freedoms are not far behind. are you ready to saddle up and ride, and fight for our freedoms? sound the alarm, because it is time to be all in on this fight, all of our freedoms, all of our way of life, all of it is on the line. let's fight for freedom. by god, let's save the first amendment and god bless the united states of america. thank you very much. ♪ ♪

>> good afternoon everyone, good afternoon it's great to be back at cpac. [laughter] it is great to be back among friends, the lincoln fellowship. i am breaking a lot less bread these days. i show up here and i always leave more energized, it's a welcome side effect.

i hope you understand the beauty and the miracle of the power that is the united states of america. [applause] look around, some of you are very young but a lot of us remember i different time, we are almost halfway through the four-year, a little over halfway we've made it this far. but it feels different. remember president reagan said freedom is never more than a generation away. my son was married this summer, six months married so far so good. we know that there is a second half, because for each of us, we do not have the freedom for our children, we have to put in the blood. i am confident that we won't let

that happen. [applause] but we have to fight for it, protect it, it won't be handed to us. and i think the question this year, the future of our american miracle is on the line in a way that i have not been since may be the time i was in high school. just a few weeks ago i watched the chinese spy below fly -- spy balloon fly over our airfield. we watched russia in veined -- russia invaded ukraine, i think of the cost for everyone at home, and they are threatening our friends around the globe as well. but those threats sometimes seem far away but these threats are inside the gate, they are here

at home. my first job was as a assistant manager at baskin-robbins. i know things here as well. we have 31 flavors, excellent. but from within, the real challenges that we are losing respect for individual freedom. you can pass at this miracle onto our children, but i think last year, 2022, the second tier of the biden administration was a wake-up call for all of us, for conservatives, those of us who have long held deep believes that are new to this fight. we should have one big. i'm happy that we won the house. but we barely captured it. we see inflation inside the border crosses -- border crisis. we lost three elections in a

row. and popular vote, seven of the last eight. there are many reasons for this, one of them we've lost faith in the conservative ideas, that's the path that's in front of us. and we can do it because were right. [applause] my mom and dad taught me to hate losing. it's in my blood. the book i just wrote, never give an inch, losing is bad, but the principles we stand for -- it's not a political problem, the problem is that it is a symptom of something much bigger. it is a crisis in conservatism. we lost confidence. it's not just a crisis of confidence it's one of character as well. we need everyone who understands

america and the christian founding back in this movement the same way we know it can be done. they say to return to central ideas, not only in the way we talk about it but in the way we act, our deeds, every one of us. let's look back, what do we do. i am convinced we are unstoppable when we are fully committed to freedom. the things we know, and unwavering faith in our family principles, the faith in god, when i was a young soldier, a put to him -- a platoon leader in east germany, alongside my fellow soldiers, ready to do america's work in determining the bad guys in that time of conflict. it allowed me to have the opportunity to see american

greatness and stared down the toughest foes when i was the secretary of state it always made me laugh, president trump was the 45th president, but i had more turnover in my job than his. for years, we did well. and i had a chance to learn some tough lessons on the front line in the fight for freedom. the things we do in the toughest moments, that share our destiny with each other. having faith in the mission and the confidence that we can execute in a way to deliver good outcomes for kids and grandchildren. i think that we have lessons for the republican party, we have been given on awful lot, that means we required a lot -- to do a whole bunch as well.

we need a conservative party that we can call home again, led by people with real character, confidence and commitment to the mission that brought you here today, restoring and america -- restoring and america, not just on twitter or the media, just everywhere that is under threat. every parent knows what's going on in our schools today. they've had enough of it and they're standing up, they're taking every corner of america protect our youth, people like you -- who are dangerous to our country. we also have to show why and how we are set apart in substance and style.

we need solutions in the government. don't hands the government more power under the guise of conservatism we should not look for larger than life possibilities but power i feel we are going to get a renewed dedication to personal responsibility that has made our party successful for decades. the left are following their leaders with their own brand of identity politics. it is a tough world both abroad and here. we cannot shift blame to others but accept the responsibility to those of us who are leading. i have heard some that claim to be conservative excuse hypocrisy

, because they say were running for president not sunday school teacher. it's time for us to make sure we are living out the things we are asking others to do. the internal threats that we face today, the challenge to american tradition. i think back on my days as seen at -- cia director. and president trump asked me to go visit kim jong-un to right the ship. i prepared for the moment, we had a lot of things we thought we would talk about, but what was porton to me was mr. director i did not think that you would show up -- but what was important to was, mr. director, i didn't think he would show up because you were trying to kill me. i said, mr. chairman, maybe i

still am. [laughter] [applause] thankfully, he laughed like you did. while a touch humorous, it was important, he knew i was serious and we were going to protect america no matter the cost to anyone. [applause] the threats we face today are no less demanding than those that face our parents and grandparents who fought in world war ii and vietnam and korea and the young people today who fought our wars in the middle east. this challenge that we hear so much about from the chinese communist party, this challenge threatens every aspect of our life. sometimes when we think about china we think about taiwan, it seems a long ways away. but they are inside the gates. they are gaining intelligence

through technology on our sub owns -- on our cell phones. they are propagandizing, they have the largest spy operation ever conducted inside the united states of america. they infiltrated our diplomatic facility in houston texas. we shut it down, no other administration would have done that. i am not one for vindication but this weekend it was good to see that the powers conclude that the p.m. virus came from wuhan. -- damn virus came from wuhan. this virus killed millions, and infected every life in this room for years and years.

