chief] ♪ >> on tuay, former president donald trump speaks to members t national rifle association at their annual meeting dlas. watch live coverage at 3:45 p.m. eastern on c-span, c-span now, or online to c-span.org. >> the house will be in order. >> this year, c-span celebrates 45 years of governing congress -- covg e other. we have been your primary source for capitol hill, providing

balanced, unfiltered c of congress, taking you to where the policy is debated and decided, with the support of america's cable companies. >>ike johnson outlined his policies and the vision he has for the country during remarks at the republican nationtion policy conference in virginia. his remarks are about half an hour.

>> i have the pri ledge today to introduce the 56th speaker of the house, mike johnson. i'm going tomething i never do, but i'll commend a po" if you didn't read it, "mike johnson the stental speaker is one of the most consequential speak querses is a great piece and one i'd recommend to yo as a matter of personal privilege, the speaker's son is a midshipman at the united states naval to introduce the 56th speaker of the house, mike johnson. he's a constitutional lawyer. i'm going to do something i alsn was a■■y 2 thank you for your son's service. thank you for your service. thank yo coming to speak with us today.

we appreciate it. [applause] speaker johnson: thank you. thanks so much. it's great to be with you, to be and friendly faces. i had to adjust the microphone, i was five inches taller when i became speaker, theyeat down. i have a few things i want to talk about. i want to s at the outset. what we all know is our country isght now. ave e greatest collection of crises right now than any time in the mo era, maybe since world war ii, some people say since the civil war, they may not be wrong about that. it feels like everything is

under assault. obviously every metric of public policy is a disaster right new and we all kw the reasons why. i won't recount all those societal ills with y now, because you know them well. but there's something going on in the c that's even more fundamental than just these policies. i want to do a deep dive on one policy issueh you but i want to say before that, you all recognize, we are in a battle right nowetween republicans and democrats, it's actually deeper than that. it's moredamental than that. we are in a battle between two competing vaitions for w are as a nation and who we're going to be. in my role, i did religious liberty litigation long time. i was in federal courts around the country. i worked forom and other groups. in that capacity, even before i got into politics, i had the opportunity to be in front of a lot ofdent groups. we would talk about the

constitution, separation of powers and all these great principles. i never turned those opportunities down, iho was very important. i'm sure many of you do the sa wanto waste those opportunities because we cannot any longer assume that the generations bend us understand those basic principles. we need to take every opportunity to go out and be an evan je list for, you know, the core principles of theoury. and then when i got elected to congress, i found outhat same phenomena is true even in the halls of congress. because i came in in 2 time president trump did. and everything was -- there'surd around at the time. some furniture was being just and demolishes. that's ok, some of it needed to be. in the course of all that change, the tumult in society and all the things gng on in the republic, i felt like as a conservative,lo conservative and a republican, i felt like i was beginning to sense that l losing sight of sort of our fixed points on t h forgive me,

i explain everything in either a football or a hurricane metaphor. let me give you the hurricane metaphor. it's almost as if we're in uncharted waters of the country. we are. these are unprecedented times. the waves are high. the skies on the horizon are dark. tt, when the rudder is broken which most people feel that it is,co dange. certainly for a country. for a nation. so at that time, during those times you have to know what the fixed points on the horizon are. so that the ship of state doesn't in a literal sense. so i was in front of allmypuicae house in 2019, we're about two the trump administration, we're getting a lot of great things done. a lot of wins on the board. and yet i was going back home to my red distr in louisiana and i was sensing this among the

grass roots. among lifelong party activists, longtime supporters. andapitol hill. it was a sense that we're having a hard time defining what it means to conservative right now. what is americo i'm a student of this stuff because i was a constitutional attorney. i followed the history of our philosophy, our party, the changes throughout the years. about every 25, 30 years there's a recalibration of conservatism in our country since its advent. i feel like we'rement. i'm standing in front of -- i was elected chair of the republican study is often called the intellectual arsenal of er the house, it's now a 50-year-old caucus. everybody whos as a conservative or aspires to be is in this group. we had 158 members in the 115th congress. we were just ending, i just got elected to the group. i said look, we were in a big room like this hlunch. probably a little less than that. i said guys, listen.

