that on that? we don't want that association? >> because -- >> the state represents x million people. they don't want to be associated with this message. >> i understand -- >> what's the difference? >> the difference is they invite people to make their -- they charge people and have them pay for the manufacture of the license plates by giving them the chance to design a message. that's what they do. they -- the people who come up with these things, they pay the front of-end costs, put up $8,000 collateral and it is a money-making scheme they use. the fact that they choose to apparently twice in history, -- there may be more but we can't document anymore -- ever turned anybody down, this is not a forum which people actually -- they make any decision besides

an economic decision, factual matter, that's what happens. >> counsel, can i ask you a somewhat technical question. do you have an objection to the materials that your friend has cited from outside the record? >> to the extent he has cited issues relating to the other design, i do not have an objection to that because i think it's -- >> it's the extra record materials are accurate. >> i think almost certainly accurate. since we filed our brief, and i -- the fact we have gone from 350 to 480 organizational designs since the case was tried, was not in the record either but i don't doubt that he -- he sells a lot more organizational plates since then, and they keep a better tally than we do. >> what is your -- the choice that texas has -- am i right -- is that your view, if they are going to have these vanity plates, have to be open to everybody, or they can set the program down and nobody gets vanity plates, but maybe if the legislature passes a law or laws saying this plate is okay that might be okay. so what --

if it is the choice between everything or nothing with the exception of what the legislature does is okay? >> i believe that the best analysis is the legislature or the motor vehicle commission discriminates against people's speech on the basis of the content of the speech that is subject to serious first amendment concerns and is probably illegal although there may be some exceptions to that. that's what i think the better rule is. but we have conflicts in circuits about that, and we have not -- this court has not addressed -- that is not this

case but i believe it is an issue -- >> mr. george, could i just take you back to the chief justice's question for a moment and just make sure i understand it. mr. keller has indicated that there are a number of other occasion's in which the tate has disapproved plates on the ground offense. do you have any objections to those representations? >> to the extent that it were done on the grounds of offense i do, because he has one that i can -- that we have verified and that one is that there was a concern about danger on the drivers thinking that somebody's state trooper plate made them a state trooper. >> what if the argument were not simply offensive but higher degree, that incitement or likely to give rise -- i think someone driving in texas with a swastika is likely to be treated by public violencisms

the level of the state interest at all pertinent no your position? >> well, this court's law on incitement going back to brannen berg viewers ohio and the klu klux klan rally this court decided was not incitement, is pretty thin at this point in our history because i don't know what the rule of incitement would be today. >> mr. george, just the worst of the worst, whether it's the swastika or the most offensive rate epithet and if that were on a license plate where it is provoking violence, somebody is going to ram into that car. >> i don't think people -- the government can discriminate on content. they can put on the license plates the disagree with. this is not the state speech. and big orange letters. and this claim that speech. perfectly legitimate

legitimate. >> where is that going fit on the license plate? >> but that's -- you can put -- we have taxation without reputation on the district of columbia's license plate and that's a political message. they can put -- >> your police is if you prevail the license plate can have a racial slur. that's your position. >> yes. >> i don't think there's any consistent position otherwise, although the state can disclaim it undowddedly on the same license plate. >> do you have to put the texasation without representation on your d.c. plate? or can you ask for a clean plate? >> i haven't -- well, i'm -- i don't live here but i believe it's required. >> if somebody objects i guess it's like live free or die

right? >> they can put it on -- tape it over. but you can put -- i'll just leave the disclaimer idea -- justice o'connor came up with that in her concurrence in the columbus, ohio, klu klux klan cross on the hill case and i thought that was a pretty good idea. that we have disclaimer when you don't like the speech. and you don't believe it's appropriate. the state can do that. and i think that's largely part of the answers. this is not -- certainly not purely governmental speech because the action of the state is only approval. as to the pleasant grove city of utah case, monuments are in fact unique circumstances. this court had decided perry versus -- norton versus perry years ago involving -- justice breyer put a map of the state capitol grounds with all the

monuments in it. those monuments -- when that case was decided, been there over 100 years and the monument in question has been there 45 years. mon. s are different than any kind of speech in the bark because of the nature of the creation. you couldn't -- you would have monuments every seven feet which you can't do that. and that case turns on those facts and i believe it is absolutely correctly decided. i'm also convinced that the jonas vs. marking board was correctly decided because it started with a statute passed by congress telling the department of agriculture to do something, marketing material, have it submitted back to the secretary of agriculture, let him approve it, and then go market it and level a tax on

imported beef to support it. that's all government speech. >> do you know how much money texas makes from this? >> i don't have that -- it's not a line item in the budget but lots. >> that's really all this is about, isn't it? >> yes. >> that's why texas is in the business, and so people get to -- they like what they're saying a and they don't get to do business with them when they dope like what they said. >> thank you, counsel. mr. keller, you have three minutes remaining. >> you have limited rebuttal time. i have one question. you were asked the question about the republican and the democrat distinction you. said there might be -- there is a first amendment standard you can use? to deny that plate?... safety to celebrate the diverse interests that the state has. justice sotomayer. you are

right. if it takes 2 to tango in this situation will you need both the state prop gating the

message that is still government speech and all of this case on government space speeches have been posture. from one matter all of our sites and our apply brief and opening brief to the title 43 texas administrative code have been renumbered since the filing of our reply brief but the substance is all the same. this is not just about texas making money. though texas does make money. this is all about the state of texas not wanting to place the stamp of approval on certain messages. and a speaker is not entitled to the state of texas on whatever message that it will wish to put on the license plate. thank you mr. chief justice thank you council. the case is submitted. *the transcript for this [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015]

hello, everyone. is everybody enjoying lunch so far? if we can grab our seats, we're going to go ahead and get started. we have a pretty full program through the rest of the weekend on the whole, but particularly for the next hour and 30 or 40 minutes, i think this is going to be well worth all of our time. i hope y'all are excited -- as excited as we are. my name is timothy head, executive director for the faith and freedom coalition. and we are thrilled -- [applause] timothy: to be kicking off this year's majority conference. but as we begin this year's conference, we're reminded -- we had just a sober reminder actually, just in the last

several hours that the truth is while we love -- we love this country, the truth is that heaven is our home. and when we are visited by tragedy our hearts long for that home ever deeper. i'm sure that many of you have seen reports either late last night or this morning the tragic events in charleston, the emanuel a.m.e. church there in charleston. a tragic shooting that there were nine of our christian brothers and sisters who lost their lives in the midst of a really just a peaceful prayer meeting on wednesday night. so as we gather for not only the fullness of this weekend today as we're talking about a lot of important public policy positions and certainly many critically important positions of leadership, it can't be lost on us that the preciousness and the fragile nature of life. so we pause today to express a simple and an earnest -- and

our simple and our earnest condolences, of course, to the families of those that were affected yesterday. and i ask that you would pause not only as we pray for our meal today but also for that family. heaven father, we -- our lives are but a mist so we look to you for our provision. we look to you for our sustenance. we look to you for our protection, and we honor you in the midst of a victory, we also honor you in the midst of tragedy. we ask particularly for the families of those who were impacted last night, we ask that the peace of god that passes understanding would be near and very real to them in this time of deepest of

mourning. as they grieve, i ask they would know your love, they would know your presence and beyond logic and intellect we ask that they would still somehow find your purposes and your presence in the midst of this. for the remainder today and this week, we thank you for your abundant grace and for your abundant love and all these things we ask in the name of jesus. amen. we're also going to be joined by larry denber, our faith and freedom coalition and pennsylvania's leader. while he approaches -- all those who have served in the military, would you please rise. we'd like to honor you as we honor america.

larry: we certainly want to honor everyone that's served in the country. it's a very small minority of people who put on the uniform let's have a round for everyone that served. [applause] larry: and then if everyone could stand and join me in a pledge to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. thank you. timothy: well, thank you very much, larry.

