[applause] >> you can be seated. my pleasure now to introduce someone that i was told by the vice president is the better congressman. his brother. that's nice. i also want to point out he is also a marine and has served our

country in that capacity i have a great deal of respect for him. as a congressman he's been a dynamic leader as well in congress. please give a good strong iowa welcome to congressman greg pence. [applause] mr. pence: hello iowa, and hello hoosiers from indiana. the pence family is from southern indiana. i'm real comfortable with the corn here in iowa. in fact, i grew up with corn field right behind my back. for those of you who don't know me and heard that real short bio i'm the older brother of mike pence. a lot of people say i look like him. no, he looks like me. remember i'm older. ok. today i can't be more proud than to be here and stand with my

brother in this race that he is starting off today. [applause] mr. pence: michael as i know him, mike pence as the rest of the world knows t. he's a wonderful man. no other republican in this field has the ability to defeat joe biden other than my brother. he will turn our country around and he will be the next president of the united states starting today. [applause] somebody asked me if my brother has changed for the times or the times are watching up with him. michael has always said i'm christian, conservative, and republican. and i'm not mad about it.

in that order. that's the type of man we need today in 2023. on issues of life, liberty, and loyalty to our constitution mike doesn't actually talk the talk, we have seen him lead here at home and around the world. mike is a man who will unflinchingly stand his post. if you are a veteran like myself, and you know the sixth general order, it says, i will not leave my post until properly relieved. my brother never did on january 6. in the face of those who would seek to bend his iron tested character, mike pence never waivered. that strength and courage will lead america back to greatness. again, it's what we need today. we know under joe biden america has become a troubled nation.

our economy is in distress. inflation is at record high. wages are down. my utility bills are gone through the roof. our border is wide open to illegal immigrants and dangerous drugs. fentanyl is killing our youth. crime is rampant in the big cities. our standing in the world is weakened. while radical left is on eroding the very foundation of which our nation is founded with their woke agenda, these difficult times call for new leadership, ladies and gentlemen. in michael i see the steady hand our country needs in this time of turmoil. michael's only focus is the future of our party. his sole mission is to get our country back on the right track. i cannot wait until he gets on that debate stage later this summer. today is just the start of this

campaign, but i believe it marks the beginning of our american renewal. each of you know mike, but you'll get to know him more as a man, as his own man in this race. i know you will see in him what i as his -- one of his brothers already know. he's a great husband. a great father. and a great grandfather. and he's the best brother anyone could have except the other brother's i have as well. i have to do that. he's a man of faith. committed conservative. and is guided by principle. the standard-bearers of the republican party lincoln and reagan never failed to remind us about what it means to be american in the greatest nation ever known to man. our next president has been called upon to do the same. in these times mike pence's leadership is what america needs. the good book says, whoever is

not against us is for us. mike pence is not against anybody or anything. he's for the future. mike pence is the right man at the right time. so with your help and god, iowa will be the first state to send this good and decent and honest man to the republican nomination in 2024. and together we will elect mike pence the 47th president of the united states. [applause] >> the speaker of the indiana house of representatives, todd houston. please warm welcome. [applause]

mr. houston: that is a tough act to follow. good afternoon, iowa. it is great to be here. when i met mike mens in the early 1990's he was a conservative talk radio show host. and i was a guest on his show. let me tell you, it was obvious then as great as he was on the airwaves of indiana, mike was destined for far greater things. that interview with me was the beginning of a friendship of one of the most engaging, funny, and thoughtful people i have ever met. a man of great character and devotion to public service. that carried him to congress. being governor of my home state of indiana. to being the vice president of the united states. today i'm very proud of my friendship with mike pence for the same reasons we all will be when he's our next president. we can be proud of mike pence for being a tireless fighter for

curve defensive values -- conservative values, smaller government, lower taxes, and for being a champion of school choice. [applause] we can be proud of mike pence for his genuine respect and admiration for the service and sacrifice of our military, our veterans, law enforcement, and our border patrol agents. [applause] we can be proud of mike pence for the critical role he played in selecting three conservative supreme court justices who believe in the sanctity of life and protecting the second amendment. [applause] we can be proud of mike pence for his insistence that america's role as the global

superpower requires energy independence, a strong military, and to ensure we secure our borders. [applause] we can be proud of mike pence because he believes decency, dignity, and personal responsibility will triumph over divisive liberal culture wars. [applause] after the damage joe biden and kamala harris have done to our country, america needs a leader who will bring dignity and respect back to the oval office. who will stand up for our allies while confronting our enemies. securing our borders, reducing the federal deficit, and put power back in the hands of the american people and not in the federal government. [applause]

