FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
NEWS RELEASE
January 20, 2007
Brownback
Announces Run
for President
Delivers
remarks from
Heritage Hall in
Topeka, Kansas
TOPEKA, Kan. -
U.S. Senator Sam
Brownback today
announced his
candidacy for
President of the
United States.
He delivered the
following
remarks from
Heritage Hall in
his hometown of
Topeka, Kansas:
"I am declaring
today my
candidacy for
President of the
United States.
"Ours is a great
nation and I
make one pledge
to you, to use
our greatness
for goodness.
"We are a great
nation because
our greatness is
built on the
foundation of
fundamental
goodness. If
ever we lose our
goodness, we
will surely lose
our greatness.
Our purposes,
from the time of
our nation's
founding, have
always been
bigger than we
are. They must
be if we are to
fulfill our
destiny.
"But destinies
are built on
daily
achievements.
Inch by inch,
step by step, we
press on to our
higher calling.
Today I wish to
state what I
believe those
next steps are,
for our nation
and for our
people.
"Two hundred
years ago this
year, a little
known British
Parliamentarian
by the name of
William
Wilberforce
finally achieved
success after a
lifetime of
effort to end
the slave trade
in the British
Empire. A
committed
Christian who
believed his
faith should be
a force for good
in Britain and
around the
world,
Wilberforce had
two great
passions: ending
the slave trade
and renewing the
culture.
Although his
goals appeared
impossibly
lofty, both were
achieved.
"He used
Britain's
greatness for
goodness.
"Our mandate
today has a
similar feel. If
William
Wilberforce were
alive today, I
believe he would
be passionately
fighting for the
dignity of every
human life
everywhere,
without regard
to race, wealth,
or status. He
would also feel
compelled to
take up the
vital cause of
renewing the
family and the
culture.
"These are our
fights today.
"We must fight
for the
downtrodden, the
voiceless and
the powerless.
We must fight
for freedom and
justice. To do
otherwise would
be a betrayal of
our heritage.
"But, our land
needs healing.
"Our people need
hope.
"Our world needs
help.
"We need
reconciliation.
Lincoln properly
observed that,
'a house divided
against itself
cannot stand.'
We are divided
and need
healing.
"We need to
rebuild our
families. We
need stronger
families! We
need people
belonging and
committed! By
doing so, we
will reduce
poverty,
strengthen our
nation and
increase hope.
"We need to
support the
foundational
institution of
marriage as the
union of a man
and a woman for
life. We should
support
marriage, not
tax it. It's
wrong to take
away welfare
benefits just
because someone
gets married.
Marriage remains
the best place
to raise
children--not
the only place,
but the best.
"We must stop
wasteful
spending that
steals a
families' income
and then insults
them by throwing
their money away
on pork-barrel
projects.
"And we need
more
opportunities--not
more taxes. I've
never voted for
a tax increase,
and I certainly
will never sign
one!
"But that's not
enough. We need
a different
income tax
system
altogether. This
one, the
Internal Revenue
Code, should be
taken behind the
barn and killed
with a dull axe.
"I propose the
creation of an
alternative flat
tax, which lets
the people
choose which
system works for
them.
"We need a
social security
system in which
all Americans
are given a
choice in how to
prepare for
their
retirement; a
choice they do
not presently
have. No one
should be
required to
leave the
current system,
and everyone
must be
guaranteed their
current level of
benefits. Every
American should
be given this
freedom.
"We are a large
nation. Let's
start embracing
American-sized
goals that lift
us up and pull
us together!
"Let's put our
energies into
conquering the
number one fear
in America: the
fear of getting
cancer. We can
end deaths by
cancer in ten
years. The last
two years have
seen a decrease
in deaths by
cancer. It's
time to put this
killer to death.
With our intense
effort, we can
make it a
chronic--rather
than a
terminal--illness.
What a gift to
humanity!
"We need
high-quality,
affordable
health care for
everyone. Here,
let me step back
for a moment. I
am a
conservative. A
conservative
that believes in
addressing
problems, not
ignoring them.
We must address
our health care
problems with
market-based
solutions, not
government-run
health care. We
can, and we
must. This topic
requires our
urgent
attention.
"We must be
energy
self-reliant in
North America in
the next fifteen
years--at the
same time we
need to reduce
our carbon
dioxide
emissions into
the atmosphere.
This is possible
using our
ingenuity,
resources, and
determination.
"Also, we need
judges who want
to be judges,
not legislators.
"And for
goodness sakes,
the last thing
we need in
America is to
take God out of
our public lives
and
institutions! We
need to embrace
our nation's
motto 'In God We
Trust,' not be
ashamed of it.
Search the
record of
history. To walk
away from the
almighty is to
embrace decline
for a nation. To
embrace him
leads to
renewal, for
individuals and
for nations.
"Something most
people feel
deeply in their
hearts is the
need for a
culture of
life--a culture
that doesn't
allow the strong
to exploit the
weak--a culture
of compassion
instead of a
culture of
convenience.
Life is
beautiful. We
all know this.
Let's start
following our
hearts and work
to protect all
innocent human
life.
"We are a nation
at war. I just
returned from
Iraq and
Afghanistan. Our
troops--the
finest, most
courageous
people our
nation has to
offer--are
fighting for the
cause of liberty
in places that
have never known
her. It is a
long fight. We
will win. We
cannot lose our
will to win! We
must win to
redeem our
troops'
sacrifice. Let
us resolve to
have a
bipartisan
strategy for the
war. We need
unity here to
win over there.
This is not the
time for
partisanship on
any side.
Lives--and our
future--are at
stake.
"We will achieve
these goals, not
through
government
action, but by
tapping into our
innate goodness
as a society and
working
together. This
is how America
has always
achieved great
goals.
"At the end of
the day, it
comes back to
the basics:
faith, family,
and freedom.
America is great
because she is
good. That
goodness is not
based in
Washington, or
New York, or
even Topeka. It
is based in the
hearts of the
American people.
This is a
goodness whose
author is the
divine. A
goodness that
doesn't let us
rest until our
neighbor is at
peace. A
goodness that
feels the chains
of another rub
on our own skin.
A goodness from
God that demands
our vigilant
action.
"How much better
we will be as we
seek to live the
great
commandment to
love God and one
another.
"Yes, we are
great and that
is a humbling
thing, for to
whom much is
given, much is
required.
"Let us, in this
generation,
continue our
destiny of
greatness by
focusing on the
heart, a heart
full of good.
That's what I'll
seek to do
everyday.
"So it is with
sincere humility
and a
determination to
do good that I
declare my
candidacy for
President of the
United States.
"God bless you
all, and may God
continue to
bless this great
nation!
Courtesy:
Brownback For
President
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