 Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States. Thank you, and thank you all. I've said more than a few words on the issue that brings us here. So this evening, I'm not going to – I'm – well, I'm just going to mention a few points. Anyway, I thank the Lord that you're the last people next to the freedom fighters themselves who need to hear another Contra speech. The warm regards to Bob Michael and Jack Murtha and who co-sponsored our original request and of course to those who co-sponsored the final successful amendment, the Ike Skelton, Mickey Edwards, Richard Ray and Rod Chandler. And by the way, I've learned a little secret. Today Ike and Suzy Skelton celebrate their silver wedding anniversary. Congratulations. Well, certainly the vote you cast represented a remarkable achievement, a reassertion, if you will, of something fundamental to America, bipartisan consensus in foreign policy. I spoke about this tradition the day before you voted, describing how Harry Truman had the support of Democrats and Republicans alike in affecting the Marshall Plan and in providing the aid that permitted Greece to resist the Communist advance. And Ike Skelton spoke about it in a recent letter to me. He wrote, many of us in the Democratic Party are attempting to re-establish the type of bipartisan consensus on issues of foreign policy the country once had. And so it was on June 25th, the 51 Democrats in the room joined the 170 Republicans in giving our vital bipartisan tradition bold expression, announcing to the world that there was a new unity in America, a new determination on the part of both parties to defend our nation's interests and advance the cause of human freedom. Now we must work on to see that this bipartisan consensus is maintained and to see our policy in Central America through to the achievement of all its aims. And together we must inform the American people that our policy in Central America, a policy based on the recommendations of the bipartisan Kissinger Commission, is working. Indeed today all the nations in the region have either established or are moving toward healthy, pluralistic democracies, all except Nicaragua. Regarding Nicaragua itself, we must make certain the American people understand that its government is repressive, even brutal, that the regime is bound to and depended upon the Soviet Union, that the communists have close ties to Gaddafi, the PLO, and other terrorists, and that the Democratic resistance forces we're supporting offer a clear alternative to the communists, a bright hope that Nicaragua can be saved for democracy. Strong letter follows. But all that work lies in the future. This evening we reflect upon and celebrate your achievement in the House. If I may, I'd like to see a few words about your vote and its historical significance. History, after all, is something that we live with every day in our line of work. And perhaps sometimes we take this a little for granted. Yet every now and then, I'm sure that while walking through the halls of Congress you have the same experience that I've had here in these rooms. For just a moment, the press of daily business recedes and your thoughts turn to the great men and women who've been here before us. And if you're anything like me, you too think of your wonder days and how surprised you would have been to know that someday you would walk in corridors and hallways that once heard the footsteps of Jefferson and Lincoln, of Clay, Webster, Rayburn, Taft. Now some of you will not be too surprised to know that all that's leading into a little story. But this one's kind of special and not funny. I like it because in part it happened here just above us in what are now our living quarters, but used to be Lincoln's office and cabinet room. It was the spring of 1864 and the war had dragged on, the killing had been horrendous and Lincoln, a gentle man who, the last sort who would have wanted to be a war president, was near despair contemplating all the last lost opportunities of the past. The critical moments when the forces of the brilliant Lee might have been defeated had Lincoln's generals acted with resolve. And now all his hopes rode on a man he had just received here in the East Room, right in the same room, a scruffy midwesterner with a reputation for hard drinking. And he wondered whether, after all, Grant would prove to be like all the others, would engage the adversary and then at the critical moment fail to pursue his advantage, the advantage that would end the war and stop the killing. And so that spring, Mr. Lincoln's army led for the first time by Grant collided with Lee in a place called the Willerness. A great battle ensued and all communication with the capital was lost. Tense moments, Lincoln and the cabinet dreading the news that once again, perhaps the Union army had let the enemy safely withdraw. Grant had disappeared through a hole, Lincoln said, and then pulled the hole in behind him. But then suddenly a young reporter with the New York Tribune, Henry Wing, walked into a Union telegraph station at Manassas Junction. And he said, I'm just in from the front, I left Grant at four o'clock this morning. Mr. Wing refused to say what had happened until he filed his story. Well, the voluntary or volatile secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, threatened to have him arrested as a spy until Lincoln intervened. Mr. Wing could file his story, but he must come immediately to brief the president and the cabinet. So Mr. Wing soon found himself upstairs here, where Nancy and I live now in front of the president and the cabinet. Historian Gene Smith picks up the story. He wrote it for half an hour. He stood in front of a wall map and showed the positions of the two contending armies across the rapid end. The sky was almost light outside. He finished and then said, Mr. President, I have a personal word for you. The others withdrew, and he was alone with Lincoln. You wanted to speak to me, Lincoln asked? Yes, Mr. President, I have a message for you, a message from General Grant. He told me I was to give it to you when you were alone. Something from Grant to me, Lincoln advanced upon Wing, who never had realized before how tall Lincoln really was. Lincoln stooped down and brought his eyes level with wings and asked in an intense tone, what is it? And the reporter found himself deeply moved and beginning to stammer. General Grant told me to tell you from him that whatever happens, there is to be no turning back. What Lincoln did next formed the title of a little book that the reporter Wing wrote. The title of the book was, When Lincoln Kissed Me. Now, and when I excelt Mickey Edwards, Richard Ray, Rod Chandler, Jeffery... No, but you can all relax, I'm not going to kiss anybody. But you know the story really does apply. As important as it was to help the people of Nicaragua and Central America, I think the vote goes far beyond regional development and military assistance. I'm convinced that historians will view it as a moment important, not just Central America, but to the world and especially to America and to all of us. Wherever the standard of freedom and independence has been or shall be unfurled, John Quincy Adams promised, there will be America's heart, her benedictions, and her prayers. Well, since the end of the post-war period, that thought has been the guiding light of America's foreign policy, the reason for all our sacrifices. And the record shows that even though we were unprepared for the role thrust upon us over 40 years ago, the American people did stand firm in defensive democracy, did resist totalitarianism, and at the same time promoted economic growth and social progress throughout the world. There have been arguments and disputes, of course, but when you step back and look over the last 40 years, American foreign policy takes on the kind of consistency that can come only from bipartisan cooperation, the cooperation that can only come in turn when elected officials put country above party. And all of you know that in the last decade, questions were raised about whether we as a people still had the national will, the resolve to continue in the noble and unselfish work of freedom. Caught at the post-Watergate syndrome, the post-Vietnam syndrome, the new isolationism, whatever, there were those who wondered whether America's long-standing bipartisan consensus on foreign policy was gone for good. History was asking, too, would America remain true to the ideals of her past, or would she stumble in the cause of freedom, failing now at the critical moment? Because of all of you, history now has her answer. And I'm grateful to you for that, and I know the people of Nicaragua and throughout Central America are grateful, too. We pray that one day we shall see in the streets of Managua the same sort of celebrations that we've seen in Port-au-Prince or Manila in recent months, celebrations of freedom and the opportunity for democracy. As I said, there is hard work ahead of us, but we will triumph, and future generations will be grateful to you, grateful because through you, America spoke at a critical moment to the world. And the message was the same as that delivered here from Grant to Lincoln more than a hundred years ago. Whatever happens, there is no turning back. Things can never be quite the same again. Freedom is now our cause, America's cause, and freedom is on the march. You know, some may think I'm exaggerating about the importance of this vote, but I just have to believe that God rest his soul, George O'Brien thought it was important, too, and that he, too, viewed it as a vote for freedom. So tonight, as we celebrate this achievement, let us also honor the memory of that fine man, and with his memory in mind, look to the work ahead with a sense of renewed dedication. Thank you all, and God bless you.