lynne, his wife, does it bug you when people refer to me as darth vadar? and she said, no be, it humanizes you. [laughter] [applause] that's what i'm going to always remember about the cheney family, that wry sense of humor, that calm determination, the fierce be love of country -- fierce love of country through all the years, through war and peace. he did all he could to keep this country safe, and we all owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude. thank you, vice president cheney. [applause] ..

and delighted to be here at him as can best him somewhat reluctant to come back to washington. last time i showed up here i was hanged in the white house. [laughter] >> this time i have returned only to find my vice president getting busted in the capital. [applause]. >> appreciate you being here, vice president, thank you for coming and i want to thank paul ryan for his leadership. he is trying out for the abraham lincoln look-alike contest. [laughter]

>> thrilled to be with mitch. when that dick was president of the senate mitch was the minority leader and as the majority leader, mitch is really in charge now and is matter fact, he assured me that dick's bust would be prominently displayed in a undisclosed location. [laughter] >> it is great to be with you again, thank you for your continued service and ray blonde who organized this event, william behrens is the sculptor and i can't wait to see what it looks like, william and reminds me of the time someone did one of me and i looked like alfred e newman. over the years i have had the chance to meet a number of dick's predecessors. i have known one of them my whole life. [laughter]

>> last week i told mother and a dad i was coming here for the bust unveiling, dad perked up and said, send my best regards to old iron pass. [applause]. [applause]. >> dick, that is indeed a badge of honor. [laughter] >> the 43rd vice president and 44th president asked me to give you his heartfelt congratulations and he and mom join a solid thinking you for your selfless service to our country over the years. dick is a man-- i find it interesting he was the son of a soil conservation service employee, that he laid powerlines for living before he got his direct-- from the university of wyoming after he got kicked out of yale and first came to this town in the late 60s.

he was a phd student working on his dissertation. which probably explains the special affection dick has always attracted from the world of academia. [laughter] >> as others has mentioned he worked with this experience that mattered a lot when i asked him to be the head of the vice presidential search committee. as he likes to tell people, if he ever gets asked to share such a committee, do it. [laughter] >> the truth is i knew all along that dick cheney had the cared deep-- character and judgment i needed and wanted as a running mate. he had that experience to step in as commander in chief if i were to get hit by a bus or choke on a pretzel. [applause]. >> unfortunately he agreed to serve as vice president and so is our country. for eight consequential years i

benefited from his wife's counsel. he was a principal, trusted divisor of the most difficult questions facing our country. an effective advocate on capitol hill and it unexceptional job as president of the senate. every single time he cast a vote we won. [applause]. [laughter] [laughter] >> although, he did not spend much time speaking on the floor, he managed to convey a lot in a few words. [laughter] >> just ask senator leahy. [laughter] >> people ask if i miss washington and the answer is not really. i loved our time up here, but i am happy to be home. i do miss some things, though. i miss saluting those who wear the uniform and i miss my

friends and dick cheney is one of those friends. i always look forward to our weekly lunches and i could always count on him to take on any tough assignment and i could always trust that the advice he offered was given with our country's best interest at heart. dick became acting president for two hours and five minutes in july of 2007. while i was undergoing an undisclosed medical exam. he wrote the only document ever signed by an acting presidents, a letter to his grandchildren. in classic dick cheney fashion he honored them a crisp piece of good advice, to always strive to do what is right. for eight years dick stood by my side and always did what was right for our nation. could not have asked for a better vice president and dick cheney. he is a good man who loves his

country and really loves his family. laura and i are proud to call dick, lynn and their wonderful daughters friends and i'm glad that his likeness will be an everlasting presence in these halls of democracy. thank you. [applause]. [applause]. >> ladies and gentlemen, the vice president of that the united states, joe biden. >> ladies and gentlemen, thank you. [applause]. >> as i look around this room and up on the platform i want to say thank you for letting me crash your family reunion. [applause]. >> out am afraid i said as i walked by, i am afraid i have blown his cover.

