will be running the show tonight. and that is a 1994 1994 i s president of my university college of republicans and it was more than a dream as the son of a reagan revolution that dick armey would soon be the majority leader, that phil gramm economic expertisee along with mr. armey alleys for narrow window in american history would be ascendant in this town. and while we have to be careful as a storage that to dwell in the past, we can as we are on the brink of a red wave and a mean that philosophically, not as a partisan, this year, know that that isn't merely about party registration, about 140 be in charge instead of another. it is about the ideas that defined as as a people, namely freedom, flourishing. and this town and this government is spending a hell of a lot money that it does. and soat it is a great, great privilege to have dick armey, senator phil gramm, one of my political mentors who a couple years later he was thinking about running for different office. he was in louisiana and i said senator, this was before there was a red wave in louisiana, would you adopt us as her third senator? he said yes, son, you just keep doing what you're doing. here we aren't many years later, senator welcome back to heritage but without further ado it's also an equally great privilege to have steve moore accurate at the heritage foundation to welcome him here as our distinguished fellow and deterrence program over to him. [applause] it's right here so wey boxes, thank you kevin for the kind introduction and i'm loving this new era at heritage. it's fantastic and his leadership has been amazing. we're going to have some fun today tonight and welcome to our c-span audience as well. --. army is a legend. he's one of the few people in addition to phil graham who actually cut this came to this town to actually make government smaller not bigger. so thank you to both of you and so we have i just got this note from newt gingrich. was the as you all know the speaker of the house and was the one with the army who really engineered the republican revolution in 1994. so i just thought if i may --, i'd love to read this comment from from speaker congrats, and it's really sweet. he says -- army was invaluable as a creative dynamic energetic member when we were in the minority and as a key part. of the contract of america majority an extraordinary force for good ideas and real reforms and a leader who helped re-elect the house gop majority for the first time in 68 years and helped develop the only four balanced budgets in our lifetime. that's pretty amazing. isn't it his new book provides vivid and wise insights into the legislative process and the house as an institution with gratitude newt gingrich. so that's this really nice tribute to -- army. this is the book if you haven't got if you haven't gotten this book yet. it's a great read. i actually think this book should be read by all people every political science major in america should be reading this book called leader. it really is a a great discussion of how washington really works and how things get done and don't get done in washington. and so we're going to kind of have some fun. telling our -- army stories. there's probably in this rum deck at least 15 or 20 people who work for you at one time or another and i i say in addition to all of the great. contributions you made directly to policy one of your great contributions was the incredible number of successful people who you mentored including myself. i'm and so my little story about -- army is that i work for -- on the joint economic committee in 1990. 3 and 1994 and i remember that that when that when i was on the committee, and i i decided by the summer of 19 of 1994 that i was going to leave the committee because i just had it, you know if you were a minority remember if you were working for a minority member in the house you might as well have not been there. i mean the democrats were so arrogant at that time after what 40 years of rule, you know, there was like republicans weren't even there. and so i remember i went to -- and i said look, i love working for you --, but i just can't i can't do this anymore. it's pulling my hair out. we're not really having much of an impact here and and i'll never forget --, you know. turn me said steve. you cannot leave now remember this and you said don't leave now because we're going to take the house in november of 1994. and you know dennis you were part of that revolution as well, and i said --, whatever you're smoking. i want some of it, you know, because it seems so incredibly and for people forget how improbable it seemed and that how many seats did you have to pick up like 60 seats or something like that? and it was it was obviously a tidal wave election and it was in no small part because a newt gingrich and -- army in the contract with american republicans. there's a lesson here when republicans stand for something they win. when they're just the lesser of two evils, which is most of the time they lose and so that was an incredible period and what you all did you and nude and the whole team from 1995 through 2000. it's true all the four only four balanced budgets in the last 50 years. we did welfare reform. we did the capital gains tax cut all of these incredible things --. army was also for those of the younger people in this room. you were the first inspiration for the flat tax idea. you were the one of the first inspirations for medical savings accounts. you never were with me on the term limits idea. i don't think you like that too much. but anyway that it's just so fantastic to have you here, so i wanted to turn the podium over to senator phil graham who actually i first met in this building, you know back in 1984 85 when when -- when phil graham came up with this crazy idea called the they called it the ground rudman. bill and the ground rubbin bell was basically automatic spending cuts if we couldn't get that deficit down and all of washington, you know had palpatel palpitations over this, but it was one of the few times senator that we actually cut spending under that ground rugby bill and he has been a crusader for small government as well also hails from the great state of texas. so give a nice warm. welcome to phil graham of texas. thank you, steve. well, nobody told me that i was going to say anything. i will say a few things. president reagan once put his arm around me and said i want you to look me and i said kept weinberger tells me. that your graham rudman is more dangerous than the soviet menace. were you assure me that that's not the case? and i said yes, mr. president, i'll