just don't get into debates, they're have to deal with an opponent, they are harassed. it is the politics of personal destruction. ted cruz campaigned on stopping hillary clinton and the president will welcome the families of the dead men that were killed in benghazi. they were saying to these families, our hearts go out to you. we're going to get to the bottom of this. we will find out who did this. ladies and gentlemen, we now know they knew then you did it. to think that when hillary clinton goes around the country speaking she has to deal with hecklers in the audience? the way ted cruz does? come to think of it, maybe we ought to start adopting some of their tactics. unbelievable, unbelievable. anyway, my friends, this is all part of the war that we are in.

rush limbaugh said the other day that he felt we were living in a dying country. i love rush, but i would disagree to a certain extent. i believe we are living in a country that is being killed. not just dying. whether it is our culture, our values, our faith, our history, all are under attack from the radical left. day by day, step-by-step, america as we have known it is being pulled out by its roots from the rich soil, the nurturing earth of judeo- christian civilization. the moral code of judeo- christian civilization everywhere it has gone has brought decency and tolerance with it.

it inspired our founders, it taught us that liberty comes from god. it protected the week. because of judeo-christian civilization the slaves were liberated. that civilization teaches wherever it is that all human beings, whether it is a new born with down syndrome were a 90- year-old sinking into dementia at all human beings regardless of the color of their skin has dignity and value and worth because they were made in the image of god. [applause] but that civilization and what it teaches is hated. it is hated by the radical secular left and it is hated by the radical islamists. they disagree on everything. but they agree on this -- that judeo-christian civilization and people like you must be destroyed if they are going to successfully remake america into something that we don't

recognize. my friends, that is how important this battle is to this country and to your future. this country was founded by a brilliant man. i believe they had god's wisdom when they founded it. they built it because they wanted it to be a shining city on a hill. today, this dear country, built a brilliant man, is governed by stupid men. men without chests as cs lewis called similar men in his era. think of the words that used to define the united states in our civilization. words like decency, honor, virtue.

these are not dusty verbal relics of a bygone age. how else can you explain last year leading into the presidential campaign the elevation to start them over georgetown university coed by the name of sender fluke? of sandra fluke? ice on a sign of shame. she went before a congressional committee to argue that the sexual promiscuity practiced by her and her friends on georgetown university's campus was so pronounced that she could not pay for her birth control pills or condoms for her partners and still have money left over for her textbooks or

to be able to have three meals a day. now, my friends, we can sigh about that, we can fret about it, we can shake our heads, but you know what? sandra fluke became a factor in the election. it looked like an embarrassment, but she was used in the campaign to scare women between 18 and 30 that somehow if mitt romney was elected president, they would not have birth control pills. that same tactic is being used today in virginia against cochin alley in the gubernatorial campaign. it is so absurd, you don't even know what to say about it. the president of the united states last year it took the phone after sandra fluke

testified to call her and tell her how proud he was of her. i still remember when presidents made arsenal phone calls to astronauts -- when presidents made personal phone calls to astronauts. i remember when presidents used to call heroic policeman or soldier's or someone that had gone to the point of laying down or trying to put their own life on the line for somebody else heard now we live in an era where a president praises a promiscuous coed because she thinks you ought to buy her birth control pills. that, my friends is the definition of civilization in decline. [applause]

now we have a new heroine. anybody from texas? the new heroine coming out of texas, senator wendy davis, think about this for a second. senator davis stopped business in the texas legislature. she filibustered with her now iconic pink sneakers on. and she is a heroine. ted cruz filibustered on the floor of the senate against obamacare and he is a bomb. >> not to us he isn't. [applause] absolutely. and what is -- and what did the senator filibuster about? her cause on the floor of the legislature of texas was to insist that in every and any

month of the pregnancy that the women of texas have the right to destroy unborn children heard there are a lot of people that consider themselves pro-life and they will say in the first trimester i can understand maybe the baby isn't really viable or whatever. there are some splits about that. you ask the american people if they think you can be allowed to have an abortion in the seventh or eighth month of pregnancy and they will look at you in horror. that is what the senator wanted to guarantee would be the law in texas. not only that, she wanted to make sure those abortions in the late months of pregnancy to place in dirty abortion clinics

that did not have to follow normal health standards. this woman, i am told by the evening news every night, so it must be true, is the hope of the texas democratic party. they believe that she has got a good chance to be the next governor of texas. what in the world happened to the party of fdr, harry truman and jfk? the party that wanted to protect the little guy in america. the party that today abandons the littlest guy of all, to the up portion mists knife? to happen to that party? my friends, if texas in the wild imagination would like this woman, i can imagine it, but it tells us something.

