John J. Ingalls Spirit of Freedom Award

Last night I was recognized by the Kansas Policy Institute with the John J. Ingalls Spirit of Freedom Award. Following are my remarks I delivered to the audience.

Thank you. I’m humbled to be recognized this way by the Kansas Policy Institute.

I am also honored to be receiving this award along with John Todd, who really deserves this more than I, and who is an inspiration to me.

I’d like to say thank you for the support of my mother Marty and my wife Lynn. Thank you also to the board of trustees of KPI and its chair George Pearson, and also to the staff of KPI, especially Dave Trabert, who is a tremendous asset to our state. And, although he’s not here tonight, I’d like to say thank you to our Congressman Mike Pompeo, who hired Dave.

Thank you, Nestor Weigand and Ethelmae Humphreys for hosting this event.

Thank you, especially, to the donors that support KPI and the similar institutions in other states that are working for free markets and economic freedom. I am familiar with many of them, and there are many outstanding examples.

And speaking of outstanding, I’m grateful for people like our keynote speaker David Boaz who have built the Cato Institute into a powerful organization with a global reputation for quality and integrity. I attended Cato University a few years ago, and if you know any college-age people, it is a great program to attend in summer for one week. Good for adults, too.

Finally, thank you to my many friends and supporters that are here tonight, that support me as we try to make Wichita and Kansas safe for capitalism.