chairman. forin we're the policy shop. we're the place in the congress where our conservative philosophy is supposed to make its way into policy and be put on paper and so we've got to be governed by the same thing that was gutted us since the founding. where does that come from? iayremember ronald reagan's speech, his farewell address, where he said,hey call me the great communicator but i really wasn't that. he said ias great things. and the same great thing that was gutted our nations since its founding. i said to my colleagues that day y colleague, said we're losing sight of the great things, what are they? e th leaders, we're supposed to be able to go out into the country and articulate with clarity and conviction and consistency who we are and what we stand for, right? this is sit to you all today. i listen, we recalibrate what we're doing, we need to amend the bylaws foe time in about 20 years and we need to put in place what thxed.

if you were in downtown d.c. toan got on an elevator with a young millenial, they're a progressive, elevator, you've got faw minutes with them. you spark up a conversation. you know they're a progressive because they're wearing t-shirt that says "proud prog i'm sere serious. what would you say to them? wod view, our principle as opposed to theirs? because we've got to be able to do that right now. people are lost. they're log for truth. they want to know what anchor points are. what would you say if you had t- condense an entire library of conservative thought, take all the many conservatives condense them down, if you took

all that together, put it on a one-half-page summary what would it say? so this is -- i would poz sit to you all what i call the seven core pri american conservatism. i think if we set up a working group, a task force a did this for about six months we'd probably come up with something that sounds like this. it's ind, limited government, the rule of law, peace through strength, fiscal responsibility, free market, and human dignity. i saiunder each of those cat girl thrs subcategories but here's the thing. i'm not telling you that's the perfect list. i'm saying that would articulate and define it you need to be prepared to do that. we canno out every day and say what we're against. we have to say what we're for. what we believe in. as reagan said, the same great things that have guided nation since its founding, they're the sameng so what are we guided by. because of who you a platform.

you have influence. you have a -- many of you have a gigantic sphere of influence. with all of thaty, i think. and there's just -- i'm just say, i'm saying the obvious, i'm be true, there's a dearth of to truth in the country right now. people are desperate know what do we stand for and why? pl them the seven core principles american conservatism but it's really the core principles of america. and they're under direct assault rightow. because while most of the country used to agree with theee principles, it resonates with want to conserve and defend them, there's a rising number of people in the countryht now that have open disdain for those principles. they debit revere them as you and i do. they want to replace them. last rising number of people

that, you know, this progressive wing, these radical, they want to tde america in to be something totally different. they envision for us to be some sort european-style socialist utopia or something. it's marxism. we all know that's a fool's errand. a dangerous, ng errand. so what we're in a battle for right now is not between the partie i mean it is, that's the daily skirmi but we are in a battle, as i said earlier, for the vision. for thee. who are we as a nation? portance of that. in this upcoming election cycle this is a civilizatiol r . this is a point of major decision. to determine whether we to mooo the founding principles of the country or we're going to trade it in for something else. heaven forbid if make that latter choice. this is not a game. it's farbles. i just think we need to be thinking aboutt the

policy prescriptions and all the things that we do, that wehink about those core principles. because if we -- because we lose them at our peril. we are only 248 years oldy on july 4, our nation's birthday. if you look at the societies an, some would s iout 250 years. there's no guarantee this grand experiment in self-governan can go on and on. it's a question for us to determine.ink will. let me drill in on one of those principles and its appcation today, it's very real, speaking of live fire exercise, to maintain the rulew whh i think is one of the core principles, one of the really,of that is the integrity of our election system. and it's a big issue the country right now. my staff reminded me after last weekend, i've been to political events, campaign events in over 103 cities and 27 stes in the last five months. i've got much more to do this

and i enjoy it because i'm out, i'm places i wouev been otherwise, meeting with just hardworking americans of all walks of life. an you do these big forums, big events, and often we'll have timeor q&a. always one of the first or second questions that comes up, it's border, it's economy, and it's election security. people are really,eall concerned. can we trust? can we trust the vote? because in a cst republic if you can't trust the integrity of your election system, everything is jeof like -- sort of an underpinning of the whole thing. right now, we are working to ensure what■ a concept that only americans decide american elections. and there's a rising number of people who as an opportunity to change the electorate. p bluntly. federalist 52 describes suffrage this way, quote, it's the fundamental article of republ g