she is considered a heroine with her bumper sticker -- abortion for any reason in dirty clinics. now there is a cause you can rally two. you know, not many months ago president obama went to a convention of abortionists, people who profit from the deaths of little babies. the president has spoken out about the dirty profits of the ]about the dirty profits of the bankers, the dirty profits of the drug companies, the dirty profits of our energy industry, but he probably walked in to face an audience like this. imagine a room, it was filled with at least as many people, people get up every morning and they only have one thing to do that day, destroy innocent human life. i am told the feeling in the room was electric. the president, getting this incredible response.

this president that cannot find one abortion he would stop. gazing into the eyes of thousands of abortionists who have never found the baby they were willing to save. looking out into the crowd he said the one thing -- less a political figures come and speak to them. he said one thing to them they yearn to hear you looked into their eyes and said, keep it up and god bless you. god bless you. think about this for a second. the people that he asked the god of abraham isaac and jacob to bless, those people have destroyed more black babies, have exploited more black women than the ku klux klan in their

most racist dreams could have ever hoped to kill. the first man of color to occupy the office of the presidency goes to those people who locate their abortion clinics intentionally in minority and low income areas, praises them and asks god to bless their work. asian gentlemen, he ought to be ashamed of himself [applause] i listened to the wonderful remarks of my friend, michele

bachmann. man, i'm going to miss her in congress. like her, this week, the last couple of weeks i focused a lot on what was happening to our vets here in washington dc i found myself thinking a lot about spike bauer, that was my dad. he was a janitor, never finished high school. he was no saint, my friends. i'm not good to make him something that he wasn't. get a tough life, he was an orphan, wrestled all his life with why his birth parents had abandoned him. he drank too much. he had what today is called an anger management problem. he did not earn the name spike by playing chess i want to tell you. spike bauer could not quote many bible verses, but he loved god. he couldn't tell you all the statistics about why children need mothers and fathers, but he loved me and he loved my mom and even though we had a lot of hard times and don't remember there ever being a time when he didn't figure out a way to make enough

money to keep food on the table and pay the mortgage. my dad was in the marines in world war ii. first marine corps division in the south pacific. when i was growing up i didn't fully understand. it is to get him to talk about it and he never would until eventually award him down and one night we sat at the kitchen table and he told me unbelievable things that he saw and things that he had to do in service to his country. i found myself wishing i had never asked him. they haunted me for years. i couldn't imagine anybody having to go through that. these last two weeks it was men like spike bauer that were told they couldn't go to the memorial built in their honor. one of those on airplanes that landed out of reagan national

filled with guys like my dad was met by a bunch of reporters and they went up to these veterans and they said -- you know the memorial is closed, right? and you came all the way to washington to go to a close memorial? the one guy responded, when we got to the beaches of normandy they were closed, too. [applause] i couldn't help but think about the fact that the president of the united states -- don't be mistaken about this. if we don't accomplish anything in this lousy several weeks of this battle, make sure your neighbors understand that the reason that veterans couldn't visit their memorials is that the president of the united states ordered the office of management and budget

ordered the office of management of budget to order the park service to make life miserable for any american using our parks, anybody who wanted to go to those memorials. the park police said it. we have been told to make life miserable, the one lady said. she probably is not working at the park service anymore. the president of the united states, on his orders, had the fence told around though wwii memorial. he will not hold a fence at the southern border to keep out illegal immigrants. keep up our veterans. he will do that. [applause] my friends, if my father were alive today, i would not be here giving this speech. i would be down at the d.c. jail putting of the bail to get him out of jail.

