These days, almost everyone acknowledges that America's most pressing problems are rooted in the decline of our national moral identity. Crime, rampant illegitimacy, the deteriorating educational environment in many of our schools, and especially the spectacle of national shame which unfolded during the eight Clinton White House years--I believe that all these can be traced to a lack of respect for moral principle in society.

Yet when our current political leaders undertake to address these issues, most of them still run away from the fundamental moral dimension of the problems.

For example, many public figures are eager to reform the federal system of taxation in America. So we repeatedly see proposals for flat taxes, reform of the IRS, and various other band-aid approaches to the problem. But too many of our leaders seem unwilling or unable to think this matter through in principle and to understand that the income tax itself must be abolished because it is incompatible with the moral self-government of a free people.

For over eighty years, the government has been permitted to treat the free citizens of America as tax serfs, obliged to act as though the tax man has the first claim to our hard-earned money. A free and vigilant people should never have tolerated this for a minute.

The income tax is an inherently communistic tax, because one of the prerequisites of freedom and effective moral responsibility is a sphere of privacy. Yet the income tax is based upon a premise that hands to the government what it needs to destroy the material foundation of private life. Do any of our national leaders understand this?

We can no longer trust leaders for whom the implications of the moral challenge facing this nation are an afterthought. That's why those who want to finesse or avoid the issue of abortion are not good enough either. Politicians unwilling to confront the killing spirit of our time declare their moral cowardice and forfeit the right to lead.

The mother-child relationship is the wellspring of trust and love in a society, but the pro-abortion doctrine poisons that wellspring. The paradigm of all peace should be the security of the unborn child in the womb. As long as our courts sanction murder in the womb, our justice system will be filled with the consequences of violence in our streets, schools, workplaces, and homes.

Our nation has long been racked in the throes of a moral identity crisis on both the domestic and international fronts, and that crisis blinds us from taking the difficult steps that we absolutely must take if our Republic is to survive in liberty.

The events of recent years have reminded us that a dangerous world will not permit America to remain permanently in a state of moral ambiguity. History has not ended, and this Republic will continue to face challenges that require the noblest efforts a free people can summon. We must confront the challenge of our future with confidence in a principled vision of who we are and what kind of people we want to be.

I therefore cannot stand with those who believe that American citizens can afford to pursue physical security or economic gain at the expense of liberty and constitutional self-determination. Our nation cannot succumb to the sophistries of those who would allow the withering of our essential liberties in the pursuit of security or material success. Today, as always, our security and our prosperity will come as the fruit of our commitment to principled liberty, not in place of it. War with terrorists is just the latest opportunity for Americans to learn again this crucial lesson of self-government.

Our true national security begins with our stand without apology for the principles of the Declaration of Independence--particularly for the principle of human equality that confirms the unalienable right to life of all human offspring, and also the principle of self-determination in the pursuit of happiness.

Our essential goal must be to strengthen the foundations of political liberty in America. It remains the special destiny of the American people to uphold the right of all humankind to practice responsible self-government. Our political leaders today neither recognize nor care sufficiently for our national liberty, identity, and purpose, despite the urgency to strengthen that foundation in the face of unthinkable perils. Yet dedication to this Providential and urgent purpose is, I believe, the heart and soul of what it really means to be an American.

When I entered the national political arena several years ago, many people around this country seemed to be looking for a voice they had not heard, a spokesman for the principles and concerns that have always moved American hearts. I did not feel that I could simply dismiss the sincerely expressed feelings of the many decent people who urged me to be that voice.

Neither prominent nor wealthy, I have been pushed forward by no powerful special interests. Yet with the help of God and the American people, my supporters and I have been able to raise the banner of faith, family, and responsible self-government. Hundreds of thousands of decent Americans have joined with us, until that support now numbers in the millions.

Since those earlier years, it has become increasingly clear to me that the very survival of American self-government depends on awakening the hearts of grassroots Americans, of all parties and persuasions, a renewed appreciation for the principles of the Declaration--and the Declaration Alliance is wholly devoted to that goal. We have now laid a solid foundation for a successful effort, and we are moving forward into national prominence.

But unfortunately, too many citizens believe that the moral transformation of our county is no longer possible. Such thinking will never save our country.

The Founders would never have launched the Revolution if they had counted the odds. The Abolitionists would never have fought against slavery. The civil rights movement would never have pushed forward for human rights and freedom. These just causes became winning causes precisely because their champions refused to count the odds. So we can't count the odds, either.

Each one of us must consult with our own conscience, and turn in our prayers to God our Creator, the true source of our freedom, our justice, and our rights. We must each decide what is right, and then just put our hands in the hand of God and walk, one step at a time, in that direction.

If you are ready for that kind of walk, then you can come walk with us at Declaration Alliance.

I can promise you that we will raise the winning standard of principle high, and we will make it so clear and so unequivocal that we will be like a lightning flash across the landscape of American depravity, and we will show the way back home.

If we will work together now, pray together, struggle together in this cause, then ultimately we will secure the future of America. We will make this a country where the heritage of real freedom survives for our children and our grandchildren, for as long as God determines that we shall exist upon this Earth.

That is why, despite resistance of the elite media and the political establishment to our purposes, the Declaration Alliance effort continues to grow, and I urge you to support us at this crucial time in our nation's history.