About a decade ago, a person I knew very well who had been very helpful to me in my campaigns when I was in the Senate said she had met a very impressive young man. He was going to start a group to go on college campuses and try to convince young Americans that ours is the greatest country in the history of the world, and that Marxism is bad.

And I remember thinking back then, I was a little skeptical. I said, “College campuses? You’re going to do that? Why don’t you start somewhere easier, like, for example, Communist Cuba?”

But my skepticism was proven wrong in place after place.

Over the last decade and a half, we’ve seen a renaissance. Understand where we were at that time in our history. Understand where we are still today in many places, where young Americans are actively told that everything they were taught—that all the foundations that made our society and our civilization so grand—was wrong. That they are all evil, that marriage is oppressive, that children are a burden, that America is a source of evil, not of good, in the world.

But here was a voice that inspired a movement in which young Americans were told that none of that was true—that the highest calling we have is to be in a successful marriage and to raise productive children. That movement taught them that ours is not a great country, but the greatest, most exceptional nation that has ever existed in the history of all of mankind—and that it’s worth fighting for, it’s worth defending, it’s worth preserving, and it’s worth passing on to the next generation.

This was the mission and the work of Charlie Kirk.

A couple of other things stand out about him. He led a movement, and he did so with incredible knowledge. It’s unbelievable how much he knew. He came to me very recently and used a quote. I asked, “Who said that?” Charlie said, “Marcus Aurelius.” I responded, “What district does he represent?” I kind of knew who he was, but Charlie said, “No, he was a Roman philosopher king, an emperor.”

One of the last messages I received from him was just a few days before his passing, when he wrote to me from overseas: “I’m in South Korea. I have many concerns I want to share with you when I get back.”

He was constantly expanding his horizons, but he just didn’t have knowledge—he had wisdom, an uncanny amount of wisdom for a man as young as he was, wisdom that sometimes takes a lifetime to accumulate. He had it in just 31 years.

Listen, many of us—myself included—have been guilty of hiding behind walls and surrounding ourselves with people who agree with us. We do it as a society all the time. Increasingly, people are moving into neighborhoods with other people who agree with them politically, and we isolate ourselves from people who do not agree with us.

But Charlie Kirk was bold and actively sought to engage peacefully and respectfully with those with whom he disagreed.

We learned recently that one of the hosts on CNN had gotten a message from Charlie just a few days before his passing, inviting him to dialogue. And he did this on campuses. He did this on podcasts. He did this on radio shows. He did this on television shows. Time and again. He sought to engage those he disagreed with, because he understood that we were not created to isolate ourselves from one another, but to engage.

One of the many things our nation needs is the ability to discuss our differences openly, honestly, peacefully, respectfully. Charlie Kirk did that more than anyone else in America today.

And Charlie Kirk had a substantial impact because of all the things I’ve said. But look around this place. There are 100,000 people here. The President of the United States is here. His entire cabinet is here. Television outlets and media outlets from all over the world are covering this memorial. I just came from overseas, and in every country I stopped in, people gave us their condolences for his passing. What an impact in just 31 years of life.

He made a difference. He mattered—and he will matter now more than he ever has before.

Let me close with this: How should you remember this memorial service? I’ll take the liberty of saying how I think we can best do that. I think Charlie had a tremendous impact on young Americans. I think he had a very special and direct impact on young men in this country. That’s one of the greatest developments I’ve seen. It’s been very positive.

I think we remember him for constantly saying, you want to live a productive life? Get married, start a family, love your country. These are powerful messages.

But I imagine there are people watching here tonight who didn’t know much about Charlie Kirk until 11 days ago. Maybe they were disengaged from politics. Maybe they were partially engaged. I hope one of the things they take away from this is that the movement Charlie Kirk started, led, and gave fuel to was about politics—but it wasn’t only about politics. It was deeper. It was broader. And I’m confident he would agree.

One of the things he would want us to take away from this memorial is the following: his deep belief that we were all created—every single one of us—before the beginning of time by the hands of the God of the universe, an all-powerful God who loves us and created us for the purpose of living with him in eternity.

But then sin entered the world and separated us from our Creator. And so God took on the form of a man and came down and lived among us. He suffered like men, and he died like men.

But on the third day, he rose, unlike any mortal man. And then, to prove any doubters wrong, he ate with his disciples so they could see him, and they touched his wounds. He didn’t rise as a ghost or as a spirit, but as flesh. And then he rose to Heaven.

He promised he would return, and he will. Because he took on death, because he carried that cross, we were freed from the sin that separated us from him. And when he returns, there will be a new heaven and a new earth, and we will all be together. We are going to have a great reunion there with Charlie and all the people we love.

Thank you, and God bless you.