at 10 :00 a.m., cdc director dr. rochelle walensky, dr. anthony fauci, and other members of the president's covid-19 response team testify before the senate health committee. and at 2:00 p.m., a house armed services committee will hear hearing on sexual assault in the military. former secretary of state mike pompeo was among a group of possible 2024 presidential candidates who traveled to des moines for the annual iowa family leaders summit. iowa is known to pick presidential nominees in the early stages of a presidential election. this runs about 30 minutes. [applause] >> please welcome president and ceo of the family policy alliance, credit bureaus -- craig deroache.

>> good afternoon. what a privilege to be with you, to be in the company of so many pastors and supporters. let's give a big round of applause to the family leaders for being able to pull together so many god-fearing christians in one room. my distinct privilege here, i flew in from detroit, i am the president and ceo of the family policy alliance, and my joke for you today is, why does the nfl not give a football team to the state of iowa? anybody know the answer? well, it would want a football team, too, so that is the reason. [laughter] the person who i have the distinct privilege of introducing to you all today has a football team. he is out of kansas, he was congressman there before he went

on to serve as director of the cia and as secretary of state for our great country, the 78th person to ever hold that decision. he is a very distinguished leader. what some of you may not know about secretary pompeo is that he finished first in his class at west point. first in his class at west point. that is saying something about the character and the competence of the individual. he also had a job that many of you might -- i heard the words scoff earlier. he was editor when he went to harvard law school, of the harvard law review. you know who else held that job? president obama. and there's rumors afoot, i have seen it on television and i have heard people talking about it, that he might be interested in one of president obama's other jobs, and i am here to tell you that he did a better job as a

harvard law review leader, and i bet he would do a better job if he were to become interested in that one. we have people in town to do this. i don't know the secretary personally, but i just want to give some insight from the time i had the privilege. in fellowship i was at the white house. i was talking to president trump, fairly independent-minded guy, but he did take advice from a couple of people. i will not out this person and say who they were, but he stepped out of the room, he and i were having a discussion about policy. he came back in the room and he said, i was talking with mike pompeo. he said -- i said, isn't he the director of the cia? it was completely off-topic, completely something different. he said, we have learned in this town it is really hard to find

someone to get something done you ask them to do, that is reliable and has the ability to actually do it, so we called him and asked him to do all sorts of things and he got it all done. and you will never read about it in the newspaper, but he is a great leader. in congress, he defended our issues strongly with his votes, in the policy alliance, focused on the families is where we are based out of. he defended religious liberty around the world as secretary of state. and he is with us now. please give a warm eye welcome to secretary mike pompeo -- a warm iowa welcome to secretary pompeo. mr. pompeo: thank you. there was a great introduction. thank you. [applause] thank you all. thank you, everybody. thank you all. it is great to see you all, it is great to be back in big rooms together, lots of energy.

i'm excited about that. it is also great because i an am unemployed former diplomat, so thanks for having me here today. [laughter] craig, thanks for that very kind introduction. i had this incredible privilege these past four years and it means so much to me to be back with you at this annual summit. to make it a habit. i love coming back to this place, to you as a group, and i, of course, love being back in my neck of the woods, the midwest. you know, flyover country. my wife, susan, was born in iowa city. although she was raised in wichita, she spent her summers at coralville and strawberry point. that's why i am back. i watched the northern iowa panthers destroy wichita state, many times. it was emotionally very difficult for me. [laughter]

look, it's been almost six months now since the administration left office. i'll be honest with you, it has been tough for me to watch what is going on and what has gone on in these six months. people say to me all the time, i will bet you're glad to have that big that big burden lifted from your shoulders. and i have to tell you, i am not. i wish that i was still there. i wish that i still had the opportunity to do the work that we did for four years, protecting and securing your freedom. protecting your rights. [applause] all of the things -- all of the things i got to do. i was occupying an office held by thomas jefferson and madison. my saturn i were walking down the hall there was to be sworn in as secretary of state, and he was looking, they have portraits of all the former secretaries, and there they were, all these greats. jefferson, madison. he says compare -- i don't know. [laughter] i don't know.

