State Senator Tony Strickland, who has spoken for Young America's Foundation students before, is now working to get a statue of President Reagan in the State Capitol in Sacramento, California.      

He held a press conference at the Reagan Ranch Center yesterday to introduce the bill that would lead to the statue.  Read more about it here, here, or here. 

Foundation Vice President Andrew Coffin made a statement at the press conference, as follows: 

"It is a privilege to be able to support Senator Strickland in his effort to erect a statue of Ronald Reagan at our State Capitol. Representing a district that is truly in the heart of Reagan Country, encompassing both the Reagan Library in Simi Valley and Rancho del Cielo, the Reagan Ranch, here in Santa Barbara, it is certainly fitting that it would be Senator Strickland who proposes this bill.

Ronald Reagan, of course, would have never sought such an honor for himself. He famously kept a sign in the oval office that read, “It’s surprising what you can accomplish when no one is concerned about who gets the credit” – and this is a motto that truly defined his public service.

And yet Ronald Reagan had an uncanny ability to inspire the American people. His commitment to principle, his love for this great nation, his ability to help the world see America again as the “shining city upon a hill” – these qualities inspired a nation and do so still. And thus, while Ronald Reagan himself may have shied away from this great honor, I believe it is a vital way for this state to keep that legacy alive as we approach the 100^th anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s birth.

Ronald Reagan also said that “freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” Here at his beloved Santa Barbara Ranch we are convinced that Reagan’s values and ideas still speak powerfully to the issues that threaten the American way of life today, and we’re thrilled to support an effort that will help our state not only honor the accomplishments of a great man, but remember and cherish the commitment to freedom that defined Ronald Reagan’s public life."