Tomorrow, as we celebrate the independence of the greatest country on earth, I hope we can all pause for just a moment to consider what it is we are all about here and what we enjoy as a birthright:

• we live in a country where a person may be elected president who does not come from a monied elite class, but from a single-parent home
• we live in a country where people can choose for themselves their destiny
• we live in a country where God is mentioned in our pledge of allegiance, acknowledging the Source from which our liberties sprang
• we live in a country where people are free NOT to salute the flag if they wish
• we live in a country where people can believe in God and worship Him according to the dictates of their own consciences
• we live in a country where these ideas and ideals have been tested time and again and have withstood the pressures
• we live in a country where people are willing to go to foreign countries in defense of our ideals and the promotion of an improved and freer way of life
• we live in a country where people can pretty much live the way they want, where laws are enacted to preserve that quality of life, and where we are governed by our peers
• we live in a country where fences are erected not to keep people IN but to regulate the mass of people who would like to come here
• we live in a country where we have a peaceful transfer of power every four to eight years
• we live in a country where our political ideals do not separate us but bring us together in healthy debate (remember, we are not as divided as our politics may seem)
• we live in a country where life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (not capital) are our founding principles
• we live in a country where the family is the basic unit of society, where women are the repository of virtue and men are courageous and valiant, and where children are cherished and nurtured
• we live in a country where these things are under attack, but we struggle on against evils that would overthrow our freedoms, liberties, and ideals

There is no better place to be. Surely we are imperfect, but we laugh at ourselves and move on. And we will persevere and overcome. As Mr. Reagan so eloquently state, we are the shining light on the hill, the beacon of light in a dark world.

I am grateful and proud to be an American.