Vice President Pence Issues Remarks at Patriot’s Gala of Faith & Freedom Coalition
THE VICE PRESIDENT: It is -- it's wonderful to be back. Wonderful to be back with the men and women of the
Ralph and I have known each other a long time -- all the way back when we both had dark hair. (Laughter.) But Ralph knows me well enough to know that I'm humbled by his words, but the introduction I prefer is a little shorter. I'm a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican in that order. (Applause.) And it's my great honor to be with you tonight.
And we are among so many people who make such a difference, in pulpits around the land and in public service and leading organizations that represent our values. But I'm also honored to be joined tonight by a sum of my real heroes, like Senator
And to
And I also understand that, later tonight, the
And speaking of friends of mine, let me begin tonight by bringing greetings from a another friend of mine. He's on the other side of the world, but I know his heart is here with all of you. And I know he kicked off your week of gathering for the
You know, starting you off this week, the President said, and I quote, "Americans' belief in God has forged the character of our country and made our nation a light unto the world." And the President added, our administration is "fighting for all Americans and we are embracing the faith community" as never before.
Thanks to your support and thanks to the leadership of this President, I'm pleased to report to you that faith and freedom are on the rise all across America. (Applause.)
You know, it's the greatest honor of my life to serve as Vice President to a President who gets up every day just to keep the promises that he made to the American people. And he's been standing without apology for faith and freedom every day. And I have seen it when the cameras are off. This is a -- this is a President who is a man of action. But President
You know, I think there's only one way you could describe the last two years. It's been two years of action. It's been two and a half years of results. It's been two and a half years of promises made and promises kept. (Applause.) But we're just getting started. (Applause.)
I mean, think about it.
And you're from all across America so you don't need me to tell you, but I'll tell you anyway. (Laughter.)
5.8 million new jobs since
Probably most meaningful to the President and me: Wages are rising at their fastest pace for working and blue-collar Americans. The forgotten men and women of America are forgotten no more. (Applause.) And the American Dream is working again for every American. (Applause.)
The unemployment rate for women is at a 60-year low and it's the lowest unemployment rate ever recorded for African Americans and Hispanic Americans. (Applause.)
I can tell you in this room know firsthand confidence is back, jobs are back. In a word, America is back. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE:
THE VICE PRESIDENT: But as we all know, the foundation of our prosperity is security. And on that count, the President has been busy as well. After years where we saw reckless cutbacks in our military, at a time when we took office, there were literally American military aircraft that were grounded so they could be used as spare parts for other aircraft to keep them in the air.
Thanks to this President's leadership and our strong allies in the
And with that renewed American strength, we have a President who wants -- is once again embracing his role as leader of the free world.
We're standing strong with our allies, and we're having our allies do more than they've ever done before. As I stand before you today, our NATO Allies are contributing more to our common defense than they have for four decades. And this President has stood. He's stood with our allies, especially our most cherished ally, like when
That's what we call promises made and promises kept. With that renewed American strength, we've also stood up to our adversaries and those who would challenge America's interests around the world.
This President has put
And we've taken the fight to radical Islamic terrorists on our terms, on their soil. And thanks to the courage of our men and women of the United States Armed Forces and this Commander-in-Chief, the last inch of territory controlled by
And I'm proud to report, in the wake of that military victory,
In fact,
And, men and women, persecuted Christians around the world deserve our prayers. And I promise you that they will always have the support of
So we've stood up for people of faith and our most cherished values on the world stage. But as you all know and have been such a big part, we've also been standing for those values here at home since the very first day of this administration. This President has reaffirmed our commitment to the rule of law, to the foundation of constitutional principles on which our nation was built.
This President has actually appointed more judges to our
I've met many of these judges on the bench. They're incredible. One hundred and fourteen federal judges confirmed so far, Senator. And how about a round of applause for
And our administration has also taken action to protect and promote our first freedom: the religious liberty of every American.
You know, I probably don't need to tell all of you that we live in a time when it's actually become fashionable to mock religious belief. And we see it among media elites, television commentators, and liberal politicians.
You remember back in 2016 when they called us deplorable? Recently, our former Vice President actually said that Americans who stand for traditional moral values are, in his words, "forces of intolerance," including, and I quote, "dregs of society."
In fact, one senator who also has national aspirations, said that our administration's budget director -- who happens to be a Bible-believing Christian -- is not, as he said, quote, "someone who this country is supposed to be about," simply because was a Christian.
Now, I must tell you, the American people cherish the religious freedom and the freedom of conscience of every one of our citizens, and these attacks on people of Christian faith must stop. (Applause.)
