Shortly after my arrival in Congress 10 years ago, my family and I were in our apartment when an evening vote was called. I rode the elevator with a more senior colleague from the other side of the aisle. After I introduced myself as Jim Ryun and we exchanged pleasantries, she offered me a ride to the Capitol.

In the car, my new Democratic friend mentioned that I was among several freshman lawmakers, some of whom were even famous. She told me that one of them was a famous former world-record-holding track star. I said, “I am that guy.” Apparently, I was not that famous. But I was still introduced to several Democratic members on the House floor as, “This is the runner.”

Ironically enough, I actually assumed her office space when she retired six years later. This is only one of many fond memories from my time serving in Congress. Serving as a member of Congress brought both victory and defeat.

To remember the successes, I simply need to look to our service members and the three military installations in my district in Kansas. Since I was first elected in 1996, one of my goals as a member of the Armed Services Committee was to strengthen our national defense and to build up these military bases. With such a large military presence in the 2nd District of Kansas – the two Army posts and the Air National Guard base help drive the economy – the possible effects of a round of Base Realignment And Closure constantly loomed in the back of everyone’s mind. BRAC could be devastating, but it could also be a boon to the local economy.

In May of 2005, after years of supporting Fort Riley, Fort Leavenworth, and Forbes Field, the BRAC recommendations were released. Tense feelings of anticipation quickly turned to sighs of relief when I read through the recommendations for Kansas and saw that all three of these bases would not only stay open but would also be growing.

Clearly, the top military officials who regularly visited these installations recognized the significance of the Kansas bases and confirmed the topnotch training the soldiers were receiving there. Add to that the 10 years of funding for military construction projects and the unmatched community support and military officials were wise to reward the bases’ achievements. This recognition and support from the top military officials will result in hundreds of millions of dollars for our military bases and the surrounding communities.

I believe that the victory I experienced during the 2005 round of BRAC did not just benefit Kansas but helped strengthen our entire national defense. Fort Riley, known as “America’s Warfighting Center” and home of the Big Red One, trains and deploys thousands of soldiers to Iraq, where they are embedded with the Iraqi Security Forces. With 10,000 additional soldiers at Fort Riley, they will be all the more capable to deploy the best -trained soldiers in the world.

While this victory was meaningful, I also learned much from defeat.

I know that the Republican Party accomplished much good during my service, but the recent election certainly provided an opportunity for clear reflection on the things we need to do better.

If one thing became clear on Nov. 7, it was that the Republican Party lost its brand. Once the party of Reagan that believed in limited government and conservative values, we became tagged instead as the party of corruption. The shameful activities of some of my former colleagues opened the door for those accusations. Republicans gained the majority in the House of Representatives in 1994 after Democrats came to be viewed as unethical. This year, we lost the majority for much the same reason.

As Republicans, we must return to our core conservative principles – principles developed as part of the Reagan revolution and amplified by the Contract with America. We must reaffirm our commitment to reforming government, as we pledged to do. We must stand strong in our resolve to resist the trappings that can come with Washington. The American people still support the principles of limited government, and we must show them that the Republican Party is still the party that can deliver these objectives.

A return to these principles will help us once again find our way to reclaiming the mantle of fiscal responsibility and demonstrating that we are indeed the party of fiscal restraint. We must support policies that promote restraint in entitlement spending as well as discretionary spending. We must prove that we desire to return control to state and local levels, especially when it comes to issues such as education. It will take a party-wide consensus to accomplish this return to our original values.

The bottom line is that conservatism has not been repudiated. It is alive and well. We conservatives know that the American people still want a government of strong values and limited intrusion in our lives. We as a party must assure Americans of our renewed vigor to be the party that delivers for them. That is the path we must take to regain the trust we surrendered.

When Republicans do this, we will again experience victory.