Whereas, in 1972, the Heritage Foundation was conceived by Dr. Edwin J. Feulner and Paul Weyrich to deliver timely and persuasive research to Congress with facts, data, and sound arguments on behalf of conservative principles; Whereas, on February 16, 1973, the Heritage Foundation opened its doors with the support of the Coors, Noble, and Scaife families and grew to become the most influential and most broadly supported conservative think tank in the United States; Whereas the Heritage Foundation has played a critical role in many great legislative successes in the United States over the past 5 decades; Whereas the Heritage Foundation published the 1,093-page Mandate for Leadership in 1981, which served as a policy bible for President Ronald Reagan, including the 1981 tax cuts that ignited the biggest economic boom in United States history; Whereas, in 1982, the Heritage Foundation published the first comprehensive study outlining a missile defense system to defend the United States from nuclear missile attack, and 6 months later, President Ronald Reagan made his historic speech calling for a strategic defense initiative to protect the United States; Whereas, in 1988, the Heritage Foundation authored its first candidate briefing book, which has become an essential tool to help frame policy debates; Whereas, in 1995, the Heritage Foundation hosted its first New Member Conference to educate freshmen members of Congress, a program that takes place every 2 years before the new Congress takes office; Whereas research by the Heritage Foundation formed the basis of welfare reform in the 1990s that would result in more than 5,000,000 people in the United States leaving welfare and finding work, and reducing African-American child poverty to historic lows