ladies and gentlemen, today is a great day. today's announcement represents a critical step in electing a president prepared to lead our country with optimism and integrity. and i can't wait for the great people of iowa to get to know the mike pence that i know. i know mike is looking forward to meeting all of you. this morning i read that somebody said, mike pence can be a lot like mayonnaise on toast. let me just suggest this. i think you are going to get to know the mike pence that we know, congressman pens and i know -- pence and i know, there is a lot of iowa bacon and maybe even tabasco sauce, too. we are excited tore you to meet that mike pence. thank you for being here today. thank you for your amazing iowa welcome. for our next president. mike pence. [applause]

♪ >> sat on a rough road riding high through the mountains climbing wasting, turning further from my home beyond like a new moon rising fear through the rain and lightning wandering out into this great unknown force ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, pleads welcome -- please welcome the 48thship of the -- 48th vice president of the united states, vice president mike pence.

[applause] ♪ >> wow. thank you for that warm iowa welcome. [applause] >> you know, usually when you have the honor of introducing somebody you want to tell the audience something maybe they don't know about the speaker. but today you probably know that he served 12 years in the united

states congress. you know that he was governor of indiana. and of course you know he was your vice president. [applause] you may also know that we have three amazing kids who are all married to three wonderful spouses. and we have three beautiful granddaughters. we are truly, truly blessed. our kids have traveled this journey with us. they moved to serve as we moved. they supported us. and so this moment is one that i as their mom and their mother-in-law want to share with them. so michael, sarah, charlotte,

henry, audrey, and dan. get emotional when i think of them. thank you for always being there for us. [applause] we have great kids. we really, really do. but to maybe give you some new insight into who mike pence is, i wanted to share a story with you. and let you know why mike pence is announcing today. in 1988 and 1990 we ran for congress and lost. and it was a good thing that we lost. i see some friends nodding. but we were very arrogant. and we were very full of

ourselves. we thought mike and karyn pence are god's gift to washington, d.c. and we were humbled. and it was a good thing that we were humbled. so we actually gave up on the dream of representing indiana in the united states congress. but in 1999, that same congressional seat became opened. mike had his own syndicated radio show around indiana. and party leaders had approached us to see if maybe we would consider running one more time. well, our lives were very comfortable. our children were 5, 6, and 7. this would be quite a change. i had saved my water pillar

income that year and gave mike to a surprised trip to a dude ranch in colorado for his 40th birthday. and one afternoon near the end of our stay at the ranch, mike and i took a ride by ourselves on horses up to the top of a bluff in the roosevelt national forest. the whole week we had been struggling with the decision of whether or not to run for congress one more time. we had been thinking and praying. talking through what it would mean. and we got off of our horses and we sat on a ledge on the side of the bluff. and mike said, karyn, we have got to make a decision. time is running out. well, we had been to this rodeo before, pun intented. and we understood -- intended. and we understood the demands of

campaigning and the additional demands of raising the funds necessary, the time commitment, the personal financial commitment, and the stress that this would be on our family because this time we had kids. we had weighed the pros and cons. discussed it at length. and prayed extensively. but he was right. it was time. mike is a romantic at heart. that might be something that you don't know. and as we were sitting on that ledge we looked out and right at that moment we saw two red tailed hawks and they were rising on the wind just letting the wind's current lift them higher and higher. see those hawks, mike said to me. those hawks are like us. well, i said, if those hawks are

like us, then i think we should run. but this time we should do it like the hawks. we should step off this cliff and make ourselves available to god. and this time instead of ambition driving us, we should allow god to lift us up to wherever he wants us. and right then and there in the roosevelt national forest, we made the decision and no tphrapg has been our mantra ever since -- flapping has been our mantra ever since. once again we feel called to step off, to step up, and make ourselves available to serve god and our country. ladies and gentlemen, let me be the first to introduce you to

the next president of the united states, mike pence. [applause] mr. pence: hello, iowa. secretary pompei, congressman greg pence. speaker todd houston. my fellow hoosiers. my friends in iowa. my fellow americans it is great to be back in the hawkeye state. [cheers and applause]

indiana will always be home for us. and i get why people make big announcements back home. their hometown. at their resort. even on twitter. but we wanted to be here. in person. in iowa. we are here because we know that iowa was the right place to start our engines for the great american comeback. [cheers and applause] we just wanted you to know, men and women of iowa, we know the next republican nominee for president and next president of the united states will get their start right here in the hawkeye

