For Immediate Release:
June 4, 2011
 

Newt Gingrich, in his message to the Faith and Freedom Coalition Conference today, discussed the core of American Exceptionalism as the belief that our rights come from God, not the government, and pledged to stand with people of faith in pursuit of their shared mission of returning to the historic values that have made America great.
 

"We are a country in which the people believe that their rights come from God and that therefore each individual is sovereign; that we loan power to the government, the government never loans power to us," said Gingrich.  "This is what has made America an exceptional nation."
 

"You are playing a major role in bringing together people of faith from all across America to raise the banner of freedom, to talk about America, and to make sure we put our country back on the right track," added Gingrich.
 

"I want you to know that I stand firmly with you on returning America to the core values which have made us the most remarkable country in history," Gingrich concluded.

Text of Gingrich’s remarks are below:

 

 

Thank you for participating in the Faith and Freedom Coalition.
 

In America, our freedom is based on faith.  Our Declaration of Independence says we are endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights.
 

We rely on truths - our Declaration talks about the laws of God’s nature.  It doesn’t talk about some isolated, rational, politician-dominated, lawyer-defined, judge-imposed model.
 

This is what has made America an exceptional nation - that we are a country in which the people believe that their rights come from God and that therefore each individual is sovereign; that we loan power to the government, the government never loans power to us.

That’s why we begin our Constitution "We the People" – not we the lawyers, not we the bureaucrats, not we the judges, not we the politicians, not even we the news media.  It’s We the People.
 

You are playing a major role in bringing together people of faith from all across America to raise the banner of freedom, to talk about America, and to make sure we put our country back on the right track.
 

You and I know that right now America is clearly on the wrong track.  That’s true as much in terms of moral and social policies as it is with economic policies, national security policies, or the power of Washington to try and coerce us into doing what the bureaucrats want.

You also know that getting America back on the right track is going to be a real fight.  Every element of the left - the interest groups, the intellectuals, the news media, the bureaucrats, the politicians - are going to oppose what we are trying to do.
 

But I am confident that together we are going to do it.  The reason is two-fold.

First, it is as the Declaration of Independence says, "truths."  It is a fundamental truth that freedom is based on faith. 
 

And second, overwhelmingly the American people agree with us.  Overwhelmingly – 80 or 90 percent of the American people – want an America that is exceptional, want an America in which children again have the right to pray, want an America in which the judges respect the Constitution, want an America in which power has left Washington and a much smaller federal government does only what the federal government should do while back home citizens in their communities, their churches, their local activities and in their state government are doing things that are today being done by Washington bureaucrats.
 

So what you are doing is historically important for the future of our country and the future of our children and grandchildren.  I hope you have a great conference and I want you to know that I stand firmly with you on returning America to the core values which have made us the most remarkable country in history.

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