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Date:         Mon, 9 Nov 1992 12:59:35 -0400
From:         MIKE <8612775@SSCVAX.CIS.MCMASTER.CA>
Subject:      GOP speeches con't
Comments: To: politics@ohstvma.bitnet

  Here is the text of a speech prepared for delivery to the
Republican National Convention Wednesday by Secretary of Labor
Lynn Martin:

   Delegates of the Republican Convention. And all Americans,
those of you
watching and wondering what the future may bring.
   Tonight I have the privilege of placing in nomination the name
of the next
president of the United States.
   This convention will choose, our president, the nation's
leader, George Bush.
   To be with you tonight on this podium is a signal honor.
Houston, Texas, is
after all, 1,200 miles from Rockford, Illinois, where I started
as a high school
teacher.
   It's an even longer journey from growing up on the northwest
side of Chicago
where a tomboy like me must have driven patient nuns crazy.
   But it's not that far in the United States of America where
reaching above
what other societies call one's place in life is not only
permitted but
encouraged.
   It's not that far in a country where each individual's ability
to grow is
nourished by family and friends, people like you.
   It's not that far when, this Republican Party, the party of
Abraham Lincoln,
of Teddy Roosevelt, of Dwight Eisenhower, of Ronald Reagan, says
"yes" to all
who want to join us and "no" to any test of ideological purity. A
party that
includes all of us here and on this podium.
   And its not too far if we have a president who holds that each
of us brings
to this party, this government, this nation the great song of our
beliefs, our
experiences, our values.
   For as Republicans we can sing the litany of accomplishments.
   In the past decade, the years of George Bush and Ronald
Reagan, our America
moved the world.
   We ended the 45-year long Cold War with the Soviet Union by
our deeds and our
defense strategy.
   We won Desert Storm and reaffirmed the position of the United
States as the
most powerful force for good on this earth.
   And that's why Saddam Hussein is not brutalizing other nations
and
controlling two-thirds of the world's oil today.
   These were victories for all of you here, for every American.
   All of you made it possible by your determination and belief
in the American
ideals of freedom and of democracy.
   By your willingness to keep America strong.
   And you made this victory possible when America said "yes" to
George Bush and
"no" to the gaggle of Democrats, honking their noisy reasons why
it couldn't be
done.
   And now the latest in the long line of whimpering naysayers
want you to
abandon that strength and steadfast purpose for the crass
politics of fear and
the false promise of change.
   Because that's the message from that other convention:
despair, desolation
and darkness.
   Let me tell you what you didn't hear in New York.
   We're only five percent of the world's population, but we
produce 25 percent
of the world's output -- twice that of Japan and four times that
of Germany.
   You didn't hear that last month in New York.
   We export more today in American products than when George
Bush took office.
   You didn't hear that last month in New York.
   We have the world's most productive workforce, the highest
standard of
living, and a university system that is the envy of the world.
   You didn't hear that last month in New York.
   And you helped create 20 million new jobs in America these
past 12 years,
enabling us to welcome into the workforce record millions of
people like me, and
you women pursuing careers, immigrants starting businesses,
minorities seeking
and getting that first long overdue chance.
   Your demands to lower the cost of living and mortgage rates,
were heeded.
   And of course, you sure didn't hear any of that last month in
New York.
   Because the Democrats truly think our best days are behind us.

   Their nominee, Gov. Clinton, was quoted as saying that America
was being
ridiculed around the world.
   Who is telling him this?
   Is it the same people from his Democratic party the same blame
America
firsters?
   Could it be the Democratic leaders of Congress?
   Those aging punjabs who evidently so embarrassed the
Democratic nominee that
they were erased -- made non-people for the New York convention?
   One thing I do know, Gov. Clinton never talked to the millions
of people who,
thanks to the leadership of George Bush, are basking in the glow
of freedom and
who see the United States as the beacon of hope and opportunity,
guiding their
path towards individual liberty and justice for the first time in
their lives.
   It was George Bush who had the vision when those King Lears of
the Democratic
Party were blindly foundering in the sea of might-have-beens.
Unable then and
now to grasp the real source of America's greatness -- you.
   Thank God America has had and will have a leader who believes
in you.
   I said I'm from Chicago. It's a wonderful, muscular kind of
city.
   An Illinois poet Carl Sandburg, who wrote about our America
and about my city
with such insight said:
   "All we need to begin with is a dream that we can do better
than before."
   That's your dream.
   That's George Bush's dream.
   That's America's dream.
   We, the American people, who have dared to dream, have made
America special.
   And we Americans believe we will make a better tomorrow.
   We possess what everyone else is trying to get: freedom,
opportunity, a
future full of hope.
   We are the yardstick by which all other countries measure
themselves.
   As a nation of many different people, we believe in one
another, in our
talents, our creativity, in our decency, our ability to build on
all our dreams.
   Surely we have problems. We must confront them honestly. We
must debate our
differences, and then we must move ahead.
   We must never let our vision become clouded, even when the
constant braying
of those preaching a return to the old and failed ways fills the
air.
   And so we must re-ask the question.
   Is America better off today than she was four years ago?
   Remember President Bush standing in the Rose Garden with Boris
Yeltsin and
making the most sweeping nuclear arms cuts in history. Our
children can now go
to bed in peace and not wake to the fear of nuclear war.
   Are we better off than four years ago?
   Of course we are.
   We have moved from an age of building bomb shelters and
missiles that could
end our future in a moment, to a chance to restore our precious
land and to
rejuvenate this entire planet.
   Are we better off than four years ago?
   Of course we are.
   For now we can enter an era that is truly a Pax Americana --
the American
Peace -- initiated by the policies of our leader, George Bush.
   With the valor and values of a country that echo in all of us,
George Bush is
the right man on our march to the 21st century.
   Because with this peace, a once murky future rings with
clarity.