i actually like dick cheney. [laughter] >> and i am in the other family. i have nothing but respect for you, dick, and, i mean, that sincerely. we started about the same time, you a bit earlier, you with rumsfeld in the late 60s, but when i got elected in 72, president nixon was president and when gerald ford took on the awesomeness possibility at difficult times he turned it to someone to be a strong guiding hand and he picked the right guy. he picked the right guy. mr. speaker, you said that no one would challenge the statement you then went on to make and i would say that anyone who was thinking about challenging dick cheney should think twice before they set about doing it. by the way, when we changed houses and change residencies,

there was a cartoon that was prominently repeated across the press of it dick showing me through the basement of the white house and there were manacles on the wall and there were skeletons, you know, and dick in the cartoon looks at me and says, you may want to renovate a little bit. there was no such thing in the white house and the only thing we ever received from the cheney's in the white house was there good wishes and at the way you try to help us out. i say to your daughters and all of your family, the thing that my family has cared deeply and i hope we communicate that throughout the years about dick's health and i am glad to see him in such great health and lynn, i want to thank you and dick and your whole family for

the kindness you have shown when i lost my son and the generosity you showed in contributing to a memorial for him, so it means a lot. if the part of washington people don't see enough of. dick and i have seldom had direct conflict, but we have gone at each other's ideas hammer and tongs, but i can say without fear of contradiction, there is never one single time that a harsh word, not one single time in our entire relationship, not only to one another, but about one another and, you know, that is what, i think, most desperately missing today in washington at these things. i don't ever remember dick, you questioning anyone's motive, question their judgment, but not their motive.

i learned that lesson along time ago from who is been the leader of the senate, who is a-- i came in and remember our friend orrin hatch, remember that there was a guy from south carolina that got elected, jesse helms and actually became a friend. i kept in touch with his wife who just died about a month ago. i remember walking on the floor and i would show up-- i didn't particularly want to be in the senate at that time and i would show up once a week at the office of the majority leader and he would give me every tuesday, mr. justice, i would get an assignment and i had just turned the 30 and i thought that was what had happened. i thought they gave assignments for real, so naïve i was.

i realized after the fact that he was just taken my pulse because of what i had been through and i said i would only stay six months. a lot of people wish i had kept that commitment. [laughter] >> one day i walked in and men that later became my friend, jesse helms was with bob dole and ted kennedy. i had to go to my meeting with the leader and i went in and i guess i looked upset and i asked the question of him-- he looked at me and said what is the matter, joe, and i went on to really go after jesse and said he had no social value, why would he not help and i went on and on. i will never forget what he said to me. he said joe, what would you say if i told you that .-dot and jesse helms, i believe it was 1969, sitting in the living room in raleigh, before christmas and

there was a young man embraces both legs up to his hips and crutches and said all he wanted for christmas was someone to love him and adopt him and he said what would you say if i told you they went down and adopted that young man, which they did and i said i would feel like a fool. he said joe, it's always of its appropriate to question another man's judgment. it is never appropriate to question them motive because you do not know their motive and when you question motive, it's virtually impossible to reach consensus. dick and i could argue like hell about everything from a four into policy, but if we went at each other in person always questioning motive, no possibility to reach a resolution. quite frankly, mr. president, that is why i enjoyed working with you and i did.

i think more than any other democrat, i spent probably more time with you than any other democrat. we disagree, but it really never was disagreeable. i might add if my dad were here, mr. president, he would look adherents-- at you as a kid, you have good blood. your father, the bushes chose the cheney's, i was recently in houston and i got phone call from your dad's people saying he would like to meet with me and i said i would be happy to. they said no, he wanted to come to my hotel and meet with me, which i thought was inappropriate, he was the president of the united states. i should see him, but your dad insisted and came in in a wheelchair with a brace on his neck. do you know what his agenda was, to welcome me to houston. thought it was appropriate. so, dick, your career as i look back on it because it's about

the same time frame, i don't think that there are many vice presidents or for that matter presidents who have been in the eye of the storm on so many critical events in american history. from the transition of a presidency in the wake of an impeachment that didn't occur, to several wars to the genesis of stateless actors to continue to threat the social fabric of not only america, but the world and the thing about you, dick, that i have admired most is your absolutely steady. absolutely steady. and thoughtful. i disagree a lot-- we disagree a lot, but i really mean it.

