OPINION:
“I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”
These words were spoken on Tuesday night as part of a naturalization ceremony at the White House. It was inspiring to see our new fellow Americans take their oath of citizenship.
This is why America is and will be great in the future. Despite our challenges, people worldwide want to come to our country because of freedom and opportunity. First lady Melania Trump echoed that sentiment when she spoke of how her family viewed America as the land of freedom and opportunity.
The Democratic National Convention seemed not only down on President Trump but also down on America. Thankfully, Republicans chose to focus on what makes our nation great and laid out plans for making it even better in the future.
Sen. Tim Scott capped off the opening night with a perfect address. His inspirational story set the tone for the convention when he said, “Our family went from cotton to Congress in one lifetime. And that’s why I believe the next American century can be better than the last. We have work to do, but I believe in the goodness of America.”
With the backdrop of Abraham Lincoln’s childhood home in Indiana, Vice President Mike Pence shared ordinary Americans’ stories doing extraordinary things. Sarah Hughes and her 8-year-old son, Jack, shared their gratitude for our expansion of parental school choice.
I am so grateful to the Wisconsin State Legislature members who voted for our plan that offers choices for families all across the state. No matter where they come from or what they look like, every child deserves access to an excellent education. Whether it is a traditional public school, a charter school, a private school (often with a voucher, credit or scholarship), or a homeschool experience, we trust parents to make the right choices for their children. It was nice to see it highlighted at the Republican National Convention.
The video also featured Jordan McLinn and his mother, Laura, from Indiana. Jordan was at Mike Pence’s side when he signed the “Right to Try” legislation as governor in 2015. He stood next to Mr. Trump three years later, when it became federal law.
The measure gives seriously ill patients increased access to investigational drugs that might otherwise take years to get through the bureaucratic process of government approval. It gives terminally ill patients a right to try a drug that may cure their disease.
Natalie Harp, a cancer survivor, also raised the “Right to Try” law when she credited it, and Mr. Trump signed it into law to save her life. I remember hearing the president talk about this very issue in the same auditorium two years ago. He understood the hopelessness felt by so many people with a terminal illness. This law gives them hope.
These stories are a powerful reminder of the president’s and vice president’s deep and abiding love for America and the American people. It is why they are an excellent and effective team.
At the beginning of their convention week, the Trump campaign released a comprehensive agenda for the next four years. In contrast, the Democratic convention seemed to focus on all things anti-Trump. A casual observer might think that the president alone was responsible for the global pandemic. The facts paint a much different picture.
In March, Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx told the president and vice president that they needed to take action or more than 2.2 million Americans could die. In turn, they took action. Remember the phrase “Bend the Curve?” We bent it.
While we mourn with those who mourn, there is no doubt that the Trump administration’s actions saved lives. Based on the projections by Drs. Fauci and Birx in March, the actions taken by the president and vice president and their team helped save potentially hundreds of thousands of lives.
In contrast, Joe Biden’s former chief of staff said just last year about H1N1: “We did everything wrong.” He also noted that it was “purely a fortuity that this isn’t one of the great mass-casualty events in American history.” These are the facts and not the rhetoric we heard at the Democratic National Convention.
Last weekend, Joe Biden told ABC News anchor David Muir that he would shut the entire country down — as early as January — if that is what his advisers told him to do. Americans do not want to be locked in their homes for months or even years at a time.
We can be safe, and we can be open in a society based on freedom and opportunity for all. As we vote, we should remember that we live in the land of the free and the home of the brave.
• Scott Walker was the 45th governor of Wisconsin. You can contact him at swalker@washingtontimes.com or follow him @ScottWalker.
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