   We can and must secure a different future.
   A future America where debt and deficits are conquered, where
compassion and
competency buttressed by common sense are not exceptions, but the
standard for
all Americans.
   A future America where creations of value are respected.
   A future America where each individual has the security we
have provided the
world.
   A future America where the worth of each person is a sign of
our glory and
each person glories in the worth of the future.
   There is one fact that we all know as we begin this often
tortured route to
choose that one person to lead this America to that future.
   You can't be one kind of man and another kind of president.
   Inside George Bush is the heart of an 18-year-old fighter
pilot who risked
his life for his country, who did not run from his
responsibilities then and
does not now.
   You can't be one kind of man and an other kind of president.
   Who could forget George Bush showing his American Express card
to a small
child who didn't think he was president.
   He said to him, "What did you think? Did you think I was a
pretend kind of
guy?"
   This president has never been "a pretend kind of guy."
   This is such a decent man, an honest man, a modest man, a man
who saw his
mission four years ago as peace -- and who has delivered this
dividend every day
since.
   No, you can't be one kind of man and another kind of
president.
   George Bush believes in you. He believes in individuals. He
has travelled to
our factories that take on foreign competition and win.
   And he has seen factories that close, leaving working men and
women adrift in
a world -- a world of change where they feel forgotten.
   He has walked in neighborhoods where ordinary people are doing
heroic things
to fight gangs and drugs, refusing to give into thugs and
thieves.
   And he has also seen the shadowy streets of broken glass where
the
suffocating smell of defeat permeates the air around vacant lots
and boarded
apartments.
   He has sat in schools where the extraordinary is ordinary,
where the future
shines in the eyes of children.
   And he has watched other schools take eager minds and produce
not excellence
and excitement, but sullen survivors sometimes lacking in skills
and too often
lacking belief in themselves or in our country.
   And that is why today George Bush has a new mission.
   That's why today George Bush is fighting a new revolution for
the future of
our country.
   That's why George Bush is working to win the next war.
   Our grandparents, our sons deserve a safe way to grow up and
to grow old --
that's why he fights for tougher laws against criminals.
   Our children won't have one job, they'll have four careers --
that's why he
fights for change in education and for training.
   Our daughters and cousins have seen opportunities stolen --
that's why George
Bush fights to shatter the glass ceiling and empower the
disabled.
   Our grandchildren deserve to live where fresh water glitters
in the new day's
sun -- that's why he fights for clean air now and a greener
planet forever.
   Our uncles and aunts, our neighbors, need jobs -- and that's
why George Bush
fights for new investment policies, for tax cuts, and for a
growing share of
world markets.
   He knows you can't win when you can't take a new job because
you're son has
that rheumatic heart, when you can't enjoy retirement because
your company
doesn't have a pension, when you worry about AIDS and when you
struggle to live
with a mom who has Alzheimer's.
   That's why he fights for humanizing our health care, for real
pension reform,
for investments in research and answers to life's real
nightmares.
   You know you won't win, unless he does.
   He knows he can't win, unless you do.
   Is this the stuff of headlines?
   Is this the simple sound bite?
   George Bush doesn't govern by sound bites.
   He knows the more you talk, the less you get done.
   He knows it means he hasn't received credit: he knows it often
means he has
taken blame and he knows we haven't even known about some of the
battles.
   In exactly 76 days, we're going to elect our next President, a
decision as
serious and weighty as any choice America faces.
   In a changing and sometimes dangerous world, we can not risk
the
inexperienced or the inept.
   We in this convention hall know America needs a fighter.
   A fighter whose quiet strength produced peace.
   A fighter who does not speak with honeyed words but with a
full heart.
   A fighter who with measured steps moves us to a new century.
   A fighter who understands in the solitude of the Oval Office
the difficulty
of decisions.
   A fighter who holds our trust, our hopes.
   A fighter proven, battle hardy, but not weary.
   A fighter -- with mind, heart and soul devoted to this
glorious experiment,
this human kaleidoscope, this halcyon place, this America.
   A fighter who is the same kind of man as he is our President.
   Ladies and Gentleman, I nominate for president of the United
States, a man
who is the same kind of man as he is our president, George Bush.

   Here is the text of a speech prepared for delivery to the
Republican National Convention Thursday by former President
Gerald R. Ford:

   Thank you, Lynne, for your warm and generous words. As Will
Rogers might have
said, "I've never met a Cheney I didn't like."
   This is my 12th Republican Convention. Should we make it a
Baker's dozen?
   My fellow Americans, how much this world has changed since we
last met in New
Orleans. Four years ago I answered the taunting Democrat
question: "Where Was
George?"
   That November the voters sent George to the White House.
Suddenly,
astonishingly, and most peacefully, the world we knew began to
change.
   The winds of freedom blew away the Iron Curtain. The Berlin
Wall lies in
rubble. Captive nations are again independent. And let me just
say -- once again
-- Poland is free! The Cold War is history. The Soviet-United
States arms race
is gone.
   My fellow Americans, our long international nightmare is over.
The Gulf War
showed the world there is now only one superpower.
   Leaders of Israel, its Arab neighbors and the Palestinians,
for the first
time ever, are sitting down at the same table, talking peace.
   The industrial nations of Europe are forging a closer union to
better compete
with the economic powerhouses of the United States and East Asia.
And we have
worked with our good neighbors in Canada and Mexico on a
constructive trade
agreement to counterbalance such peaceful but potent challenges.
Congratulations
President Bush and Carla Hills.
   Under their separate red-white-and-blue flags, former Soviet
and American
athletes hugged one another on Barcelona's Olympic platforms. Our
scientists and
military leaders cooperate to destroy deadly stockpiles of
doomsday weapons, to
expand peaceful uses of space. The United Nations has become a
revitalized force
in the world. I ask my Democratic friends who are always talking
about change:
How much change from this new kind of world do you want?
