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Floor Speech
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Mr. BUDD. Mr. President, it is my honor to rise today to speak on behalf of the citizens of the great State of North Carolina.
I wouldn't be here today without some very special people: the love of my life, Amy Kate; our three kids, Joshua, Kathryn, and Macy; and my wonderful parents, Richard and Sylvia Budd.
I wouldn't be who I am or where I am today without all of your love, your support, and your strength.
I also want to thank the dedicated members of my team, both my official staff and campaign staff, who have helped me along this journey.
As this voyage unfolded, I was always grateful for my fellow Senators, whose presence was a constant source of encouragement and advice. I want to thank Senator Richard Burr and Senator Thom Tillis for their service to this institution and to our State.
I was also inspired by the Senators who are no longer with us, whose lasting imprints are signatures in these desks. As I open this desk, I see the signature of the late, great Senator Jesse Helms. He was one of our State's most legendary leaders, and I can only hope to be as fine a Senator for North Carolina as he was.
I also look to Senator James Broyhill, whom we lost just this year. He was a great friend to our family for decades, and his commitment to public service is one that I am going to try to emulate for as long as I hold this office.
As someone who was born and raised in North Carolina, I want you to know that it is a part of me. It is in my bones.
But you really don't know your State until you have visited every corner of it. Our State has 100 counties, and during our campaign, I visited each and every one of those counties, some of them multiple times, and not just the ones with the high populations or the ones with the big TV markets. It was that 100-county tour that helped me fall deeper in love with my home State, and I am going to be a better Senator for having done it.
But of all North Carolina's counties, one is near and dear to my heart, and that is Davie County. I was told a while back that I was the first U.S. Senator to come from Davie County. I owe a lot to the place that I call home.
It is the values of small North Carolina counties like mine that are my values too, and those aren't just another set of policy issues. North Carolina values are about how somebody goes about their daily life. It is about faith. It is about loyalty to our family and to your friends. It is about being a man of your word. It is about being honest. It is about being reliable. It is about working hard. And it is about serving others.
Our State's motto is ``esse quam videri,'' or, in English, ``to be rather than to seem.'' To put it another way, we tend to walk the walk more than talk the talk, and that is the sort of spirit that I want to endeavor with me during my time here in office.
In the relatively short time here in the Senate, I have been to 11 countries. I have met with ambassadors and with foreign leaders, and I have been able to visit and thank American troops stationed overseas.
One of the big lessons I learned is this: For as much importance as we place on our international standing--and, believe me, we should-- what is most important is that we don't lose our way here at home. We need to be an America that is worth defending, and everything we do here should be about creating a strong Nation. But we should not seek strength without purpose, and our purpose is clearly laid out in our founding documents. And it has been taught the hard way, through nearly 250 years of lived history, witnessing what works and what doesn't.
Winston Churchill once famously observed that ``Americans will always do the right thing, only after they have tried everything else.''
In the last few years it seems like, well, we tried everything else-- a lot of bad ideas, and there are some big things that aren't working.
We live in a culture that, unfortunately, extenuates all the ways each and every one of us is different, instead of all the things we have in common. And it is these differences that are used by some to drive us apart, drawing lines based on race, gender, or bank accounts.
In recent years, far too many members of America's next generation are being indoctrinated with a sense of victimhood and despair instead of being encouraged with vision and with hope. That indoctrination has real-world consequences, and we have seen it borne out in disturbing national trends.
Less than 40 percent of our country says they are extremely proud to be an American. The rate of churchgoing and a belief in God now sits at historic lows. One in 10 Americans suffers from depression, and depression among young adults is particularly acute. One CDC study revealed that 42 percent of high school students felt so sad or hopeless in the last few weeks that they could not go about their daily business.
Among young adults, substance abuse is at an alltime high. Rates of suicide have increased, and more than one in five high school students has seriously considered attempting suicide. These numbers should shock our national consequence, and it should serve as a wake-up call for change.
Despite these discouraging statistics, we don't have to reinvent the wheel to know how to get back on the right track. Instead of teaching the next generation of Americans to wallow in all the things that their country has done wrong, we need to be celebrating. We need to be learning and building on all the things that we have done right. Simply put, we need to teach our kids to love our country, not to hate it; to have a spirit of gratitude and not one of disdain.
