David M. McIntosh - member, U.S. House of Representatives (2nd District-IN); former special assistant to President Reagan for Domestic Affairs; special assistant to Attorney General Edwin Meese III in the Reagan Administration; senior fellow, Citizens for a Sound economy; former liaison, President's Commission on Privatization; J.D., University of Chicago; B.A., Yale University.

 What an amazing few years!

The President of the United States, who as a Democrat defies historical trends and handily wins election to a second term, is mired in a sex scandal from his first term in office. His reputation is so tarnished there are even rumors he has fathered illegitimate children. Terrorists strike at U.S. facilities overseas and our military responds swiftly and with superior force. The American people rush to consume the latest high-tech products and leisure vehicles. Union strikes and stock market scares pepper an otherwise booming economy. And culturally, we see a mighty struggle between traditional moral values and a desire for immediate gratification. The popular media heralds the new "gay" lifestyle while at the same time more and more Americans turn toward faith and spiritual leadership for their families.

Sound like the story of our decade? Actually, all of these events took place in the late 1890s -- 100 years ago.

The President embarrassed by scandal was Grover Cleveland, not William Clinton. His weakness was named "Maria" not "Monica." The terrorist bombing was the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine, which led to a swift American victory in the Spanish-American war. The new high-tech products were not the latest web browser and cell phone, but the automobile, traveling at speeds of over 5-mile-per-hour and the light bulb, which thanks to Thomas Edison, was replacing gas lamps across America. The leisure vehicles were newly-designed bicycles, not Sports Utility Vehicles. The decade was known as the "Gay 90s."

Although the word had a different meaning then than today, it showed a mighty struggle between waning Victorian virtues and new lifestyles. Yet out of that cultural struggle emerged what historians call the Third Great Awakening. It ultimately gave birth to the YMCA and Temperance Movements, Rev. Moody's powerful preaching, and institutions, such as the Boy Scouts, founded explicitly on Christian principles. These years marked the beginning of the American Century. And though Americans alive at the time could not have known it, they were about to create a nation that would end the century as the world's lone military superpower and its most materially-blessed nation.

Over the next 100 years, fundamental American values of freedom and democracy spread around the globe. But not without sacrifice -- brave American troops won two bloody World Wars to save the world from tyranny. Communism was born and communism died as Ronald Reagan and Mrs. Thatcher guided the West to victory in the Cold War.

From Teddy Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan, America was blessed with leaders who shared an abiding faith in God; who championed individual freedom at every turn; who built up a strong national defense, understanding that we can only achieve peace through strength; and who sought to uplift the Americans spirit.

In short, America flourished because we chose to remain faithful to fundamental American principles.

Yet today, at the end of the American Century, storm clouds loom on the horizon. For while America will end the 20th century as the world's lone military superpower, our cultural values and our political system are under attack. Human life is no longer deemed sacred. Our Yellow Pages are littered with ads of medical clinics where young mothers can end the lives of their unborn children. And if Dr. Kevorkian has his way, we will see assisted suicide clinics spring up around the country like deadly mushrooms after rain.

What cultural trends can possibly explain the top-of-the-chart ratings for both "Touched by an Angel" and "The Jerry Springer Show"?

Politically, America seems to be schizophrenic as well. In the last four elections voters teetered back and forth between Republicans -- who stand for free markets, less government, individual freedom, strong defense, and family values -- and Democrats -- who want more government, less defense, are suspicious of free markets, support abortion on demand, and want the "village," not the family, to raise the next generation.

Republicans won an historic victory in '94, but lost to the proponents of Big Government in 1996 and 1998. Today in Washington, for only the second time in American history, the President has been impeached: This time for clearly breaking the law and using his high office to trample on the rights of individual citizens seeking a fair trial in our courts. Yet Americans have little faith that the institution designated in the Constitution to decide the President's fate -- the United States Senate -- will make the right decisions.

But doing the right thing is not always politically popular. It is very clear that Clinton did the deeds of which he stands accused. And virtually every senator knows that Clinton has done great damage to the fabric of our constitution. After all, to vote to acquit -- to let him off -- one either has to accept the notion that it is "okay to lie" under oath, or that the President is above the law. Yet the polls show a large majority of Americans want the whole affair to go away. Indeed the Clinton presidency reflects better than anything else the contradictory public desires. On the one hand, 66% of Americans do not believe President Clinton shares their moral values, according to a recent NYT poll. Yet in that same poll, 62 percent said they approved of the way he was doing his job.

