{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.curtis.senate.gov/press-releases/curtis-delivers-maiden-speech-on-senate-floor", "CURTIS DELIVERS MAIDEN SPEECH ON SENATE FLOOR", "2025-05-14", "2025", "2025-05", "Republican", "Senate", "UT", "John R. Curtis", "C001114", "www.curtis.senate.gov", "curtis", "https://www.curtis.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "In an opinion piece published in the Deseret News prior to the speech, Senator Curtis invited constituents to share their own reflections on the four sites of his \u201clistening tour.\u201d The office received over 150 responses, including touching messages on the impact these sites had on individuals and families.\n\nThe full speech as prepared for delivery is below, and the video file can be downloaded here.\n\nMr. President, having been a United States Senator for exactly 131 days, I am attempting to follow the advice of my great-grandmother, who was the first woman school board president of the Salt Lake City School District. Grandma Genevieve said, \u201cListen first, speak when it matters, and let your actions carry the weight.\u201d That may sound radical in our social-media-driven world and DC politics\u2014but I am committed to giving it a try.\n\nAs I begin my service in the Senate, it matters to me that both what is said and what is done in this body will not just make noise, but will actually make a difference for the citizens of the nation.\n\nTen days ago, I invited the citizens of Utah and the nation to join me in my preparations for this maiden floor speech today.\n\nI invited them to follow me, virtually, to places that speak to the heart and soul of the nation. I visited four places where our bedrock strength and enduring principles are found, and where I believe our bold future will begin. I have called it my \u201cThink Before I Speak: A Pilgrimage to American Principles\u201d tour.\n\nI began my journey with a hike to Ensign Peak\u2014a small hill just above the Utah Capitol that overlooks the Salt Lake Valley. It\u2019s where we learn about pioneer values\u2014and vision.\n\nJust days after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, my pioneer ancestors climbed that very peak. What they saw wasn\u2019t what was\u2014but what could be.\n\nThey looked out over a barren desert and imagined a thriving community, a home for faith and family, and a crossroads not just for the West but for the world.\n\nPresident Gordon B. Hinckley, a pioneer descendant and Church leader, once reflected on that moment atop Ensign Peak.\n\nHe said if a news reporter had been there that July morning in 1847, they would\u2019ve scoffed at the idea. A ragtag group of exiles, driven from their homes, standing in worn-out boots, almost a thousand miles from the nearest settlement. They were in an untried climate. They had never raised a crop here. They had not built a structure of any kind. Such a grand vision would have seemed laughable.\n\nWell, those pioneers didn\u2019t just dream. They came down from that peak and went to work.\n\nStanding there at the summit a few days ago, a strong, steady wind blew against my face. I couldn\u2019t help but think of my pioneer ancestors who faced the same winds, with far heavier burdens. I saw them, pushing forward with courage and faith, laying the foundation for the life we now enjoy.\n\nFrom that height, much of the valley was hidden beneath a green canopy. But even though I couldn\u2019t see it all\u2014I knew the secret to Utah\u2019s success. It\u2019s not just in the buildings or the businesses. It\u2019s in the people.\n\nPeople known for their kindness. For their hard work, resilience, independence and for their deep and abiding belief in God.\n\nThe spirit that built this place is still alive. It calls us to be all that our pioneer ancestors need us to be\u2014for the future generations they saw.\n\nWe don\u2019t get everything right in Utah, but we\u2019ve built something remarkable\u2014a strong economy, fiscally responsible government, educational opportunity, and real upward mobility.\n\nThese aren\u2019t accidents. Washington could use a little more Ensign Peak thinking\u2014and a lot more pioneer doing.\n\nMy listening tour next took me to hallowed ground.\n\nWhen I visited Arlington National Cemetery. I found myself drawn to reading the words and names on the white stones. Korea, WWI, WWII, Vietnam\u2014unknown, unknown, unknown, and occasionally on the back\u2014names like Ruth, Ethel, Alta with the words\u2014\u201dHis Wife.\u201d\n\nI paused to try and hear the voices of those laid to rest in that sacred place. What would they say to me\u2014a U.S. Senator charged with safeguarding the Constitution and the freedoms they gave their lives to defend?