The second thing is that, despite the fact that Montana has more natural resources than almost any state in America, we have never been a wealthy state. And the reason for this is not complicated. Because from the time the Copper Kings rigged the tax system so that they were paying almost no taxes, outsiders have found a way to exploit our resources while putting almost nothing back into the state.

Since then, we’ve had the asbestos disaster in Lincoln County, when W. R. Grace lied about asbestos in vermiculite ore, until people started dying by the hundreds. We’ve had the Bakken, where countless outside companies have grown wealthy from the influx of oil production, but have left little behind in the way of helpful infrastructure for Montanans.

The third thing that struck me about our history is that, despite the fact that we’ve been vulnerable to these outside influences, mostly because of their promise of jobs, Montanans have also shown a strong knack for knowing when politicians are pulling the wool over our eyes. As a state, we’ve had some of the finest leaders we could expect through the years, and almost all of them have been committed to keeping this state viable because they have a long family history here.

Senators Lee Metcalf and Max Baucus and congressmen Pat Williams and Ron Marlenee were all born and raised in Montana, and went on to become strong advocates for our state’s interests. We also have a long history of governors who were born and raised in Montana, including Tom Judge, Ted Schwinden, Brian Schweitzer and our current governor, Steve Bullock, who has handled the current situation brilliantly. Even the politicians who weren’t born here had a strong connection to this place that gave them an incentive to make Montana strong, with the best example being Mike Mansfield, who once shoveled ore in the mines in Butte before becoming a teacher, and finally the longest running Majority Leader in the U.S. Senate, a man highly respected on both sides of the aisle.

Today, once again, we are facing a situation where wealthy outsiders have looked to Montana to make themselves even wealthier. Greg Gianforte, who was born in California, raised in Pennsylvania and began his career in New Jersey, is the second-wealthiest member of Congress. That’s apparently not enough for him, as he was one of the members of Congress who invested in a company that produces hydroxychloroquine, the drug President Trump falsely promoted as a cure to the coronavirus.

Gianforte has shown from the time he became a public figure in Montana that his primary interest is finding ways to use our resources to his own advantage, even blocking access to public lands through his own property. He has also supported legislative measures that will allow access to outside corporations to develop mining and oil production in our state. He supported every tariff, ignoring the fact that they have done serious damage to the agricultural community in Montana. Gianforte once said in an interview, “Cash is more important than your mother.” Does that sound like typical Montana values?

And as many of you know, Steve Daines, who claims to be a sixth-generation Montanan, even though he was born in Van Nuys, California, made his own fortune working for Gianforte’s company. Daines is cut from the same cloth, putting himself and his wealthy friends ahead of the hard-working people of Montana. And of course, Matt Rosendale, the man who claimed in his last bid for election to be "a rancher," despite the fact that his ranch had no livestock, made his fortune in real estate in Maryland.

I’m not here to tell you who to vote for, but I am here to tell you that we can do better than these men. And we always have. We’re a state that has shown a strong sense of logic and common sense, a state that has seen through the carpetbaggers who think they can come in and tell us what’s best for Montana. And at a time when everything is in flux, we really must do better. Our future is at stake.