dad, i love you. good luck. you know the truth of the matter is, as you sit here, you know this, i am not going to be them. but they create a vision, a wisdom, an inspiration for me every day to know that the american founding, the things that you all love and know, our judeo-christian tradition, lives on. and this was the work we were engaged in. it gave me courage, too, when the new york times wrote that i was the worst secretary of state in history. [laughter] and the washington post followed it up the very similar headline. my son, he is now 30. he said, dad, i was doing some history and there was this fellow named elihu washburn -- anybody heard of elihu washburn? he lasted 11 days as secretary of state. [laughter] my son said, surely, you are better that he was. it can't be the worst. [laughter] but we know what the left is trying to do to human beings that believe in christ in the way that we do. we have seen it.

the president called me in january and said, the washington post headline today says you are my most loyal cabinet member. i reminded him they didn't mean that as a compliment. [laughter] look, you are here today talking , about leading with principles over politics. i want to say something i believe is very straightforward that you may not hear from other elected officials -- all of the crises facing our nation today , the big challenges that we are confronted with, are not going to be solved by any politician. it is not the way the lord works. our problem isn't the people affecting change, because we know only christ has the capacity to do that. and he will put principled men and women in those positions but it is he who will make the changes that our nation so richly needs, and will defend our nation at its most dire time of need.

even those words i, just told you you probably wouldn't have heard them from any secretary of state before me, republican or democrat. i was a different kind of secretary of state. my wife says i was the first redneck secretary of state. [laughter] and it did not always make friends for me. when we confronted the chinese communist party, that regardless party that is doing so much destruction to its own people and churches in china, to people who want to practice their faith in china, we know it wants to export that here at home. when we call them out on that, they sanctioned me. i could no longer travel to china. that was just fine, actually. [laughter] they reminded me that i was sanctioned on january 20 just as i was leaving office. they didn't even have the courage to sanction me while i was still secretary of state. my sanity is engaged. his fiancee said, and my marrying into the sanctions regime?

i said rachel, god bless you. enjoy shanghai before the wedding. [laughter] we can all be a force for good. the trump administration tried every day to be a force for good in humans' lives both here in the united states -- our first job was to make sure we put america first. [applause] we literally took american foreign policy and put america back in that foreign policy. today it would be climate change policy or whatever. a different way of thinking about how we preserve the things that we all care so deeply about and affect us each and every day in our lives. nowhere is that more important than with our families. i saw that as i traveled the world as secretary. i was deeply mindful of how my work impacted families here at home. it is why the family leader summit is so important. that is why i am so glad you are here today.

the name says so much. your mission should be every believer's mission, to inspire christ-like leadership in the home, church, and government. if we get that right, we will do what politicians have failed to do for an awfully long time now . i know when there is media in the back -- i know when they hear this, some will break the pitchforks. . i heard every day when i was secretary of state that i tried every morning to god to provide me guidance as i was trying to execute my mission, i understood they found that deeply troubling. by the way, the state department lawyers did not like it either. this was not a new idea that i was professing. i relied on god when i was a fifth-grade sunday school teacher, too and it served me pretty well. perfect practice for being part of a complex organization. [laughter] yes. fifth-grade sunday school

international diplomacy and what they have in common, it would be a long set of remarks. and love this quote from lincoln. he said, "i had been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that i had literally nowhere else to go ." the work of the organization that you are here to support today around the country, strengthens families. this organization is indispensable in that cause. i want to thank bob for his efforts to build that out. as we stare at the problem set we all are aware of today, we see on television, the breakdown of the american family is at the core of most of them. it is why the left attacks it, why the left wants to undermine the family unit upon which this nation was built. and you're all here because those are tax you know strike at the concept of america. not only is the family but our churches and schools are under

assault, too. and you are right, you are right that our nation is threatened. you are right to be concerned. that is why i am counting on you people of faith, people like susan, my wife, and me to champion our faith, to do so fearlessly, and to champion the american values that you know have made this the most exceptional nation in the history of civilization. you know, if we don't defend it, if we don't value life as an example, we know where this leaves us, right? i was able in my time as a christian to protect human dignity around the world that overlapped with america's interests. it was a centuries-old commitment, but one frankly that the biden administration has already sought to undo. we were in fact the most pro-life administration in the history of the united states of america. [applause]

