past few years, that we've been able to keep the pressure on a president who has said he wants to fundamentally change this country. because of the numbers in congress, we haven't been able to win every battle, but the energetic participation of so many americans in the political process over the past few years helped spark a great national debate about the constitution and about the direction of our country. and i'm confident that in the end, the principles we all believe in as a movement will prevail. we just need to stay united, be confident in the rightness of our cause, and keep at it. now, you all know me as the republican leader of the senate but before i got that title, i was probably best known for a long and rather lonely fight i waged in defense of the first amendment. for most of my career, my work on this issue focused on political campaigns. it wasn't always the most popular fight. i didn't win a lot of popularity contests but in my view, an

important constitutional principle was at stake. so i kept at it and i'm still at it today. in my view, the government has long overstepped its bounds when it comes to the ability of individuals and groups to express themselves freely in these moments of national decision we call elections. but recent events suggest that the threat to the first amendment is much broader than that, and that, my friends, is what i would like to talk to you about this morning. because for constitutional conservatives especially, but really for all americans, the right to free speech is the freedom upon which all of our causes depend. if we don't have the right to organize and to speak freely, then we've lost the fight before it's even been waged. and what we're seeing on the political left today is a concerted effort to literally undermine that right. what's even more concerning is the fact that the current administration has adopted the tactics of the political left as

its own. they're doing the same thing. and i think you'll all agree with me that it's one thing for a left wing activist to harass and intimidate people for political views. it is really quite another for an administration to use the power of government to do so. that's what we're seeing. and it's something that should concern every single one of us, because these things are not only unbecoming of a sitting president, they threaten the very character of our nation and it's time for the american people to recognize this threat for what it is, unite around the first amendment and fight back. [ applause ] you know, there are some principles in american life that are simply nonnegotable. the inviolability of americans' right to free speech is one of them. the administration's most

prominent effort to limit speech is the so-called disclose act. a bill that grew out of the president's very public and unseemly rebuke of the u.s. supreme court in early 2010. you may recall with the court actually sitting right there in front of him. an attempt to get around the court's decision in citizens united, this proposed law would compel grassroots groups to disclose the names, the names of their supporters. this administration claims the goal of this bill is transparency. but the enthusiasm with which it has embraced the thuggish tactics of the left suggests that its true goal is to silence critics. not only has the obama campaign publicized the names of prominent conservatives, leading to intimidation and harassment, they have doubled down on these tactics when criticized for doing it.

but it's not just the campaign. as i said, these tactics extend well beyond the campaign headquarters and deep into the government itself. the government itself. news reports suggest that top white house officials have long participated in a weekly conference call with a left wing organization in washington whose stated purpose is to track conservative media voices, seize on potentially offensive content and then use it to mount corporate intimidation campaigns aimed at driving these voices clear out of the public square. earlier this year, dozens of tea party affiliated groups across the country learned what it was like to draw the attention of the speech police, when they received a lengthy questionnaire from the irs, demanding attendance lists, meeting transcripts and donor information. one of the group's leaders described it this way. this is what he had to say.

groups like ours either drown in unnecessary paperwork or you survive and give them everything they want, only to be hung. also this year, the head of one national advocacy group released documents which showed that his group's confidential irs information had found its way into the hands of a staunch critic on the left who also happens to be a co-chairman of president's re-election committee. the only way this information could have been made public is if someone leaked it from inside the irs. over at the federal elections commission, democratic commissioners are pushing a rule to compel third party groups to reveal their donors. the federal communications commission just finalized a rule requiring broadcasters to list the names of any groups that pay for or want to pay for television ads online. and the securities and exchange commission last year proposed a rule requiring shareholder approval or disclosure of political activities.

now, the white house itself has gotten into the act with the president's own lawyers circulating a draft executive order last year that would require anyone bidding for a government contract to disclose political donations, including those of affiliates and subsidiaries, officers and directors, in excess of $5,000. the message of the order was quite clear. you can figure it out without me telling you. if you want a government contract, you better support our causes or at least, keep your mouth shut when it comes to causes we oppose. but the administration's narrow view of free speech was perhaps best summed up just last week, when president obama's top political advisor said that if the president is re-elected in november, one of his top priorities could well be to amend the first amendment. my friends, that would be an act of radicalism.

