MARCO RUBIO ADDRESSES THE 2015 NRA-ILA LEADERSHIP FORUM

MARCO RUBIO ADDRESSES THE 2015 NRA-ILA LEADERSHIP FORUM Transcript English (Automatic Captions) 0:00 a defense the Second Amendment is a prominent leader in the united states 0:03 senate 0:04 two years ago when NRA members were fighting the biggest assault on our 0:08 freedom in two decades 0:09 he stood with us on the front lines so please join me in welcoming 0:13 a great Allah and great for new gun owners United States Senator Marco Rubio 0:18 here 0:31 thank you very much I'm honored I'm honored to be here someone asked me 0:34 where you going 0:35 I said I'm going to Nashville to an event where your 0:38 the least likely is place to get Mike to this weekend is here 0:41 safe is room in the country I'm honored to be with you here today 0:46 I think we're joining together what I believe is a turning point for our 0:50 nation on many different issues 0:52 national security is one of them and Second Amendment 0:56 is the other what I wanted to focus my remarks on today's 1:00 at the point in which these two issues actually intersect now we've all heard 1:04 it said that the usefulness of the second amendment 1:07 has run its course that that the purpose is served in the days of muskets no 1:10 longer applies in the days 1:12 obey our 15th but the genius of our founders doesn't have an expiration date 1:18 it's actually like wine it gets more valuable with the passage of time 1:23 how much you think about this no politician would argue our first 1:26 amendment right to free speech 1:28 is less valuable in the digital age than it was in the days a pen and paper 1:34 and therefore I believe it is equally outrageous for anyone to argue that our 1:38 2nd Amendment right is less valuable today 1:41 the right to self-defence here 1:51 this basic right to sell for fat defense it is not involved 1:54 but the threats that require us to exercise it certainly have 1:58 today we face shifting pareles a domestic crime 2:02 we face the evolving threat of radical Islam 2:05 and we face the occasional acts of cruelty 2:09 that defy categorization that lack an agenda 2:13 terrorism but transcend the labeled crime better executed by sick minds and 2:18 sick cards people willing to target the most 2:20 vulnerable and innocent among us without a cause without warning without mercy 2:24 all these dangers are real 2:27 all of them can be overcome but they cannot be overcome by a government 2:34 focused more on restricting are law-abiding citizens 2:37 then on restricting our enemies he 2:45 they can only be overcome by American strength an American strength requires 2:50 are leaders and President to execute 2:52 their responsibility to protect our nation and the people who exercise their 2:57 right 2:58 to protect themselves everyone in this room understand the simple fact 3:03 that our current president does not strong defenses both on the national and 3:08 the personal level are a means 3:10 a protective preventing violence not a promoting it 3:13 weakness on the other hand is the friend the danger 3:17 and weakness is the enemy of peace President Obama 3:22 has been a weak president he 3:31 the only thing president Obama has strengthened over the last six years 3:34 has been his own unlawful power to guarantee America strength in this 3:40 century we need a new kind president one who starts doing what he's 3:44 constitutionally required to do 3:46 and stops doing what he is constitutionally forbidden 3:49 to do the 3:56 so let's let's start with what our presidents are required to do 4:00 up all the duties of the President of the United States our founders made 4:05 clear which one comes first 4:07 the position is not described as the taxer and chief 4:11 or the regulator and cheap and it's certainly not described as the golfer in 4:15 chief 4:16 now get a letter from the Golf Association always get mad when I said 4:23 that I'm 4:23 it's described first and foremost 4:27 as the commander in chief and yet Pratt that President Obama has treated this 4:32 duty like an afterthought 4:33 he entered office believing that the united states wants to engage the world 4:37 in too many places 4:39 that we told people what to do too often and that's why they resented us 4:43 that we just took a step back become a junior partner on the global stage 4:47 allow other countries to take the lead that things would be better for america 4:51 and the world 4:52 but sadly it doesn't work like that 4:56 the hard truth is that when Americans steps back 5:00 there simply is no other nation willing or able 5:03 to fill the void a global leadership and the result 5:08 is chaos chaos that manifests itself in regional turmoil 5:14 violent extremism in danger to our people and our global economy 5:17 anyone who seeks the presidency must recognize that in this century 5:22 there is no such thing as a remote problem our economies increasingly 5:26 global 5:27 and our people are increasingly bound to the affairs of the world 5:30 a threat I have a spear way such as I sis 5:33 coming can become a threat down the street almost overnight 5:36 anyone who advocates averting our eyes from the dangers in the world must 5:41 explain 5:42 against six years have counter evidence how this would lead to a safer america. 