Freedom First

America’s Founding Fathers recognized that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights …” Sadly today, academic elites and demagogues challenge this self-evident proposition, choosing instead to embrace identity politics, division, and submission. The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) will work to affirm and celebrate America — not as an aesthetic act, but as a moral statement. Our work aims to promulgate American values in our educational institutions and through our Nation’s citizens — not as a look back at the past, but as the foundation of our future.

The American republic was founded as a government by, for, and of the people — but sadly that aspiration too can at times seems like a distant dream. Policymakers empower unelected bureaucracies that rule huge swaths of American life. Legislative, judicial, and executive power has become concentrated within the regulatory agencies themselves. As a result, regulatory agencies effect massive shifts in policy that elected representatives never voted on. Various protections empower the career bureaucrats to pursue their own preferred policies with little regard to the views of elected officials. What began two-and-a-half centuries ago as man’s greatest experiment in self-governance looks now like rule without consent of the governed. The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) will conduct research and generate policies that cut the red tape of burdensome regulations and restore American governance as originally intended.

The core of American government is, as the Declaration of Independence states, “to secure these rights” — namely, “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Today, a dizzying array of ideas and influences counter to foundational American Values threaten our inalienable rights and our democratic republic system of government. American First Policy Institute’s Center for American Values will advance messaging, policies, and litigation that respect and protect life, uphold God-given liberties, preserve freedoms of expression, and restore basic ideals and values that propel a prosperous society. In the same vein, the Center for American Values also features the “Second Chances Project,” which aims to address America’s incarceration problem through a faith-based lens and confront the root causes of crime: broken families and a lack of faith.

The foundation of the American system of self-governance is liberty, and the core expression of the people’s liberty is the ability to vote in free and fair elections. Safeguarding the integrity of our elections is paramount to preserving our republic. The Center for Election Integrity will work with relevant stakeholders across the country and within states to help ensure there are strong laws are in place at the local level—making it easy to vote but hard to cheat.

The rule of law is indispensable to our Nation. However, it is impossible for our Nation’s citizens to be secure if crime plagues our streets and lawlessness dominates our communities. The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) will advance policies that support the American people’s right to live and prosper in free and secure communities. Respect for legitimate law enforcement, reverence for the law, and smart-on-crime reforms are essential to American life and liberty.

The American Founders recognized that a free press was essential to the preservation of our liberties, and therefore our Republic. Even the Founding Founders had a complicated relationship with the press, however, a backbone of our Nation rests on freedom of speech. The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) will explore the effects media imbalances and current practices have on the American people and our system of government.

Fifty-nine years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood proudly on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and gave his famous and inspiring “I Have a Dream” speech. He understood that for a nation to remain viable, it must be possible to peacefully live with one another, showing respect and caring for one another, united as one human race. These values will allow a free nation to exist; else, that nation will destroy itself from within. Dr. King expressed the classic American view that it mattered not where you came from, what religion you practiced, or the color of your skin but the content of your character. While we have not always as a Nation upheld that promise of equality, America has fought to exemplify these words and bring them to fruition. We have worked to weave those unalienable rights into the beliefs and laws in this country. The remarkable freedoms Americans now enjoy are a direct result of the foundation laid by our Founders, the dedication of the American people to such core values, and the fidelity of institutions to these principles. These freedoms would not have been possible but for America’s unity, faith, justice, and belief that “all men are created equal.” The America First Policy Institute’s (AFPI) Center for the American Dream will advance policies that enhance civil rights, human dignity, and the sanctity of life in order to ensure that all Americans have equal access and opportunity to achieve the American dream – from the womb to the tomb!

America is under threat from ideologies that are eroding our founding principles. The American way of life, including federalism, free speech, and the rule of law, is being undermined and distorted by Big Government, Big Tech, and Big Media. The America First Policy Institute established the Constitutional Litigation Partnership to restore the most fundamental rights of all Americans. The Partnership will fight to rebuild a government that is of the people, for the people, and by the people.

America is under threat from ideologies that are eroding our founding principles. The American way of life, including federalism, free speech, and the rule of law, is being undermined and distorted by Big Government, Big Tech, and Big Media. The America First Policy Institute established the Constitutional Litigation Partnership to restore the most fundamental rights of all Americans. The Partnership will fight to rebuild a government that is of the people, for the people, and by the people.