And the nation. In 1943, bill was born in brooklyn to nancy walsh and robert bennett. His lifelong appreciation for the power of knowledge began to take shape while a student in washington, d. C. From there, his educational path will lead him to williams massachusetts. The university of texas austin, where he earned his phd in philosophy. Eventually, harvard university, where he earned his law degree. Bill began to invest in the education of the next generation through teaching positions at the university of southern mississippi and boston university. He then joined the National Humanities center, where he championed philosophy, history, and the arts. He became the executive director of the institution in 1979. It was there he met elaine glover, the woman who would become his best friend and wife. In 1980 five, after he served four years as the National Endowment for the humanities, president Ronald Reagan appointed him secretary of education. This calling to Public Service resonated with his deep desire to ensure americas children had access to the highest quality education. Bills educational philosophy revolved around what he called the three cs. Choice. Character, and while secretary, he could see the challenges on the horizon, and began to fight against the rising costs and crumbling rigor of higher education. He recognized the immense threat posed by abandoning the study of western civilization and neglecting the humanities. In 1989, president george h. W. Bush called on bill to be the nations first drug tsar, as director of the National Drug control policy, he established the first drug control strategy, that brought a historic decline in drug use throughout the country. After his Public Service, theyll went on to become a leading voice in the conservative movement by cofounding empower america along with jack kemp and jean kirkpatrick. He also began to host a National Syndicated radio show. Among the more than 25 books he has authored, his political autobiography, and the book of birches. This 1993 bestseller aimed at inspiring and empowering teachers to help students understand and apply character traits like honesty, compassion, and courage. Bill has spent his career emphasizing the need for moral character and uprightness in our country. Over the course of his life, bill has received more than 50 awards for his work. His influence and impact have shaped many of todays great leaders. America will forever be indebted to his call to rise to a higher standard of moral living. Hey, everybody. It is a true pleasure for me to join all of you in honoring my friend bill bennett. He is getting the Winston Churchill award for Lifetime Achievement from all of our friends at the safe and Freedom Coalition. I have to say, i came to washington, i did not know what to expect. I graduated from college, came. To work for bill in the education department. That was during the glory days of the reagan administration. From the very beginning, bill was all of the things i like. Really smart, rough, impatient no. He was such a great boss. An Incredible Group of people. Most of us are very friendly to this day. That was all because of the leadership at the top from bill. All these years later, he comes on radio shows, podcasts, on fox with us. He is always a delight. He is a true genius of history, writing, politics, and so much else. The one thing i do need to share with you is a photo i have in my first floor bathroom. To is that guy standing next reagan in air force one . It is bill bennett. What a Handsome Devil he was. Anyway, i signed for them at the white house when i worked there. It was such a great picture of two of my heroes. Everybody have a wonderful time tonight. Bill, congratulations. Keep the good fight up. What will we do without you . Lifetime achievement award, not bad at all . Good evening. Im secretary of state mike pompeo. The privilege to join you, my friends at the Freedom Coalition, to honor one of the best friends i have ever had, from president reagan, now to president trump. I wish i can be there with you tonight to celebrate. For nearly 40 years, millions of good, decent americans who work hard, salute the flag, and say their prayers, have heard bill them. T speak for they cheered his work to reform our schools, keep drugs away from kids, and teach American Values through his many books and radio show. It has all blessed our nation. In thes a young man army, i used to see you on tv when you were the secretary of education. I was a young lieutenant. I thought he is kind of smart. Now as secretary of state, i still hear your commonsense wisdom of keeping the greatest country in the world safe, prosperous, and free. Folks havee how many ever called you a diplomat, but take it from me, you are in the club. You have always been a champion for the american way of life. You have spoken that clearly to the world. Thank you for that. You also lift your mark on america through those who have worked for you. Capitalist built, with men and women of principal, who are member the lessons you talk them. Some even work for me now. Finally, for those of you who dont know, bill is a regular guy. He is just as comfortable at a College Photo game as a meeting with a bunch of power players. Im sure he would rather be at the ballgame. The reason he speaks so clearly for Everyday Americans is because he is at heart one of them. Bill, from