In the face of far-left radicalism, we must hold the line.

School closures and Democrat policies are putting our communities at risk.

Here’s a radical idea. America is good. It’s moral. It’s worth defending. On this Independence Day I want to tell you why.

It’s because of this simple idea, written into our Declaration of Indepedence:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Thomas Jefferson wrote these words in 1776 and asserted that these universal rights were self-evident.

Self evident? Maybe. Certainly not self-evident for the entirety of human existence before that moment. If they were self-evident to anyone, it was to Jefferson and the American Founders who were the first to codify such ideas into law.

The truth is that, before 1776, universal rights were never guaranteed by government. The notion that all men are created equal was never seriously considered, at least not in law. The shot heard around the world wasn’t at the Battle of Concord, it was those words in Philadelphia. That idea. That radical idea changed the course of human history forever.
 
It was those words that were used by abolitionists to abolish slavery, used by our Founders to frame the Constitution and our great Republic, and used by a free society to create more prosperity and actualize more dreams than any other civilization in history.

Many people think the Declaration of Independence was about independence. A revolt against the tyranny of the British. It was, of course, but I am betting none of you remember the long list of complaints against the British listed in the Declaration of Independence.

No, the part you remember is these words: we hold these truths.

You remember them because they dignified the individual, and codified the purpose of government: to protect your God given rights.

The Declaration of Independence came in a time period that wasn’t ready for it. It took years of sacrifice to live up to those principles, and we are still trying to this day.

But it was those words, and our founding documents that gave us the principles to fight for. It was the moment we finally wrote down the greatest ideas that mankind has ever had.

This Independence Day isn’t just about celebrating a break from the British. Its about the great idea that America embodies.

It’s about celebrating the story of America. The right story of America – not tearing it down.

It’s a day of remembering what America is – the greatest country in the world, where people of all races, creeds, and political persuasions strive together to live up to the ideals upon which America was founded.

It’s about time we stand up for those ideas, and our great Founding.
 
Happy Independence Day. God Bless America.

The media has made a fascinating pivot extremely quickly.

George Floyd’s death was a clear injustice. We can all agree on that.

There was no grey area here. It was a relentless assault against a man who was handcuffed, until he died. One officer did it, but others let him do it. There must be justice for that. I’m glad to see that all of the officers in this incident have been charged, which I called for last week. Click here to watch my take on the recent events.

There is also a clear injustice taking place in cities across the country, where violent criminals are taking advantage of this tragedy to loot and destroy property. Let me be very clear about this distinction: Peaceful protestors seek justice for the death of George Floyd and healing for their community. Violent rioters seek only destruction and disorder.

There are countless stories of small business owners – already suffering from the economic lockdowns – losing everything in fires intentionally set to their businesses. Click here to read just one example.

The bottom line is that while many want to further divide us, there are things upon which we can all agree:

1. George Floyd should still be alive and those responsible for his killing must face consequences.
2. Police brutality is real and we must take steps to root it out of all law enforcement bodies wherever it exists.
3. The riots and criminal activity that we’ve seen are unacceptable and harm the very communities who are hurting most right now.

These truths should unite us as we move forward TOGETHER as a country.

This isn’t the typical graduation for 2020 seniors this year, so I wanted to give graduating students a commencement speech that matched the moment.

As we see increasing evidence that China’s actions have harmed Americans, many are asking a simple question: what can we do about it? That’s why I have introduced a plan that would empower Americans to hold China accountable. 

My bill – that I’ve introduced with Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) – would allow Americans to sue the Chinese government over coronavirus damages. This bill amends the foreign sovereign immunities act so that the communist regime is not immune from scrutiny and punishment in the aftermath of COVID-19 that has inflicted great harm upon the American people.

The following op-ed by Dan Crenshaw was published The Hill on April 8, 2020. We must have a reasonable discussion about opening society. This means the toxic public discourse must be stopped.