Dave McCormick Receives Resounding Applause After Delivering His Maiden Speech On The Senate Floor

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On Thursday, Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) delivered his maiden speech on the Senate floor.

Transcript

00:00Mr. President, I'm honored to be here on the Senate floor for the first time.

00:06Each time I enter the Senate chamber, I'm humbled to walk in the footsteps of the Pennsylvanians

00:11who came before me, from founding father Robert Morris to Simon Cameron, from Joseph Clark

00:17to John Hines. It was the namesake of the Commonwealth, William Penn, who said,

00:24patience and diligence, like faith, remove mountains. And in my short time here in the

00:30Senate, I have found these words to be of comfort. At this moment, our circumstances and fellow

00:36countrymen require us to remove mountains and to do so with great haste. I would also not be here

00:44today without the patience, love, and example of my parents, Jim and Marianne. I'm also so grateful

00:51for the love and encouragement and belief in me by my incredible wife, Dina, who is in the gallery

00:56today. She believed in me when few others did. And finally, Dina and I are both so grateful for the

01:02love and support of our amazing six daughters through two hard-fought campaigns. Mr. President,

01:09I chose to rise today for the first time because something miraculous happened last week in Pittsburgh,

01:16the city that Dina and I are proud to call our home. In the middle of the so-called Rust Belt,

01:22President Trump, members of the cabinet, the CEOs of the world's leading energy technology and

01:29investment companies, labor leaders, and political leaders from both parties came together at Carnegie

01:36Mellon University to commit over $90 billion in new investments, investments that affirm Pennsylvania's

01:44central role at the crossroads of America's energy and AI revolutions. These projects announced that

01:52the inaugural Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit will bring enormous benefits to communities

01:58across our great commonwealth. New data centers and power plants in northeastern Pennsylvania,

02:06data centers and hydroelectric power in York and Lancaster counties, new natural gas power capacity

02:13in production in western Pennsylvania, and plans by Pittsburgh's iconic Westinghouse to begin

02:19constructing 10 large nuclear reactors by 2030. Now for Pennsylvania workers, this will result in

02:27tens of thousands of jobs for skilled labor, including electricians and welders, steamfitters,

02:34machinists, and countless other trades. And many, many more indirect jobs supporting these projects

02:41will come to Pennsylvania communities. And perhaps most important, the significant media focus on the

02:48summit allowed Pennsylvania to tell its unique and compelling story to the world. Now last year,

02:56President Trump and I promised to make America energy dominant and to secure our nation's AI leadership

03:02and to create jobs and opportunity for working families in Pennsylvania and across America during our

03:08campaigns. And last Tuesday, it was clear to all that we are delivering on those promises.

03:13These investments come at a defining moment, not only for Pennsylvania, but also for the future

03:20of our great nation. Embracing the AI revolution and achieving energy dominance will require us to do

03:28something very special, once again build in the United States. And in this process, we can revitalize the

03:36American dream for all Pennsylvanians and for all Americans by training and deploying workers across

03:41our economy, from the trades to engineers to our very finest scientists. The stakes could not be higher.

03:52If the United States does not rise to this challenge, we risk putting our future in the hands of the

03:58Chinese Communist Party, which seeks to dominate industries and technologies that will define

04:03the 21st century. This is a competition we must win. And it's a moment. It's a moment that demands

04:13leadership, sound policies, and yes, bipartisan. Bipartisan cooperation to ensure our nation's prosperity.

04:21And that's what the summit in Pittsburgh was all about, bringing together the president and his team

04:28together with many leaders who can seize this moment, who can chart a course forward to build the

04:33infrastructure, the talent, and the technology required to lead America's next chapter of growth

04:39and opportunity. Mr. President, I'll come back to the significance of the summit in a few minutes,

04:46but let me step back for a moment and describe the journey that has brought me here today.

04:52I'm a seventh-generation Pennsylvanian from Washington County, and I grew up in a small town

04:57called Bloomsburg. The majority leader visited in northeastern Pennsylvania. I spent my Friday nights

05:03on the wrestling mat in high school gyms from Shickalimmy to Shickshinny, from Sealands Grove to Schuylkillhaven.

05:10And I spent my summers baling hay and trimming Christmas trees with my high school buddies.

05:14Many of them are still close friends today. And this upbringing, like for so many generations

05:22of Pennsylvanians, it taught me the timeless lessons of toughness and hard work and resilience.

05:28My senior year in high school, I was nominated to the United States Military Academy at West Point,

05:33the first kid from Bloomsburg to attend the academy in decades. And there I learned three words that

05:38General MacArthur called the rallying points for every cadet. Duty, honor, country.

05:47Three years after graduating, I saw these words put into action when I deployed with the 82nd Airborne

05:52Division to Saudi Arabia and later Iraq during Operation Desert Storm. Following the army, I joined

05:58and eventually led a successful technology company in Pittsburgh. I served in several senior positions

06:03in the government at the intersection of national security and our economy. And I led as CEO one of

06:09the world's great global investment firms. But Mr. President, nothing, nothing I have done in my life

06:17compares to the honor of serving as the 54th elected senator from the Keystone State.

06:23And I'm also proud, following the great senator from Rhode Island, to be the ninth senator in American

06:31history who is a graduate of West Point. I decided to enter the political arena because America

06:37is a superpower in peril. I gave up a successful business career because I could see that despite

06:43the strength and the spirit of the American people, our future is threatened by a cycle of stagnation

06:50and disillusionment and decline. The American dream is out of reach for far too many families

06:55in Pennsylvania. And the Chinese Communist Party is actively subverting America's economic

07:01and military power. Breaking the cycle and focusing on the renewal of our nation is the only way forward.

