>> thank you. >> take care. if you're enjoying book tv then sign up for our newsletter using the qr code on the screen. to receive the schedule of upcoming programs and author discussions and book festivals and more, on book tv on c-span2 or book tv.org. television for serious read he is. ... thank you so much.

those of you who are here in the audience those of you who have >> thank you so much those ofe. you are here in the audience, those of you have joint online on c-span book. this is going to be a riveting conversation at a say that as someone who is a historian said just a couple of minutes of comets before he turned over to my friend and colleague steve moore who really will be running the show tonight. and that is a 1994 i was president of my universities college republicans. it was more than a dream as a son of the reagan revolution, that dick armey would soon be the majority leader, that phil grams economic expertise along with leader army, police for a narrow window in american political history would be ascendant in this town. and while we have to be careful as the story is not 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, one party being in charge instead of another. it is about the ideas that define us as a people, namely freedom, floor sheeting. and this town and this government is spending a hell of a lot less money than it does. so it is a great, great privilege to have dick armey, snore phil graham, one of my political mentors were ar couple of years later he was thinking about running for different office. he was in louisiana and i said senator, this is beforelo the ws read within louisiana, would you adopt us as arthur senator? he said yes, son, you just keep doing what you're doing. here we are many years later senator good to see you welcome back to heritage without further ado it's also an equally great privilege to havee steve moore back of the heritage foundation to welcome him here as our

m distinguished fellow editor in this program over to him. [applause] >> writers who can really -- [inaudible] >> thank thank you, kevin ce kind introduction. i'm loving this new era at heritage. it's fantastic and his leadership has been amazing. we are going to some fun today tonight and welcome to our c-span audience as well. dick armey is a legend. he's one of the few people in addition to phil gramm who actually came to this town try to make government smaller not bigger, so thank you a to both f you and so we have i just got this note from newt gingrich who was as you all know the speaker of the house and was the one with dick armey really engineered the republican revolution in 1994 such as

thought if i may dick, i would love to read this comment from speaker gingrich and a truly sweet. he says dick armey 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 leaderea who helped reelet the house the house gop majority for the first time in 68 years and help nldevelop the only four balance budgets and a lifetime. pretty amazing. his new book provides vivid and wise insight into the legislative process in the house as an institution with gratitude, newt gingrich. so that's really nice tribute to dick armey. this is the book. 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 great discussion

of how washington really works and how things get done and don't get done in washington. we are going to kind of have some fun telling our dick armey stories. there's probably in a this room at least 15 or 20 people who worked for you at one time or another and 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 mentors including myself. a so my little story about dick armey is that i worked for dick on the joint economic committee in 1993 and 1994. i remember when i was on the committee and i decided by the summer of 1994 that is going to leave the committee because i just had had it. if you were a minority member, t

working for a minority member in the house you might as well not a vendor of the democrats were so arrogant at the time after 40 years of rule it was like republicans weren't even there. i remember i went to dick and i said i love working for you but i just can't do this anymore. it's pulling my hair out and we are not really having much of an impact year and i'll never forget, dick turned me and said steve, you cannot leave now. remember this? you said don't leave now because we are going to take the house in november of 1994. you know, dennis, you're part of the revolution as well and i sit dick, whatever your smoking iw, want some of it. because it seemed so incredibly, and people forget improbable it seemed that how many seats did you have to pick up, like 60 or something like that. it was obviously a tidal wave election and it was in no small part because newt gingrich and dick armey and the contract with american republicans. there's a lesson 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 in the whole team from 1995 through 2000 it's true, only four balance budgets and the last 50 years we did welfare reform, we did the capital gains tax cut, all of these incredible things. dick armey was also for those of the younger people in this room you were the first inspiration for the flat tax idea. you were one of the first inspiration for medical savings accounts. you never with me on the term limits idea. i don't think you like that too much but anyway it's just a fantastic to have you here. i wanted to turn the podium over to senator phil gramm who actually i first met in this building back in 1984-85 when dick armey, phil gramm came up with this crazy idea called, they called it the gramm-rudman