and as lawmakers we want to maximize the participation of every citizen in our elections. the corollary to that is we want to prevent fraud and interference that would undermine that principle that we've had. political left now, e advocates of open borders and to their voting bloc, are now saying the quiet parts out loud. some are admitting this openly. the pendulum of our debate now has swung from asking which americans should vote, to themes should vote. and so we're having to address that. many of us remember back in 2018 democrat candidate for governor in georgia who claimed that there was goingbe big blue wave coming. she said very frankly, quote, at blue waves aren't blue, they're undocumented, unquote. oh, ok. yes, ms. abrams said that. she w suggesting of course

that noncitizens and illegals should be part ofhe democrat blue wave. they're not always that candid but increasingly they are. ar before i became speaker i was serving on the house judiciary ctt which, i even miss that now. [laughter] we had these marat hearings, michael berry was a witness a couple of times there. i mean, 12, 14-hour hearings ané markups. late one night, chairman jerry nadler of newor the democrat chair, i knew he was worn down. were at about hour 11 1/2. i said point of personal privilege, can i ask you a question? why the open borders? ation issues. he said why would -- why would you t? that time it had, there e many millions of americans who had come through across the borders. we think the number is about 16 million illegalsav across the border since biden

intentionally engineered it to beid documented 64 specific executive actions he himself and mayorkas have taken since joe day one to open thate oval border wide. and you know all the terrible things thaha a catastrophe. i asked chairman nadr why, what is -- everybody back home, this is on video. it's a val constituents want to know. we can't understand. y would you -- why do you want the open borders? you allow illegals to vote in municipal elections in new york finally he acknowledges that's true. i said is that the model? do you guys want these ill lyle immigrants to votections? see he said i think that's what we should do around thery. like there it is. it's c-span at 11:30 at night. like three church ladies in my district who were watching, cheering me on. th go get him, brother

mike![laughter] that's my biggest constituency. [laughter] please strike that from the record. i said there it is. that's what they want too. and he just, we changed the subject. elon musk found theeod that clip about a month ago and shared it again. went to like 16 million more but the word is out. washington, d.it council, here's one example. they decided they want noncitizens immigrants. russian spies. if you're the ambassador fro russia and you live in d.c. you can vote in local elections. think about it. do can decide who is on the city council. who will serve as theal l attorney general. senator bernie sanders hometown of burlingming election interference by noncitizens. more than a dozen localities across the country right now are encouraging noncitizen in municipal elections.

and it'sdingmericans to wonder, is this a strategy? is this what the democratic cle. is i want they want foreigner cities and make our lays. and they would like to expand that to state and central elections if allowed. no other country would do that. i can give you example after example. i'm running short on time. but georgia, arizona, there's efforts going on everywhere. here's what you need to know. vr registration act, we call them motor voter act f 1990's, an illegal alien who eltion can do that because there's really nothing standing in their way. the onhiy have to do, the -- currently, under current law, all you have to do is che one box on the form and complete it and sign it. ite you a u.s. citizen? check. in fact, under current law, states are prohibitedroesti pro.

and so here's the problem we now. we have all these illegals now. millions. tensmi people have come into the country. and the administration is encouraging them to go and sign up for welfare benefits. because if you're allowing --alr you're eligible for that. so they go to toc offices and the d.m.v. or wherever those forms a them as - after they the benefit nation give them the voter registration, motor voter registration. and many of them, of course, have no idea of knowing how many because the current law asy proof. we think that this is a very serious problem from the upcoming election. we're in an unprecedented moment of challenge. because if you've got 16 million or so, who knows, let's just say

i'm overestimating. let's say 0 million. the official number of apprehensions at the are -- being confronted at the border is over nine million. we hny people have come in totally undetect. we the the gotawnu is several more million. let's say there's a lot. if just one out of00 of these people vote in an election, you're talking about hundreds of thousands of votes. this could be a close election, as they are now. that could swing the outcome of a presidential election. it could swing the jut ce congressional seats. and we think that may be by so right now congress has an institutional responsibility to weave to ensure the integrity of our election system and maybe you al our bill, the save act. i'm sure many in this rm understand. but this is pursuant to hour constitution.thority under it reads as follows. the time, places and mr holding elections for senators

and representatives shall be n each state by the legislature thereof, semi colon, but the congress may at any time by law make or alter suchons. now we're talking about federal elections. ok. we're not trying to intervene, this is not a states' rights issue, we're n trying to jew state legislatures.'s allowed to we're merely saying we can't open the door for voter fraud ano ove you're a citizen. what a concept. we want americans to decide am eleions. it's a controversial statement for us to say so. so this is a commonsense, low barrier safeguard to prevent fraud and abuse. our legislation makes it as easy as possible to register to and most new voters and an jurisdictions won't have to do anything different than what's being done right now. th overwhelming majority of americans reg toster to vote through d.m.v., the department of motor vehicle.