   We know these dramatic triumphs of peace and freedom were the
culmination of
decades of dedication and sacrifice by Americans who did not duck
their duty.
But it was George Bush at the helm of our ship of state when
freedom finally
triumphed and peace prevailed. It happened on his watch.
   Tonight I'm tremendously proud to say again: "George was
there!"
   America -- We must keep him there!
   Yes, we must do even more. We must give President Bush the
kind of backup in
Congress without which no president can turn his programs into
real progress.
   In 1948, President Truman crisscrossed the land on his
whistle-stop train
lambasting my Republican Congress and won in a big upset four
more years in the
White House.
   Give 'em hell Harry. He's my kind of fighter.
   Four years later everybody liked Ike. With Gen. Eisenhower's
Republican
landslide I moved from the minority to the majority party in the
House of
Representatives. Believe it or not, 1953 and 1954 were the last
years that any
Republican president has enjoyed a Republican majority in both
houses of the
Congress.
   You know, our Constitution gave us a federal system of checks
and balances.
What we have now is a Democrat House that knows all about checks
-- but not one
damn thing about balances!
   When I was first in Congress the whole legislative branch of
our federal
government cost about $62 million a year.
   This year it is estimated the Democrat Congress will spend
almost $2 billion
-- not for the poor, not for the rich, but purely and simply on
itself! A 3,000
percent Congressional increase.
   No wonder they can't cope with the $4 trillion federal debt.
They could make
a significant start by firing 4,000 of their 16,000 redundant,
make-work staffs
on 186 committees, subcommittees and joint agencies.
   If it's change you want on Nov. 3, my friends, the place to
start is not at
the White House, but in the United States Capitol!
   Congress, as every school child knows, has the power of the
purse. For nearly
40 years Democrat majorities have held to the time-tested New
Deal formula: Tax
and tax, spend and spend, elect and elect.
   Now don't get me wrong, I have many good friends who are
Democrats. I have to
admit that many wise and perceptive people have come out of the
Democratic
Party. In fact, the wiser and more perceptive they are, the
quicker they've come
out of the Democratic Party. Why? Because they've learned what we
Republicans
have known all along, that a federal government big enough to
give you
everything you want, is a government big enough to take from you
everything you
have.
   From what you read and watch in the news media, from all you
see in the
opinion polls and hear from the Democrats, the Bush presidency is
finished,
done, kaput, the ball game's over.
   I do not believe it. You don't believe it. And let me tell you
-- the
Democrats don't believe it!
   Haven't we heard enough from the whiners, the wanters, the
wasters and the
wafflers? The Democrats tell us every four years that they have
repented and
rejuvenated themselves. Now they proclaim a New Covenant that
will lead us all
to the land of promises, promises, promises.
   President Carter tells us with some satisfaction that his
party has finally
returned to where he left off in 1981. Does anyone remember the
Carter economic
record? Inflation, 13 percent. Interest rates, 21 percent.
   Is that the change Americans want for the next four years?
   Let me take you back 16 years to the 1976 election. It's
really not my
favorite subject, but there are some things I hope Americans
remember. My
opponent was a one-term ex-governor, newcomer to the national
scene, with
virtually no international experience. At this time in 1976, I
was 29 percentage
points behind in the Harris Poll and trailing by 33 points in
Gallup's. The
economists agreed we were coming out of a recession, but not fast
enough to do
me much good by November. The Republican Party had torn itself
apart and never
put itself back together. Nevertheless, we closed the gap to 49.9
percent and we
almost made it.
   Close only counts in horseshoes. I lost. Gov. Carter won. We
got change all
right!
   But remember, change isn't a magic word that makes everything
rosy. Change
may get you 13 percent inflation. Change may get you a 17 percent
home mortgage
interest rate. Change may bring risky actions abroad, shaking
American prestige
and confounding friend and foe. Change just for the sake of
change may be a
four-year disaster.
   I am sick and tired of people downgrading America's triumphs
over the past
four years and badmouthing our president and our vice president.
It makes me
particularly sad when it's done by those who call themselves
Republicans.
   I believe with all my heart in the two-party system. But my
fellow
Republicans, don't you forget what this party is all about! This
is the party of
Abraham Lincoln, who lived and died for the proposition that all
men are created
equal.
   This is the party of Dwight David Eisenhower, who believed
that America is
not good because she is great; America is great because she is
good.
   This is the party of George Bush, a president who has earned
our trust and
the world's respect, a seasoned and experienced president who can
safely lead us
into the challenging climax of this American century.
   We have a great country! We have more to be proud of than any
people on
Earth. The things that unite us as Americans are far more
enduring than the
things that divide us. As this campaign gets hotter, let's all
remember to
singe, but never to burn. Our unwritten compact of respect for
the convictions
of others allows all Americans the luxury of rugged political
competition.
   America didn't come to this high point in history without
courage and
conviction. We solve our problems by faith -- faith in our form
of government,
faith in one another, and faith in God's bountiful blessings.
   Two centuries ago, John Adams was the first president to move
into the new
White House. He confided to his wife, Abigail, about the prayer
he had offered
for all his successors: He said, "May none but honest and wise
men ever rule
under this roof."
   When Betty and I lived in the White House, many times I made
this prayer my
own.
   "May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof."
   America, think about that before you vote. Make it your own.
   God bless our country and our president. Bless us all and help
us to care
about all Americans and to better understand one another.
   Thank you and good night.


   Here is the text of the acceptance speech delivered to the
Republican National Convention Thursday by Vice President Dan
Quayle:

   Mr. Chairman, delegates to this convention, and friends across
America.
   With gratitude and a sense of mission, once again: I accept
your nomination
for vice president of the United States. Tonight I am stronger,
more confident,
and more determined than ever to re-elect our great president,
George Bush.