5:45 because it will not 5:47 at the many threats we face today 5:50 one of the greatest as the changing nature of Islamic extremism 5:53 an enemy that despises us not because of what we do 5:58 but because of who we are and terror set their sights not just on our military 6:03 men and women 6:04 but also on our cities in our towns they don't just focused on sending attackers 6:10 from abroad 6:11 but on recruiting those who will attack us from within 6:15 and yet our president refuses 6:18 to look but read a radical Islam in the eye and call it by its name 6:23 even in January when terrorists stormed the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris 6:29 murdering 11 injuring 11 others he's still refuse to mention radical Islam 6:34 and instead took the first chance he got to tell christians 6:39 not to get on their high horse in condemning it let me be clear with you 6:43 about something 6:44 when we talk about radical Islam we are talking about an ideology that millions 6:49 a peace-loving Muslims 6:50 join us in condemning we are talking about an ideology the props children to 6:55 be buried alive 6:56 and women to be enslaved a young girls to be ritually abused 6:59 an innocent people to be executed at their desks for having the audacity to 7:04 exercise the human right to free speech 7:06 and so mister president if condemning that puts us on a high horse 7:10 I suggest we saddle up the 7:27 and and not attack in Paris that attack in Paris was not isolated 7:32 last year an attack at the Jewish Museum in Brussels left four people dead 7:36 in September after the be heading up an American journalist by the Islamic State 7:40 a woman was beheaded at work in oklahoma then there was a car attack in Quebec 7:45 a shooting at Calumet a at Canada's Parliament Ottawa 7:48 an assault with a hatchet in New York City in attacking a synagogue in israel 7:53 a deadly hostage crisis 7:54 at a cafe in Australia all of them tied to islamic fundamentalism 7:59 and those are only the beginning of course you remember the tragedy at the 8:04 Boston Marathon two years ago this week 8:06 but other threats are for old regularly in america 8:10 you know that in the last year we have arrested more than 20% of our own people 8:13 for attempting to join 8:15 I sis or other terrorist groups many of them with the goal of bringing that 8:19 terror back to our soil 8:21 radical Islam is a serious threat around the world and here at home 8:25 but as long as we have a president who does whose does not do what he's 8:30 supposed to do 8:31 our people have cause to fear 8:34 but we had a president who did what he's supposed to do 8:37 our people would have no cause for fear for the majority of instances a 8:43 well-funded well-equipped military 8:45 an adept intelligence community and a well-trained 8:48 law enforcement agency will stop radicals and other enemies dead in their 8:51 tracks 8:52 often literally but there are some instances 8:56 when our enemies are undetectable untraceable 9:00 and their deeds unpredictable when homegrown 9:04 its terrorist lash out in Long Wharf attacks one unstable individuals 9:08 sometimes mentally ill sometimes evil 9:12 attempt atrocities against innocent Americans and most commonly when the 9:16 innocent 9:17 are the target saddam predictable domestic crime with only themselves for 9:21 protection 9:22 until the police can be called the framers of our Constitution had a plan 9:27 for these instances to 9:28 and that brings me to what the president is constitutionally forbidden to do 9:35 the presidential oath of office contains no Asterix it contains no fine print 9:40 our presidents where's to preserve 9:43 protect and defend the entire Constitution of the United States 9:48 not just the party likes here 9:58 thanks to the Second Amendment the president has no authority to limit the 10:01 strength 10:02 are law-abiding citizens the president has no authority to tell a father he 10:06 cannot own a gun to defend his family and property 10:08 the president has no authority to tell a young woman she is better off 10:12 without the protection of a firearm the president has no authority 10:16 to tell a hunter a sportsman or any law-abiding American 10:20 what kind of weapon is right for him or her and it is bad enough that this 10:24 administration has attempted these very things in routine moments 10:27 for example with the failed ammunition ban earlier this year 10:32 but it is even worse and the president has wielded human tragedy 10:37 in an attempt to subvert our rights 10:40 the sins are the evil do not justify restricting the rights 10:45 the good here 10:53 in fact 10:57 the center the evil make those rights more critical because when our enemies 11:02 come now 11:02 they no longer come with six round revolvers 11:06 stricter gun laws won't never deter criminals and terrorists 11:11 la stop murders there wouldn't be murders in the first place 11:15 in fact forty-two percent of the perpetrators a mass shootings already 11:20 possess their guns 11:21 illegally those who will be stopped or the law-abiding targets of these crimes 11:26 it's very simple that stricter gun control laws 11:30 the largest advance the larger the advantage we hand to the would-be 11:33 attackers 11:34 and the more gun free zones we establish the more tempting targets we've created 11:40 here 11:49 now some will be skeptical about what I just said maybe not any of you in this 11:53 room but some 11:54 so I ask you this question the next time you drive through your