“For more than two generations, my family had never achieved their ambitions. Their talents were unappreciated and unused. They deserved better. They hadn’t done anything wrong; they just had some bad breaks.”

This election [in 2016] is about electing a president that will restore our economic vibrancy so that the American dream can expand to reach more people and change more lives than ever before. And rebuild our Military and our intelligence programs so that we can remain the strongest nation on earth.

Conservatism is not about leaving people behind. Conservatism is about empowering people to catch up, to give them the tools at their disposable that make it possible for them to access all the hope, all the promise, all the opportunity that America offers. And our programs to help them should reflect that.

Both of my parents were born into poor families on the island of Cuba. They came to America because it was the only place where people like them could have a chance.

We live in a society obsessed with public opinion. But leadership has never been about popularity.

America is the story of everyday people who did extraordinary things. A story woven deep into the fabric of our society.

Religious freedom is often referred to as America’s first freedom. Our country was founded by religious exiles and built on the belief that God has given all people certain inalienable rights.

We don’t need new taxes. We need new taxpayers, people that are gainfully employed, making money and paying into the tax system.

Our national motto is ‘In God we Trust,’ reminding us that faith in our Creator is the most important American value of all.

You cannot do anything without God.It’s a profound and elemental truth. Not, you cannot do most things without God. You will not be able to do anything that you want, truly, in fulfillment, without God.

We are special because we’ve been united not by a common race or ethnicity. We’re bound together by common values. That family is the most important institution in society. That almighty God is the source of all we have.

Presidents in both parties – from John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan – have known that our free-enterprise economy is the source of our middle-class prosperity.

My father was a bartender. And the journey from the back of that bar to the [election 2016], to me, that is the essence of the American dream.

Conservatives aren’t anti-immigrant – conservatives are pro-legal immigration.

Well, the most important thing a president will be is commander-in-chief. And that requires having an understanding of the complex issues on foreign policy. Foreign policy presents us often with hard choices, not black or white choices.

What kind of lives or future would my children have if this was not a land of opportunity?

My mother was one of seven girls whose parents went to bed hungry so their children wouldn’t. My father lost his mother when he was nine. He left school and went to work for the next 70 years. They emigrated to America with little more than the hope of a better life.