Day 4 RNC 9/2/04: Notable Non-Keynote Speeches

Source: GOP USA "Speech by Gen. Tommy Franks to the Republican National Convention"
http://www.gopusa.com/news/2004/september/0903_franks_full_speech.shtml

Thank you so much. That made me want to step out here...

Thank you. Thank you so much.

That introduction made me want to step out here and say, "Hi. I'm Tommy Franks, and I approved that message."

Wow. This convention rocks.

As P.X. Kelley said: I'm not a Republican. I'm not a Democrat. But I believe in democracy, and I believe in America.

For almost four decades as a soldier I've been independent.

Now, there are those who would say very independent. But here I stand tonight endorsing George W. Bush to be the next president of the United States.

Look, America is a land of opportunity. America is a land of choice. And a great wartime president, Franklin Roosevelt, once said, "Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely."

Delegates, friends, I'm prepared to choose wisely. And I choose George W. Bush.

And indeed I'm honored to join American patriots on this stage, men who know, as our troopers' moms and dads, and husbands and wives, know that freedom is never free.

Freedom is never free.

And these men are men who stepped forward to lead America's sons and daughters. They led them selflessly. They remained loyal to their country and loyal to their troops.

And I join them in saluting our commander in chief, George W. Bush.

America finds itself today at an important crease in history. The attacks of September 11th brought a new enemy to our shores, an enemy unlike any we've ever faced before.

Our nation is safer today because we have hardened our defenses. We have also taken the fight to the terrorists.

And we still have work to do.

The global war on terrorism will be a long fight. But make no mistake abut it: We are going to fight the terrorists. The question is: Do we fight them over there or do we fight them here?

I choose to fight them over there.

Now, some argue that we should treat this war as a law enforcement issue. And some say we should fight a less aggressive war, that we should retreat into a defensive posture and hope that the terrorists don't attack us again.

Well, my wife Cathy and I are simply not willing to bet the future of our grandchildren on the good will of murderers.

I learned a long time ago that hope, while so terribly important, is not a strategy. In the years ahead, America will be called upon to demonstrate character, consistency, courage and leadership.

You know, Lincoln once said, "Character is like a tree and reputation its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing."

Well, citizens and friends, I've been with this president in tough and uncertain times, and George W. Bush is "the real thing."

He is "the real thing."

The past three years have been hard years, hard years, a time of hard decisions and tough choices. I've looked into this man's eyes, and I have seen his character.

I've seen courage, I've seen consistency, the courage to stand up to terrorists and the consistency necessary to beat them.

In the battle for Afghanistan, we removed a regime that provided the base of support for Al Qaida terrorists who had been killing Americans for years.

In the battle for Iraq, we removed a brutal regime with an avowed hatred of our country, with a history for torturing its own people, and a history for using weapons of mass destruction against its neighbors and against its own citizens.

We removed that regime with well documented ties to terrorists, like the Al Qaida murderer, Abu Zarqawi. Terrorism will not stand.

Ladies and gentlemen, terrorism against our country started long before 9/11. Terrorists have been killing Americans for more than two decades. And I am proud that this president has chosen to make a stand.

Today, in Afghanistan and Iraq, more than 50 million men, women and children have been liberated from tyranny. And these countries are no longer safe harbors for those who would launch the next attack against America.

We see smiles of little girls in Afghanistan who can now go to school.

We see pride in the faces of a new Iraqi Army as they begin to protect their new freedoms. We see resolve in the faces of emerging leaders of both Iraq and Afghanistan as they build those new nations. And soon, in both Afghanistan and Iraq, we will see free elections.

In Afghanistan and Iraq, terrorism and tyranny are being replaced by freedom, hope, opportunity. I for one am proud that my country, the United States of America, has given 50 million people a chance.

And we have not been in this fight alone. President Bush has built the largest coalition in the history of the world, nations united together against terrorism. Some have ridiculed the contributions made by these allies, but I can tell you that every contribution from every nation is important.

And, ladies and gentlemen, I would ask you to join me in saying thanks to coalition partners for being there when America and the world needed them.

There can be no tougher decision -- no tougher decision -- than the decision to go to war, the decision to put our sons and daughters into harm's way.

When George W. Bush asked America's men and women to go to war, he gave them every resource our nation possessed.

This man, before sending us into battle, personally asked each of my military commanders if they had everything they needed. This is a man who made sure that everything possible was done to protect our troops from the weapons of mass destruction we all expected that the enemy owned.

This is a commander in chief who is compassionate as he is courageous.

President Bush has increased basic pay for men and women in uniform by more than 20 percent.

He has improved military housing for their families. He has provided strong support for those families who sacrificed so much. I respect that.

And while we celebrate these American fighting men and women when they're in the news, I guess the question is: Who remembers the veterans when the parades are over and the cheering fades? Who remembers the veteran's families?

President George W. Bush has provided support for these heroes. In fact, he secured a larger increase in veterans funding in four years than the previous administration did in eight.

This president remembers our veterans and is keeping America's promise to those who have sacrificed so much for us all.

George W. Bush remembers the sacrifices of the greatest generation and those who served bravely in Korea and in Vietnam.

