Number of times when i was a member of congress. This is an Important Institution delivering on behalf of america and i value it and this administration ovals it. So many leaders all across the United States government value it as well. Also great to be here. Everybody remembers the bob dillon song shelter from the storm. Good be here with you. I know theres a bunch of friends here. I want to thank you all for supporting this really Important Institution. Heritage has schooled many generations of free market believers. I was a trustee on a think tank back in kansas. We would read heritage reports all the time to try to make sure we were getting it right and try to get it right for the state of kansas in the same way you are doing it here for washington. You know the last time i had the privilege to speak in front of a heritage audience was in may of last year. I had been secretary of state for a number of days. Yeah. I was already missing the cia. Much quieter [ laughter ] much less public space. Look, we had just pulled out of the iran nuclear deal. I laid out 12 conditions including that iran end its Ballistic Missile program, release u. S. Hostages, radical stuff. The Washington Post ran a headline that said mike pompeo gives a silly speech on iran. The New York Times similarly reported quote in a hardline speech performance criticizes irans behavior. That was actually partly true. [ laughter ] i was criticizing the behavior. Theres much more hardline and you have seen that. Compare that to the headline from heritage which says pompeo stand up for the iranian people in a major speech. If you go back and look at the remarks thats what i was attempting to do. [ applause ] and indeed i say that, thats the tone for what i want to talk about today. We were standing up there for the iranian people. Thank you for getting it right. Thank you for helping me tell the story that doesnt get told in other places. That was my first speech, my first major speech as secretary of state and as i said that central idea that animated principle that we laid out about doing our best to help the iranian people be successful set the stage for the work that ive done what is now in this last year and a half. It also set the stage for the way we tried the to conduct Foreign Policy. Ive continued to deliver tough messages that recognize a set of basic facts about the way the world is because we cant achieve good policy unless we recognize the reality of whats going on, on the ground. Thats what Vice President pence did last week when we traveled to ankara and well talk about the situation there when i sit down with kim. As with iran you heard one version of that story. That story that didnt get told is our administration inherited a mess in syria. The Previous Administration permitted the caliphate to take root in syria but western iraq and approaching the outward parts of erbil. It was the Trump Administration with the help of the sdf fighters and 70 nations that built a coalition, something that never gets talked about, the work that we did to build up that team, united around the destruction of caliphate in syria and iraq was effective and important. Kurdish forces, fighters were great warriors. We also are mindful that our nato ally turkey has legitimate security concerns. U. P. S. Has designated them as terrorists. We take the those concerns seriously. We were working the depth in the lead along with our brethren at the defense to mediate between two. President trump warned turkey not to invade. Sadly they conducted the incursion. When president erdogan went ahead he sent a Diplomatic Team avert disaster. Youll sheer in just a few hours 120 hour window will arrive, ill talk more about the status. But some progress has certainly been made. The truth was the truth of that it was not in turkeys interest as a nato ally to continue with the incursion. We think now were in a better place. Truth was President Trump was prepared to cause an raise costs for turkey in the event that they continued their incursion. So president used americas economic might, our economic power to avoid a conflict with a nato ally and as President Trump tweeted that very day there need be tough love in order to get it done. [ applause ] it is a complicated story to be be sure. The success of the outcome there is not yet fully determined. But a microcosm of what we do every day as department of state as i do as americas chief diplomat. My responsibility is to help countries see the world for what it is and theres no shortage of truth to be told. The truth is that iran is the aggressor not the aggrieved. The truth is that china is a strategic competitor at best. That uses coercion and corruption as its tools of state craft. [ applause ] the truth is we cant rely on failed strategies to convince chairman kim to give you his nuclear weapons. Still much work to be done. The truth is we wont achieve peace and reconciliation in afghanistan without every party at the table. The truth is too is restoring venezuela is in our hemisphere interest and we should spend considerable effort to achieve that. [ applause ] and the truth is that every nation has a responsibility to share the burden of these Global Mission sets to achieve security around the world. [ applause ] i know the Vice President is going to talk about that more tonight but delivering these messages and many others sometimes isnt fun. I sat in a very cold room in brussels that was colder after my speech than before it. [ laughter ] it certainly hasnt made me popular with the talking heads. You can just Google Pompeo and read all about it. [ laughter ] but i must say as i stand before you today im confident were succeeding and were awakening the world to these very threats that i just outlined and more too. Today i just want to tell a little bit of the story of myself. It begins with showing up like we did last week in turkey. Ive been to some 55 countries now. Many of which were passed over by my predecessors. Ive been to latin america six times, a place in the western hem