both my wife and me, congratulations on receiving the churchill Lifetime Achievement award. Thanks for all you and your wife have done for faith and freedom in our great nation. God bless you. Congratulations on receiving the 2019 Lifetime Achievement award from the faith and Freedom Coalition. You talk about somebody who richly deserves this honor, it is you. I vulnerable remember years ago, i met bennett i met bill bennett in los angeles. I was relatively new at my Radio Program. I took bill aside and asked him to tell me what an intellectual was. Meetew that i didnt quite the definition as conventionally held. He looked at me and said you deal in ideas, dont you . As far as im concerned, it makes you every bit the intellectual as anybody elses. Bill bennett took me in under his wing, made me feel like i was one of the gang. It was a moment i will never forget. His book came out, it became a huge seller. It was great. A great have been seller on its own if i had not even promoted to the extent i did. As an author, conservative thought leader, cabinet secretary, you have never flinched. You have never failed in your advocacy of conservative rentals. You have never let anyone down. Eloquence, fearless, sophisticated, you have defended the values that make this country great everywhere. College campuses, the halls of congress, television and radio, and on the campaign trail. In reagans word, you raised a banner. I have long treasured your books, your writing, and anytime i get a chance to listen to you speak as the raw material of a philosophically sound conservatism. You are not only my friend, you are a hero to millions of people. You are without question a national treasure. President ed to join trump, Vice President pence, and all of the people at faith and freedom in celebrating your life of Public Service as the 2019 recipient of the Winston Churchill award. Bill, congratulations. If anybody deserves it, it is you. [applause] i dont think bill knew that one was coming. Bill, you have been lotted this week by the president , the Vice President , the secretary of state, and rush limbaugh. 2 people with us tonight, great friends of bill and our movement, who are here with us in person to say a few words on his behalf. The first i want to welcome is jean scalia. A speechwriter for bill bennett in the department of education under Ronald Reagan. He is a wellknown attorney and at a prominent washington law firm. Hes the oldest son of the late Justice Antonin Scalia of. Welcome jean scalia. [applause] it is a privilege to be here. I had the Great Fortune to work for bill in my first job out of college. We have all had the good fortune of his being a leading figure in this country in the many years since. Let me say a few words about my good luck, then i will talk about yours. No person that i know outside of my family meant more to my formation as an adult then bill bennett. Working for him was a second me. Ation for in my two years as a speechwriter for him, i learned more than i ever had in four years at college. Speeches tremendous about what allamerican students should learn. He said we should want every student to know how mountains are made. For most actions, there is an equal and opposite reaction. They should know who said i am the state. They should know about subjects, predicates, about isosceles triangles and they should know where the amazon was. This was beautiful stuff. I have to tell you, i didnt know a lot of it. I have not been taught this stuff. I was telling americans they needed to know these things. Working for you, i would go home and set about leaning learning all of these things that American Children had not been taught in schools. Something i gained from bill was his admiration for the hope and courage of the civil rights movement. Bill recognized that movement as the fulfillment of the american from hisa direct line hero, abraham lincoln, and to the american founding. I will be forever grateful to bill for showing me the americaness of Martin Luther king, who was a hero of his. [applause] from bill, i learned how to be a good boss. I learned how to be a mentor. I learned the rewards of befriending and gathering talented people around you, like the folks you heard from, and those who he hired, including bill armstead. Bill also confirmed in me things that had been taught by my mother and father, being frank, direct, and honest. All churchillian qualities, as well. And gruff. Be blunt, he could be particularly hard on american universities, institutions of higher education. I really want to hear this. [applause] please keep it down. This is not what he said to me before. I really want to hear this. Blunt,ld you the man is and he wants you to keep quiet. Bill said some tough things about american universities. I had been working for about one in theen my father was Supreme Court and was invited to go down to the university of virginia. We had dinner with the president of the university of virginia. Bill had been critical of colleges. The president said you graduated from the university of virginia yourself what are you doing now . Said im working for william bennett, the secretary of education. It floored the man. Not done she did not care for the things bill said. He finally pulled himself together and said you work for bill bennett, tell me one thing, tell me you dont write the mans