Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, today released the following statement:

“Today marks the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address. Amid today’s political battles over Obamacare, federal regulations, entitlement reform, and tax reform, let us keep in mind the principles that President Abraham Lincoln so elegantly advanced,” Brady said.

“In his address, Lincoln described the United States as ‘a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.’ Lincoln then gave moral purpose to the Civil War. ‘We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.’”

“Ironically, Lincoln opined, ‘The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here.’ Yet, many historians regard the Gettysburg Address as the most significant English-language speech ever delivered. Indeed, the Gettysburg Address is the only speech that has its own monument.”

“Lincoln recognized the Civil War was a part of a long struggle to respect the dignity of every human being regardless of the circumstances of birth and recognize their natural rights, include the right to enjoy the fruits of their labor in a free market economy,” Brady concluded.