In his address to the Republican National Lawyers Association’s (RNLA) 23rd annual National Policy Conference in Arlington, Va., U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson outlined his 7 principles of conservatism and how they can save America.
Johnson began his address by noting that America faces its greatest collection of crises since World War II. “Some people say since the Civil War, they may not be wrong,” he said. “It feels like everything is under assault. We are in a battle between two competing visions for who we are as a nation and who we are going to be.”
Johnson believes the conservative movement is struggling to define what it means to be a conservative. “People are lost. They’re looking for truth. They want to know what the anchor points are.”
Johnson put forward what he calls his Seven Core Principles of Conservatism:
- Individual freedom
- Limited government
- The rule of law
- Peace through strength
- Fiscal responsibility
- Free market
- Human dignity
“I’m not saying that is the perfect list,” Johnson added. “I’m saying that however you would articulate and define it, we need to be prepared to do that. We cannot go out every day and say what we’re against. We have to say what we’re for.”
Johnson appealed to the audience by reminding them that many of the conference attendees “have a gigantic sphere of influence. With all that comes extraordinary responsibility.”
RNLA President and Executive Director Michael Thielen said it was an honor to have Speaker Johnson, the highest-ranking elected Republican in the country, address our National Policy Conference. He added, “Johnson is not only the Speaker and leader of the House, but he is also a lawyer who has spent his career fighting for conservative causes. His schedule is incredibly busy running the House, dealing with the hostile media, and inundated with speaking requests. The fact that he made our conference a priority speaks to the quality of our members and the importance of our mission.”
Johnson contrasted the conservative vision for restoring America with what “progressive radicals” want.
“They envision us as some sort of European-style socialist utopia. It’s Marxist, and we all know that is a fool’s errand.”
“This upcoming election cycle will determine whether we are going to moor ourselves to the founding principles of the country, or are we going to trade it for something else. Heaven forbid if we make that latter choice. This is not a game. It’s for all the marbles,” Johnson warned.
Johnson said that over the past 5 months he’s been to 103 cities in 27 states and everywhere he goes, Americans are concerned about election security. “They want to know if they can trust the vote. In a constitutional republic, if you can’t trust the integrity of your election system, everything is jeopardized. It is the underpinning of the whole thing.”
.@SpeakerJohnson describes Joe Biden's intentional destruction of the the rule of law at our 23rd Annual National Policy Conference. #RNLAnpc Watch full @cspan video of the speech here. https://t.co/J6Nf7xyEmn pic.twitter.com/tRofCfMCss
— RNLA ⚖️ (@TheRepLawyer) May 20, 2024
“We owe it to the American people to ensure that we have free and fair elections. That is a very minimal thing,” Johnson concluded.