it's amazing. there is one other thing that i would like to mention. as i was writing up i was thinking-- you know, lynn, the truth of the matter is that they should unveil a family best. because it with your talented daughters and you, a woman of great talent, he did not do this on his own. he really didn't. that sounds like hyperbole, but it isn't. the truth of the matter is, yet the same intellect and backbone that he has and so do your daughters. i want to thank them, by the way, personally for their phone calls. this is a family affair. this doesn't just happen.

one man cannot take on as many critical roles at critical moments without the overwhelming support of their family. it's not easy. so, i think from now on i will propose that there be a family bust, because i know speaking for myself and i have no doubt i cannot speak for dick and would never presume to, but this recognition today goes to you as much as it does to him and that is not hyperbole. i mean, that sincerely. you know, i consider it a privilege, dick, to know you. have known you, haven't watched you worked and wish the hell i could have changed your mind on a half a dozen things, but all kidding aside, you have been a great asset to this country and

the way you haven't personally conducted yourself is a model for anyone in high public office in this country. thank you all for coming. [applause]. [applause]. [inaudible conversations] >> mrs. cheney and the cheney grandchildren, i think, are the designated unveil errors or to join the vice president and they get to do something that almost no one gets to do, so vice president j-- cheney, if you would join your family. we will see what this looks like.

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> all rights, are you ready? [applause]. [applause].

[applause]. >> ladies and gentlemen, the 46th vice president of the united states, dick cheney. [applause]. [applause]. >> thank you all very much. i appreciate you hosting this event today and i am grateful to friends and former colleagues and especially proud to note one trend in particular, mr. president, thank you very

much for being here, for all of the years it we shared together. lynn and i are happy that you could all join us on this particular occasion. being cast in marble is something that every vice president looks forward to. not only a high honor, it's our one shot at being remembered. dc, joe, there is much to look forward to. [laughter] >> although, i might add in the case of vice president biden, he will be remembered for 44 years of faithful service in the senate and the white house and we appreciate very much you being here with us this morning, joe. [applause]. >> i also want to note the presence of my good friend and one of the, i think, great

justices of the supreme court and also a hunting buddy and next year dino scalia will mark his 30th year on the supreme court. [applause]. >> i am pleased as well to see the highest ranking member of congress here, my friend paul ryan. he has reminded me that we don't always get exactly what we want in the world of politics. somehow, paul, i once aspired to be speaker of the house and wound up as vice president. while you ran for president and wound up as eager. wound up as speaker and you got the job with the actual power and authority and i got a very nice marble bust. [laughter] >> anyway, i can tell you, mr. speaker, that the position you are now in suit you very well and i'm glad you are here

and i think the country is much better off since we have been able to persuade you to take on this major new assignment. i also want to thank our senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell , and chairman ryan's-- the rnc is here for their presence. i have known which many years together and it was always a pleasure to deal with issues of the day. i want to make many of the cheney staff and alumni in the room who work alis here on the hit-- hill or the pentagon and white house. men like scooter libby, marilyn matta 10, josh bolten, andy card, don evans, jim nicholson, people i was pleased to share many years together in the course of my career. i especially want to mention and thanked the members who served on my secret service detail and

some of them are here this morning including jimmy scott who pulled me out of my office on 911 and got me to a secure undisclosed location. but, they took great care of us during those years. they looked out for me and my family and they will always have our gratitude and respect. close of the of the servers of protocol of note this morning that the cheney bust arrives a little ahead since the honors have not yet been done to the 45th vice president, my predecessor, aligarh. perley, there have been delays in the work on house like this and it may be that i am somehow easier to carve into stone. [laughter] >> the senate rules committee was kind enough to schedule this event anyway. i appreciate the courtesy of chairman blunt, purchase a kent in the entire rules committee staff and a think architect of the capitol and everyone in the senate curator's office for arranging.

a special thanks to barbara who retired recently as the curator at the capital. the sculptors work, i guess i am not the most objective judge. i wouldn't be the first politician who went into the sculpting process thinking no peace from the quarry could ever do justice to the face he sees every time he shapes in the morning. but, you can decide for yourself personally, i think he has done a superb job and i want to thank him as a true master. thank you very much, will. [applause]. >> someone had told me as a young man that my name would one day rank in the list included other men like john adams and thomas jefferson, theater robo-- roosevelt harry truman, i would have been amazed.