the first amendment has not been changed for 235 years. they're so desperate to shut people like us up that they want to amend the constitution to allow the government to quiet our voices. we're not going to let that happen, are we? [ applause ] now, you know we haven't always agreed with decisions we've gotten in court but on this issue, the court's been pretty good. the courts have said congress does not have the authority to muzzle political speech. so the president plans to silence his opponents by amending the amendment itself. those who have the resources and the will to fight these things should be commended for doing so. those who don't should be able to count on our support. but make no mistake. no individual or group in this country should have to face harassment or intimidation or incur crippling expenses depending -- defending themselves against their very own government simply because that government doesn't like the message they're advocating.

my own view is that if you can't convince people of the wisdom of your policies then you better come up with a better argument. right? it's a marketplace of ideas. but sadly, a growing number of people on the political left and now within the government itself appear to have concluded they can't win on the merits, so they have resorted to bullying and intimidation instead, and the potential consequences, my friends, are grave. one of the traditional strengths of our nation has always been the ability of individuals and groups to band together like you have today to make their voices heard. that's why it's so important that americans unite against these tactics whenever we see them, and fight back. a truly great freedom is at stake. it affects all of us. everyone has a cause and the first amendment makes every one of them possible. one of the traditional strengths of the conservative movement has always been its great diversity.

while we may not agree on absolutely everything, my message to you today is that there are certain principles that should unite us all and one of them is the inviolability of the first amendment to the u.s. constitution. [ applause ] so what we need to do is unite against these tactics wherever we see them. for me that's meant a very long battle against efforts to constrain political speech. it may not be the most exciting issue out there and it didn't make me many friends on the left, i can tell you that, but an important freedom is at stake and having been in this fight for a long time, i can tell you this. when you've got an administration that's willing to throw core constitutional protections out the window for the sake of an election, whether it's religious freedom or the freedom to speak without fear of intimidation, we're in very dangerous territory indeed. so let me tell you this.

this may not be the issue that brought you here today. this may not have been on your mind when you came here today. but it may very well be the one that keeps you from achieving your goal. especially if you're a conservative. your ability to speak out on behalf of that cause is very much at stake right now, and if we lose the right to speak, we've lost the battle before it's even been waged. so in conclusion, let me wrap it up by saying this. my plea to you is this. unite against these tactics, rally around the first amendment. that way, we may not win every fight but we can at least guarantee we'll always have a place in the debate. in the end, i'm as confident as you are that the best ideas, those that made this nation great, and those that have

sustained this nation, will win out in the end. that is our hope and that is our charge to keep. thank you so much. ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, we are pleased to show a special video presentation presented by the faith and freedom coalition. >> vote, make your voice heard. at this point, i'm sure you're thinking why bother. why take 30 minutes out of your day to stand in line with strangers, when at the end of it all, one vote is just a drop in the bucket. it's just one little vote out of

millions and millions and it doesn't really make a difference. your voice by itself amounts to nothing more than a whisper, right? so maybe you knew this, maybe you didn't. but there are over 60 million committed people of faith in the united states and only about 30 million of them vote in any given election. maybe the other 30 million are thinking what you're thinking. it's just one vote so why bother. perhaps one vote doesn't seem like a lot, but 60 million votes are. if even a few million like-minded faith-based voters will cast their votes on election day, all those little drops will fill the bucket and all those little whispers will add up to a very loud voice that will be heard and make a difference. so don't fool yourself into thinking that your vote doesn't matter because it does. but what matters even more is who you influence to vote with you. it really comes down to faith and action. if all the faith-based voters in america start joining their voices and their vote together, one by one, multiplied across the nation, we can change the

course of our country. so make sure you vote. but first, you have to register. if you're not registered, you can't vote. register and vote at www.ffcoalition.com. ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back to the stage one of the leading conservative members of congress from the great state of georgia, congressman tom price. >> good morning, good morning, good morning. how we doing, conservatives? everybody ready to win an election? all right. i want to thank ralph reed and the faith and freedom coalition for the opportunity to be with you today and share a few more words. i look across this crowd and i

know that you know that we stand on great shoulders. men like lincoln and reagan and goldwater. men who did great things in phenomenal ways. but most importantly, you know nothing is more important that the shoulders upon which we stand pale in comparison to the feet we bow down to every day and that is the feet of our maker. and our founders knew this. i hope you've been to some of the monuments here in washington. you go to the monuments, go to the washington monument and lincoln memorial and jefferson memorial, you can always spot the liberals. because they're not wanting their children to read the inscriptions on the monument walls, right, because they have all sorts of references to faith and to god and it really is remarkable. the jefferson memorial has this quote. the god who gave us life gave us

