founding documents. we hear a lot about founding documents. i am talking about different founding documents. the founding documents upon which our founding documents were based for the judeo- were based for the judeo- christian we are the people of western civilization founded upon the bible. we believe in the dignity of every human person because we are created in the image of god. we believe in the collective ability of free and virtuous people to do more for our society them a benevolent, authoritarian government in betwoinstowing rights upon us. [applause] we believe in free markets and free enterprise. we believe in power of the individual. we believe that families are the basic unit of society and not government. families are responsible for educating and cultivating character in our children. it is not the schools. it is the families. the schools are there to help and not replace the families. [applause] we believe in the things that we are taught from the earliest times of our lives. those of the principles on which our country is based. we believe in the constitution based on the judeo-christian ethics. [applause] there is a truth. there are rights that we have because god gave them to us. it is the government's job simply to protect those rights. if you look at th -- our constitution and founding documents talk about a creator, these rights endowed by god. the other constitution does not mention the history of christendom. they are a separate country. their country were the government is the diviner of rights. what is at stake in this election is the vision of who we are as americans. it is our aspiration that people are worried about. americans never lived up to our aspirations. -- america has never lived up to our aspirations. we're human. we fail and fall. the reason people come to this country is not because of who we are, but it is because of who we want to be. [applause] barack obama wants to change who we want to be. he wants to change the vision of america that our founders and generations before and ingrained in all of us. that is why americans are unsettled. they see something bigger than just more of the same washington stuff. it is a bigger and broader vision than his gotten people to be dropped out of their chairs and say, "no. we're going to fight for america. we're going to fight for our judeo-christian ethic and founding documents. and we will win in november. [applause] i will stop right there. i will be happy to take questions. you will have to find a microphone. where are the microphones? is there someone with a microphone? i cannot see because of the lights. if someone has a microphone, talk. >> over here. >> just start talking. i will answer you. go ahead. >> i am a little nervous about asking this question. i am so afraid it will sound disrespectful. i think you gave a great speech and meant every word of it. you talked about conservatives letting down conservatism. i am from pennsylvania and live in georgia now. one of the most disheartening times i have in politics was when you and president bush endorsed specrtre to me. many of us want to support the currency, but many of us will not because they will support arlen specter over us. [applause] >> i appreciate the question. it is one data. about a lot. i thought about the consequences of my actions. what i said repeatedly is that we all make mistakes. we all fail and fall. that is why the story in the bible about people dropping stones around the feet of christ is so poignant. my wife encouraged me at the time not to do what i did. [laughter] [applause] you would figure after 20 years, and would have learned a few things. but i did not listen to her. i should have. i will be very honest with you. there is one reason i did. the people who were most upset with me about endorsing arlen specter were most upset about the abortion issue. in my 12 years in the senate, no one fought for the issue of abortion more than i did. i endorsed a man who does not share my views on that. the reason i ended up endorsing arlen specter is because we have two supreme court justices coming up in the next few years. we had a narrow majority. i did not know if we were going to keep the majority or not in the next election. i knew we would need moderate republicans and maybe even moderate democrats to confirm bush's appointments to the supreme court. i want to the pro-life judges. for me, that was the most important issue. i got a commitment out of arlen specter that no matter who george bush would nominee, he would defend the nominee and get us moderate democratic and republican votes. we of justices robert an -- we now have justices roberts and alito. [applause] i know it is easy to stand and cheer and say you have violated your principles. i can just say that i prayed and used what i thought was provincial government to do what i thought was best for the millions of unborn children who die every year in this country. even question my judgment and have every right to do so. -- you can question my judgment and have every right to do so, but please do not question my intentions to do the right thing for unborn babies. [applause] >> rick, i know that we have praised the tea party group. but the ones we should praise the most are these women's republican organizations. >> absolutely. [applause] >> i would not be today if not for the volunteer activities. i was always supposed to lose. republican women's organizations provided the fuel to whenever fire i could provide. thank you, ladies. god bless you. [applause] doh ahead. -- go ahead. >> my mother and father's first language was french. they were here illegally. they were hit the recalled speaking french on school grounds or in the classroom. today, we have just about lost our language because of this. our parents would not speak french to me. i have picked it up over the years. today, i have to press 1 for english and i want it stopped. [applause] >> my father came to this country. i am the first generation american. my father always told me the greatest gift he had was to be assimilated and the part of the american culture because that is the key to success in america. from a purely economic view, teaching children the language of the country is essential for their success in this country. [applause] when we do not do that, we put them at a disadvantage. secondly, this country has been called many things. we are a melting pot. we're not a mosaic. we're not individual units that make a picture. we blend together with a common understanding of who we are. i am not suggesting that we need to keep to that understanding of america as a melting