Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Mike Johnson (LA-04)
LONDON, UK — In honor of America’s 250th anniversary this year, Speaker Johnson accepted an invitation from Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the U.K. House of Commons, to be the first American Speaker of the House to Address the U.K. Parliament.
During his address, Speaker Johnson emphasized the enduring and special relationship between the U.S. and the U.K and urged leaders in both nations to recommit to the core principles that have defined both since their founding.
Watch Speaker Johnson’s address to Parliament here.
Below are key excerpts from the address:
“It is an objective and obvious truth that a strong America is good for the entire world, and a strong UK is as well. At the same time, it’s also obvious that we have to take care of our own houses, so to speak, before we take care of the neighborhood. And let’s be honest, among friends here, in both of our nations, there is a need today to fortify our houses against internal challenges as well. In the west, if we make an honest assessment, we must acknowledge that our long-term prosperity and security are currently being undermined by, let’s call it a crisis of self-doubt. It’s been developing now for years.”
“As we chart our renewal, America has no intention of walking alone. In fact, to do so would be self-defeating. More than ever before, we need the British people to be great and proud and patriotic, and you are, to work in close concert with us, as partners and friends, and to defend the security of the Western world. That means secure borders. It means serious investments in our shared defense and maintaining strategic strongholds around the world.”
“We have faced in America, just as you have here, a truly menacing skepticism towards history and our national institutions. And it’s even come to the point where great heroes like Sir Winston Churchill are questioned for their legacy. What has taken hold is a mindset that defines itself not by what it loves and seeks to preserve, but instead by what it condemns and seeks to tear down. And this growing disaffection we see, particularly among our younger citizens, is a serious threat to the health of both our nations. If the next generation is never exposed to the deeper wisdom of the western world, or the enduring tradition of the British parliament, or the genius of America’s model of Republican self-government, then why would they feel any obligation to defend or preserve them?”
Below are Speaker Johnson’s remarks as delivered:
Thank you. Sincerely. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Lord Speaker, Ambassador Stephens, members of the House of Commons, members of the House of Lords, and so many esteemed guests. It is a great honor for us to be here, a tremendous pleasure to be with you all.
Speaker Hoyle, thank you for those kind words and your gracious invitation to be here today, my friend. It means so much to us. It’s a real detriment to follow Speaker Hoyle, I don’t like to do this. At the G7 Speaker’s meetings, I just want you to know, when he gets wound up and going, it’s just like Churchill and it goes on and on and on.
And I try to speak before him at all times. I don’t want to follow, but, really, really grateful to be here. He has become a dear friend and all of you, we’ve met so many great friends. My wife Kelly and I are truly touched by how warmly we’ve been received here and having met so many of you in the past couple of days.
We walked away with this sense that we do have close and dear friends here across the pond, and we have this shared heritage and we treasure that. It is a profound honor to be speaking in Parliament today, to be the first US Speaker of the House ever given this honor. And I take it very seriously as proud Americans. It is as though we have returned to the spiritual birthplace of our own nation.
And the history here, the weight of it is palpable, as you know. It gives you a certain sense of just being serious. I was going to roll on with a bunch of jokes this morning, but it doesn’t feel right to be in this place at this time. We have returned at a pivotal moment, obviously, in the great histories of our countries to mark this anniversary that we have in our nation, and to celebrate what we’ve achieved together in the past, and importantly to face and overcome together the challenges of our present day. And I want to tell you, my friends, we will do that together. That’s what I bring you, that message.
When I met with Prime Minister Starmer at Downing Street yesterday, I told him that I thought his national address a few hours earlier was well done. He noted of course, that the UK and the US are close allies and that our strong, constructive partnership all these years has been built on mutual respect and focused on results.
I thought that was exactly the right message and the right tone, and because of that, we’ve always been able to work through our differences calmly as friends, and we will continue to do that. I want to assure you this morning that that is still the case.
I spoke to President Trump at length yesterday, and I told him that I really felt that my mission here, even though we planned this back in the fall, we didn’t know how the events would develop over the last few days, but I told the president that I felt that my mission here today was to encourage our friends and help to calm the waters, so to speak. And I hope to do so.
As the Prime Minister said yesterday. Let us look to agreement, continue our dialogue, and find a resolution just as we always have in the past. And in that process, I’m confident that we can and will maintain and strengthen our special relationship between these two nations, send a message of unity and resolve to our allies around the world, and remind our adversaries and the terrorist and tyrants everywhere, that our nations that are dedicated to freedom and justice and order and human dignity, are stronger and more resolved now than ever before. I think it’s a very important message.