bill. the gramm-rudman bill was basically automatic spending cuts if we couldn't get the deficit down and all of buwashington had heart palpitations over this but it was one of the few times that we actually cut spending under that graham rudman bill and he's been a crusade for small government as well and also hails from the great state of texas to give a nice warm welcome to senator phm of texas. [applause] thank you, steve. nobody told me 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 in the eye. he said, cap weinberger tells me that your gramm-rudman is more dangerous than the soviet menace. will you assure me that that's not the case? and i said yes, mr. president, i'll assure you that's not the case. well, dick and i were destined to become friends because we were both from texas, we were both economists and we both came to washington because we won less government and more freedom. a there's not a lot of people who come to government with the idea of having less of the very institution they come to be part of. the thing i always found was very interesting and i never lost my sort of all of it, and that was that dick always had this view that hee was like y in the soviet union that had

become a leader of the central committee, and was one of the people actually running the soviet union. so that when we got together it was sort of like i was there as his american handler and he was telling me what we were actually doing inside the belly of the beast. and i'd never ceased to find that fascinating. i serve 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 served with, dick armey was less interested, dick armey was less interested in getting credit for things he did than anybody i have ever dealt with in washington.

as far as i could tell, his aspiration, other than saving america, was owning a ford s. 150 king ranch version. [applause] >> and he got it. and dick's story is a story that reassures me about america. dick was from north dakota. i don't have any idea where it is. i went to north dakota campaigning once and i had to plug in the car to keep the tires from freezing. but he came from candu north dakota and he became the first republican, 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 a 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. people are always saying where are the reagans and where are that dick armey is now that we need them?

will, i never despair because i know they are out there. they are waiting to be discovered. they are waiting for the right moment. the only thing -- well, let me just say. the contract with america. dick armey wrote the contract of 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 dick armey was the founder of the contract with america. [applause]

i don't want to overstate my welcome but let me say a couple 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 dick 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 bases so thatat it allowed a congressmanr senator to go to the military base that the bulldozer was point out to knock down the gate and lie down on the ground telling his staff now just at the last moment, rushed in and drag me out and i'll be begging to die but pull me out, and then it will be gone.

and a 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 defense. dick 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 in the federal government, i don't understand. [applause] the average household in the bottom 20% of american income earners gets over $45,000 a year in benefits from the federal

government.t is there any wonder that you can't get people to work? and we were able to implement a program in ann area that was the most difficult areas where you've got an unmarried woman with children, a situation where senator warren with it as asa possible for her to work. well, guess what. we reform the program we set time limits and within four years 50% ofe the people that have been on the program were working. it's amazing what incentives do. so i'm very happy to be here today two, one, give credit where not enough credit has been given, partly because he lacked the skill to blow his own horn. and great privilege those years working y with you, one of the highlights of my career was getting

together with the dick to get his spine report, that he was actually running the system that came to washington to dramatically reform. so dick, congratulations. [applause] >> thank you, senator. those were terrific comments. just one thing about the contract with america. i remember dick, talking to you after the republicans won the congress and i kind was apologetic i said, dick, i didn't pay all that much attention to the contract of america because he never thought he would win. and you said, toasted, if people thought we would win they never would've signed the contract with america. that was a great, great period and it's been a faq all remember your first 100 hours? what was it the first 100 hours,

you did i mean you passed more good legislation then probably the previous 25 years in the first 100 hours so it's an amazing revolution. we have by the way i see a lot of new people come in. what i'd love if any, all of you in this room who at some point in your c career worked for dick armey, , could you please stand up? that's amazing. [applause] thank you all for being here. i'll say it again, dick legacy is really the amazing people he has mentored over the years. i want to call on kevin cramer. where are you? that you are. we have another person, second-most person from come most famous k person from north dakota here, kevin cramer is a senator from the state of north dakota and he is also i believe you are, youom are also from cao x what are the odds that two of the most famous people in

washington would come from cando, north dakota? senator, thank you so much. [applause] >> neither dick nor i are the most famous person from cando. peter davidson can attest that dave osborne one of dick's classmate all-pro running back for the vikings is from cando. he's from cando. he and dick are classmates. well, this is s such an honor. steve, thanks for including me to be able to participate my teen years in congress this is a highlight, it is. it really is, dick. i mean it. for the handful of you who have read the whole book, susan and i know, i'm sure she proofread it many times but a read the whole book. i might've been the first person in america to read the whole book. i was texting dick as as a rg on the airplane going i'm laughing so are the people next to me are concerned. but just to give you a little context if you didn't read the book, my daddy and dick armey