so i wish that these seats came with seat belts because the remainder of this lunch is going to be pretty fast pace. with that said, to guide us through the rest of our luncheon today we're joined by kellyanne conway, a name that everyone probably recognizes. she's the president of the polling company and woman trend. she's one the most quoted pollsters on the scene and her company -- she provides commentary over 1,200 shows including abc, nbc, pbs, cnn cnbc, msnbc, hbo, comedy central, mtv and fox news. some of y'all may all recognize one of those outlets in this room.

but nonetheless, she is -- she is prolific, to say the least. kellyanne has worked for the late congressman jack kemp former vice president dan quayle, former senator senator fred thompson, governor mike pence, congressman steve king. senior advisor and pollster to neat gingrich in his 2012 presidential campaign. so i ask you, would you please join me in welcoming to the stage kellyanne conway. kellyanne: i'd like to thank you for coming this afternoon and on behalf of my prayers to the families in charleston. i hope it's some comfort to those families that their loved ones had died the way they lived, in the glory of christ.

i will introduce to you as very special man and a very true american original story. his name is senator marco rubio and a senator representing the state of florida. he was elected in 2010 after launching what many called a long shot, uphill for the united states senate in 2009. senator rubio launched that united states senate bid after having served in the florida house from 2000 to 2008. his committee assignment currently includes commerce, science and transportation foreign relations, intelligence and small business and entrepreneurship. when he came to washington he pledged to stand up to reckless spending and to promote and protect free enterprise. he's made good on his promises. senator rubio also joined four other speakers today at lunch all of whom have i think a great deal in common. they were all told at some point in their career ascending

to federal office, you can't win. don't even bother running. you're not electable. have you heard that before? each of them heard it, including senator rubio. but senator rubio knows that voters don't ask who can win they ask who can lead and their definition of leadership is very different than the inside the beltway definition of electability. you may also be aware that very recently senator marco rubio had a special announcement. he is indeed seeking the republican nomination for president of the united states. [applause] kellyanne: few if any tell their american dream story quite like senator marco rubio

of florida. as he likes to say, he's a public servant because he feels he owes his country so much for having given he and his family so much. senator rubio and his wife janette are the parents of four small children and they live in west miami, florida. ladies and gentlemen, senator marco rubio. [applause] senator rubio: thank you. thank you. thank you. it is an honor to be with you here again today. a great turnout. i appreciate it very much. am i the first speaker at the event? good. well, i'm glad to do the kickoff. it's great to be with you. and a real honor to be with all of you as we look forward to 2016 and the challenges before our country. so as kellyanne mentioned, about two months ago i announced -- about nine weeks ago, to be frank, i said i was running for president and i traveled the country extensively. something i will -- i will see

something that reminds me of my parents. today, it's easy. i'm in a hotel banquet room, which is what my father did for many years as a bartender. and i always open my speeches with that because it's a reminder to me and hopefully to my audience, the opportunities that i've had have been directly the result of what they sought in my family. they were born in cuba, born into societies like most societies in the world where your future depends largely what your parents did before you. and so in 1956, my parents left their homeland and came here to the united states of america. life in this country was not easy for them at first. but in time they found good jobs. my father became a bartender primarily working banquets like this. my mother was a cashier, a stock clerk at kmart, a maid at a hotel like this. in time they earned enough money to buy a home, retire with security. and most important of all, they were able to leave all four of their children better off than

themselves. i'm often reminded that i don't come from privilege. by privilege people mean money or fame, they're right. but i know this. that while my parents never made enough money to save for me to go to college -- that's why i had over $100,000 in student loan debt which i was able to pay off recently with the proceeds of my book available on paperback and i didn't inherit any real estate i didn't inherit any money. even by the way our mortgages are still a larger part of our budget than i wish it were. and yet i still consider myself to be a child of incredible privilege. because i was raised in a stable home by two married parents who loved each other and loved us and who taught us

and instilled in us the values we would need to succeed and most important of all, they taught me that there was no dream too big and there was no goal out of reach even for the son of a bartender and a maid because i was an american. and these opportunities, my life's journey, my parent's life journeys and the journeys that i had are the direct result of one thing and that the fact my parents came here and i grew up during the american century. the 20th century was a century where america led the world against evil, a century driven by an american economy that produced the best companies, the best products, the best jobs in the entire world. and a century in which america was the one place on earth where anyone willing to work hard could achieve the universal dream of a better life. but the world is different now. in the early years of this new

century have brought about the most significant period of change since the industrial revolution. for much of the 20th century america had limited international competition, but now we are engaged in a global competition for the best companies, the best talent, the best ideas and the best jobs. for much of the 20th century we had plenty of good-paying jobs. even for people like my parents with a limited education. but now many of these jobs either no longer pay enough or they've been replaced by a machine. for much of the 20th century the world was defined first by two world wars and then a cold one. but now from autocratic governments in china, russia and iran, to radical jihadists we don't face one, we face multiple threats to our prosperity and to our security. we now live in a time, unlike any moment before it, with problems and opportunities unique to this moment. now, there are those seeking

the presidency based solely on what they achieved in the past. but i'm running for president because we -- what we need now are leaders and solutions that are grounded in the future in this new era that we now have. [applause] senator rubio: so today -- today, while the cost of living keeps climbing, 2/3, two out of three americans make less money today than they did in the year 2002. our outdated policies from yesterday are not going to fix this, but if i am honored with the opportunity to be president, we will put in place new ideas there will help our people increase their paycheck and reduce their bills. first, we're going to have new tax policies, tax policies that say the more your employer pays you the less they will owe in taxes to the i.r.s. we will help working families by helping them to keep more of what they earn so that

middle-class children -- middle-class families will have the funds necessary to raise strong families in the 21st century. and we will lead the world in the production of energy so that the cost of utilities and of gassing up your car will stabilize and in time come down and no longer keep going up for our working families. today, because of automation and technology, the good-paying jobs require more training and more skills and more education than they ever have before. but because millions of americans lack these skills, they find themselves out of work or stuck in low-paying jobs. but if i'm blessed with the opportunity to be president, we will change this. we will put in place new policies that will give our people or help our people acquire the skills that me need for the better paying jobs of this new century. for starters, instead of pushing everyone to go to a traditional four-year college, we will transform higher

education so that it's accessible and affordable to all of our people. we'll focus on training more people, more young people to be in a skill trade. we still need more welders more plumbers, more electrician, more people to work the construction trade. and for the life of me, i do not understand why we have stigmatized these good jobs that pay more than the job of a psychology major. [applause] senator rubio: we need to modernize higher education so that people who have to work full time and raise a family can still go back to school. if you're a single mother raising two kids of your own working for $10 an hour, you can't just drop everything and enroll four years in college somewhere. we need to have flexible programs that allow you to learn online, on night and on weekends so that a receptionist making $ an hour can become a paralegal making $60 a year. so home health aide making $10 an hour can become a dental

hygienist making $50,000 a year. and by the way, traditional college will still be available, but i believe before you take out a student loan you should know how much people will graduate from that school with that degree. [applause] senator rubio: so that you can decide if you want to major in roman philosophy. because the market for roman philosophers has been very tight for the last 1,500 years. [laughter] senator rubio: today, because of high taxes and out-of-control regulations, for the first time in 35 years we have more businesses dying than we have starting in america. and yesterday's ideas are making this worse, not better.