it would have seemed like a real stretch for the man in my early 20s who was building powerline and transmission line across the state of wyoming and beyond. in the short version a few breaks came my way and one job always led to another and a life that has taken me to far more places than i ever expected. it took me into this capital for the first time in 1968. with the hopes of working for a guy named don rumsfeld has his congressional fellow and during that first interview he made it clear to me that i was not what he was looking for a through me out. 's a few months later he saw the error of his ways and recruited me to be his assistant during the first term of the nixon administration when jerry ford became president he accepted me on don's recommendation and later maybe white house chief of staff. don rumsfeld and jerry ford fundamentally changed my life. a decade later i returned to the

capital as wyoming's sole member of the house of representatives and the want to think the wyoming delegation for being here today. i have a great good fortune when i arrived in the house to begin a lifelong friendship with bob michels who is with us today. bob from illinois was our republican leader and he took the end of his wing and taught me everything i needed to know to speak with people of wyoming effectively in the house of representatives and i am glad you are here, bob. i fully intended to spend my career in congress, but will always be grateful to president george hw bush for asking me to join his ministration as secretary of defense. it was a special privilege to serve with the men and women of the united states military and to work with the president through operation desert storm, the collapse of the soviet union and the end of the cold war. if you had to design an individual to serve in commander in chief, it would look a lot like george hw bush and i was

proud and honored to serve. i don't recall exactly when i was first introduced to president bush's eldest son, but i must have made a decent impression. when the time came, governor bush needed a running mates and got the notion i could help him find one. that search committee was a diligent little enterprise and before long we found our man. [laughter] >> in political history them names of running mates are always bound up together, other more if they end up winning. the bush cheney ticket manage to win twice and not without a little suspense. all through those 2922 days we served together handling serious matters and mysterious ways. i work for someone are respected and liked without reservation for your key is a man, also great gentleman. he has integrity, a sense of humor and all of these are what

we who shared in that journey will remember. i have been granted a few distinctions along the way and politics and there is none i prize more than to have that my name there in the story of those years the site and of our president, george w. bush. [applause]. >> you will understand, i think, isaac of another richard cheney, my dad. anyone who knew them-- and can tell you the name was plenty good by the time it was given to me and i know my sister sue and brother bob would say the same. only mourn the season of life i remember and appreciate both my dad and my mom, marjorie. what good kind of bright people they were and how enormously

lucky i am to be there so. how could i conclude an occasion like this without mentioning my historian wife. she is not a woman easily pressed, but i thought surely this final honor would do it, a bust of me in marble here in the capital building. [laughter] >> i reminded her this morning that if the cheney family had not moved to casper, wyoming, in the early 50s we never would have met and she would have married to someone else. when responded and today we would be dedicating his marble bust. [laughter] >> it is not to say i am glad that state worked as it did, placed in proximity to win, keeping her close by those 50 years and more. it's been a gracious walk through the years and it's been such a joy with our daughters,

liz, mary and their families and out the seven grandchildren i have led to know and cherish. i especially want to think my medical fame, some of whom are hill today. they saved my life on a number of occasions i made this possible. over the years they have not only kept me alive, but made a possible for me to lead a full and active life and i'm thankful for what they have done for me over the years. it's a tremendous honor to think that this bust will reside in the us capital. every now and then, even in the distance future someone will wander by the old cheney bust, maybe even stop for a moment or two trying to recollect something of the man in the era and whatever else that name in front of them might evoke, i would want them to know this much, at least, here was a believer in america, so fortunate in his life experiences, so blessed in his friends and so grateful all his days to have a served for-- as

vice president of the united states of america. [applause]. [applause]. [applause]. >> ladies and gentlemen, please stand as the chaplain of the united states senate gives the benediction. >> let us pray. eternal god, who rules the raging of the sea, thank you for the gift of vice president

richard cheney and for his many cogitations to this great nation. continue to bless and keep us, sustain us as we seek to take a stand on the side of the love, peace and justice. lord, use as to cause, justice to roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. continue to keep us with-- without stumbling or slipping, present as before the presence of your glory, one day with exceeding great joy. you are the only wise god and to

your name we ascribe glory, majesty and might dominion and power, now and always. amen. >> ladies and gentlemen, please remain seated for the departure of the official party. ticketed guests are invited to a reception and statutory hall. please see an usher for guidance to the reception. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