lived across the alley from one another in cando and in the book dick tells a story about richard kramer the elder richard, there's a number of richards and references but was passed with teaching the younger richard how to climb poles when dick joined the rural electrical cooperative as line for a summer job. now i love the fact that dick had to go to union shop and work for co-op. that was the last time he did either of those things. but more importantly than that even, charley armey, dick's brother who along with phil gramm really are the two stars of the book. they get more ink than anybody else combined and so charlie armey dick's older brother and my daddy were best man at each other's m wedding. theyer both married well, dade

married state married their entire life. dick didn't butim this part in e book. he put the part of a climbing poles. my dad, dick tells bickham gave him his first one of his first economics lessons. dick and dad after work one day dick said let's go down to was it gord is our downtown and have a drink? maybe he didn't. [laughing] but richard kramer said dick, you know that for the price of a drink at the bar downtown we could go to the liquor store and get a sixpack. my dad, retired lineman, and dick wrote the book on price theory, literally wrote the book on price three. the best book dick is ever written, his memoirs, their spectacular. i encourage anyone listening or watching to read it. and we celebrate that for sure. because not only as steve says that only is it a great documentation of the a stroke moment, it is a great

documentation, significant historical moment but it has countless blessings to all of us on how to govern, and better yet how to behave. really. the two go hand in hand. i told you i laughed so hard at some points the people weree concerned about me sitting on the plane. i'm going to give you a couple of the lessons i learned. first of all, one of the parts i really left the hardest is when the wise, the faculty wives accosted you, dick, 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 exact but something that. something likehan that. in fact, they were paid both fos their consumption as well as for their productivity. he's doing all this wonky stuff but here's what reminded me of the reminded of shortly after dick went to congress his alma mater where he got his master

degree the universe of north dakota at the time known as the fighting sioux, it was hostile in the news, but which by the scarcity after that happen dick called me and said can you went over to grand forks and giveue me a fighting sioux hockey jersey before they are all gone? they were smart enough to print whole bunch. but anyway, but at that event where he received the coveted pseudoword, the mc was the president of the alumni association and the state republican majority leader of the state legislator. hidick gets up and gives this wonderful speech starting out about how important the university system is because i natalie teaches the children but teaches their children's children. that's pretty important. that's with the good news ended and he pivoted to the problem with the university system of course that is faculty governance. he gives thiss orientation on faculty governance how bad that

is and how it of many the university system and he gets all done and get this wonderful ovation from all of wealthy donors and girl gets up and says just one quickju announcement. the dessert reception in honor of congressman armey is going to be hosted by the faculty has been canceled due to a recent lack of interest. [laughing] one other thing about north dakota, dick's the love at home state of his family still lives there, i was there a week or two ago and so some of them but his preference for free markets, senator graham, really supersedes the prairie populism of north dakota. although i think today he would to have much better chance butca he did come and campaign for me in the '90s when as a young party chairman he was the guide would come and give the link ana a speech is one we had no celebrities from north dakota. we didn't even have a living republican whip been in congress at the time, but we always had

to get assurances he would not talk about the farm bill or the farm programs and you would certainly not give his opinion about ethanol. until, until he came to cut the ribbon on the ronald reagan republican center in bismarck. it just happened that same day john hoven the government at the time nowke my colleague in the senate was to give the keynote address of the note under north dakota petroleum council but you get sick so they scrambled and said could you get dick armey to fill in? i said i think i can. as were in the parking lot of the radisson and i said this is your chance to say whatever you want about ethanol in north dakota. he got up, i'll never forget he gets up in front of all these oilmen k and he said kramer said ike is anything i want about ethanol. it was such a damn time i get the russians didn't even try it. [laughing] and true story and he got a

standing ovation. he didn't have to say another word. [applause] i did one time tried to plead my case for the farm bill in his office. you've got to admit free markets don't work in every situation because agriculture is heavily subsidize by all of our competitors. we just were trying to have a fair market alleys level the playing field a little bit to which he said without thinking about it contemplating worrying about my feelings come he said i've never met an american who decide to become a farmer because somebody put a gun to the head. i said will talk about something else. let's talk about linda or ee. anyway, i know there's a 39 page index on dick's book. i bet i've twice that many pages that i've written. so i will always be able to go back to the things that really didn't matter because dick took actions and took them into parables.