state. [cheers and applause] so we thank you all for being here. we are truly grateful. all of you who have come from near and far. i stand before you today deeply humbled. as the son of the heartland, the grandson of an irish immigrant. my dad was a combat veteran in the korean war. my mom a first generation irish american. 91 years young. looking on from home today. hi, mom. [applause] our family lived the american dream. i married the girl of my dreams. now you understand a little bit more of how special she is. elementary school teacher,

artist, pilot, and the best second lady the united states of america has ever had. would you join me in thanking my amazing wife. [cheers and applause] as she just told you we raised three incredible kids who married three amazing spouses and in the past two years we became grandparents three times over to the three most beautiful little granddaughters ever born in the history of the world. our son is a captain in the united states marine corps. [applause] our daughter charlotte is the best-selling author and married to a lieutenant in the united states navy. they just finished top gun.

and our daughter audrey is a yale law graduate. now practicing law. let me just say as karyn did, we love you guys. and we miss you today. i actually started in politics in another party. you may not know that. but i got to tell you, as soon as i heard the voice of the 40th president of the united states, i joined the reagan revolution and never looked back. i came to faith in jesus christ. man in college. i start add lifelong love affair with the constitution of the united states. for all of my adult life, as my brother just said, the introduction i prefer is pretty short. i'm a christian, a conservative, and a republican in that order.

and it has been my honor to serve you. the people of your state and nation. most americans know me from my last assignment in the white house. what you may not know i was also a congressman from indiana for 12 years. i was a leader for house conservatives. we fought for five and liberty. i battled against big spenders in both political parties during those years. and most of them remember it. i was a governor in indiana where we cut taxes as you heard from speaker houston. we achieved record employment. we expanded educational choice. stood for the right to life. and freedom of religion. and as your vice president i was proud to stand by president donald trump every single day when we made america great again. [applause] everything i am, everything i

ever will be, i owe to my family. the people of this country. and to almighty god. i also think of that verse of king david wrote, who am i? who is my family that you brought me this far? i truly do believe in the boundless potential of every american. to live the american dream. traveling around this country over the past two years since i left office it feels different, doesn't it? talking to our fellow americans i see weariness. on faces everywhere i go. and i hear it in their voices. i don't have to tell any of you here this country is in a lot of trouble. president joe biden and the radical left have weakened america at home and abroad. the confidence and pride that

once lifted the american spirit to new heights not so long ago has given way to fear and a growing angst that our best days might be in the past. in many ways our country has grown barely recognizable than a few short years ago. there are crises everywhere. our border is under siege. inflation is at a near 40-year haoeufplt gas prices are through the roof. fertilizer and fuel prices are working a hardship on family farms here in iowa and indiana and across the country. crime is skyrocketing in our major cities. real wages are falling. and our national debt is piling up like a mountain range on our children and grandchildren. that disastrous withdrawal from afghanistan has emboldened the enemies of freedom around the world. maybe worse of all the timeless

american values are unassault every day. under assault every day. in classrooms our children are indoctrinated into radical ideologies and taught to hate our history. and from board rooms our faith and beliefs are insulted routinely. while government agencies target concerned parents and punish consumers in the name of social justice. we are better than this. this country has been so good to my family. i have been honored to serve you. we both have. it would be easy to stay on the sidelines. that's not how i was raised. i have long believed to whom much is given much will be required. that's why today before god and my family i am announcing that i am running for president of the united states of america. [cheers and applause]

i know we can bring this country back. we can defend our nation and secure our border. we can revive our economy. put our nation back on a path to a balanced federal budget. we can defend our liberties and give america a new beginning for life. but it will require new leadership in the white house and the republican party. the crises we face to borrow a phrase are all man-made. that man is joe biden. so the first step to turning america around is ending this disastrous presidency. so here in iowa we must resolve

that joe biden will never be re-elected as president of the united states. [cheers and applause] we must elect a new republican president who will chart a course for our nation guided by our timeless principles. the bible says that out of vision -- without a vision the people perish. what's true of a people is also true of nations. ours will be a vision that's grounded in freedom. we will rebuild our military and make it fitted to the times to defend our freedom in an ever more turbulent world. we will end political correctness at the pentagon.