   I know my critics wish I were not standing here tonight. They
don't like our
values. They look down on our beliefs. They're afraid of our
ideas. And they
know the American people stand on our side. That is why, when
someone confronts
them and challenges them, they will stop at nothing to destroy
him. To them I
say: You have failed. I stand before you, and before the American
people --
unbowed, unbroken, and ready to keep fighting for our beliefs.
   I come from Huntington, a small farming community in Indiana.
I had an
upbringing like many in my generation -- a life built around
family, public
school, Little League, basketball and church on Sunday. My
brother and I shared
a room in our two-bedroom house. We walked to school together.
This was life in
small-town America. Our people were strong, and we believed in
the traditional
values of middle America.
   Marilyn and I have tried to teach our children these values,
like faith in
God, love of family, and appreciation for freedom. We have also
taught them
about family issues like adoption -- my parents adopted twins
when I was 10
years old. We have taught our children to respect single parents
and their
challenges -- challenges that faced my grandmother many years
ago, and my own
sister today. And we have taught our children about the tragedy
of diseases like
breast cancer -- which took the life of Marilyn's mother. Marilyn
and I have
hosted an annual event called the Race for the Cure of Breast
Cancer. Two months
ago, 20,000 runners, men and women, young and old, joined us in
our nation's
capitol to race for the cure. By leading the battle against
breast cancer, in
memory of her mother, Marilyn has taken a family tragedy and
turned it into hope
for others.
   Like so many Americans, for me, family comes first. When
family values are
undermined, our country suffers. All too often, parents struggle
to instill
character in their sons and daughters -- only to see their values
belittled and
their beliefs mocked by those who look down on America. Americans
try to raise
their children to understand right and wrong -- only to be told
that every
so-called "lifestyle alternative" is morally equivalent. That is
wrong.
   The gap between us and our opponents is a cultural divide. It
is not just a
difference between conservative and liberal; it is a difference
between fighting
for what is right and refusing to see what is wrong.
   Families can also be strengthened by empowering our people --
with low taxes,
home ownership, parental choice in education, job training, safe
streets, a
clean environment, and affordable health care. In all of these
areas, we have a
reform agenda, and it is time for Congress to get out of the way
and pass the
president's plan.
   Speaking of reform: our legal system is spinning out of
control. The
explosion of frivolous lawsuits burdens our economy and weakens
our system of
justice. America has five percent of the world's population and
70 percent of
the world's lawyers. I have nothing against lawyers -- at least
most of them.
I'm a lawyer; I'm married to one. When we worked our way through
night law
school, Marilyn and I looked forward with pride to becoming part
of the finest
legal system in the world. But today our country has a problem:
our legal system
is costing consumers $300 billion dollars a year. The litigation
explosion has
damaged our competitiveness; it has wiped out jobs; it has forced
doctors to
quit practicing in places where they are needed most. Every
American knows the
legal system is broken -- and now is the time to fix it.
   The President's Council on Competitiveness, which I chair,
will continue to
lead the charge against unnecessary federal regulation. We've
worked to save
jobs, and to save lives. We have reformed the drug approval
process to speed up
the availability of new medicines for people with
life-threatening diseases like
cystic fibrosis, cancer and AIDS.
   And what is the response of the Democrats in Congress? They
have tried to
kill the Council on Competitiveness, which stands up for the
American people
against the bureaucrats and the special interests. They think the
Competitiveness Council should go. They don't get it. It is time
for them to go.
If the Democrats in Congress can't run their own restaurant,
can't run their own
post office, and can't run their own bank, they sure can't be
trusted to run our
country.
   I hope everybody who watched the Democratic Convention noticed
how they hid
their Congressional leaders. You couldn't find them anywhere.
Maybe it was a
slick idea to keep those Democratic congressmen and senators
under wraps. But on
election day they're going to learn a hard lesson: You can run
from a TV camera;
you can even run from your own delegates; but you can't hide from
the voters of
America. So, again, there is only one thing to say about the
spend-everything,
block-everything, know-nothing Democratic Congress: it is time
for them to go.
   And it is time to change Congress for good. Almost 16 years
ago, in my first
speech as a member of the House of Representatives, I proposed
limiting the
terms of Congress. The Democratic Congress tells us that it is
good for the
country to limit Ronald Reagan and George Bush to two terms as
president. I say
to them, if it is good for the country to limit Ronald Reagan and
George Bush to
two terms, then it would be great for the country to limit the
terms of senators
like George Mitchell and Ted Kennedy, and the rest of that
liberal Democratic
Congress.
   None of the reforms I've just mentioned has any support from
Bill Clinton.
Bill Clinton talks about change, but he can't really change
America because the
special interests won't let him. He can't say a word -- not one
single word --
about legal reform, because the trial lawyers won't let him. He
can't support
school choice for parents, because the education lobby in
Washington won't let
him. He will not join the majority of Americans in supporting
term limits,
because the Democratic Congress won't let him. And he can't fight
for the
traditional family, because his supporters in Hollywood and the
media elite
won't let him. My friends: Bill Clinton and the special interests
will never run
America -- because we won't let them.
   For more than a month the media have been telling us that Bill
Clinton and Al
Gore are "moderates." Well, if they're moderates, I'm a world
champion speller.
   We are the true voice for change -- and we do not take our
marching orders
from the special interests. On behalf of legal reform and
education reform,
we've taken on the strongest forces of the status quo -- and we
will not back
down. On behalf of deregulation and term limits, we've taken on
the Democratic
Congress -- and we will not back down. And, on behalf of family
values, we've
taken on Hollywood and the media elite -- and we will not back
down.
   It has been said, and it is true, that "a leader gives his
people character."