but if i am blessed with the opportunity to be president, we will pursue policies that make america the best place in the world to start and operate a business, especially a new one. we will repeal dodd-frank which is killing the small banks that loan money to small business. [applause] senator rubio: we will lower the tax rate on small businesses so they can compete with the big businesses. and we will put a cap on regulations which are crowding out innovation and making us uncompetitive in the global economy. regulations are particularly problematic for a small business who cannot hire an army of lobbyists and lawyers to help navigate big government. and last but not least, we will repeal and replace obamacare before it repeals and replaces more small business. [applause] senator rubio: today, we are on path to lead the next generation -- leave the next

generation with a staggering amount of debt. yesterday's ideas make this problem even worse in the years to come. but if i am blessed with the opportunity to be president, we will make it our priority to fix this. through the only way it will work, a combination of economic growth and spending reform, we will balance our budget and we will save social security and medicare so those programs exist for future generations as well. today on the global stage, america's influence has declined. the world has gotten more dangerous and our people and our interests less secure. but if i am -- yesterday's ideas, by the way, that america can no longer afford to be the most powerful country on the planet is what has brought us to this point. but if i am blessed with the opportunity to be president, you can rest assured of one

thing. we will be trusted by our allies, feared by our enemies and respected by all. [applause] senator rubio: for starters, we will reverse these dangerous cuts to our military. at a time when russia and china and everyone is expanding their capabilities. we won't just talk tactics, we will actually work with our allies to come up with a strategy to deal with the threats posed by china and asia and russia and europe and iran and the middle east. we will have a real strategy not just to debate tactics on how to confront isis and radical jihadists everywhere we will rally the world the cause of persecuted christians throughout the world. [applause] senator rubio: and one more thing -- and one more thing. one more thing we cannot say today. if i am blessed with the opportunity to be the president of the united states, our relationship with israel will be clear and unequivocal for

the world to see. and here's what it will be. here's what the world will know. that if i am president, this country will do whatever it takes to help the people of israel survive and prosper as a jewish state. [applause] senator rubio: and last but not least, today we see an erosion in our culture and in our values. yesterday's ideas that somehow the government could replace the family has failed miserably as we knew it would. but if i am blessed with the opportunity to be president, we will have someone in the white house who understands that you cannot have a strong country without strong people. you cannot have strong people without strong families. and you cannot have strong families with a government that strong arms parents and our faith. [applause] senator rubio: we will have a

president, if i am blessed with that opportunity, we will have a president that understands and believes that the government is not meant to replace moms and dads. it is meant to empower them. and it is not meant to marginalize churches and synagogues. it is meant to protect them and their constitutional right. [applause] senator rubio: and we will have policies that reflect our values. we will remove marriage penalties in our tax code and in our safety net programs. we will redesign anti-poverty systems so that they cure poverty through education, responsibility and work. and if i'm president of the united states, we will appoint judges and we will have an attorney general who will protect our second amendment right and defend the right of every american to live out their faith at home, at work or in their business. [applause] senator rubio: and so you see, despite all of these challenges, a strong america with strong values, good jobs and a healthy economy, that is a future we can build together.

i'm honored to be gathered here today at the road to majority conference. i really like that name. especially the road part because it reminds us that every single candidate, every party, every country is on a road -- >> [inaudible] senator rubio: i'll continue my speech in a second. >> [inaudible]

senator rubio: you would be in jail tonight -- if you'd do that in another country, your family's house could be raided your businesses can be closed and in america, people have a right to interrupt speeches, they have a right to be rude they have a right to be wrong. we live in a free society. i thank god every day for it.

now, let me just pose by talking about the road because the fundamental question for is where is the road that we are on lead to? there are those that run based on the path, on what they said or what they did in the decade or in the century that we leave behind but this election will not be about the past. this election is and must be about the future. an election that is not just about what laws we're going to pass. at the core the fundamental question is, what kind of country will we be in this new century? and today because of our outdated leaders, america's wheels are spinning, and while hillary clinton, i will confess, has a plan to get us moving again, it's a plan unfortunately that will get us moving in reverse.

no one has ever won a race and no one has ever won the future by running backwards. we must change the decisions that we are making by replacing the people who are making them. yet we know that a transition, making a transition has never been easy. it always meets with resistance. and this time will be no different. now when i announced, some suggested that instead of running for president, i needed to wait my turn. i've heard that before. they said the same thing in 2009 when i ran for the senate against the then-sitting republican governor who now happens to be a democrat. don't laugh, he was an independent in between. he was beating me in the polls he was outraising me 10-1. the entire republican establishment in washington and florida was aligned with him. the truth is, in the early days of that race, the only people who thought i could win all lived in my house. four of them were under the age of 10.

but then, as i do now, i chose to run. if we keep promoting the same leaders, we will be left behind and we will lose the race for the 21st century. then there are those who say well, we like marco but we support someone else because now is not his time but he has a great future, they say. good news. that's good news. because this election is in the future. but more importantly this election is about the future. and now "the new york times" recently said i was not rich enough to be president. janette and i have been very blessed. it's true i didn't start my career with the advantage of family connections and i don't have a foundation that raises $2 billion, some of it from foreign entities.

but despite all that we've been able to invest in our children not just by saving for them to go to college someday, but by sending them to receive a christian education. we were able to buy a luxury speedboat cleverly disguised as a family fishing boat. and on the fifth of every month, janette and i send a check to pay for the mortgage on our family home. but the biggest debt i have isn't to a bank. the biggest debt that i have is to america. because this isn't just the country i was born in. this is the nation that literally changed the history of my family. when my father was 9 years old his mother passed away. he had to leave school and go to work. he would work the rest of his life and never go back to school. he had big dreams for himself but they were impossible

through no fault of his own. the purpose of his life became to give his children the chance to do all the thing he is never could. he worked tirelessly for many years as a banquet bartender. he worked on nights, on weekends, on holidays. he was grateful for the work he had but that's not the job he wanted for us. my father stood behind a small portable bar in the back of a room just like this so one day i would have the opportunity to stand behind a microphone in front of a room like this. and the journey from behind that bar to in front of this microphone is the essence of the american dream and it reminds us that this is not just my story. this is our story. for as americans, every single one of us is just a generation or two removed from someone who made our future the purpose of their lives. and it also reminds us that what makes america special is not that we have rich people. every country has rich people.

we are glad there are people in america that have been economically successful, we celebrate it. but what makes it special is people who will never be rich and will never be famous through hard work, sacrifice and perseverance are able to achieve happiness. today -- and by the way, whether this country remains a special country or not, will depend on whether that journey my parents made and you and your parents and grandparents made whether that journey is still possible for the men and women trying to make it. whether america remains special or not will be determined by whether the people who clean the rooms in this hotel and will pick up after us after we finish here will be able to do for their children what our parents did for us. today, in the early years of this new century, the challenge we face for that dream is that we live in a time of rapid change. changes that present us with both great challenges, but also great opportunities. we have before us the opportunity to build an america that's even stronger and freer and more prosperous than

ever. we have the opportunity to be a people with both the right skills and also the right value haves. -- values. and we have the opportunity to see to it that the american dream doesn't just survive but that it reaches more people and changes more lives than ever before. we have been blessed with a unique opportunity to live at this time in history and i hope we embrace it, not just in this election but in every election. not just today but every day. not just this year but every year. and so that's why i'm running for president. that's why i hope that no matter who the nominee may be, and obviously every night i say a small prayer that it is me, but no matter who it may be, that's why i ask you to join us to choose the right road into our future. the road not to the past, but the road into the 21st century. 10 that our generation can one

day say of ourselves, what is written in second timothy. i have fought the good fight. i have finished the race. i have kept the faith. and we will know that because we did, we left for our children a new american century. thank you very much for the chance to speak to you. thank you. thank you. thank you very much. [applause] kellyanne: that was terrific and we're just getting started. our next speaker also is a man who was told when he launched his senate bid in 2009 what a

ridiculous idea. you can't win. don't even bother. he thought it was a great idea. he bothered to run. and he won. and now rand paul is a senator representing the great state of kentucky. in that capacity, senator paul has been a vocal advocate for term limits, balanced budget amendments and read the bills act, read it before you vote on it. and an audit of the federal reserve. he's been a very unique voice in his party, in going places where republicans have not always gone to talk to citizens, to talk to americans to talk to voters. he serves on the foreign relations health, education and government affairs committee and he's a graduate of duke university school of medicine. for 17 years, he was a practicing ophthalmologist in bowling green, kentucky, where 20 years ago he started a clinic for those less fortunate in need of eye care. he continues to administer pro bono eye care in kentucky and