Of course, we do gather here at a unique and consequential moment in American history. This year, as noted, is the time we mark our 250th anniversary of our independence. Now, I know this is not a, a long span of time in the scale of human history. I get that.
We were touring the thousand-year-old Windsor Palace a day or so ago, and that really put it all, set it into reality for us. At the dinner we had here last night that Speaker Hoyle and Lady Catherine graciously hosted for us, it was not lost on me that there at my table were items of silverware older than my country. Puts it in perspective.
But this year in particular, we remember just how far we really have come, how our nations have evolved and grown and strengthened in so many ways, together. America’s founders embarked on what was a radical experiment of course, a government of by and for the people, ruled by laws and based on the self-evident truth that all men are created equal and free. That experiment transformed 13 disparate, distant colonies from the world’s largest empire, into what became the world’s freest and most successful self-government in human history.
For Americans, this year is not simply a celebration, it’s an invitation. An invitation to come together and to ask what we are doing in our own time, to preserve and fortify that experiment and all of the blessings of liberty and opportunity and security that we enjoy today. And frankly, sometimes too often take for granted.
We have a stewardship obligation to maintain these blessings. And all of us in the west, all of us together, are facing real challenges today that we must acknowledge and confront and we do that best together. Across the pond, Congress and the Trump administration have been working very hard. We’re trying to usher in a new golden age for our country, as we say. We’re marshaling every resource we have to make America safer and stronger and more prosperous than ever before. And I’m very bullish on the prospects of doing that.
We must do this because we know those hostile to the West and to our shared values are engaging in increasingly sophisticated forms of subversion and espionage. We see China, Russia, and Iran grow more aggressive and emboldened as they intensify their efforts to exert economic, political, and military influence around the world. We see a callous disregard for basic human rights, new provocations, and even the theft of intellectual property on a scale like we have never seen before.
Clearly, President Trump is taking seriously the modern and dynamic threats that China and Russia posed to our global security, especially and in focus the last few days as it relates to the Arctic. And while we can have thoughtful debate among our friends about how best to counter these threats, we all certainly agree they must be countered. We ignore these threats at our peril. And I want to hasten to express our gratitude to the U.K. and to all of you for joining us in some of our most recent actions to deter these hostile regimes, including the recent seizure of a black market vessel seeking to circumvent oil sanctions.
That was a big help to us. That kind of open dialogue and partnership is a great example of how we can work together to ensure our collective defense around the world. It is an objective and obvious truth that a strong America is good for the entire world, and a strong UK is as well.
At the same time, it’s also obvious that we have to take care of our own houses, so to speak, before we take care of the neighborhood. And let’s be honest among friends here, in both of our nations, there is a need today to fortify our houses against internal challenges as well. In the West, if we make an honest assessment, we must acknowledge that our long-term prosperity and security are currently being undermined by, let’s call it a crisis of self-doubt. It’s been developing now for years.
Elite institutions today tell the young and impressionable that our story is one of oppression and hypocrisy and failure. Our brightest minds are too often taught to view our history only through the lens of its sins. And we see the work of international organizations and transnational bodies hinder the very spirit of creativity and industriousness and daring that our nations were built upon.
We have faced this in America, just as you have here, a truly menacing skepticism towards history and our national institutions. And it’s even come to the point where even great heroes like Sir Winston Churchill are questioned for their legacy. What has taken hold is a mindset that defines itself not by what it loves and seeks to preserve, but instead by what it condemns and seeks to tear down. And this growing disaffection we see particularly among our younger citizens, is a serious threat to the health of both our nations. If the next generation is never exposed to the deeper wisdom of the western world, or the enduring tradition of the British parliament, or the genius of America’s model of Republican self-government, then why would they feel any obligation to defend or preserve them?
Fortunately, history teaches us an important lesson. Just over half a century after American independence, our country faced a moment of reckoning. It was 1838 and for the first time in our short history, America’s founding fathers, the men who had led us through the turbulent years of our young nation, were no longer there to guide us.
A growing disregard for the rule of law had taken hold at that time and the cries of mob rule threatened every part of our country. A young legislator at that time, concerned by what he saw as America’s deteriorating regard for its past, charged his countrymen with an important choice. Would they uphold their duty and preserve the blessings for which their fathers pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor, or would they continue on the path of decline in self-destruction? The answer was simple he said.