And once again America is going to choose a leader who has
judgment, experience,
and moral strength. Four years ago, none of us knew that the
Berlin Wall would
fall, the Iron Curtain would be lifted, the Baltic nations would
be free,
communism would be dead and buried, the Soviet Union would cease
to exist, and
the threatening SS-18 ballistic missiles would be history. Nor
did we know that
we would be called upon to confront the aggression of a Middle
East tyrant.
   But four years ago we did know this: Whatever lay ahead, there
was a clear
choice to lead us. There was one man we could trust to guide our
journey to a
new century. And because we elected George Bush as our president,
America is
stronger, and the world is safer.
   My friends, now listen to this. In an attempt to establish
credibility in
foreign policy, Governor Clinton recently compared himself to
former Governor
Ronald Reagan. I know Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan is a friend of
mine -- and
Bill Clinton, you're no Ronald Reagan.
   The Democratic nominee calls America "the mockery of the
world," but he and
his running mate are the only ones who believe that. To Gov.
Clinton, I say
this: America is the greatest nation in the world, and that's one
thing you're
not going to change.
   These last four years, I have worked with a man who represents
so much of
what is good in our country -- a man whose public and personal
life are the
embodiment of character. Every day in that Oval Office, I see the
dedication of
a husband, father and grandfather; the self-reliance of an
entrepreneur; the
courage of a Navy pilot; the dependability of a loyal friend; the
compassion of
a man of faith; and the wisdom of the man who married Barbara
Bush. George Bush
has given us great victories abroad and performed great deeds at
home. But, as
Theodore Roosevelt said, "the greatest victories are yet to be
won ... the
greatest deeds are yet to be done."
   We will go on fighting for the values, the hopes and the
dreams of our
people. We will take this campaign to every American, and to
every state. We
will win because of our principles; we will win because of our
beliefs; and we
will build an America more secure in the values of faith, family,
and freedom.
In these difficult times, America needs the very best: the best
in character,
the best in leadership, and the best in judgment. And the very
best is our
nominee ... our president ... George Bush.
   Thank you very much. God bless you and God bless America.


  Here is the text of President Bush's acceptance speech prepared
for delivery to the Republican National Convention on Thursday:

   Thank you. Thank you, thank you very much. I am proud to
receive, and I am
honored to accept your nomination for president of the United
States.
   My job has been made easier by a leader who has taken a lot of
unfair
criticism, with grace and humor -- Vice President Dan Quayle. I
want to talk
tonight about the sharp choice I intend to offer Americans this
fall -- a choice
between different agendas, different directions, and yes, a
choice about the
character of the man you want to lead this nation.
   I know that Americans have many questions -- about our
economy, about our
country's future, even questions about me. I will answer them
tonight.
   First, I feel great and I am heartened by the polls -- the
ones that say that
I look better in my jogging shorts than the governor of Arkansas.

   Four years ago, I spoke about missions -- for my life and for
our country. I
spoke of one urgent mission -- defending our security and
promoting the American
ideal abroad.
   Just pause for a moment to reflect on what we've done.
   Germany has united -- and a slab of the Berlin Wall sits right
outside this
Astrodome.
   Arabs and Israelis now sit face-to-face and talk peace.
   Every hostage held in Lebanon is free.
   The conflict in El Salvador is over, and free elections
brought democracy to
Nicaragua.
   Black and white South Africans cheered each other at the
Olympics.
   The Soviet Union can only be found in history books.
   The captive nations of Eastern Europe and the Baltics are
captive no more.
   And today on the rural streets of Poland, merchants sell cans
of air labeled:
The last breath of communism.
   If I had stood before you four years ago and described this as
the world we
would help to build, you would have said: "George Bush, you must
be smoking
something, and you must have inhaled."
     This convention is the first at which an American president
can say the
Cold War is over, and freedom finished first.
   Some want to rewrite history, want to skip over the struggle,
claim the
outcome was inevitable. And while the U.S. postwar strategy was
largely
bipartisan, the fact remains that the liberal, McGovern wing of
the other party
-- including my opponent -- consistently made the wrong choice.
   In the 70s, they wanted a hollow army -- we wanted a strong
fighting force.
   From Angola to Central America they said, "Let's negotiate,
deliberate,
procrastinate." We said, "Just stand up for freedom."
   Now the Cold War is over and they claim, "Hey, we were with
you all the way!"
Their behavior reminds me of the old con man's advice to the new
kid. He said
"Son, if you're being run out of town, just get out in front and
make it look
like a parade."
   Make no mistake, the demise of communism wasn't a sure thing.
It took the
strong leadership of presidents from both parties, including
Republicans like
Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan. Without their
vision and the
support of the American people, the Soviet Union would be a
strong superpower
today and we'd be facing a nuclear threat tonight.
   My opponents say I spend too much time on foreign policy.
   As if it didn't matter that schoolchildren once hid under
their desks in
drills to prepare for nuclear war. I saw the chance to rid our
children's dreams
of the nuclear nightmare, and I did. Over the past four years,
more people have
breathed the fresh air of freedom than in all of human history. I
saw a chance
to help, and I did. These were the two defining opportunities --
not of a year,
not of a decade, but of an entire span of human history.
   I seized those opportunities for our kids and our grandkids,
and I make no
apologies for that.
   Now, the Soviet bear may be gone, but there are still wolves
in the woods.
   We say that when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. The Mideast
might have become
a nuclear powder keg, our emergency supplies held hostage. So we
did what was
right and what was necessary. We destroyed a threat, freed a
people and locked a
tyrant in the prison of his own country.
   What about the leader of the Arkansas National Guard, the man
who hopes to be
commander-in-chief? Well, while I bit the bullet, he bit his
nails.
   Two days after Congress voted to follow my lead, my opponent
said this, and I
quote: "I guess I would have voted with the majority if it was a
close vote. But
I agree with the arguments the minority made."
   Sounds to me like his policy can be summed up by a road sign
he's probably
seen on his bus tour, "Slippery When Wet."
