WASHINGTON, DC, September 22, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Vice President Mike Pence brought a packed hall to its feet when he declared, “I couldn’t be more proud to serve as vice president to a president who stands without apology for the sanctity of human life.”
The Vice President spoke at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, DC, an annual gathering which draws conservative Christians from around the country.
“If you look at the last year and a half, this is the most pro-life administration in American history,” continued Pence. “You know, it was my privilege to be the first sitting vice president to ever address the March for Life. And earlier this year, President Trump made history when he became the first president to address the March for Life from the Rose Garden live from the White House.”
“Under this president’s leadership we’ve reinstated and expanded the Mexico City policy so that our tax dollars never go to organizations that promote or perform abortions around the world,” said the Vice President. “And it was my great honor as president of the Senate to cast the tie-breaking vote for the bill that President Trump signed to empower states to defend Planned Parenthood.”
“With your strong support, we’ve stood strong for life. But our administration has also taken action to protect and promote our first freedom, the freedom of religion and religious liberty for every American,” said Pence. “Last year President Trump chose the National Day of Prayer to announce new policies to protect the religious liberty of every American regardless of their creed.”
“We’ve taken action to protect the conscience rights of doctors and nurses,” said Pence. “And after years of neglect, we’ve restored federal enforcement of our nation’s conscience laws and we ended the last administration’s assault on the Little Sisters of the Poor.”
The Vice President said that freedom of speech shouldn’t end at the threshold of our churches, and so the Trump Administration ended enforcement of the “Johnson Amendment,” which refers to a provision in the United States tax code which prohibits all non-profit organizations, including churches, from endorsing or opposing political candidates. Pence pledged to “fight until we repeal the Johnson Amendment once and for all.”
“Promoting religious freedom is a foreign policy priority of this administration,” said the Vice President.
We’ve spoken out on China’s brutal repression of its Christian, Buddhist, and Muslim citizens. We’ve shined a light on Iran’s barbaric treatment of Christians, Jews, Sunnis, Baha’is, and other religious minorities. We’ve called on the Ortega regime in Nicaragua to end the violence against the Catholic Church. And in the Middle East, under President Trump the United States is no longer funding ineffective programs at the United Nations, and for the first time ever we are providing nearly $150 million to Christian and persecuted religious minorities to help them rebuild communities of faith in that ancient land. It’s happening.
This administration has also secured the release of Americans held around the world, from Egypt, North Korea, Venezuela.
Vice President Pence spoke of the Trump Administration’s continued commitment to procure the freedom of Pastor Brunson, now being held captive in Turkey.
And we will never stop fighting until Pastor Andrew Brunson is free. Pastor Andrew Brunson is an innocent man who’s been detained by the government of Turkey for nearly two years To date that country hasn’t provided a shred of credible evidence against him. Now, Turkey recently took Pastor Brunson out of prison, put him under house arrest. But let me be clear, that is not good enough. We will not relent until Pastor Andrew Brunson is home with his family in the United States of America.
The Vice President took a moment to turn his attention to those who often stand in the way of promoting Christian values in 21st century America. Progressives and “their Hollywood friends find it fashionable to mock the values of the American people. In fact, Hollywood elites routinely mock faith and family and patriotism, and many leading Democrats have joined the chorus.”
“We all remember Hillary’s ‘basket of deplorables’ a few years ago. Well, now the governor of New York recently said that America was, quote, ‘never that great.’ And my predecessor, Joe Biden, said just last week that those of us who stand for traditional moral values are forces of intolerance, including the dregs of society.”
“The truth is faith, family, hard work, and patriotism are the glue that has bound the fabric of our nation for generations,” said Pence. “We’re not a people bound together by geography or ethnicity. We’re a people bound together by a common commitment to freedom and a belief that we the people are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights of life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
“Finally, let’s keep faith that He who has ever watched over this nation still governs in the affairs of men,” declared Pence as he concluded his remarks. “And that as we hold fast to Him we will run and not grow weary, we will walk and not grow faint, and that He will yet bless America abundantly more than we could ask or imagine in his one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
Watch Vice President Pence's full speech:
Write to Doug Mainwaring at [email protected]