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win because we are united. ukraine, amerianfree world. [cheers and applause] >> c-span, powered by cable. >> house speaker mike johnson outlined his policies and the vision he has for the country during remarks at the republican national lawyers association remarks about half an hour.

>> i have the pri ledge today to introduce the 56th speaker ofhon i'm going to do something i never do, but i'll commend a piece in "the washington post." if you didn't read i "mike johnson the stentals one of the most consequential speak querses is a greatieone i. as a matter of personal

ege, the speaker's son is a midshipman at the united statesav academy -- [applause] something i also sre, my son was a 2016 grad. thank you for your son's service. thankour rvice. thank you for coming to speak with us today. we appreciate it. [applause] speaker johnson: thank you. thanks so much. it's great to, to be in a room of friends and friendly faces. i had to adjust the microphone, i was five inches taller when i speaker, they beat me down. i have a few things i want to talk about.

i want to say at the outset. what we all know is o country is in dire straits right you could say we have the greatest collection of crisest e modern era, maybe since world war ii, some peop the civil war, they may not be wrong about that. it feelse is under assault. obviously every metric of public policy is a disaster know the r. i won't recount all those societal ills with you right now, because you know them well. but there'somhing going on in the country right now that's even more fundamental than just these policies. i want to do a deep don policy issue with you but i want to say before that, you all re battle right now not between republicans and democrats, it's actually dee fundamental than t. we are in a battle between two competing vaitions for who we are as a nation and who we're going to be. in my role, i didus

liberty litigation for a long time. i was in federal courtsroe cotr. i worked for the alliance defending freedom and other inhat capacity, even before i got into politics, i had the op be front of a lot of student groups. we would talk about the constitution, sepati powers and all these great principles. i never■%urned those opportunities down, i thought it was very important. i'm sure many of you same, we don't want to waste those opportunities because we cannot anysu that the generations behind us understand those basic principles. wee evy opportunity to go out and be an evan je list for, you know, the core principles of the country. and then when i got elected to congress i found out that same phenomena is true even in the halls of congress. came in in 2017, same time president trump did. andvething was -- there's lots of furniture being moved around at the time. some being just

broken and demolishes. that's ok, some of it needed to in the course of all that the things going on inociety the republic, i felt like as a conservative, as a lifelong conservative and a republican, i felt like i was beginning to sense that a lot of people were losing sight of sort of our fixednts the horizon. i'm from louisiana, forgive me, i explain everything in either a football or a hurricane metaphor. let me give you the hurrica it's almost as if we're in waters of the country. we are. these are unprecedented times. es are extraordinary. the waves are high. the skies on the horizon are dark. in a time like that, when the rudder is broken people feel that it is, it could be dangerous. certainly for a countr a nation. so at that time, during those times you have to know what th fixed points on the horizon are. so that the ship of state doesn't crash.

in a literal sense. so i was in front of all of my republican colleagues in the house in9, wre about two years into the trump administration, we're getting a lot oe. a lot of policy wins on the board. and yet i was going back home my red district in louisiana and i was sensing this on the grass roots. among lifelong party activists, long supporters. and also on capitol hill. it was a sense that we're having a hard time defing what it means to be a conservative right now. what is american conservatism? i'm a student of this stuff because iutional attorney. i followed the history of our philosophy, our partyes through. it seemed to me about every 25, 30 years the a recalibration of conservatism in our country since itve feel like we're at t. i'm standing in front of -- i was elected chair of the republican study committee which is often called the intellectual arsenal of conservatism in the

house, it's now a 50-year-old everybody who self-describes as a conservative or aspires t i t. we had 158 members in the 115th congress.e just ending, i just t elected to the group. i said look, we were in a big room like this having lunch. probably a little less than that. i said gs, listen. thank you for making me chairman. we're the policy shop. we're thethe ngress where our conservative philosophy is supposed to its way into policy and be put on paper and so we've got to be governed by the same thing that was gutted us since the founding.does that come from? i always remember ronald reagan's speech, his farewell addr where he said, they call me the great communicator but i really wasn't that. he said i was communicating great things. and the same greathinghat was gutted our nations since its founding. i said tmy colleagues that day to my colleague, said we're losing sight of the great what are they? because we're the leaders, we're