   But this is serious business. Think about the impact of our
foreign policy
failures the last time the Democrats controlled both ends of
Pennsylvania
Avenue. Gas lines. Grain embargoes. American hostages
blindfolded.
     There will be more foreign policy challenges like Kuwait in
the next four
years. Terrorists and aggressors to stand up to; dangerous
weapons to be
controlled and destroyed. And freedom's fight is not finished. I
look forward to
being the first president to visit a free, democratic Cuba.
   Who will lead the world in the face of these challenges? Not
my opponent. In
his acceptance speech he devoted just 65 seconds to telling us
about the world.
   Then he said that America was, and I quote, being "ridiculed"
everywhere.
Tell that to the people around the world for whom America is
still a dream. Tell
that to leaders around the world from whom America commands
respect.
"Ridiculed?" Tell that to the men and women of Desert Storm.
   Let me make an aside. This is a political year, but there's a
lot of danger
in the world. You can be sure, I will never let politics
interfere with a
foreign policy decision. Forget the election: I will do what's
right for our
national security.
   Fifty years ago this summer, I was 18 years of age. I believed
deeply in this
country, and we were faced with a world war. So I made a
decision, to go off and
fight a battle much different from political battles.
   I was scared, but I was willing. I was young, but I was ready.
I had barely
lived when I began to watch men die. I began to see the special
place of America
in the world, and I began to see, even then, that the world would
become a much
smaller place, and faraway places could become more and more like
America.
   Fifty years later, after change of almost biblical
proportions, we know that
when freedom grows, America grows. Just as a strong America means
a safer world,
we have learned that a safer world means a stronger America.
   This election is about change. But that's not unusual, because
the American
revolution is never ending. Today, the pace of change is
accelerating. We face
new opportunities and new challenges. The question is -- who do
you trust to
make change work for you?
   My opponent says America is a nation in decline. Of our
economy he says, we
are somewhere on the list beneath Germany, heading south toward
Sri Lanka.
   Well, don't let anyone tell you that America is second-rate,
especially
somebody running for president.
   Maybe he hasn't heard that we are still the world's largest
economy. No other
nation sells more outside its borders. The Germans, the British,
the Japanese --
can't touch the productivity of you -- the American worker and
the American
farmer.
   My opponent won't mention that. He won't remind you that
interest rates are
the lowest they've been in 20 years, and millions of Americans
have refinanced
their homes. And you just won't hear that inflation -- the thief
of the middle
class -- has been locked in a maximum security prison.
   You don't hear much about this good news, because the media
also tends to
focus only on the bad. When the Berlin Wall fell, I half expected
to see a
headline: "Wall Falls, Three Border Guards Lose Jobs." And
underneath it
probably says: "Clinton Blames Bush."
   You don't hear a lot about progress in America. So let me tell
you about some
good things we've done together.
   Just two weeks ago, all three nations of North America agreed
to trade freely
from Manitoba to Mexico. This will bring good jobs to Main Street
USA.
     We passed the Americans with Disabilities Act -- bringing 43
million people
into the economic mainstream. I must say, it is about time.
   Our children will breath easier because of our new Clean Air
Act.
   We are rebuilding our roads, providing jobs for more than half
a million
Americans.
   We passed a child care law, and we took a stand for family
values by saying
that when it comes to raising children, government doesn't know
best, parents
know best.
   I've fought against prejudice and anti-Semitism all my life.
And I am proud
that we strengthened our civil rights laws -- and we did it
without resorting to
quotas.
   One more thing. Today, cocaine use has fallen by 60 percent
among young
people. To the teenagers, the parents and the volunteers who are
helping us
battle the scourge of drugs in America: We thank you.
   Do I want to do more? You bet. Nothing hurts me more than to
meet with
soldiers home from the Persian Gulf who can't find a job. Or
workers who have a
job, but worry that the next day will bring a pink slip. And what
about parents
who scrape and struggle to send their kids to college, only to
find them back
living at home, because they can't get work.
   The world is in transition, and we are feeling that transition
in our homes.
   The defining challenge of the '90s is to win the economic
competition -- to
win the peace.
   We must be a military superpower, an economic superpower, and
an export
superpower.
   In this election, you'll hear two visions of how to do this.
There is to look
inward, and protect what we already have. Ours is to look
forward, to open new
markets, prepare out people to compete, to restore our social
fabric -- to save
and invest -- so we can win.
   We believe that now that the world looks more like America, it
is time for
America to look more like herself.
   And so we offer a philosophy that puts faith in the
individual, not the
bureaucracy. A philosophy that empowers people to be their best,
so America can
be at its best. In a world that is safer and freer, this is how
we will build an
America that is stronger, safer and more secure.
   We start with a simple fact: Government is too big and spends
too much.
   I've asked Congress to put a lid on mandatory spending except
Social
Security. And I've proposed doing away with over 200 programs and
4,000 wasteful
projects and to freeze all other spending.
   The gridlock Democrat Congress has said, "No."
   So, beginning tonight, I will enforce the spending freeze on
my own. If
Congress sends me a bill spending more than I asked for in my
budget I will veto
it fast -- faster than copies of Millie's book sold.
     Congress won't cut spending, but refused to give the
president the power to
eliminate pork barrel projects that waste your money. Forty-three
governors have
that power. So I ask you, the American people: Give me a Congress
that will give
me the line-item veto.
   Let me tell you about a recent battle I fought with Congress.
This spring, I
worked day and night to get two-thirds of its members to approve
a balanced
budget amendment to the Constitution.
   We almost had it, but we lost by just nine votes. Listen how.
Just before the
vote, the liberal leaders of Congress convinced 12 members who
cosponsored the
bill to switch sides and vote no. Keep in mind, they voted
against a bill they
had already put their names on.
   Something fishy going on? Well, look at my opponent on this
issue. He says
he's for balanced budgets. But he came out against the amendment.
