During Heritage’s 50th Anniversary Leadership Summit, Gov. Glenn Youngkin, in the shadow of Mt. Vernon — the home of America’s first president and key founding father, George Washington — highlights conservative victories and outlines a path to victory.

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[Applause] Well good evening Dr fulner thank you Thank you for a lifetime of dedication To freedom and liberty Thank you for a lifetime of dedication To service But most importantly thank you for Loving America Thank you for that very kind Introduction Friends I was going to start by saying what an Honor it is to be with you but This home-grown Virginian Who 40 years ago was Washing dishes and taking out trash at a Diner in Virginia Beach Hasn't quite come to grips that I am Standing here at Mount Vernon on the Banks of the Potomac River addressing The Heritage Foundation at your 50th Anniversary What an honor it is to be with you And what a privilege it is for me as the 74th governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia to welcome you all to the Great Commonwealth of Virginia This is a remarkable group Among us we have Founders and presidents And Veterans and Scholars and writers We have stewards and Defenders Of America's principles and values and Over the last 50 years

You've built a legacy of impact a legacy Of impact through your immeasurable Contributions which have strengthened Our nation And impacted so many by returning power To the people I want to thank So many Heritage alumni for bringing That same spirit and dedication to the Commonwealth Including former Heritage president K Coles James who who serves as our Secretary of the Commonwealth John Littell who serves as our secretary Of Health and Human Resources and you've Just heard Dr fulner serves as the Chairman of our commission on higher Education and appointments Becky Norton Dunlop Lou Cordia Stephen Moore you all provided me amazing Counsel and support during my campaign And I know there are so many others here I just want to say thank you thank you For loving the Commonwealth and thank You for serving with me I can think of no better place No better place in this great country to Celebrate the Heritage foundation's 50th Anniversary It was right here at Mount Vernon Where Washington first received news That he'd been elected to become our Nation's first president And it was this month in April

234 years ago That he was inaugurated And he swore to the best of his Abilities to preserve protect and defend The Constitution Washington fought for freedom and Liberty he inspired the world and he United a new nation That would become The greatest nation the world has ever Known He along with so many other great Virginians enshrined the values that we Hold dear In our Declaration of Independence our Constitution our Bill of Rights In fact Washington Jefferson and Patrick Henry are are known as the sword The pen And the voice of our Great American Experiment I agree I agree Friends Patrick Henry famously roared Give me liberty or give me death but I Believe it was his echoing demand that Virginia not ratify that Constitution Without a Bill of Rights because he knew He knew then something that we see today His Immortal words that the most Contemptible minority can prevent the Alteration of the most oppressive Government Jefferson's pen forever grounds us in Our self-evident truths

That all men are created equal That they are endowed by their creator With certain unalienable rights and Among them are life liberty and the Pursuit of happiness And yes Jefferson Yes Jefferson We will make sure that you are preserved At the University of Virginia Oh God And finally Washington With his sword buttoned up his coat And led his men across an icy Delaware River On Christmas Their words and their actions are not Just ideals and principles But a Clarion call to duty for all Generations Indeed as We Gather here as Dr fulner Just said we should stand on their Shoulders And we can reflect on our Collective Obligation to actively contribute To driving forward Our pursuit of a more perfect union More than ever before We must look to the Future to the next 50 years of the Heritage Foundation in The next 50 years of our great country And ask ourselves How the next chapter is being written Based on our words And our actions today

In the fall of 2021 Virginians came together They came together and said they were Tired of the left liberal Progressive Edicts coming out of our government Spirit of Washington and Jefferson and Madison and Monroe and Patrick Henry That Spirit of freedom and liberty of Self-governance Awakened again And on these hallowed grounds I feel the Same spirit It's alive and well And it's sweeping across our nation In Virginia that Spirit had gone dormant It had gone dormant because there had Been years of progressive policies that Were smothering our freedoms We saw that dormant Spirit reignites When schools and businesses and houses Of worship were locked down during the Pandemic With students being taught what to think As opposed to how to think with family Struggling struggling under the silent Thief of inflation that comes from Runaway federal spending with the hands Of big government reaching into every Corner of our lives Our nation is witnessing the same A disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan And still America's leaders show Weakness towards communist China who has One goal Global dominance at our expense

We have a wide open border that has Turned every state into a border state And meanwhile We have seen what happens when law Enforcement is demonized and Progressive Prosecutors put criminals first and Victims last Chaos Prime runs rampant and fear overwhelms Hope In our communities The progressive left feels empowered To twist facts To hide the truth And to solidify power In Virginia Officials at one of our nation's top Schools the Thomas Jefferson School of Science and Technology Withheld merit awards from their Students because they didn't want the Students that didn't receive them to Feel bad Reflecting the espoused goal by school Leaders of equal outcomes for all Students at any cost And worst of all parents were being told You have no role in your child's Education nor their life We Know Better In Loudoun County A male student in a skirt Went into a girl's bathroom And sexually assaulted a female student