\n\nSometimes their voices whispered gently; sometimes they spoke with striking clarity. But never, ever did they ask about my political party.\n\nThose honored dead don\u2019t care if future generations have the latest gadgets or a life of ease\u2014but they do care deeply that those generations have souls\u2014souls with the strength forged by doing hard things. Souls that cherish freedom, pursue peace, and carry the moral courage to stand for what\u2019s right.\n\nThey remind me that the Constitution was not just a clever document\u2014it was, and remains, divinely inspired.\n\nPresident Ronald Reagan once said, \u201cFreedom is one of the deepest and noblest aspirations of the human spirit.\u201d\n\nThose who rest beneath the white stones at Arlington didn\u2019t die just so Americans could live free\u2014they died so that freedom could take root wherever the human spirit longs for it.\n\nTheir legacy isn\u2019t just national\u2014it\u2019s universal.\n\nTheir sacrifice calls us to something higher.\n\nTwo stones next to each other caught my attention. William W Kirby and William W Kirby Jr. The father had fought in WWI and lived 85 years. The son fought in World War II and died in combat, earning a purple heart, at age 20.\n\nFamily. I recognized that families fight for freedom.\n\nAs an American family we should all stand at Arlington as if we all had lost our son, our daughter, our spouse, our friend\u2014because we have! Our honored dead are indeed our brothers and sisters.\n\nSo, let\u2019s remember, that we honor best those who have gone before by standing for freedom, today.\n\nI walked into the Holocaust Museum alone, but I wasn\u2019t alone. I was surrounded by thousands, mostly young Americans. I found myself wondering: Do they see what I\u2019m seeing? Or do they \u201csee without seeing, and hear without understanding\u201d? This place forces us to confront the darkest chapters of human history\u2014and asks whether we\u2019ve truly learned the lessons.\n\nAs I walked the halls, I was struck by how easily a human life can be devalued. I kept asking, \u201cHow?\u201d:\n\nHow did so many participate?\n\nHow did others stand by?\n\nHow did some serve to enable?\n\nHow have so many already forgotten?\n\nThe late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks once identified both the problem and the solution when he warned: \u201cWhen morality is outsourced to either the market or the state, society has no substance, only systems. And systems are not enough.\u201d\n\nToday, we are outsourcing more than just governance:\n\nWe are outsourcing responsibility.\n\nCongress outsources lawmaking to the executive branch.\n\nCommunities outsource compassion to agencies.\n\nParents outsource teaching values to institutions.\n\nCitizens outsource critical thinking to curated social media feeds.\n\nAnd far too often, we outsource truth itself to voices that may be loud\u2014but not always wise.\n\nRabbi Sacks also said, \u201cMorality cannot be outsourced because it depends on each of us.\u201d\n\nThe Holocaust Museum reminds us that truth\u2014like morality\u2014must be studied, not streamed, learned, not assigned, and understood with the weight of history, not just the opinions of the moment.\n\nThe values our nation needs\u2014moral clarity, historical understanding, a commitment to peace\u2014can\u2019t be manufactured by the government, or mass-produced by culture. They must be grown, like they always have been, in the cottage industries of family and community.\n\nFor my fourth, and final visit, I went to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.\n\nI did this because I believe unity begins with understanding.\n\nAnd like many Americans, I wasn\u2019t raised with firsthand experience of the injustices faced by Black Americans, or Native Americans, or others who\u2019ve endured the heavy burden of prejudice.\n\nI\u2019ve come to understand that listening and learning are not one-time acts\u2014they require humility, honesty, and a lifetime of commitment.\n\nAs I walked through the museum, I found myself thinking of\u2014and hearing the voice of\u2014my dear friend and former colleague, Congresswoman Mia Love.\n\nMia broke barriers as the first Black Republican woman elected to Congress. She used her voice to lift and to call us to our better angels, and now Mia is one. At her funeral, her children read a final message she had written to the nation\u2014words that deserve to be remembered.\n\nMia wrote: \u201cSome have forgotten the math of America\u2014whenever you divide, you diminish. The goodness and compassion of the American people is a multiplier that simply cannot be measured.\u201d\n\nShe reminded us that America\u2019s greatness doesn\u2019t come from uniformity\u2014it comes from unity.