So help me god, p.56
So Help Me God, page 56
To aspire to such virtue and self-restraint would in a sense be difficult, but in another sense it should be easy—difficult because it would be demanding and ideal, and easy because it is the right thing to do and the rewards are immediately self-evident.
A president who slights the Constitution is like a rider who hates his horse: he will be thrown, and the nation along with him. The president solemnly swears to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. He does not solemnly swear to ignore, overlook, supplement, or reinterpret it. Other than in a crisis of existence, such as the Civil War, amendment should be the sole means of circumventing the Constitution. For if a president joins the powers of his office to his own willful interpretation, he steps away from a government of laws and toward a government of men.
Is the Constitution a fluctuating and inconstant document, a collection of suggestions whose purpose is to stimulate debate in a future to which the Founders were necessarily blind? Progressives tell us that even the Framers themselves could not reach agreement in its regard. But they did agree upon it. And they wrote it down. And they signed it. And they lived by it. Its words are unchanging and unchangeable except, again, by amendment. There is no allowance for a president to override it according to his supposed superior conception. Why is this good? It is good because the sun will burn out, the Ohio River will flow backwards, and the cow will jump over the moon 10,000 times before any modern president’s conception is superior to that of the Founders of this nation.
Would it be such a great surprise that a good part of the political strife of our times is because one president after another, rather than keeping faith with it, argues with the document he is supposed to live by? This discontent will only be calmed by returning the presidency to the nation’s first principles. The Constitution and the Declaration should be on a president’s mind all the time, as the prism through which the light of all questions of governance passes. Though we have—sometimes gradually, sometimes radically—moved away from this, we can move back to it. And who better than the president to restore this wholesome devotion to limited government?
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And as the president returns to the consistent application of the principles in the Constitution, he will also ensure fiscal responsibility and prosperity. Who is better suited, with his executive and veto powers, to carry over the duty of self-restraint and discipline to the idea of fiscal solvency? When the president restrains government spending, leaving room for the American people to enjoy the fruits of their labor, growth is inevitable. As Senator Robert Taft wrote: “Liberty has been the key to our progress in the past and is the key to our progress in the future.… If we can preserve liberty in all its essentials, there is no limit to the future of the American people.”
Whereas the president must be cautious, dutiful, and deferential at home, his character must change abroad. Were he to ask for a primer on how to act in relation to other states, which no holder of the office has needed to this point, and were that primer to be written by the American people, whether of 1776 or 2010, you can be confident that it would contain the following instructions:
You do not bow to kings. Outside our shores, the president of the United States of America bows to no man. When in foreign lands, you do not criticize your own country. You do not argue the case against the United States, but the case for it. You do not apologize to the enemies of the United States. Should you be confused, a country, people, or region that harbors, shelters, supports, encourages, or cheers attacks upon our country or the slaughter of our friends and families are enemies of the United States. And, to repeat, you do not apologize to them.
Closely related to this, and perhaps the least ambiguous of the president’s complex responsibilities, is his duty as commander-in-chief of the military. In this regard there is a very simple rule, unknown to some presidents regardless of party: If, after careful determination, intense stress of soul, and the deepest prayer, you go to war, then, having gone to war, you go to war to win. You do not cast away American lives, or those of the innocent noncombatant enemy, upon a theory, a gambit, or a notion. And if the politics of your own election or of your party intrude upon your decisions for even an instant—there are no words for this.
More commonplace, but hardly less important, are other expectations of the president in this regard. He must not stint on the equipment and provisioning of the armed forces, and if he errs it must be not on the side of scarcity but of surplus. And he must be the guardian of his troops, taking every step to avoid the loss of even a single life.
The American soldier is as precious as the closest of your kin—because he is your kin, and for his sake the president must, in effect, say to the Congress and to the people: I am the Commander-in-Chief. It is my sacred duty to defend the United States, and to give our soldiers what they need to complete the mission and come home safe, whatever the cost.
If, in fulfilling this duty, the president wavers, he will have betrayed his office, for this is not a policy, it is probity. It is written on the blood-soaked ground of Saratoga, Yorktown, Antietam, Cold Harbor, the Marne, Guadalcanal, the Pointe du Hoc, the Chosin Reservoir, Khe Sanh, Iraq, Afghanistan, and a thousand other places in our history, in lessons repeated over and over again.
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The presidency, a great and complex subject upon which I have only touched, has become symbolic of overreaching. There are many truths that we have been frightened to tell or face. If we run from them, they will catch us with our backs turned and pull us down. Better that we should not flee but rather stop and look them in the eye.
What might our forebears say to us, knowing what they knew, and having done what they did? I have no doubt that they would tell us to channel our passions, speak the truth and do what is right, slowly and with resolution; to work calmly, steadily and without animus or fear; to be like a rock in the tide, let the water tumble about us, and be firm and unashamed in our love of country.
