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Skriven 2005-10-21 23:35:20 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0510212) for Fri, 2005 Oct 21
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President Participates in Opening Ceremony for Air Force One Pavilion
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 21, 2005

President Participates in Opening Ceremony for Air Force One Pavilion
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Simi Valley, California



11:07 A.M. PDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Fred, you forgot to say, Air Force One
brought me out here to California -- (laughter) -- and Laura and I are glad
we came. Thanks for the warm welcome. (Applause.) We're great fans of Nancy
Reagan. We admire her strength, we admire the love she has for her husband,
and we're grateful for your friendship. Thank you, Mrs. Reagan. (Applause.)
And I appreciate the invitation to come back to the Ronald Reagan
Presidential Library, and I'm proud to stand in this magnificent pavilion
that is now home to a celebrated symbol of democracy and freedom.

You know, across this nation, Americans can visit many great memorials to
the cause of liberty -- from a statue in a busy harbor whose arm carries
high the flame of freedom, to a quiet field in Arlington filled with rows
of white tombstones, to a mountainside in the heartland carved with the
images of America's great leaders. Each evokes a sense of awe and wonder.
But none can soar at more than 500 miles an hour -- (laughter) -- carrying
freedom's message across oceans and continents.

It was President Reagan's dream to share Air Force One with the American
people by bringing this plane to his presidential library. Now, as this
pavilion opens, Americans will have the chance to experience firsthand the
majesty and the power of this incredible aircraft. I want to thank you all
for making this possible. This is an important contribution to the history
of America.

I appreciate Fred Ryan, the chairman of the Board of Trustees. And I want
to thank all the trustees who are here. I thank Duke Blackwood, the
executive director. I appreciate Rob Zucca. He happens to be the Air Force
One project specialist, the guy who got the work done.

Traveling with me today is Colonel Mark Tillman. Fred mentioned the flight
into Baghdad. He was the pilot flying me into Baghdad. He's -- I've always
found it's a good thing to praise your pilot. (Laughter and applause.)

I appreciate former Governor and Senator Pete Wilson being here. It's good
to see you and Gayle. Thanks for coming. Former Attorney General Ed Meese
and Ursula. Members of the United States Congress, some of whom -- all of
whom I'm about to mention jumped on Air Force One yesterday to fly from
Washington to Los Angeles. They've heard it's quite comfortable.
(Laughter.) Elton Gallegly and his wife, Janice. Elton is the Congressman
from this district. David Dreier and Dana Rohrabacher, thank you all for
coming. I know Mayor Paul Miller is with us. Mr. Mayor, thanks for being
here. Appreciate you coming. Only advice I have is fill the potholes.
(Laughter and applause.)

We're proud that the Archivist of the United States, Allen Weinstein is
with us, as well as acting Secretary of the Air Force Pete Geren.

But most of all, thanks for inviting Laura and me to be here.

There is no single aircraft called Air Force One. That call sign belongs to
any Air Force plane when the Commander-in-Chief is on board. And this
particular plane, Tail Number 2700, wore the name of Air Force One 445
times, over 28 years in service to America's -- seven American Presidents,
starting with Richard Nixon and ending with me.

Of all the Presidents that Tail Number 2700 served, none used her more than
President Ronald Reagan. It was 25 years ago this November that the
American people sent Ronald Reagan to the White House for his first of two
terms. Mrs. Reagan recalls their first time onboard together, when this
plane carried them from California to Washington, D.C. for the 1981
inaugural. As the President-elect attended to paperwork, Mrs. Reagan says
she was busy writing letters to friends on Air Force One stationery --
(laughter) -- that said this: "Look at me. I'm flying on Air Force One."
(Laughter and applause.)

In all the flights that followed, Nancy was always on the President's mind.
Aides recall that whenever he traveled alone, President Reagan would bow
his head in silence before each takeoff. When asked why he did so, the
President replied that he was asking the Lord to take care of Nancy should
something happen to him.

During his eight years in office, this plane carried our 40th President on
211 missions, logging more than 630,000 miles in the air. The plane brought
President Reagan to London, where he declared to the world that freedom and
democracy would leave communism "on the ash heap of history." (Applause.)
This plane brought President Reagan to Berlin, where he challenged General
Secretary Gorbachev to "tear down this wall." (Applause.) And this plane
brought President Reagan to Moscow, where he stood beneath a giant bust of
Lenin and told the students at Moscow State University that the future
belongs to freedom.

No matter how many hours he spent in the air, President Reagan never lost
his sense of humor. One of his favorite pastimes on board Air Force One was
prowling the staff cabin with a White House photographer in tow looking for
somebody who was asleep. (Laughter.) He would pose next to the unknown
victim and then send him a signed picture when they got home. (Laughter and
applause.) One day, Secretary of State George Schultz received a photo of
himself asleep with his mouth wide open -- (laughter) -- as the President
waved his arms in mock desperation. The inscription read, "George, wake up,
the Soviets are coming." (Laughter.)

