NEWS AND OPINION:
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library is marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day on Thursday with a gathering of historians, military veterans and politicians who will reflect on the enduring impact of Operation Overlord and the D-Day landings. Panelists will take a historical look at our world 80 years ago, and address the implications of President Reagan’s “peace through strength” policies on today’s world.
The event will feature a keynote conversation with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Historian Douglas Brinkley — author of “The Boys of Pointe du Hoc: Ronald Reagan, D-Day, and the U.S. Army 2nd Ranger Battalion” — will also offer his perspective, as will Richard Burt, former U.S. ambassador to Germany, and Lisa Zanatta Henn — daughter of Pvt. 1st Class Peter Robert Zanatta of the D-Day Army Engineers 37th Combat Battalion.
Speakers also include Matt Kroenig, vice president and senior director of the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, Atlantic Council; James Kuhn, assistant to the president, Reagan White House; Frank Lavin, former political director at the Reagan White House; Kate Bachelder Odell, member of The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board; and Cameron Toor, veteran of the Army’s elite 75th Ranger Regiment.
Watch the event livestreamed on the Reagan Library’s YouTube channel, named “ReaganFoundation.” Find the event schedule and other information at ReaganFoundation.org.
HONORING NORMANDY
Here’s another programming note. Martha MacCallum, Fox News anchor and executive editor of “The Story,” will host her program from France in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
SEE ALSO: The boys of Pointe du Hoc
Ms. MacCallum will broadcast live from the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, speaking with World War II veterans and a bipartisan delegation of U.S. senators. The program begins at 3 p.m. Eastern time.
A LETTER OF NOTE
The National Republican Congressional Committee has crafted an unusual fundraiser for former President Donald Trump that includes a dramatic letter to the 45th president. Here’s a brief excerpt. It was emailed to Inside the Beltway on Wednesday:
“Dear President Trump,
“God bless you! During this dark time for America, we wanted to send you this letter to make sure you feel our love and support. So let us start by saying, from the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU!
“Thank you for protecting us from the Radical Left hordes that want to destroy our country and our movement.
“Thank you for never surrendering to these evil forces that want to destroy America. And thank you for sacrificing yourself for us.
“We know that they are after all of us, but you are selflessly standing in their way. That’s why: We will never stop fighting for you. We will never stop praying for you. And we will never abandon you.
“The Radical Left may have won this battle, but we will win the war.”
The National Republican Congressional Committee is a political committee devoted to increasing the number of Republicans in the House of Representatives. Find the committee at NRCC.org.
ANOTHER REALITY CHECK
The House Budget Committee has a thing or two to say about President Biden’s new executive order that is meant to secure U.S. borders.
“The order uses the same Section 212(f) authorities of the Immigration and Nationality Act that he derided President Trump for using,” a new analysis from the committee states.
“President Biden’s order purports to strengthen the asylum screening process, create actions to quickly resolve immigration cases, and initiate closer ties with the Mexican government to tackle the fentanyl crisis. Not only is it ironic that these provisions seek to repair the greatest self-made failure of Biden’s presidency, the border crisis, but these policies could have been enforced on day one,” the analysis said.
“President Biden recognizes that Americans are not buying his political messaging and in turn, released this sham of a ’crack down’ on border protection solely to gain votes,” the analysis continued, noting that there have been nearly 8 million encounters with illegal immigrants since Mr. Biden took office — and that this now costs the nation $150 billion a year.
“President Biden is now trying to reverse course. The reality is that this is too little, too late, and should be seen as a slap in the face to Americans,” the analysis said — deeming the situation “Biden’s Border Blunder.”
Find the committee — and its many reports — at budget.house.gov.
A ’TRUNCATED’ CONGRESS
Sen. John Cornyn has cited Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s “truncated legislative schedule” — particularly because it includes only nine in-session weeks before the election, and focuses, in his words, on “partisan show votes.”
The Texas Republican said as much Wednesday on the Senate floor.
“Under Democratic control, the Senate has turned into an unproductive body that follows a schedule that most American workers would envy. Including this week – which is almost finished — the Senate’s only scheduled to be in session for nine weeks before the election,” Mr. Cornyn said.
“Election day is exactly five months away, and the Senate is not breaking any records for our productivity or our willingness to take on hard problems that seem to surround us everywhere,” he said.
“Two-and-a-half-day work weeks, truncated work periods, the time we’ve wasted here on nominees and political show votes – this is no way to run the Senate, and it’s certainly not the way Republicans will do things if we regain control of the chamber next year,” Mr. Cornyn said.
POLL DU JOUR
• 18% of U.S. adults are “very hopeful” that political polarization in the U.S. will lessen in the next year.
• 25% are “somewhat hopeful” that political polarization will lessen in the next year.
• 24% are “not very hopeful” that polarization will lessen in that period.
• 22% are “not at all hopeful” that the polarization will lessen.
• 12% don’t know whether political polarization will lessen.
SOURCE: An Ipsos Consumer Tracker poll of 1,086 U.S. adults conducted online May 30-31.
• Contact Jennifer Harper at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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