speeches. [laughter] bill gave me Something Else. He gave me hope for my own future when i saw that such a rumpled guy can marry such a dazzling woman as elaine. [laughter] [applause] gave me life advice, including what i should value in a wife. That was what i thought and was so fortunate to find in my wife. Let me talk about what bill has given all of us. Like churchill, it has been the defense ofan our civilization. His insistence that we should think on those things that are true and virtuous. As he would say, that we should study the facts are in. The value ofnd us keeping our religious values. They should remain in the public square. For decades, he led that fight and supplied some of the material with wonderful projects, such as the book of virtues, k12, and his radio show and podcast. Today, there are those who would have you believe that when conservatives came to washington with Ronald Reagan, all americans were invested in fighting and winning the cold war. And that only democrats cared deeply about the poor and equal opportunity. They were wrong on both counts. I know no one who reflected that better than bill bennett. Is of his great discoveries what lessonhe line does that teach our children . Events ind be some national and international events, and he would say what did that event teach our children . In that way, he can proceed to give a speech about the event that did not have a lot to do with the business of the u. S. Department of education. In that vein, he used to give a speech about the berlin wall. You can judge the superiority of this nation by answering this, if you open the gates that divide 2 nations, which way would the people go . His point was the communist world trapped behind that wall wanted to come our way because of the freedom and ideas that we had. He gave that speech back in the 80s because it had to be given. Came on the bill national stage, many of our leaders not our political system, ideas, and cultural traditions, were no better than any other. They thought our religious traditions were liabilities. They believed we offered nothing special, and that we had nothing particularly worth defending. Bill knew otherwise. While this country is far from perfect, many of the true americans that would hold several selfevident today are truths that bill bennett spent decades vindicating. We are all in his debt. Thank you, congratulations. [applause] thank you so much. Let me say on behalf of all of the members and supporters of faith and Freedom Coalition how deeply grateful we are for the service that not only your father, but your entire family have rendered to this great nation. [applause] now, our next testimonial is from a man who was at our town hall meeting on capitol hill a couple of days ago. Take questions from all of you. He is one of our absolute favorite in congress today. Senator James Lankford was the director of Student Ministry for the Oklahoma Baptist Convention for approximately 15 years. In that capacity, he ran the largest single student summer camp in the nation and had 56,000 students that went through this camp learning the bible, learning their christian faith. Ran for and was elected to the u. S. Senate for the first time in 2014. Many of you know him as the lead sponsor, and our championship on the repeal in the u. S. Senate. We are honored to have him here tonight with his lovely wife, please welcome senator James Lankford. [applause] its good to see you again. Many i got a chance to say hello to. Ais is not about q and tonight. It is about bill bennett. Let me set some things in context. When i was in high school, bill bennett was my secretary of education. [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] it just was when i was in college, bill bennett was the drug tzar. You were successful, i never used drugs. [applause] i would attribute that more to a great mom than a great drug czar. She was great to have your back on that. My wife and i got married in 1992. Book came out called the book of virtues. My wife and i one year in did not have any children. We waited a little while. That wemined in 1993 were going to buy a book of virtues so that when our first child was born, we would have it. Our first child did not come until 1996. Interestingly enough, i was talking about this speech, she saw this book out and smiled and. Id i know that book i used to sit with her on the couch and open it. We would talk about virtues. Bill bennett did not teach my child virtues, bill bennett encouraged my wife and i that virtues are something that can be specifically passed on. To go back to the biblical foundation, teach through your children. When you walk along the road, when you sit down, pass it down to the next generation. He gave a generation of parents a specific way to be able to pass on virtues in a remarkable way and, making virtues cool again. We may need a version 2. [applause] last year, i was in a conversation with the Vice President. In that conversation, i happened to say to him what are you reading right now . The Vice President responded im in the process of finishing the last book in bill bennetts series america, the last best hope. I thought what an interesting statement from a sitting Vice President. Depth to grasp again the of our responsibility as america, and Vice President of the United States is reading bill bennetts book to make sure he soaks it in. People