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]