assure you is not the case. well --, and i were destined to become friends. because we will both from texas. we're both economists. and we both came to washington because we wanted less government and more freedom. they're not a lot of people who come to government with the idea of having less of the very institution. that come to be part of. and the thing that i always found was very interesting and i never lost. my sort of all of it. and that was that --. always had this view that he was like a spy in the soviet union. that had become a leader of the central committee. and was one of the people actually running the soviet. so that when we got together, it was sort of like i was there as his american handler and he was telling me what was we were actually doing inside the belly of the beast. and i never cease to find that fascinating. i served in washington for quarter of a century. and i dealt with a lot of people. but i can say without any fear of contradiction. that of all the people that i ever serve with -- army was less interested that somebody. decorumi was less interested. in getting credit for things he did than anybody i have ever dealt with in, washington. is for is i could tell his aspiration other than saving america was owning a ford s-150 king ranch version. and he got it. and -- story is a story that reassures me about america. a -- was from cadoo north dakota. that's right in. i don't have any idea where it is. um, i went to north dakota campaigning once and i had to plug in the car to the tires from freezing. but he came from candor, north dakota. and he became the first republican majority first republican majority leader in 40 years. and he was an indispensable leader in changing america. and implementing the final stones on the reagan revolution and then he retired and went back to being just in plain citizen. to me that is a reassuring story about america. i once had a guy in china. asked me where did you come from? you know we try to look at leadership in america, and we just can't figure out where you came from. and i tried to explain to him that in america. the greatness of our country is that leaders just come from nowhere? and so people are always saying where are the reagans and where are the -- armies now that we need them? well, i never despair because i know they're out there. they're waiting to be discovered. they're waiting for the right moment. and the only thing that i well let me just say the contract will america. -- army wrote the contract with america. he gave it the name contract with america. i was the chairman of the republican senatorial committee. we tried to copy it by having our seven more and 94. we won more than seven seats. by the way now i'm not taking anything away from newt gingrich. he grabbed it he ran with it. he made it famous. he deserves all the credit he gets. but -- army was the father of contract with america. my welcome, but let me just say a couple of more things. from the beginning of the republic we had wasted money because of an inability to close government facilities, especially military bases. and so what -- did in a new and totally original idea of his own creation? was he came up with the idea of a commission? and then a straight up or down vote. in congress to approve the closing of military basis so that it allowed a congressman or senator to go to the military base as the bulldozer was pulling up and knocked down the gate and lie down on the ground telling his staff now just at the last moment rush in and drag me out and i'll be begging to die, but pull me out and then it'll be gone. and that's exactly what happened. we closed a lot of military bases. that should have never been built to begin with and were being operated just draining the blood out of american. um -- was very instrumental in welfare reform. the most successful reform of a government program in american history why we don't take that. reform program and apply it to every entitlement program the federal government. i don't understand. the average household in the bottom 20% of american income earners get over 45,000 a year in benefits in the federal government. is there any wonder that you can't get people to work? and we were able to implement a program and an area that was the most difficult area where you've got an unmarried woman with children. a situation where senator warren would say it's impossible for it to work. well, guess what? we reform the program we set time limits and within four years. 50% of the people had been on the program were working. it's amazing. what incentives do. so i'm very happy to be here today to one give credit. we're not enough credit has been given. partly because he lacked the skill to blow his own horn. and secondly to just say to -- that. it was a great privilege those years working with you one of the highlights of my career. was getting together with -- to get his spying report. that he was actually running the system. >> so dick, congratulations. [applause] >> thank you senator, those were terrific comments. one thing about the contract with america . i remember talking to you after the republicans won the congress and i kind of was apologetic. i said that, i didn't pay that much attention to the contract with america as i never thought you would win and you said steve, if people thought wewould win they never would have signed the contract with america. that was a great jewelry . remember your first hundred hours? that was the first hundred hours. you passed more good legislation leand probably the previous 25 years in that first hundred hours is an amazingrevolution . i see a lot of new people have come in. i'd love if any or all of you in this room who at some point in your career works with dick armey, couldyou please stand up ? that's amazing. thank you all for being here. [applause] and i'll say it again, this legacy is the amazing people is meant toward over the years. i wanted to call on kevin kramer. where are you u? we have another person, second-most famous person from north dakota here, kevin kramer is a senator from the state of north dakota and he is also i believe you are also from frcan-do? what early on that two of the most famous people in washington what would come from candoo. [applause] neither dick nor i are the most famous person from candoo. dave osborne one of dick's classmates, all-pro running back for the vikings is from candoo. he and dick are classmates. this is such an honor. thanks for including me. to be able to participate in something in my 10 years in congress, this is the highest . i need. for the handful of you will read