known a lot of senators. thane known more senators all but 15 men in american history. there has never been a better man, there has never been a better friend, there has never been a guy with more standup, flat-out courage and tell it like it is and fritz holick's there is never been a man with more flat-out courage and tell like it is and fits holland's -- dan fritz hollings. you talk about my early start. came is only one reason i to the senate. i wasn't going to be sworn in. there were three people in my life at the time. one was a guy who had more integrity in his little finger

than most people have in their whole body. another one was a guy who was named fritz hollings. they get me engaged. he told me we just need you for six months. you can leave after that. fritz was part of a group of five senators that would go to dinner with their spouses. it sounds corny. they help save my life. greato man deserves one love, let alone to, when i met jill, and we got married, i got

a call from fritz. he said, i want to have a little get gather to introduce the colleagues to jill. at his own expense, he and pete see had every member of the supreme court had the members of the cabinet, and he put on a reception for me so everybody could meet jill. every stage of my career, both the high points and the low points, you have been them. when people say why does joe biden, why is he so blunt? i sat next to fritz 430 two years. what do you expect me to be? what do you expect?

i learned from the best. no one ever doubted fritz meant what he said. never. you taught me a lot. i make no apologies for trying to be a little bit like you. thank you, buddy. thank you for being here tonight. it is great to be back in south carolina. i mean that seriously. as i have said, i have forged relationships. i was asked if i would do his eulogy. the place of the senate used to be a place where you could actually take a look and try to find the best in other people. i did strom thurmond's eulogy. to can do that, you've got do mine. before i will be gone you fritz. all kidding aside, our member

the days we came to work. we worked together. no matter how deep the philosophic differences were, it is good to be back in south carolina knowing you're about to get another democratic rational see in the first district rate audited to do was watch that debate to understand why elizabeth is going to make make such a great congresswoman. they see nothing yet. -- they ain't seen nothing yet. i want to focus on one thing for your permission. why are you most democrats? why are you democrats question mark there is one thing we all have in common with all the differences among us. there is one thing at the core of who we are. it is our absolute. are committed to the middle class.

we know this country is built on the backs, the shoulders of the middle class. we know that when the new class does well, everyone does well. the wealthy get wealthier, the poor have a way up. when the middle-class is not growing, the poor are damned, and the middle-class are stuck. ladies and gentlemen, you saw what happens with the policies we have to put up with someone the years before you watch the middle-class shrink three people having trouble they never had before. economists, i have a whole bunch of them. they will talk to but the middle-class in terms of the dollar number.

they will say the middle-class is $49,494. middle-class is it a number. it is a value set. it is a way of mind. it would make the people in delaware not a single bit different from the people in south carolina. it is about being able to own your own home, not just rent it. it is about being able to send kid to a good school in a neighborhood where it is safe. it is about send hearing -- sending your kid to college. i have not found any distinctions anywhere in the world, anywhere in this country. it is about knowing you can do that. it is about been able to take care of your parents when they get old, and hope that you

won't have to have your kid take care of you. where i come from, the strength of delaware, that is what being middle-class means. it is being able to care for your family. it is being able to hold your head high. all of a sudden, all of a sudden, since the last election, here are republicans talking about how much they value the middle-class. they do. i bet they are talking of the middle-class. anyway, i do not want to make any news tonight.

fritz, -- i'm going to be good tonight. he knew my dad. he has a picture which i now have. i still have it. it is hanging in my library. my dad was a gentle, good man. my dad had an expression. he said, "don't tell me what you value. it show me your budget, and i will tell you what you value." don't tell me how you care about the elderly. don't tell me -- show me your budget. let's take a look at the other team's budget. we will find a with a value. jim will tell you, they passed a budget in the house of representatives. the ryan budget. the republican budget. the budget they passed is

absolutely no different than the one they passed last year, the one they passed the year and the year before that. you've got to give them credit for consistency. look, medicaid -- they cut 21 million people out of medicaid. what they do not tell you is that it is not all poor folks have never had a job. these are the widows of middle- class backgrounds who are in nursing homes today only because of medicaid. where will they go? what will they do? who will care for them? tens of thousands of middle- class families in america, struggling with children of autism. they took that extra health care for medicaid. pay their taxes. they continue to pay their taxes. what are they supposed to do now? how do they make it up? medicare. republicans say they are going to say that.