abroad to those in need. he and his wife of 20 years, kelly have three sons. he's the son of the former republican congressman from texas and presidential candidate, ron paul, and you're probably aware, two months ago senator rand paul launched his bid for the republican nomination of the -- for the republican nomination for president. ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming senator rand paul. senator paul: thank you. thank you. i feel kind of shortchanged, you know. i was supposed to go first. marco goes first and -- are there any protesters left? come on. you know. if there's anybody left, we

could start with the protests and just get it out of the way. in fact, if last protest left in the room, i'll take the first question from a protester right now. anybody? disappointing. i think there are some big issues that go beyond maybe some of the superficial issues of the day. one of the issues that i think is a big and recurring issue and occurred to our founding fathers and really has occurred to civilized men and women probably since the beginning of time, and that is our liberty and -- are liberty and virtue mutually exclusive? are they incompatible? can you have one without the other? can you have liberty without virtue? washington didn't seem to think so. most of our framers didn't seem to think so. washington said in fact that democracy requires a virtuous people. ronald reagan would agree with him. ronald reagan said that freedom and faith are so intertwined that you should never attempt to decouple them. friend of mine, don devine, who was in the reagan administration, wrote a book called "america's way

back." he said that the great achievement of our framers was that they synthesized freedom and tradition he said that freedom requires tradition for law and order, for inspiration. but that tradition requires freedom to escape stagnation. to escape coercion and decline. really, you have to have a dose of both. that one without the other isn't something we strive for. when i think of how do we compare different ways of mixing liberty and virtue, i think of how different the american revolution was from the french revolution. in the american revolution, we threw off the yoke of the king but kept our religious bearing. some people will say, and this is a perfect gotcha question for the media, are we a christian nation? we were founded by people who were pro pre-dominantly christian. a people who were predominantly religious.

and kept religion as part of their tradition. we also kept the democratic representation. we kept the house of burgesses been going on 150 years. when we had our revolution, we were remarkably lucky that it turned out as well as it did. but i think part of it is, we sought more freedom but didn't give up on our traditions. we didn't give up on believing that we had to have a virtuous nation. that there had to be an underpinning or undergirding coming from something beyond us. [applause] that we believe that our rights actually came from god and couldn't be taken away. constituents come to washington every week and i spend five minutes with them on the steps of the capitol, i ask, are we a republic of a democracy? they get it right about half the time. if you believe in a constitutional republic you

believe our rights come naturally from god and a majority shouldn't take them away from us. hans guiness is a theologian who talks about, liberty requires restraint but the only restraint consistent with liberty is self-restraint. it's like the question, can government save you? nobody in the room believes it. can government perfect your life? can government be the end-all? the reason i ask these questions is so often i meet with pastors and ministers and they're looking to government for the answers and i look back at them and i'm saying, i'm looking to you for help. the thing is, what's the number one linkage of a problem to poverty in our country? and we say, well, poverty is a

public policy. we should do something publicly to fix poverty. the number one link is having kids without being married. but i can't make you get married, all right. i can't do that. the government can't do it. but that doesn't mean someone shouldn't say it's appropriate and necessary and that it's important. so really it needs to be a combination. [applause] needs to be a combination of religious people, people in government who are religious pastors, it needs to be a combination of all the above and it's not nearly enough. we had a shooting in south carolina. what kind of person goes in a church and shoots nine people? there's a sickness in our country. there's something terribly wrong. but it isn't going to be fixed by your government. it's people straying away, it's people not understanding where salvation comes from. and i think that if we understand that, we'll understand and have better expectations of what we get from our government.

but i'll give you an understanding or maybe a little bit of how i feel let down sometimes by my government. i spent most of my life as a physician. i trained for 10 years practiced for 20 years and still consider it to be my primary role in life is that i'm going to continue doing surgery. i'll do surgery on friday for people who don't have insurance in paducah, kentucky. bill in haiti in august doing surgery. it's what i want to do. it's a talent i think i have that i can give back. but at the same time when i look to goth and say, well government, for instance shouldn't do bad things. at the very least we should agree not to do bad things. in foreign relations committee about, it's probably been six months ago, i said, you know what, maybe at the very least we shouldn't give our money to countries that persecute christians. [applause] if you ask that question, not just here in this audience

which i know understands and has a religious faith, but if you ask that question anywhere in america outside the beltway it's a 95, maybe a 99% question. so here's my amendment. my amendment says, any country that puts christians to death for speaking their mind on religion, for changing their religion to christianity, for -- or for interfaith marriage, we shouldn't give them a penny. not one penny. you know what the vote was? 18-2 against my amendment. what we have is a congress, and your representatives, so out of

touch that i put forward something i think is easy to answer. we're borrowing $1 million a minute, we hardly have money for anything if you look at it. couldn't we start by not giving money to countries that hate us, burn our flag, and persecute christians? 18-2 to continue doing it system of last week i decided i'd give them another test. and it's been annoying me to no end that hamas and the palestinian authority have a unified government and yet hamas continues to launch missiles against israel. so i said, well, you know, really, why would we be giving money, and we do, a lot of people don't realize this, why would we be giving money to a unified government who may well in reality be using that directly or indirectly to buy missiles to fire them against one of our best allies? so i said, why don't we halt the aid and they can have it back, because you have to have some sort of give it back to

them, we give it back to them if they recognize israel renounce violence, and quit doing what they've been doing and honor all the international treaties with regard to recognizing israel. you know how many votes i got this time? i got a few more. but the vote was still like 15-5. see the thing is, not only do they believe we should give away your money to other country they believe we should give it away regardless of the behavior. they say, oh, this is how we're going to project our power. this is how we're going to influence the behavior of nations. i say, well if you don't have any restrictions on it, you're not influencing anybody. you're just giving away the money. but it's been going on year in year out. and washington is so, i guess, distant from is the people. they don't understand this and this is your real problem. so i'm convinced it's never getting better unless we do a

couple of things. we need to limit every one of their terms and send them home. every one of them. now that would be some good and some bad would go home but since mideastly we've got a disproportionate amount of bad vs. good up here, overall term limits would be a good idea. that's not directed toward one individual or anything. it's not about one person. it's about changing the system. after f.d.r., we decided that more than two terms was just too much for the president. so we limited the president to two terms and it passed overwhelmingly. i'm convinced if the american people were ever allowed to vote on term limits, it's an 80% issue. look at any poll. if i go to a crowd that's half republican and half democrat the only thing that unifies them is their disdain for congress. so i think we should go ahead and consider again whether -- how long we keep people up here.

the other thing is that the inertia is so strong and power they say power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. they're absolutely right. there's too much power up here. the biggest problem, people say what's the worst thing the president has done? it's the collapse, it's a long list. i'm only going to get into generalities. the biggest problem the president has confronted us with as a people is the collapse of the separation of powers. madison said that we would pit ambition against ambition. we would have co-equal branches of government and that congress would jealously guard their power against the president taking that power and vice versa. montesquieu, one of the philosophers they look to, said when tyranny escalates problems will ensue. we have a president who writes his own legislation on immigration, on health care, on war powers act, he's been

collecting your phone records without our permission and even though we told him not to last week, he's petitioned to continue doing explicitly what though we told him not to last week, he's petitioned to continue doing explicitly what we told him not to do last week. so this is a president run amok with power. i'm reminded of what lincoln said. lincoln said any man can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man, give him power. the reason i'm running for president is not to gain power and glory for myself. the reason i'm running for president is to take power away from government and give it back to the people. [applause] i think we succeed as a movement and as a party when we figure out how to take our message to new people.

