan continues to be an inspiration to me, and I hope to many of you as well.