again historical todd is a lot of things. i agree with you. i think it should be required reading for every freshman for sure, for every freshman that comes to congress for sure because one thing that t newt gingrich said to me for some ever met him and they told him that you and my dad grew up together he said dick armey is the epitome ofll what one man cn do in congress if he has the will. ladies and gentlemen, when he passed brac he was a junior member of the minority party. that should be encouragement for everybody that aspires to do big things. the lessons of your leadership proved regulargu order works, ie been in congress tenures and i've never seen regular order. your book proves regular order works when you respect every member, when you empower every committee and you honor the chairman. i'd like to see that return. i think we can get back to a lot of those principles if, in fact, we just take care of those.

perhaps the greatest economic lesson you taught us dick and he teaches in your book is that god's grace is in high demand and high supply, , and it's stil free. [applause] one of the most important lessons i take from dick's book is that going homeds on weekends makes you a better member of congress and going on a codel. that one is going to hurt some people. but it's true. you inspired me to be a senator as well and you know that. you knownd that. the reason, the way he did it don't work will be as blunt as you put it, a was because i askd init 1993, senator gramm, , if h a celebrity from texas as he is whatever run for the open seat vacated by lloyd bentsen, to which he said i'm not a big enough, you know, to be senator, but you have the potential.

[laughing] >> really phil gramm and you have always had great aspirations for me. dick armey and my father learned a really valuable lesson together climbing poles, that if you work long hours you get time in half. and then professor armey became congressman armey and leader armey and he has his entire team info you have seen tonight and there are many others proved that if you work long hours at their job you don't make an extra penny. but just like my dad who earned time and a half benefit of his family, dick and his team and their hard work and benefit all of our families. you can live with that assurance, dick. you are a man to quote her own book not about you but i'm going to court it back to you, , admit of great stature as well as a upgrade status here there are two men in my life, dick,

without whom i would never be a united states senator. they are both named richard andt both are from cando, and i love you both. [applause] >> thank you so much, senator. that s was fabulous. by the way i apologize a forgot to make the most important person in thatt room, susan armey. susan, thank you for everything you have done. [applause] so i asked a few people would you like to say something about your husband? [inaudible] all right. i can't wait to y hear what you have to say. ladies and gentlemen, susan armey. [applause] >> i wasn't sure if i supposed

to come up or not but here i am. let me think about this. my husband and i have been married for almost 42 years. [applause] and i've got to say it has never been boring. i remember when he first came to me, we'd all been married about two and half years, and he said you know honey i've been thinking about i really think i could do a lot of good and do some good work if i ran for congress. and i said, what? i'm cooking dinner. we have children here. what are you talking? so anyway i just very quickly i read a few articles from political families and how tough their lives were and i said if you do this, honey, i will have to think seriously about the divorce. and so i laughed and he said really? i said well, i don't know, let's talk about it so we did. he really had deep felt

feelings. he had a plan and he knew who he was. he was an economist and he had been watching c-span and hee would talk to me about this and he would say there's so many good things that we could do. and so i just really didn't want him to do it but he did auntie, and i encouraged him to do what he wanted, what his dream wast. andy ran and against all odds key one. and then he said, i'll never be in leadership. those guys that had work all the time. i'm going to be a regular member to do my work. i said good, that's great because we can get back to our normal life. before i know it he is running for leadership and he wins. of course he was right. he wasn't home for eight years. i look back now that we're out of it, it's a much better i can look back, and he did so much. i mean, he and his team, they did so much.

he had the best team in d.c. and they did wonderful work together. and i look back, it's been what, 20 years since you've been out of congress, and i'm amazed as i've gotten oldert i amazed with what my husband and his team did. so it was worth it. w it was worth it. the kids say it was good. [applause] >> before we hear from dick armey there's one personoo in ts room who really played a huge, huge role in dick armey becoming a member of congress but also majorityy leader was with dick for many, many years, really literally from the very startha and that is kevin knott. can you say anything about the stories of the first campaign that had dick really rolled the dice and would put everything on the line, was amazing. so think of revenue you did to

make dick armey the success that he was. [applause] >> i will try to restrict and forget it susan actually voted for dick in the first election. [laughing] with her tonight from senator graham and others about how much a difference in may. it's true. phenomenal difference he made in his career. but i try to forget what made them different and so i thought about if you think. one is he truly is fearless. he chose to run for congress when everybody said it's cool to try. anybody thought there's no way he's going to win against the guy who was incumbent would been mayor of arlington for 26 years what millions of dollars, but he did anyway and he said i'm going to win my own way. he knocked on 10,000 doors. he make thousands of phone calls.