i tell people, we need to be the party of the entire bill of rights. we need to take it to people who haven't been hearing that message. some say, no, what we need to do is dilute our message and be more like the democrats and then we'll get more votes. i think it's the opposite. i think we need to engage conservatives and say, we're going to be as conservative as we promised. we are going to be as conservative as we promise. we are going to be boldly for what we are for, but then we have to figure out what parts of our message might apply to people who haven't been listening to it. i spent the last year going to howard university, going to south side of chicago, going to philadelphia and baltimore and ferguson. and saying, i want to be the candidate. i want to be the party that's for the entire bill of rights. everybody is for the second amendment. all 55 candidates run for nning for president are for the second amendment.

on our side. but the thing is is, a lot of young people that may not be their primary issue. but they do like the right to privacy that was enshrined in the fourth amendment. so i've tried to champion that i'm all for looking at the records of terrorists, but i want to do it with a war on it, with suspicion. but not indiscriminately on everyone. [applause] with your phone records, 85% of the time, they can tell what your religion is. do we really want that information floating around the president obama's white house? we've seen what he's done to tea party groups. we've seen what he's done to religious liberty. it's not just about him, though. it's about giving that power to any president. a power that could be abused. if we're for the entire bill of rights, not just the second amendment, but the fourth amendment, your right to privacy, but it's also the fifth and sixth amendment, which i say is about justice. it's about everybody being treated equally under the law, regardless of the color of your skin. it is about minority rights.

we should be the party of minority rights. but here's the interesting thing. you can be a minority because of the color of your skin, or the shade of your ideology. you can be a minority because you teach your kids at home. you can be a minority because you still believe in right and wrong and you go to a church that wants to express right and wrong. you can be a minority because you're an evangelical christian. you can be a minority far variety of rights. that's why we're a constitutional republic. we need to ensure that the protection of your freedoms, the protections of your rights is never allowed to be manipulated or distorted or destroyed or taken away from you by a majority. we need to be the party of the entire bill of rights. i'll conclude with one story that shows you how this message of the bill of rights really is about some people maybe you might not have met before. khalif browder was a 16-year-old

black kid from the bronx. he died last weekend and it makes me profoundly sad to think about what happened to him. he was accused of a crime in the bronx, put in prison for three years without a trial. the person who accused him of the crime was not here in the country legally, changed their story many times, and never showed up. he was never tried. he was finally released after three years in prison with no trial, essentially considered innocent because there was never -- there was a charge brought but never a trial. in prison, he was in solitary confinement for two years. he couldn't make bail. he was from a poor family. he was beaten by gangs in prison. he tried to commit suicide in prison several times and then unfortunately was finally successful last week. the thing is, is that that should never happen in america. you should never be in jail for three years without a trial. the sixth amendment says you have a right to a speedy trial. what i'm here to tell you is that we're going to be the biggest, most dominant party that wins all elections when we say we're going to protect the sixth amendment just as much as we are going to protect the second amendment.

paul kanger tells the story of an 11-year-old boy who came home one day and he saw his father passed out drunk on the front porch. this boy had been to school in 17 different school districts. comes home, sees his dad passed out drunk in the snow on the front porch. this young boy was 11 years old. he could have gone inside. he could have gone somewhere else and pretended like it wasn't his dad. but he reached down and grabbed his dad by the overcoat, drug him in and put him to bed. this young man had something special about him. that's what we need to be looking for. this young man turned out to be ronald reagan. who grew up in a difficult home life but turned out to be one of our greatest leaders because he

had strength of character, he had resolve, and he had this sunny optimism that brought democrats and nonrepublicans to the party. when we find that again, we'll win. i want to be part of it and i hope you do too. thanks for having me. [applause] thank you. thank you. thank you. kellyanne: this is such an action-packed lunch. i love it. our next speaker is a united states senator who cannot be accused of the mantle career politician. life in government service. he ran for the first time for any office in 2010 and dispensed with mayor and city council and state represent and went right for united states senate and

won, having defeated liberal icon and incumbent democratic senator russ feingold in the state of wisconsin. ron johnson spent most of his adult life as a successful businessman, building with his brother-in-law a manufacturing business in the state of wisconsin. he came to washington already knowing what it's like to be a job creator, a budget balancer not believing much in a debt ceiling, and he brought those skills and those principles to bear on his role in the united states senate. he and his wife have three children and reside in wisconsin and senator johnson was also on the receiving end of a famous quote. on january 23, 2013, he was asking a question in a committee

hearing and basically said, i think the american public was misled to believe that the attacks in benghazi that resulted in four dead americans resulted from a video. or some protest. and the response he got from the witness was, the fact is we have four dead americans. what difference at this point does it make? that was senator johnson who asked that question. and it was secretary clinton former senator clinton who supplied the answer. we thank him for his tenacious questioning as a member of several committees and we thank him also as somebody who has tried to enforce budget caps and said you just can't simply raise the debt ceiling. we also thank him and value his voice in protecting moral issues. senator johnson recently announced his bid for re-election to the united states senate which will occur next year in one of the most-watched races in this country and i'm sure you'll be watching. ladies and gentlemen, please welcome senator ron johnson from wisconsin. [applause] senator johnson: thank you. thank you, kellyanne and thank

you, ralph, and thank you all for caring enough about this country to be involved. that's what it's going to take. i'd like to spend a little bit of time telling you a little bit about who i am, i normally don't do that but i'm kind of the odd man out here. i saw the list of speakers here and i am the guy that's not running for president. [laughter] not going to make an announcement other than that. but i also want to talk a little bit about problem solving. and you know, the fact of the matter is, we're going to solve problems in this nation, i think we have to rely on renewed faith, strengthened family strong communities, the things that made this country great. i was asked to give a speech at the university of wisconsin-oshkosh on constitution day. i'm not a constitutional scholar, i'm an accountant, a

manufacturer. i have to admit my last formal education about the constitution was in seventh grade civics class. but what i did that day when i talked about the constitution, i turned it into how a businessperson would view the constitution. in business you negotiate contracts and you know, from my standpoint, the easy part of negotiating a contract is the letter of intent. kind of lays out and spells out what you're trying to accomplish by the contract which, in our constitutional documents i would call the deck cla rare of independence the letter -- declaration of independence the letter of intent. the constitution is the more complex contract. one thing in business i also found to be pretty helpful and this is really good in terms of solving problem, develop some kind of mission and vision statement. what i told students that day is, included in our founding letter of intent, declaration of independence is probably the

most wondrous vision statement ever created for self-governance. you know what it is, you heard it repeatedly. we hold these truths to be self-evident. i love that self-evident. it's just so obvious. it's so obvious that all men are created equal. that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable right arkse among those are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. i also do always add, the pursuit of happiness thing that's nothing frivolous. that's something serious. it's something difficult to obtain. now i've been blessed in this country, like so many republicans and conservatives serving, we start from humble beginnings. we take advantage of the unlimited opportunities this nation presents us. and we rise and we live and achieve the american dream, and we are grateful for it and we give back. but i'll tell you the number one reason why i have been able to attain what success i've been

able to garner, because i had two loving parents of great and deep faith. if every american could make that same statement, every american could enjoy the opportunity i had by having two loving parents of great and deep faith, this nation would be in a wonderful state today. a wonderful state. [applause] now i often get asked, as a businessperson, never involved in politics, no aspirations to be a politician, and i'm not one, i'm a citizen legislator. how did you decide to run for the united states senate. let me tell you the story because it sets up my final comments. i was asked to give a speech at

a tea party in 2009. if you remember that, i was serving on the chamber, working in education on a volunteer basis in oshkosh. one of the members of the chamber was putting on the tea party. she asked me, would you come as a businessperson and talk about the harmful, negative effect of regulation on business. so i said, well i'm happy to speak, never given a speech before in my life. certainly not a political speech. i said i'll come speak, but that's not what i want to talk about. a few weeks before she'd asked me, i heard the president of the united states talking about doctors. he said, you know, doctors they'll look at a fee schedule and they'll decide to take off, amputate a foot or take out a set of tonsils basically for a few extra bucks. basically calling doctors money grubbing fill in the blank.