how much more from this bitter cup do we have to drink? how much more? the pew research poll showed a few months ago that the majority of the american people now believe that our liberty is in jeopardy. not from not see is him. not from communism or radical islam although i could certainly make that case. they think liberty is at risk from their own government. a lot of americans might be confused about the events of the last two weeks. on this they agree with us. they know government is too big. they know it more and more encroaches on our liberty. darrell issa said we are entering a time of love my country but fear my government. my old boss, ronald reagan, once

said to the chagrin of the leftist elite, we are a nation that has a government, not the other way around. in my travels around the country, i talked to a lot of people like you. i talked to lots of people in different walks of life. i am hearing this over and over again. there is a growing sense of unease, the feeling that we are over an abyss, that something terrible is going to happen. i was on a website not too long ago when a young catholic father went online to share a story. he had taken his son's to mass sons to mass that sunday. he was watching his boys kneeling and praying and

suddenly a wave of nausea came across him. he realized if he continued to do what his parish priest told him to do, which was to raise up his children with godly values, to follow the scripture, if he continued to do that, he was probably preparing his sons for prison. then he wrote this. "i am not talking about troubled times ahead for my grandchildren's children and some possible children. i am talking about my kids. persecution is close." cardinal george in chicago wrote the following.

"i says -- i expect to die in bed. my successor will die in prison." i believe it is possible his successor will die a martyr in the public square are here in chicago. a bishop, a chicago of the catholic church said that. our founders would not recognize the country. if they were in washington, it would be overwhelming to them the power that is vested into residency. they would marvel at how much our liberties are shrinking.

this is a country that has so many scientific advances. we are searching for the smallest particle of matter that composes all things. i suspect we will find it. we can aim our telescopes at the furthest regions of the universe and pick up lights that are beyond our imagination. he cannot, as a nation, see anymore the creator that made those things. today, the god that gave us our liberty is a smaller and smaller part of our national life. the one thing that is imperative as this conference goes on to the weekend and eventually you go home is that you not leave here full of despair. i am not full of despair. if 80-year-old vets can stand up

with this kind of -- to this kind of mean-spiritedness that hovers us, are we going to stand up to it? there are times we have not -- wings we have not tried in this battle. civil disobedience may have been may be necessary. if middle america ever gets up one morning and says, this far and no further, you are not pushing me anymore, that day will be a new day in america, right? [applause] let me leave you with some words from ronald reagan in a speech delivered in florida best known for the fact that he called the soviet union the best known in the modern world.

people came down on him. evil? you can't say that. the president was speaking about communism. apply his words today. reagan said the following. i believe we shall rise to the challenge. i believe communism is another sad bizarre chapter in human history whose last pages are even now being written. i believe this because the source of our strength and the quest for human freedom is not material, but is spiritual. it knows no limitation. it must ultimately triumph over those who would enslave their fellow man. for the words of isaiah, he gives power to the faint and to them who have no might, he increases the restraint that they wait upon the lord to renew

their strength. they shall mount up with wings as eagles and ron and not be weary. ladies and gentlemen, i am not ever -- and run and not be weary. 80s and gentle man, i am not weary. we will -- ladies and gentlemen, i am not weary. we will reclaim america as a shining city on a hill. god bless you. thank you very much. never give up. [applause] >> thank you, gary. thank you so very much. i always enjoy when he has to share each year. ladies and gentlemen, coming now

is the former president of concerned women for america. also served as president of the culture campaign. for 10 years, she hosted her own radio talk show in chicago. it has one bank several awards, including the windy 10 radio personality of the year award by the national religious rod casters. today, she is a fox -- religious broadcasters. today, she is a fox news contributor. will you please welcome to the podium, sandy rios. [applause] >> thank you. how are you doing? it is time for your nap. it is my job to wake you up. he has told me all you know of you need to know about me, so i will see you later.

the american family association is on 190 stations. we do not have a person here in d.c. i represent afa at a lot of meetings. we have a journal. not that long ago, the sclc decided we are a hate group. they sent a letter. this is what i want you to know today. this letter went out this week. this is a letter from the southern poverty law center and g.l.a.a.d. and every congressperson -- and they wrote to every congressperson slated to speak.