\n\nAt a time when division too often drowns out decency, Mia\u2019s words offer a roadmap back to our shared purpose\u2014not based on race, status, or party, but on the simple truth that we are Americans.\n\nMy visit to the African American Museum also reaffirmed something I deeply believe: that as long as bigotry, discrimination, and unfair treatment still exist, we cannot claim to be united.\n\nTo fully heal, somehow, America must learn the delicate dance of leaving things behind and at the same time never forgetting them. That is easy to say, hard to do\u2014and together, we must do it.\n\nFor her courage and conviction, her voice, and vision for America\u2014Mia absolutely belongs in the African American Museum\u2014and even more, in the hearts of every American.\n\nThank you for joining me on that journey. We could spend days discussing the principles each of these sites contain.\n\nIf we did\u2014I would be on this floor longer than my friend and colleague, Senator Cory Booker.\n\nI do want to thank my Senate colleagues and the many citizens who have shared their lessons from these sacred places\u2014your insights will guide me in my service.\n\nIn the short time I\u2019ve had to travel my state since becoming a Senator, I\u2019ve felt something clear and consistent\u2014citizens want President Trump to be successful. Citizens also want Congress to work. Not just show up, not just argue\u2014they want us to succeed.\n\nAnd I\u2019ve said many times, I want both the President and this institution, the Senate, to be wildly successful.\n\nSometimes, that desire requires us to be wildly honest\u2014something that\u2019s become all too rare in Washington.\n\nThe way I see it, the odds of Congress delivering real results for the American people go up dramatically when we start telling each other the truth\u2014not just behind closed doors, but out in the open, where the public can see, what I believe is their right to know.\n\nHonest policy conversations on issues that are vital to the foundation of our future matter more than ever.\n\nI have spent most of my time in Congress focused on four major priorities that I believe deserve a fresh and honest look from all of us in the Senate.\n\nEnergy\n\nSo, let\u2019s be honest\u2014it\u2019s time we talk more openly about the importance of clean energy.\n\nConsumers are asking for cleaner, more responsible energy choices. At the same time, we need to be realistic about the demands of powering a modern nation. Affordability matters. Reliability matters. And we must protect\u2014not surrender\u2014our energy independence.\n\nPresident Trump has put America back on the right path when it comes to energy.\n\nI am convinced that a healthy economy and a healthier environment are not mutually exclusive\u2014I actually believe they are compatible and inseparable.\n\nThe simple truth is that Americans want energy that is more affordable, reliable, and cleaner\u2014and they deserve honest, common-sense policies that deliver all three.\n\nLocal Communities\n\nTo my colleagues from the East, it may be hard to grasp just how deeply federal overreach affects daily life in Utah.\n\nIn some counties, more than 90% of the land is owned and controlled\u2014not by local leaders or communities\u2014but by a distant federal government.\n\nThat\u2019s not theoretical; it\u2019s the daily reality for much of the West.\n\nI often say that the best environmentalists in the world are the farmers and ranchers of Utah. They hate it when I say that! But it is true because Utahns live closest to the land so we know it, we care for it, and we depend on it.\n\nWe don\u2019t want to be managed; we want to be trusted. We want stewardship, not control.\n\nI look forward to working with President Trump to restore local control and stewardship for the land we love.\n\nChina\n\nFor decades, we\u2019ve operated under the hope that bringing China to the economic table\u2014even as they stole intellectual property, cheated on labor practices, and manipulated trade\u2014would lead them toward democracy.\n\nLet\u2019s be honest: it hasn\u2019t.\n\nIn fact, they\u2019ve moved further away from our values. This isn\u2019t just about trade or technology; it\u2019s about national security, economic freedom, and a commitment to the rule of law.\n\nWe need fact-based policies with meaningful and measurable consequences. It\u2019s time to protect the American Dream\u2014not subsidize the Chinese one.\n\nDebt and Deficit", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T00:49:36Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.curtis.senate.gov/press-releases/curtis-delivers-maiden-speech-on-senate-floor"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3909060508012772, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}