those of you who are here in the audience those of you who have joined online on c-span. welcome. this is going to be a riveting conversation and i say that as someone who is a historian. so just a couple of minutes of comments before i turn it over to my friend and colleague steve moore who really will be running the show tonight. and that is in 1994. i was president of my university's college republicans. and it was more than a dream as a son of the reagan revolution. that -- army would soon be the majority leader. that phil graham's economic expertise along with leader armies at least for a narrow window in american political history would be ascendant in this town. and while we have to be careful as historians not to dwell in the past we can as we are on the brink of a red wave and i mean that philosophically not as a partisan. this year know that that isn't merely about party registration. about one party being in charge instead of another it is about the ideas that define us as a people namely freedom. flourishing and this town and this government spending a hell of a lot less money than it does. and so it is a great great privilege to have -- army. senator phil graham my one of my political mentors who a couple years later. he was thinking about running for a different office. he was in louisiana, and i said senator, you know, this is before there was a red wave in louisiana, would you adopt us as as our third senator? he said yes, son. you just keep doing what you're doing. so here we are many years later senator. good to see you. welcome back to heritage. but without further ado. it's also an equally great privilege to have steve moore back here at the heritage foundation to welcome him. here is our distinguished fellow and to this program over to him. it's right here so we can really 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. he came to washington to dramatically reform. and so --. congratulations thank you senator. those were terrific comments. just one thing about the contract with america. i remember -- talking to you after the republicans, you know won the congress and and i kind of was apologetic. i said, you know --. i didn't really pay all that much attention to the contract of america because i never thought she would win. and you said well steve if people thought we would win they never would have signed the contract of america. that was a great great period and and instantly i think you all remember your first hundred hours. what was it the first hundred hours? you did. i mean you pass more good legislation than probably the previous 25 years in that first hundred dollars. so it's an amazing revolution we have by the way. could i see a lot of new people have come in if what i'd love if any all of you in this room who at some point in your career work for -- army. could you please stand up? that's amazing. thank you all for being here. i'll say it again -- leggett. -- legacy is really the amazing people. he's mentored over the years. okay, so i wanted to call and kevin kramer. where are you senator there? are you out kid? we have another person for the second most person from north 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 all you're also from can-do. he's also is how one of the odds the two of the most famous people in washington would come from can do north dakota senator. thanks so much for being. all right. neither -- nor i are the most famous person from can do however peter davidson could attest that dave osborne one of -- classmates all pro running back for the vikings was is from can do. eastern canada, he and dicker classmates well, i this is such an honor steve thanks for including me to be able to participate in something like this my 10 years in congress, this is a highlight it is it really is -- i mean it and for for the handful of you who've read the whole book susan and i know did she i'm sure she proof it many times. but i read the whole but i might have been the first person in america to read the whole book. i mean i was texting -- as i was reading it on the airplane going. i'm laughing so hard the people next to me are concerned. but just to give you a little context if you didn't read the book. i my daddy and -- army lived across the alley from one another in can do. and in the book -- tells the story about richard kramer the elder richard. there's a number of richards. they're in the book that he references but um was passed with teaching the younger richard how to climb polls when -- joined the rural electric cooperative as alignment for a summer job. now i love the fact that -- -- had to go union shop and work for co-op, you know, that was the last time he did either of those things but but but more importantly than that even charlie army -- brother who along with phil graham really is are the two stars of the book. i'd say they get more ink than anybody else combined. and so charlie army -- older brother and my daddy were best man at each other's weddings. they both married. well, they both stayed married to the same person their entire life. so just to give you a little a little of that my dad did teach -- didn't put this part in the book. he put the part about the climbing poles in the book. he didn't put this my dad -- tells me gave him his first one of his first economics lessons. yet -- and dad after work one day dixon. let's go down to it was a gordy's bar downtown kandu and have a drink. maybe he didn't. but richard kramer said --. you know that for the price of a drink at the bar downtown we could go to the liquor store and get a six pack. and my dad retired alignment and -- wrote the book on price theory literally wrote the book on price three. but the best book -- has ever ridden is is leader his memoirs or spectac. ular i encourage everybody. it's listening to watching to read it. and we celebrate that for sure because not only as steve says not only is it a great documentation of a historical moment. i mean it is a great documentation of it. significant historical moment here, but it has countless lessons to all of us. on how to govern and better yet how to behave. really and the two go hand in hand. i told you i laughed so hard at some points that people were concerned about me sitting sitting on the plane, but i'm just gonna give you a couple of of the lessons that i learned. first of all i one of the parts so i really laughed the hardest is when when the wives the faculty wives accosted you -- because he as a professor had written this piece. that the newspaper picked up that proved that. stay at home wives were overpaid. well, maybe not exactly but it's something like that something like that that in fact they were paid both for their consumption as well as for their as well as for their productivity. and so of course he's doing all this wonky stuff, but here's what it reminded me. it reminded me of shortly after -- went to congress his alma mater where you guys masters degree the university of north dakota at the time known as the fighting sioux until the ncaa said it was hostile and abusive. but which which by the way because of scarcity after that happened -- called me said, can you run over to grand forks and get me a fighting sue hockey jersey before before they're all gone. they were smart enough at und to print a whole bunch of them. but anyway. but at that event where he received the coveted sioux award the mc was the president of the alumni association and the state republican majority leader of the state legislature north dakota earl strinden. and -- gets up and gives this wonderful speech starting out about why how important the university system is because it not only teaches our children but teachers our children's children. right, that's pretty important. that's where the good news ended and he pivoted to the problem with the university system. of course phil is faculty governance, right? and i'm sorry he gives this oration of oration on faculty governance. why how bad that is and how it's ruining the university system and he gets all done and gets his wonderful ovation from all the wealthy donors to the university of north dakota and earl stranden gets up and says, just one quick announcement the dessert reception and honor of congressman army that was going to be hosted by the faculty has been canceled due to a recent lack of interest. one other thing about north dakota -- beloved home state and most of his family still lives there. i was distant can do about a week or two ago and and saw some of them but his preference for free markets senator graham. really supersedes the prairie populism of north dakota. he would add a hard time getting elected there. let's just say and although i think today he'd be hit that much better chance, but he did come and often knives game campaign for me in the 90s when i was young party chairman. he was the guy that would come and give the lincoln day speeches when we had no celebrities and from north dakota. we didn't even have a living republican that had been in at that time. but but we always had to get assurances that he would not talk about the farm bill or the farm programs and you would certainly not give his opinion about ethanol. and until until he came to cut the ribbon on the ronald reagan republic senator senator in bismarck. it just so happened that that same day john hoven the governor at the time now my colleague in the senate was to give the keynote address at the north dakota petroleum council, but he got sick. so they called scrambled in the mornings that could you get -- army possibly to fill in for john holden. and i said, i think i can. and as we were in the parking lot of the radisson and i said, this is your chance. to say whatever you want abo