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Our family is still reveling in the exceptional celebrations and commemorations of the 250th birthday of America in Washington, D.C. Throughout the week, we visited the Great American State Fair on the National Mall multiple times. The New York State booth was very well done with references to Upstate throughout including Saratoga, Lake George, Lake Placid, and more. Another highlight was stopping by the USDA booth which was handing out cuttings of George Washington’s cherry trees to the first 250 attendees (thanks to my Chief of Staff for this hot tip!). The patriotic sapling safely made the trip home and we will proudly plant this on our farm in Schuylerville, NY.
We also were special guests with a few of my Congressional colleagues at the American State Fair Rodeo one evening. Watching the beautiful horses and talented cowboys ride with the U.S. Capitol in the backdrop was surreal and a once-in-a-lifetime for Americans who traveled to see these festivities. It was a fitting celebration of the American West and cowboy spirit of grit, hard work, and determination.
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However, a real highlight of the week was participating in the U.S. National Archives ceremony that included the reading of the Declaration of Independence by very authentic historic re-enactors. I was invited to deliver the keynote speech at this historic 250th celebration at the very home of our Declaration, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.
The host (the Acting Archivist of the United States, Ed Forst) reminded me that President Gerald Ford delivered the remarks at the 200th in 1976. Here [ [link removed] ] are this remarks with his hand written edits.
I spent the morning of July 3rd writing these remarks in the Members Room at the Library of Congress during the military flyovers dress rehearsal.
I wanted to share them with you in full. This was a real honor of a lifetime to keynote.
— REMARKS at the U.S. National Archives for America 250 —
Thank you Ed Forst for that kind introduction and for your exceptional stewardship preserving our priceless founding documents as Acting Archivist of the United States and GSA Administrator.
I want to recognize my friend, our Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins who has been out riding horses with our farmers every evening at the Rodeo in the blistering heat all week at the Great American State Fair. And thank you to former Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater for being here as well.
My fellow Americans, it is truly an honor to join you as we commemorate our great Nation’s semiquincentennial. The 250th Birthday of the United States of America.
Here we stand today at the National Archives, the great apotheosis of the foundation of our Constitutional Republic.
Home of our Declaration of Independence, our Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.
Hundreds of millions of Americans - of all walks of life, from sea to shining sea - have made pilgrimage to this sacred site. In awe and astonishment. With gratitude and appreciation. With patriotic pride and humble prayer.
Because the words and ideals set forth in these documents are as timeless, as they are miraculous.
250 years ago, everyday extraordinary Americans declared our independence giving birth to the greatest nation in the history of mankind.
They declared:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among those are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
It is hard to overstate how, at the time, this was a radical idea.
That all men are created equal and that these inalienable rights come not from a King, nor a monarchy, nor the government, but from God.
And that a government of the people derives its powers, not from the state, but from the consent of the governed.
This concept of unalienable Rights laid out in our Declaration leads directly to the preamble of our Constitution.
It begins with the profound “We The People.” This fundamental idea of self-government that we still deeply cherish today. It is this covenant that elected officials have in service to the people across this great nation. That is why we proudly call Congress, “The People’s House.”
And of course along with the Constitution, we have the Bill of Rights to protect those freedoms and liberties of We The People.
And while we correctly study the brilliance and fortitude of our founding fathers who wrote these words and mutually pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor not just to each other but to this Declaration 250 years ago, we must remember these were everyday fellow Americans - farmers, teachers, brewers, shopkeepers, shoemakers, bookkeepers, and carpenters. Their profound words exemplify the extraordinary leadership and wisdom of everyday citizens.
The foundational documents in these Archives, beginning with our Declaration of Independence, are the cornerstone that built and inspired the great canon of documents and oration that propelled American freedom over the past quarter millennium: The Emancipation Proclamation. The Gettysburg Address. Women’s Suffrage. I Have A Dream.
As we reflect on our incredible history of the past 250 years and the challenges of today, it is important to remember that our brilliant founders expected Americans would celebrate this providential day with fireworks, revelry, and pomp and circumstance.
Yet perhaps, most importantly, our founders were clear eyed in their day.
They did not expect this audacious Declaration of Independence and the path laid forth to be easy. They expected it to be hard. That this great cause of freedom would need to be worked for, fought for. And to be earned.
In a letter to his beloved wife Abigail, John Adams wrote:
“You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. — I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. — Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means.”
You see, the founders knew that this grand experiment of these new United States of America would not be easy, they knew that it would be messy. But above all, they knew that it would be worth it.
The cause of independence cost blood, treasure, and lives of courageous men and women who risked it all to protect these words and forge a new nation. Brave American patriots fought and died for the freedom of their fellow citizens and future generations. Like our men and women in uniform do today.
We understand this deeply where I am from. I was born and raised in Upstate New York - the cradle of the American Revolution. Home of Fort Ticonderoga. Plattsburgh. And Saratoga - the turning point of the Revolutionary War. These were some of the bloodiest battles of the war, the battlefields and hallowed ground where Americans, called by God, laid down their lives for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
And not five months after the Declaration of Independence, during some of the darkest hours when all was thought to be lost, the great Thomas Paine called on his fellow countrymen and women to remain steadfast in their belief in the cause to secure a new nation.
Paine wrote: “THESE are the times that try men’s souls…Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”
And how glorious it was. And is. Because against all odds, despite thinking all was lost too many times to count, the Americans triumphed. And forged the greatest nation in the history of mankind, as the rest of the world watched in wonder and in awe.
What joy and astonishment our founders would have if they could look back at the achievements of the past 250 years:
America freed men and women from bondage. America rebuilt and re-united after the bloody Civil War. We survived the Great Depression, ushered in the Industrial Revolution, put a Man on the Moon, stormed, bled, and died on the beaches of Normandy to save the world from tyranny, built historic alliances, and delivered a economic and technological advancements fueling greater prosperity and quality of life than ever imagined.
It is in their words on the very parchment in these Archives that our founders ensured that America always remains the world’s greatest hope. That we are the pioneers, the explorers, the believers, the inventors, the warriors and the peacemakers, the dreamers, the doers, the cowboys, the builders, and the leaders.
What a privilege it is to be an American. I believe this always, but especially at such a time as this.
Today May we cherish and remember our providential past, touched by the hand of God, and may we embark on the next 250 years guided by the same moral truths in these sacred documents in this very hall of We The People: Our Constitution, our Bill of Rights, and our Declaration of Independence.
250 years ago, when asked what form of government our founders envisioned and decided upon, Benjamin Franklin wisely said, “A Republic, if you can keep it.”
We will fight for it. Strive for it. Protect it. And we will keep it.
For America is great. We are the Keeper of the Faith. The Defender of the West. And the Leader of the Free World.
Happy 250th Birthday America! You are still so young, so beautiful, and your future - of the people, by the people, for the people - is so blindingly bright.
May God Bless You and May God continue to Bless the United States of America.
—
You can watch the full video of the inspiring event here. [ [link removed] ]
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