America is on the edge of great, mighty things

U.S. Representative Marsha Blackburn’s speech at the 2016 GOP Convention

Good evening to all and to those watching at home, on iPhones, and Twitter. I have a question. Do you want to help make America one again?

We’ve had enough of bloated budgets, un-kept promises, pointless redlines.

Enough division and heated rhetoric whose only purpose is to drive a wedge between us and our neighbor. Enough seeing our 401ks get smaller, our bills get bigger, our taxes go up and our paychecks shrink. We’ve had enough!

You’re ready for a change — for someone to take the reins, bring us together.

A man who can get the job done. Or as Larry the Cable guy would say, ‘Git ‘er done! Someone who comes in ahead of schedule and under budget.

Who’s read the specs, seen the bottom line, negotiated the cost, built something to last. A leader who knows the country is not full of assets to be managed, forgotten, deleted. Our nation’s citizens want a leader who knows the sure route to prosperity, who inspires, who knows leading is a hard-fought verb and not a subject line in an email.

That’s why I’m asking you to join me in electing Donald Trump president.

Donald Trump has the skills required to lead such a diverse nation, and can help people achieve greatness. He believes in the American dream because he has lived the American dream. Why?

Greatness isn’t new. President Lincoln stood in this very city 155 years ago with a call to bind together or perish apart: “If all do not join now to save the good ship of the Union this voyage, nobody will have a chance to pilot her on another.”

And again we find our nation in desperate need of true leadership. We are in desperate need of unity.

The last eight years have been a challenge, to our national and household budgets, our Constitution, to the men and women who give their lives and sacred honor to protect both.

Donald Trump is a leader who has seen challenges, learned lessons, solved problems, delivered results.

Some of our greatest leaders have been people who worked in the real world, know firsthand how cumbersome rules and unnecessary regulations get in the way of greatness.

I want a president who knows leadership is not as it appears, but as it performs. Who has seen something through from beginning to completion. Who looks at the mundane, sees magnificence. After all, that’s the magic of this country — everyday people, with big ideas and the drive to complete them, can change the world.

Leadership is not about lines on a resume.

Gender, race, zip code, pedigree, lineage and hurt feelings aren’t qualifiers. Leadership is a record of performance, accomplishment, team building.

That’s leadership you can trust.

Americans are bound together by the shared desire for freedom, faith, family, hope, and opportunity. We want a president who believes that you, not Washington, know what’s best. Believes you have the right to pursue your version of the American dream.

America is on the edge of great, mighty things. We need a President Donald Trump who is about freedom. Who will choose to unite, not divide.

Together we’ll get the country building, working, see jobs come back, communities grow, leaders lead.

Together we’ll be great again.

Together we’ll be one again.