supposed to be able to go out into the country and articulate with clarity and conviction and consistency who we are and what s for, right? this is what i want to poz sit to you all today i listen, we have to recalibrate what we're doing, we need to amend the bylaws for the first time in about 20 years and weede fixed points on the horizon. if you were in downtown d.c. today and got on an elevator with a young milal they're a progressive, you get on the elevator, you've got faw minutes with them. you spark up a conversation. you know they're a progressive because they're wearing a t-shirt that says "proud progressive," i mean i'm sere serious. what would you say to how do you describe that our asposed to theirs?nciple because we've got to be able to do that right now. le lost. they're looking for truth. they want know what the

anchor points are. what would you sayf you had to con vin an entire lierir of -- condense an entirenservative thl thean m and condense them down, if yoo all that together, put it on a one--p would it say? so this is -- i would poz sit to you all what i call the seven core principles of american conservatism. i think if we set up aorki group, a task force and did this for about six months we'd probably comeethi that sounds like this. i think it's individual freedom, limited government, the law, peace through strength, fiscal responsibility, free market, human dignity. i said under each of those cat girl thrs subcategories but here's the thing. i'm not telling you that's the perfect list. i'm saying that however you would articulate and define it you need toepar to do that. we cannot go out every day and

say what we're against. we haveo f. what we believe in. as reagan sai same great things that have guided our nation since its founding, they're the same things. so what are we guided because of who you are, what you do, we all have this platform. you have i you have a -- many of you have a ■/th all of that comes an extraordinary responsibility, i think. an i'm just say, i'm saying the obvious, i'm arctic plating what you know to be true, there's a dearth of truth in the country right now. op desperate to know what do we stand for and? and those core principle, i call them the principles of american conservatism but it's really the core pr of america. d direct assault right now. because while most of the

country used to agree with thee things and we hear those principles, it resonates with us, we want to preserve them, we want to conserve and defend them, there'sisg number of people in the country right now that have open disdain for thos. they debit revere them as you and i do. they want to replace ting mber e that, you know, this progressive wing, these radical, they want to trade america in to be something totally different. th us to be some sort of european-style socialist utopia or something. it's marxism. and we all know that's a fool's. a dangerous, dangerous fool's errand. so what we're in a battle for rightoween the parties really. i mean it is, that's the daily skirmish. but we are in a battle, as i said earlier, the vision. for the worldrue. who are we as a nation? you cannot everstate the importance of that. in this upcoming election cyc this is a civilizational moment for us. this is a point of major

decision. determine whether we e going to moors the founding principles of the country or we're going to trade it in for me heaven forbid if we make that latter choice. this isot a game. it's for all the marbles. i just think we need toe thinking about that and all the thgs that we do, that we thinkhe about those core principles.bece them at our peril. we are only 248 years old anyway on july 4, our nation's birt. you look at the cycle of great societies and cultures, some would say it's about 250 years. there's no guarantee this grand experiment in self-governance can go on and on. it's a question to determine. i think we will. let me drill in on one of those inciples and its application today, it's very real, speaking of live firexe to maintain the rule of law which i think is one of the core

principles, one ofhe rlly, really important components of that is the integrity of our electiontem. and it's a big issue in the country right now. myme aer last weekend, i've been to political events, campaign events in over cities and 27 states in the last five months. i've got much more to do this weekend. and i enjoy it because i'm out, i'm places i would never have been otherwise, meeting with just hardworking americans all walks of life. and you do these big forums, bie time for q&a. alwayssecond questions that com, it's border, it's economy, and it's ele really concerned. can we trust? can we trust the vote? because in a constitutional republic if you can't trust the integrity of your election system, everything is jeopardized. it's sort of like -- sort of an. right now, we are working t ensure what a concept that only

americans de a elections. and there's a rising number of n opportunity to change the electorate. to put it bluntly. federalist 52 describes suffrage this way, quote, it'sndamental f republican government. and it is. and as lmant to maximize the participation of every citizen in our elections.t to prevent fraud and interference that woulde that fl article of faith. that fundamental principle that we've had. the political left now, the advocates of open borders and adding noncitizens to their voting bloc, are now quiet parts out loud. the pendulum of our debate now has swung from asking which vote, to the question of if only americans should vote. and so we're having to address that. many of us remember 2018

there was one particular democrat candidate for governor in georgia who claimed that there was going to be a big blue wave coming. she frankly, quote, that blue waves aren'tth're und. oh, ok. ms. abrams said that. she was suggesting of course that noncitizens and illegals bt blue wave. they're not always that candid t increasingly they are. about a year before i became speaker i was serving on the house judiciary committee which, i even miss that now. had these marathon hearings, michael berry was a couple of times there. i mean, 12, 14-hour hearings and markups. late one night, chairman jerry nadler of new york, who was the democrat chair, i knew he was worn down. we were at about hour 11 1/2.