we're glad to say that. the the truth is, they want to get rid of it. that is not an exaggeration rate with a want to do, they come back and say put us in charge. we were up -- we will replace that thing you work for your whole life. here the they're going to do. they will give you a voucher. they will say to your mom, here is a coupon. literally. that is what it is. amount a coupon worth x of dollars. when you hit that number, you are finished. the congressional budget office look at their first proposal. they said it would cost the average senior 6005 hundred dollars more a year to get the same health care they are

getting now. where are these guys from? i'm being serious. where are they from? what don't they understand? what defender stand -- what don't they understand about those decent americans who paid their whole life, who built this country, who fought in wars. where do they think the 75 euros is going to get another $6,500 to get the same health care they have now? ladies and gentlemen, we have a totally different view. we strengthen medicare. we extend its life into the 20s. we have expanded and extended and paid for changes in medicaid. local they did in a -- local they did education. their budget that they are fighting for the devil for, and i bet they are making a case for

this, they/elementary and secondary education. to one or 30,000 kids will be thrown off of head start. 29,000 special education teachers for special education lose their jobs. because of jim's leadership, we've gone to 9000 -- how is that not good for america? how was that not good for america? as emily knows, we are big phil -- we're are big fans. we have had the honor of having emily at the house. she knows joe.

my wife teaches full-time. she's the first second lady to ever have a full-time job as a teacher. she teaches 15 credits a semester. that is why she is not here with me tonight. she will have an expression. any country that educates us double outcompete us. jim can tell you both as a teacher and as a nation leading democrat, all the education gap they talk about, all that gap, it exists before the kid steps into the first classroom. that is why the president proposes that every child in america has access to regain -- pre-k. every one of the studies shows that you give a kid the front end of a solid start when they are five years old. it increases exponentially the prospect they were graduate. it increases the prospect they

will not get in trouble or be arrested. thencreases exponentially prospects of making it through. that is why we spend tell grants. thee continue to call for $25,000 -- tax credit for middle-class families. do you know where we rank in the world? inh, after all the nations the world that we are competing with. we rank 17th. we used to be number one. competitionin the in the 21st century if we do not change that?

ladies and gentlemen, republicans talk about the middle class and how they care about us. themany times do you hear talking about safe neighborhoods? why do they cut the crime bill? money for cops question mark why today zero it out? because of the recession they -- we repair it did -- because of the recession we're inherited. surprise surprise, crime is up. surprised we have a problem. republican budget cuts 4800 federal agents, 3500 prison guards. that means you're going to have two early release convicted felons. they're going to make the

neighborhood i grew up in safer? ladies and gentlemen, we have different ideas. we want to give the cities and counties those 15,000 support they need. look at what is going on now. these are the same guys, the members have not been increased much. they have to deal with what? a big chunk of their time is dealing with terrorism. a whole new responsibility. these guys cut the resources? and tell you how much they care? they care? about keeping your neighborhood safe? infrastructure -- it makes a difference how you your neighborhood looks like. roads, bridges, ports. what does the republican budget

called for? no money for infrastructure. tax breaks for companies that continue to shift jobs overseas, which you have learned a lot about. retrainprograms who people who lost those jobs for new industries and new high-tech jobs. my father, everybody wondered -- brock talks about me being -- they name the sound guy was a kid he climbed out of the coal mine with a lunch pocket in my hand. the truth is, my dad after the war didn't have a job to raise his family on. like a lot of your families, we moved to wilmington, delaware. he said i will he back a year. he came on every weekend. he found a good job. he brought us down.

