House

Ryan quotes ‘Braveheart’: ‘Unite the clans’

by Scott Wong - 02/03/16 5:00 AM ET

In a speech Wednesday, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) will call on fractured Republicans to join together to fight to take back the White House in 2016.

“To quote William Wallace in ‘Braveheart,’ we have to unite the clans,” Ryan will say in a keynote address at the annual policy summit hosted by the conservative outside group Heritage Action.

{mosads}”We have to unite conservatives around a bold, pro-growth agenda that will get America back on track — and then take our agenda to the people,” Ryan will say, according to excerpts from the speech.

“We have to take our founding principles — freedom, liberty, free enterprise, self-determination, government by consent — apply them to the problems of the day, and come up with real solutions that will build a confident America.”

That Ryan is delivering a major address at Heritage is significant. The conservative group repeatedly clashed with Ryan’s predecessor, John Boehner, on fiscal issues, immigration and ObamaCare before Boehner was pushed out as Speaker.

Ryan has spent his first few months wooing many of Boehner’s old conservative foes, including key members of the House Freedom Caucus. The Speaker’s speech at Heritage, just blocks from the Capitol, is part of that outreach effort.

Freedom Caucus leaders, including Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), will speak on the same stage a few hours later about how the conservative group has made an impact on Capitol Hill just a year after it was founded.

In his address, Ryan will underscore the importance of setting expectations — something his predecessor failed to do by vowing year after year that Republicans would repeal ObamaCare.

“We have to be straight with each other, and more importantly, we have to be straight with the American people,” Ryan will say. “We can’t promise that we can repeal ObamaCare when a guy with the last name Obama is president.

“All that does is set us up for failure … and disappointment … and recriminations.”

At a time when GOP presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Donald Trump are offering messages of doom and gloom, Ryan’s speech will be sunny and optimistic.

“We need to be inspirational. We need to be inclusive,” Ryan will say. “We need to show how our principles and policies are universal and how they apply to everybody.”

Tags Heritage Action House Freedom Caucus Paul Ryan