This experiment in liberty could not survive unless the principles enshrined in the declaration and institutionalized in our constitution became their shared civic faith. That rising statesman who was just 28 years old at the time, would one day become president and he would be called to confront the greatest stress test of the American experiment yet. His likeness stands just a few feet away from here where we’re gathered today watching over Parliament Square, Abraham Lincoln, of course, wisely understood that the philosophy of the school room in one generation is the philosophy of government in the next.
He knew that our national renewal would not come from repudiating our past, but rather from renewing and recommitting to our best principles, to appealing to the better angels of our nature. The struggle of Lincoln’s time shows us that though America may be 250 years old, the question of how best to steward this grand experiment has always been with us.
And age-old questions require age-old wisdom. In the west today. we see faith in our foundations and our shared inheritance weakening. And what we have to do is channel the wisdom of our predecessors to chart our own renewal. So what does renewal require? Just a few things. Well, first it requires remembrance. This is a biblical admonition in fact, we’re to remember our blessings and from where we came.
And the great British philosopher, GK Chesterton warned every high civilization decays by forgetting obvious things. Things like the dignity of the individual, the stabilizing role of the family, the human yearning for meaning and purpose, and the indispensable relationship between freedom and virtue. In short, we have to remember our foundations and we have to describe what they are because the generation behind us seems not to understand this. As Chesterton observed, America was founded on a creed that was set forth, he said, with dogmatic and theological lucidity in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights that among these of the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That profound acknowledgement of obvious and undeniable truth shook the foundations of Western democracy, and with it the course of human history. Our founders recognize that all of us are made in the image of God, and because of that, every single person has inestimable dignity and value. And our value is not related in any way to the color of our skin or what town or village we hail from, what our talents are, et cetera.
Our value is inherent because it is given to us by our creator. We built an entire nation upon that premise. And just as our citizens are endowed with God-given and unalienable rights, all nations and all people should adhere to the obvious laws of nature and of nature’s God as our documents say.
In his farewell address, the father of our country, George Washington, gave all of his advice that echoes down through his countrymen even today and echoes down through the generations in reminding us how we would keep this republic, how we would keep this grand experiment in self-government.
And he said famously, “of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.” And John Adams was our second president and he said famously, ”our constitution is made only for immoral in religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” The late Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher put it even more simply. “Freedom,” she said, “will destroy itself if it has no purpose.”
Lady Thatcher, just like our founders, understood that free societies that lacked a shared moral and civic foundation inevitably turn elsewhere to compensate. And that reminds us of another important lesson from history. A healthy renewal requires the participation and stewardship of each successive generation. Here too, the example of the American Revolution proves so instructive. Our founders didn’t seek to build a new nation on pure abstraction or mere ideology, nor did they abandon the brilliance of the British tradition, even if they opposed the empire itself.
Instead, they drew on the joint inheritance of the English-speaking world. An inheritance rooted in the wisdom of classical thinkers asserted in the Magna Carta, embraced in common law in the writings of John Locke and articulated in the Bill of Rights of 1689. These principles found in the words of Sir Winston Churchill, their most famous expression in the American Declaration of Independence.
For Americans, our independence is not a rebuke of our British roots, but rather a renewal of what is best, the best of what Britain had to offer the world. If renewal requires remembrance and stewardship, it also requires responsible citizens. Strong institutions are essential of course, but when people are taught that their lives are determined by systems and structures, responsibility quickly disappears. And with it their purpose and their meaning. And in both of our nations, we have too many people today on the sidelines, particularly younger generations.
We should want our citizens involved, gainfully employed and contributing to their communities of course. Stable and thriving societies need families that raise children. They need churches and communities that form character and patriotic men and women dedicated to leaving their country better than they found it. The simple truth is that freedom cannot sur survive if we outsource our responsibility as citizens. And this is a fact that remains true at a national level. We cannot fail in our responsibility to protect our people and their security, and amongst our allies, we see the UK and Europe stepping up as faithful partners here. And I want to declare that today.