The President and Mrs. Reagan flew this plane together for the last time on
January the 20th, 1989, when it brought them back home to California. Now,
16 years later, this plane has found a home beneath the Pacific sky,
alongside the President she so ably served.

It's appropriate that this symbol of American strength and resilience and
optimism has come to rest at the library that bears Ronald Reagan's name.
After all, it was President Reagan who always reminded us that when we set
our eyes on the horizon, every day is "morning in America." As Nancy Reagan
has said, "The Reagan Library is a place the sun will never set on the
principles that Ronnie believed in so deeply."

Ronald Reagan's principles started with an abiding belief in the power and
in the appeal of liberty. He believed that freedom is the right of every
man, woman, and child on Earth. (Applause.) He recognized that freedom was
opposed by dangerous enemies, and he understood that America has always
prevailed by standing firmly on principles and never backing down in the
face of evil. (Applause.)

At the beginning of his presidency, Ronald Reagan declared that the years
ahead would be great ones "for the cause of freedom and the spread of
civilization." He dismissed communism as "a bizarre chapter in human
history whose last pages were being written." For eight years he acted on
that conviction, and shortly after he left office, the Berlin Wall came
down, the "Evil Empire" collapsed, and the cause of liberty prevailed in
the Cold War.

The pavilion that we open today includes a Cold War gallery where a new
generation will learn about the great victory for freedom that President
Reagan's leadership helped secure. They'll see how President Reagan rallied
the world's democracies to defend liberty against the totalitarian
aspirations of Soviet communism. They'll see how his strategy and vision
secured a free and peaceful Europe. They will learn that the key to victory
lay in our resolve to stay in the fight until the fight was won.
(Applause.)

As President Reagan put it in his Westminister address, "While our military
strength is a prerequisite to peace, the ultimate determinant in the
struggle will be not bombs and rockets, but a test of will and ideas, a
trial of spiritual resolve, the values we hold, the beliefs we cherish, to
which we are dedicated."

Because of Ronald Reagan's leadership, America prevailed in the 20th
century's great struggle of wills. And now in this new century, our freedom
is once again being tested by determined enemies. The terrorists who
attacked us on September the 11th, 2001, are followers of a radical and
violent ideology. They exploit the religion of Islam to serve a violent
political vision, the establishment of a totalitarian empire that denies
all political and religious freedom. These extremists distort the idea of
jihad into a call for terrorist murder against Christians and Jews and
Hindus, and against Muslims from other traditions who they regard as
heretics.

Like the ideology of communism, our new enemy is elitist, led by a
self-appointed vanguard of Islamic militants that presume to speak for the
Muslim masses. Like the ideology of communism, our new enemy teaches that
the innocent can be murdered to serve a political vision. Like the ideology
of communism, our new enemy pursues totalitarian aims. Like the ideology of
communism, our new enemy is dismissive of free peoples, claiming that men
and women who live in liberty are weak and decadent. And like the ideology
of communism, Islamic radicalism is doomed to fail. (Applause.)

It will fail because it undermines the freedom and creativity that makes
human progress possible and human societies successful. The only thing
modern about our enemy's vision is the weapons they want to use against us.
The rest of their grim vision is defined by a warped image of the past, a
declaration of war on the idea of progress, itself. And whatever lies ahead
in the war against this ideology, the outcome is not in doubt: Those who
despise freedom and progress have condemned themselves to isolation,
decline, and collapse. Because free peoples believe in the future, free
peoples will own the future. (Applause.)

We didn't ask for this global struggle, but we are answering history's call
with confidence and a comprehensive strategy. We're working to prevent the
attacks of terrorist networks before they occur. We're determined to deny
weapons of mass destruction to outlaw regimes and to their terrorist allies
who would use them without hesitation. We're depriving radical groups of
support and sanctuary from outlaw regimes. We're stopping the militants
from gaining control of any nation which they would use as a home base and
a launching pad for terror. And we're draining the militants of future
recruits by replacing hatred and resentment with democracy and hope and
freedom across the broader Middle East. (Applause.)

We will prevail in the war on terror, because this generation is determined
to meet the threats of our time. We understand our duty; we understand our
responsibility to the American people. There will be tough moments ahead on
this path to victory. Yet, we have confidence in our cause because we have
seen America face down brutal enemies before. We have confidence in our
cause because we have seen the power of freedom to overcome the dark
ideologies of tyranny and terror. And we have confidence in our cause
because we believe, as President Ronald Reagan did, that freedom is "one of
the deepest and noblest aspirations of the human spirit." (Applause.)

Thank you all for having us. May God bless Ronald Reagan, and may God
continue to bless the United States of America. (Applause.)

END 11:22 A.M. EDT
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