I see us like those in Philadelphia in 1776. Danger all around, but a fresh chapter, ready to begin, uncorrupted, with great possibilities and—inexplicably, perhaps miraculously—the way is clearing ahead. I have never doubted that Providence can appear in history like the sun emerging from behind the clouds, if only as a reward for adherence to first principles. As Winston Churchill said in a speech to Congress on December 26, 1941: “He must indeed have a blind soul who cannot see that some great purpose and design is being worked out here below, of which we have the honor to be the faithful servants.”
As Americans, we inherit what Lincoln in his First Inaugural called “the mystic chords of memory stretching from every patriot grave.” They bind us to the great and the humble, the known and the unknown of Americans past—and if I hear them clearly, what they say is that although we may have strayed, we have not strayed too far to return, for we are their descendants. We can still astound the world with justice, reason and strength. I know this is true, but even if it was not we could not in decency stand down, if only for our debt to history. We owe a debt to those who came before, who did great things, and suffered more than we suffer, and gave more than we give, and pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor for us, whom they did not know. For we “drink from wells we did not dig” and are “warmed by fires we did not build,” and so we must be faithful in our time as they were in theirs.
Many great generations are gone, but by the character and memory of their existence they forbid us to despair of the republic. I see them crossing the prairies in the sun and wind. I see their faces looking out from steel mills and coal mines, and immigrant ships crawling into the harbors at dawn. I see them at war, at work and at peace. I see them, long departed, looking into the camera, with hopeful and sad eyes. And I see them embracing their children, who became us. They are our family and our blood, and we cannot desert them. In spirit, all of them come down to all of us, in a connection that, out of love, we cannot betray.
They are silent now and forever, but from the eternal silence of every patriot grave there is yet an echo that says, “It is not too late; keep faith with us, keep faith with God, and do not, do not ever despair of the republic.”
2016 State of the State of Indiana Address, delivered January 12, 2016
200 years ago this summer, 43 founders gathered beneath an elm tree in Corydon, to craft a constitution for a new state they would call Indiana.
Over the past two centuries, our state has seen remarkable growth. A population of some 60,000 is now more than 6.5 million. An agrarian economy bound to the great Ohio River has become a global engine of commerce, ingenuity, education and culture.
On the foundation poured beneath that historic elm, we can proudly say Indiana is not just 200 years old.
Indiana is 200 years strong.
In the past three years, we have added 139,000 new jobs to our economy, reduced the unemployment rate from over 8 percent three years ago to 4.4 percent today, and have seen 34,000 fewer Hoosiers receiving unemployment claims. Indiana consistently ranks in the top 10 best states to do business. Last year, we saw global businesses like GM, Subaru, Rolls-Royce and Raytheon invest billions of dollars in our economy. And, most significantly, last year our state set a new record for private sector employment. Today, there are more Hoosiers going to work than ever before in the 200-year history of this state.
That is 200 years Indiana strong.
And the celebration of our bicentennial has already started. Plans are underway for a new state archive and the Bicentennial Nature Trust has preserved thousands of acres of wilderness. Our Bicentennial Commission is also making sure we bring our celebration to every county of this state. I am truly grateful to all those who have worked to make this possible, but I’m especially partial to the ambassador of the bicentennial. Join me in welcoming our devoted First Lady Karen Pence back to this historic chamber.
Indiana is strong.
And our strength is nowhere more evident than in the men and women who put on the uniform to defend our families at home and abroad—our public safety community and the Indiana National Guard.
I have no higher honor than serving as commander-in-chief of the finest National Guard in America.
In the wake of the terrorist attack on a recruiting station in Chattanooga, Tennessee, I’m proud to say that Indiana was among the first states to allow our National Guard to carry firearms at all recruiting stations. Now, those who defend our freedom have the ability to defend themselves.
Hoosiers know firearms in the hands of law abiding citizens—including our National Guard—makes our communities more safe, not less safe. Indiana will always defend the right to keep and bear arms. Mr. President, please stop blaming our gun laws for violence in Chicago. Hoosiers are not the cause of crime in your hometown—criminals are.
This year, Hoosiers will be proud to know that the 122nd Fighter Wing of the Indiana Air National Guard took the fight to the enemy as they left families and homes to deploy in the Middle East. In April 2015, over 300 Blacksnakes returned from a historic deployment flying nearly 1,300 sorties, severely destroying and degrading enemy capabilities.
I am honored to be joined tonight by two Hoosier heroes.
Colonel Pat Renwick, Commander of the 122nd Fighter Wing, Indiana Air National Guard, and Captain Sarah Jones, also of the 122nd Fighter Wing.
Join me in saying welcome home to the Indiana Air National Guard Blacksnakes. Job well done.
2015 really was a year of progress on many fronts.
Last week, a fourth grader named Samantha at Forest Glen Elementary asked me, “Do you use math in your job?”
I told her, “I use math every day, and Indiana is really good at math.”
