Speaker Johnson shares importance of faith, concerns for border security while in Mississippi

• “My job is not to hate Nancy Pelosi; my job is to build a relationship with her and try to convince her the correctness of my argument,” Johnson said.

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) was in Mississippi on Thursday where he spoke at Jackson Preparatory School. The event was hosted by the National Apostolic Christian Leadership Conference (NACLC). Former Governor Phil Bryant introduced the Speaker.

The major political issue Johnson touched on Thursday was the crisis at the southern U.S. border, saying it is the number one threat American faces.

“When it comes down to it, you have to have a president that will enforce the law. It doesn’t matter if he did sign HR 2 into law, he wouldn’t enforce it,” Speaker Johnson told the crowd.

The House of Representatives passed HR 2 nearly 14 months ago, a bill aimed at making changes to President Joe Biden’s immigration policies. However, the legislation has yet to leave Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s desk. Johnson said even if the bill was signed by the President, he doesn’t have much faith it would be enforced by the Biden Administration. 

Since President Biden took office, Speaker Johnson said about 16 million people have crossed into the country, a problem he attributes to the policies the Biden Administration put in place within hours of walking into the White House. Johnson said action is needed.

“As Franklin Graham said, ‘You don’t lock the door at night because you hate the people on the outside, you lock the door at night because you love the people on the inside,'” said Speaker Johnson.

Importance of faith

Growing up as the oldest of four in a Christian home in Shreveport, Louisiana, Johnson was the product of an unplanned teenage pregnancy.

“I am so grateful they believed in the sanctity of life, otherwise I wouldn’t be here,” Johnson expressed

He said he learned about the power of prayer at the age of 12 when his father, who served a firefighter, was involved in an explosion. The injuries left him with a five percent chance to live, but he survived. 

“From the time I was a little guy, faith was not an ephemeral concept to me, it was very real,” Johnson said.

With a one vote margin now in the House of Representatives, Johnson said he’s been told he has a hard job as speaker. Yet with faith as a guide, Johnson said he has been successful in working within that slim margin because he knows the importance of regarding everyone with dignity and respect. To him, the person on the other side the aisle is not the enemy; a true enemy is Hamas, not Nancy Pelosi, the former Democratic Speaker of the House. 

“My job is not to hate Nancy Pelosi; my job is to build a relationship with her and try to convince her the correctness of my argument,” Johnson elaborated.

Johnson believes America has enjoyed success as the powerful nation in the world, especially after World War II, because the power of God overrides any king and because this nation regards the self-evident truth that all men are created equal.

“Not born equal, created equal. By who? By God. Our creator is the one that gives us our inalienable rights,” Johnson added.

The Speaker said America’s founders knew that in order for the nation to remain a constitutional republic there must be freedom of religion, all religions.

“We don’t know how long it will last; this is a grand experiment in self-governing. We don’t know how long we can keep the republic,” Johnson said.

Only the people can defend their freedoms when the government oversteps, he said. That is why elections are so important, Speaker Johnson noted – to hold the government and those in office accountable.