liberty and it goes on to say i tremble for my country when i reflect that god is just and that his justice cannot sleep forever. our founders knew that. our founders knew that. they understood that faith was integral to this nation, to the success of this nation. i want to thank you and congratulate you for the incredible work that you are doing. thank you for your principle, for your patriotism, for your commitment and for your idealism. we have huge challenges in this country, huge challenges. across this nation today, there's a great debate that's going on and it's a debate about the very nature of our society. a debate about the future of our society and our ideals and what the role of the federal government is and what our role is in the world. more often than not, the debates that we have aren't talking about liberty and democracy and freedom. they're oftentimes, especially our friends on the left who shroud their discussion points in these touchy-feely things.

it's always about don't you care, don't you care. remember what milton friedman said, he said concentrated power is not rendered harmless by the good intentions of those who create it. concentrated power is not rendered harmless by the good intentions of those who create it. and every single issue that the left brings to us is more and more power, more and more power for the central government. and it's at all levels. whether it's tax policy or health care policy or regulatory policy or energy policy, all of it is for more and more government. when i sit back and i try to figure out what's going on, and i suspect you do the same thing, you got to ask yourself how did the land of the free and home of the brave end up like this? why are we where we are right now? i think if we're honest with ourselves, the answer to that, part of the answer to that is complacency. that video just talked about it.

the numbers of individuals who actually don't even register to vote. but not you. so i want to thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart so very, very much for the work that you do. we've got to nurture freedom. something we don't think about often. you got to nurture freedom. i remember during the '08 crisis, the fiscal crisis of '08, people, good friends, the challenges that we were having as a nation and good -- they would come to my office and say now, tom, you know i'm a good conservative, but and then that wonderful grand big government solution would flow from their mouths and i would say now think about what you're saying, think about what you're saying. and it reaches all levels. this is not just your neighbors or your friends or others. it's our leaders themselves. you remember when a fellow that many of us admire greatly said i had to abandon my principle to save the country. that was the president of the united states. ladies and gentlemen, i got news

for you. if we abandon our principle, we lose our country. so that's the magnitude of the problem. stretches from small towns and hamlets all the way to washington, d.c. that's the magnitude of the problem. but we are in a political challenge which means that there is a political solution and the american people recognize this in 2010 when they -- with great heart and great enthusiasm and great patriotism, sent 87 new republican freshmen to the house of representatives. 87 new folks. and you know, 38 or 39 of those people had never run for anything before in their life. nothing. united states house of representatives was their very first race because they woke up one day like you and me and they said what the heck is going on, how can i help, and in their

district, what that meant was running for the united states house of representatives. so thank you, thank you, thank you for sending folks our way. i want to challenge you to do some things. some of these are easy and some of them are pretty tough. first, i want to challenge you to look for opportunities at every single term. look for opportunities. remember you don't have to be the leader to lead. you don't have to be the leader to lead. second, cheerful persistence. smile. we've got the solutions. we've got right on our side. there's no reason why we need to be down and cynical. it's happiness that we're about because we're about people making certain they can realize their dreams. so embrace the principle but cheerful persistence. third, this is a tough one for conservatives. i don't mind telling you. embrace incrementalism. embrace incrementalism. the left does it all the time. they get a little bit, they

celebrate, then they come back and fight another day and they get a little bit and celebrate and come back and fight another day. and we, what do we want? we want it all right now. right now. when we don't get it all right now, we're mad at the folks that are there. embracethere. embrace incrementalism. and fourth, sometimes you'll be in a group of people and you'll hear this comment. i don't know if we're up to this task. i don't know if america can do it anymore, right? i don't know. what a bunch of nonsense. this is the greatest nation in the history of the world. [ applause ] we have created more opportunity and more success and more dreams realized for more people than any nation ever. there's no reason we can't meet these challengie ins right now we have to do it together arm in arm and base it upon those

principles and never give up. never, never, never give up. this is a life-long battle. this is the human condition. the debate of ideas and whether or not you live in a free society or not. this is the human condition. embrace it. embrace it. let me close with a couple of my favorite quotes. the first is daniel webster's which lays it all into demonstrating the magnitude of it. daniel webster said hold fast my friends. hold fast to the constitution of the united states and the republic for which it stands for miracles do not cluster. what has happened once in 6,000 years is not likely to happen again. that kind of puts it in context, right? this is the blessing that we have received. a free society. we need to fight for it and preserve it. and then finally -- [ applause ] finally when you get a little down and you think, well, my neighbor isn't for that and i