pot and that the american ideal is universal in different parts of the country. >> we enjoy you every friday morning. is it not time for the leadership of the republican party to step forward, admit the mistakes that have been made, and differentiate the republican party from the democratic party and restate our principles and values clearly? [applause] >> i think you are seeing that more and more. gov. rick perry was up here. you are hearing what i have said. other leaders outside of washington are admitting that. i think he will find the leaders inside washington believe that. i agree with you the need to be more forthright. we will not convince the american public to trust again unless we can demonstrate to them that we understand what is needed in america and we understand the role of limited government and we're going to deal with these huge problems. we have to be willing to stand up and say tough things. there are leaders in washington who have stepped forward and talk about programs that have to be cut. they talk about things we have to do to get our fiscal house in order. you are seeing signs of that. i will turn its back on you. you have to hold the key to the fire of the folks in washington that is why what we're seeing here is so vitally important. that is what i take the risk of having the not most complementary questions asked. if you want to connect to the american people and get people excited, if you are going to have to follow through with it when you get elected. >> since the 1930's, our federal government has acquired more power by using the commerce clause@@@@@@@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ >> isn't it time we had eight national constitutional convention to read-write of the commerce clause? >> and no! >> i agree with the crowd. the constitution is just fine. [applause] this is an issue that you are going to hear more and more about. you hear about it on the issue of marriage. you will hear it on another issue. it is not the constitution that is the problem. it is the courts that are the problem. [applause] we have this doctrine that people think is in the constitution but it is not. it is judicial review. it says the courts have the last say as to what is constitutional. that comes from a court case called margueribury versus madi. we have adhered to it because throughout most of american history, the courts of done what the founding fathers believed they would do. that is to practice judicial restraint. they would try to be a neutral arbiter and allow the issues the congress and the president should handle to the work of other bodies. that has changed. you are seeing movements. you are seeing it in iowa with the supreme court forcing the issue of marriage. you will see constitutional challenges to the courts and their ability to be the super- legislature. i think that is one of the coming battles. the courts should practice judicial restraint. [applause] >> thank you, senator. i am 72 years old. >> happy birthday. >> for 50 of those years, and was a sustaining member of the republican party. i am kind of proud of that, or are used to be. for the last couple of years, things have changed. i think there's plenty of blame to go around to both republican and democratic parties. i have been to one town hall meeting or one t party meeting. and that common people there like myself. i am an old farmer and cowboy. -- annette, and people there like myself. i saw reflected their my values. we do not care what party you are from. what we hear is what you believe in. that is the person i am going to support in the future. [applause] >> i appreciate that. [applause] i keep coming thaback to that te republican party is not the chairman. it is you. you are the republican party. i always say this. it is incumbent upon you. the tea party people have spoken up. you can speak up within the republican party and have a huge impact. i know a lot of them are because they come to the sentence. that is vitally important. this is a democracy. we're not going to be out doing things -- if we say charge and no one follows, this is not going to work. this party is made up of people. i would encourage you. by encourage you to -- i encourage you to speak loudly and often. speak with your dollars and her volunteer hours. -- speak with your dollars and/or volunteer hours. >> this lady would like to ask you a question. >> bless your heart. [applause] -- this lady would like to give you some flowers. >> was your heart. -- was your heart. >> she is from the town where my father grew up. there's an important election going on. the candidate's name is tim burns. the latest poll shows we're up by four points. it is the only district in the country that george bush lost and john mccain won. it is a district where we can win. we need your help. if you can help out tim burns, we can pull off a big surprise in johnstown, pennsylvania. >> in the tea party member from the fourth district. you spoke about exactly how i think we said we talk the talk and do not walk the walk. i am concerned with the republican national committee selecting candidates that will be republicans and not conservatives. in the fourth district of mississippi, we have that situation. it looks like the good old boys are supporting one person and the rest of the people are supporting someone else. >> go beat them. that is what elections are all about. i encourage candidates to run. even if you do not win, the fact that you have run the race in shown there is concern -- the point is to do it. do it. i think is healthy for the party to have the primaries. it is healthy to get people out and excited. this is where we have to focus our energy in the primaries to make sure that we elect a conservative candidates in the republican primary. i agree with you 100%. [applause] >> [unintelligible] [laughter] >> should the rnc get involved in local primaries? >> all i can say is to prove them wrong. that is the best way to send a message to washington. prove them wrong and go out and let folks. we are at a consequential time. . . i remind you, that the greatest generation of americans, as great as they were, did not seek to be the greatest generation. many did not step up to the challenge. thought i remind everybody that in 1940, the united states did nothing. as the pacific was being overrun by the japanese, the united states did nothing. winston churchill pleaded with the united states, and we did nothing as the bombs dropped on our closest allies. we sat and we did nothing. it is because we like to think that things will be ok. we just need to live our lives. we need to take care of