>> she was such an authentic person and i have always thought there was more to the story of the ladybird than anyone had covered, certainly than i wrote about the first-- i think she became the first modern first lady. she had a big staff, important project and wrote her book as soon as she left the white house. she really invented the modern first lady. >> sunday night on q&a, historian betty boyd discusses her book ladybird and wended and incorporates recently released pages of the first lady's diary giving an inside look at the marriage and political partnership of the ladybird and limited johnson. >> i think she is a perfect example of the conclusion i came to, which was that those women saw something in those men, the ambition, the opportunity to really climb and make a mark in the world and they married them in spite of parental objection, so she is a good example of that

and that is why i decided i had to find more about her. >> sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span's q&a. scenic yesterday house speaker paul ryan detailed his top priorities for house republicans over the coming months including efforts to repeal the 2010 health care law. yesterday the republican-controlled senate to -- voted to repeal parts of the lock of the measure now goes to the house. the president has said he will veto the bill. [inaudible conversations] tran 11 tran 11.

>> it afternoon. is anyone who has ever visited the library of congress knows it's always a privilege as to be here in this building. i always feel at least 10% smarter being here. winston churchill used to say we shape our buildings and in our buildings shape us and that is truly the case here. the privilege of being here in this building is multiplied for me now by the esteemed audience of scholars, statesmen and friends who are gathered here today for this important speech. i do not know if there has ever been it greater aggregation of conservative knowledge, conservative thoughtfulness and thought leadership in the library of congress, at least not since you-- the ball looping led here-- read here. of course, the honor is further compounded by the opportunity

that brings me here today to its juice my good friend of paul ryan it's a reflection of paul's during innovative spirit that in his first major address as speaker of the house he is violating the first rule, the number one rule in american politics, never ever give a united states senator an opportunity, invitation to give a brief remarks. [laughter] >> but, as speaker ryan's own election show, among other surprises this year, the old rules in washington and in the republican party for changing. paul ryan has been part of that change ever since he first arrived at in congress. he has been at its forefront since ranking member on the house budget committee he began initially reluctant gop back into the often neglected

business of principled policy innovation and reform. he is part of and now has the opportunity to lead in the house , a revised conservativism of committed thoughtful reform of policy in the way we make it. this new conservative project follows the example of our fanny generation. the original tea party, talking here about the tea party that took place in boston, in 1773. it was a righteous protest against the kind of government that we as americans do not want. but, that event would now love have been forgotten in history if that generation had not made the journey from boston, to philadelphia, 14 years later to create the kind of government that we as americans did want

and do still want today. to follow the founder's footsteps, conservatives today must first resolve the starting right now to apply our permanent principles to today's challenges, restoring upward mobility, equal opportunity and community solidarity in every sector of our economy and to every neighborhood in our society. as in any diverse coalition, good-faith disagreements on the right and within the right are inevitable and their welcome and it's the job of that leaders on all sides of these debate to which were that our differences of opinion, they are sources of strength, not division, sources that can strengthen us rather than weaken us. that is a job paul ryan is uniquely capable of doing. because at his core he understands that for this new conservative generation to succeed, ideas must react--

pride our politics, not the other way around. i am thrilled that speaker rhein has come to the library of congress today to layout the challenges and solutions, the ideas, the same kinds of ideas that initially motivated our fanny generation to move the from their boston moment to their philadelphia moment. and that will guide his work in the coming year as speaker of the house. i am confident that inspired by the declaration of 1776, by the constitution of 1787, and informed we all hope by the wisdom of the ages, housed right here in this treasury of human knowledge, those conservative ideas will lead our nation to a restoration of freedom, opportunity and other solidarity in america and a rebirth of the grand old party serves them all. ladies and gentlemen, it's my high honor and privilege to

introduce to you today the 54th speaker of the united states house of representatives, my friend, paul ryan. [applause]. [applause]. >> thank you. thank you. thank you very much. sender lee, thank you very much. i appreciate you taking the time. i'm delighted to see so many of my good friends and colleagues here and i also want to thank the library and their staff for their wonderful hospitality. the reason that i asked you to come here today is a wanted to lay out my number one goal for