acrossf our country and across my state that complain about our coach or shop,ture at Coffee Sunday School classes, they talk about the direction they are going. A lot of folks say kids dont know our heritage, or they arent living our values. They complain a lot about it. Then i look to bill bennett, who has those same complaints, those same concerns, but he actually did something about it. He moved from complaining about the fact that our kids dont know about history, to writing a series of books about our history to make sure kids know. He wrote about the values and of our culture to make sure to encourage parents so we can teach our kids courage and responsibility, honesty, and perseverance again. You did not gripe about it, you did something about it. In a generation of parents and leaders, they are exceptionally grateful for that. He is a role model for a generation. If you have heard his Radio Program or have interacted with him, the number that respect him from will understand proverbs 16 seven, when you ourse the lord, even enemies make friends with us. [applause] i honestly could not think of a better way to be able to end a speech about you then reading back what you wrote to us. From the book of virtue, on page , you pass on this. This was the question you gave to my kids and me. I stated back to you, you wrote to us were the whole world good as you, not an atom better, justice. And truth, justice strong and faith in works, just as free from crafty quirks, all distortion all deceit, schemes its neighbors to defeat, schemes its neighbors to defraud, schemes some covert to applaud, called great to applaud, would this be better . Following to the letter, would from annoble world altogether malice selfishness beneath balance from the crest, covering hearts from view, tell me, if it followed you would the world be better . Yes, sir, it would. Thank you. [applause] like so many in this room, i have followed and was inspired by bill bennett from the time i first became aware of him. I remember when Ronald Reagan named him as the head of the National Endowment for the humanities and the liberals screamed bloody murder and tried to find his confirmation. I remember when he served as secretary of education, and he talked about making sure not only children knew how to read and write, but the children understood right from wrong. I remember when he was drugs are drug czar, and he had the courage and clarity to say what we need more people in America Today to say, especially against the backdrop of the systematic legalization of marijuana. Andaid drugs were wrong, destructive, and they were destroying our young people and communities, and we needed to fight them. I was grateful for that when you did that. [applause] later, when i was at the christian coalition, i remember one of our first meetings in the early 90s, much like this one, i invited bill to come and speak. I was escorting bill from the green room, where he was going to keynote our luncheon that day. We were walking down the hall, and there was this very prominent mainstream reporter and they said arent you a catholic . He said yeah. Then what are you doing here . As if a catholic could not hang with evangelicals. I would say one of the things bill made a difference on was in bringing catholics and evangelicals together who believe in biblical truth, stronger family, and [applause] the sanctity of human life. I really appreciated what you shared about his commitment to equal it an opportunity for every american, and his belief in the civil rights struggle. I spent many times early in my career having those conversations with bill. They made a big difference in my life and in my ministry. I remember i thank you for that. He showed me a way to make a difference. He showed me the importance of standing in the arena for what you believed, and not bending to the whims or political correctness. There is Something Else i learned from bill bennett. Sometimes, there is no. Ubstitute for a good fight for the right reasons, and for the right things. As a former collegiate offensive line in, hes a man who never shied away from more runs with contact. Hes always been willing to engage opponents. He did so with civility and intellectual honesty, but he fought for what he believed in. Theres Something Else he taught us. Important now, particularly in a moment of division in our country, and so much polarization. Bill wasnt just a fighter, he was a happy warrior. He was somebody who enjoyed the fray for all of the right reasons. He enjoyed the context of ideas. Eternal optimism that i believe is born of his faith. Ultimately, he believes as we do. Fateful, faithful, but the outcome is in gods hands. We can trust him. At the end of the day, he will be sovereign. Thats what really inspired bill bennetts political career. Him so much, because he married above himself. [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] up so wife, elaine, stand we can honor you tonight. [applause] im kind of partial to her, because i also married a carolina girl. [applause] partner, as the mother of his children, but also as a woman of tremendous accomplishment in her own right, with best friends and other things she has done, she has been a pillar of strength for him. This is a man who has written 24 books and 8 New York Times best sellers. He is a man in writing the book of virtues, has written