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For many of us who were born and raised in this country, including me, it's sometimes easy to forget how special America really is.

What has made America great have been the opportunities given to everyone in this country. Since our founding, individuals and families have come to America to seek freedom, opportunity and the choice for a better life.

As immigrants, we understand better than most that to be an American is a privilege that conveys not just rights but responsibilities.

America is truly special because it's founded on an idea. It's the ideological and philosophical equivalent of a formless God, in other words, you know? It's, again, the only great country in the world that it is formed out of words.

In a world of inhumanity, war and terrorism, American citizenship is a very precious possession.

What makes the United States great, the reason people wanted to live in the United States, move here still, is because of our ability to innovate.

America is a country defined by a set of ideas, and when people choose to accept those ideas, they should be able to become Americans, as fully so as any - and perhaps more so than most - regardless of how recently they or their ancestors arrived upon our shores. This is the true American tradition, which as conservatives we must defend.

To be an American is to be part of the world because America, all the people of the world come to America.

What does it mean to be an American? While each of us may have our own specific answer to that question, we likely can agree on the basic principles of America: freedom, equal opportunity, and rights accompanied by responsibilities.

I grew up in a country that I thought was special. And it was.