that's offensive on so many different levels. but in particular for my wife jane and i it was offensive because our first child, our daughter carrie, was born with a pretty serious congenital heart defect. her aorta and pulmonary vein were reversed. so her first day of life, one of these those greedy, money-loving -- grubbing doctors came in with their skill and saved her life. eight months later when her heart was the size of a small plum a team of incredible, incredibly dedicated skilled professionals redid the upper chamber of her heart. her heart operates backwards today. but on may 4 of this year, she just turned 32. [applause] she first became a nurse down at

rush medical center in chicago working in the neonatal intensive care unit. now she's a nurse practitioner she's been accepted at a program in johns hopkins university to advance her profession. she took good care of these 1 1/2 pound little babies. but some -- that some are willing to destroy. i gave that speech, i told that story. afterwards people came up to me and said, liked your speech, why don't you run for office. my answer was pretty consistent, because i'm not crazy. who would want to subject themselves to this process? then they passed obamacare, then i watched our debt and deficits soar over $1 trillion. i started recognizing the fact that we are mortgaging our children's future and we have to do something about it. now, how do we start solving these problems?

i can't lay it all out, i don't have enough time. but let me give you just the first step. the first step in solving any problem is you have to define it and you have to identify it but in you first have to admit you have it. right now, we have in the oval office what i call the denier in chief. whether it's on debt and deficit, whether it's calling isis the j.v. team, whether it's saying that vladimir putin is looking for offramps when he's looking for an onramp, whether it's willing to do a deal with the ayatollah that i wouldn't trust any further than i can throw him, we have a president of the united states that is not willing to acknowledge reality. and that is a real problem. so we need to find a serious president. we need to let more citizen legislators, more people that are coming here to serve the nation, not serve themselves. [applause]

how do we find those people? how do we get those kind of people elected? well, it starts with what i thank you for is involvement. you have to talk to your friends, your family, your neighbors, you have to talk to total strangers. you have to engage them in the process. you have to make them understand how precious this nation is. and how it is worth preserving. but let me just give you a little hint in terms of how you should start any conversation. i come from a business background. i've done a lot of negotiating. i guarantee you i didn't start the negotiations arguing. which by the way is exactly how president obama started his new

relationship with congress. if something -- if something was probably the most divisive act he could do is executive amnesty. what i would do at the front end of every negotiation is lay out all the areas of agreement. it developed a relationship with my negotiating partner. it allowed me to develop a level of trust. so when you finally came to the necessary areas of disagreement, it was a whole lot easier finding common ground. so here's the way to start all political conversations. with an area of agreement. state a goal. here's a goal i think every american agrees with. we all want a safe, we want a prosperous, we want a secure america. we are all concerned about each other. we all want every american to have an opportunity to build a life for themselves and their family. with enormous challenges facing this nation, you're lucky i don't have the time, i guess i

would have had the power point i could have laid out the financial challenges facing this nation. i would have taken what smiling faces are in this crowd and turned them into frowns. we have enormous challenges. but as we start discussing the solutions for those challenges it's extremely helpful if we're not questioning each other's motives. i don't question the motives of the other side. i hope they don't question mine. my parents, again, were wonderful people. they taught me that all work has value. i grew up with the understanding that my parents told me, probably the greatest compliment you could ever give another person is, they're a really hard worker. that's what it's going to take. it's going to take strong family, renewed faith, the ability to create an economy that creates the jobs so the people have the dignity to

perform the work, to be able to pursue happiness, and preserve life and liberty. that's what it's going to take. let me end on this note. i was at a lincoln day dinner up in eau claire, wisconsin, i was talking to six or seven individuals, i gave a power point presentation, the opposite of mr. sunshine. these individuals were talking about all the problems facing this nation. just being really debbie downers. i was like time out here guys. this is reversed. this isn't right. i should be depressing you. stop it. stop it. i said ok, ok, we'll stipulate it. i'll stipulate, we have enormous challenges facing this nation. so ask me a simple question. if all these problems facing this nation, ask me why i'm willing to run again. and they did. i gave them a pretty simple answer. because i'm not willing to give up hope.

i'm in the willing to throw in the towel on america and neither should you. so god bless your efforts and god bless america. thank you. [applause] kellyanne: the next man needs no introduction to you, but i'll give him one anyway. senator ted cruz of texas -- [cheers and applause] is responsible for that throng of cameras. he was elected in 2012. in what many also billed as a hopeless, uphill battle. an egotrip. don't even do it, he was told.

and the establishment sent all the king's horses and all the king's men and all their money against ted cruz and he defeated a sitting lieutenant governor, not once, but twice. first in the primary, then in the runoff, to become the united states senator representing texas. before that, senator cruz was the solicitor general for the state of texas. and holds many distinctions in that role and otherwise as having briefed and argued over a dozen supreme court cases. before the highest court in the land. he and his wife heidi reside in houston with their two daughters, caroline and katherine. senator cruz, among his finest accomplishments, he's probably best known as having stood on his feet for 21 hours to stop obamacare.

the criticism he took ranged from, you're a show horse, not a work horse, to you're going to cost the republicans the majority in the house and you can kiss the senate good-bye. perhaps he should take credit for the republicans winning the senate and the house majority increasing. [applause] senator cruz is known as a world class debater, having won national championships while an undergrad at princeton before he went to harvard law school. i'm sure that we're all excited to see those debate skills on full display later this summer in just two short months. ladies and gentlemen, as i said about senators rubio and paul, senator cruz also on march 23 of this year had a special announcement for all of us. he is running for the republican nomination for president of the united states, and i'm sure he'll share with you now more about that and more about his solid track record on the issues that motivate, animate, and inspire you.

ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming senator ted cruz. [applause] senator cruz: thank you so much, kellyanne. thank you, everyone. god bless the faith and freedom coalition. [applause] and god bless concerned women of america. [cheers and applause] i'm thrilled to be back with so many friends today. you know, today the body of christ is in mourning. i want to begin by just reflecting on the horrific tragedy of last night. at the emanuel a.m.e. church

that a sick and deranged person came and prayed with a historically black congregation for an hour and then murdered nine innocent souls. christians across our nation across the world, believers across the world are lifting up the congregants. i want to begin with a moment of silence, remembering those who were murdered last night. it's a new morning. a new morning and we're gathered here today focused on our country.

focused on the threats facing our nation. we have leaders in our midst. this is a gathering of leaders. every one of you, ralph reid what an extraordinary leader ralph reed is. he is tenacious. i'm pretty sure he never sleeps. and i have photographic proof that even if he does sleep, when he sleeps, he's smiling. he brings a spirit of joy and utter determination to the task at hand of motivating people of faith to stand up and take our nation back. i also want to say a word about my friend, penny nance. penny is extraordinary. [applause] concerned women of america are an army of women on the ground in all 50 states standing up for

our nation. i'll tell you, i am profoundly optimistic that we're going to turn our nation around, and the reason i'm optimistic is because of the leaders gathered here today. the reason i'm optimistic is because each and every one of you standing up and leading and taking on the forces of darkness, the threats that face our nation. what i want to do this afternoon, there are many, many issues we can talk about, we could talk about jobs and the economy, we could talk about taxes and regulatory reform. but i want to talk about an issue that i think will be front and cent for the 2016 and that is religious liberty. i believe 2016 will be the

religious liberty election. religious liberty has never been more threatened in america. than right now today. and let's talk about religious liberty both at home and abroad. at home, like many of the men and women in this room, i have spent decades fighting to defend religious liberty. when i was solicitor general of texas, i was proud to defend the 10 commandments monument on the state capitol grounds. we went to the u.s. supreme court and we won, 5-4. i was proud to defend the pledge of allegiance, the words one nation under god, we went to the supreme court and we won unanimously. and then in private practice i was proud to join with my good friend kelly shackleford in representing over three million veterans, pro bono, for free

defending the mojave desert veterans memorial. a lone white latin cross erected over 70 years ago to honor the men and women who gave their lives in world war i. the aclu sued seeking to tear down that monument. they won in the district court they won in the court of appeals. the court of appeals literally ordered that a plywood box be built around the monument to hide it because they said you could not gaze upon the image of a cross on federal land. i'll tell you this, they're right in one thing. the cross has power. and i was proud to represent three million veterans before the u.s. supreme court defending that monument and we won 5-4.