steer thats been too long neglected by Senior Leaders in our government. Been to colombia, and ill be down to south america in a couple of weeks. I went to finland in may to bring real truth on whats going on in arctic about russia and chinese land grabs and militarization in that region. I traveled not just to australia, india and thailand to present our vision but i had the opportunity to be the first secretary of state in thoift go micronesia and when there i talked about the important interests that the micronesian people do something about china. I had the good joy the to go hungary and slovakia. I traveled for the first time as secretary of state to north macedonia. A pro american stronghold in the balkans. You know, i guess that the number of americans that know about this work is few and far between and thats okay. But the truth is theres a story of what the Trump Administration is doing needs to be told. Thats my job. Its why im here today. Why i travel here domestically probably more than many secretaries of state have done so too. I think its important the American People get a chance to see what their taxpayer dollars are being used for by the United States department of state. But showing up only matters if youre there for a purpose. And that youre willing to tell the truth when its tough and that youll continue to speak to them about things that are hard. Ate lot of fun to go into a meeting and tell them what they want to hear and tell them what great allies you are and toast and cheer and compliment each other on the important work youre doing together. Much more important to speak about things that are difficult, where our disagreements, truths that need be told. Weve apparently taken over the truth telling role from the nba. [ laughter ] [ applause ] if you go back and look to, i knew when i was 7 years old i would be in that league and just too bad. [ laughter ] you know, take iran as a good example. I refrps this at the beginning. Ever since i gave that silly speech, the conversations turned. Hundreds of private companies are on board with our sanctions. Theres this threat that European Companies would stain europe. I was told so many Times American sanctions alone wont work you should ask the ayatollah if the statement is produce. Britain, france, germany released a statement saying they believed it was clear quote clear to us that iran bears responsibility for this attack and that the time has come for iran to accept negotiation on long term framework for its nuclear program. Thats a very different position than they were in before american diplomacy began to put pressure on the islamic iran and its regime. [ applause ] the world is learning too that iran responds to strength not supplica toirch n. Look how President Trump changed the conversation on china or consider the numerous instance of american principles returning to multiple lateral bodies thanks to this administration. We put together enormous coalition. Im incredibly proud of the Foreign Service of the state department. Called the lima group. Restoring democracy to venezuela. 50 plus countries recognize juan guaido as the leader of venezuela. This was solid, diplomatic work, hard fought and done with the american state department. We convinced asean to declare its support for a rules based or in the . Do pacific as well. Weve reconvened the quad the security talks between japan, australia, india and the United States that had been dormant for nine years. This will prove very important in the efforts ahead ensuring china retains only its proper place in the world. Very proud too we hosted more than 100 nations for the minute tear ministerial religious conference. Weve done it for two years running. [ applause ] its underreported if you google the Trump Administration and human rights you are unlikely to see msnbc report that brought leaders to talk about the critical nature of the fact this first freedom we have in the United States of america is powerful and important and sets the trajectory for nations all across the world. Just recently 20 nations joined us at the u. N. In a letter that claimed that abortion is, in fact excuse me. Rejecting the claim that abortion is a human right. [ applause ] this is not to say it has been without cost that weve awakened every sleeping mind or snuffed out every fake news story. Far from it. And based on the News Coverage that when i talk the to folks back in kansas where our friends are, family sour church, i dont fault them. Sometimes they dont have the story right. Sometimes they will not see that america is, in fact, a force for good around the world. Our job is to make sure we tell that story. When i say our, mine and yours. Heres the other story. A few weeks ago i had the opportunity to visit my ancestor home. I know most of you are from there. There are about 1,000 people and 1,050 people on the street. It was really a great experience personally to go back to where my grandfather was from. My dad never had a chance to get there. But i was walking these cobblestone streets and goods were waving american flags. Im not going to read the text not politically correct but there were people that been on the planet for a while grabbing my hands, local officials, eager to welcome me. They wanted america to be present and to help them and they knew we were a force for good. This was incredibly representative of what i see every day as i travel the world. All around the world people are happy to see the american secretary of state. They want to know that america is there. They want to forcefully advocate things they know they believe in or know they ought to and their government ought to believe in. And i believe firmly that because were doing this hard work of diplomacy many of our friends and partners are seeing the world with new eyes. For now thats the story. Im confident our record backs it up and history will reflect that as well. I wish you all the best of luck. Thank you all for being here with me today. I look forward to taking some questions. God bless