on that time on, my brothers and my sisters, my dad would use phone expression -- a job is about a lot more than a paycheck. it is about your dignity. it is about your respect. your sense of your self-worth. i do not think those guys understand that. it is not just a paycheck. it is about who we are. it is not being able to hold your head up. you do not have to care for your family. you can't do that without being able to make a decent wage, with a decent standard of living. van slowly pushed in the beginning to bring manufacturing back home. we created 500,000 more manufacturing jobs over their injections -- objections. [applause] there are six and a thousand high-tech jobs in america that

remain open today. we do not have the trained personnel for them. jim'ss why with leadership, we have been out there making businesses with community colleges and they tell us what you need. there is a great big new plant up in michigan, hiring all kinds of people. decent wages. give siemens coming down, opening of a brand is facility. why? because we have the best universities in the best community colleges in the world. we are training them. these guys voted against all that. illuminateried to

this program. that is why we continue to insist on investing in infrastructure. good decent paying jobs. the increased productivity. they make us more competitive. no one knows better than fritz and jim who have served. no one knows that better than the folks in south carolina. to understand what we need upgrade our infrastructure. why we have to invest in the port of charleston. [applause] i'm serious. here is what is happening. the panama canal has been widened. you have these massive ships a book to come through now. guess what? most of the ports and the east coast cannot accommodate them. if they can, it is real jobs and real money. it is real dignity return to people. folks, gemini -- jim and i have had countless conversations. we're going to get you money for the port of charleston.

this guy is relentless. i mean it. at the end of the day, this is all about the reason i love this guy. it is all about according people the dignity they deserve. that means a fighting chance. i decent job -- a decent job. i know a lot of you heard about how china is going to eat our lunch. give me a break. give me a break. if it takes is a second, there is a company that point out something very basic. american workers, south carolina workers, are three times of productive as any workers in china. as a fact. that is not chauvinism. that is a fact. america companies are more

innovative. including in china. how many times have you heard speeches down here of someone standing up and saying china produces six times as many engineers as we have? they do. name me one product that they are brought the international market? name me one innovative change they have made? why? because in order to innovate, you have to challenge your orthodoxy. you have to challenge what went before. you cannot do that in a country that does not allow you to breathe free and speak openly. dazzle makes us who we are. -- that is what makes us who we are. i do not have a doubt in my mind that we will continue to be the world's leading economy in

this decade. we want the chinese economy to grow. when i was in china, -- three years ago said they wanted me to get to know the vice president was now the president. i spent 10 days with him. i had to go over to china after our republican friends calls art national rating to be downgraded. i went to china and they talked about how we understand you might come back. theood in the great all of people with the president of china and said we appreciate your concern, but there is no need for you to come by. you only owe one percent of all the financial insurance in this

country. let me remind you, it is never a good bet to bet against america. never. why? we have a strongest middle class in the world. on taxes, i will in this. i can go on for a long time about this. the are public and budget has more of the same breed protecting tax break for the wealthy. there we have been before. we saw that before. we know how it ends. in their budget, they have called for continuing a $4.5 billion tax break for oil companies who made more than $90 billion in profits. they continue. they call for a new tax cut for a two under $45,000 a year

average tax cut for people making more than $1 million. dazzle is what they are calling for. -- that is what they are calling for. we're not going going back. that is why we insisted in this last thing, i/o is to be the -- bearer of bad news. [laughter] the last one was not a bad deal. we insisted that people at the top bracket go back to what they were paying before. not as a punishment. and it was over 40 ceos. they all agree the numbers should go up. it raised $600 billion and cut our deficit by another 600 billion dollars. folks, look.

if you're coning cut on the middle class, why do they do it? it is hard to believe this but these guys are proposing. in order to provide for these massive tax cuts, that is the only way they can do it. other than ballooning the deficit even more than they already have. that is why they talk about it the way they do. that is why they call for these cuts to the middle class. by the way, they talk a lot about deficits. let me take what gemini congress have done. we have reduced the deficit already by $2.5 trillion. the proposal is to gain another $1.5 trillion. the difference is we do it fair. that will get us to the magic number.