can't -- i didn't have any good success in recruiting people to the cause today. just remember what samuel adams said. it doesn't take a majority to prevail. but an irate and tireless minority keen on setting brush fires of freedom in the minds of men. let's go out and set those brush fires of freedom. thank you so much. god bless you. thank you. [ applause ] >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back to the stage, the chairm chairman. >> we'll try to have a better lineup of speakers for you next year. i'm sorry if this hasn't been quite impressive enough. we really have a man that i think you're going to love as our next speaker. our next speaker is one of the

rising political stars in america today. he got his start licking envelopes for ronald reagan in 1980. he graduated from georgetown university and received his law degree from the university of virginia. successful corporate attorney who was minding his own business and wasn't really looking to get involved in politics. he later served as executive director of the puerto rico tourism company critical to the island's economy. he represents the island in the house of representatives and his colleagues thought so highly of him that he was elected vice president of the freshman class and vice chairman of the congressional hispanic caucus. in 2008, he ran for governor of puerto rico. when he walked in the door, he inherited the worst fiscal crisis in the history of puerto

rico. a $3.3 billion deficit proportionally the worst deficit in america. 40% of revenues. how did he respond? he responded by slashing spending, streamlining the bureaucracy, and cutting the personal income tax by 50% and the business tax by 30%. he's also the chairman of the southern governors association so i want to see if he can say y'all in spanish before he leaves. mitt romney has called him one of the greatest leaders in the republican party today. we agree. please welcome a champion for faith and freedom, governor luis fortuno of puerto rico. ♪

>> thank you. thank you, ralph, for that kind introduction. obviously my mom got to you early today and that was very nice. i want to thank ralph as well for his courage and his leadership in defending the values of american families. i'm honored to be here with you all this morning at a moment where our nation faces a crossroads. the challenges ahead are greater than anything that most of us have ever encountered. we feel the enormous economic strains at home and around the world but the pain is not just in our pocketbooks. it's felt in our schools. it is felt in our roads and highways and in our hospitals. it is felt in our churches and synagogues and it is felt at the dinner table. we know the consequences of a government that does not take ownership of our nation's fiscal

crisis. we need to work together across party lines to restore personal economic security, confidence in our future and the pursuit of the american dream. too many politicians in washington have refused to make the difficult decisions because they are more concerned about their next election instead of the next generation. that's wrong. [ applause ] more government is not the solution. more economic freedom is the solution. we need a government that does not spend more than we can afford. the american people, not washington, will lead us to real economic recovery. i'm here to tell you that the solution is within our grasp. just look at what we faced in puerto rico as ralph mentioned earlier when i took office in 2009 like the rest of the country, we were facing the

deepest recession since the 1930s. i inherited a $3.3 billion budget deficit, which proport n proportionatly was the largest in the country with 44% of revenues. in fact, once i was sworn in, we didn't have enough money to make our first payroll. my wife asked me, honey, can we ask for a recount? that didn't work out. we immediately enacted emergency legislation requiring significant spending cuts starting with my own salary. we cut government expenses by almost 20%. when i say cuts, it's real cuts. not washington cuts. we cut government operating expenses and service contracts. we reduced political appointments and shrank employee ranks by voluntary and involuntary measures. in just over three years, we cut our deficit by 90%.

from 44% to 3% of revenues and turned to restoring growth. as a result of our fiscal responsible pro-growth policy, we implemented the biggest tax cut in puerto rico's history. it's reducing the tax burden on individuals by an average of 50% and on businesses by 30%. puerto rico is now experiencing the first positive growth in six years including increased job creation, rising home sales and increased consumer confidence. [ applause ] as it is reflected by climbing retail and auto sales, surging tourism numbers and new business creation. but we all know the challenges facing us in this country are deeper than spreadsheets and bottom lines. they are also in the hearts and minds of our children who suffer

the consequences of the erosion of some of our most cherished values. the bedrock support of a stable family and home. schools that prepare them to compete and succeed and faith that they are part of something bigger. a country that has shown the light of freedom in so many dark corners around the world. so just as we focus on righting our fiscal woes, we must bring the same focus, the same drive for innovation, for pursuit of our society that promotes excellence and success in all of its forms. in puerto rico we're doing everything within our power to make our economy more competitive, more prosperous and stronger than it's ever been. we are applying the same energy level to the social side where we make values, ethics and education central to our efforts to strengthen our society. a