i said point of personal privilege, can i ask you aquest? why the open borders? we were talking about immigration issues. he saidhy would you do it? at that time it had, there were many mliho had come through across the borders. we think the number is abo 16 million illegals have come across the border since biden in engineered it to be wide open. we documented 64d mayorkas have taken since biden walked into the oval office on day one to open that border wide. d a the terrible things that have happened because of it. it's a catastrophe. i dhairman nadler why, what is -- everybody back home, i video. it's a viral video. everybody back home, my can't understand. why? why would you -- why do you want the open borders? you allow illegals to municipal elections in new york city. finally he acknowledges that's

i said is that the model? do you guy lyle immigrants to vote in elections? see he said i think that's what uld do around the country. like there it is. it's c-span at1:30 at night. had like three church ladies in my district who were watching, cheering me on. mike!said go get him, brother [laughter] that's my biggest constituency. [laughter] please strike that from the record. i said there it is. tht to do. and he just, we changed the elon musk found the video, found that clip about a month ago and shared it again. went to like 16 million more people. buthe word is out. washington, d.c. city council, here's one example.ided they wat noncitizens voting. illegal immigrants. if you're the ambassador from russia and you live in d.c. you can vote in local elections.

think about it. they can decide who is on the city council who will serve as their local attorney general. senator bernie sanders hometown of burlington, vermont, is likewise welcoming election interferencea dozen localities across the country right now are encouraging noncitizens to vote in municipal electns and it's leading americans to wonder, is this a strategy? this what the democratic party wants? i think it clearly. is i w they want foreigners to decide who will run our cities and make our lays. and they would like to expand that to state and central elections if allowed. no other country would do that. i can give you example after example. i'munn time. but georgia, arizona, there's efforts going on everywhere's w. under the national voter registration act, we call them motor voter act from the mid 1990's, an illegal alien who wants to vote in a federal election can do that because there's really nothing standing

the only thing they have to do, the -- currently, underurrent law, all you have to do is check one box on fd complete it and sign it. it just asks, are you a u.s. cichk. there's no proof required. in fact, under current law, st prohibited from requesting proof of that. and so here's the problem we have right now. we have all these illegals n. millions. tens of millions of people have come into the country. and the administration is n for welfare benefits.and s because if you're allowing -- allowed to stay more than a year you' for that. so they go to the local welfare offices and the d.m.v. or thosed and then they give them a -- after they sign up for the ter registration, motor voter registration. and many of them, of course,

check the box. we have no idea of knowing how the current law as i said doesn't allow for any proof. we think that this is a very serious, serious problem from the upcoming election. we're in an unprecedented moment cause if you've got 16 million i'm overestimating.et's just let's say 0 million. the official number ofenons at r er is over nine million.at the we have no idea how many people have come in totally undetect. we the the gotaways number is several more million. let's say there's a lot. if just one out of00 of these people vote you're talking about hundreds of thousands ofotis cld be a close, as they are now. that could swing the outcome of a pon. it could swing the jut come of congressional seats. and we think that may be by design. so right now congress has an institutional responsibility to

step in the gap. we have to ensure the integrity of ourion stem and maybe you all have heard of our bill, the many in this room understand. but this is pursuant tur our aur article 1, section 4 of the constitution. follows. the time, places and manner of holding elections for senators and representatives shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof, semi colon, but the congress may at any tim by law make or alter such regulations. now we're talking about federal elections. ok. we're not trying to intervene, this is not a s issue, we're not trying to jew surp authority thaal state legislatures. we're merely saying we can't thd and you need to prove you're a citizen. what a concept. want americans to decide american elections. it's aersial statement for us to say so. so this is a commonsense, low r saguard to prevent

fraud and abuse. our legislation makes it as easy siblto register to vote and most new voters and move ins and jurisdictions won't have to do anythin what's being done right now. the overwhelming majority of americans reg toster to vote through the d.m.v., the go to the d.m.v. tovehicle. update your information,n't do . if you don't go to the d.m.v., allows a person to use a wide array of to prove they're a citizen. that's all we're asking. nothing more, nothing less. wego help states. we're going to give them tools thunder legislation to remove noncitizens from existing voter roles by granting them access to databases at no ko to states or localities from the department of homelandecury and social security administration. that'll help. and that's going to be, i think. i think a responsibility we owe to the american people to ensure th have free and fair

