This evening, Senator-elect John Curtis (R-UT), laid out his vision for his first term in the United States. In front of a crowd of friends, family, and supporters at the Provo Rec Center, Curtis made the following points:
- My agenda is your agenda
- Unity is needed in our nation – Oneness is not sameness
- My commitment is to represent every Utahn
- Make DC more like Utah
His full remarks can be found below:
Friends, family, Curtis team, tonight is not the end, it’s just the end of the beginning. Together we’re on a journey. We’ve been across the state, top to bottom, through the highs and lows of the campaign, and here we are tonight, at the beginning-line of a crucial journey for our country.
It has been said that the day the journey begins is not the day the journey begins. This journey emotionally, physically and spiritually, started many years ago, and so many of you were there at the beginning. Thank you. A few of you were there at the beginning of the beginning, and more. Tonight, earlier, I had a chance to meet with the Curtis team and the Curtis family, as you can see, that’s no small group, and thank them. They know how they feel about that, all of them, and each of them, I’m a very, very blessed, man.
Let me repeat something that you’ve heard on the campaign from me, and I believe in my core: the founders saw our public service as something we did for a season. My season of service, the hallmark, will be service and stewardship. You elected me to legislate, to advocate and represent you. My agenda will be your agenda. My voice will lift your voice. My vote will reflect your values, and together, we’ll make Washington more like Utah and America more like what our children and our grandchildren need it be.
My commitment has been to represent every Utahn. That is what I am committed to do. These are challenging times, and in challenging times, you don’t need a show horse or show vote. In rural Utah, they like to say, in troubled times, the last thing you need is a cowboy that’s “all hat, no cattle.” So, don’t look for me throwing gas on the social media fire or giving click bait to the cable news, but rather, look for me riding my Ford up and down, back and forth across this state, doing the hard work of legislating and getting things done for Utah.
And if you’re not sure where to find me, don’t look by the cameras or the microphones. I’ll be on the Senate floor with my colleagues from both parties. I’ll be meeting with Utahns, visiting our veterans, learning, listening and studying how to solve our difficult problems. And don’t bother telling me that we can’t fix immigration or the budget. I believe we can. Because I believe in the greatness of this country. I believe the Constitution was an inspiring document, and I believe even on our worst day, everybody in the world wants to be us.
Working together, we will solve public lands here at home, we’ll hold China accountable overseas, and we’ll advocate for energy security around the world and energy dominance, and we’ll put forward those values that make Utah extraordinary and great.
Let me close this end of the beginning with the principle, one that defined the important beginnings for the Curtis family, and a principle that will be first, last and always as I serve as your Senator. Long years ago, the Curtis family adopted as a coat of arms an artist picture of a bundle of sticks bound together with the motto, in unity, there is strength. Sticks left by themselves can easily be broken, but bound together, they provide the strength that cannot be broken. In unity, there is strength.
Walking the halls of Congress is a cherished gift. And if you listen carefully, you can hear the founders whisper, saying, “in unity, there is strength.” If you look closely you will behold the symbol of sticks bound together on ceilings, around portraits and on statues, signaling to all who have eyes to see, “In Unity there is strength.” Or as they say in the senate. In many there is one.
Unity is needed in our nation. You know that tonight, more than ever, and we should remember that oneness is not sameness, and compromise is not capitulation. I hope that you’ll see in my actions the dignity of working together and of unity.
As Utah’s Senator, I will make this motto my mandate in every situation and setting. It’s been said that unity cannot be a slogan. We must make it a national imperative and together a shared project for “We the People.”
Now I thank each of you. I’m grateful for you, and I invite you on this next journey. Together, we will make Washington more like Utah and America more like what our kids need it to be.
Thank you. God Bless you.
