Andy Barr: “Tonight we find ourselves at a crossroads in the history of our great Nation, a nation founded upon the simple…”

“Tonight we find ourselves at a crossroads in the history of our great Nation, a nation founded upon the simple, self-evident truth that we are endowed by our Creator ``with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness--that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.'' With those words, the Declaration of Independence gave birth to a new nation rooted in the principles of limited government, individual freedom, and the rule of law through self-government, and it set into motion the greatest experiments in human freedom and prosperity the world has ever known. That is largely because our Constitution protected those principles through separation of powers, federalism, and the Bill of Rights. Just as the Constitution protected political freedom, it also protected our economic freedom and enabled the American people to flourish through entrepreneurship, business, and private enterprise operating in a free market. In short, Mr. Speaker, American capitalism, as enabled by the United States Constitution, has delivered the most free, prosperous, and successful country in the history of the world.…”