ICYMI: ‘Why we put our faith in principles and not princes’: Rep. Roy speaks on Jefferson’s legacy

WASHINGTON—On Thursday, Congressman Chip Roy (TX-21) joined National Review's Rich Lowry and Young America's Foundation at the University of Virginia to deliver a speech in defense of Thomas Jefferson's legacy, the controversy now surrounding it, and its importance today.

Rep. Roy's full speech can be found here and some key quotes are below:

• Don't be afraid. You're never on the wrong side when you are on the side of freedom, ever.

• We take away our abilities to debate, to fight for what you believe in, and we lose the ability to fight for this higher law.

• And let us achieve a sense of unity in this country by agreeing to disagree, it is fundamentally American, it is part of our Constitution.

• Let us quit dwelling, however, on the negative- on the tearing down, on the ripping up of our history, and instead focus on the positive and what this country has achieved: the greatness, what it offers for all.

• That is America, that is our calling, that is why we are here, that is where we go. We stand athwart tyranny. We stand athwart tyranny over the mind of men. That is the Jeffersonian legacy and that is why we put our faith in principles and not princes.

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