Good evening. How is everyone tonight?

Thank you, Dudley, for that great introduction, and for being here. I appreciate your being a part of this forum.

I’d like to thank our terrific panelists for joining us and sharing their experience and expertise with us tonight. And I’d like to thank all of you for giving up part of your Monday evening to come out and share your thoughts and questions with us.

Many of you are here tonight because you share the same concerns that I do.

For the last decade, we have seen countless assaults on freedom, liberty and capitalism from both Democrats AND Republicans.

We’ve seen Congress push legislation that increases government intervention in the marketplace.

We’ve seen Congress pass legislation that spends trillions of dollars in bailouts for industries that are “too big to fail” and that have mortgaged our children and grandchildren’s futures.

We’ve seen the Democrat-led Congress and the Obama Administration push an $800 billion so-called “stimulus” plan that has done nothing to stimulate the economy or create new jobs.

We’ve seen Congress pass a financial reform bill that will create new federal agencies, make the taxpayer-funded bailouts permanent, and give more power to the very institutions that missed the financial crisis in the first place.

We’ve seen Congress pass – and the President sign into law – a massive government takeover of health care that will raise taxes, ration care, and put politicians and bureaucrats between you and your doctor.

Let me tell you, not only did I vote against ObamaCare, I was one of the first Members of Congress to introduce legislation to repeal it.

We live in a time where despite the fact that the American people don’t want it and don’t like it, the federal government is increasingly taking greater control of our economy and our lives.

It’s no wonder the American people are so angry with their government – as we should be.

Free-market principles have been thrown out the window.

Our debt and deficits have exploded.

Government regulation and intrusion grows by the day and touches all of our businesses and all of our private lives.

The American people are frustrated. You are frustrated. And so am I.

I believe that the debate in Washington has turned into a debate about government versus the individual.

Many in Congress – as well as the Obama Administration – believe that government has all of the answers and knows what’s best for you and your families. I strongly disagree.

I believe that we need a federal government that doesn’t tax too much, spend too much, and regulate too much.

I believe that we need policies in place that allow us to live our lives as we see fit.

I believe that by unleashing the power of the free market and private enterprise, we can get our economy moving again and allow businesses – and not the government – to create jobs.

And I believe that we need to stop turning to the federal government to solve all of our problems.

Let me give you a few examples of what I mean.

When it comes to health care, instead of penalizing Americans for not having health insurance, let’s give them tax incentives to purchase it.

Instead of slapping small businesses with costly mandates to provide health insurance for their employees, let’s allow them to pool together to purchase insurance and offer their employees better health coverage options at a reasonable cost.

Instead of putting politicians and Washington bureaucrats in control of Americans’ health care decisions, let’s keep that power in the hands of every American through health savings accounts, which bring more competition to the insurance market.

Instead of forcing doctors to practice costly defensive medicine which wastes billions of dollars every year, let’s curb frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits through liability reform.

When it comes to our economic recovery, instead of allowing the government to pick winners and losers in the economy, let’s allow the free market to do its job.

For example, at the end of this year, the tax cuts from 2001 and 2003 will expire. How does this affect you?

Well, if you have children, the tax deduction you can claim on each child will be cut in half from $1,000 to $500.

If you’re married, the marriage penalty in the standard deduction will be reinstated, costing millions of couples an average of $595 in higher taxes every year.

And if you fall into the 10 percent tax bracket, your tax rate will rise to 15 percent – costing an average of $503 in higher taxes every year.

Do the Democrats in Congress honestly think that allowing the tax cuts to expire is going to help our economic recovery? IT WON’T!

We need to extend the tax cuts and make them permanent, so hardworking Americans like you can keep more of your hard-earned money.

We need to eliminate the capital gains taxes on small businesses, so they can take that money and invest it in their companies – and create new jobs in the process.

We need to reduce the government’s overreaching interference in the financial sector by ending the countless taxpayer-funded bailouts.

We need to approve the pending free trade agreements with three of our allies – Panama, Colombia and South Korea – to level the playing field for American businesses and expand our trade markets.

And we need to rein in Washington’s out-of-control spending and learn to live within our means.

That means we need to make tough decisions about our spending priorities.

But if we want to get serious about curbing our massive debt and our skyrocketing deficits, we must start with cutting wasteful spending.

By looking to free-market, limited government solutions to improve our health care system, spur economic growth, and create jobs, we can keep the federal government out of the marketplace and out of our private lives.

Finally, I want to touch upon a topic that has been on a lot of minds lately: immigration.

There is no question that we must do something about the immigration problem that is plaguing our nation. We have approximately 12 million immigrants living in this country illegally, and our borders have been extremely porous.

I agree with many of you that we need to take action, and now.

That’s why I strongly support beefing up our border security, both north and south.

In fact, Congress just passed legislation last week to add an additional $600 million in funding to train 1,500 new enforcement agents and purchase new technology to combat illegal crossings. It’s a good step, but much more needs to be done to make our borders safe and secure.

I also strongly support strengthening employer verification programs like e-verify, and cracking down on employers who hire illegal immigrants.

And I do not believe that granting amnesty and a clear path to citizenship for the illegal immigrants who are already here will solve our problems. We are a nation of laws, and I don’t believe in giving someone who broke the law a path to citizenship.

But as we debate and seek ways to address the immigration problem, we must remember that freedom should be the basis of everything we do.

I have always been a firm believer in the Constitution, and that freedom is the core of all human progress. That’s why, after very careful review of the Arizona immigration law, I came out against it.

The Arizona immigration law, in my opinion, strikes a severe blow to individual freedom. It puts some Americans’ freedoms at risk, while others will have little or no chance of being affected.

Trampling on the rights of some Americans to protect the majority conflicts with the values our nation was founded upon.

Our Constitution protects individual freedoms and liberties. Nowhere in this document does it speak of protecting the majority over the minority.

My opposition to the Arizona immigration law is not a political decision for me. Rather, protecting the freedoms of all American citizens is what matters most.

In everything I do, everything I vote on, I am going to continue to put freedom at the forefront of every decision I make – whether that’s opposing the nationalization of our health care system, or standing against massive tax increases and government regulations, or opposing legislation that affects the freedoms of some Americans.

Protecting individual freedoms and liberties is what I fight for every day in Congress.

I know, and I’m sure many of you agree with me, that wisdom and responsibility rests squarely and solely with the American people.

We know that Washington does not possess the wisdom to cure all that ails us.

The American people have spoken loud and clear. You have spoken loud and clear.

You want to keep the government out of your private lives. And you want to return to the principles that make our country strong: less taxing, less spending, less government and more freedom.

I share that goal, and I know that we can attain it by remembering that freedom matters.

America’s strength, determination, and limitless future exist because freedom works.

Thank you for joining us tonight. I look forward to hearing from you about how we can move forward on policies that limit the size and scope of government, and allow individuals to decide what is best for themselves and their families. Thank you.

Before we get to the question-and-answer session, I’d like to introduce our panelists and invite them to say a few words. I’m honored to have such a terrific group of community leaders here tonight.

They each have a unique perspective on the issues and I’m sure we’ll have a good discussion. With us tonight are:

Dr. Bradley Hobbs, the BB&T Distinguished Professor of Free Enterprise at Florida Gulf Coast University. Thank you for being here.

We have Will Prather, executive producer and co-owner of the Prather Entertainment Group, and also the Chairman of the Lee County Democratic Party. Yes, this is a bipartisan panel...

And we have Trey Radel, the host of “Daybreak” on FM 92.5 Fox News Radio, and a former anchor at WINK News.

Thank you everyone for being here. And now I’d like to introduce Dr. Hobbs to say a few words.

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