every economist to talk to will tell you if you get that to gdp below three percent, that is when things take off. that is exactly what the president's raposo will do. it will get it down to 2.1%. thedo not have to break back of the middle class to have this country grow. the only way you can make it grow is to give it a chance. like you, i believe in the future of this country. some people say i'm an optimist. the white house optimist, like i'm the new play -- nook in the place. -- but i'm the new kid in the place. i know the journey of this country. never have the american people, never ever have the american people let us down. they are not asking for anything special. the american people are are only asking for what they paid

for. just give them a fighting chance. you know, you can't be outcompeted. you can't out innovate us. you can't out produce us. no country in the world has the capacity to do that. they really don't. both are enterprises and entrepreneurs, are people, how productive they are. let me conclude by saying, one of the things that bothers me the most about the new republican party is how down on america they are. how down on our prospects they are. have a talk about how we are getting clobbered. how they talk about things that make no relationship to reality. also they can ensure the very few the top are wealthy.

prettye not bad guys believe it. he actually believed if you free up completely the top one percent, somehow all of this will trickle down. it never has. never will. buyer public in colleagues talk about is being in decline. let me remind them. it is never in the history of this country a good bet to bet against the american people. look folks, the middle class is coming back. the american people are coming back. the country is coming back. i am absolutely positive, absolutely positive -- not because of barack obama and joe biden, but because of the nature of the american people, if we continue to give them have a chance, have a chance, we will maintain the dominant economy in the world and for us to do with the world needs done, we need to be the dominant

economy. that's the only thing that allows us to do what we do do in our foreign policy and our national security. folks, as my grandpa would say, keep the faith. america is on his way back. god bless you, and may god bless our troops. [applause] >> also last night south carolina republicans hosted dinner lver elephant including a speech by ted cruz who talked about his belief that

republicans can regain control of the senate and white house. an hour.alf >> thank you. thank you very much. thank you, chad. asked you not to mention .hat i went to harvard south carolina is kind of like west texas. any time in west texas they found out i went to harvard i said i have a lot to apologize for. texas and south carolina have a connection, a connection that goes back centuries. as lindsey mentioned there were carolinians, uth william transfers and james bonham in the alamo.

onham was sent out to get reinforcements and fought his way back in through the atta to come back to the alamo where he gave his life. that is the tradition and of south carolina and texas. and it is a tremendous link. so, thank you for the support south carolina has given then side by side fight for freedom. joe biden is in town. is you don't g even need a punch line. you just say that and people laugh. but the vice president has some advice for all of us on the guns issue. he told everyone if anybody is your home, attacking your family, just go outside

shotgun ande barrel fire both barrels in the air. if it so eat advice hams you are being attacked by a geese.f i would note the last person to was vice t advice president dick cheney. when he had that tragic hunting where a in texas terrific lawyer from austin was shot. will tell you something i bet most of you don't know. in the two weeks after vice hunting cheney's accident there were more than 200 phone calls to texas parks wildlife asking how much for a license to shoot a republican lawyer. also today president obama is

in mexico. mexican , he says that gun violence is due to u.s. guns. well, i would suggest a place he have started was not to have his department of justice to mexican drug cartels. applause] >> really. what i would like to talk to you the american spirit, something that links every one of us together. talk to you about four american of the spir spirit. courage, freedom, growth and opportunity. i want to start with courage. i will tell you i do not know anyone who embodies courage more than senator jim demint.