one of the most important books, in terms of moving the needle of our culture in the last halfcentury. It wasnt really bill until we started getting ready for this iced tonight that i really just that i realized how many lives you impacted, and how many careers you have shaped. Listen to the things you have heard tonight. The Vice President having one of his books at the top of his reading list. A United States senator saying that a bill bennett written book affected how he and his wife raised their children. There are literally tens of millions of stories like this because yourica, have been faithful to what you believed, and you are faithful in fighting for it. Before i call you to the podium to receive our award, i want to read our quote from Winston Churchill that appears on this plaque. You may think it is odd to have a british Prime Minister be the namesake of our award. His mother was an american. Winston churchill loved this country. He knew what was great about america. This quote sums up not only american greatness, but bill bennetts greatness. This this is no time for ease and comfort, it is a time to dare and to fight and to endure. That is our motto. It has been bill bennetts motto. It is my great privilege and honor to welcome to the podium our 2019 Lifetime Achievement on honoree, bill bennett. [applause] id rather not say anything so i dont dissipate what has happened before. Remarks, i amn my awaiting knee surgery and cannot stand very long. Long. , i asked how he said five minutes and less than five would be fine. Let me Say Something about ralph reed. He didnt say anything about teaching political organizing . Exactly right. He has taught many things. My only complaint is when he goes back 30 or 40 years, you some pictures of what i looked like. He looks exactly the same. [laughter] [applause] gun. N of a on this fight thing, i better live up to this fighter reputation. I guess that is right. Said to me mine once, you remind me of that story about the irishman who walks down a street, sees a fight going on, and says is a private, or can anybody get in on it . [laughter] i have been guilty of that. Very quickly, when i was secretary of education, we cut our budget by a lot. We started some programs that did not cost anything. One of them was for the secretary of education to take his favorite teacher. I have had a lot of teachers, elementary school, secondary school, college, graduate school, law school. I picked my High School Football coach. He taught me my most important lesson i needed to hear as a big 16yearold boy. I thought toughness meant callousness. Throwing around your weight, being a macho guy. He taught me toughness was resilience, perseverance. He believed to persist. He was a great guy. He was a marine. My first son is here. [applause] i talked to him and learn from him every day. He is teaching me about business. He said stop calling investors donors. [laughter] right. Our other son is in new york. A United States marine. Now in business. [applause] reached above my grasp for this lovely lady. Did you write some of these talks . You deserve every bit of it. This wonderful woman, my wife. And my family. Home, myheart, my source of strength. This football coach not only taught me that, he taught me Something Else. He would gather us in the summer by Georgetown University and make us work out three times a day. He said remember, the three most important things in life, faith, family, and football. [laughter] and not necessarily in that order. He was a real coach. Comes, you might think i have reversed the priorities if you come to our house. Faith is the greatest of those. Im grateful for the faith i have. I think im even more grateful for my wifes faith, which sustains us all. Ralph, im grateful to this group because of what you translate of that faith into your actions every day. You have become a great force in this country. I will come back to that in a second. Spoke a little faith, i have spoken a little family. I was so moved by what was said by friends here, and friends in the surprise video. He talks pretty good, that guy. I taught him a lot. [laughter] all these people i have talked. Thank you, ralph. Thank you senator lankford. Realize you were thinking of yourself as my student, but thank you. One of the greatest lines in one of my favorite plays, thomas said to richard rich wanted to teacher,don, be a because he would be a good one. A rich says if i were, who would know it . Thomas says you, your students, their parents, and god. Not a bad public, that. Thank you very much. Is last thing i want to say to the faith and Freedom Coalition. As i am sustained by my family, my faith, my friends, i am also sustained by this country. This life would not have happened, this career would not have happened without this country. Ralph and all of you in this room for what you have done. That you talked about on wednesday, and you are working 17 . E other and be sure to be there in this next election. I am truly grateful for your efforts to keep this country what it is. Quoting another statesman, americanstatesman, may be our greatest statesman, abraham lincoln. He talked about the work that has to be done in 1863 when it was touch and go whether this republic would survive. Adams told jefferson he hoped once we established this country, it would last for 150 years. Further. One with lincoln, he