the house next year. i became speaker just over a month ago and i would like to think we have hit the ground running. we are dealing with everything from highways to isis to funding the government. before we get too far along, i went to take a moment and i went to explain the big thing i think house republicans need to do in 2016. a great frustration in our party is that we have not had a real natural majority in seven years. we have controlled congress, sure, but not the presidency and we need to. this country has enormous problems. but, if we do not have a president who will work with us we will not solve those problems. that is while they are still solvable. whatever the left may say, i know my colleagues in the house

republican conference. i know why they got into politics. we are not here to be someone. we are here to do do something. to serve our country. we believe in the american idea. the condition of your birth does not determine the outcome of your life and what we want to do is do our part to pass that i get onto the next generation. we do not see this as a popular to contest. to us it is a calling. we do not care for the tricks of the trade. what we care about and love are ideas. so, it is with great dismay that we have watched our president transfer of the country and not for the better. and it is natural, after losing to your opponents for so long, it is natural for people to

start thinking maybe they are onto something, maybe the way to win the debate is to play identity politics. may be what you do is slice and dice that electric, demonize, polarize, turn out your voters and hope the rest stays home. would say, yes, it is possible that we could win that way, but to what end? i don't think many people are walking away from this presidency thinking, that went well. [laughter] >> we still have enormous problems. but, now the country is divided. the federal government has grown arrogant, it's grown condescending and out right paternalistic. so, i would say what we have seen in the past seven years is the illusion of success. the left may be good at tactics, but tactics are not solutions.

they can win an election, but not a mandate. they can make you popular, but the caps off problems. they can help a party, but they can't say the country. so, why in the world would we want to act that way? so, if we want to say that the country, if we want to do what we believe in, then we need a mandate from the people. if the wii what a mandate then we need to offer ideas. if we want to offer ideas that we need to actually how ideas. that's where the house republicans come in. so, our number one goal for next year is to put together a complete attorney did to the left agenda. [applause]. >> this is a work in progress,

no doubt. today i went to talk basics, fundamentals. what kind of country do we want to be? i do not presume to speak for all republicans and all particulars, but after giving it a lot of thought, this is what i think a conservative vision looks like. we want america to be confident again. if you don't have a job we want you to become we can find a job and take appeared if you do have a job, we what you to be confident that that job will pay well. we want students to know that all of that school and all of that debt will be worth it. we want seniors to know that all those years of hard work, all of those years of paying taxes will be rewarded. medicare and social security will be there for you when you need them. we want all americans when they look at washington to see spending going down, taxes going down, debt going down.

we want to see progress and we want to have a pride. we want people to believe in our future again. we want a country where no one is stuck, where no one settles and everyone can rise. on the world stage, it is no different. we want a confident america. a purposeful america. we want to know we stand for freedom and show it, not with bluster or bravado, with calm, steady action. we want our military to command respect from our adversaries and inspire confidence from our allies. when they come home, we wanted to get our veterans the care they deserve. we want our president-- [applause]. >> we want our president,

whatever the party to always keep an i on our interests and never turn a blind eye to the truth. we want america to lead again. that is the america that we need. that is not the america we have right now. the people are not confident. they are downright anxious. they had every right to be. but, there is reason for hope, especially for conservatives. the world is proving us right. technology is making life more decentralized, the old top-down formula just will not do. for a long time the left has thought that if you want to solve a problem, you get a group of highly trained experts to come up with an answer and imposed on the country. nowadays most of us would agree that that is the last thing you should do. the world moves too fast. government is always a step behind. so, oddly enough it is the

progressives who are stuck in the past. this is the one thing that they miss, more pure argosy means opportunity. [applause]. [applause]. >> i will to ui. because of big government and big business don't fight each other as much as they hate each other. this is how it works. 's smart, talented people go into government thinking the only way to fix a complicated problem is with complicated laws, laws only the people like themselves can understand and they make you bureaucracies and put up all kinds of red tape and then they go into the private sector and help businesses navigate the very maze they created. [laughter] >> if the insurance industry does not understand how obamacare works, why not hire

