Speaker of the House Paul Ryan addressed the annual WHCA student scholarship luncheon on Friday April 25, 2018, congratulating the two dozen awardees on their selection and encouraging them to keep on in standing up for the First Amendment.

“It is the Amendment that keeps our government honest,” Ryan told the group of  student scholars and WHCA members. “You need some institution that’s going to separate right from wrong.”

Ryan pressed the students to be mindful of their responsibility to inform the public, and said their work is more important than amid a climate of misinformation and partisanship.

“Never forget that this a service to the country,” he said.

Ryan took questions from the students, and afterward posed for photos with the awardees.

Photo: Christy Bowe – ImageCatcher News