when you go to the d.m.v.date yu don't do anythingferent. if you don't go to the d.m.v., our bills a rson to use a wide array of documents to prove they're a citizen.at'sll . nothing more, nothing less. we're going to help states. we're going to give the tools thunder legislation to remove noncitizens from existing voter roles by granting them access to databases at no ko to states or localities from the department of homeland security and social security administration. hp. and that's going to be, i think, a very important step. i thinknsibity we owe to the american people to ensure that we have free and fairons. i think that is very minimal th [applause] i'm just going to prepare you for this. i'm not going to go on too much longer.■ó■ú you'll get the counterargument and you can be sure that critics

of this bill are howl and engage in scare tactics, and they're going to say that i.d. requirements are an effort to suppress voter tno but i want you to encourage them to go look at the data. in 2019, the national bureau of economic research found that after 10 years of turnou■yt from all 50 states, state voter i.d. laws,is itheir report, have no negative effect on registration or turnout overall for gy race, jenner or party affiliation. that's a nonpartisan analysis. that's the truth. and in some states, voter turn utah has increased after the i.d. laws have been implemented in all demographics. tennessee and kansas for example. good examples of that. in the state of georgia, election officiare aeady using the databases and they're working through that verification process and they st begun, they've flagged thousands of noncitizens after they attempted to register to

this is happening. it's baffling to me that democrat groups are challenging the system even as it's catching ineligible voters. we are proving this as we go. they're still howling about it. but asconsider the legislation and bring it up for a vote, people areoi put on record. and our democrat colleagues are plsome answers toexplain to the some important questions. do we even ha a democracy anymore? does the future of america belong to americans alone? ld americans and only americans be the arbiters of america's future? if they oppose the legislation, if they block itss, it'll be abundantly clear hay do not believe we are a sovereign state. admitting effectively that they want to cede our future, in some cas ou. remember, we've got toafns thousands of chinese nationalists who have come across the border. we've got people from 160-something countries. and many people who are not here to pursue our best interests.

let's put it that way. we can't undo the founding principles.iss not the time to k the rule of law. it is the time to ree have reao do so. i think. i will close with this. i remind you of what supr court justice story wrote, this is one e, quote, he said if aliens might be admitted indiscriminatelyo enjoy all the rights of citizens at the will of a single state, theioghr by an influx of foreigners, hostile tots ignorant of its powers, and incapable of a due estimate of its privileges. that's a lot■# to sink in. president biden has incited an illegal immigration ka fast fee on our country. we have to step up andecur our elections right now so that we can do our dutan not just our core principles but our constitution itself.

i think that we will rise to that occasion. i think there's a lot of champi for those core principles in congress. and we're empowering them to go out andsimple truths as often a- everything the u.s. offers. my andy colleagues constantly is, guys, we have to speak with clarity, nviction and consistency right now. more than we ever have before. if we do that, we'll be speaking into a complete vacuum of leadership and principle that the other side has provided. this is our moment. i really do believe, i'm bullish on the future of america. i'm absolutely convinced. we are best hope of man on earth. reagan used to remind of that. he was of course quoting lincoln. and that -- what they understood was, we are different, we're exceptional, we're the greatest nation in the most powerful, f, benevolent -- we're the best for a reason because we were built

on those core principles. we have to maintain them, we'll lose them at our peril.m grates organization stands for, all ofd collectively. we have to keep expanding the ranks. there's a lot manufacturerle, h us than the other kind of crazy vision for the country. wel just got to get to them and share that truth with them. educate them and empower them to engage. that's how we're going to save think we will. thank you so much for the opportunity. thank [applause] >> we have a little gift to give the speaker. as you guys know, this organization turbochargedfter bush vs. gore, a lot of us, i guess older people, in sitting n warehouses, downing chads.as sue

n, ty have the chads there in the display. these are original hanging chads ri thank you so much. [applause] >> on saturday, former president nald trump speaks to members of t nional rifle association at their annual meetg ineastern on c-span, c-spw are freeobvi app, or online at c-span.org.