(applause)

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

(applause)

Audience: USA!

USA!

USA!

The President: Thank you very much.

You know, I've been here before.

(laughter)

You do know that.

Before the big day on November 8th, I was here.

I want to thank Mark Meadows and all of the

folks that have really made this possible.

And, Tony, tremendous guy.

We have some incredible people that we love and

that we're involved with.

So we all know that.

And I'm being followed by Mr. Bennett -- you know

that, right?

And I've been watching him say nice things about me

before I knew him.

Those are the ones I like --

(laughter)

-- where they speak well of you before you know them.

Right?

But I really want to thank everybody, and, Tony, for

your extraordinary leadership of

this organization.

And I want to thank, also, Lawana, for your

dedication to the faith community and to our nation.

Work so hard.

It's great to be back here with so many friends at

the 2017 Values Voter Summit, and we know

what that means.

(applause)

We know what that means.

America is a nation of believers, and together we

are strengthened and sustained by the

power of prayer.

(applause)

As we gather for this tremendous event, our

hearts remain sad and heavy for the victims of

the horrific mass murder last week in Las Vegas.

It was an act of pure evil.

But in the wake of such horror, we also witnessed

the true character of our nation.

A mother laid on top of her daughter to

shield her from gunfire.

A husband died to protect his beloved wife.

Strangers rescued strangers, police officers

-- and you saw that, all of those incredible police

officers, how brave they were, how great they

were running into fire.

(applause)

And first responders, they rushed right into danger.

Americans defied evil and hatred with

courage and love.

The men and women who risked their lives to save

their fellow citizens gave proof to the words of this

scripture: "The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness has not overcome it."

(applause)

All of America is praying for the wounded and the

grieving, and we will be with them today and we

will be with them forever.

(applause)

Just want to finish by saying that -- really, and

we understand it was so horrific to watch and so

terrible -- but to those who lost the ones they

love: We know that we cannot erase your pain,

but we promise to never, ever leave your side.

We are one nation, and we all hurt together, we

hope together, and we heal together.

(applause)

We also stand with the millions of people who

have suffered from the massive fires, which are

right now raging in California, and the

catastrophic hurricanes along the Gulf Coast, in

Puerto Rico, the

U.S. Virgin Islands.

And I will tell you, I left Texas, and I left

Florida, and I left Louisiana, and I went to

Puerto Rico, and I met with the president

of the Virgin Islands.

These are people that are incredible people.

They've suffered gravely, and we'll be there.

We're going to be there.

We have, really -- it's not even a question

of a choice.

We don't even want a choice.

We're going to be there as Americans, and we love

those people and what they've gone through.

And they're all healing, and their states and

territories are healing, and they're healing rapidly.

In the wake of the terrible tragedies of the

past several weeks, the American people have

responded with goodness and generosity,

and bravery.

You've seen it.

The heroism of everyday citizens reminds us that

the true strength of our nation is found in the

hearts and souls of our people.

When America is unified, no force on Earth

can break us apart.

(applause)

We love our families.

We love our neighbors.

We love our country.

Everyone here today is brought together by the

same shared and timeless values.

We cherish the sacred dignity of every human life.

(applause)

We believe in strong families and safe communities.

We honor the dignity of work.

(applause)

We defend our Constitution.

We protect religious liberty.

(applause)

We treasure our freedom.

We are proud of our history.

We support the rule of law and the incredible men and

women of law enforcement.

(applause)

We celebrate our heroes, and we salute every

American who wears the uniform.

(applause)

We respect our great American flag.

(applause)

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And we stand united behind the customs, beliefs and

traditions that define who we are as a nation

and as a people.

George Washington said that "religion and

morality are indispensable" to

America's happiness, really, prosperity and

totally to its success.

It is our faith and our values that inspires us to

give with charity, to act with courage, and to

sacrifice for what we know is right.

The American Founders invoked our Creator four

times in the Declaration of Independence -- four times.

(applause)

How times have changed.

But you know what, now they're changing back again.

Just remember that.

(applause)

Benjamin Franklin reminded his colleagues at the

Constitutional Convention to begin by bowing their

heads in prayer.

Religious liberty is enshrined in the very

first amendment of the Bill of Rights.

And we all pledge allegiance to -- very,

very beautifully -- "one nation under God."

(applause)

This is America's heritage, a country that

never forgets that we are all -- all, every one of

us -- made by the same God in Heaven.

(applause)

When I came to speak with you last year, I

made you a promise.

Well, one of the promises I made you was that

I'd come back.

See?

(applause)

And I don't even need your vote this year, right?

That's even nicer.

(laughter)

But I pledged that, in a Trump administration, our

nation's religious heritage would be

cherished, protected, and defended like you have

never seen before.

That's what's happening.

That's what's happening.

You see it every day.

You're reading it.

So this morning I am honored and thrilled to

return as the first sitting President to

address this incredible gathering of friends --

so many friends.

(applause)

So many friends.

And I'll ask Tony and all our people that do such a

great job in putting this event together -- can I

take next year off or not?

(laughter)

Or do I have to be back?

I don't know.

Audience: No!

The President: He's saying -- they're saying no.

Lawana is saying no.

That's means no.

(laughter)

So I'm here to thank you for your support and to

share with you how we are delivering on that

promise, defending our shared values, and in so

doing, how we are renewing the America we love.

In the last 10 months, we have followed through on

one promise after another.

(applause)

I didn't have a schedule, but if I did have a

schedule, I would say we are substantially

ahead of schedule.

(applause)

Some of those promises are to support and defend

the Constitution.

I appointed and confirmed a Supreme Court Justice in

the mold of the late, great Justice Antonin

Scalia, the newest member of the Supreme Court,

Justice Neil Gorsuch.

(applause)

To protect the unborn, I have reinstated a policy

first put in place by President Ronald Reagan,

the Mexico City Policy.

(applause)

To protect religious liberty, including

protecting groups like this one, I signed a new

executive action in a beautiful ceremony at the

White House on our National Day of Prayer --

(applause)

-- which day we made official.

(applause)

Among many historic steps, the executive order

followed through on one of my most important campaign

promises to so many of you: to prevent the

horrendous Johnson Amendment from interfering

with your First Amendment rights.

(applause)

Thank you.

We will not allow government workers to

censor sermons or target our pastors or our

ministers or rabbis.

These are the people we want to hear from, and

they're not going to be silenced any longer.

(applause)

Just last week, based on this executive action, the

Department of Justice issued a new guidance to

all federal agencies to ensure that no religious

group is ever targeted under my administration.

It won't happen.

(applause)

We have also taken action to protect the conscience

rights of groups like the Little Sisters of the Poor.

You know what they went through.

(applause)

What they went through -- they were going through hell.

And then all of the sudden they won.

They said, how did that happen?

(laughter)

We want to really point out that the Little

Sisters of the Poor and other people of faith,

they live by a beautiful calling, and we will not

let bureaucrats take away that calling or

take away their rights.

(applause)

We are stopping cold the attacks on

Judeo-Christian values.

(applause)

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

And something I've said so much during the last two

years, but I'll say it again as we approach the

end of the year.

You know, we're getting near that beautiful

Christmas season that people don't

talk about anymore.

(laughter)

They don't use the word "Christmas" because it's

not politically correct.

You go to department stores, and they'll say,

"Happy New Year" and they'll say other things.

And it will be red, they'll have it painted,