NRCC Chairman Greg Walden Delivers The Weekly Republican Address

August 2, 2014

TRANSCRIPT:

No matter where you stand on the issues, this much is clear: something has gone terribly wrong in Washington.

And Americans have good reason to be fed up.

For nearly six years now, we’ve had an administration that trusts government more than you, that spends rather than saves, that believes change comes from desks in Washington and not kitchen counters like this one.

Republicans have sought to do things differently.

We’ve focused on solutions to rein in big government, and help grow our economy.  The House has passed more than 40 jobs bills, but the president and his party refuse to give them a hearing.

Especially when we have an economy leaving people behind … a debt bigger than the size of our economy … a humanitarian crisis at our southern border … the IRS targeting Americans for their political beliefs … the rolling disaster that is ObamaCare…

And the president denies his failures instead of learning from them.

He’s disengaged when he should be leading.

The president is so unwilling to challenge or even manage the big bureaucracies that our government cannot provide basic services to our veterans.

These are the problems he promised to solve, but instead he’s become a part of them.

We all hope things will get better – but in 94 days, we get to do more than just hope.

We have the chance to deliver the accountability that cannot come soon enough.

It’s an opportunity – and an obligation – that we take seriously.

As representative of Oregon’s Second District, I hear from folks every day who are about at the end of their rope.

And as our campaign chairman, I can tell you our candidates for the House are people just as frustrated as you are; they are leaders who are ready to serve.

In Arizona, we have Martha McSally, a retired Air Force colonel and the first female fighter pilot to fly in combat; she’ll fight for women in Congress – just like she did in the uniform.

In Texas, Will Hurd is a former CIA agent and successful businessman whose district is seeing first-hand the consequences of president’s failure to secure the American border.

Up in Minnesota, Torrey Westrom is talking to Minnesota families and farmers about the anti-energy policies and taxes that are making it harder for them to get by.

And in Florida, there’s Carlos Curbelo, a son of Cuban exiles, a Miami-Dade County School Board member, and a fresh voice Washington sorely needs.

These are just some of our great candidates, and I invite you to visit nrcc.org to learn more about them.

Because this is one of those moments when Americans can seize the initiative for ourselves.

Yes, this election will be about jobs.

It will be about our economy.

And it will absolutely be about ObamaCare.

But it will also be about holding Washington accountable.

This November, Americans can reject the complacency and the incompetence, and begin to restore a government that works for us and not against us.

We’re all in this together, and if we pull together, we can set on our nation on a hopeful, more prosperous course.

With that, I thank you for listening.