elections. i think that is very minimal thing. [applause] i'm just going to prepare you for this. i'm to on too much longer. you'll get the counterargument and you cane of this bill are going to howl and engage in scare tactics, and they're going to say that i.d. requirements are an effort to suppress voter turnout. but i want you to encourage them to go look at the data. in 2019, the national bureau of economic rearch found that after 10 years of turnout data i.d. laws, quote, this is their report, have no negative ef on registration or turnout overall for any group defined by race, jenner or party affilin. that's a nonpartisan analysis. that's the truth. and in somstates, voter turn utah has increased after the

i.d. laws have been impmented in all demographics. tennessee and kansas for example. in the state of georgia, election officials are already using there working through that citizen verification process and they haveea i mean this is just begun, they've flagged thousands of noncitizens after attempted to register to vote. this is happening. it's baffling to me that democrat groups are challenging the system even as it's catching ineligible voters. we are proving this as we go.th. but as we consider the legislation and bring it up for vote, people are going to be put on record. and our democrat colleaguesing e american people some answers to some important questions. do we even have a democracy anymore? does the future americans alone? should americans and only americans be the arbiters of america's future? if ty from pass,

it'll be abundantly clear hay dn state. they will be admitting effectively that they want to our future, in some cases to our adversaries. remember, we've got toafns thousands of chinese nationalists who have come across the border. we've got people from 160-something countries. to pursue our best interests. let's put it that way. we can'tnd founding principles. this is not the time to attack the rule of law. is the time to restore it. we have really one final shot to o. think. i will close with this. i remind you of what supreme court jusce story wrote, this is one excerpt, quote, he said if aliens might be indiscriminately to enjoy all the rights of citizens at thelle union might itself be in danger by an influx of foreigners hostile to its institutions, ignorant of its powers, and incapable of a due estimate of

its privileges. president biden has incited an illegal immigration ka fast fee on secure our elections right now so that we can do our duty and defend not just our core principles but our constitution itself. i think that we will rise to that occasion. hink there's a lot of champions for those core principles in congress. andmpering them to go out and speak and share those simple truths asft and as -- everything u offers. my point to them and my colleagues constantly is, guy s, conviction and consistency right now. more than if we do that, we'll be speaking into aete vacuum of leadership and principle that the other side has provided.nt. i really do believe, i'm bullish on the future of america. absolutely convinced. we are the last, best hope of

man on earth. used to remind us of that. he was of course quoting an that -- what they understood was, we are different, we're exceptional, we're the greatest nation in the history of the world. we're the most powerful, free, benevolent -- we're the best for a reason were built on those core principles. we have to maintainm, lose them at our peril. i'm so grateful for what this organization stands for, all of you individually and collectively. we have to keep expanding the ranks. there's a lot manufacturer people, i think, that agree with us than the other ki of crazy vision for the country. we've just got to get to them and share that truth with them. educate them and empower them to that's how we're going to save the republic. i think we will. thank you so much for t opportunity. thank you.use] give

the speaker. as you guys know, organization turbocharged after bush vs. gore, a lotusess olderd were down there sitting in downing chads. so i was surprised to see in the smithsonian, they have the chads ther t these are original hanging chads right here. thank you so much. [applause] the 70th

anniversary of brown v. board of at 7:30 p.m. this evening, the campaign trail 202wi a look at robert f. kennedy jr.'s rally in austin, texas, and the outcomes of senate primary races in west virginia and maryland. and later at 9:00 p.m. eastern, a debate on immigration policy in the u.s.,os question, should the united states close its borders? you can watch these on c-span oo app, c-span now. american history tv saturday on c-span2, exploring the people and events that tell the american story. at 7:00 p.m. eastern, our american history tv series congress investigates looks at historic congressional investigations that led to changesaw. this week house committees in

1993 1995 examined events surrounding the deadlysiegcarril government and other law enforcement agencies at the compound near waco, texas. at 8:00 p.m. eastern on lectures history, texas a&m history professor talks about the evolution of civil rights law and efforts to dismantle jim crow and racial segregation, including the 1954 brown v. board of supme court decision which declareseducion e unconstitutional. at 9:30 p.m. eastern on the presidency, "new york chief white house correspondent peter baker on the evolution of then ce presidentsy.tory tv, sas on c-span2 and find a full schedule on your program onlinet >>-span has been delivering

unfiltered congressional coverage for 4 a highlight fromy moment. it stay with you, ladies and gentlemen. this flag is a symbol of our wintering inhis r to stand and fight and win because we are united. ukraine, america and entire free world. [applause] >> c-span, powered by