he scratched his way. he got it done but is honest with me when he interviewed me he and susan interviewed me to be his campaign manager, he goes i need to know two things. i don't have any money at a don't know anybody who does. [laughing] and he was correct on that. [laughing] you talk on all the fights when she got up to d.c. and the base closing bill he was literally a junior member second trump not on the armed service committee, and i remember one time senator gramm he sure did i do with you and said that can be done, that's a possible because i tried one time. dick says that just makes me you want to try that much more. with brian gunderson and others on the team after three or four good years of getting it done, it got through and to continue for many, many rounds and safe millions and millions of dollars. but there's lots of other issues. he took on school choice back when even the bush of administration was opposed to it.

i think a first goal was to geti a majority of republicans to vote for and now it's party orthodoxy. public housing reform with jack kemp, all the others in thoseic days. agriculture subsidies which are about which people that you can never touch protecting those goals which i think to this they probably shut down congress more than any other project i've ever seen. but yeah, we just had remarkable success across a variety of issues and is trying to think of other house members were senators who left a legacy who left behind such a big body of work and to think that mayd kennedy on the other side, maybe so grandpa there are not many. today for a short list. you can be proud of what you left behind. another difference is he actually truly didn't give a hoot what anybody thought about. that gave him remarkable freedom. he did what he thought was right and what is conscious told them to do and he couldn't be banned.

lobbyists couldn't bend him. his donors and his district couldn't bend him and he lost several of them because he tried and he refused. he told constituents what he believed, and in a one famous encounter out of town hall meeting a guy kept badgering him over something over over again and take said i've had enough of you. meet me outside after this and i will kick your butt. [laughing] he may not have said but. but that was kind of who he was your he's not just a fighter come he's a thinker and that's another thing that set them apart is he really does spend time actually thinking. i think pot time today is a pretty rare commodity. my kids i try to g get them to, you got empty time, think. don't go to your phone and look 'at something or dick would be p fishing or go for one or whatever and he would just think. a lot of times on monday mornings he would call b me in s office and goes i've been thinking, and i knew something

was up at that point and he would have some idea, like even back in the university team up with his invisible foot of government corollary to adam smith's invisible hand of the market. look it up, , it's really well done.n but he would come up with an idea and congress that we would analyzee for days turned into some project and many of them would change america and just he would take the time to think. today we're just reacting to stuff that we see on the news or people are pushing but you actually take time and think about it whether it's on a powerful and north dakota thinking that what he should go back to college or thinking about flat tax or some other economic concept. he also analyze people and he could unlock people because he would study and understand them. to this day newt gingrich is a great guy, love the guy, spent thousands of hours in be within in the rest of the leadership i think dick probably analyze

new data than anybody else who's written or talked about newt. i'll let you read the book to see his analysis of newt but i think it's spot on. he read widely and he remembered what he read for all the classic economists have smith, george gilder was a greatat friend of him, thomas soul, milton friedman. i mean, he read them and he studied in an remembered them and learn how to apply them in different situations and he could articulate the concepts whether it's a leadership meeting or a town hall meeting or a tv interview. he could explain it better than anybody else i think i know and many leadership meetings there would be a big battle about something. dick would then launch into this soliloquy bring in several famous economists of the past and just shut the whole thing down. well, i can't argue with that. later when he became a believer in christ years into his career

he learned to live out his faith in everything he did and that gave him tremendous piece, particularly toward the end when heig was just unfairly malignedy a lotnd of people who should've been his friend and had to go through a lot and took quite a few slings and arrows and he did it with a peaceful heart and that many of us could walk through it the way he did. they also develop true friendships with people that you would expect. those of you been around a while, remember ron dellums? he and dick were great but if the did agree on target anything but her great friends. jim wright, they became greate friends. joe moakley. they became friends when they were doing homeland security committee. chuck schumer, we attacked farm subsidies working with chuck schumer in the day. jackhe brooks and was the crusts guy in the h world but it is the only guy who could joke with them and get away with it. even barney frank there were

