[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 219 (Thursday, December 24, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1201]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           RETIREMENT REMARKS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TED S. YOHO

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, December 24, 2020

  Mr. YOHO. Madam Speaker, I would like to take this moment to say 
thank you, farewell and goodbye while issuing a warning to this 
esteemed body. I have had the honor and privilege to serve as a member 
of Congress for the last 8 years. It truly has been an amazing 
experience for me, my wife Carolyn and our three children. It is the 
American Dream come true. We will always be grateful and thankful for 
the many memories and experiences we've had.
  This would not have been possible without the support we received 
from our families, friends, supporters, Team mates and constituents for 
allowing us this opportunity.
  After all, opportunity is what gives rise to the American Dream. My 
wife and I, along with all in this body, are the beneficiaries of that 
opportunity and recipients of the American Dream. Our Constitution 
guarantees equal opportunity for all not equal outcomes.
  I ran for Congress because I felt America was off course and moving 
away from the principles it was founded on. We are a Republic, a 
Constitutional Republic. America is certainly not a perfect country. 
We've had, and still have, our shortcomings but we improve with each 
generation. The Constitution provides a framework for that.
  However, some people want to fundamentally change our system from a 
Republic to a socialist state and to end the legacy we have been 
blessed with. There are those in government, and the citizens who 
support them, who don't understand the basic foundational principles of 
this nation. There are leaders in the Democratic Party, who a few short 
years ago, would not acknowledge they were promoting socialism. Yet 
their ideals and actions were telling a different story.
  Now today, we have leaders in the incoming administration who proudly 
espouse that this will be the most progressive, socialist 
administration ever formed in the United States.
  Their desire to change a country that has created the most successful 
lifestyle in the world for generations is a travesty. It's a travesty 
to those that paid the price in blood to preserve our Republic and its 
ideals.
  As the Chairman of the Asia-Pacific subcommittee on Foreign Affairs 
I've had the honor of traveling all over the world, meeting world 
leaders from many countries. I had a very impactful conversation with 
an Ambassador from an ASEAN nation that had a lasting impression upon 
me of what America means from an outside perspective. I would like to 
share this with you and issue this warning.
  He said when his country fought to get independence their founders 
could have chosen any form of government to set up in their new 
independent country. They looked at the British, French, and German 
system of government but chose the American form of government for 
their new country even though none of them had been to America. They 
did this because they were very well studied in our founding principles 
enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. Specifically, the notion that 
government derives its power from the consent of the governed and 
without that consent no legitimate government can be formed.
  The affect on me was this. You see America is larger than any 
president regardless of who sits in the White House and is much bigger 
and more significant than a political party, whether it be Democrats or 
Republicans. It is our founding principles, core values and the U.S. 
Constitution which holds it all together. These are what has set the 
gold standard in self governance that other nations want to emulate. 
That is why people from around the world risk everything to reach our 
shores and become Americans.
  Our founding principles say our rights come from a creator, not 
government, and government is there to protect our God-given rights. 
Our core values state that all men, women and every child are created 
equal and have equal opportunity. The Constitution is the glue that 
binds all this together. It's these three things, founding principles, 
core values and the Constitution that makes up the American Ideal. And 
that ideology, ``is the shining city on a hill'', as President Reagan 
proudly spoke of in his farewell address. It is our duty to preserve 
and make better, not destroy what previous generations have built.
  I caution those who want to change America into a socialist country 
to rethink what they are really asking. Do you really want to change 
the principles of America with all of the successes the people of this 
nation have experienced? What will be your excuse when you explain to 
the next generation, your children perhaps, why you allowed the 
opportunity to be taken away from them. Opportunities afforded to you 
and millions of others, only to allow it to die on the vine.
  I hear promises of free education, free health insurance or Medicare 
for all. Some say everyone should have a living wage whether you work 
or not. This utopia they espouse is a fallacy. The utopia they promise 
is actually Hugo Chavez and Nicholas Maduro's Venezuela we see today. 
To achive in America all one must do is embrace the opportunity, work 
hard, and play by the rules. As Frederick Douglass said in his self 
made man speech, ``Success is the result of opportunity plus one's 
desire, self reliance and work''.
  So I challenge my colleagues with this. Will you fight to preserve 
and improve our Constitutional Republic or will you allow it to become 
a socialist country? What country will you pass on to your children and 
future generations?
  Please, choose wisely.

                          ____________________