Cruz: We are called to live free
WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) spoke today at the 2013 Values Voter Summit at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Below are excerpts from the Senator's remarks:
“Throughout history we have seen great nations rise and fall. And everyone here today is here today because we are not content for the United States of America to rise and do anything but continue to be the greatest country on the face of this Earth.
“Only the American people can turn this great nation around. Only the American people. The book of Ecclesiastes tells us there is nothing new under the sun. As dire as things are, I want each of us to remember back to 1978 and 1979. Those were dark times with 22 percent interest rates. Double-digit unemployment, gas lines going around the block; our hostages languishing in Iran for 444 days. The President of the United States said: we have to accept malaise, the Soviet Union can’t be stopped; our foreign policy is 'détente'—which I’m pretty sure is French for surrender. And what were we all told, over and over again? There is nothing you can do about it. It can’t be done. The top marginal tax rate is 70 percent and it will stay 70 percent no matter what. The Soviet Union cannot be defeated. The government will always grow and freedom in America will always recede.
“In 1980, the Reagan Revolution began across this country. I’m looking at a lot of foot soldiers and generals from the Reagan Revolution. A lot of men and women in this room bear the scars and understand the power that when the people rise up, ultimately sovereignty resides in one place and one place only. And that is with We the People.
“I’m going to suggest a model for how we turn this country around in the next couple of years. It is the model we have been following together to stop that train wreck, that nightmare, that disaster that is Obamacare.
“It is because of you that the House of Representatives has been standing strong because the House has been listening to the people; It is because of you that for the past two months the country has been engaged in a national debate about the enormous harms that Obamacare is causing.
“All of the millions of Americans who are losing their jobs, being pushed into part time work, losing their health insurance. It is because of you that the American people are energized, and we see the Obama Administration defending positions that are utterly and completely unreasonable. Repeatedly the House of Representatives has acted to compromise, to fund vital priorities, and repeatedly President Obama and the Democrats have refused to negotiate.
“There are two things I have unabiding faith in: One is a benevolent God who loves each and every one of us, and number two is the American people who love liberty and opportunity unlike any nation, any people in the history of this world.
“Each of you is called to be here. Much like Esther, you are called for a time such as this. For hundreds of years every generation of Americans has given to their kids and grandkids greater opportunity, greater prosperity, a greater future. If we keep going down this road, we will become the first generation not to do that. And every man and woman in this room believes in your heart and in your soul that is utterly and completely unacceptable.”
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