It's just not what we're about as Americans. Americans cherish the faith of every person, the freedom of conscience of every person to believe or not to believe, according to the dictates of their conscience and their traditions. And I commend you for upholding that principle.
And I'll make you a promise: Under this President and this administration, we will always stand with people of faith. We will always defend the freedom of religion of every American, of every faith, so help us God. (Applause.)
Back in 2016, this President promised that he would, in his words, "defend your religious liberties and the right to fully and freely practice your religion, as individuals, business owners and academic institutions." And that's exactly what he has done.
We've taken action to protect the conscience rights of doctors and nurses, in this administration. After years of neglect, we've restored federal enforcement of our nation's conscience laws, and we ended the last administration's assault on the
And as the President said just a few days ago, here in this
You know, you think about the freedom of speech and the pulpits of this nation -- maybe when
We've also gone to court to protect the right to religious expression in the public square. It's amazing to think, decades ago, a 40-foot cross was built in
But in this administration, we stood for the Peace Cross in
So we've stood for liberty, for the rule of law, and the foundation of our constitutional liberties. But let me tell you from the bottom of my heart: I couldn't be more proud to serve as Vice President to a President who stands without apology for the sanctity of human life. President
I mean, in one of the President's very first acts, he reinstated the Mexico City Policy to make sure that taxpayer dollars wouldn't be used to promote abortion overseas or to promote and provide abortion overseas or around the world.
And I was honored to cast the tie-breaking vote and to watch the President sign legislation that allowed states across the country to defund
And speaking of the nation's largest abortion provider, you know, we all remember back in 2015 when those chilling undercover videos were on the airwaves of the nation that showed horrific conversations about the sale and transfer of parts of aborted babies. So I want to be sure you know, just a few weeks ago, President
You know, it is remarkable to think, at a time when more and more Americans -- especially younger Americans are embracing the sanctity of life -- that the party that once said abortion should be safe, and legal, and rare, now supports abortion on demand, even late-term abortion.
In state legislatures across the country,
AUDIENCE:
THE VICE PRESIDENT: You should also know that
It now seems that there's even a litmus test in the Democrat campaign for President that taxpayer funding must be provided for abortion throughout pregnancy.
You know, it wasn't that long ago that we had a bipartisan consensus in the
But today, things are different. Even some leading
You know, I've long believed that a society can be judged by how it deals with its most vulnerable: the aged, the infirmed, the disabled, and the unborn. And so let me say, with so many
So, we've been growing our economy. We've been providing for our national defense. We've been standing up for our values at home and abroad. But men and women of Faith and Freedom, we know there are still challenges that we face as a nation.
And most poignantly in the hearts and minds of Americans today, there is now a broad national realization of what the President and I have been saying for more than a year: We have a crisis on our southern border, and it's like we've never seen before.
We're actually on track, this year, for nearly a million people to come across our southern border to take advantage of loopholes in our laws. And for the first time in history, the majority of them are families that are being enticed by human traffickers who charge them
Seventy percent of illegal immigrants, once they present at the border, report being victims of violence along the way. According to
And this week, the heart of our nation broke when we saw the tragic photograph of
I saw it firsthand when I was visiting the border. I went to the detention facility. And to see these families, literally in numbers that have been overwhelming our system, was heartbreaking to me. To think of the way these poor and vulnerable families have been taken advantage of by these cartels and human traffickers was heartbreaking to see.
But the America people are realizing we have a crisis on our southern border. That's why this President declared a national emergency in January. And I'm proud to report we've already started to build that wall. We'll have 400 miles of wall built by the end of next year. (Applause.)
That's why
And that's why after six months where
Finally, help is on the way. But, men and women, we still got more work to do. At a time when migrants south of our border are facing violence, sexual assault, and worse, it really is astonishing that many of the leading
For instance, despite the fact that 10 years ago,
AUDIENCE:
THE VICE PRESIDENT: And many even promised to decriminalize illegal immigration altogether. And maybe most remarkable of all, after spending the last six months denying there was a crisis at our southern border and doing nothing while our courageous and compassionate Customs and Border Protection personnel were overwhelmed by that crisis, now some
And let me be clear on this point: There's nothing compassionate about open borders. There's nothing compassionate about refusing to change the laws that human traffickers use to take advantage of poor families.
Those who would advocate open borders, free healthcare for illegal immigrants, and making illegal immigration legal are making it easier for human traffickers to mistreat poor and vulnerable families. That is morally wrong, and that has got to stop! (Applause.)
