Opinion: What do Republicans stand for? Look to Utah for the answer

Op-Ed

From speeches to press conferences to media gaggles, President Joe Biden has asked again and again: What are Republicans for?

He claims that we exist solely to obstruct his agenda and deny him credit for any accomplishments he might have had during his first year in office. I think this answer is disingenuous, and I don't believe the American people are buying it.

The standard answer that many Republicans respond with is free enterprise, equal opportunity, freedom from big government and the protection of constitutional rights. And while I believe this answer may be accurate, I also believe it can be greatly simplified.

Mr. President, Republicans are for freedom.

Proof of that statement can be found right here in Utah.

If anyone wants to see a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, look no further than Utah. If anyone wants to see one-party rule under a government that is not beholden to the people, look no further than Washington, D.C.

In one way or another, we are all still coping with the aftereffects of the pandemic. And in this unprecedented time, President Biden repeatedly tells us that we must accept greater government interference in our lives. This is the very thing the Founding Fathers sought to minimize.

Thankfully, our great state understands that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital cannot plan the lives of Utahns better than we can plan them ourselves.

In a time of great fear and uncertainty, Utah's state Legislature has remained steadfast at every turn. I hope the people of Utah recognize that work, as well as the resolve required to stand in opposition to a president who is blindly committed to a one-size-fits-all approach.

Utah's state leaders have protected your right to earn a living. They have protected your right to make your own medical decisions. They have kept our schools open. They have allowed our kids to continue in-person learning. And they refuse to be bullied into abiding by the philosophy of so many Washington Democrats: Mandate, mandate, mandate.

While many other states trample the rights of individuals, Utah has been a vanguard of freedom. And while many other states continue to churn out reckless, ineffective policies in the pursuit of a "new normal," Utah is simply being normal.

The state I'm so proud to call home has placed its faith in "We The People." Utah leaders believe that you and I have the ability, the dignity and the right to make our own decisions. That is why Utah is prospering.

Since the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak, many have feared that our nation would emerge from the pandemic significantly less free. I share this fear because of a simple, undeniable truth: Freedom is fragile. And in the wake of an unprecedented crisis, it has perhaps never been so close to slipping from our grasp.

But it's for that very reason I have never been prouder to say I represent the great state of Utah. I have never been prouder to stand side by side with our state legislatures in defense of our constitutional rights. And I have never been prouder to do my part in protecting our nation's ideals of freedom, liberty and opportunity for all.

So when the president asks what the Republican Party is for, I recommend he look toward Utah for a clear answer: Freedom.

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