and we will give our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and coast guards the support they need to defend this nation and come home safe. [cheers and applause] here at home we'll champion lower taxes. we'll extend the historic tax relief from the trump-pence administration and give the american people freedom from excessive federal regulations and back to repealing two federal regulations for every new rule that we put on the books. [applause] we'll end joe biden's trillion dollar spending spree that's driving inflation. making life more expensive for every american. and we'll set our nation back on a path to a balanced budget. and make america's government

tpod the -- follow the model of families by living within its means. and offer commonsense and compassionate solutions. to the debt crisis facing our children and grandchildren and we'll free future generations from a mountain range of debt. we'll unleash american energy, open federal lands, and america will become energy independent once again. [cheers and applause] we'll break the unholy alliance between wall street and big government that's forcing radical e.s.g. policies on the private sector. and when i am president, american families will have a champion in the white house. we will give parents the freedom to choose where their children go to school. we will reject radical propaganda. and we will demand respect for our history and religions

freedoms. [cheers and applause] as your president i will appoint men and women to our federal courts who will uphold all the god-given liberties enshrined in our constitution. first amendment freedom of speech and religion. second amendment, right to keep and bear arms. and they will stand for the sanctity of human life. [applause] and in all this work we will seek not to defy the american people but instead to appeal to the better angels of their nature.

calvin coolidge said once, it is a great advantage to a president and a major source of safety for the country for him to know that he is a great man. i must tell you we as americans have had our fill of politicians who present themselves as great men and women. the last place we ought to look for deliverance is to our government. what we do seek is leaders. with the courage of their convictions and competence and character and we offer our services to all of you in that spirit. [applause] while some in this contest have already taken to criticizing the record of the trump-pence administration, let me be clear i am incredibly proud of

everything we accomplished for the american people. [applause] together in three short years we cut taxes, we destroyed isis, we stood with our allies, and stood up to our enemies as never before. we made the strongest military in the history of the world, stronger than ever before. we gave historic prosperity at home that lifted all americans regardless of race or creed or color. we achieved energy independence. and maybe, maybe most important of all, it was our administration that appointed three of the justice that set roe vs. wade to the ash heap of history where it belongs. [cheers and applause] we gave america a new beginning for life. given our record it might be

fair to ask, why i'm challenging my former running mate. let me say from my heart it begins with a promise that i made to the american people and to almighty god, and it ends with different visions for the future of our nation and our party. january 6 was a tragic day in the life of our nation. thanks to the courage of law enforcement, the violence was kweld -- quelled and we reconvened the congress the very same day to complete the work of the american people under the constitution of the united states. as i said many times, on that fateful day president trump's words were reckless and

endangered my family and everyone at the capitol. but the american people deserve to know that on that day president trump also demanded that i choose between him and the constitution. now voters will be faced with the same choice. i chose the constitution. and i always will. [applause] four years earlier i swore an oath, put my happened on my bible and ronald reagan's bible to support and defend the constitution. the bible says he keeps his oath

even when it hurts. and i know something about that. my son the marine once reminded me you took the same oath i took, dad. so i did. so let me explain. article 2 of section 1 of the constitution provides that the president of the senate, the vice president, shall in the presence of the senate and house open all the certificates and the votes shall be counted. no more, no less. despite the fact that the constitution's language is clear and provides the vice president with no authority to reject or return electoral votes, my former running mate continues to

insist that i had the right to overturn the election. but president trump was wrong then and he's wrong now. i will always believe by god's grace i did my duty that day. i kept my oath to ensure the peaceful transfer of power under the constitution of the united states. of america. [applause] let me say from my heart i understand the disappointment that many still feel at the outcome of the 2020 election. i can relate. i was on the ballot. but i had no right to overturn the election. and kamala harris will have no right to overturn the election when we beat them in 2024.

finally let me say to my country, i will always be grateful for what president trump did for this country. i have often prayed for him over the past few years. and i pray for him again today. i had hoped he would come around and see that he had been misled about my role that day. but that was not to be. so let me say i stand before you today as a candidate for president to say to the

republican party, the republican party must be the party of the constitution of the united states. [applause] we have had enough of the democrats and radical left repeatedly tram tramping on the constitution. threatening to pack the court. we must stand on the constitution to protect the god-given right to life. we must stand on the constitution to protect the right to keep and bear arms. we must stand for the constitution to protect the right to live, work, worship according to the dictates of our faith and conscience. the american people must know that leaders in the republican party will keep our oath to support and defend the constitution even when it's not in our political interest to do

so. [applause] one last word, i believe that anyone who puts themselves over the constitution should never be president of the united states. and anyone who asks someone else to them over the constitution should never be president of the united states again. [applause] our liberties have been bought at too high a price. how can we ask our men and women in uniform like the members of our family to support and defend the constitution and not demand the same. from those who would send them into battle.

