Donald Trump spoke in Washington DC on Thursday Feb 2, 2017. Below is an edited portion of the transcript. You will never see this on CBC, even though
the CBC played some other comical parts where Trump was joking around.
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Trump said: This gathering is a testament to the power of
faith, and is one of the great customs of our nation. I hope
to be here seven more times with you.
But most importantly, today I want to thank the American
people. Your faith and prayers have
sustained me and inspired me through some very, very tough times. All around America, I have met amazing people
whose words of worship and encouragement have been a constant source of
strength.
What I hear most often as I travel the country are five
words that never, ever fail to touch my heart, that's "I am praying for
you." I hear it so often, I am praying for you, Mr. President.
No one has inspired me more in my travels than the families
of the United States military. Men and women who have put their lives on the
line everyday for their country and their countrymen. I just came back yesterday, from Dover Air
Force Base, to join the family of Chief William "Ryan" Owens as
America's fallen hero was returned home.
He died in defense of our nation. He gave his life in defense of our people. Our
debt to him and our debt to his family is eternal and everlasting.
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his
friends." We will never forget the
men and women who wear the uniform, believe me.
From generation to generation, their vigilance has kept our
liberty alive. Our freedom is won by their sacrifice and our security has been
earned with their sweat and blood and tears. God has blessed this land to give
us such incredible heroes and patriots. They are very, very special and we are
going to take care of them.
Our soldiers understand that what matters is not party or
ideology or creed, but the bonds of loyalty that link us all together as one.
America is a nation of believers. In
towns all across our land, it's plain to see what we easily forget -- so easily
we forget this, that the quality of our lives is not defined by our material success,
but by our spiritual success.
I will tell you that and I tell you that from somebody that
has had material success and knows tremendous numbers of people with great
material success. Many of those people are very, very miserable,
unhappy people.
And I know a lot of people without that, but they have great
families. They have great faith; they
don't have money, at least, not nearly to the extent; and they're happy. Those, to me, are the successful people, I
have to tell you.
I was blessed to be raised in a churched home. My mother and
father taught me that to whom much is given, much is expected. I was sworn in on the very Bible from which my
mother would teach us as young children, and that faith lives on in my heart
every single day.
The people in this room come from many, many backgrounds. You represent so many religions and so many
views. But we are all united by our
faith, in our creator and our firm knowledge that we are all equal in His eyes.
We are not just flesh and bone and
blood, we are human beings with souls. Our
republic was formed on the basis that freedom is not a gift from government,
but that freedom is a gift from God.
It was the great Thomas Jefferson who said, the God who gave
us life, gave us liberty. Jefferson asked, can the liberties of a nation be
secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of
God. Among those freedoms is the right to worship according to our own beliefs.
That is why I will get rid of and totally destroy the Johnson Amendment and
allow our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear of
retribution. I will do that, remember.
Freedom of religion is a sacred right, but it is also a
right under threat all around us, and the world is under serious, serious
threat in so many different ways. And I've never seen it so much and so openly
as since I took the position of president.
We have seen unimaginable violence carried out in the name
of religion. Acts of wantonness. Horrors
on a scale that defy description. Terrorism
is a fundamental threat to religious freedom. It must be stopped and it will be stopped. It may not be pretty for a little while. It will be stopped.
Things will be different. We have seen peace loving Muslims brutalized,
victimized, murdered and oppressed by ISIS killers. We
have seen threats of extermination against the Jewish people. We have seen a campaign of ISIS and genocide
against Christians, where they cut of heads. Not since the Middle Ages have we seen that. They drown people in steel cages. Nobody's seen this for many, many years.
All nations have a moral obligation to speak out against
such violence. All nations have a duty
to work together to confront it and to confront it viciously if we have to.
So I want to express clearly today, to the American people,
that my administration will do everything in its power to defend and protect
religious liberty in our land. America
must forever remain a tolerant society where all face are respected and where
all of our citizens can feel safe and secure.
We have to feel safe and secure. In recent days, we have begun to take
necessary action to achieve that goal. Our
nation has the most generous immigration system in the world. But there are those that would exploit that
generosity, to undermine the values that we hold so dear. We need security.
There are those who would seek to enter our country for the
purpose of spreading violence, or oppressing other people based upon their
faith or their lifestyle; it’s not right. We will not allow a beachhead of intolerance
to spread in our nation. You look all
over the world and you see what's happening.
So in the coming days, we will develop a system to help
ensure that those admitted into our country fully embrace our values of
religious and personal liberty; and that they reject any form of oppression and
discrimination. We want people to come
into our nation, but we want people to love us and to love our values, not to
hate us and to hate our values.
We will be a safe country, we will be a free country and we
will be a country where all citizens can practice their beliefs without fear of
hostility or a fear of violence. America
will flourish, as long as our liberty, and in particular, our religious liberty
is allowed to flourish.
America will succeed, as long as our most vulnerable
citizens -- and we have some that are so vulnerable -- have a path to success. And America will thrive, as long as we
continue to have faith in each other and faith in God.
That faith in God has inspired men and women to sacrifice
for the needy, to deploy to wars overseas, and to lock arms at home, to ensure
equal rights for every man, woman and child in our land. It's
that faith that sent the pilgrims across the oceans, the pioneers across the
plains, and the young people all cross America, to chase their dreams. They are chasing their dreams; we are going
to bring those dreams back.
As long as we have God, we are never, ever alone. Whether it's the soldier on the night watch,
or the single parent on the night shift, God will always give us solace and
strength, and comfort. We need to carry
on and to keep carrying on.
For us here in Washington, we must never, ever stop asking
God for the wisdom to serve the public, according to his will. That's why
President Eisenhower and Senator Carlson had the wisdom to gather together 64
years ago, to begin this truly great tradition.
But that's not all they did
together.
Let me tell you the rest of the story. Just one year later, Senator Carlson was
among the members of Congress to send to the president's desk a joint
resolution that added, "Under God," to our Pledge of Allegiance. It's a great thing. Because that's what we are, and that is what
we will always be, and that is what our people want; one beautiful nation,
under God.
Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you
very much. Thank you.
1 comment:
Thanks for posting this, Paul. I'll be sharing it.
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