they say, we understand you are slated to speak at the upcoming value voters summit. given the demonizing lies spread by the host, we urge you not to land the prestige of your office to the summit. every single congressperson and every senator you have heard have received this letter and a warning from these groups. they warned us that raines priebus, the rnc chairman and they said the party of lincoln they want to know where the party of lincoln stands on miller fine v -- vilifying the lgbt community. it is a dangerous time to be a

christian conservative. they are running ads against randy forbes trying to disparage him for being part of the american families association banquet today and for being here. there are threats being made. we all know that a little more than a year ago, a man came into the offices of the family research council because he had looked on the southern poverty law center's website and found hate groups and gone into the building with the idea he would commit mass murder with a bag of chick-fil-a sandwiches they would stuff -- he was stuffed into their mouths.

the southern poverty law center has refused to apologize or express regret and they have refused to remove the names of the family research council and the american family association on their list -- from their list of hate groups. we know there are people on the left that our french groups. they do not have much influence and they are free to hate, even in this country. they may tell you something about why this is important. the southern poverty law center sounds great. it has always had a history of helping people in the civil rights movement. they have had a good reputation. that is what people think they do. that is not really what they do. they were founded in 1971 by attorneys morris deeds and joseph levine, jr. they were selling cook books, door, and tractor seat cushions.

deeds became a top fundraiser for mcgovern and kennedy. allegedly, the story goes, he was able to get the mailing list from these candidates to springboard the funding efforts of the organization, which were very successful. the southern poverty law center has millions of dollars in and lots of offshore accounts. the american institute of philanthropy has given an f grade for their excessive reserves. their main business is attacking and suing conservative organizations. peoplee out to destroy like the family research council, american family association, and people like you.

let me give you an idea of some of the things they do. they have a hate map. -- 1018 groups. crime, hatecs on crimes between 1996 and 2011 decreased by 29%, while the number of hate groups identified rose 69%. a little strange. others enforcement and look at this list, they found many of these groups don't even exist. the reason and spending so much time telling you about them is fact there used as a resource by the department of homeland security, the justice department, the federal bureau of investigation, the pentagon, and thousands of local law enforcement agencies.

they can set trainings all around the country informing these groups of who the haters are. we are on that list. i will tell you what this is. this is a training for military men. it was a candid photo taken by a soldier. it shows a screenshot that they're doing this training in the military. the top of it says, american family association. it is fred phelps. fred phelps. is he claims to be a pastor. god hates fags. he is that guy. nothing to do with the american family association.

nothing to do with any of us here or any of the efforts of the frc. that is who they put in the photo under the american family association. he goes to protest at funerals. it is interesting to me and if you are in the fbi and you lie about something, let's say you misreport your time card or misrepresent, you can be fired for that. the fbi is looking to the southern poverty law center, which is nothing but the lies. it is amazing to me and it is disgusting and disgraceful. at this point, the southern poverty law center, that wonderful civil rights group who cares more about going after and discrediting and suing christians than they do about protecting the rights of african-americans, has absolutely no remorse about what happened at frc. they refuse to apologize. they have no remorse whatsoever. they came after tony perkins.

tony has been valiant in his fight. they are trying to demonize him everywhere he goes. the president of afa made this statement about what the splc is doing. they have taken snippets of comments of american family association personnel, distorted their meaning, and used these snippets to paint a false picture of afa. the american family association does not hate anyone. we love everyone, including homosexuals, enough to tell them the truth about the moral and spiritual dangers of homosexual conduct. he goes on to talk about what made america great. we stand for marriage and the family and public policy centered on the family.

it is a dangerous time to be a christian conservative. homosexuality has arguably become the most dangerous issue to discuss publicly, to write about. there are death threats and unbelievable things happening when you stand up. i could spend a long time telling you about it, starting with anita bryant. people are scared to talk about this. there are lives at stake. i will tell you what i mean. i think that american voters and american politicians are where americans were on the issue of abortion in the 1980's. in 1973 when roe versus wade was passed, there were not that many people in favor of abortion. people were appalled. in the 1970s and 1980s, there was this all out how began the push. -- propaganda push by the media.