Clearly, as we enter the next century -- and the new millenium -- America stands at a crossroads. Where do we go from here? That is what I wish to speak with you tonight about.

Tonight we must ask ourselves: Will we rise up and help lead America one more time down the path that is faithful to the fundamental American principles? Or do we sit back and watch her sink into an abyss of political and moral decline that will destroy the American dream for coming generations? As an optimist, I say we stand and fight.

I must admit that my wife, Ruthie, and I often wonder whether decline is inevitable. Then we realize that our Founding Fathers and each successive generation have faced similar challenges. Moral decay has been cleansed by renewal, time and time again. Our darkest days have been followed by the dawning of new prosperity and true happiness. Decline is not inevitable. But it can happen, if good men and women leave the field -- whether it be in our home, our community or our nation's capital.

I am heartened when I meet young people. Generation X is more committed to family, more conservative in their politics and faithful in their religion. We must chose rightly, so they may come of age in the next American Century.

If we are to succeed, we must accomplish three tasks. First, we must put forward a bold agenda that reflects conservative principles. Second, we must dedicate ourselves to the hard work that it takes, not only to win the elections, but to win the hearts and minds of our fellow Americans. And third, conservatives must unite with all those who share our belief in fundamental American principles -- rather than fight among ourselves.

The other day, as I was contemplating these tasks, I was struck by how a fairy tale I was reading to our little daughter Ellie applied to us today. Like me, you have probably long forgotten the story of the wolf and the three pigs. You remember -- the three pigs who couldn't decide what type of house to build to protect themselves from the wily wolf whose favorite meal was roast pork? They each built their own house -- one out of straw, the next out of sticks and third out of bricks. And the wolf came and huffed and puffed and blew the first house down and scared the pig to death, who had to run begging for safe refuge in the house made of sticks. Then the wolf huffed and puffed and blew down the house made of sticks. They both had to flee to the brick house. He couldn't blow down the third pig's house since it was made of sturdy bricks.

We must lay before the American people a sturdy agenda, built brick by brick upon the enduring principles of freedom, strong defense and moral renewal.

 Freedom -- so that Americans can live their lives without interference from big government.

Strength -- so that America can continue to protect freedom and our national interests from the wolves at home and abroad.

And cultural renewal -- so that in addition to being a great country, America will remain a good country.

In the Congress, I serve as chairman of the Conservative Action Team. Called CATs for short. We're roughly fifty members -- founded by Ernie Istook and John Doolittle -- who are dedicated to fighting for conservative principles, not needless compromise. This year, we have a legislative agenda that embodies the fundamental American principles we want to succeed in the year 2000 and beyond.

The first item on our agenda will be a major, across the board cut in federal taxes.

The American family pays more in taxes than at any time in history. Our goal is to allow every American to keep 75 percent of what he earns, rather than sending it to Washington to be recycled and spent on more government programs. The President succeeded in convincing some people last year that a tax cut would have to wait. He said "every penny" of the surplus had to be go saving Social Security. Well, that was last year's excuse. In last Tuesday's State of the Union, the President said Social Security could be saved with just 60 percent. And that is his top priority. Of course, that depends on what the meaning of "IS" is. Because in the same breath, Clinton proclaimed over 70 new and increased spending priorities. But calling it a government surplus hides what this total really represents.

Imagine if you went to the grocery store to buy a gallon of milk. You give the cashier a $20 bill and he says, "Thanks, Jim." You ask, "What about my change?" The cashier then tells you, "Well, since you have $20 to spare, we figure we will keep the extra. It will go into our surplus. We'll use it to pay our baggers more or increase our store's ad budget." You'd be outraged. That's your money. The same principle holds true for Washington: It's our money. We earned it. We know best how to spend it.

What taxes should be cut? I say, "Let a thousand tax cuts bloom."

My friend and former boss Dan Quayle has proposed a bold plan to cut individual tax rates for all Americans by 30 percent. Steve Forbes continues to champion a flat income tax and eliminating taxes on Social Security, pensions, savings or inheritance. Republican leaders in the House and Senate have proposed a more modest 10 percent across-the-board cut.

