Secretary of War Pete Hegseth today offered praise to a national organization that teaches civics to school children in kindergarten through 12th grade during a private ceremony in Washington's National Archives building.
The ceremony, which was held on Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, commemorated the Foundation for Liberty and American Greatness achieving the significant milestone of reaching 2 million children since the organization was founded in 2016.
Hegseth spoke about the importance of the work that FLAG does in teaching school children American civics.
"I hope you understand how important this is; what we pour into the next generation will determine whether we keep our republic or not," Hegseth said of the importance of civics in the classroom.
Speaking with the Constitution as his backdrop and stating what an honor it was to "stand in the shadow of such brilliance" of the Founding Fathers' generation, the secretary talked about the significance of our country's founding.
"That type of brilliance didn't come out of thin air. It was first inspired by God [and] inspired by an understanding of human history, an understanding of biblical history [and] an understanding of Western civilization philosophy and theology and civics poured into a generation of men and poured into an American experiment — it wasn't an accident," Hegseth said.
He then jumped ahead to the present day and discussed the importance of instilling American values in the country's young people from an early age.
"We need to go to the youngest and plant a love for America on [their hearts] early, with knowledge about where it comes from," Hegseth said.
A nonprofit organization, FLAG is "dedicated to educating Americans about the values and principles that make our nation exceptional," according to the organization's website.
Some of the products the organization uses to teach those values include a version of the Constitution written for young students and the "Citizen's Guide to the Electoral College."