i had worked on this issue when i was a member of congress. but i had this unique opportunity when i was a secretary of state, to work to make sure that not a single dollar that came into the state department ended up in the hands of an abortion provider summer in the world. not one of your taxpayer dollars ever. [applause] it was important as a first principle that no taxpayer dollars should go to any abortion anywhere. we also knew that devaluing human life undermines families and it is a hallmark of communist, totalitarian regimes around the world. i mentioned this, take the chinese communist party. they celebrated their 100th anniversary of the founding of the chinese communist party last week. this was an achievement. but they lay claim to being among the largest murderers of people in the world. today they are conducting what i declare to be genocide in

western china, detaining over a million muslims. forcing sterilizations. forced abortions. people living in internment camps that look and feel much like what the world saw and lived through in germany in the 1930's. i was proud of the work we did. to call them out and build a global coalition that recognized that this is fundamentally immoral and that to permit this to continue, undermined american security in a way that was deep and important and fundamental . i think, too, about the work that our administration did alongside great partners in israel. i was the first secretary of state ever travel to judea and samaria. it was important to make clear that we don't view israel as an occupying power. [applause] you know this, right?

this was the place where christ was born. he preached the gospel and went to die for the sins of the world . this is a special place. we were proud to do the work, whether it was moving our embassy, or smaller things like recognizing that passports could say that jerusalem, the city of peace, was an important place to the people of israel it was fun . the work that i did made clear that all settlements were not illegal, something that had been state department policy for an awfully long time. i was rewarded that they named a wine after me at a winery in judea. the joke was that it was great because it had an italian name on the label. [laughter] it was acknowledgment for the remarkable work that the trump administration did in protecting and preserving this most important alliance and recognizing that the rightful jewish homeland should be preserved and protected and the united states had an important role in doing that. [applause]

our faith was challenged when we saw just after our time in office, that the terrorists in gaza, rockets from iranian-backed terrorist group hamas in the gaza strip. it was an indication that america's capacity to work with israel and to deter and protect and defend israel was under threat. that this administration might not respond in the same way that ours would have. i hope this administration begins to get this right. as america's most senior diplomat i watched other countries try to undermine our most valuable institutions. it was to their benefit if our institutions no longer could stand the pressure. i saw this most clearly in the work that they did alongside those who are trying to destroy our educational institutions. you all see the garbage they're trying to teach in our schools today. it comes under various guises often called critical race

theory, suffice it to say that it is a suggestion that somehow our nation is inherently and systemically racist. this is a nation that has borne the costs and benefits associated with equality like no other nation in the world. we should be proud of it. we should not challenge our funding. it was novel. -- it was noble. [applause] they wanted to undermine. you saw the chinese communist party sit across from my successor in anchorage, alaska, and berate the american secretary of state and talk about the greatness of b.l.m. and talk about the riots we had in say that, america, are no better than we are. this is a godless nation challenging a god-fearing people. our leadership must stand up against these threats from outside. it is incredibly important. [applause] they frankly don't like capitalism very much either, because in many cases, they prefer that we adopt a model

that looks more like t heirs. more socialist. more -- less willing to reward those who work hard and keep their faith and practice their faith. these are nations who deny religious freedom. so when they saw during the crisis that resulted from double hung virus, they saw us to ginter undermine religious liberty at home here and they cheered. they cheered when the basalt city councils or county commissions or governors say, you can't worship freely with your other believers. we all know this. we could do this. we figured out a way to do this safely. we could keep health in mind and still worship jesus christ. when we begin to diminish our faith and to act in ways that are not only inconsistent with our constitution but deeply immoral, we become less secure.