as your president i promise you from the bottom of my heart i will always stand on the constitution of the united states and i will always stand with the men and women of the armed forces of the united states. so help me god. i said my reasons for being here begin with a day in the past. elections are about the future. i believe different times call for different leaders. and my differences with my former running mate and others who are in this field also have to do with the values and policies upon which we have built this movement and will build this movement for generations to come. when donald trump ran for president in 2016, he promised

to govern as a conservative. together we did just that. today he makes no such promise. after leading the most pro-life administration in american history, donald trump and others in this race are retreating from the cause of the unborn. sanctity of life has been our party's calling for half a century. long before donald trump was a part of it. now he treats it as an inconvenience blaming our election losses in 2022 on overturning roe v. wade. as your president i will always stand for the sanctity of life and i will not rest and i will not relent until we restore the sanctity of life to the center of american law in every state in the land. [applause]

it's not just values but priorities. today we have a national debt the size of our nation's economy for the first time since the end of world war ii. we owe trillions of dollars to our adversaries, $860 billion to china alone. the biggest drivers of run away spending our our new dale and great society programs on which americans d.e.a. pend every day -- depend every day. social security and medicare. they make up 70% of the federal budget. what you deserve to know is that medicare has five years before it goes broke. social security has 10 years if we are lucky. and left unchecked and unreformed it will mandate cuts in programs upon which people depend. worse still if we don't take the

opportunity to reform these entitlements today, in 25 years that $32 trillion will grow to $150 trillion. and crush the future of the american economy an opportunity for our children and grandchildren. joe biden's policy is insolvency, you deserve to know that donald trump's position on entitlement reform is the same. both of them refuse to even talk about the issue. take it to the american people. addressing a looming debt crisis facing those little ones in the years ahead. is apparently less important than their short-term political fortunes. as your president i promise you i will tell the american people the truth about our debt crisis and we will offer commonsense and compassionate reforms to save these programs for seniors today and give young americans a

better deal tomorrow. [applause] finally, finally it's about america's place in the world. and our responsibilities. as a beacon of freedom. america is the leader of the free world. we are the arsenal of democracy. as war rages in eastern europe, chinese military continues its provocations, even through this week, against the american warships and planes in the asia pacific. donald trump and others who would seek the presidency would walk away from our traditional role on the world stage. russia envaderred and waged -- invaded and waged war on a sovereign nation.

targeted and tortured, destroyed hospitals and schools and left cities in rubble and continues today. president trump, he described putin as a genius at the outset of the invasion. and another candidate for the republican nomination described the invasion of ukraine as a quote, territorial dispute. i'm going to tell you a year ago karyn and i stood on the ukraine-poland border. we went into a relief center. and spoke with and embraced heartbroken families who were fleeing the violence. i promise you, i know the difference between a genius and a war criminal. i know the difference between a territorial dispute and a war of aggression. the war in ukraine is not our war, but freedom is our fight. and america must always stand for freedom.

when i am your president we will. [applause] president trump and others are forgetting is that our administration succeeded not because we compromised our abandoned conservative principles but because we acted on them. i know we can beat joe biden. but we must resist the politics of personality and the siren song of populism unmoored defensive curve principles and stand firm on traditional republican agenda of a strong national defense, fiscal

responsibility, and traditional values that led us to victory in the past and would lead us to victory again. [applause] so as republicans here in iowa and across the country, begin the process of choosing our standard-bearer in 2024 one more reminder we cannot expect to unite the nation around an agenda of a politics based on grudges and grievances. joe biden promised to restore decency and civility when he was elected president. he broke that promise on day one. he continually vilified those of us who disagree with him.

and vilified members of his own party. i believe that democracy depends on heavy doses of civility. traveling across this country the past two years. i have heard consistently from our fellow americans they are looking for new leadership, leadership that could unite our country around our highest ideals. and leadership that would respect the civility that most americans show one another every day. after we got back to indiana i'd like to say, once you get 15 miles out of washington, d.c., the people of this country actually get along pretty well most days. our politics are more divided than ever before, but i'm not convinced our country is as divided as our politics. most americans treat each other with kindness and respect, even when we disagree.