applause] >> he has many characteristics is being utterly fearless perhaps his most unusual one. in that would note regard he reminds me of a texan, norris. wear super man pajamas. norris n wears chuck ajamas and chuck norris wears pajamas.nt

but jim demint also reminds me of another south carolinian, the swamp fox. whose fierce perseverance helped merica become a nation and helped us to defeats the mightiest military the world had ever seen in the american revolution. when jim demint was in the senate he fond himself over and -- fond himself over and over a voice in the wilderness and did something starting in 2009 that was quite extraordinary. he said the senate is not going to change unless we change the people who are in the senate. he again getting involved helped us to defeats the mightiest military the world had ever seen in the american revolution. when jim demint was in the senate he fond himself over and -- fond himself over and over a voice in the wilderness and did something starting in 2009 that was quite extraordinary. he said the senate is not going to change unless we change the people who are in the senate. he again getting involved in republican primaries. it is worth underscoring how incredibly unusual that feels. .hat was not done yet he again going around the want to find i leaders who pled are willing to stand and fight. ecause he was concerned as every man and woman is here today that our freedom is in country. in this nd he got behind candidates, like mike lee, rand paul, marco

rubio, ron johnson, every one of the gray beards had decided someone else should win. demint said we need strong conservative leaders and every one of them won with the support of the conservative grassroots. in 2012 three new republicans elected. jim demint's support was to all three of us who won. demint said we right now i in the for in the senator jim demint. and that legacy has already transformed the u.s. senate. any issue, pick any fight, and who are the people charge being out into battle and

the fight? they are the rand pauls, mike lee, marco rubio, leaders there because of jim demint's support. and that is how you turn the country around. freedom. principle is freedom is really the value of our country. and the tool we crafted, our crafted that was quite revolutionary to preserve constitution.e thomas jefferson described the chains to united states senate if bind the mission of government. seeing our are freedom under assault because our constitutional liberties are threatened. in my view we should stand for the constitution and every part constitution.

we should stand for the first amendme all of us are yet shocked and horrified to read newspaper headlines this weekend that this administration is threatening to court-martial the military if they share their faith to others. there comes a point where you can't make this stuff. amendment protects our free exercise of religion. very clear the united states government has no authority to tell any american not that he ry or or she cannot share his faith with someone else. applause] , any of cond amendment

us has seen that president obama as been pushing an agenda aggressively to come after our constitutional right to keep and arms. i will tell you several weeks ago i was proud to stand with my senators rand paul and short letter nd a o harry reed that said we will filibuster any legislation that threatens the right to keep and arms. and what we saw happen in the incredible.ks was the american people got engaged. in this room men began speaking out, began began going ngton, on line, facebook, twitter and saying go after the violent criminals, come down on them ike a ton of bricks, but protect the constitutional

law abiding americans. to protect he fate our second amendment there was whone who worked harder and i was more honored to be side by side with than your senior senator, lindsey graham. [applause] >> as a result of the leadership of lindsey graham and tim scott and countless others, and as a of each of you speaking out and the american people , whenheard, two weeks ago president obama's gun control voted on every proposal this would undermine our right to keep and bear arms in the united senate. [applause] >> we should be defending the amendments ifth against an administration that

on its es no limits powers. to stand side d by side with rand paul in a filibuster against this policy.tration's drone that day began with attorney eric holder testifying in front of the senator, lindsey judiciary committee. opportunity to ask he attorney general a few gentle questions. n particular, i asked him, mr. attorney general in your opinion does the constitution allow the united states a drone to o use kill a u.s. citizen on u.s. soil if that individual doesn't pose an imminent threat. his response was, well, that wouldn't be appropriate. you my response was, attorney general a drone t you have misunderstood my

question. i wasn't asking about propriety. you are the chief legal officer for the united states of america. does the department of justice have a position on whether the constitution allows the u.s. government to use a drone to citizen in those circumstances. said, it wouldn't be appropriate. three times we went become and forth. any minute he t me, i do notsay to understand this constitution to which you are referring. but during the 13-hour filibuster that day, as one came to fter another the floor of the senate, as 20 house members came to the floor senate, again just as with me, i do not nderstandguns, thousands upon