actually friends. people don't believe that but they were. his good nature allowed him to say things that most people couldn't again -- did away with it when my favorite stories in the book is issuing up one of the office buildings and as he was going through maxine waters happen to show up and choose with some of our colleagues. as you know maxine waters might appreciate this and maxine, i'm so glad to see you. she goes, why? now we can call off the witch hunt. [laughing] and she just laughed, and our colleagues and said, maxine, you can't takeat that. come on, that was pretty funny. bush had a good sense of humor about it, too. he often said he was good at being pithy. people didn't always like it when he pithed on them. [laughing] i recent comeback to to feel after a 20 yearnd absence and ai looked at the hilt of the it's

very, very different place but today's lyrical entrepreneurs as opposed to policy out of maneuvers, today what typically passive as as a campaign is e an incendiary comment or perhaps tweet something that's outrageous, go under favorite tv network, yellow somebody is practical and then go send out millions of e-mails and try to raise money onat and then go bak into the same thing the next day. that's pretty much what a large part of our movement has turned into, which is unfortunate. we desperately need people who approached the job like dick did. it's hard to find an entrepreneurial congressmen now part of because they check the rules that and members don't have an opportunity to be effective on the committee offer amendments on the floor like you did for so long. but i hope if republicans when they take the majority that they will reopen this and let members show they can be a legislator and not just a performer.

we need that substance. we need the political changes that can be made. for anyone who wants to understand the way congress worked during army and grams era, read his book. i think it's a classic book that people can learn from and i agree members make heritage can give a copy to all the freshmen who come in. think would be well worth their time to read it. they need to i learn what it is, flint replicant because we need more leaders can change america what he did. he did come to d.c. we used to write rent and a pickup truck and he would say i want to go to washington, d.c. he did. but we need people to do it every generation. we need a whole new crop i think they can do what you did, dick. i'm terribly proud to have known you, proud to have worked with you and to get to know susan over the years and all the other members of our team who are herm

tonight. it was wonderful group and incredible era. thank you for letting me be part of it. [applause] >> owing to do one other quick dick armey story and then -- going to -- by the way the book is "leader" by richard k. armey and it is a wonderful read. just one fun story that kerry reminded me of. i see andy is here in the front row and worked diligently and helping put together the flat tax idea that, the army flat tax. you remember -- you may remember the story of the called and a of really prominent economists to have a conversation with dick about that plan and so we brought in art laffer and i think it was steve forbes, and to think like jack kemp was a period the three of them were huddled on this couch and armies

office and kind of sitting across from them and take armies for statement, he said gentlemen, said, there has not been as much a brainpower on that couch since i slept there alone. [laughing] classic dick armey. now we're going to hear from dick armey, the great, maybe one of the greatest majority leaders in history of the house of representatives, dick armey. [applause] >> thank you. thank you all. i just really want to make two points. the first is about the house of representatives. i came to know and understand that this is the most unique institution in the cause of liberty and representative democracy in history of the

world, and i was so privileged to be part of it. i learned to love it, the institution. i learned to love the people who loved the institution. one ofid the people whose president recurs in my book and one of the few people with whom i served whose approval i coveted was senator byrd from west virginia. people think that's a strange choice, but i loved senator byrd for the way he loved the institution. and i wanted him to remember me as a person that did honor to the institution. i'd like to believe i succeeded. when i came there the institution rose run by regular order. the democrats were evil. we knew that. but they ran a good ship. and as a young entrepreneur only

minded member of congress i could innovate legislation because i knew what the rules were. thanks largely to david hobbs who taught me the ropes. but if you know the institutional structure and the procedures andwi the protocols, and if you dare to believe they will be counted on, you can't exceed in your individual initiative. you can't in the world that doesn't have that structure. now, i look at the congress today and i feel bad. i remember the people that i serve. i remember the democrats who are in charge of everything, but each and every one of those grumpy old men had served this nation in the service of its defense. they knew the sacrifice of that

