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Pence's Remarks at the Heritage Foundation Honors Gala. Issued on: October 23, 2019
Executive summary: peace in our time.
REMARKS
Remarks by Vice President Pence at the Heritage Foundation Honors Gala
Issued on: October 23, 2019
Marriott Marquis
Washington, D.C.
7:30 P.M. EDT
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, hello, Heritage Foundation! (Applause.) It’s a great honor to be with you all tonight for this very special evening. And I know you just gave her a rousing round of applause, but would you join me in thanking Kay Coles James one more time for the extraordinary leadership that she has provided for this incomparable institution? (Applause.)
And to some great friends, great members of our administration who are with us tonight — the Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, is with us. (Applause.) Where are you, Betsy? (Applause.)
A great champion of jobs and opportunities and expanded trade all across North America — I was on the road with him this week — thank Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. Where are you, Wilbur? Thank you so much. (Applause.)
{snip}
So America is strong again. America’s military — the strongest military in the history of the world — is stronger still. And our economy is stronger than ever before.
And with that renewed American strength, I’m proud to report that the United States is once again embracing our role as leader of the free world. After years of broken promises and apologies from other Presidents, times are different now. America is standing with our allies and we’re standing up to our enemies.
We’re standing with our allies like our most cherished ally. When after four previous administrations had promised they would, President Donald Trump did when he moved the American embassy to Jerusalem, the capital of the state of Israel. (Applause.) This President has stood up for Israel’s right to defend itself, recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and made that historic decision.
And President Trump also has stood up to the world’s leading state sponsor of terror when he withdrew the United States of America from the disastrous Iran nuclear deal. (Applause.) I mean, let me make a promise to all of you tonight: There will be no more pallets of cash to the mullahs in Iran. (Applause.)
I mean, how great is it to have a President who is standing up for America on the world stage and never apologizing for America on the world stage? (Applause.) In fact, in that strong stand, I’m pleased to report our allies are contributing more to our common defense than ever before. And with that renewed strength, the President has taken the fight to our enemies on our terms, on their soil. And earlier this year, under the leadership of this Commander-in-Chief and the strength of our armed forces and our allies in the region, we captured the last inch of territory controlled by the ISIS caliphate. (Applause.)
And America will always be grateful for our Kurdish allies and the Syrian Defense Forces who fought shoulder-to-shoulder and bravely with us in this fight. And now that our military and our allies have achieved our objectives against ISIS, President Trump is keeping his word to the American people, and our troops are starting to come home.
Kurdish Syrian Defense Forces were strong allies in the fight against ISIS, and we’ll always be grateful. In the wake of Turkish forces invading Syria, President Trump imposed strong sanctions. He called on Turkey to stand down. And last week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and I traveled to Turkey and secured a ceasefire agreement to allow our Kurdish allies in the Syrian Defense Forces to safely withdraw from the areas under Turkish military control. And over the past five days, our temporary ceasefire has held. (Applause.)
Earlier today, we received word from the Syrian Defense Forces commander that all of their military forces had withdrawn from the safe zone of — under Turkish military control. And before I came here, our team was continuing in communications with both sides in the hope that a permanent ceasefire could soon take hold. And those discussions are ongoing.
But, truthfully, as I stand before you today, I can report to you that, thanks to the strong leadership of President Donald Trump, we have an opportunity for a permanent ceasefire. We may well give the international community an opportunity to establish a safe zone between Turkey and the Kurdish population in Syria that will ensure peace and security for all the peoples of this war-torn region. And in the midst of all of it, our troops are coming home. That is our aim, and that is our prayer. (Applause.)
So we’ve advanced our national security on the world stage, but this President knows that national security includes border security. And I’m proud to report that, under this administration, we’ve made historic investments in border security, Mexico is doing more than ever before to secure our southern border and theirs, and we’ve already started to build that wall on the southern border of the United States. (Applause.)
{snip}
Remarks by Vice President Pence at the Heritage Foundation Honors Gala
Issued on: October 23, 2019
Marriott Marquis
Washington, D.C.
7:30 P.M. EDT
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, hello, Heritage Foundation! (Applause.) It’s a great honor to be with you all tonight for this very special evening. And I know you just gave her a rousing round of applause, but would you join me in thanking Kay Coles James one more time for the extraordinary leadership that she has provided for this incomparable institution? (Applause.)
And to some great friends, great members of our administration who are with us tonight — the Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, is with us. (Applause.) Where are you, Betsy? (Applause.)
A great champion of jobs and opportunities and expanded trade all across North America — I was on the road with him this week — thank Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. Where are you, Wilbur? Thank you so much. (Applause.)
{snip}
So America is strong again. America’s military — the strongest military in the history of the world — is stronger still. And our economy is stronger than ever before.
And with that renewed American strength, I’m proud to report that the United States is once again embracing our role as leader of the free world. After years of broken promises and apologies from other Presidents, times are different now. America is standing with our allies and we’re standing up to our enemies.
We’re standing with our allies like our most cherished ally. When after four previous administrations had promised they would, President Donald Trump did when he moved the American embassy to Jerusalem, the capital of the state of Israel. (Applause.) This President has stood up for Israel’s right to defend itself, recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and made that historic decision.
And President Trump also has stood up to the world’s leading state sponsor of terror when he withdrew the United States of America from the disastrous Iran nuclear deal. (Applause.) I mean, let me make a promise to all of you tonight: There will be no more pallets of cash to the mullahs in Iran. (Applause.)
I mean, how great is it to have a President who is standing up for America on the world stage and never apologizing for America on the world stage? (Applause.) In fact, in that strong stand, I’m pleased to report our allies are contributing more to our common defense than ever before. And with that renewed strength, the President has taken the fight to our enemies on our terms, on their soil. And earlier this year, under the leadership of this Commander-in-Chief and the strength of our armed forces and our allies in the region, we captured the last inch of territory controlled by the ISIS caliphate. (Applause.)
And America will always be grateful for our Kurdish allies and the Syrian Defense Forces who fought shoulder-to-shoulder and bravely with us in this fight. And now that our military and our allies have achieved our objectives against ISIS, President Trump is keeping his word to the American people, and our troops are starting to come home.
Kurdish Syrian Defense Forces were strong allies in the fight against ISIS, and we’ll always be grateful. In the wake of Turkish forces invading Syria, President Trump imposed strong sanctions. He called on Turkey to stand down. And last week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and I traveled to Turkey and secured a ceasefire agreement to allow our Kurdish allies in the Syrian Defense Forces to safely withdraw from the areas under Turkish military control. And over the past five days, our temporary ceasefire has held. (Applause.)
Earlier today, we received word from the Syrian Defense Forces commander that all of their military forces had withdrawn from the safe zone of — under Turkish military control. And before I came here, our team was continuing in communications with both sides in the hope that a permanent ceasefire could soon take hold. And those discussions are ongoing.
But, truthfully, as I stand before you today, I can report to you that, thanks to the strong leadership of President Donald Trump, we have an opportunity for a permanent ceasefire. We may well give the international community an opportunity to establish a safe zone between Turkey and the Kurdish population in Syria that will ensure peace and security for all the peoples of this war-torn region. And in the midst of all of it, our troops are coming home. That is our aim, and that is our prayer. (Applause.)
So we’ve advanced our national security on the world stage, but this President knows that national security includes border security. And I’m proud to report that, under this administration, we’ve made historic investments in border security, Mexico is doing more than ever before to secure our southern border and theirs, and we’ve already started to build that wall on the southern border of the United States. (Applause.)
{snip}