walter cronkite lied about the number of so-called back alley abortions. he perpetuated that myth. they made it sound as if it was just a blob of tissue. i have been to pro-life gatherings where someone strange would be in the room. i remember sitting next to a person like that. all of the national media cameras came to that person and they were focused on that person. they did not capture any mom and dad in the room. no children. that was the face of the pro- life movement. by the 1980's, it was just anathema to be pro-life for a politician. the republican party decided it needed a big tent. christian conservatives

continued to talk about what was true. eventually, the facts caught up with what the reality was. with the advent of 4-d ultrasound and the debate over partial-birth abortion and the whole business about the horrible abortion clinics, mines -- minds have been changed. most of the republican congressman serving are pro- life. we are on homosexuality where we were on abortion in the 1980's. all we know is what we hear from television in the media and in hollywood. we see these glossy movies that are airbrushed. we see these decorating shows. many of us have gay people in our families. to have a gay person in your family and to say you understand what is going on is like saying you have a cousin who is a doctor.

we are fighting a barrage of top agenda. there is punishment if you speak out and say, i am not quite sure that is right. the justice department, a memo just went out to managers saying to them, you must not speak against homosexuality. silence is not enough. you must affirm. you cannot talk about relationships in terms of man and wife. you have to talk about partner. when you are at the water cooler, be sure we are listening to your conversations. you think it is not a hard, difficult time to be a christian conservative at justice? i can tell you that it is. our kids have grown up in an absolute ocean of propaganda on homosexuality.

in the 1980's there was the rainbow curriculum that started in new york. there are all these projects to talk about hate. our kids are the product of the propaganda taught in the public schools. when i read the republican autopsy report in which they suggested that we need to alter our viewpoint -- in which they suggested we need to alter our viewpoint on this because our kids are not where we are and we are going to lose them if we are not quiet on this, i have more to say about that. everybody knows about matthew shepard. matthew shepard was murdered in a number of years ago. he was murdered brutally. there is no happiness about that. there is no happiness about

hate. do not misunderstand or misquote me. we're talking about the distortion of information. matthew shepard was a young gay man who was brutally murdered by two other young men. the story was they murdered him because he was gay and he became a martyr for the gay movement. the hate crimes bill was passed with his name attached to it. bill clinton jumped all over this. the "new york times" ran with a story and told us all kinds of things about matthew shepard. they created a play called the laramie project that was shown, it still is, in high schools. wait a second. it was not true. it wasn't true. we know now that a book came out last week written by a gay author. this book was featured in the advocate, which is arguably the nation's most influential gay publication.

now we know the story was a complete fraud. matthew shepard was gay. matthew shepard was murdered by these two boys. it was a drug deal gone bad. according to this author and the police records show some of this, but you never heard about this, not in the media. matthew shepard cheated them on a drug deal, at least they thought he had. they actually had had sex with him. they were not upset that he was gay. they also were either gay or bisexual. this is part of the story. the fairy tale was spun around the tragic life of matthew shepard. it was lies, all lies. does that remind you of any other story that was spun over any other issue? roe versus wade. i will not go into it. the story that was the foundation of the laws that made abortion legal for all nine months were lies,

prevarications. we have the same thing in the story of matthew shepard. i will tell you what else americans do not know about. i was debating this on television a lot. the one thing i would debate that was almost like -- you remember the old movies with dracula. if you ever want to get into a heated debate about sexuality -- homosexuality, you talk about the health risk. it does not take too long to find information that is extremely troubling. the cdc just published information to say that 94%-95% of new hiv cases among boys and young men are linked to homosexual sex. 94%-95% of hiv cases.

the cdc also goes on to explore the boys that -- the things that boys do that are health risks. people are not allowed to know about this. the other thing we do not know about is the fact that there is an ex-gay movement. did you know that september was ex-gay awareness month? they are everywhere. the reason you do not hear about them is because they are maligned and threatened. i remember when stephen bennett was speaking for us. we wanted him to be on bill o'reilly. stephen was trying to tell his story about how he had come out and he was married and had children. bill would not let him talk. i cannot think of an ex-gay gay person i have seen on television. have you?