Great nations succeed when their citizens not only have a focus on what makes them great but also when we collectively keep our eyes on what creates prosperity and human flourishing. But when we give our government too much power, the less freedom each individual has over their own life. Less freedom means you have less money and less opportunity to achieve your God-given destiny.
When the government stops us from responsibly producing energy, for instance, and then attempts to dictate our consumption habits, it makes life harder and more difficult for hard-working citizens, and it stifles our Nation's strength.
You know, the Apostle Paul, when he wrote to young Timothy, warned him to watch out for the love of money, for it is the root of all sorts of evil. But in this town, the root of all sorts of evil seems to be modern and monetary theory, the supposition that the national debt doesn't matter and that government spending should be the driving force behind the economy instead of individuals and private businesses.
But the problem with this is that a bigger government with endless spending creates economic stagnation. It convinces people to accept financial mediocrity, instead of incentivizing innovative and creative members of society to take risks, to fail, and to get back up and try again for a better tomorrow.
We need to be creating an economy that rewards risk-taking and allows people to be working toward their American dream. But it is government that too often stands in the way of that dream.
It was the trillions of pandemic spending that caused the inflation that now eats away at the buying power of each and every consumer, and it was the limitless spending of the last quarter century that has created a Federal budget so out of whack that the basic goal of balancing our country's checkbook, well, it is politically toxic to consider.
Looking to government as our economic savior is simply not the solution. Capitalism, open markets, a free and moral people--that is the formula for success, success that our country saw not too long ago. And we could surely recreate it if we have the right leadership that lightens the regulatory burden on America's job creators. The stronger that we are here at home, the more leadership that we can exert on the world stage. That is what is missing today, a strong and a confident America.
The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August of 2021 was nothing short of a national tragedy and disgrace. Not only did it result in the devastating loss of 13 servicemembers and the abandonment of countless citizens, but it put American weakness on full display. We were seen by our enemy as hapless, shortsighted, and not willing to change course when the facts on the ground called for a change.
In speaking with allies and international leaders, I heard over and over again that it was the Afghanistan debacle that caused our allies to wonder if they can even count on us anymore. They wonder if, when the going gets tough, we would be more likely to cut and run than stand by their side, as they have stood with us. That undercuts America's standing in the world.
As we see the results of weakness across the globe, a Russian dictator is blatantly invading its neighbor or unleashing unspeakable chaos and suffering on innocent civilians, or we see China, led by a brutal communist government, growing more aggressive not only toward Taiwan but blatantly launching spy crafts over the U.S. mainland, buying up critical infrastructure inside the United States and stealing the intellectual property of U.S. citizens. Iran and North Korea are spinning up their centrifuges, cracking down on their own people, and making threats to the security of their respective regions. At our own southern border right now, we have a historic humanitarian and national security crisis. But instead of pursuing what used to be a nonpartisan imperative to secure the border, the current administration is retreating from their responsibility to protect and defend this country.
All of this chaos is the result of America being a diminished country, all too willing to cede the stage and to let others lead. That is not the way that the world will find peace and security. Peace is achieved through American strength, and it is American weakness, instead, that provokes evil. Our country must return to the principles of clarity and purpose, a willingness to act when the situation calls for it, and the strength to follow through when we face obstacles.
As a country, we can have anything that we want, as long as we act with wisdom and conviction. And, ladies and gentlemen, we know what works. We have done it before, and you can bet that we can do it again. Despite all the things that are broken right now, none of them can overshadow the uniquely American ability to overcome a challenge.
Each and every day, I am filled with a tremendous sense of gratitude that I live in the United States of America, and I believe that millions of people out there, they feel the exact same way.
In the final analysis, it is our shores that welcome 1 million legal immigrants every year. It is our country that is viewed by millions as a place where they can shed an old life and they can start again.
People vote with their feet. In the United States of America, we are still the last and best beacon of hope on this planet. All we have to do is keep it that way.
At the end of the day, we must seek to be a nation that empowers every citizen, ensures human flourishing, and preserves freedom for each and every individual to pursue their American dream.
I am going to leave you with this. My No. 1 goal during my time in the U.S. Senate is to create a strong nation, to build strong families, and to be of service to others; to make other people's lives better, to do just what I said that I was going to do.
That is how I have lived throughout my life, and that is the kind of Senator I want to be.
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