[applause] the battles today have only intensified. religious liberty. in fact, just this week i think the e.p.a. has named religious liberty an endangered species. [laughter] that would be funnier if it weren't so profoundly true. listen, every one of us, our hearts broke a couple of months ago in indiana and arkansas. indiana and arkansas -- the battle over religious liberty there was heartbreaking. the perfect storm of the modern democratic party and big business came together. you know, there was a time when religious liberty brought us together. when it was a bipartisan

priority. where we might say, you know democrats and republicans, we'll disagree on marginal tax rates but when it comes to defending the protections of the first amendment, for every one of us to worship and seek out and follow the lord god almighty with all our hearts, minds and souls. on that we stand as one. sadly that is no longer the case. the modern democratic party has decided that their commitment to mandatory gay marriage in all 50 states trumps any willingness to defend the first amendment. two decades ago congress passed the federal religious freedom restoration act. had the support of such famed right-wing nut cases as ted kennedy. chuck schumer. and joe biden.

was signed into law by a democrat, bill clinton. that law was substantively identical to what both indiana and arkansas took up. yet today's democratic party aided by their friends in the media, and aided even more by big business that decided it was good business to throw christians overboard and to abandon religious liberty, pounded upon leaders there. i'll tell you what was saddest just how many republicans ran for the hills. i think indiana was, as ronald reagan would have put it, a time for choosing. as william barrett in texas put it when he drew a line in the sand, you choose which side of the line you're on. more than a few republicans, sadly, even more than a few republicans running for president in 2016, chose that moment somehow to go rearrange their sock drawer.

i'll tell you this. i will never, ever, ever shy from standing up and defending the religious liberty of every american. [applause] let me tell you the story of a couple i met in iowa. dick and betty ozark. a wonderful couple. they have a farm with an old historic church on that farm. for years, the ozarks hosted weddings in this church and they made a business of catering the

weddings. that's how they helped provide for their livelihood. a couple of years ago, two gay men wanted to have a wedding in the ozarks' church they are devout mennonites and they said i'm sorry, we cannot host this it is inconsistent with our faith they found themselves drawn into litigation, extended legal battle, ultimately they wrote a check for $5,000 and promised never again to host a wedding in that church. religious liberty is under assault. now all of us are aware that in a couple of weeks the supreme court will issue a decision concerning marriage. i would encourage everyone here to be lifting up in prayer the court. that they not engage in an act of naked and lawless judicial activism tearing down the marriage laws adopted pursuant to the constitution. [applause]

but to underscore the threat to religious liberty, one need look no further than an exchange during that oral argument, where justice alito asked the obama solicitor general, if the obama administration prevails, and you convince this court to attempt to strike down the marriage laws of every state, would the next step be that the i.r.s. will start going after christian schools, christian universities, christian charities, and next after that, christian churches? any institutions that follow a biblical teaching of marriage or for that matter jewish schools. mormon schools. any institution that follows

religious teachings and the answer from the obama administration to the u.s. supreme court is, yes. that is a very real possibility that the next step is the i.r.s. coming after schools universities, and charities. this is a time where we decide who we are. what we believe. we're a nation that was founded by men and women fleeing religious oppression. we're a nation that was founded there is a reason why religious liberty is the very first protection in the very first amendment to the bill of rights because it is all foundational. we cannot stand unless we first are on our knees. [applause]

we looked at religious liberty at home, abroad it's even worse. abroad, we're right now seeing religious persecution at a level that is horrifying. and we have a president who refuses to acknowledge it. you cannot defeat radical islamic terrorism with a president who is unwilling to utter the words radical islamic terrorism. [applause] we remember several months ago the horrific terrorist attack in paris. that the president inexplicably described as a, quote, "random act of violence." when radical islamists, with butcher knives, go into a kosher

deli seeking to murder jews because of their jewish faith, there ain't nothing random about that. it is a naked and transparent act of anti-semitism and religious bigotry, and it needs to be called out for precisely what it is. when isis beheaded 21 coptic christians, the white house put out a statement that said they were killed because of their egyptian citizenship. you know, pope francis powerfully observed, their blood confesses jesus christ.

in kenya, 147 christians were murdered by al shabat. radical islamic terrorists. and just to make it transparently clear for this administration, they sorted among the people and asked, if you were a muslim, you were spared. if you were a christian you were shot in the back of the head execution style. 147 christians on good friday. you go to the white house and read the statement on the massacre in kenya, you will search in vain for the words christian or islam. we must speak the truth. [applause] the drupal's power. it has power only speak out for the pastor wrongfully

imprisoned. it had power when the men and women in this room spoke up for miriam e brame -- ibrahim wrongfully imprisoned. it has power when the men and women in this room stand up and speak out for the nation of israel. can you imagine six years ago if i had told you that prime minister netanyahu would come to address a joint session of congress and be president, the vice president, and the entire cabinet would we got the prime minister of israel? that is how bad things have gotten, and yet the words tells

us "weeping, i injure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." and i will tell you this -- morning is coming. warning ismorning is coming! and the men and women in this room are going to play a critical role. our country is at a crossroads. if people of faith stand up and lead, if the leaders in this room, each and every one of you in your community, you have a circle of influence. friends, family, pastors that as you reach out, there are right now about 90 million evangelical christians america. 50 million evangelicals are staying home. 50 million. reagan democrats working-class

catholics, if we're going to turn the country around, the work that ralph and penny are doing, the work that everyone of you are doing to turn out people of faith, it is a real simple formula. if people of faith show up, if we stand for our faith and our liberty in the constitution, we will win and turn the country around. [applause] and so i am going to close with a quick story. i mentioned morning is coming. we can find the date that morning will come. it will be january 20 2017. [cheers and applause] on january 20, 2017, a little old man walks up to the front gate of the white house.

young marines standing there, standing guard. the little old man says, excuse me, sir, is barack obama here? the marine says i am sorry, barack obama is no longer president of the united states. [cheers and applause] the next day, january 21, the same little old man comes up to the same arena and asks the same question -- sir, is barack obama here? he says, no, sir, barack obama is no longer president of the united states. the third day now january 22, same little old man, say marine, and he says excuse me, sir, is barack obama here? at this point, the marine is frustrated and says's are, i told you three days in a row, barack obama is no longer president of the united states. and a little old man with a twinkle in his eye says, "i know

that. i just love hearing you say it." [cheers and applause] and the marine stands to attention, salutes, and says "see you tomorrow, sir!" morning is coming, and it is thanks to each and everyone of you, god bless you, and god bless the united states of america. [cheers and applause]

kellyanne: the skunk of the garden party. we have a wonderful cap are for today's luncheon speakers. my friends congressman steve king. he represents before district of iowa. he was first elected to congress in 2002. after having been a small business owner who was audited by the irs. congressman king and his wife, marilyn, have three grown sons and seven grandchildren and counting. congressman king represents ames, fort dodge, mason city. he is known for his steadfast

support of traditional marriage, life, strong national defense and constitutional principles. in 2012, congressman king defeated a former first lady and a wife of a sitting cabinet secretary in president obama's cabinet, despite the success of the so-called "war on women" and many other races. he won by 8 points. congressman king has spent the last couple of years trying to have senator ted cruz as his warm-up band, and today he succeeded. [laughter] the fabulous congressman steve king. [[cheers and applause] rep. king: thank you all, very

much, thank you, thank you, and thank you, kellyanne, for that introduction. we have in france for a long time. i would think when i have a conversation with kellyanne, i want to take reported first, and i want to reported at 33 and play it back at 45 and i still miss something. there so much information that comes out of her and i appreciate that. of course i have a privilege -- i am the dean of the iowa congressional delegation. i liked my youth before i became a dean. now i feel like i have my youth intact, however, and it is a wonderful thing to see this residential rates come together and it is something i have been involved in for a long time, in each of the presidential races that have come through, cycle after cycle, and over time you see the rhythm of this and you started a sense of how things are shaping up but you can