The moral thing to do -- and I believe in my heart of hearts, the compassionate thing to do -- is to secure our border, provide humanitarian support to families that are being exploited by these criminal syndicates, reform our asylum laws, and send a deafening message south of our border that if you want to come to
And I'll make you a promise: Whatever Democrats want to do to continue to deny and obstruct our efforts to secure our border, end this crisis, and reform laws, we're going to keep working. We're going to keep telling the story. We're going to keep finding allies in
So, men and women, it's amazing to think, in just over two years under this President's leadership, from the world stage to here at home, our values are winning again. Freedom is winning again. But to keep on winning, we've got to keep on fighting.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Four more years! (Applause.)
AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: We got to keep on fighting. We got to keep on fighting for the values that have made this country great and for the people that are willing to champion them. I'm here to tell you -- and chief among them is freedom. Chief among them is freedom
You know, America was founded on a very simple principle, and that idea was liberty. Enshrined on the Liberty Bell itself are some ancient words from Leviticus that read, "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all inhabitants thereof."
It's amazing to think, though, over our lifetimes the support for liberty, the defense of liberty -- of free market economics, of unalienable rights -- has principally, it seems, fallen to our Party and our movement.
Today,
Earlier this week, we heard leading Democratic candidates for President defend socialism. But I think all of you know it was freedom, not socialism, that gave us the strongest and most prosperous nation in the history of the world. (Applause.)
It was freedom, not socialism, that ended slavery, won two world wars, and stands today as a beacon of hope for all the world! (Applause.)
And so as this debate begins in the next 18 months, we must resolve here to say, as the President said in his State of the Union Address, America will never be a socialist country! (Applause.)
AUDIENCE:
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Men and women, the choice in this coming election has never been clearer and the stakes have never been higher. We made great progress in the last two and half years, but now is the time for us to redouble our efforts. Now is the time for us to come alongside the men and women who have been standing up for the values that we cherish, whether that be in statehouses or in the
America has got a choice to make. But when I'm gathered in front of all of you tonight and see this incredible group, and think about the work that we've done together over the last several decades to renew and strengthen the foundations of this great nation; when I see the way you've lifted up a generation of men and women, from this President on down, that have been standing strong and without apology on all those great and timeless American ideals, I'm confident. I'm confident that we are going to continue to build on the progress that we've made.
So I encourage all of you to have faith. You're going to have a great evening tonight and I want to get out of your way -- (laughter) -- because you're going to hear from some wonderful people and share some great moments.
But I just do -- I want to encourage all of you as we go into this next 18 months: Have faith. Have faith in the American people that the progress that we've made as a result of the fact that when we take the timeless ideals of this country to our nation -- when we say that America can be strong again, America can be prosperous again, we can build it all on the foundation of faith and freedom upon which our forbearers have stood -- that the American people will rally to our cause.
I truly believe that history shows that every time the American people are given a choice between more freedom and more government, they choose more freedom every single time. So have faith in the American people. (Applause.)
And have faith in this President that they elected. You know, I got to tell you, one of the most amusing words I ever hear, when people will stop me on a rope line, at an airport, or at a diner and they'll say, "Tell the President to keep going." (Applause.) I tell them, "There's something you never need to say." (Laughter and applause.) There is no rearview mirror for President
And lastly, as I close, let me encourage you, finally, to have faith in the American people, have faith in this President and all the principled men and women of integrity that have rallied to our cause.
And lastly, have that other kind of faith and take time to avail yourself. You know, the sweetest words the President and I ever hear -- and we hear it a lot -- are when people will reach across a line and grab your hand and --
AUDIENCE MEMBER: We're praying for you!
AUDIENCE MEMBER: We're praying for you!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: -- and say, "We're praying for you." (Applause.) And I can tell you, it moves us deeply. So I want to encourage you to avail yourself, to just know that, as the Bible says, "A prayer reaches heaven, his holy dwelling place." That "the effective and fervent prayer of a righteous [people] availeth much."
And as we think in these divided times in this country about how we heal the division that seems so evident in so many issues, I think I just know that -- you in this room know that -- the wellspring of our national unity has been in our ideals, and it's been in our faith.
And that if His people who are called by His name will humble themselves and pray, He'll do like He's always done through the long and storied history of this country. He'll hear from Heaven and he'll heal this land -- (applause) -- this one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. (Applause.)
So pray for America. Pray for all of the American people, because pray matters and it will make a difference.
So thank you for the honor of addressing you tonight. Thank you for the encouragement that you've given us.
And while I have your attention, on behalf of my wife, who is about a third of a world away right now, let me just say thank you for the great privilege of being your Vice President. It is the greatest honor of my life. (Applause.)
And I just know -- I just know with your continued support and efforts and prayers; with men and women of integrity elected and reelected at every level, statehouse to
Thank you all very much. God bless you. And God bless America. (Applause.)
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