On February 3, by a vote of 394 to 0, the House overwhelmingly approved a resolution (H.J. Res. 84) congratulating Ronald Reagan on his 93rd birthday.
Not surprisingly, a group of five angry liberal congressmen refused to pay Reagan even this small courtesy and instead voted "present." A handful of Democrat congressmen did the same last year.
Reagan, considered a hero by most conservatives, has for years had Alzheimer's Disease and has not appeared in public for more than a decade.
The resolution, introduced in the House by Rep. Jim Gibbons (R.-Nev.), stated simply: "The Congress, on behalf of the American people, extends its birthday greetings and best wishes to Ronald Reagan on his 93rd birthday."
"President Reagan's commitment to inspiring the American people and strengthening our Nation's leadership role in the world are part of our Nation's proud heritage and history," said Gibbons. "During his eight years as President, Ronald Reagan successfully stimulated economic growth, curbed inflation, increased employment, and strengthened national defense. President Reagan was instrumental in uniting a divided Berlin, as well as a divided world, by bringing about an end to the Cold War. Reagan's speech calling on Mr. Gorbachev to "Tear Down This Wall" is a piece of American, indeed, world history, that will forever elicit a special sense of pride among the American people and all freedom-loving people across this world."
A "yes" vote was a vote to congratulate President Reagan on his 93rd birthday. There were no "no" votes. A "present" vote indicates that a member was on the floor but unwilling to congratulate Reagan on his birthday.
| FOR THE RESOLUTION: 394 | AGAINST THE RESOLUTION: 0 |
| REPUBLICANS FOR: 217 Aderholt Akin Bachus Baker Ballenger Barrett (SC) Bartlett (MD) Barton (TX) Bass Beauprez Biggert Bilirakis Bishop (UT) Blackburn Blunt Boehlert Boehner Bonilla Bonner Bono Boozman Bradley (NH) Brady (TX) Brown (SC) Burgess Burns Burr Burton (IN) Buyer Calvert Camp Cannon Cantor Capito Carter Castle Chabot Chocola Coble Cole Collins Crane Crenshaw Cubin Cunningham Davis, Jo Ann Davis, Tom Deal (GA) DeLay DeMint Diaz-Balart, L. Diaz-Balart, M. Doolittle Dreier Duncan Dunn Ehlers Emerson Everett Feeney Ferguson Flake Foley Forbes Fossella Franks (AZ) Frelinghuysen Gallegly Garrett (NJ) Gerlach Gibbons Gilchrest Gillmor Gingrey Goode Goodlatte Goss Granger Graves Green (WI) Greenwood Gutknecht Hall Harris Hart Hastings (WA) Hayes Hayworth Hefley Hensarling Herger Hobson Hoekstra Hostettler Houghton Hulshof Hunter Hyde Isakson Issa Istook Jenkins Johnson, Sam Johnson (CT) Johnson (IL) Jones (NC) Keller Kelly Kennedy (MN) King (IA) King (NY) Kingston Kirk Kline Knollenberg Kolbe LaHood Latham LaTourette Leach Lewis (CA) Lewis (KY) Linder LoBiondo Manzullo McCotter McHugh McInnis McKeon Mica Miller, Gary Miller (FL) Miller (MI) Moran (KS) Murphy Musgrave Nethercutt Neugebauer Ney Northup Norwood Nunes Nussle Osborne Ose Otter Oxley Paul Pearce Pence Peterson (PA) Petri Pickering Pitts Platts Porter Portman Pryce (OH) Putnam Quinn Radanovich Ramstad Regula Rehberg Renzi Reynolds Rogers (AL) Rogers (KY) Rogers (MI) Rohrabacher Ros-Lehtinen Royce Ryan (WI) Saxton Schrock Sensenbrenner Sessions Shadegg Shaw Shays Sherwood Shimkus Shuster Simmons Simpson Smith (MI) Smith (NJ) Smith (TX) Souder Stearns Sullivan Sweeney Tancredo Tauzin Taylor (NC) Terry Thomas Thornberry Tiahrt Tiberi Toomey Turner (OH) Upton Vitter Walden (OR) Walsh Wamp Weldon (FL) Weldon (PA) Weller Whitfield Wicker Wilson (NM) Wilson (SC) Wolf Young (AK) Young (FL) DEMOCRATS FOR: 176 INDEPENDENTS FOR: 1 Sanders |
REPUBLICANS AGAINST: 0
DEMOCRATS AGAINST: 0 |
PRESENT: 5
| REPUBLICANS (0): | DEMOCRATS (5): | INDEPENDENTS (0) |
| Brown, Corrine Johnson, E. B. Lee Waters Watt |
NOT VOTING: 33
| REPUBLICANS (10): | DEMOCRATS (23): | INDEPENDENTS (0) |
| Bereuter Brown-Waite, Ginny Cox Culberson English Lucas (OK) McCrery Myrick Pombo Ryun (KS) |
Clay Clyburn Conyers DeGette Dicks Dooley (CA) Eshoo Farr Fattah Gephardt Grijalva Gutierrez Honda Inslee Kucinich Langevin Millender-McDonald Ortiz Rahall Smith (WA) Stark Watson Wynn |