thousands of men and women across this country got involved, spoke up, got online and twitter and stood for liber liberty. as a result, the next day the obama administration was forced to do what it had refused to do for three straight weeks, which admit in writing no, the constitution doesn't let it kill with. citizen on u.s. soil drone. the 10th of amendment and one of the most critical elements of doing that is we should we should be defending repeal ee of obama care. applause] and let me take the opportunity to salute your governor for having the courage to say no to expanding medicaid obama care. south carolina has a tradition, of producing on, fighters and nikki haley is a star who is inspiring the country. governor.,

ith obama care, as it gets implemented, it is getting less popular. because more and more people are reaming it -- realizing it isn't working. a couple of weeks ago the senior democrat who was the principal said it of obama care was becoming a "train wreck." well, i agree with that democratic senator. i'm reminded of one of my heroes, former senator from the phil graham. said it senator graham was hearing on s medicine. and the panel was explaining, as talking about socialized medicine and senator graham said, you know, i feel confident more care about my kids

than anybody else does. of the witnesses on the panel said with all due respect, stphorbgs i care about your kids just as much as you do. senator graham looked at him and said really? names?re their there is almost no limit to what this president and this thinks the on do.eral government can we've got to get back to the u.s. constitution. we've got to get back to limits government powers and we've got to get back to our freedom. that is how we turn the country around. the third principle of the american spirit is growth. i think the very top priority of official is restoring economic growth. years our rnment powers last fr

economy has grown 0.9%. there is only one other period since world war ii of four consecutive years of less than 1% growth. 1982.as 1979 to carter ut of the jimmy administration same failed policy. t led to the exact same stagnation. growth is fundamental to solving every other problem. get to 23 million people struggling to find jobs back to work we need growth. we want to turn around the parg in a unsustainable deficits we have growth. to maintain the strongest military in the world to defend we must nal security have growth. and i think years our growth should be a bipartisan objective. there is no rain republicans and -- no reason republicans and democrats can't be working side

economy going our and build the keystone pipeline, taxtop regulation, push for reform and get small businesses moving. [applause] couple of days ago jay leno observed, so, the president is having a hard time shutting down guantanamo. well, i have an idea. he should declare it is a small business, do what he always does and tax it out of existence. it would be gone in days, weeks, gone! growth. and the fourth and final thing we need is opportunity. for so s fundamental many reasons, but the most mportant is the growth that produces opportunity. for a long time i have argued

kevconservatism which is that every principle about and we think talk about should focus on opportunity. means of ascent up the economic ladder. of greatest engine prosperity and opportunity and wealth creation the world has market n is the free system in the united states of america. applause] >> and let me tell you member of there is no the u.s. senate who understands senator tim han scott. scott.senator tim let me tell one of the reasons. because he understands in his you are struggling to climb the economic ladder the only thing that has ever worked free market system that allows small businesses to rocess terror and allows --

prosper and doesn't create dependency but encourages people work and stand only their own feet and strive toward the american dream. i love listening to senator how he was in t high school, and as he describes he was close to flunking outs of high school. e had failed, as he put it, both english and spanish. observed when tt you fail english and spanish hey don't say you are bilingual. they say you are bi-ignorant. and he tells a powerful story of describes an who he as his mentor, who owned a franchiseshick-fil-a and who brought him under his wing and said tim, the path you to take you going to where you want to be. that is not how you get to the

dream.an if you want to get to prosper y to rely on you have hard work. you have to rely on discipline. you have to apply yourself at school. you have to create a small business and create jobs. ou have to take advantage of the incredible opportunity in this opportunity. that is tim scott's life. opportunity that we as republicans should champion every single day. he unemployment we see in this economy doesn't fall uniformly over the population. severely on the most vulnerable among us. degree, ave a college unemployment right now is 3.8%. is a pretty robust labor market for skilled graduates. don't have a high school degree, unemployment is over 12%.