heritage and god bless the United States of america. [ applause ] the gentleman joining the secretary on stage heritage executive Vice President kim holmes. Thank you all. Thank you. [ applause ] good morning, mr. Secretary. Good morning. Good morning to all of you. Its really a pleasure and honor to have all of you here this morning. Its an anthony have you as well, mr. Secretary. We follow what you do very closely. Were very proud to have you here this morning. And we only have a very little bit of time and i want to use it as wisely and as efficiently as i can. So im going launch into a couple of questions. That sounds great. I appreciate that. Ill tribe inferiority as well. Good. [ laughter ] the first is i have spent the last couple of years as i mentioned to you in passing a minute ago traveling to europe on a speaking tour. Explaining to europeans mostly what the Trump Administration is doing and also where america is heading in the world. And its the question i most often get. Where is america heading in the world . Is this a new era were in . Does the Trump Administrations Foreign Policy represent a change from the past . If so whats new . How is it adapting to the new conditions and the new era that were now in . He yeah. So i get this question in europe too. Yes you do. And what i remind all the leaders with whom i meet is that the west, for an awfully long time, since 9 11 has spent an awful of resources on the counterterrorism fight. Weve done this collectively incredibly well. We should be proud of that. And should not let our foot off the gas or our foot off the radical islamic terrorist throat but the challenge is, the big challenge the world faces today is different from that or at least additive to that. I remind them that a nation unprepared to speak to their people candidly about the risk their nation faces is a nation that will ultimately succumb to those risks and america will never let that happen. President trump will never let that happen. You see it not only in defers budgets but all the American Power we bring to bear. Without a strong economy, without free markets and Economic Growth and well being, a nations capacity is limited. Not just their capacity to field an army or to fly an airplane but their capacity for the world to understand that this is a nation that has true, true ability to impact outcomes. We see this all the time in how the United States interactings economically. We use those economic tools to the benefit of the American People and the benefit of the world. I remind them of that. It has changed. The change thats taken place in china is something that all of us sat on for too long. Didnt do nearly enough. When i say all of us, i served in congress for a handful of years. I didnt do enough. But we now can see this very clearly and we see the challenges clearly. We want the world including europe to understand this risk. Huawei gets how toed a lot. So much bigger and deeperer and challenge so much greater. We need align collectively to ensure that this idea that weve had as a central tenet how the world will engage. Free trade, free commerce, central principles that animate what our founders talked about in our constitution need to und undergird the world for our kids and grandkids. Trump administration has taken a va realistic view of the world, to call them like we see them, to push back against those threats that are real. We have been restrained too. I talked about this in some remarks i gave at claremont. We recognize we cant be all things all the time. Notation has the capacity to deliver that. That mean not that you abandon the field but that you calibrate your risks. You do that in your business. We do it in our families. We assign resources against problem sets to match the threat. I think that is a those two things undergift card a set of changes that this administration set in motion. Im confident the next administration will come and see these issues the same way because they are right. And im confident that american policy will go deliver american capabilities around the world to support our friends and allies and continue to ensure that america has a next centric thats successful and prosperous for our people. Do you think the old guard in europe is getting it . Do i think the old guard in europe is getting it. Europe is a big place. [ laughter ] thats why i asked. That was efficient. That was very efficient. [ laughter ] [ applause ] good. Mr. Secretary, you mentioned in your speech the importance of religious liberty. Conservatives in this room, the Heritage Foundation certainly believe in the importance of protecting, preserving anded a haven advancing religious liberty. Not every country in the world value religious liberty like we do and if you go into International Organizations like the United Nations it is not valued as much as we would like it to be. Can you say a little more about why this religious liberty is so important to you and to the administration and what is groundbreaking in the approach that youre taking . So, ill start the first question is about why it matters. Theres a correlation between autonomy, human dignity, respect for every citizen, religious freedom as a component of that. Successful governments the capacity to have stability. And you can see nations that have more ljs liberty tend to view the world much closer to the way the United States views the world. We have a selfish interest apart from the human rights interest we have a strategic interest in that about 80 of the world live in places where theres no religious freedom or their religious freedom is limited in some significant way. Our approach has been and you can see this in the remarks that nearly every cabinet member gives. We invited these leaders from around the world nearly of every faith to come to washington to talk about this. And if you travel to visit a u. S. Embassy and meet someone on our team, an ambassador, whom ever, i would have failed as a leader if they dont understand this is a real priority for this administration. I