Whether it’s NATO nations’ historic commitment to raise their investment in defense, which we applaud, or the AUKUS Alliance deepening its cooperation in submarines and undersea defense. Our partnership is proving that nations can prioritize their individual interests responsibly and at the same time make strides towards strengthening alliances and preserving the freedom and sovereignty of our nation states. And our current US ambassador to the UK Warren Stevens who sits up here with me today, said it recently very well. He said “America first does not mean and will never mean America alone.”
Finally, renewal takes courage. From the defeat of Napoleon to the heroic resistance to the blitz, to the bravery of our soldiers in the liberation of Western Europe. The British people have given the world some of the greatest demonstrations of courage in human history. You are the heirs of Burke and Locke and Smith, the home of Shakespeare, the cradle of free speech. You’re the birthplace of the industrial revolution and the nation that helped end the slave trade. And from these shores, you set sail to pioneer a new world built on British custom, British fortitude, and British law. Together, we, all of us are the legacy of those ancient ancestors who came before us. Their courage is part of who we are and we do well to remember that. Today it takes our courage, clarity, and conviction to defend truth just as our ancestors did.
And it means being able to say that some things are true and good and enduring and others are not. And to call evil and madness what it is. It means repairing what we see in clear disrepair. From restoring, for example, secure borders that protect from the real and measurable harms of mass uncontrolled migration, to pushing back on policies that erode our citizens most basic liberties, especially the fundamental freedoms of speech and conscience.
History teaches us we can never go down the road of censoring and silencing unpopular opinions because liberty is kept alive in the free marketplace of ideas. History further teaches us that the best solution to the problem of free speech is always more speech. And those being unjustly persecuted for exercising those freedoms such as Jimmy Lai, the British National being held in Hong Kong, must be defended. And the US stands with the UK as you work to free him.
As we chart our renewal, America has no intention of walking alone. In fact, to do so would be self-defeating. More than ever before, we need the British people to be great and proud and patriotic, and you are, to work in close concert with us as partners and friends and to defend the security of the western world.
That means secure borders. It means obviously serious investments in our shared defense and maintaining strategic strongholds around the world. And we will figure this out together. But again, the surest way that we protect a special relationship long term is by renewing and recommitting to our foundational principles. As Churchill taught us, the strongest alliances are between kindred countries of kindred principles. What has always set us apart from the rest of the rest of the world is our commitment to liberty, our pursuit of excellence, our desire to put faith and family at the center of our lives.
These are things that distinguish their free world from regimes that trample on the most basic principles of democracy and human dignity. While the West is not without its flaws, our greatest strength has always been our faith in human progress and our capacity for self-correction. Strong and lethal militaries matter, robust and thriving economies matter, but they mean little if we forget what we’re fighting for.
Churchill understood that the fate of the West would ultimately be decided, not on the battlefield, but in the hearts and minds and souls of its people. And Ronald Reagan saw this a generation later. When he came to Parliament at the height of the Cold War, the first US President ever to do so, his message was clear. He said the free world would prevail against the scourge of communism only if it recovered its confidence and resolve in itself. And today, I believe we stand at a similar moment. Together our strength is real, and the fate of the free world rests on our will to defend and preserve.
Today, ultimately, our renewal depends on whether we as leaders and citizens equip the next generation. Whether we arm them with the confidence to articulate the ideals of the west and the will to defend them. Not to shrink into national reluctance, but to stand strong in national pride. Because our countries really do have an unparalleled heritage of achieving good and advancing mankind, both individually and in this trusted partnership.
Thankfully, our special relationship has always proven much more powerful and enduring than the enemies we face. Together we represent a common history and heritage and the greatest, most free, most prosperous, most successful and benevolent civilization the world has ever known. And it will endure only as long as we reject decline and recommit to our foundations. I’ll leave you with the thought of Ronald Reagan, one more. He said, freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.
We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on. And just like all things, great civilizations don’t defy the laws of gravity. They rise and fall with the individual actions of each individual generation.
So today, my friends, we have great reason for hope. Today, I see the UK with renewed sovereignty and self-determination. I see our European allies with an advantage over our adversaries and in economic power. And most importantly in spirit. I see younger generations rejecting the indulgence of self-interest and embracing pursuits of greater importance and higher purpose.
And I see those who cherish the lessons of Churchill and Lincoln, who are ready to offer this age, heroes of their own. With the right choices and the right leadership, we can chart our renewal, and we can seize the great moment together if we truly seek it and fight for it. Thank you again for this profound honor. God bless you all. God bless the United Kingdom and may God bless the United States of America. Thank you.
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