Sen. Cruz Explains the Three Major Threats Facing the United States

Editors Note: The Claremont Institute honored Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, with its 2014 Statesmanship Award at the organization’s annual dinner in honor of Sir Winston Churchill on Saturday evening. Previous recipients of the Statesmanship Award include Jack Kemp, Ronald Reagan, Clarence Thomas, William F. Buckley, Dick Armey, Margaret Thatcher, Milton Friedman, and Rush Limbaugh.

During my remarks, I explained the three major threats facing the United States and what conservatives must do to turn the country around, stressing that standing for sound principles is a requirement of winning public support.

• Global loss of American leadership is making the world a more dangerous place; 
• Continued economic stagnation is making it harder for people who are struggling;
• President Obama is behaving in a consistently lawless manner, undermining the Constitution and the rule of law.

There is a debate in Washington about what the right approach is to win these arguments, to turn the country around, and to pull back from the fiscal and economic brink. And, there are some in Washington who say the winning approach is to stick your head down, dont rock the boat, and for Lords sake, dont stand for anything. They say with this world-weariness, this sense of wisdom, "Now, now lad, youve got to win elections and standing for principle is inconsistent with winning elections." What I want to suggest to you is that is a false dichotomy.