Last year, we passed another balanced budget, and moved forward with a balanced budget amendment. We maintained strong budget reserves and our AAA bond rating.
We cut taxes for the third year in a row and reduced unemployment taxes on job creators this year by more than $300 million.
And, in 2015, Indiana made genuine progress in student achievement. We raised our standards and saw graduation rates go up to seventh highest in the nation. And, Indiana kids outperformed the national average in every major category on the Nation’s Report Card.
We supported our goal to see 100,000 more kids in B or better schools by putting education first in this year’s budget.
And when I say we, I’m talking about all of you—members of the best state legislature in America.
Hoosiers deserve to know this General Assembly passed the largest increase in K–12 education funding in Indiana history. And, with nearly $50 million in new funding, Indiana has become the first state in America to make career and vocational education a priority in every high school again.
We increased bonuses for hardworking teachers, launched the first-ever statewide pre-K program—opening doors of opportunity for disadvantaged kids—and we now have one of the largest school voucher programs in the nation. We also invested millions to make our schools safer.
And, 2015 was a great year of progress on the Crossroads of America.
Last year, we invested more than $1 billion in nearly 400 transportation projects. We finished I-69 from Evansville to Bloomington, improved US 31 to South Bend, and the new Ohio River Bridges will support growth in southern Indiana for generations.
And in 2015, Indiana made great strides to improve the health of Hoosiers.
We became the first state in America to reform traditional Medicaid for all able-bodied adults with the launch of the Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0. Unlike the mandates and taxes of Obamacare, HIP 2.0 is based on personal responsibility.
Today, more than 350,000 low-income Hoosiers have access to health insurance they can pay for and it is changing lives.
Like Jo Ann McQueen of New Castle. For years, Jo Ann was without health insurance and went without receiving routine checkups. One day, a friend mentioned HIP 2.0—said it was affordable and offered good coverage. During a routine checkup, Jo Ann had a mammogram where they discovered a lump in her breast. It was breast cancer and she had surgery and recently had her second round of chemo treatment.
She is battling every day, but she and her husband, Dale, are both optimistic. Jo Ann wanted you all to know what HIP 2.0 meant to her and her family. Thank you, Jo Ann. You and Dale will be in our prayers. Get well.
While we have much to celebrate in this bicentennial year, we have much more to do. For despite all these gains, there are still too many Hoosiers struggling to make ends meet.
To keep Indiana growing, we must focus on the challenges before us to strengthen our economy, support our schools, improve our roads and better the health of Hoosiers. For a growing economy, we have to keep taxes low and invest in infrastructure.
While the condition of our roads and bridges ranks above the national average, I propose we make $1 billion available to improve state roads and bridges in the next four years and follow the lead of Senators Long and Hershman to provide another $400 million for local roads.
There are lots of ways to pay for infrastructure, and I expect we will have a healthy debate.
I think when you have money in the bank and the best credit rating in America, the last place you should look to pay for roads and bridges is the wallets and pocketbooks of hardworking Hoosiers.
Let’s invest in our roads and bridges, and let’s do it without raising taxes.
But infrastructure is more than roads.
Indiana’s ports have also been spectacular catalysts for job growth. That is why I have called upon the Ports of Indiana to vigorously explore the building of a fourth port in the far southeastern part of our state, which could unleash enormous economic investment throughout the southeast region of our state.
Because we need to invest in regional growth, our Regional Cities Initiative was designed to do just that, and it has been a remarkable success.
With our state investment, we are leveraging more than $2 billion in public and private investment that will support 96 projects in three regions across the state. These include revitalizing the Fort Wayne riverfront, redeveloping South Bend’s Studebaker plant, and residential development in Evansville’s city center.
I commend each and every region that participated, and I urge you to fully fund our Regional Cities Initiative and get Indiana growing regionally.
For our schools, with all we’ve done in education in recent years—higher standards and a new test—we have been asking a lot of our teachers. Teachers that make the difference.
Teachers like Jean Russell, a literacy specialist at Haverhill Elementary School in Southwest Allen County Schools. She has been an educator for 25 years. And, she is the 2016 Indiana Teacher of the Year. Join me in thanking Jean and all our teachers for the work they do every day.
This year let’s find ways to make teaching more attractive and do our part to encourage more Hoosiers to pursue careers in education. That is why I am so enthusiastic about Speaker Bosma’s Next Generation Scholarship that would cover up to $7,500 per year in tuition for students who are in the top 20 percent of their class and commit to teaching in Indiana for at least five years.
Accountability is important, but testing must be reliable and the results fairly applied. Let’s take a step back from ISTEP and improve on the test we use to measure our kids and schools every year. Let’s also take action to ensure that our teachers and schools are treated fairly with the results of the latest ISTEP test.
Leaders in both parties and the Department of Education are working with our administration, and I promise you we will make sure the 2015 test scores fairly reflect the performance of our schools and will not affect teacher bonuses or compensation.
