Sen. Rand Paul Remarks as Prepared for Delivery at (CPAC) Conservative Political Action Conference 2015

Sen. Rand Paul Speaks at Conservative Political Action Conference 2015

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD – Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) today addressed a crowd of over 2,500 at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Remarks as prepared for delivery can be found below.

CPAC 2015 Remarks:

There comes a time, in the history of nations when fear and forgetfulness cause a nation to hesitate, to waiver, and perhaps even to succumb.

When that time comes, those who love liberty must rise to the occasion.

Will you? Will you, lovers of liberty, rise to the occasion?

When politicians accept censorship,

When politicians accept imprisonment without trial,

When politicians accept torture, even of the innocent, as necessary,

Then lovers of liberty must rise.

We must rise and stand with our forefathers who stared down the King.

We must rise as free men and women and reclaim our birthright.

We must protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies– Foreign and Domestic!

Our freedom is at risk from a Supreme Court that fails to protect our liberty.

In the mistake of the century, Justice Roberts affirmed the power of government to force you to buy insurance.

Justice Roberts argued that we must presume Obamacare constitutional.

I’ve got a better idea. Why don’t we presume Liberty!

Just as we are presumed innocent, so too we should be presumed free!

President Obama’s fundamental promise that if you like your doctor you can keep them-was a lie.

Obamacare at its core takes away a patient’s right to choose.

I promise you this — as a doctor, I will make it my mission to heal this nation, reverse the course of Obamacare, and to repeal every last bit of Obamacare!

We must remember that our rights are unlimited, un-enumerated, and given to us by God.

Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

The Ninth Amendment says that those rights not listed are not to be disparaged.

You do have a right to privacy.

Your rights are who you are. Your rights are what you are. Your rights are in your DNA and the government can– quite frankly– get lost!

To defend our country, we need to gather intelligence on the enemy.

But when the Intelligence Director lies to Congress, how are we to trust them?

Are we to trust them to collect and hold every American’s phone records?

I say, that your phone records are yours. I say the phone records of law-abiding citizens are none of their damn business!

From within, our freedom is threatened by debt and by a government that regulates everything that moves.

We borrow a million dollars a minute.

The President says he doesn’t know where to cut.

How about we start with the $2.4 million dollars we’ve spent on origami condoms!

Don’t tell me there’s no place to save money.

Our freedom is also threatened from outside our borders. We must protect ourselves from jihadists without losing who we are as a people in the process.

We must think before we act. We should promote stability-not create chaos.

In the Middle East, one form of tyranny often replaces another.

When secular despots are overthrown, chaos ensues and Radical Islam grows stronger.

Hillary’s War in Libya is a perfect example. Hillary’s War made us less safe. Libya is less stable and radical jihadists run amok. They now swim in our embassy swimming pool. Hillary’s war in Libya allowed thousands of surface-to-air missiles to get into the hands of radical Islamists.

As Hillary was declaring victory in Libya, Ambassador Stevens was pleading for more security.

When I asked Secretary Clinton if she read Ambassador Stevens cables pleading for help, she answered curtly, “No.” As if she had more important things to do.

I believe Hillary Clinton’s abdication of responsibility, her refusal to provide an adequate defense for Benghazi, her dereliction of duty should forever preclude her from higher office!

It’s time for Hillary Clinton to permanently retire!

In the Middle East, a dangerous and barbaric cult has arisen. ISIS has become a threat to our embassy in Baghdad and our consulate in Erbil. ISIS grew in a safe-haven created by arming Islamic rebels in the Syrian civil war.

When I voted against arming the Islamic rebels in Syria, I warned that these arms might end up in the hands of jihadists and that one day we might be forced to go back and fight against our own weapons. And within a year, that prediction came true.

Without question, we must now defend ourselves and American interests from this barbarous aberration of Islam. But it troubles me that we must now fight against our own weapons.

We need a National Defense robust enough to defend against all attacks, modern enough to deter all enemies, and nimble enough to defend our vital interests. But we also need a foreign policy that encourages stability, not chaos.

At home, conservatives understand that government is the problem, not the solution.

Conservatives should not succumb to the notion that a government inept at home will somehow succeed abroad… that a government that can’t even deliver the mail will somehow be able to create nations abroad.

Without question, we must be strong. Without question we must defend ourselves. I envision an America with a National Defense unparalleled, undefeatable, and unencumbered by nation building. I envision a National Defense that promotes, as Reagan put it, “Peace through Strength.”

We must realize, though, that we do not project strength by borrowing money from China to send it to Pakistan. It angers me to see mobs burning our flag and chanting ‘death to America’ in countries that receive our foreign aid.

I say it must end. I say not one penny more to these haters of America!

At home, our nation still needs new ideas and new answers to old problems.

Martin Luther King spoke of two Americas. He described them as “two starkly different American experiences that exist side by side.”

In one America people experienced “the opportunity of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

In the other America people experienced a “daily ugliness” that dashes hope and leaves only “the fatigue of despair.”

Although I was born into the America that experiences and believes in opportunity, my trips to Ferguson, Detroit, Atlanta, and Chicago have revealed what I call an ‘undercurrent of unease.’

Liberal policies have failed our inner cities!
 Liberal policies have failed our poor communities. Our schools are not equal and the poverty gap continues to widen.

It is time for a new way, a way predicated on opportunity and freedom.

Those of us who have enjoyed the American Dream must break down the wall that separates us from “the other America.”

The President’s answer is raise taxes again. I believe we should do the opposite. I propose we cut everyone’s taxes from the richest to poorest!

In the coming weeks, I will propose the largest tax cut in American history, a tax cut that will leave more money in the paychecks of every worker in America.

My tax plan will get the IRS out of your life, and out of the way of every job creator in America.

My plan will also cut spending and balance the budget in just five years.

To fix Washington, we can’t have business as usual.

Often bills are plopped on our desk with only a few hours to review. No one, and I mean no one, is able to read what is in the bill.

I propose something truly outrageous — Congress should read every bill!

Congress should also live under the laws they pass.

I have a Constitutional amendment that says: Congress shall pass no law that exempts themselves!
 Finally, if they wont listen to us, we should limit all their terms… and send the career politicians packing!

And while we are at it, maybe we should term limit out-of-control Federal judges!

We need to return to our founding principles and stand up for the entire Bill of Rights.

Our future can include a road back to prosperity…back to respect at home and abroad.

It should include a balanced budget, and a simple, fair tax system.

It should include a government that protects your rights and your security.

It should include a stronger, better, and more agile military

It’s time for a new way. A new set of ideas.

A new leader– one you can trust.. One who works for you.

And above all,
 it’s time for a new President!

I believe that America has much greatness left, but we must believe in ourselves, believe in our founding documents, believe in the economic system that creates more stuff for more people than at any time in recorded history.

American innovations have changed the world for the better.

America is an idea factory…. and there are ideas yet to be born.

You and your friends will create those ideas. You are America’s greatest hope, America’s dream.

Our best days are ahead of us.

It is not the desire for wealth that drives us — what drives us is the desire for freedom. The history of man is a history of men and women striving to restrain the power of government and expand the realm of freedom.

Will you stand with me?

Will you fight for freedom?

Will you vote for freedom?

Let us rise as one and shout from the top of our lungs for freedom now, for our God-given liberty. Let us stand together to make America, once again, the leading light for freedom . . . and prosperity for all.

Thank you –God Bless You and God bless America.