In addition, we must also eliminate inequities in the tax code like the Death Taxes and the Marriage Penalty Tax. I have worked hard to eliminate the marriage penalty tax as a fundamentally immoral tax on the family. Today, 21 million couples in America pay, on average, $1,400 more in taxes -- some many times that amount -- just because they are married. A constituent of mine, Sharon Mallory, wrote me a letter about how the marriage penalty would hurt her. She wrote:Dear Congressman McIntosh:

My boyfriend, Darryl Pierce, and I would very much like to get married.

We both work at Ford Electronics and make less than $10 an hour; however, we do work overtime whenever it is available.

I can't tell you how disgusted we both are over this tax issue. If we get married, not only will I forfeit my $900 refund check, we would be writing a check to the IRS for $2,800.

Darryl and I would very much like to be married, and I must say it broke our hearts when we found out we can't afford it.

It broke my heart to read Sharon's letter. And I vowed then to never stop fighting to eliminate this evil tax.

Another major part of our agenda will be maintaining a balanced budget by rejecting Clinton's new spending and cutting federal spending where we can.

Ernest Istook is heading CAT's effort to use the power of Congressional oversight to shine light on Clinton/Gore's wasteful government programs.

Another major priority for members of the Conservative Action Team will be to fortify our national defense. This objective has two parts. First, we will fight to dramatically increase spending on military readiness. Cap Weinberger laid out the argument so eloquently last night -- why, in a dangerous world, we must reverse the Clinton cuts in our defense budget. Only with a strong military can we have peace through strength.

Our other priority will be to fully fund the deployment of a real national missile defense system. And pass a law withdrawing the United States from the ABM treaty once and for all. Most Americans are not even aware that we do not have the capacity to stop even a single, incoming ballistic missile.

At home in Indiana, when I point out that, thanks to President Clinton, China now has the capacity to launch a nuclear missile that with 95% accuracy can wipe out the city of Indianapolis -- folks are stunned. Thanks to Ronald Reagan we have the technology to stop this type of attack. It is our moral duty to build and deploy it.

Cultural issues also will play a prominent role in our agenda. CATs will seek to remove government policies which are harmful to families and which abridge individual liberties protected by our Constitution. The first duty of any government, is to protect life itself. On this 25th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, let us pledge we will do everything in our power to restore our constitutional protection of life at every stage, born and unborn. And we must protect families from policies like the marriage penalty I mentioned earlier, that seek to pull them apart.

As a new father, I am extremely troubled by current programs and policies that put the federal government between parents and children. There is no better example than the federal Title X program, which pays for family planning and abortion-related services.

Consider the case of the little girl from Lake County, Illinois, which my colleague Don Manzullo brought to the attention of Congress. When this young girl was thirteen years old, her 37-year-old teacher began molesting her. A few months into the abuse, the teacher decided he was sick of using condoms and brought the little girl to a place where he knew she could get birth control products without anyone finding out: The federally-funded county health department. This teacher knew that Title X rules prohibited clinics from notifying parents when issuing birth controls to minors. The young girl was given a shot of Depo-Provera, a powerful birth control drug that lasts three months. She would continue to receive shots in the coming months from the clinic. And her teacher continued to molest her -- all behind her parents' backs.

The crime was finally uncovered when the girl broke down and told her parents. The teacher was arrested and sentenced to ten years in prison. That this occurred to just one little girl is enough to leave you shaking in your boots with anger. But to think it's the policy of the federal government to shield a child molester from the law and to set up a wall between parents and their children is unconscionable.

Government should not stand between parents and their children, but on the side of parents who must raise the next generation of American citizens.

Finally, we must continue to fight for religious freedom. As a new congressman, I was invited to speak at graduation ceremonies at Triton High school, in a small town in central Indiana. I was so impressed as each of the students who spoke before me offered a prayer for their classmates. Yet the Supreme Court will not allow them to have a minister come and give the benediction. This is wrong. We need to restore freedom OF religion, not freedom FROM relegion.

These are some of the highlights of our CATs agenda for the next two years. They are the issues we will be fighting for inside the House of Representatives. It is my hope that they will become part of the agenda for the Republican party as we select a nominee for President in the year 2000.