there are tons of ex-gays with fabulous stories and the american people do not even know about that. if we tell the truth about this, we are haters. the people that lie, those are the ones that love. i am kind of optimistic in this regard. it is hard to find optimism in all of this. one of the things that compels me and always has, i do not think you can really care about people and not tell them the truth. why would we promote homosexuality so thoroughly and not be able to speak about it in schools and not know that it puts these lives at risk? because we want to stop that, we are the ones who hate. good is called evil and evil is called good. we are living in an upside down world. it is a dangerous time to be a christian conservative.

when americans catch up with the facts on the human and financial cost, they will change their mind about this. they just do not know. i say politicians don't know either. when i was living earlier, my first iteration in d.c. as president of the cwa, a young woman who was a filmmaker asked if she could spend some time with me. she was not a conservative. she spent time with the gay community. she thought i was an oddity. we did the interview and when it was over she said, i want to talk to you. i have always been a defender of the gay community. i care about them. they are my friends. i am seeing so much death and heart ache and disease and

sadness in this community that i can hardly bear it. i do not know what to think about it anymore. these are the stories you are not hearing. let me just say to the splc, to republican leaders who feel this subject is just too icky. maybe you are uncertain yourself because you have been so awash in the propaganda of the public. we cannot change the truth to appease and win voters. [applause] we cannot change the truth to please our children. since when do we look to our children for our moral compass? i do not understand this except to say the parents of the 1960s

and 1970s were so lost and confused about what they actually believed that they are ill-equipped to teach their children what is true about sexuality. so we have a generation, we have politicians telling us we should listen to our children. if we love them, we should teach them and lead them. we cannot change the truth to please our children. [applause] we cannot change the truth to stop the criticisms or the attacks from the splc or any of the other groups on this letter. he cannot deny the truth to protect ourselves from financial threats. -- we cannot deny the truth to protect ourselves from financial threats. can we say irs? can we talk about all of the things happening in media and the way people are being destroyed? millions of gay men and lesbians are caught in a powerful web of deceit.

gay men and women love each other. what happens is, because the love is misplaced, they find themselves in a series of heartbreaking situations. have you ever had your heart broken in a romantic relationship? in the homosexual life, especially with men, there is so much heartbreak and rejection. you think youth is worshipped in heterosexual sex. we can't be silent because we care about those people. breaking hearts and costing lives. we will continue to offer homosexual men and hope of -- hpoope of redemption and life change, which christian conservatives know all about. we do not say what we say

because we are somehow morally superior. we say this because many of us have had our lives powerfully transformed by the power of jesus christ and we cannot be silent about that. [applause] we will continue to speak the truth and offer gay men and women hope of the redemption and life change that we have each experienced through the powerful name of jesus christ. thank you so much and may god have mercy on our country and bless america. thank you so much. [applause] ♪ >> coming to introduce our final speaker of the day is the 2011 conservative activist of the year for the state of wisconsin and the program officer of

chapter services at the young america's foundation. please welcome kate cortez and soon to be released sophia cortez. [applause] >> it is my great honor and privilege to introduce our next speaker, senator rick santorum, former candidate for the republican nomination for president of the united states. he became known as the voice for conservatives whose voice was not being represented. serving in the u.s. house of representatives from 1991-1995 and the u.s. senate from 1995- 2007, he fought to maintain fiscal sanity in washington, fighting for a balanced budget and a line-item veto. his record as one of the more conservative senators of pennsylvania history has

inspired someone to write, he was a tea party guy before there was a tea party. he served 8 years on the senate armed services committee, among many other accomplishments. of all of his successes, he is most proud of his role as a husband and father. of particular value to myself as an expectant mom, he wrote and championed legislation that outlaws the heinous procedure known as partial birth abortion. he has always been a voice for the voiceless, and reliably defends truth no matter what the consequences. before he takes the stage,

please enjoy a two-minute trailer of his upcoming film, the christmas candle. >> might i offer you some assistance? >> where are you headed? >> i am headed to london. it is christmas with the new minister high and mighty from london. >> forgive my ignorance, but what is the christmas candle. >> it is an old wives tale and a bible story. >> i am praying for a husband by easter. >> it is high time that we see the light. >> i hope to keep everyone in the light this christmas.

