July Fourth, the birthday of our nation, has added significance to my family. This weekend our family will celebrate the 96th birthday of my father. I will be spending part of this holiday weekend with him, and the rest of the family, celebrating his life and his contributions to Arizona.

I will be riding in the Prescott Parade this Saturday, following in the tradition of my Uncle Barry, and in the Flagstaff Parade on the 4th. I would enjoy meeting you if you are in the area.

Lisa and I will also take time to reflect on the blessings we enjoy due to the sacrifices made by American patriots throughout the past 230 years. We would ask you to take time from the fireworks and parades to remember our American Heritage.

Our nation's birth became reality on a day in which debate had raged for hours. The men gathered there were honorable men hard-pressed by a king who had flouted the very laws they were willing to obey. Even so, to sign the Declaration of Independence was such an irretrievable act as to cause doubt and fear.

I remember Ronald Reagan relating the following:

Legend says that at that point a man rose and spoke. He cited the grievances that had brought them to this moment and finally, his voice falling, he said, "They may turn every tree into a gallows, every hole into a grave, and yet the words of that parchment can never die. To the mechanic in the workshop, they will speak hope; to the slave in the mines, freedom. Sign that parchment. Sign if the next moment the noose is around your neck, for that parchment will be the textbook of freedom, the Bible of the rights of man forever.”

The delegates, swept up by his eloquence, rushed forward to sign the document destined to be immortal. When they turned to thank him for his timely oratory, he was not to be found, nor could any be found who knew who he was or how he had come in or gone out through the locked and guarded doors.

56 men so unique we have never seen their like before or since sired a nation that grew from sea to shining sea. An America comprised of five million farms, quiet villages, cities that never sleep, three million square miles of forest, field, mountain and desert, 297 million people that include the bloodlines of the world.

July 4th commemorates the only true philosophical revolution in all history – a revolution that changed the very concept of government. Let us always remember that here it was decided that man is born with certain God-given rights; that government is only a convenience created and managed by the people, with no powers of its own except those voluntarily granted to it by the people. We must never forget that great truth.

As we go through this summer, I ask you to reflect on the thoughts of President James Madison, who stated "I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by the gradual and silent encroachment of those in power, than by violent and sudden usurpation.", and Daniel Webster, who said "They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security."

I will close by citing a quote from the First Inaugural Address of President Reagan.

“The crisis we are facing today... does require, however, our best effort, and our willingness to believe in ourselves, and to believe in our capacity to perform great deeds; to believe that together, with God’s help, we can and will resolve the problems which now confront us. And after all, why shouldn’t we believe that? We are Americans. God bless you, and thank you.”

The words he spoke that day should be applied to the challenges facing Arizona today. Together we are facing challenges greater than at any other time in the history of our state. We are assaulted from within and from without by many forces. I ask you to look at my website ( www.goldwaterforgovernor.org ) for my positions on the issues facing us today and I ask you to join me in working for a better Arizona.

May God bless you and your family this weekend as we celebrate the birthday of our nation.