Georgetown - On Friday, July 4th, I have been invited to deliver remarks regarding Independence Day prior to the fireworks display in Georgetown.  I hope you enjoy an advance copy of my speech, and I wish you a Happy Independence Day!!

 Senator Damon Thayer

Thank you all for having me here tonight.  Isn’t it wonderful to live in the United States of America?

We do live in a wonderful country that makes it possible for each and everyone one of us to pursue and fulfill our dreams.

The brilliance of our Founding Fathers who gathered in the Summer of 1776 in Philadelphia was on full display.  They surmised that summer that people could not pursue life, liberty and happiness without the essential element of…freedom.

And that’s what today is about.

It’s a day when we all reflect on the freedoms we enjoy.  Freedom from tyranny.  Freedom to say what we believe, either through the press or gathered in assembly.

Freedom to pursue our dreams, whatever they may be.

Often – especially during the heat of elections in this country – we hear politicians paint a picture of the United States that frankly I don’t recognize.

To listen to some, we live in a third-world country where no one can go to the doctor.  Where no one gets a good education.  Where no one has a job.  Where no one has the freedom to pursue their dreams.

No, I don’t recognize that picture of my country.

And I suspect most people don’t recognize it.

I look around Georgetown, Kentucky, and I think to myself: those who would run our great Nation in to the ground with their words and rhetoric don’t know the United States that I know.

They don’t know the hometown that I know.

They don’t know the people who I know.

We don’t live in a perfect world.  There are problems we must confront to shore up our economy, for instance.

But the wonderful thing about the country in which we live is that it is filled with smart, creative, industrious people who have the freedom to pursue solutions.

Every generation faces its problems.  We face down terrorism abroad and the threat of ever expanding oil prices at home.  Previous generations faced encroaching communism and absolute evil in Europe.  They faced economic depression.  They faced threats from enemies who sought to wipe democratic ideals off the planet.

And the catalyst for solutions to these problems?  Freedom.

And so it will be again during our generation.

No matter what we obstacles have been thrown in the path of the United States of America, the catalyst for solution has always been a deep and abiding faith in the founding principle of our Nation – that all men should be free.

Just as we carried the principle of freedom to the shores of France, American soldiers carry the principle of freedom from terrorism to Iraq, Afghanistan, and across the globe where they face down a new and dangerous enemy.

Just as a country filled with free people has time and again reinvented the American economy to make it even more prosperous for the next generation, I believe we again have the chance to escape our dependence on foreign oil and re-create an American economy filled with energy that we produce and technology that we invent.

None of this is possible without freedom.

None of this is possible where tyranny reigns.

None of this is possible where people cower in fear rather than enjoy the freedom to think, to innovate, to create.

Our freedom is guaranteed by the United States military.  I am grateful for the men and women who serve.  If there are any with us tonight, current or veteran, please stand and be recognized.

<applause>

Have you ever heard the old saying: “that person wears that heart on their sleeve?”

These people literally wear their heart on their sleeve – they wear the Stars and Stripes of the United States of America.  They were it proudly.  They shows our colors to our friends and enemies around the world.

They carry the banner of freedom wherever they go.

And we are eternally grateful for all you have done.

<applause>

For those of you who know me, you know I am an avid reader of historical books.  Someone I admire and revere is John Adams, our Second President.

It can be fairly said that President Adams is sort of the Father of the Fourth of July.  Not only was he instrumental in guiding the Continental Congress towards signing the Declaration of Independence in July, 1776, but he then wrote a letter to his wife Abigail about the occasion.

Of that moment in time, he said it…

will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival.

It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shows, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will triumph in that Days Transaction, even although We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.

Today is the Fourth of July.

We are about to fulfill the wishes of President Adams by illuminating the night sky in honor of our Declaration of Independence, and in honor of those who have given their lives to preserve it.

As we go forward from this celebration tonight, we should all do our part to preserve the freedom we have.  We should all participate in the civic life of our communities.  We should all vote.  We should all be vigilant against those who seek to encroach upon the freedom God has endowed on our great Nation.

And we should all continue to hold President Adams’ words in our hearts – that it takes blood and treasure to maintain this freedom, and that there are days that seem gloomy.

But on the other side are rays of ravishing light and glory.

Because we are free.

Thank You,
Senator Thayer

District 17

Senator Thayer represents the 17^th District which includes Owen, Scott, Grant, and Southern Kenton County. Along with being chairman of the State and Local Government Committee, Senator Thayer sits on the Transportation Committee, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, and Licensing and Occupations Committee. He is Senate Chairman of the Horse Farming Subcommittee and the Task Force on Elections and Constitutional Amendments.