really never have a sense of what is going to happen. this is an unpredictable arena that we have and i often have young people who will come in and hand me your resume and apply for a job, and i will look at them, and i will say "what is your major," "i am a major in political science." well, what are you going to do with this bad news? political science is not a science. it is not even an art. it is kind of a messy operation and you have to have some ability to anticipate what human nature is, what human needs are and how they will react to that. to the extent that you can do that and the extent that not only can you see it and be able to analyze it and position yourself, to the extent that you can influence others is the way our voices are heard, and i want to tell you that as much as i have looked at this political art rather than a science, everybody's voice is heard in some way or another. of all the things that you do,

when you are at church and you are together and you step out afterwards and the conversations are taking place, those voices are heard. it changes the way people do things and how they think. if you are at school, at work, at play, if you are out shopping, whatever you do, you go to the ballgame talk to the people next to you -- we are constantly imparting our values to the people around us are at some people are ignored. others will be speaking succinct truth and be ignored anyway for whatever reason it might be, but you really never know how far your voice goes or how much impact it has. to give you a sense of that this is one of my favorite things that have happened in my public life, and that is i was at the republican booth at the state fair in des moines to years or three years ago, and a young man came up to me and across the counter he said, "you will not remember me, but i want to rent reduce myself. my name is michael."

i have actually forgotten his last name. he said, "four years ago, i was waiting tables at applebee's, you came late as our last customer," and he said i spent a lot of time talking to him. "one of the things he said to me was that if god tapped to on the shoulder tonight and said i will give you a single do over in life, you told me the answer i would give as i would have twice as many kids because that is how you count your blessings." so he was a young man he told me that he and his wife did not plan a family, and he went home and told his wife that story and he said now i brought my wife and my three kids here to introduce them to you. [laughter] wow. i know that was good advice, and it will mold itself throughout the generations to

that family and only people who interact with them. we think our voices are not heard -- i forgot that conversation. i will not now. now we have a presidential race going on, and of course in iowa, new hampshire, south carolina. i have gotten involved in that. four years ago, we did an event march 26 at the marriott hotel in downtown des moines. fill that up with presidential candidates and other people that were in there to provide the constitutional conservative guardrails. we went on from 9:00 in the morning, c-span left us about 5:00 at night, but we carried on until about 8:30. i look, new hampshire, south carolina, we tie the early states together. jim demint joined me in asia though states that she was the host in south carolina. we started out again january 24 and i was the cycle and held an event at the white sherman, and it was another one of those good

events that seem to launch the presidential cycle, and we had another one of those larger events across the country. i've since been to new hampshire, south carolina. i recognize how it wouldn't the early states are, and thankfully the early states do exemplify a lot of the values that we share here in this hotel. when i look around at my neighbors, solid, faithful people, i have never had a bad neighbor where i live, and we have lived in that house since 1978. i see the activists that, outcome and i know what you believe in. the same thing that has brought me up to work with you. i can go back into the early 1980's and maybe even before that, standing up for life and for marriage in particular. [applause] i recall in 1996i was a delicate -- in 1996, i was a delegate and san diego. there's the afternoon, 3:00, in the protest zone would be the

christian women for choice. now, i had never run across anybody who was a christian woman for choice before, and the inner voice to me, kind of a tap on the shoulder, said "steve, go there." so i was compelled to go down the couple of blocks to the chain-link fence, and at a platform states with big speakers, and i said i want to find the leader of the christian women for choice. i was curious -- what kind of scripture are they going to quote for me? we ended up in this nose to nose debate just knocking heads on that, and out of that came this principle -- is human life sacred and all of its forms? yes. and it could not be denied by her or the people who pile up with her. the second 1 -- then it what moment of life began? out of that of course came at the moment of conception. i have over and over again deliver that two high schools entire school auditorium's since

i have been elected to the state senate and the congress, and no one has ever been able to crack that argument, including christy bilson, who was my opponent in 2012. she cannot say one her life began, but i know when her life began. [laughter] [applause] so i wanted to mention the marriage side of this -- we have a mark on us and iowa you know, the iowa state supreme court imposed same-sex marriage on iowa. some of you in this room joined with me and we went on the bus tour and voted three of those supreme court justices off that bench. it had not ever happen before in our state, voted them out of office. now we have a supreme court here in this metro area in the city to perhaps do what the supreme court justices did in iowa. i see that there is a movement that i support which is there comes a time for civil

disobedience in this country. there is nothing in the constitution that says that somehow our founding fathers or the ratifiers of the constitution and their various amendments along the way -- including the 14th amendment -- that they had deftly written into the emanations what they did not know, either, that there would be a constitutional right for same-sex marriage. that cannot be allowed to stand. and i reminded them, i wrote an op-ed a little while ago, and i reminded them you had the dred scott decision, the supreme court decided they would in the slavery question with the dred scott supreme court decision. that turned into a civil war, 600,000 people killed to put in and to slavery to sort that mess out. you can fast forward to roe versus wade in 1973, and what happens with that? supreme court decides they will decide for us, a huge, profound

social question not rooted in law or constitution. they made it up as they went along, and i could give you the case -- i'm going ahead of that to get there we march into the city general 22nd every year until we come back here to celebrate the end of rovers is wade. we do not need a marriage decision that is piled on top of dred scott and roe versus wade, that is my point. i want to make sure the supreme or justices hear that before the issue a decision this month. then i just want to tell you where i am in the presidential race. there are a lot of candidates. i like them. they are good people. i know most of them personally and i have great respect for them putting themselves up front. my warm-up acts ted cruz included. [laughter] how am i going to decide? i do not know, but i am looking for a full spectrum

conservative, and that would be ted. he carries that mantle pretty well for so i am a air tax or, so maybe i will order off mike huckabee's tax menu. i love the way rubio talks about exceptionalism, so i will pull some of that out of there, lindsey graham has got a great sense of humor and is pretty strong and national defense, so i will take his sense of humor. he does lighten things up a bit. donald trump was pretty strong on immigration the last couple of days. [laughter] so i am just sure that i can walk up there to that table and order off the menu or maybe take it out of the buffet. we will put together a great president, and when we put this great president together and get him nominated, or her, because carly has impressed me as well, very sincerely has. we have a big job. we have got to identify the best of all of these. we have got to identify the full spectrum constitutional

conservatives that will defend this country, defend life, defend marriage, defend the constitution but more importantly a president who god will use to restore the soul of america. that is our mission. [cheers and applause] that is our mission, and that is my prayer, and i ask you to do that same thing. let's just pray to god that he leads us down this path and raises up a leader whom he will use to restore the soul of america. thank you very much. god bless you. [applause] [indiscernible] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> "washington journal" is next live with your phone calls, then the iran nuclear negotiations

with lieutenant general michael flynn. in the afternoon at 515 p.m. eastern, president obama speaking at the u.s. conference of mayors meeting in san francisco, focusing on the economic health of cities. >> the new congressional directory is a handy guide to the 114th congress with color photos of every senator and house member, plus bio and contact information and twitter handles. also, district maps, a full dell map of capitol hill, and a look at congressional committees, the president's cabinets, federal agencies and state governments. order your copy today. it is $13.95 plus shipping and handling through the c-span online store at c-span.org. >> coming up next on "washington journal," the implications of the emanuel ame church shootings.

"chicago tribune" columnist parents page will join us. we will also take your tweets, phone>> in a shooting involving multiple victims is a tragedy. there is something particularly heartbreaking about the deaths happening in a place in which we seek solace and we seek peace and a place of worship. host: that was the president reacting to the shootings in charleston, south carolina. this morning on "the washington journal" we want to hear from you regarding what happened in the church.