Latest Column | ‘America at 250: Let Us Be Exceptional Again’ (July 2026)

By State Sen. Rob Sampson

This year, we will celebrate the United States of America’s 250th birthday. For me, it will be far more than an anniversary on a calendar, and I believe millions of Americans feel the same. It should mark a season of celebration, reflection, gratitude, and national renewal: a chance to remember what made America different, honor those who built and defended her, and recommit ourselves to keeping this extraordinary experiment in liberty alive.

I love this country without apology.

America is exceptional.

Consider the extraordinary Americans who have shaped our history: patriots and pioneers, soldiers and statesmen, inventors and entrepreneurs, parents, teachers, farmers, tradesmen, and countless citizens who built communities, defended liberty, raised generations, and changed the world. They were shaped by a national creed unlike any other. Our rights are natural rights, bestowed by our Creator, not privileges granted by government. Government’s legitimate power exists only because free people establish it and consent to be governed. From that understanding grew a nation dedicated to the sovereignty of every person: the freedom to speak, worship, work, own property, govern ourselves, and pursue our own destiny. That inheritance has made Americans independent, resourceful, generous, courageous, and instinctively unwilling to surrender their freedom.

America rejected the ancient arrangement in which rulers possessed power and granted privileges to their subjects. Our founders turned that relationship upside down. Here, the people would be citizens, not subjects, and government would answer to them.

That distinction changed the world.

America became a beacon for those seeking freedom and opportunity. We built the strongest economy, the most powerful military, the greatest engine of innovation, and the most generous nation in human history. When tyranny threatened the world, Americans answered. When disaster struck abroad, Americans helped. When people dreamed of building a better life, it was America they dreamed of reaching.

We should be proud of that record.

None of it happened by accident. America was built by generations of people who worked, sacrificed, raised families, strengthened their communities, defended our nation, and passed its values to those who followed.

That includes our seniors, who built the neighborhoods we call home, and our veterans, who defended the freedoms too many take for granted. They deserve more than ceremonial praise. They deserve a country and a state that respect their work, protect their independence, and ensure they are not driven away from the families and communities they helped create.

Sadly, Connecticut has been drifting away from the principles that made America great.

Government grows larger, more expensive, and less accountable. One-party rule increasingly treats disagreement as an inconvenience rather than an essential part of representative government. State officials attempt to control local communities, family decisions, education, energy, housing, employment, and even personal beliefs.

The premise behind these policies is always the same: government knows best.

The American premise is the opposite. Free people know best how to run their own lives.

Freedom requires personal responsibility, but it also produces achievement, prosperity, stronger families, and stronger communities. Centralized government control produces dependency, conformity, and a political class that believes every problem can be solved by taking more money and authority from the people.

That is not the America our founders envisioned.

I have never served in uniform, and I would never compare my work to the sacrifice of those who have taken up arms in defense of our country. I honor them with all my heart.

My battlefield is different.

I fight in committee rooms and on the Senate floor. I fight through the night when necessary. I fight against government overreach, attacks on constitutional rights, reckless spending, election vulnerabilities, and policies that make Connecticut less free, less affordable, and less recognizable.

Some of the threats to American liberty come from abroad. Others come from within, from those who have lost faith in freedom and believe greater government control is the answer to every challenge.

I know that standing against them can bring criticism, political retaliation, and even hatred. So be it. I did not seek public office to be comfortable or accepted by the political establishment. I am there to defend the people I represent and the principles that made this country great.

I will never back down from that responsibility.

As America approaches her 250th birthday, we should not merely look backward with nostalgia. We should look forward with confidence.

Our nation has endured wars, depressions, division, corruption, and government excess before. Each time, the American people ultimately pushed back. My faith has never been in politicians or government institutions. My faith is in the American people.

Let this anniversary rekindle our patriotism. Let us teach our children why America is worth loving.

Let us honor those who built and defended her. Let us once again embrace freedom, courage, responsibility, and self-government.

Let us be bold enough to demand American exceptionalism.

And let us ensure that America’s greatest days are still ahead.