was worried in 1863 as the division of our country. I will end with these words, because this company, the company of you folks, reminds me of them. He said in 1863 in his address to congress we go to our task, and our task is this. We shall nobly save or meaning we lose this last best hope of our. Thank you for remembering this last best hope of our earth, and your efforts to nobly save it for our children and grandchildren. Thank you all very much. [applause] it is a profound thing, simple but profound to think, ford ator link lankford just alluded, dr. Bennett, you have made the same maybe they were not unique, but you really weighed in. You chose not just to comment, but actually to lean in, exert, to risk, and truly through that labor was born a blessing of so many. Even just when we watch a baseball game, we all can see in , godutfield by home plate so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. How interesting to me that he didnt love the world so much water, gave oxygen, gave truly of a person, theve incarnation, not the idea, but a life. Hopefully as we culminate these conference, we recognize that all of us have resourcey the ourselves, our lives. Year at the close of the conference, we recognize one particular person who has stepped into that gap and heard his own way in the previous year. I will ask our friend from North Carolina, jason williams, to join us at the podium. [applause] jason williams, in my mind, really is another wonderful example of just that. He has made the same observations many of us have made. He cares about this country, his community, his family. But he didnt just complain about it. Jason chose to lean in, exert himself, chose to risk. Jason officially joined faith and Freedom Coalition six or seven months ago. The truth of the matter is he has been laboring for faith and for freedom for a long time now. 2 election cycles ago, jason headed out a North Carolina effort that resulted in about 160,000 doors being knocked across North Carolina. And his network were responsible for over 190,000 doors being knocked across the state in the last election cycle. Im not going to tell you two years from now, i will tell you 2020. Ason knocked on in i love the jason i love that jason truly has given of himself in known and unknown ways. He has risked, sacrificed. In the face of that risk and sacrifice, it is appropriate for you to be recognized this year as the faith and Freedom Coalition state leader of the year. Jason williams, president of faith and Freedom Coalition. [applause] wow. This, ild have known would have gone back to the hotel and gotten a suit on. I think everybody here knows that you dont do this alone. Adont think it has been secret to anybody here at this conference that at North Carolina, we have a great support group. [applause] name to live up to in 2020. We are ready to do it. [applause] im very grateful. Whothankful to my wife, allows me to travel the state as she stays and allows me to do that with the six kids at home. We have a great family. Mackenzie, megan, peyton, lucy, and jace are going to watch this. I wanted to name every one of them. I think about why we do this. Why are we doing this . Why did bill do what he did . Why did he give his life to this . Israelite armyhe being afraid of this time. David comes in, his motives were questioned, he just went back and said is there not a cause . When we look around and we see freedom, of religious the calls of protecting the unborn, the calls of defining marriage between a man and woman,i want to make sure that it is protected and defended and fought for for my six kids that i just mentioned. [applause] you Better Believe that is a cause worth fighting for. I want you to know that i am thrilled to be a part of an leader inon and a ralph reed, who stands for those principles and values. Thank you for what you have done. [applause] forward, the commitment to you is i will do my best to try and rebrand the organization as faith, freedom, and football coalition. [laughter] [applause] thank you so much. [applause] we have come to the end of row to majority. It is hard to believe. What an incredible week this has been. I hope you have been inspired by what has happened here. [applause] i know i have. I can tell you that the weerlatives and the praise received from virtually every speaker that was here. I wish you could have heard everything they said about you, and how much you encouraged them, and inspired them, and how much knowing you have their back gives them the courage to keep fighting for what they believe in. These eternal principles of inth in god, and hard work individual self initiative, the centrality of marriage and family as the essential Building Blocks of a free society. And are things worth fighting for. These are things worth dying for. These are things worth living for. I want to thank you for rearranging your lives at great time away from your businesses, hobbies, your families, to po your lives your lives outr and say this great nation for another generation. There are a few people i want to thank. I have to thank my carolina girl, the first lady of faith and freedom, joann. Thank you so much for letting me do what i do. [applause] our sponsorsthank and exhibitors. I want to thank the members of the inner circle. Some of you have asked with this pin is, it is an inner circle pin. These are our best