Mike Pence on Reagan's Unfinished Work: Restoring Federalism and the Right to Life

I was privileged to be present for this speech last night:

Reagan's Unfinished Work: Restoring Federalism and the Right to Life

[Excerpt of remarks by Congressman Mike Pence to the Illinois Republican Party Tribute to Reagan's 100th Birthday Banquet, Chicago, Illinois, February 5, 2011]

On this night, a night that would have marked the last day of his first 100 years, we do well to recall that Ronald Reagan had a vision for America. It was a vision grounded in the timeless ideals of our founders and in the Constitution of the United States.

He accomplished much of his vision and we all know where that led. His vision of America as the arsenal of democracy brought the Soviet Union to it's knees and his vision for economic growth launched the longest period of peacetime economic expansion since World War II.

But there was unfinished business in the vision of Ronald Reagan; restoring the sanctity of human life to the law and returning power to the states.

The only book Ronald Reagan wrote during his time in the White House was entitled 'Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation'. In it he wrote, 'to diminish the value of one category of human life is to diminish us all'. Central to Ronald Reagan's vision for America was his gentle but steadfast commitment to the right to life. To complete Reagan's work, we must never relent until we restore the sanctity of life to the center of American law.

And Ronald Reagan had a vision for restoring federalism and empowering states. In the first paragraph of his First Inaugural Address, Ronald Reagan reminded the American people that, "the federal government did not create the states, the states created the federal government". He said it was time to "demand recognition of the distinction between the powers granted the federal government and those reserved to the states and the people".

One year later, addressing the Indiana General Assembly on February 9, 1982, Reagan asserted that restoring federalism was the "new phase" of the "great American experiment". He called on states to partner with his administration to outline a new relationship between the states and the federal government, suggesting that Washington turn back 40 federal programs to the states with resources to pay for them.

Quoting favorably the remarks of Governor Thompson of Illinois Reagan agreed that 'It (was) time to give us our money back. It's time to give us our power and authority back. It's time to let governors and mayors of this nation respond to the needs of the people in their states and cities'.

The president challenged Hoosier legislators with the words, "let us join together to restore federalism...the nation's vigor...and the faith of our people in their government at every level".

Ronald Reagan knew that the states were our past. They were forged from the wilderness. The states hold the promise of the future. They will lead America back or not at all.

Life and Federalism were Reagan's unfinished work.

As we seek to honor his memory this night, let us resolve to complete the unfinished work of Ronald Reagan, restore life to the center of American law and reaffirm our nation's practice of federalism by returning to the states and to the people those responsibilities and resources which are rightfully theirs."