I said earlier that in order to lay the groundwork for continuing the American dream, we would have to accomplish three tasks. Putting forward a bold agenda is merely the first part of the mission.

Second, we must commit ourselves to reaching out to the American people with our positive message. This requires hard work and patience. Remember the three pigs? It takes a lot of work to lay bricks. Two of the three were too lazy to build a sturdy foundation -- they almost perished. Conservatives must labor daily to lay the bricks of freedom, strong defense and moral values, that will allow us to continue to live in a great house -- one built to withstand the attacks of wolves, whether they be terrorists abroad or hedonism and corruption at home. In Congress that means we must overcome the pressures of Washington and pass legislation based on the fundamental, American principles and send them to the President. Good government does not require that Republicans send the President only bills he will sign. Good government requires us to do what's right.

Republicans in Congress should send to the President legislation that eliminates Death Taxes and the Marriage Penalty Tax, and cuts taxes for all Americans. We should send a bill to the President that commits the United States to immediate deployment of a real ballistic missile defense. And we should once again send the President legislation that bans partial-birth abortions. If the President signs any of these, the American people will prosper. If he vetoes them, the American people will be given a clear choice: as to who is fighting for freedom and who is fighting for bigger government.

 The third and final task we must accomplish in order to establish the right path for America's future is to stay united. I realize that the leadership of my party has sometimes strayed from its allegiance to principle. Too often, it seems that those in power try to gain status within the Beltway by compromising and ignoring our principles. I recognize the temptation has been great to send a message to our leaders, either by refusing to join the fight or by supporting another team.

But once again, I am reminded of our friends, the three pigs. They all knew the wolf was bad and that they were in peril. Yet they did not work together and build one single strong house. And so the wolf won two major victories with all his huffing and puffing.

We have new leadership emerging on our side. In Congress our new Speaker, Denny Hastert, IS a committed conservative -- a family man who loves his God. And at the state level, we have many principled and capable Republican governors. With each election, the new generation of Republicans in the Congress is younger and more willing to fight for fundamental Amerian principles.

And allow me to make two predictions about the 2000 presidential election. One, even without knowing who the Republican nominee will be, I can predict with reasonable certainty that he -- or she -- will be committed to cutting taxes, protecting America and defending values.

My second prediction, of which I am absolutely certain, is that the nominee of the other side will oppose all of these principles.

Friends, it is vital that we work together for victory in 2000. The stakes are too high. If the proponents of Big Government win, they control not only the White House and the executive branch. They will likely assume control of Congress -- literally in the House and de facto in the Senate where liberal Republicans join with Democrats to form a majority. In addition, the victor will be able to control the judiciary for a decade or more with two to three Supreme Court appointments and hundreds of lower court appointments. This will be a three-branch election.

As the curtain falls on the American Century, we stand at a crossroads. If we fight for fundamental American principles -- freedom, strong defense, cultural renewal, and families -- we can ensure that these American values dominate the next millenium as they did the last century.

Each of us tonight has to make a choice in our hearts -- to stand and fight against the odds; to prepare for the coming political battles knowing that victory may be temporary; and to work with leaders who share our values, knowing that our brothers-in-arms are mere mortals and may sometimes fail us along the way.

There will be times when we want to give up, when the cross will seem too heavy to bear. We need only to be reminded of our strength -- and of its all-powerful source.

Months before his re-election, Ronald Reagan told a group of his supporters from where they could draw inspiration in the days ahead. Reagan said, "When our struggle seems hard, remember what Eric Liddell, Scotland's Olympic champion runner said in Chariots of Fire":So where does the power come from to see the race to its end? From within. God made me for a purpose, and I will run for His pleasure. If we trust in Him, keep His word, and live our lives for His pleasure, He'll give us the power we need -- power to fight the good fight, to finish the race, to keep the faith.

And so tonight, right here at the Council for National Policy, we must rededicate ourselves, as men and women of honor, with God's help, to lead America down the right path at the crossroads of a new millenium -- the path of freedom and smaller government, the path of vigorous defense against all enemies of freedom at home and abroad, the path of strong families and moral renewal throughout the land. And so choosing tonight, when our children's children look back upon this era, they will say, "They chose the right path and ran the good race."

Thank you and God bless you.