think youll find they do. Deeply consistent with the way were trying to deliver Foreign Policy around the world too. You know, weve done our best to call out the absence of religious liberty in countries all across the world friends our friends you read the human rights report we put out every year. Its not just about religious freedom but Human Rights Violations around the world. Its a remarkable document. No other country does this. We identify every single incident where we found some violation of human rights. We list our friends. They call me immediately and say what eth what the heck are you doing . Its about creating a catalog so the world will know where this takes place. We watch countries. They are watching how america does. They are watching how President Trump addresses this set of issues and im convinced the work were doing will enhance religious freedom for millions and minimum loans of people around the world. Thank you. [ applause ] one last question. I know that in july the commission for inalienable rights was released. I know this is a commission and cause thats very important to you personally. It was took some time to get it up and running. Not everybody sees the tradition of human rights that you and i and founders and many in this room do. Can you say a few words about why that commission is so important and whats new about it . I personally have had something i cared about for a long time, since air force young soldier and was studying war theory and central ideas about how human beings had an obligation to interact and rises out of evangelical christian and i see this in my faith as well. When i came in my life as well. When i came to the state department, it became very clear to me, people throw around the word rights a lot and countries couch their behavior in the behavior of rights. And i watch the state department not have clarity about how they spoke about rights as we sent these amazing Young Americans out to the field to interact with their counterparts all across the world. I wanted to make sure that they had a grounding in what were these rights, the ones that truly mattered and were real. I started thinking about this early in my time. Were in a good place now, well kick it off tomorrow with our first public hearing. There will be those who think were just all wet, so be it. Well have a good discussion. But the idea is to take and reground the rights that we talk about in the traditions of america what was in our declaration of independence and our constitution and to take another look at them. We know about the human rights declaration from 1948, state department was very involved in that. We want to lay down with clarity not only what the human rights are, these fundamental rights are, but from what it is they are derived, how we got there, because we think thats important to understand as well, and well put out a document that i think will be a true marker for the world to talk about human rights and the right way. When you see venezuela get on the Human Rights Council at the u. N. , it cries out for a reexamination of these fundamental First Principles and its not about policy. Its about understanding these First Principles in a way that are consistent with the american tradition. We brought scholars from across the political spectrum together, theyll think, work, talk, write and well see what comes forward. Mr. Secretary, thank you very much for your time this morning. I understand you get to go home to kansas in too long. Have a safe trip back. Thank you very much for coming this morning. Lets welcome and thank you the secretary of state pompeo. [ applause ] thank you. [ applause ] thank you all. [ applause ] this saturday on American History tv, on lectures in history at 8 00 p. M. Eastern, the 1981 trial of jean harris the woman accused of a doctor. She was smart. She did well in high school. She went off to smith college. She graduated phi beta kappa, she did everything a wealthy woman of that era is supposed to do. She says theres a struggle over the gun. She testify that is he hits her in ways that she had hit her before. Theres no evidence either way that he had hit her prior to this. And at 10 on reel america, Richard Nixons november 3rd, 1969 silent majority speech. I ask for your support. I pledged in my campaign for the presidency to end the war in a way that we could win the peace. I have initiated a plan of action which will enable me to keep that pledge. Sunday at 6 00 p. M. Eastern, former u. S. Foreign Service Officer on his time as a hostage in iran. What says in your culture that permits you to detain a guest against his will . And at 8 00 on the presidency, Ronald ReaganWhite House Political Affairs director and historian on reagans campaigns for the white house. Reagan just cleans up in new hampshire, he wins 21, and it was such momentum that its a good thing we won by a large margin because we already spent most of our money. Explore our nations past on American History tv, every weekend on cspan3. Thinking about participating in cspans student cam 2020 competition, but youve never made a documentary film before. No problem. We have resources on our website to help you get started. Check out our website for producing information and video links to footage in the cspan library. Teachers will find resources on the teachers materials page. My advice to anyone who wants to compete is to find a topic that youre passionate about. Were asking middle and High School Students to create a Short Documentary thon issues tt you would like the president ial campaigns to talk about. Get a camera, microphone and start filming and produce the best video that you can possibly produce. Visit student cam. Org for more information today. Members of congress who were National Security before being elected talk about the role of congress in foreign affairs. The Bipartisan Group discusses u. S. Leadership in the world. They were also asked about the whistleblower complaint and President Trumps decision to withdraw troops from northern syria