ourselves. there is a movement within our party to do the same thing. just focus on us. we cannot do that. i remind everybody that in the summer of 1941, the congress came within one a vote of appealing to the draft repealing the draft. as unprepared as we were, we would have been more unprepared if that had happened. sometimes we feel our job is just to take care of ourselves, our families and our communities. but this is one of those times we cannot afford to do that. this is one of these times when we have to step up and engage, not just in your own community, but all across this country where there are racists -- races. we need to focus on that november, and we will change the course of this country. thank you. [applause] ♪ >> thank you for that wonderful introduction and you're wonderful warm words. it is great to be back in new orleans. my last time here was almost one year to the day after that heartbreaking day in 2005. [laughter] not that one. i am talking about katrina, men and women. i walked the streets. i saw the recovery pyrrhic i have to tell you, visit is eyeing -- i saw the recovery. i have to tell you, it is so heartening for me to see that new orleans is coming back. we hoosiers like a lot of things that come out of this city, cajun food, mardi gras, peyton manning. [laughter] other than the outcome of the most recent super bowl, there is nothing we don't like about n'awlins. all right. see you next year. you know, i am really honored and, frankly, a humbled to address the largest ever gathering of the southern republican leadership conference. thank you for making that a reality. [applause] to be honest with you, i am a little nervous. i am not used to addressing a crowd of this size. i was running late to a meeting this other day. i came running up to the steps of the auditorium. the fellow who organized it was standing there nervously. i looked into the auditorium and there were five people there. i said to him and, "there are just five people for my speech ?" he said, "tsr -- yes, sir." i said, "did you not tell them that i am of the speaker?" he said, "no answer, but i am going to find out here did -- no, sir, but i am going to find out towho did." [laughter] all you need to know about me is that i am the father of a it two teenagers, and the white hair, the husband of a it proud graduate of a butler university, and the most important thing, and i am christian, a conservative, and a republican, in that order. [applause] what a difference a year makes. following our election losses in 2006 and 2008 cummin, most republicans were still unsure about our principles, but we were uncertain about the future. there was a feeling of a glamor of the new american left. there was a one-party liberal government in washington, d.c. barack obama had a 120% approval rating according to msnbc. [laughter] no, seriously. his approval rating was over 65% in all 57 states. [laughter] [applause] unprecedented democrat majorities in both houses, and unchallenged liberal dominance in the media, the courts, the public schools, and everywhere. it was a forced that seemed indomitable to everybody but you. look at what we have done. historic elections for republicans in virginia, in new jersey comeuppance -- in a new jersey, and the state formerly known as taxachussettes now has a republican into the senate. who would have thunk it? your enthusiasm has been contagious. even republicans in congress are returning to their commitment to fiscal discipline and a reform. [applause] let's be honest. three years ago, republicans in congress did not just lose their majority, they lost their way. [applause] when i opposed no child left behind, the medicare prescription drug bill, the wall street bailout, i knew that if we kept acting like a big government liberals, eventually the american people would just go with the professionals. that is what they did. the truth is, we walked away from the principles that have always been part of our governing majority, and the american people walked away from us spir. but every single house republicans voted against the stimulus bill and the government takeover of health care. republicans are back in the fight and they are back in the fight on the right. [applause] especially when it comes to obama-care. i know democrats think that is over. they passed their bill and it is time to move on. let me be clear about one thing. democrats may have had their way on the third sunday in march, but to the american people are going to have their say on the first tuesday in november. [applause] i pledged to you this. house republicans will not rest until we have repealed a that a government takeover of health care law, stock, and a barrel. [applause] i know the president does not think we can. >> yes, we can! >> on his first stop on the obama-care world tour in 2010, the president actually said to advocates of a repeal of, "and go for it." well, mr. president, count on it. [applause] weekend repealed and replaced obama-care -- we can repealed and replaced obama-care a whit real malpractice reform, ending the surge of a junk lawsuits once and for all. [applause] now, to those who say it will be too hard to repeal and replace, i say it is a two-step process. we repeal the bellows a congress in 2010, and we replaced the obama administration -- we repealed the policelosi congresn 2010, and we replaced the obama administration in its 2012. we have made great strides in the last year. but there is a lot more to do. it is only half time in this locker room. we are ahead on the scoreboard, but there is a lot of time left on o'clock. as hoosiers saw on monday night, you can fight them all night long, but you can still lose when the clock runs out. we cannot rest until we win back the american congress for the american people. [applause] so, how do we do it? a couple of thoughts. first, we have to stay focused. destruction is the enemy of the success -- destraction is the enemy of success. politics and the airwaves are always filled with speculation. who is up, who is down, who is next? we have to look past the temptation to look past the next election. as the coach said right before the national championship game, and we have got to focus on the next possession. the next possession for republicans and the american people is election day 2010. men and women, we have got to take that hill. [applause] secondly, to win back america, to win the back of the american congress for the american people, we need to campaign as conservatives. [applause] to face the enormous challenges ahead, we do not need just a republican majority on capitol hill, we need