the person who ran a? [laughter] >> this works out great for them. what about the rest of us? what that people who can't get ahead because costs are too high? or what about the people who don't create jobs because the laws are too confusing? so, round and round the revolving group-- door goes all the while the people are standing on the sidelines. that's how today's experts become tomorrow's cronies. that's why we don't think government should bulk up bureaucracy. we think it should break up the problem so people can solve the problems themselves. don't hire more bureaucrats. don't leave it up to their discretion, set clear firm rules that all of us can live by. rules that tell us what's expected and was off limits and then let the people go to work. to me, that is the conservative

insight. don't outsource to the bureaucracy, crowd source. that kind of government would not only preserve equal opportunity, that kind of government would protect the dignity of the individual. that government tries to blunt what makes each of this unique. good government defends it. that government tries to tie us all down. good government frees us to be our best. so, is government important? absolutely, it's essential. but, there is no mistaking the field before the game. what government is supposed to do is create an environment where the individual can thrive and communities can bloom. in other words, government makes things possible, but the people makes things happen. only government that sends power back to the people can make government and to make america

confident again. [applause]. >> we house republicans will do all we can to give us a government, give us that government even if the president disagrees. even if he will not find them into law, we will put out specific proposals that give the people a real choice. [applause]. i don't mean just undo what the president has done. if we could try to travel back to 2009. i mean, show what we would do, what our ideal policy would be looking forward to 2017 and beyond. we zero to the country, to offer a bold progrowth agenda. that is what we are going to do. [applause].

>> do you know what the first item on that agenda is? creating jobs and raising wages. instead of a tax code that all of us can live by, we have a tax code that none of us can understand. we all know how hard it is to keep up with the competition overseas. where i come from, overseas means lake superior. [laughter] >> the canadians, the canadians are taxing their small businesses at 15%, our top tax rate on successful small businesses in america is effectively 44.6%. how can working families compete like that? the only way to fix our tax code is to simplify, simplify, simplify. close all of those loopholes and use that money to cut tax rates for everyone. [applause].

>> take the seven tax rates we have now and collapse them into two or three. i'd know people like many of these loopholes and they had their reasons, but there are so many of them that now the tax code looks like a huge to do list, washington's to do list, but washington has no business micromanaging bullfights, pure and simple and i also know many of these loopholes will be fiercely defended and all i can say is that we will not be coward. cock. [applause]. ,. >> we are not here to smooth things over. we are here to shake things up and i know our ways and means manager cannot wait to get to work and this is the point. we won a tax code that rewards good work and set a good connections. when people know, they will keep more of their own money and when

they understand and they will enjoy the fruits of their labor and work more, save more, invest more and create more jobs for all of us and when there is more work to go around, more people will see their wages going up, but there's not much upside to getting a raise if the cost of living goes up also. there are many things to do, but most urgent is to repeal and replace obamacare. [applause]. >> when people asking what is wrong with the law, i usually say how much time do you have. [laughter] >> if i had to point out one thing, it would be the mandates, the restrictions, all of the red tape. how do we know this has failed? you notice that we don't talk about lowering premiums anymore. we were supposed to be happy these days if they just don't go up by double digits. this is the problem. the other side things that to

lower the cost for some people you have to raise them for others. life is just one big game. they know people won't buy pricey insurance, so their solution is, don't give them a choice. we say lower cost for everyone by giving them a choice. instead of forcing you to buy insurance, we should force insurance companies to compete for your business. [applause]. >> why don't we just let people find a plan that works best for them and their families? yes, help people pay for health insurance. i have long believed we should offer a tax credit to help people pay for premiums, giving more to the sick, more to the old. there are other ideas out there, but what all conservatives can agree upon is this, we think government should encourage personal responsibility, not replace it.

we think prices are going up because people have too few choices, not because they had too many and we think this problem is so urgent that next year, we will unveil a plan to replace every single word of obamacare. [applause]. >> thank you. there are millions of people in this country that are stuck in neutral. 6 million people have no choice but to work part-time. 45 million of our fellow citizens are living in poverty. conservatives need to have an answer for this. because we do not write people often this country, we just don't, but this is what happens.

the federal government says, look, if you're going through a rough patch, we will paper your food, housing, medicine, heat and on and on and on. ..