00:00I'd like to ask if I might to have Dan Patrick, one of the most highly respected men in politics, we worked on something having to do with your governor. We worked on something having to do with school choice and we knocked it over the fences first to really and that's the ultimate school choice in Texas and he's been fighting for it for years and we got it over the line pretty easily as it turned out. So please come up and speak. Thank you.
00:30Mr. President, thank you for establishing what I think will be one of the most important presidential commissions in history. It will be one of your great legacies of which you will have many. We have in this country, we have a magnificent inheritance of religious liberty
01:00and every believer today, no matter your faith, has a claim to that inheritance. We were a nation birthed by prayer, founded on the Judeo-Christian ethic, to ensure that people could worship as they wished without interference from government, but that is no longer the case.
01:19The last administration attacked people of faith for four years. There's a saying that no one should get between a doctor and a patient. I think we would say no one should get between God and a believer.
01:32No one should get between God and those seeking him. There are so many people in this country, they may even have a family, they may have a job with a lot of employees, but they're alone and the only person they can turn to is someone who's not listening, but they can turn to God because he is their refuge and he is their wellspring of hope. And no one, no government, no school district, at any level of government or in the private sector, should say to someone, you can't pray, you can't pray.
02:01You can't pray here or wear. That is our right. That is our right. And Mr. President, you have given us an incredible committee. I'm a little overwhelmed. I feel like a pair of brown shoes and a room full of tuxedos, if you want to know. These are high caliber, the foremost faith leaders, scholars, thinkers that you've put together.
02:23So on this day, Mr. President, on this day, you are restoring the hopes and the prayers of millions upon millions of believers of all faiths. There's never been a president who has invoked the name of Jesus more than you.
02:38There's never been a president who says, yes, I love Jesus, but I love people of all faiths, as Dr. Phil said. You have a heart for every American and you're showing that today.
02:48I'm proud to represent you as chair, proud to have Ben Carson as our vice chair and every member of this committee. We will serve you. We will serve the people. And most importantly, we will serve God. Thank you, Mr. President.
03:02Thank you very much, Dan. Beautiful. You're going to do an incredible job. He came to me with this idea called Paula, called Jenny, called all of us. And it just came together and we'll be adding some incredible names.
03:22Some of the people that are here right now that have been with me from the beginning. I'm sitting right over there. My my friends, my pastors, ministers and rabbis will be adding quite a few. It's very important.
03:34And they'll be largely when when they can. We're going to be using the White House. We have plenty of room. So we'll be using the White House to have some of your meetings. And it's a it's a real honor to have you, Dan.