He's like that
on a lot of issues, first one side, then the other. He's been
spotted in more
places than Elvis Presley.
   After all these years, Congress has become pretty creative at
finding ways to
waste your money. So we need to be just as creative at finding
ways to sop them.
I have a brand new idea.
   Taxpayers should be given the right to check a box on their
tax returns, so
that up to 10 percent of their payments can go for one purpose
alone: To reduce
the national debt.
   But we also need to make sure that Congress doesn't just turn
around and
borrow more money, to spend more money. So I will require that,
for every tax
dollar set aside to cut the debt, the ceilings on spending will
be cut by an
equal amount. That way, we'll cut both debt and spending, and
take a whack out
of the budget deficit.
   My feelings about big government come from my experience; I
spent half my
adult life in the private sector. My opponent has a different
experience, he's
been in government nearly all his life. His passion to expand
government knows
no bounds.
   He's already proposed $220 billion in new spending, along with
the biggest
tax increase in history -- $150 billion -- that's just to start.
   He says he wants to tax the rich, but, folks, he defines rich
as anyone who
has a job.
   You've heard of the separations of powers. My opponent
practices a different
theory: "The power of separations." Government has the power to
separate you
from your wallet.
   When it comes to taxes, I've learned the hard way.
   There's an old saying: "Good judgment comes from experience,
and experience
comes from bad judgment."
   Two years ago, I made a bad call on the Democrats' tax
increase. I
underestimated Congress' addiction to taxes. With my back against
the wall, I
agreed to a hard bargain: One tax increase one time, in return
for the toughest
spending limits ever.
   Well, it was a mistake to go along with the Democratic tax
increase. But
here's my question for the American people. Who do you trust in
this election?
The candidate who raised taxes one time and regrets it, or the
other candidate
who raised taxes and fees 128 times, and enjoyed it every time?
     When the new Congress convenes, I will propose to further
reduce taxes
across the board -- provided we pay for these cuts with specific
spending
reductions that I consider appropriate, so that we do not
increase the deficit.
I will also continue to fight to increase the personal exemption
and to create
jobs by winning a cut in capital gains taxes.
   That will especially help small businesses. They create
two-thirds of the new
jobs in America. But my opponent's plan for small business is
clear, present --
and dangerous. Besides new income taxes, his plan will lead to a
new payroll tax
to pay for a government takeover of health care, and another new
tax to pay for
training. That's just the beginning.
   If he gets his way, hardware stores across America will have a
new sign up:
"Closed for despair." I guess you'd say his plan really is "Elvis
economics."
America will be checking into the "Heartbreak Hotel."
   I believe small business needs relief -- from taxation,
regulation, and
litigation.
   I will extend for one year the freeze on paperwork and
unnecessary federal
regulation that I imposed last winter. There is no reason that
federal
regulations should live longer than my friend George Burns. I
will issue an
order -- to get rid of any rule whose time has come -- and gone.
   I see something happening in our towns and in our
neighborhoods. Sharp
lawyers are running wild. Doctors are afraid to practice
medicine. And some moms
and dads won't even coach Little League any more. We must sue
each other less --
and care for each other more. I'm fighting to reform our legal
system, to put an
end to crazy lawsuits. If that means climbing into the ring with
the trial
lawyers, well, let my just say, round one starts tonight.
   After all, my opponent's campaign is being backed by
practically every trial
lawyer who ever wore a tasselled loafer. He's not in the ring
with them, he's in
the tank.
   There are other things we need to do to get our economy up to
speed -- and
prepare our kids for the next century.
   We must have new incentives for research, and new training for
workers. Small
businesses need capital and credit, and defense workers need new
jobs.
   And I have a plan to provide affordable health care for every
American,
controlling costs by cutting paperwork and lawsuits, and
expanding coverage to
the poorest of the poor.
   We don't need my opponent's plan for a massive government
takeover of health
care, which would ration care and deny you the right to choose
your doctor. Who
wants a health care system with the efficiency of the House Post
Office, and the
compassion of the KGB?
   What about our schools? My opponent and I both want to change
the way our
kids learn. He wants to change our schools a little bit -- and I
want to change
them a lot.
   Take the issue of whether parents should be able to choose the
best school
for their kids. My opponent says that's OK -- as long as the
school is run by
government. I say every parent and child should have a real
choice of schools --
public, private or religious.
     So we have a clear choice to fix our problems. Do we turn to
the tattered
blanket of bureaucracy that other nations are tossing away? Or do
we give our
people the freedom and incentives to build security for
themselves?
   Here is what I'm fighting for:
   -- open markets for American products,
   -- lower government spending,
   -- tax relief,
   -- opportunities for small business,
   -- legal and health reform,
   -- job training
   -- and new schools built on competition, ready for the 21st
century.
   Why are these proposals not in effect today?
   Only one reason -- the gridlock Democratic Congress.
   Now, I know Americans are tired of the blame game, tired of
people in
Washington acting like they are candidates for the next episode
of American
Gladiators.
   I don't like it, either. Neither should you. But the truth is
the truth. Our
policies haven't failed -- they haven't been tried.
   Americans want jobs. On Jan. 28th, I put before Congress a
plan to create
jobs. If it had been passed back then, 500,000 more Americans
would be at work
right now. But in a nation that demands action, Congress has
become the master
of inaction.
   It wasn't always this way. I served in Congress 22 years ago.
Back then, we
cooperated; we didn't get personal. We put the people above
everything else.
   At my first inauguration I said that people didn't send us to
bicker. I
extended my hand to the Democratic leaders -- and they bit it.
   The House leadership has not changed in 38 years. It is a body
caught in a
hopelessly tangled web of PACs, perks, privileges, partisanship
and paralysis.
Every day, Congress puts politics ahead of principle and above
progress.