supporters and donors. We recognize not everybody can join the inner circle, but we have a table outside. Margaret will be guarding the table and blocking you like the offensive lineman that bill bennett once was to make sure that you sign up. We have benefits that come with that, regular Conference Calls where we provide insight information on what we are doing , our strategy, and we also do regular policy meetings here in washington. There is another debt that i have to pay. I have to thank some people who have worked tirelessly for months to help make sure this conference was the success that it was. I cant possibly name everybody, but i want to thank joe a cleese and, our conference director. [applause] i dont see her. Backstage doing her job. Anaddition to doing extraordinary job as conference director, doesnt she have one of the most beautiful voices you have heard . Thank you. For theant to thank you great job you do as executive director. [applause] thank you. I want to thank you for being such a support to him. You are an extraordinary woman of god. [applause] the entire staff of faith and freedom. Thanks to all of them, thanks to you. I now want to do what i think would be appropriate. , think we should all stand join hands, and close this week in prayer. I will ask pastor richard lee to join us in prayer. Lets pray together. Heavenly father, what a great time it has been since we have rejoiced and found hope. We went many years in our nation without hope. Lord, you have supplied that. Now it is up to us to continue that, to make sure the hope given to us is multiplied throughout this land and the world. That is the hope of becoming the nation that we know and we love. As we go home and take our bags, we unpack them and go to our various places of work, and wherever we go, we may not forget. This was a celebration of hard work, it has been fruitful for you in the nation. Help us be those workers once again so that next year, we can gather in this place together, we can rejoice in your brace and mercy, and also the fruit of the labors of so many men and women, boys and girls, even. Young people, senior citizens, all of us, as we knock on the and told others about the faith and freedom found not only ofyou, but also the power going and standing for that which is right, voting for that which is right, and living for that which is right. We love you, send us out now safely. Willay, lord, that you prosper as faith and freedom greater than it has ever been this year. We will tell our neighbors and friends that they need to become part of us, the family of faith and freedom. Son theforth, that your lord jesus, the only savior, can be uplifted not only now, but in the future in generations to come from a and we pray in jesus mighty name. Amen. [applause] god bless you. We will see you next year. [applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2019] quakes cspans washington journal live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. Timesup, the new york chief washington correspondent discuss his book. Then we will mark the 50th anniversary of the Cuyahoga River fire with a historian and coauthor of where the river burns. Be sure to watch cspans washington journal live at 7 00 eastern sunday morning. Booktvtv this weekend sunday morning at 10 30 eastern, washington posts beijing bureau chief talks about kim in her book the great successor. He was 27 years old when he took over, that he has been able to hold on and define all these expectations, and i wanted to know why, so i tried to recreate his childhood and bring together as much information as i could about how he grew up, how he became this leader that he is today, how he justifies it himself, all the brutal things he does to remain a leader. P. M. , and at 9 00 p. M. Have issuesw, we with china. We can see these are big, emergent forces we have to deal with, ok . Dont i want my president is it it pretty smart for him to have good relationships with those leaders . Ok . Isnt that a smart thing, ok . I take comfort in the fact that these people are all talking to each other. Booktv onekend on cspan2. In 1979, a Small Network with an unusual name rolled out a big idea let viewers make up their own minds. Cspan opened the doors to washington policymaking for all to see, bringing unfiltered footage of congress and the on. A lot has changed in 40 years, but today that big idea is more relevant than ever. On television and online, cspan unfiltered view of government, brought to you as a service by your cable or satellite provider. The white house did not release a weekly address from the president. Ofresentative zoe lofgren california gave the democratic address, highlighting legislation called securing americas federal elections for the safe act. Proponents say it will strengthen Election Security and prevent foreign interference in the 2020 election. hi,sentative lofgren im congresswoman zoe lofgren and im proud to represent the state of california. The mullah report made clear that our country suffered multiple systematic efforts to interfere in our elections in 2016. The report details russian officers targeted individuals involved in the administration of elections. Victims included u. S. State and local entities such a state boards of elections, secretaries of state, and county governments, as well as individuals who work for those entities. We now know