for 40 years people have said boy, president xi has done a good job. but we should never shut the heck up when we are defining -- when we are defending the united states and its people. it was wrong to praise the chinese communist party, it's not just that particular instance, but the idea of protecting america by speaking the truth. because these challenges, i make no bones about it they are great. but we face similar challenges before. we are pretty tough people here in america. and i am every bit as tough as the folks that came before us.

that fought in world war ii, the cold war, that took down an evil empire. they fell down the rabbit hole in the 60's when they tried to create the change that we now have here at home. and to the internal threads are the most dangerous by far. we should be candid, regulation, taxes and controls are the things that are making eggs so expensive today. but we need to renew the american commitment to hard work. playing by the rules is -- aggravated when the government awards things to people who did -- for other things other than working hard and goodness.

i mentioned didn't midterms -- i mentioned midterms 2022, i am not over it. and while we can stop the craziest, we cannot right the ship in the way that's necessary. we lost race after winnable race because voters did not trust us to do any better than tax and spend liberals. we had to demonstrate through deeds we were prepared to do the things we need to do. i see today that we are $31 trillion in debt and i tell my son to work hard. every recent administration, republican and democratic alight -- alike have added trillions of dollars in new debt. this is indecent and can't

continue. it will be hard work it won't just be a campaign speech, talking about it we need to demonstrate seriousness to the american people why this matters. it will require tough, difficult choices. but the risks -- are worthy. we can never give an inch. of american property at home or abroad, because big government destroys that. [applause] we need to reconceptualize this, as a former soldier, equality is a promise that makes americans something exceptional, unique or different. in america, it's not an identity it's not about wealth or status,

it's an idea of success and opportunity in our birthright and that god bestowed upon us. it would've made us great, from our days of the declaration of independence with dr. king, a commitment to equality, something that those who are conservative sometimes walk away from. they just want to handle it differently. we cannot let that happen. it might feel good in the moment we might give your money, taxpayer money to a conservative, but in the end, the liberals will get that power and they will make life difficult for all of us. it was, goodness, almost 30 years ago i was in the army tank and i would almost fit back in it. i was staring across the german border, they outnumbered us 9-1,

and my command didn't see themselves as victims or woke. they didn't see it as needing a safe space. they didn't want any advantage because they were italian, black or any other immigrant, they wanted to work. they wanted to work on a m1 battle tank, going 20 miles per hour in a moving vehicle. they wanted to be good and protect our way of life. [applause] they were made to a b character, they didn't talk about what they did, they had a shared commitment and a confidence in america that we can never lose and this is how we get back the trust of the american people. i have seen both senior military leaders obsessed with pronouns.

the only thing that should matter to a soldier's victory. [applause] some of us would have us abandon this commitment in the name of equity. here is the good news that i will leave you with, there are signs that they are not succeeding. that gives me norma's hope. a quality this basic idea that each of us is endowed with inalienable rights is an antidote to the poisonous lies of equity wokeness and political correctness. there is no room to wyff news 4 or weakness, we should not be ashamed, embarrassed or troubled. we should be proud of this central idea. and once we do that, we will renew the valve that tallies us

together as americans in a way that no other nations have. i have traveled to over 100 countries as secretary of state. we can maintain the american miracle for our families, our areas of worship will be at the center for that. this is the cradle of the american miracle, not washington dc. we are here today, we sit here today in the swamp. this place where your money goes to be fluttered away, is in sick -- is inconsistent with the values that you know, cherish and love. it is not about the state or the bureaucracy it's about being don democracy once again -- eight democracy once again. let's fight to preserve not the deep state, i worked with them for four years, but an nation that is deeply grounded in the

values that make it exceptional. the thing that will bring us back together, and the thing that will convince the next generation that our conservative ideas have made america so great. our schools teach kids to be ashamed of america. they teach the 1619 project instead of our values. we are at risk. president xi is counting on us teaching our kids this scrap. -- this crap. the teachers union will lock parents out of our schools and keep gender transitions hidden from parents. this is immoral, evil and dangerous. families might not pass a freedom on in the blood, but this generation is the first two

is not proud to call america home. freedom is the story. we were founded by religious people, let us never walk away from it. when the churches are closed, this is not an america that any of us know or love. [applause] christians, jews, muslims, they have held beliefs central to the millennia. they've choose -- they've had to choose between their faith and livelihood. i worked hard as secretary of state for religious freedom at home and around the world. it is a shame that it is under fire as it is at home and around the world.

you can cancel some things, you can't cancel god. it's not going to happen. [applause] i know none of you will give an inch. this faith and capacity at the center of what we choose is the bedrock of what we are. it's not enough to say we are different from liberals, we need to be different and act differently. when i walked the halls, we are different. we are defining our commitments and our words and deeds. we need true believers who understand our fight and are unafraid to act on it. and of course men and women who are fierce like everyone in this room today. they wouldn't be here if you didn't believe these things. to trust you, empower you, every place you go, to your pta meeting -- talk about it when

you're in the halls of this place today. i think that talking about what matters will get us back to the right places. i'm convinced we can do it. we sometimes hear each other talk and get pretty down. we become more timid, we must do just the opposite the american miracle is powerful and you are part of it. he will lead us to the right place. we are going to restore a conservative america that has at its core are founding ideas of our judeo-christian tradition. there is no turning back. we have a responsibility to act consistently every day to stay in the fight. i will always do that, i know you will join me, bless you and god bless the great nation of the united states of america. thank you all. ♪