10%, armies rly 14%. is g people age 16 to 19 it over 25%. of young people 25 to 29 are moving back in with their parents parents. one-third. the obama economy that people being hit the worst are oung people, single moms, african-americans, hispanics, those struggling to climb the ladder, and as republicans we need to be challenging every day the way achieve prosperity is have -- omic growth that allows there's been no nation on earth that has allowed so many to come with ople nothing and achieve anything. i have to say when i talk about opportunity opportunity, in my life as in all of your lives it is not some

abstract concept you read about in a book. it is a reality we have all lived. my dad is from cuba. he was born in cuba, grew,in cuba. as a kid he fought in the cuban revolution. hen he was a teenager he was thrown in prison and tortured, beaten almost to death. he fled cuba in 1957. 18 years old, came to texas. when he arrived he couldn't english. he had nothing except $100 sewn underwear and a slide rule in his pocket. chad, hen i talk to -- when i talk to young people they have no idea whether a slide rule is. he got a job washing dishes making 50 cents an hour and days a week, paid his way through the university of texas and he went on to start a small business. working toward the american

dream. when i was a kid my father used to say to me over and over again when we lost our freedom in c a it flee to.a place if we lose our freedom here go?e do we that fundamentally is why every tonight.s is here my dad has been my hero my whole incredibleat is most about his story is how commonplace it is. one of us could come up here one after the other and like that.y just we are all the children of those ho risked everything for freedom. i think that is the most fundamental d.n.a. of what it american.be an that is why we are here tonight to take our country back. final points two in conclusion. the first is, change happens

quickly. a lot of republicans are 2012.lized about november i want to remind you of 2005. it 2005 george w. bush had just been re-elected president. republicans had criminontrol of a large nate and majority of governorships. and democrats were going on publicly talking republican manent majority." that was 2005. 2006 we lost congress, 2008 elected.ama was 2009 obama care passes. and here we are today. things can change quickly. legacy of jim demint and leaders in the senate fighting, i are believe change will come quic y

quickly. particularly, i'm convinced with your help that we are going to u.s. senate in 2014. applause] cell many of you have phones on you? celll ask you to take your phones out and text the word to 33733. growth to 33733. to take the us 2014. back in stand together because we are take the senate back in 2014 and we are going to stand in the senate to fight together liberty.d our to say as ing i want ronald reagan

famously said freedom is not passed down in the bloodstream. has to, every generation stand and fight for it to preserve it. that is what we are called on to do tonight. so i want to share with you the words that were written by a native south carolinian william travis. his last letter from the alamo which read has to stand and as follows. ellow citizens i'm besieged by 1,000 or more. have sustained a continual bombardment for 24 hours and have not lost a man. enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion. otherwise the garrisons are to be put to the sword. demand with ed the a cannon shot. proudlyflag still waves from the walls.

shall never surrender or retreat. then i call on you in the name liberty, of patriotism and everything dear to the american our aid to come to with all dispatch. neglected, i'm determined to sustain myself as and die like a soldier who never forgets what due to his own honor and that of his country. or death. travis, a native hero carolinian, a texas and like each and every man and woman here, someone who stood up it all on the line fighting for liberty, fitting for this country we love so very much. thank you and god bless you. cruz!nator ted

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] >> you may not know this but our first silver elephant keynoted by as ronald reagan, not to put pressure on you but we have high we expect you d back in the state quite a bit. hank you for keynoting our celebration tonight. a small token of our very iation, thank you much and god bless. >> thank you, chad. >> next is washington live with phone calls. year's winners of our student cam video competition. later a report on the state of country's preschoolless.

♪ host: good morning. it is saturday, may 4, 2013. resident obama is wrapping up a trade trip to mexico and read that today. here at home, a few of the big names -- costa rica today. here at home, a few big names for 2016 ship a few -- shook a few hands in south carolina last night. we will wrap up those here today. we want your take on the early candidate field for 2016. would you like to see win the white house in three and a half years from now, and why?