those adversaries who want to undermine the very things we care most about to be the ones who cheer this along. i know you all will never permit this to happen and i know that the family leader is at the center of making sure these kinds of things don't happen. [applause] i want to talk about one more thing and then i have a couple of closing thoughts i want to leave you with at this important moment in our nations history. i want to talk about the risk we all have from crime raising here in the united states. we can talk about many reasons this exists the breakdown of the family the absence of community, fewer people worshiping, lots of reasons. but make no mistake about it, one of the reasons is that we have often in our major cities in america, given up the will to actually hold those who commit crimes accountable for the crimes they commit. this is not an american

tradition. to try and undermine those men and women who serve and say, we are not going to pay was much, and we will not recruit the next cop behind the, and if you do the work to keep someone safe and they turn into and say that you behaved in a way that was inconsistent with your duty, well, we may not have your back. we saw this too. this idea. a reform of our justice system. it would be an excuse to let dendrites people back on the streets. than we have seen -- dangerous people back on the streets. we have seen our and willingness to secure our southern border as something that also put more criminals on our streets. i don't know how many of you have seen the reporting, chinese fentanyl traversing through mexico and coming through our

southern border. it is on the streets of every community in the united states including right here in iowa. each of us has a responsibility to make sure our leaders prevent this from happening. it will create greater risk of crime and undermine the very communities that made our nation special. we have made our union more perfect each and every year. two final thoughts -- we need to renew our commitment to our communities. and we need to work at this. you should know, despite of all the challenges i have spoken to, i am along on america. i am very confident that this resilient nation will awaken, that there will be a revival, and this nation will continue to be the most prosperous nation in the [applause] history of humankind. [applause] -- the most prosperous nation in the history of humankind. but none of that happens without keeping your faith.

none of that happens without the hard work that goes alongside that. through the grace of god, i know that you will all engage in that. i had these enormous opportunities -- i was a young cadet at west point who had been taken to church when i was a young man by my parents, but i was going to be the next great nba power forward. i was focused on other things. [applause] but i had two young men who were just a year ahead of me in school, and on a sunday afternoon, during the first summer, called plebe summer in west point, they invited me for cookies. this is a proposition, just like fellowship hall, it draws us all in. so i went. those two men brought me to jesus. they discipled me over the coming weeks, and made sure that i understood it was important to read the bible each and every day. they made sure i asked the right questions about the complex task

i would face as an american leader who was going to lead men into conflicts, potentially putting their own lives at risk on behalf of the united states, how i could not accomplish that without faith and understanding that, jesus christ would be with us every step of the way. you all have a chance to lead and to disciple here in your community as well. we all need to do that. i remember when i was a deacon, at the presbyterian church in wichita, kansas. pastor stan asked me to be a deacon, so i signed up to be a deacon. and i love church politics. [laughter] we ministered to our community. we are in the eastern part of wichita, but within 10 miles of where we went to worship every sunday, there were people who were under enormous economic hardship, there were families that were displaced. and we built out a program where we tried to build up those

communities. we invited them and we tried to be welcoming to everyone from whatever community they came , from whatever race, whatever creed. we wanted to them to understand that jesus was important in their life as well. this is the call that we continue to have and as we challenge these domestic crises here at home which are often put to us by the media as secular crises, remind yourself that these are all crises of faith . if we get that piece wrong, we can't fix any of those other problems. he has a plan for america. and i am confident that you all, through his grace, will help execute that plan. we are not a defeated nation, we are not a nation in decline. we are not a racist nation. we are god-blessed christine nation. don't let the woke socialists get you down. keep working.

we commit yourself to the community. i always recall one of my favorite parts of the bible. everyone has their favorite. mine is from chapter three, when shadrach, meshach, and abednego walked into the fire, into the fire, not burned or harmed. i felt like that in the trump administration some days. [laughter] into the fire where the left-wing media wanted to do nothing more than deny the american people what they voted for, the leadership of people who understood the lord and understood our nation the same way they did. the faith of those three men is our faith. it is ever present. if we devote ourselves to that, end we are tireless in those efforts -- and we are tireless and fearless in those efforts and we never give an inch and we do it in a smile and the graciousness that the lord commands, you should know that the family leader summit of 3021

will take place again in the greatest nation that the world has ever known. god bless you. thank you all for being here. and may the god bless your good works. thank you so much. [applause] >> amazing crowd. >> the iowa family leader summit also heard from south dakota governor kristi noem, who has been mentioned as another 2024 presidential contender. her speech runs about 15 minutes. [applause]