Tallahassee, Florida – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis started his second term on Tuesday.
Hit the play button above to watch the entire swearing-in ceremony, including DeSantis’ second inaugural address.
And below is the full transcript of his remarks.
Related story: ‘Freedom lives in our great Sunshine State’: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis vows to start second term
Chief Justice, Ministers and Citizens:
From the Space Coast to the Sun Coast, from St. John’s to St. Lucie, from the streets of Hialeah to the Speedway of Daytona, from Okeechobee to Micanopy.
Liberty lives here in the wonderful Sunshine State of Florida!
It lives on in the courage of those who patrol the streets and keep our communities safe. It lives in an industry of people working long hours to earn a living and support their families. Living in the determination of those who grow our food, living in the wisdom of the elderly, seeing Florida as the land of the free, dreaming of historic numbers of families who have moved from thousands of miles away. lives in sane country.
So many states in our country have undermined their citizens over the past few years, so we lifted our people up in Florida.
Florida stood strong as the cornerstone of freedom when other states consigned their people’s liberty to the trash can.
At a time when the world went insane—when common sense suddenly became an extraordinary virtue—Florida was a haven of sanity and a bastion of freedom for fellow Americans, and even the rest of the world.
As captain of a nation’s ship, you choose to sail the tumultuous seas of freedom rather than flinch on the calm docks of tyranny.
We face attacks, we take blows, but we weather the storm, stand our ground and do what is right.
As the Psalm reminds us, “I will not be afraid even if tens of thousands attack me from all sides.”
We refused to use polls or put our finger on the wind. Leaders lead, not follow.
We have articulated our vision of a free and prosperous nation.
We have implemented that vision through persistence and hard work.
We are getting good results.
And now, we’re here today because the people of Florida have recognized our record-breaking commitment to fashion.
Florida shows that results matter. We lead by actions, not just words.
Four years ago, we committed to pursuing a bold agenda. We did just that and produced results:
We said we would ensure Florida taxed lightly, regulated reasonably, and kept spending modest.
We promised to enact a major education reform, and we have done it.
We said we would end judicial activism by appointing lawyers who understood the proper role of judges.
We promised to usher in a new era of stewardship of Florida’s natural resources by advancing water quality and restoration efforts in the Everglades, and we delivered.
We said we stand for law and order and support the men and women of law enforcement.
We promised to fix Florida’s electoral mismanagement and hold capricious officials accountable, and we did.
It said it would help areas of northwestern Florida hit by Hurricane Michael, and it did.
When Hurricane Ian struck last year, the state coordinated a massive mobilization of response personnel, facilitated the fastest power restoration on record, and quickly rebuilt major bridges wiped out by the hurricane. We have stood for the people of Southwest Florida and will continue to do so in the weeks, months and years to come.
These and other efforts make Florida a national leader.
We are #1 in net immigration in these US
Florida is #1 fastest growing state
We are number one in new business formation
Florida is number one in tourism
We are number one in financial freedom
Florida is #1 in Educational Freedom
And we rank #1 for parental involvement in education
Florida also ranks first for public higher education
This is a record we can all be proud of.
And we’re not done yet:
Florida is racking up a record budget surplus and needs to enact a record amount of tax cuts, especially for Florida families struggling with inflation.
We must ensure that our school system caters to parents and students, not to partisan interest groups. We must also ensure that higher education institutions focus on academic excellence and the pursuit of truth, rather than the imposition of fashionable ideologies.
Florida has always had to be a great place to raise a family. Enact more family-friendly policies to make it easier to raise children and protect them from those who try to deprive them of their innocence.
We will always maintain law and order, we will always support law enforcement, we will always reject anti-crime policies that endanger our communities.
Florida is now in a golden age to protect our precious natural resources. Our momentum is strong and we will finish what we started. We leave Florida to God!
That’s all we promise.
Our federal constitutional system, with 50 states that can pursue their own policies, is often referred to as the laboratory of democracy.
The last few years have witnessed a major test of governance philosophy as many jurisdictions have pursued paths very different from those we have pursued here in Florida.
The policies pursued by these states have caused a massive exodus of productive Americans from these jurisdictions.Florida serves as the most desirable destination, the promised land of sanity. increase.
Many of these cities and states have embraced fashionable ideologies at the expense of enduring principles.
They have harmed public safety by indulging criminals and attacking law enforcement.
They have placed an unfair burden on taxpayers to fund unfathomable levels of public spending.
They have undermined education by subordinating the interests of students and parents to partisan interest groups.
They impose medical authoritarianism under the guise of pandemic mandates and restrictions that lack scientific evidence.
This strange but pervasive ideology that permeates these policy measures, intended to act in the name of justice for those marginalized, is an eye-opener to the American system. , rejecting merit and achievement, and advocating identity essentialism.
We reject this awakened ideology.
We want normalcy, not philosophical madness!
We do not allow reality, fact and truth to be optional.
Never surrender to an awakened mob.
Florida is where the awakened die!
Today, Florida’s success is made more difficult as Washington, DC’s federal agency struggles.
The federal government overspends with inflation, weakening the country and making its citizens poorer. We have enacted pandemic limits and mandates based more on ideology and politics than on sound science. This eroded freedom and hindered commerce.
It has recklessly encouraged open borders: ridiculed the rule of law, allowed massive amounts of drugs to flood our states, imported criminal aliens, and killed millions. We are allowing illegal aliens to flow into our country, costing communities and taxpayers.Land.
It imposes an energy policy that cripples our domestic production, causes higher energy costs for our people, erodes our energy security, and in the process, our national security. .
It exercises its authority through a chaotic, unaccountable, contactless bureaucracy that presses on us and imposes its will on us, rather than acting on our behalf.
The results were predictably disastrous.
This has made many people pessimistic about the future of the country. Some say failure is inevitable.
Florida proves We the People are not destined to fail.
Decline is a choice. Success is achievable. And freedom is worth fighting for.
Today’s threats to freedom are more complex and pervasive than ever before, making it difficult to fight for freedom. Threats can come from the entrenched bureaucracy of Washington, DC, the jetsetters of Davos, and the corporations that wield public power.
But we have to fight.
We embrace the founding creed that our rights are not conferred by the courtesies of the nation, but by the hand of the Almighty.
We reject the idea that autonomy can be subcontracted to a technocratic elite that reduces humans to mere data points.
We advocate the restoration of age-old constitutional principles so that government by the people, by the people, for the people will not perish from this planet.
Florida has paved the way to protect what the Father of this nation called the “Sacred Fire of Liberty.”
That’s the fire that kindled at Independence Hall when 56 men pledged their lives, property and sacred honor to establish a new nation born free.
That’s the fire that burned in the Gettysburg cemetery when the country’s first Republican president promised “a new birth of freedom” for this nation.
It is the fire that burned among the boys who stormed the coast of Normandy to liberate the continent and defend freedom in the world.
It was what the Declaration of Independence meant and meant that ignited the dream of a young preacher relayed on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. All people are created equal.
It is with this fire that the resolute president stood in Berlin, proclaimed “Take down this wall,” glared at the communists, and won the Cold War.
Carrying this torch is our responsibility here in Florida.
We do not run away from this responsibility. we welcome it.
we are vigilant
We stand firm in our faith.
we take courage
we will be stronger!
And, thank God, we are proud to be citizens of the great free state of Florida!
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