neighborhood 11:59 count how many of your neighbors have signs announcing that their home 12:03 is arm to the security system and I want you to compare that to how many of them 12:07 have signs declaring their home to be a gun-free zone 12:10 to our people the risk of announcing our lack of preparedness is obvious 12:17 so why don't I leaders in Washington understand that 12:21 whatever their miscalculation is it's a risk to all of us 12:25 including Washington itself Washington DC makes a tempting target for enemies 12:31 both foreign and domestic 12:32 and yet nowhere in this country are the gun laws more restrictive than in DC 12:37 our capital city is not just the location and government leaders 12:41 its biz filled with visiting school students and turning families 12:45 and it is inexcusable that in washington the seat of our people's power 12:50 the constitutional right to bear arms is constantly in jeopardy 12:54 and that's why I took action last month 12:57 to roll back the Seas restrictive gun laws 13:08 my legislation my legislation would allow DC's law-abiding residents and 13:12 visitors 13:12 firearms to protect their homes their businesses and their families 13:16 and this legislation will bring strength to DC on the Citizen level 13:21 but washington needs strengthen another sense as well 13:24 and the strength I'm talking about won't come from a bill 13:28 it will come from a president who understands the world is that it's 13:32 safest 13:33 when america is at its strongest it will come from a president who understands 13:37 that america is at its strongest when are people are out there freest 13:40 and it will come from a president who understands that he has a duty 13:44 that must never be neglected and our people have a right 13:47 that must never be denied 13:54 so let me close let me close cuz I'm running outta water 13:59 let me close by are let me close by the 14:03 with a look ahead so I began my remarks saying our nation has reached a turning 14:08 point on many issues 14:10 I believe that fact is beyond debate 14:13 I think what yet to be determined its which direction will it turn 14:17 everything that's at stake in our next election from the future the second 14:21 amendment to the security of our people 14:23 in a global world to the financial opportunities available to everyone 14:27 it all combines together into a challenge that I believe will define 14:31 our generation and that is the future of the American dream 14:36 my parents came to America 1956 14:40 little more than their dreams of a better life but over time my dad working 14:46 as a bartender in a hotel in 14:47 my mother working as a maid a stock clerk a cashier at Kmart 14:52 they were able to achieve the American dream 14:55 because the real American dream isn't about how big your house is 14:59 the real American Dream is not about how many things you own on the day you die 15:04 the real American Dream is about having a job that pays a comfortable wage 15:09 it's about raising your family in a safe neighborhood and having the right to 15:13 defend them 15:14 it's about seeing your children earn a good education 15:17 it's about having the freedom to do the things you value with the people that 15:21 you love 15:21 it's about retiring with dignity after a long 15:25 who life and hard work the American Dream is about one more thing more than 15:30 any other 15:30 it's about giving your children the chance to do the things 15:34 you never could go to the places you can never go 15:39 and open the doors that were close to you my parents achieve this train 15:45 but many people today find it slipping out of reach 15:49 not because our world in our economy are pushing the boundaries in the 21st 15:53 century 15:54 but our government remains stuck in the 20th century 15:58 the question facing our generation is this 16:03 will we reclaim the American dream for all Americans 16:06 by reforming in modernizing Washington by applying the genius of our founding 16:11 to the challenges of our time 16:13 where were you when I become the first generation in history to leave our 16:17 children 16:18 worse off than ourselves that is the question that will define this 16:23 generation 16:24 and I for one have an answer in mind and so in just three days in Miami I will 16:29 announce 16:30 whether I will run for president for reelection to the senate or for 16:34 Commissioner the National Football League 16:35 and a 16:47 the NFL Commissioner is probably a little too powerful for me so we may 16:50 have to 16:50 but regardless of what I decide to do about my future 16:54 the upcoming election will not be about any one person 16:59 for no problem facing our nation can be solved by any single person working 17:04 alone 17:05 and that's why I am so grateful for the work each have you 17:09 and all NRA members are doing every single day 17:12 the american people will never achieve the American dream as they are not safe 17:17 like living in a safe neighborhood going to work in a safe office 17:21 going about our daily lives without fear for ourselves our children 17:24 these are the goals fundamental to the american dream and a strong second 17:29 amendment will insure 17:30 a strong america for your family for my family 17:33 and for every family in this nation so thank you for what you do 17:37 thank you for your work god bless our country thank you thank you