07:10And I felt a calling to try to do my part in fulfilling this mission. During his campaign,

07:16President Trump uniquely grasped this challenge. He saw the struggling communities next to the

07:21shuttered steel mills along the Monongahela Valley on the outskirts of Pittsburgh. And he understood

07:27the devastation in small towns like Bloomsburg, where I grew up, 50 miles from Scranton. The McGee

07:32Carpet Mill once employed more than 2,000 workers, including the parents of many of my high school

07:38classmates. It now occupies a mere 200. Like the president, our fellow citizens saw thousands of brave men and

07:45women who fought for two decades in the endless wars in the Middle East. Too many, too many returned home

07:51with broken bodies or troubled minds, like Michael Wargo of Lehighton, the son of Dina and my dear

07:58friends, Michael and Sally. They lost Michael to suicide years after he returned from a tour in

08:04Afghanistan. And I share their heartbreak, and I know many of you do too, and the disbelief that 18

08:09veterans a day still take their own lives every single day. Finally, we all saw the wide open

08:16southern border bringing millions of illegal immigrants into our towns and cities and violent

08:21crime and deadly fentanyl in our communities. More than 4,000 Pennsylvanians lose a loved one

08:27every year to a fentanyl overdose. One of those families is that of my good friend Blair County

08:32Sheriff Jim Ott, who lost his 33-year-old son Josh to the scourge of fentanyl. Mr. President,

08:39last year I heard these concerns over and over and over again from my fellow Pennsylvanians and

08:45hundreds of campaign stops I made across the Commonwealth. And in November, the people spoke.

08:50Pennsylvania voters gave President Trump and me a mandate for change. They wanted a dramatic

08:54turnaround from four years of open border policies, soaring prices caused by reckless spending,

09:00and weak leadership on the world stage that emboldened China, Russia, and Iran.

09:05And after only six months, Mr. President, the results speak for themselves. President Trump,

09:09with the support of this Congress, has made enormous progress. Illegal border crossings are

09:14at a record low, with more resources on the way. The One Big Beautiful Bill just delivered and made

09:19permanent the largest tax cut in history for working families. And the U.S. economic indicators

09:24across the board are getting better by the day. And we're making America safer. We're rebuilding

09:30our military. President Trump ordered a flawless attack on Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities

09:34so the mullahs can never wield a nuclear weapon. And we are working together to end the Russia-Ukraine

09:41war while preserving Ukraine as a free and independent country. Mr. President, as a senator,

09:48my job is to deliver for the people of Pennsylvania, whether they voted for me or not.

09:53We're going to have some tough fights in this chamber. This year, we already have had many.

09:57But when I look back on my time serving the people of Pennsylvania, I want to be able to tell my

10:03children and my grandchildren that I worked with anyone, regardless of their party, who shares the

10:10goal of delivering results and much-needed change for Pennsylvania and our nation. And that's why I

10:16appreciate my collaboration with my colleague and friend, Pennsylvania Senior Senator John Fetterman.

10:21Despite our differences, we found a way to work together on critical issues, such as fighting

10:27anti-Semitism at home and abroad. In the months and years ahead, I hope to serve my constituents not

10:34only inside this chamber through legislation and hearings and votes, but also outside this chamber

10:39by using my platform, my voice, and my leadership to bring about meaningful change.

10:45And that's why I began today by talking about the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit.

10:51Our vision for the event came from a realization that Pennsylvania sits at the crossroads of America's

10:57energy and AI revolutions. Yet the key political, business, and labor leaders had never actually

11:03been brought together in one place to make things happen. I highlight the summit not because it's the

11:10answer to all of the problems we face, but because it exemplifies the key ingredients that I believe

11:16we need as a country at this unique moment. This moment demands bold, innovative leadership across

11:22the political spectrum to build coalitions, unique coalitions required to tackle these challenges.

11:28This moment, this moment demands a willingness to discard conventional wisdom, to improve the lives of

11:35our fellow countrymen. This moment demands embracing partnerships between our nation's public institutions

11:41and the private sector, where much of the innovation that is required is taking place. And this moment,

11:48this moment demands urgency, moving at the speed that's necessary to overcome the obstacles

11:54facing working families each and every day that we all hear about when we're home in our states.

12:01Mr. President, I have the privilege, the true privilege of representing the birthplace,

12:07the birthplace of our nation during its 250th year. But the Keystone State's special place in American

12:13history extends far beyond our nation's birth. In the summer of 1787, Philadelphia gave our young

12:22nation new life at the Constitutional Convention. As Benjamin Franklin emerged from the convention, he famously

12:29said, the United States would be a republic if we can keep it. More than 100 miles to the west, at Gettysburg,

12:37almost 100 years later, the Civil War put Franklin's warning to the test. On that hallowed ground,

12:45Abraham Lincoln told his audience to be dedicated to the general, the great task remaining before us.

12:53That task, of course, being the preservation of our union. Our nation's history and Pennsylvania's history

13:00are full of such significant milestones. And today we face another break, make or break moment for

13:09America's future. I've seen our country at its best, as many of you have, from the brave men with whom I

13:15served in Iraq, to the shopkeepers, the storekeepers along the streets of vibrant small Pennsylvania

13:21towns, to the farmers whose plowed fields dot our Commonwealth's beautiful landscape, beautiful

13:27countryside. And I've witnessed firsthand our uniquely American ability to get to the edge of the cliff

13:33and to pull ourselves back in times and moments of national peril. We can do it again. A bright future

13:41can and should be ours, but it depends on what we, what we do next. We must confront the difficult

13:47task ahead while staying true to the values and ideals that have made America the last, best hope

13:53of man on earth. And what I can say with certainty today, Mr. President, standing in this esteemed chamber

13:59with so many friends, is that this senator and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania can be counted on

14:05to do our part. Thank you, Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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