Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaks at Heritage’s Annual Leadership Conference and Board Meeting Tuesday.

Speaking today to Heritage Foundation President’s Club members today in Washington, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) offered three tributes in honor of Heritage’s fortieth anniversary and our leadership transition.

1. A Tribute to Heritage President Ed Feulner

Feulner built Heritage from humble beginnings into a powerhouse that provided the intellectual and policy foundation for the Reagan administration and later conservative successes. Today, he said, Heritage is the “preeminent source for conservative and free market policy ideas.”

2. A Tribute to Heritage President-Elect Jim DeMint.

Demint, Cruz says, is a “recovering politician” who “lacks a fear of ridicule.” When he first came to Congress, his was a lonely voice for free enterprise and limited government. Thanks in part to DeMint’s work to support conservative candidates, he explained, there are today many more voices for these timeliss principles. “If it weren’t for Sen. Jim DeMint, I would not be in the U.S. Senate,” Cruz said.

3. A Tribute to The Heritage Foundation

Finally, Cruz praised The Heritage Foundation as an institution:

• The fight for freedom is central to Heritage’s mission, he said. And we cannot take freedom for granted, since, “as Reagan said, freedom isn’t passed through blood. It has to be fought for.”
• Heritage knows ideas matter, and the organization “serves as a laboratory for growing, restoring, and percolating ideas,” Cruz said. “For example, if Reagan’s ideas were in use now, we would have 7 million more jobs.  Refining these ideas will be the tools that will save our country’s future.”
• Heritage has the courage of its convictions. “All of us were taught in junior high that invertebrates can’t walk upright,” Cruz joked. “But politicians disprove that every day!” Courage is rare inside the Beltway, but Cruz said DeMint has the necessary fortitude: “it bodes well for Heritage that our new president has unflinching courage.”

Cruz also encouraged conservatives to remember that message matters. While we cannot and should not compromise our principles, he said, we need to reach out to new audience and not simple “preach to the choir.”

And he reminded President’s Club members not to give up. Not only are conservatives blessed with a cadre of young new leaders, he reminded us that political fortunes can change overnight. After all, he said, it was less than a decade ago that the pundits were predicting a permanent GOP majority—a prediction followed shortly by liberal victories in 2006 and 2008.

This is an important week for The Heritage Foundation. Not only are we celebrating our 40th anniversary of advancing principled conservative reforms, but we’re also honoring Ed Feulner’s 36 years of leadership as president and welcoming Sen. Jim DeMint as his successor.

The Annual Leadership Celebration and President’s Club Meeting gets underway this morning in Washington, DC. Highlights of the event include:

• A conversation with Ed Feulner and Heritage historian Lee Edwards
• Remarks from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and David Schweikert (R–AZ)
• A panel discussion featuring Govs. Tom Corbett, Paul LePage and Bob McDonnell
• Analysis from columnist Charles Krauthammer
• And a special dinner honoring Feulner and DeMint

For your invitation to the 2014 President’s Club meeting, become a member of the President’s Club today.

When Ed Feulner became President of The Heritage Foundation in 1977, he was in his late 30s and had not yet received his doctorate. Nearly a decade before, had set aside his Ph.D. studies in economics at Georgetown to focus on advancing the conservative agenda.

Feulner decided he needed to complete his degree, which he believed would add to Heritage’s credibility.  Switching his focus from economics to political science, Feulner resumed his studies as a distance student at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

In his new book, Leading the Way: The Story of Ed Feulner and the Heritage Foundation, Heritage scholar Lee Edwards relates how Ed Feulner became Dr. Feulner: Continue Reading »

Alex Cohen’s high school club works with Heritage Action for America

Our sister organization, Heritage Action for America, has a new activist. But he’s not your typical activist.

Alex Cohen is a 17-year-old high school student who founded a conservative club at his high school to “promote and educate youth on Heritage Action’s mission.” Heritage Action organizes grassroots activists and pressures Congress to advance The Heritage Foundation’s conservative ideas.

His first order of business, Cohen told Heritage Action, is “getting everyone on the topic of defunding Obamacare.” He would also like to showcase and explain the Heritage Action Scorecard to the members of his club. Action’s Scorecard grades lawmakers on how they vote to advance conservative principles.

At a time when conservatives have found it challenging to connect with young people, this is an encouraging story indeed.

Heritage Action plans to recruit more activists like Cohen. Find out how you can get involved with Heritage Action.

What do you think? Tell us below in the comments.

Sen. Pat Toomney (R-PA) came by The Heritage Foundation yesterday to explain why he joined Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) in his filibuster of John Brennan’s confirmation as CIA Director. Watch the video above for his thoughts on the filibuster and to find out what Toomey thinks conservatives should do about runaway spending.

Yesterday, Senator Rand Paul literally stood on his principles.

Paul led a 12 hour and 54 minute hour filibuster, delaying confirmation of John Brennan as Director of the CIA. Brennan is a marginally-qualified candidate with a history of promoting what The Heritage Foundation’s Steven Bucci calls “the overuse of drones.”

“I will speak until I can no longer speak,” Paul began. “I will speak as long as it takes, until the alarm is sounded from coast to coast that our Constitution is important.”

This was the ninth-longest speech in the Senate’s history. Paul filled the nearly 13 hours by speaking out against drone strikes and especially the administration’s recent claims that it could use drones domestically.

Bucci says Paul was right to critique the domestic use of drones: Continue Reading »

Saturday marks the 40th anniversary of The Heritage Foundation.

Heritage scholar Lee Edwards describes the organization’s founding in The Power of Ideas. An excerpt:

The Heritage Foundation was formally incorporated in the District of Columbia on February 16, 1973. The three original trustees were Marvin H. (Mickey) Edwards, later a Republican member of Congress from Oklahoma; businessman John Perrino of Rhode Island; and Fritz Rench. On March 23, the board of trustees was increased to six with the addition of Ed Feulner, Jack Wilson, and Forrest Rettgers, who would become executive vice president of the National Association of Manufacturers. On that same date, Rettgers was elected chairman of the board and [Paul] Weyrich president of Heritage.

Continue Reading »

This Friday, February 15, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, Heritage Foundation President Ed Feulner and Heritage President-Elect Jim DeMint will conclude their nationwide Presidents’ Tour with an event in our nation’s capital. We will stream their remarks live online for our members and supporters.

Update: Watch a video of the event below: Continue Reading »

Heritage Foundation President Ed Feulner, left, and Heritage President-Elect Jim DeMint pause to recite the pledge of allegiance before a Presidents’ Tour event in San Francisco on Jan. 24. Photo: Joyce Boghosian

Heritage Foundation President Ed Feulner and his successor, Jim Demint, met thousands of Americans last month in New York, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco and Los Angeles on the first leg of their Presidents’ Tour.

Today, the Heritage team is leaving on the second half of the whirlwind tour. Feulner and DeMint will visit Dallas and Atlanta tomorrow, Palm Beach on Wednesday and Naples on Thursday before wrapping up the tour Friday in Washington, DC.

Learn more about the President’s Tour.