The school board ordered That girl's dad to be dragged out of the School board meeting and vilified for Doing what any father would do Protecting his daughter County leadership swept it under the rug And allowed the same perpetrator to go On to another school and sexually Assault another innocent young girl During my campaign Democrats threw sand in the air and told Voters That none of this really happened But Virginians knew differently Virginians had a chance to make a Statement on an election day they did And on day one we launched an Investigation that resulted in the County superintendent being indicted Thank you Attorney General mayares No Parents are not domestic terrorists They're not domestic terrorists for Wanting For wanting To sit at the head of the table in their Child's life and in their child's Education no matter what attorney General Garland and the Nea would have You believe The shift in Virginia is a lot more than Just an investigation The shift is about redirecting a blue State a blue state that was off the

Rails And winning an election Winning an election that was so much More than Republicans against Democrats Winning an election that brought Together Virginians and awakened the Spirit that had laid dormant to stand up And say no more And with that We can bring Common Sense back into the Room and redirect education and redirect Law enforcement and redirect tax policy And redirect Economic Development and Redirect Behavioral Health and redirect Government efficiency And redirect hope Virginia is the example The proof positive that a state that was Blue Can elect the Republican Governor an Awesome Republican lieutenant governor An awesome Republican Attorney General To elect a majority of our house of Delegates and even with a split Legislature we see that Common Sense Conservative values championed by the Heritage Foundation can win and most Importantly they work Friends when we're writing Our chapters we have to reflect on the Chapters that were written by our Founders that chose Liberty and freedom What will we choose do we choose Bureaucrats or parents to lead our

Children's education and our lives we Must choose parents because parents Matter Do we have an open border or one that Respects the sovereignty of the United States we must choose a secure border do We choose Socialism or free enterprise We must choose free markets and American Ingenuity Do we choose handouts Or hand UPS We choose hand UPS we choose opportunity Over equity Do we cower to an aggressive China or Secure peace through strength we must Have a backbone and choose peace through Strength it's basic We can choose grievance politics Or American exceptionalism And I think the choice is clear America Every single day of the week Thank you That's why we're here At this amazing moment at this amazing Place Because together We can write this chapter based on Liberty and freedom once again We are strong enough I see it every day in Virginians from From The Atlantic to Lee County from Danville To Loudoun I see 8.7 million Virginians want a

Better life I see Virginians like Joe and Shanita Langford a couple who recently Celebrated the one year anniversary of Their Barbershop and get this Patrick Henry Mall in Newport News Virginia They grew up in broken homes Joe's a Veteran And through their sheer grit and will And determination they started their own Business and have plans to turn it into A chain Joe told me recently that he wants every Location To embody loyalty honor respect and Integrity these are the values he Learned in the American Military Our nation is built on men and women Like Joe and Shanita Men and women who step into the unknown To pursue their dreams You see choices can be quiet Or they can be loud And sometimes a choice can start quiet And it can become loud quickly There's a parent In Fairfax County Shauna ishar And it was Shauna who discovered that Her son had not received his National Merit accommodation notification We know that there are those who want to Extinguish academic excellence in favor Of equity Not Shawna

And she said something And our Administration took action one Mom One caring mother Is helping to rebuild our expectations Of educational excellence We all have a role we all have a role to Make choices to reaffirm the ideals we Hold dear And often these choices are hard Earlier this year I took Virginia out of The running for an electric vehicle Battery plan Because it was a trojan horse for the Chinese Communist Party Rather than pursuing the easy wrong We must stay committed To the often difficult right In just a few days I will have the Distinct privilege in representing the Commonwealth of Virginia On an international trade mission A mission to Taiwan to Japan and to Korea And we will show that through common Values we can jointly build Prosperity With friends and allies we can stand up To those who wish to do us harm and Stand by those Who stand with us standing on the Foundational principles That make America truly exceptional We can choose these things We can choose them together

Now in my very extensive experience of Having run one campaign And having served as Virginia's governor For 15 months I have learned a few important lessons Along the way And these lessons are specifically meant For you The first is how valuable Heritage is From the very beginning I have been grounded by your counsel By your advice And by your policies It's these policies steeped in common Sense that prove conservative truths Work Friends they're more than a philosophy Conservative Values at work to deliver Better Lives They work And finally because they work We don't have to rely on who can yell The loudest to win But rather we win the battle with Results And a truly compelling message We don't have to compromise away Any of our values to prevail We simply must expose the truth Of those values And those policies It's our words and actions that will Determine the next chapter Of this great American story

The story of a nation that must stand For strong values And strong families The story of a nation that will Empower Parents A nation with secured borders with safe Communities For Stephen Moore a nation with low Taxes We are a nation that is on the side of Small government fiscal responsibility Products made in America preferably in Virginia We can honor patriotism Dignity of work God-given liberties And we can never ever forget That freedom is not free But it's up to us It is on us we the people one nation Under God we are writing the next Chapters Of America's success And it will be magnificent When President Washington left office And I remind us all that he left Voluntarily And he came back here to Mount Vernon He wrote That now He considered himself a passenger only And that he would trust to the Mariner Whose Duty it is to watch To steer our nation into a safe port

He was talking about us And he was talking about our destination Bonded by the spirit of Liberty and Patriotism we must not compromise the Belief that America is that shining City On the hill If you haven't guessed it I am a proud Virginian And we are proud Americans And we are going to write the next Amazing chapter of the American success Story together Friends may God bless the Heritage Foundation may God bless the Commonwealth of Virginia and may God Bless these great United States of America thank you