the whole book susan and i i know did. was read many times but i read the whole book. i might have been the first person in america to read the whole book. i was texting dick saying i'm laughing so hard that the next to me are worried. but just to give you context if you didn't readthe book . my dad and dick armey lived across the aisle from one another and in the book dick tells the story about richard kramer, the older richard. there are a number of richards in the book. but was tasked with teaching the younger richard how to climb poles when they joined the questions as a lineman for a summer job. i loved the fact that dick had to go to union shop and work for a co-op. that was the last time he did either of those things. but more importantly than that charlie armey, dick's father along with phil gramm are the stars of the book. they get more ink than anybody else combined so charlie army and my daddy work best man at each other's wedding. they both married well, both stayed married to the same person their entire life just to give you a little of that. my dad did teach dick, didn't put this part in the book. he didn't put this. my dad dick tells me gave him one of his first economics classes. dick and dad after work one day y went down to gordy's bar downtown to have a drink. maybe he didn't. but richard kramer said you know for the price of a drink at the bar downtown we could go to the liquor store and get asixpack . then my dad retired a lineman , dick wrote the book on price theory, literally wrote the book but the best book dick has ever written is his memoirs. i'd d encourage everybody is watching to read it. and we celebrate dad for sure. because not only is it a great documentation of a historic moment, i mean it's a great documentation. a significant historical moment but it has was lessons to all of us on how to govern and better yet how to lead. the two go hand-in-hand. i told you i laughed so hard at some points that people wereconcerned about me sitting on the plane but i'll give you a couple of the ones. first of all , one of the parts where i left the hardest is when the faculty consults dick because he has a professor had written this speech . the newspaper picked up. >> maybe not exactly but it's something like that. that in fact they were paid as for their consumption as well as for their productivity so of course he's doing all this wonky stuff but it reminded me of shortly after dick went to congress is on the monitor where he got a masters degree at university of north dakota atthe time known as the fighting sioux , but which by the way the cause of scarcity after htthat happened dick called me and said can you run over to grant works and get me a fighting sioux hockey jersey before they're all gone. they were smart enough to print a whole bunch of them but anyway, at that event where he received the coveted sioux award the mc was the president of the mla association and a state republican majority leader. and dick gets up and gives this wonderful speech starting out about how important the university is because not only it teaches our children but our children's children. that's important and that's where the good news ended the problem with the university system of course is faculty governance . this oration on faculty governance, how bad it is and how it's ruining the lluniversity system and the gets all done and get this wonderful ovation from the wealthy donors and gets up and says has been canceled due to recent lack of interest. >> one other thing about north dakota dick's homestate is most of his family lives there . and so i saw some of them but his preference for free markets senator graham really supersedes the populism. he would have had a hard time going back totheir . and i'll go i think, i had a much better chance but he campaigned for me in the90s when i was young party chairman. he was the guy that would give speeches . we didn't even have a republican in congress at that time. b but we always had to get a shirt that said he would not talk about the farm bill or the farm program and he would certainly not give his opinion about all. and joe, until you came to cut the ribbon on the ronald reagan republican center it just so happened that same day john opened the governor at the time now my colleague in the senate was to give the keynote address at the petroleum council. they called, scrambled in the morning and said could you get dick armey to fill in for donald and he said i think i can and as we were at the parking lot i said this is your chance to say whatever you want about ethanol in north dakota and the i never forget, gets upin front of all these oilmen . the best i could say anything i want about ethanol and he said it's so dumb of an idea the russians didn'teven try . [laughter] true story. and he got a standing ovation and didn't have to sayanother word . [applause] i did one time try to plead my case for the farm bill and i said dick, you've got to admit free markets don't work in every situation because agriculture is fully subsidized while ouror competitors . we're trying to have a fair market or at least level the playing field a little bit to which he said without thinking about it, contemplating , worrying about my feelings . i've never met an american that decided to become a partner because someone put a gun to their head . anyway, i know there's a 39 page index on dick's book. i that i have twice as many. so i will always be able to go back because dick took armey's axioms and turn them into brilliance territory. historical plus a lot of these. dick, i agree with you . i think it should be required reading for every freshman for sure. every freshman when it comes to congress because one thing that they sent me the first time i met him he said dick armey is the enemy of whatone man can do in congress if he has a will. when he passed he was a junior member of the minority party . ethat should be encouragement for everybody that aspires to do big things. us in your 10 years as leader of that regular ksorder works. i've been in congress 10years and i've never seen any . regular order works when you respect every member. when you empower every committee and honor the chairman . i'd like to see that. i think we could get back to all of those precedents if we still care. perhaps the greatest economics lesson you taught us in your book is that god's grace is in high demand and high supply and it's still free. [applause] one of the most important lessons i take from this book is that going home on weekends makes you a better member of congress then going out by yourself. that's a big o