Award honors recipients for exemplifying virtues of Teddy Roosevelt

      The Ripon Society, a Republican public policy advocacy organization representing all Americans through progressive policy formation that upholds traditional, common-sense Republican principles, annually honors individuals who have pushed for innovative policy solutions on a range of issues. The basis for the Rough Riders Award is this quote by the former president:

 “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles....The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, … but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his places shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

- Theodore Roosevelt, April 23, 1910

      Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids, was recognized for his involvement in environmental issues, his work to improve math and science education and his leadership in improving the computer systems for the U.S. House of Representatives.

      Ehlers, who chairs the House Science Committee’s Subcommittee on Environment, Technology and Standards, has authored several pieces of legislation aimed at cleaning and restoring the Great Lakes, including the Great Lakes Legacy Act, which became law in 2002, and the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Implementation Act (H.R. 5100), which is currently pending in Congress.

      A Ph. D. nuclear physicist and the first research scientist elected to Congress, as well as a member of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, Ehlers has worked hard to promote math and science education whenever possible in order to keep the U.S. competitive in the world economy. He also authored “Unlocking Our Future: Toward a New National Science Policy” for the Science Committee in 1998.

      As a longtime member and current chairman of the Committee on House Administration, Ehlers has led the way in improving computer systems for the House and making it possible for the public to interact with their members of Congress through the Internet.

      “I am truly honored to receive this award,” said Ehlers, who received a replica of Roosevelt’s cavalry sword to commemorate the award. Roosevelt was leader of the 1^st Volunteer Cavalry, also known as the Rough Riders, during the Spanish-American War. “I have long admired Teddy Roosevelt as a great leader who had a wonderful vision of how our government and nation could be a leader in this world.”