   Let me give you just one example. Feb. 20, 1991. It was the
height of the
Gulf War. On that very same day, I asked American pilots to risk
their lives to
fly missions over Baghdad. I also wanted to strengthen our
economic security for
the future. So that same day, I introduced a new domestic energy
strategy which
would cut our dependence on foreign oil by 7 million barrels a
day.
   How many days did it take to win the Gulf War. Forty-three.
How many days has
it taken Congress to pass a national energy strategy? Five
hundred and
thirty-two -- and still counting.
   Where does my opponent stand with Congress? Well, up in New
York at their
convention, they kept the congressional leaders away from the
podium, hid them
away.
   They didn't want America to hear from the people who really
make the
decisions.
     They hid them for a very good reason -- because the American
people would
recognize a dangerous combination: A rubber check Congress -- and
a rubber stamp
president.
   Governor Clinton and Congress know that you've caught on to
their lingo. They
know when they say "spending" you say "oh, oh." So now they have
a new word,
"investment." They want to "invest" $220 billion more of your
money -- but I
want you to keep it.
   Governor Clinton and Congress want to put through the largest
tax increase in
history, but I won't let it happen.
   Governor Clinton and Congress don't want kids to have the
option of praying
in school, but I do. Clinton and Congress don't want to close
legal loopholes
and keep criminals behind bars, but I will. Clinton and Congress
will stock the
judiciary with liberal judges who write laws they can't get
approved by the
voters.
   Governor Clinton even says that Mario Cuomo belongs on the
Supreme Court. If
you believe in judicial restraint, you probably ought to be
happy. After all,
the good governor of New York can't make up his mind between
chocolate and
vanilla at Baskin Robbins. We won't have another court decision
for 35 years.
   Are my opponent and Congress really in cahoots? Look at one
important
question: Should we limit the terms of Congress? Governor Clinton
says: "No."
Congress says no. I say: "Yes."
   We tried this once before, combining the Democratic governor
of a small
southern state with a very liberal vice president and a
Democratic Congress.
America doesn't need: "Carter II."
   We don't want to take America back to those days of malaise.
But Americans
want to know -- where's the proof that we will have better days
in Washington?
   I'll give you 150 reasons. That's how many members of Congress
are expected
to leave this year. Some are tainted by scandal -- the voters
have bounced them
the way they bounced their own checks. But others are good
members. Republican
and Democrat. They agree with me. The place just doesn't work any
more.
   One hundred-fifty new members -- from both parties -- will be
coming to
Washington this fall. Every one will have a fresh view of
America's future.
   I pledge today to the American people, immediately after this
election, I
will meet with every one of these new members, before they get
attacked by the
PACs, overwhelmed by their staffs, and cornered by a camera crew.
And I will lay
out my case, our case, for change. Change that matters, real
change that makes a
difference. Change that is right for America.
   You see, there is a yearning in America, a feeling that maybe
it's time to
get back to our roots.
   Sure we must change, but some values are timeless. I believe
in families that
stick together, and fathers who stick around. I happen to believe
very deeply in
the worth of each individual human being, born or unborn. I
believe in teaching
our kids the difference between what's wrong and what's right,
teaching them
respect for hard work and to love their neighbors. And I believe
that America
will always have a special place in God's heart, as long as he
has a special
place in ours. And maybe that's why I've always believed that
patriotism is not
just another point of view.
     There are times in every young person's life when God
introduces you to
yourself. I remember such a time. It was back many years ago,
when I stood watch
at 4 a.m. Up on the bridge of the USS Finback. I would stand
there and look out
on the blackness of the sky, broken only by the sparkling stars
above. I would
think about friends I lost, a country I loved and about a girl
named Barbara. I
remember those nights as clearly as any in my life.
   You know, you can see things from up there that other people
don't see. You
can see storm clouds rise and then disappear. The first hint of
the sun over the
horizon and the first outline of the shore faraway.
   Now, I know Americans are uneasy today. There is anxious talk
around our
kitchen tables. But from where I stand, I see not America's
sunset, but a
sunrise.
   The world changes for which we've sacrificed for a generation
have finally
come to pass -- and with them a rare and unprecedented
opportunity -- to pass
the sweet cup of prosperity around our American table.
   Are we up to it? I know we are. As I travel our land, I meet
veterans who
once worked on the turrets of a tank and can now master the
keyboards of a
high-tech economy. I see teachers, blessed with the incredible
American capacity
for innovation, who are teaching our children a new way to learn
for a new
century. I meet parents, some working two jobs with hectic
schedules, who still
find new ways to teach old values to steady their kids in a
turbulent world.
   I take heart from what is happening in America, not from those
who profess a
new passion for government, but from those with an old and
enduring faith in
human potential. Those who understand that the genius of America
is our capacity
for rebirth and renewal. America is the land where the sun is
always peeking
over the horizon.
   Tonight I appeal to the unyielding, undying, undeniable
American spirit. I
ask you to consider, now that the entire world is moving our way,
why would we
want to go back their way? I ask not just for your support for my
agenda, but
for your commitment to renew and rebuild our nation -- by shaking
up the one
institution that has withstood change for over four decades.
   Join me in rolling away the roadblock at the other end of
Pennsylvania
Avenue, so that in the next four years, we will match our
accomplishments
outside by building a stronger, safer, more secure America
inside.
   Forty-four years ago -- in another age of uncertainty -- a
different
president embarked on a similar mission. His name was Harry S.
Truman.
   As he stood before his party to accept their nomination, Harry
Truman knew
the freedom I know this evening, the freedom to talk about what's
right for
America and let the chips fall where they may.
   Harry Truman said: "This is more than a political call to
arms. Give me your
help, not to win voters alone, but to win this new crusade and
keep America safe
and secure for its own people."
   Tonight I say to you -- join me in our crusade to reap the
rewards of our
global victory, to win the peace, so that we may make America
safer and stronger
for all our people.