we know how to be good neighbors. that's not too much to ask our leaders to do the same. sadly it's clear that neither joe biden or donald trump share this belief. and neither of them intend to even try to bring our country together. i believe it's not just about civility, to craft real solutions to the monumental challenges the american people are facing at home and abroad, we need leaders who will lead with respect for every american. [applause] winston churchill said once memorably, you'll never reach our destination if you stop and throw stones at every barking dog. we need leaders who can

distinguished between starting fights and finishing. between the politics of outrage and standing firm. i learned a long time ago that the best way to fight and win for the american people is to stand your ground. in congress i stood against big government republicanism, no child left behind, entitlement expansion, and i led the fight against the wall street bailout. we face great pressure from a republican president at the time, but we stood firm. as governor we fought to cut taxes, roll back regulation, expand educational choice, battleback against the teachers unions, and i stood for religious liberty against the woke brigades long before woke was even a thing. as vice president i stood by my

president and our agenda in the face of withering media attacks every day. and in the ends i stood my ground -- in the end i stood my ground for the constitution. as your president will i not yield an inch in defending america, our people, or our values, but i promise you i will do so in a way consistent with the character and decency of the american people. we will restore a threshold of civility in public life so we can bring real solutions to the challenges facing our nation. [cheers and applause] we gather today at a difficult point in the life of our nation. americans are frustrated and anxious.

so much has been lost in such a short period of time. but despair is not in our nature. surrender is not in the american vocabulary. i love this country. i have dedicated my life to serving it. so i have a few things to ask. first, i ask for your support. i believe in my heart that we can turn this country around. what we did once we will do again. what we had not long ago we will have once more, but even better. secondly, i ask you to remember who we are. and remember what we have done. a careful study of american history shows that every time the american people have been called upon to do hard things, the american people have always risen to the challenge.

we crossed the delaware river to weather the terrible winter at valley forge. . we had a constitution to change the course of history. we held the hills of gettysburg. we fought through the wilderness and opened the doors of richmond slave jails all to save the constitution and renew its promise of equality and freedom. we stormed the sands and scaled the cliffs of normandy. we drove tanks through the gates of back you a. we planted on the top of iwo jima and saved civilization. we marched on washington and fought through women's suffrage.

we marched across the edmund pet us bridge and. we built the largest economy, the greatest military in history. and we buried the soviet union beneath it. the american people were always there for one another. when neighbors are hurting, strangers load up their minivans that way. whether it was when the towers fell and people rushed across the country to search through the rubble or whether it was when the winds blew here in iowa and when the floodwaters rose. so i ask you to remember who we are. if you are tempted to despair. we're americans. and there's nothing we can't accomplish together. [applause]

one of those americans left us 30 years ago in our family. my father was a combat veteran who came home from the korean war with a medal on his chest. a bronze star for valor that went in the drawer never to be spoken of again. when his platoon came under heavy fire his citation read that he led his people across to safety. until the day he died he never talked about that. he didn't need to. he was called to fight for his country and he did his duty.

and he never considered himself a hero. our dad used to say the heroes were the guys that didn't get to come home. but that kid from the south side of chicago was called to defend america oceans away to stand against a superior force under withering fire and he did it like generations that had gone before. but this is not my father's story. this is america's story. we have always risen to the challenge. you know, as i said my father kept that bronze star in the dress are drawer but throughout my public career my family's let me keep it close. it traveled with me to the congress, to the governor's office, and to the white house. for me it was always a reminder that our challenges don't demand acts of valor quite like he summoned. and americans have displayed

throughout our history. but a reminder that fulfilling our role and our part to keep the flame of liberty alive and vibrant for the next generation requires each of us to summon our best, to find the grace to see the best in one another, and face the future with courage. and never forget where we've been and what we've done. and above all else who we are. the american people are the most freedom-loving, faith-filled, ideaistic, generous people the world has ever known. the american people have always been great. we just need government as good as our people. and we'll have it and we'll have it sound. and when we do, the time we're passing through today will only be a footnote in history. finally and lastly, i ask for

your prayers. for me, for my family, and for all of the american people. you know, we don't know what the future holds but we know who holds the future. the bible says where the spirit of the lord is there's liberty. and i believe with all my heart god is not done with america yet. and if we turn our hearts back to the author and finisher of our faith and freedom, freedom's story, the american story has only just begun. and the best days of the greatest nation on earth are yet to come. so let's get to work. [applause] thank you and god bless you and god bless america. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2023]

[captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> ♪ sun coming up over new york city school bus driver in a traffic jam stepping into faith in the rearview mirror looking at the promise of the promiseland one kid dreams of fame and fortune one kid helps pay the rent one could end up going to prison one just might be president ♪

♪ only in america dreamin in red, white, and blue only in america where we dream as big as we want

host: good morning. it is a hazy thursday.

the ho