good evening
i'm karen pence
my husband is vice
president mike pence
100 years ago today
the 19th amendment
was adopted into
the united states
constitution
guaranteeing women
the right to vote
because of heroes
like susan b anthony
and lucy stone
women today like
our daughters audrey
and charlotte
and future generations
will have their
voices heard
and their votes
count the women's
suffrage movement
was the gateway that
led to women having
the opportunities
to achieve monumental
milestones and
accomplish significant
achievements in both civic and
governmental roles
this evening we look at heroes
in our land as second
lady of the united
states for the past
three and a half
years
i have had the honor
of meeting many
heroes
across this great
country the pence's
are a military family
our son michael
serves in the united
states marines and
our son-in-law henry
serves in the u.s
navy and one of my key
initiatives
is to elevate and
encourage military
spouses
these men and women
like our daughter
charlotte and our
daughter-in-law
sarah are the home front heroes
i have been privileged
to hear so many
stories
of selfless support
volunteer spirit
and great contributions
to the armed
forces
and our communities
you know military
spouses may experience
frequent moves and
job changes periods
of being a single
parent while their
loved one is deployed
all while exhibiting
pride strength
and determination
and being a part of
something bigger than themselves
to all of the military
spouses thank you
president trump and
vice president pence
have been supporting
our united states
armed forces including
our military families
on a significant
scale
while traveling
throughout our nation to
educate military spouses
about policy solutions
that president
trump has promoted
involving real tangible progress
in military spouse
employment i have
been inspired
to meet heroes like lisa bradley
and cameron cruz
these military spouses
decided to start
their own business are
riveter
named after the
rosie the riveter
campaign used to
recruit women workers
during world war
ii our riveter makes
beautiful handbags
designed and
manufactured exclusively
by military spouses
and many of those
spouses live all
over the country
they prepare and
send their section of
the bags
to the company located
in north carolina
where the final
product is assembled
military spouse hero
jalon hal johnson
in billings montana
is a culinary artist
who had dreamed of
starting her own
restaurant
working with the small business
administration's
development center
jalon started her
restaurant the sassy
biscuit
and she just opened
a second restaurant
in dover new hampshire
and as the second
lady i've also been
able to bring
awareness to a form of
therapy
for our heroic
veterans suffering from
ptsd
art therapy facilitated by a
professional art therapist
is especially
effective with post
traumatic stress disorder
master gunnery sergeant
christo a marine
veteran i met in tampa
who deployed for
combat in iraq and
afghanistan
said nothing had
helped him deal with
the trauma from
his service in the
marines
until he finally
agreed to meet with the
art therapist
at walter reed medical center
chris credits art
therapy with saving
his marriage and his life
and chris went on to establish a
glassblowing workshop
to help other vets
many of our veteran
heroes struggle as
they transition back
into civilian life
and sometimes the stress is too
difficult to manage alone
a few weeks ago i
had the honor of
speaking with some
amazing americans who
answer
the veterans crisis line one in
particular
sydney morgan
especially impacted me
a veteran herself
sydney said it is the
highest
honor of her life
until they physically
walk into a clinic
to receive help they
deserve
and she can pass
their hand to someone
ready to help
in these difficult
times we've all seen
so many examples of
everyday americans
reaching out a hand
to those in need
those who
in humility have
considered others more
important than themselves
we've seen health
care workers teachers
first responders
mental health providers
law enforcement
officers grocery and
delivery workers
and farmers and so many others
heroes all
one hundred years
ago women secured the
right to vote
so let's vote america
let's honor our
heroes
let's reelect president
trump and vice
president pence
for four more years
god bless our heroes
and god bless the united states
of america
[Music]