>> what is this light? >> today marks the dawning of a new age. >> i am not the miracle man you remember. >> they inspire my faith. >> welcome to this very special night. >> some things cannot be restored. >> i think you should stay, just until christmas. people need hope and you can give it to them. >> i know just the person to give the candle to this year. ♪

>> a miracle is happening. [applause] speaks aboutobama their government shutdown. with republicans and democrats from both houses of congress. is it a positive development that house republicans agreed on the need to avoid economic consequences of not meeting our country's commitments. once the debt ceiling is raised in the shutdown is over, there's a lot we can do cobblers together. we too rated 7.5 million jobs in the past three and a half years. created 7.5 million jobs in

the past three and half years. let's create more. the truth is, there's a lot we can agree on. one thing we have to agree on is that there's no good reason anyone should keep suffering through this shutdown. innovative small business owners on friday who have already lost contracts, customers, and put hiring on hold because the pain of this republican shutdown has trickled down to their bottom lines. it is hurting the very citizens that our government exists to serve. --rowing number of regional reasonable republicans say it should end now. it would not be wise to kick the debt ceiling can down the road for a couple months and flirt with the first ever intentional default right in middle of the holiday shopping season. sterling america's credit rating would not just cause global markets to go haywire. it would become more expensive for everyone in america to

borrow money. students pay for college, newlyweds buying a home. it would amount to a new tax, a republican default tax on every family and business in america. it doesn't have to be this way. it's not supposed to be this way. prices to extract massive concessions is not how our democracy works. politics is a battle of ideas. you advance those ideas through elections and legislation, not extortion. i know you are frustrated by what you see in the nation's capital right now. because it's easy to give up on the political back-and-forth, i want you to remember this is not normal. our government is close to the first time in 17 years -- closed for the first time in 17 years. this is not normal. this is why we have to put a stop to it. saps everyone's

faith in our government. whether it is growing the economy or getting our fiscal house in order, we have got a lot of work to do. constant brinkmanship does not let us do that. it inflicts real pain on real people. it creates spasms of uncertainty for business owners. it threatens our nation's credit and standing in the world. the longer it goes on, the more frequently this brinksmanship is inflicted. see marketswill react, businesses put off plans to spend and hire, and unemployment claims take up. the hundreds of thousands of hard-working civil servants to go even longer without pay will worry that they won't be able to cover their bills. and that their own credit worthiness will be ruined for no good reason at all. i want to thank all the business owners who have shown acts of kindness to those who serve their country.

peopleass a budget, put back to work, and and this republican shutdown. preventy our bills and an economic shutdown. then let's get back to the work of the american people. there is so much else we should be focusing our energies on right now. we have got to create more jobs. we have got kids to educate. we have an immigration system to fix. we have got more troops to bring home, and a middle-class to rebuild, and an opportunity to restore. there is so much america has going for it in this new century. this country works better when work together. -- we work together. thank you, and have a great weekend. >> hello, i'm buck mckeon, chairman of the house armed services committee. for all the focus on disagreements in washington, we have found some common ground this week. on thursday, president obama signed legislation that guarantees death benefits for

the families of fallen troops that will continue to be paid out during the government shutdown. we have come together to ensure that members of our military and the civilians who support that will be paid no matter what. we should not stop there. the house has passed more than a dozen bills providing funding for things that we can all agree on, veterans, cancer research, national guard, national parks, headstart, food safety, flight safety, border security, nuclear weapons security, and more. president obama and senate democrats should back these bills immediately. in the president should work with us on plans to reopen the entire government, and make sure we do not default on our debt. resolving ournd differences is exactly what americans expect their leaders to do, especially at times like this.

to that end, a group of house republicans including myself went to the white house on thursday to talk with the president and see where we can find common ground. those conversations are continuing. i'm sure all this back-and-forth has sound like the typical washington drama. politics is not about politicians. it is not about washington. it's about you and your family. it's about building an economy that generates and paying jobs. it's about making sure there is fairness for everyone under the president's health care law. so that hard-working people like you get the same relief big businesses have received. it's about stemming the tide of debt and deficits that threaten to wash out an entire generation's opportunities. it's about ensuring that our troops in harms way