VP Mike Pence on Judicial Activism, Threats to Our Liberty, and How We Must Win the Next Generation, Not Just the Next Election

Vice President Mike Pence : May 9, 2019
Whitehouse.gov

"Leading liberals mock the First Amendment freedoms of millions of Americans across the country. They reject the right to life, many arguing for late-term abortion and even some defending infanticide. The choice before us has never been clearer and the stakes have never been higher. It really is a choice between government coercion and control and a socialist vision for America, and freedom and free markets and the principles of limited government. It's really a choice between freedom and socialism." -Vice President Mike Pence

(Washington, DC) — [Whitehouse.gov] The following are excerpts from a speech given by Vice President Pence to the Federalist Society on May 8: (Screengrab image)

You know, it's amazing to think the Federalist Society was founded nearly 40 years ago by a handful of law students who felt alienated by the dominance of liberalism on their campuses, and they simply wanted to take a stand for "the principles of limited government embodied in our Constitution" and give them a fair hearing in the courts and in the law.

Well, from those backbench law students complaining four decades ago, since then, it's remarkable to think what the Federalist Society has done. You fought to reorient the American legal system toward its original principles: "that the state exists to preserve freedom [and] that the separation of government powers is central to our Constitution, and that it is emphatically the province and duty of the judiciary to say what the law is, not what it should be.

And today, your members serve in positions all across the federal government, serving in the United States Congress, in district courts and courts of appeals. And five of the nine justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are or have been members of the Federalist Society.

President Trump's agenda is simple. It's about freedom. The freedom to live, to work, to start a business, to worship, to live out your life according to the dictates of your conscience. It's the American agenda. That's why, since day one, this President has fought to defend the freedom of the American people from, in his words, "government coercion, domination, and control."

We stopped the last administration's effort to force employers to provide health insurance plans that violated their pro-life principles, and we expanded and strengthened a religious and moral exemption to the HHS mandate so all Americans can live out their faith in freedom without fear.

And so I say to all those gathered here, for the sake of our liberty, our security, our prosperity, and the separation of powers: This era of judicial activism must come to an end. But just know we're just getting started. We're going to continue to lean on each and every one of you, guided by your example and as you are guided by the wisdom of our Founders to continue, to make this country great and strong and prosperous as it was always intended to be.

But we can't keep winning if we don't keep fighting. The truth is, we live in a time when freedom itself, in so many ways, is under assault. Today, leading liberals mock the First Amendment freedoms of millions of Americans across the country. They reject the right to life, many arguing for late-term abortion and even some defending infanticide.

Under the guise of what's known as the Green New Deal and Medicare for All, liberals are fighting for more regulation and government control of our daily lives. And increasingly, every day, we see Democrats at the national level and around the country advocate a failed economic system that impoverished hundreds of millions around the world and robbed the liberty of generations.

I truly do believe that the choice before us has never been clearer and the stakes have never been higher. It really is a choice between government coercion and control and a socialist vision for America, and freedom and free markets and the principles of limited government. It's really a choice between freedom and socialism.

And it's important that the leaders gathered here, as you return to your homes, return to your practices and your work—you help tell the story not just of what we've accomplished, but of the choice our country faces in the days ahead, and that you do what Federalist Society members have always done, and that is talk about the principles that have made this country great.

You know, it was freedom, not socialism, that gave us the most prosperous economy in the history of the world. It was freedom, not socialism, that ended slavery, won two world wars, and stands today as a beacon of hope for all the world. It was freedom, not socialism, that's moving us beyond the prejudices of the past to create a more perfect union and extend the blessings of liberty to every American, regardless of race or creed or color. And it was freedom, not socialism, that gave us the highest quality of life, the cleanest environment on Earth, and improved the health and wellbeing of millions around the world.

I say to you from my heart: The moment America becomes a socialist country is the moment America ceases to be America. And so, as President Trump said in his State of the Union Address, so we must say from this day and every day forward: "America will never be a socialist country."

This is our charge; this is our challenge: to reject the Left's plans for more government and more government control, and continue fighting—continue fighting for the agenda that President Trump brought to the White House, that Republican majorities have stood shoulder to shoulder with him on, and all of you have stood in partnership with us: a pro-growth, pro-freedom agenda.

And we know it won't be easy. But Thomas Paine wrote, eloquently, and I quote, "The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly." And then he went on to say these words that I find myself reflecting on often. Thomas Paine said, "Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods, and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated."

And I want to promise you President Trump and I are ready for the fight. And we're ready to stand with you, to stand and fight for freedom. We'll fight alongside the Federalist Society to keep on building, keep on growing, and keep on strengthening America.

We can't do it alone. So, as I said, I want you to do your part. Talk to your colleagues and your friends—not just Federalist Society lawyers, but all your colleagues. Talk to your clients—people leading businesses large and small—about how far we have come as a country in just two and half short years and how far we can go if we continue to strengthen the foundation underneath this nation with courts that are committed to a strict constructionist philosophy and fealty to the Constitution.

Tell them that this President and this administration are fighting for all of the liberties they hold dear.

And, in a word, do just like those words on the Liberty Bell say ... "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land [and] unto all the inhabitants thereof."

That was a charge to early Americans, and it's a charge for each and every one of us. It's not going to be enough for us just to win the next election; we have to win the next generation. And we win it by explaining the principles of our nation's founding, explaining the genius of our Founders, and letting this generation know that those ideals all still work and they're witnessing them being put into practice again in our courts, in our economy, and our nation.

And with God's help, we will make America safe again. We will make America prosperous again. We will strengthen the foundations upon which this nation was built as never before... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

Click here to read the Vice President's speech in its entirety.