service. they understood the cause of liberty that they have paid for, and they treated liberty with a very, very gentle, loving touch. and they deserve to be respected, and they were, but noww i've watched the house fall in a different direction. i have seen republican speakers who have fallen by the wayside, and i can say i believe it for one simple reason only, they left the structure behind. they got ahead of the body. they failed to respect each and every member and the right to participate. and then they would come to the floor with a product that is not been seen or worked on by members at large and try to

bully it into passage. and it was a heartbreaking thing to watch. i believe that if the state of this country preserve their integrity as granted in the constitution to administer their elections, and if the elections are not administered fairly and honestly, the republicans will regain majority of the house. i believe they do an extraordinary good job. i of administering honest elections. the republicans will gain a majority in the senate. and i have a wish and a prayer for these new majority. run the organization in compliance with its rules and its protocols and its wonderful traditions. allow each member to be honored and appreciated and active, and doing what it is they do so well

on every committee. you have people have devoted a lifetimes career who have expertise and historical knowledge that should be respected. and if you do that, mr. speaker, you will retain your speakership because you will have an honest, happy, and productive institution, and it will be to your credit. that will mean you will have to stand up to and administration that wants to go to the drawing room together just a few of us and we will work it out and bring it back. you will have to say no, we don't do things like that in our body. we do things and an all inclusive and respectful fashion together. we are an institution, and by the way, of all of the things i admired about newt gingrich, the one thing i admired the most, he understood congress was a

separate and equal body of this government. and its prerogatives and its obligations needed to be protected and they needed to be administered. and thank you, newt, for that greatdo lesson. that's what we do. we come here to serve the nation, to do so together in an inclusive fashion that is respectful of all our members. all our members. even those nitwits on the other side of the aisle should be respected. i i remember joe kapp was being dissed because he couldn't throw a perfect spiral. his response was i am a starting quarterback in the nfl. i apologize to no one. i was elected by my citizen friends back home, and i apologize to no one, and on their behalf i demand to be

respected. now let me just take a personal. i wrote this book. people will think it's about me. it's not about me. especially those years in congress. it's about us. we did it together. i was never able to talk about my staff. i couldn't see them. we were a team we were together. we stuck up for each other. we stuck byon each other. and i r wrote one day, i composd it, a typo. i found myself typing these words. we loved l each other for what e loved together. i safe and a prosperous and happy america. we did that. and we did it so well with such success of loyalty and loving affection through a system that i called respectful division of labor, that we became known as

army guys. and i loved that. i thought it was fitting. you could've called them kerry knott guys. you could've called them gillespie if you like good whiskey but we were army guys and michelle davis was the first to enlighten us guys. that the term army guys is a gender-neutral term. [laughing] we are all army guys and we discovered did we notot before e all broke up, there were peoplet were not ofho our staff, not in our shop. there were other members of congress. they were even a handful of particularly enlighten cinders who have called themselves armey guys. so if you're an armey guy is because you love one another for what you loved together, i safe and prosperous and happy

america. that's why we work. that's the price for which we toil. so may i ask you if you are an armey guy, will you stand and give yourself a hand? thank you. [applause] well, dick armey, it is fantastic to have you back in washington. i think this is your first, one of your first trips back since you left out and so it's amazing that you able to come here. it's a great book. it's called "leader." truly i mean this is a great, great book. it's a great read w about how washington works and what it doesn'tt work. senator phil gramm thank you so much, from texas. it was really fantastic having you. we will have drinks afterwards

and all of the armey guys and gals are going to be having dinner afterwards, so dick armey, thank you for all you did for our country. you are a great, great patriot. [applause] >> american history tv saturdays on c-span2 exploring the people and events that tell the american story. at 12:30 p.m. eastern eastern on the presidency author and collections director of the george washington masonic national memorial talks about george washington's involvement with freemasonry and its influence on his life and work from his book a deserving brother. at 4:45 p.m. eastern cast members of the world war ii miniseries band of brothers reflect on the historical and cultural significance of the show two decades after it aired. exploring the american stories. watch american history tv saturdays on c-span2 and find a

full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at c-span.org/history. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more including cox. >> homework can be hard, but squatting in a diner for internetwork is even harder. that's why we're providing low income students access to affordable internet so homework can just be homework. cox connects to compete. >> cox, along with these other television providers giving to a front seat to democracy. >> well, hello, everyone. welcome. i am liz neeley and i am absolutely delighted to be moderating today's session. this is underwater, climate change. if you're not interested in hearing