To all our veterans I say: Welcome home. Welcome home.

This president, George W. Bush, has remained loyal to those who serve -- he has remained loyal to those who serve. And, ladies and gentlemen, for that he has my respect.

Citizens and friends, I started tonight by reminding you that America must make a choice. The time is coming.

I choose George W. Bush because he is a leader we can depend on to make the tough decisions.

He is a leader we can depend on to make the right decisions.

I choose George W. Bush because his vision to take the fight to the terrorists is the best way to protect our country.

I choose George W. Bush because he stands up for the American fighting man and woman and because he remembers our veterans.

I choose George W. Bush because we know that the next 200 years of American history will depend on the decisions our nation makes today.

I choose George W. Bush because I believe his leadership will help ensure a better future for my grandchildren, Anne Cathryn and Samuel Thomas Matlock.

Thank you all. May God bless you all, our country and our commander in chief.


Source: Sun-Sentinel September 2, 2004 "Remarks by Gov. George Pataki and an introduction of President George W. Bush" http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/nyc-patakispeech0902,0,1169665.story?coll=sns-newsnation-headlines

Thank you, delegates and friends.

I have been governor of this state for ten years, through challenge, and triumph, and tonight is a great New York night.

I'm going to be brief, because tonight we hear from President George W. Bush.

The past few evenings we have spoken of September 11th, of our heroes and of those we lost.

But there's a part of this story that has never fully been told. I'd like to tell it.

After September 11th our tourism industry was hit hard. Do you know what the people of Oregon did? A thousand people from Oregon came to New York and rented a thousand hotel rooms so our workers and desk clerks and waiters could keep their jobs.

Where is the Oregon delegation? Oregon, can I ask you to stand? Thank you.

Where is Iowa?

After September 11th, the people of Iowa heard that our guys at ground zero were cold, working through the night, so Iowa rushed one thousand five hundred quilts to help keep them warm.

Iowa Delegation will you please stand? Thank you.

Pennsylvania, where are you?

Five brothers in your state had been saving for years to go to Disney World. They had saved almost $900. After September 11th the boys drove to Brooklyn, to a fire house that had lost eight men. They gave their Disney World money to the relief fund.

Pennsylvania, you raised those boys, will you stand? Thank you.

Now, I could tell a story like this about every single state in the country. But there was of course another state.

It woke up one morning and walked the kids to school, and suddenly the streets were full of sirens and there was fire in the sky.

You know what they did, the people of this state?

They charged into the towers, they stood on line like soldiers to give blood.

And then, in the days and nights that followed, the tough men and women of our great city came forward.

They quieted the fire and dug us out of grief. They got into trucks and went to Ground Zero - the construction workers and iron workers, our police officers and fire fighters.

And the people of our city stood in the dark each night, waving flags, and calling out "God bless you" as the trucks hurtled by.

And the men and women on those trucks waved back as if to say, "Hey, no problem."

This great state rolled up its sleeves, looked terrorism straight in the face, and spat in its eye.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you New York.

On that terrible day, a nation became a neighborhood. All Americans became New Yorkers.

So, what I've wanted to do for a long time was say thank you -- in front of our country, and with our children watching.

Thank you America, from the very bottom of New York's heart.

And now, we have some business to do.

Every four years people say 'This is the most important election of our lifetime.' This time it's true.

We have a choice between two very different men.

Different views, different histories. I know them both - we were at college together, the president a year behind me, Senator Kerry a year ahead.

John Kerry was head of the Liberal Union, I was head of the Conservative Union.

We never got to debate back then. But the Senator has asked for a full and frank discussion.

Well, let's start now.

I want to help voters compare President Bush's record of achievement with Senator Kerry's. That way they'll be able to see the difference, which is that President Bush has a record of achievement.

Almost four years ago George W. Bush raised his right hand and took the oath of office. And from the first he showed us something we hadn't seen in a while. When he said he was going to do something, he meant it.

And then he did it.

Given recent history, that's amazing.

He inherited a recession, and then came September 11th. But George Bush said he would turn around the economy and create new jobs.

He said he'd do it. And he did.

He said he would cut taxes on the middle class, and ease the tax burden on all Americans.

He said he'd do it. And he did.

He said he'd help small businesses, protect social security, and expand home ownership.

He said he'd do it. And he did.

He said he'd apply tougher standards to our schools. He'd help our seniors get the prescription drug coverage they need.

He said he'd do it. And he did.

And George Bush said he'd fight to allow the power of faith to help our young and help our troubled.

He said he'd do it. And he did.

There's much more, but you get the point.

George W. Bush says what he means, he means what he says, you can trust him.

Senator Kerry, on the other hand ...

Well, what can we say of Senator Kerry?

He was for the war and then he was against the war.

Then he was for it but he wouldn't fund it.

Then he'd fund it but he wasn't for it.

He was for the Patriot Act until he was against it.

Or was he against it until he was for it?

I forget. He probably does too.

This is a candidate who has to Google his own name to find out where he stands.

You saw their convention a few weeks ago. They had a slogan: "Hope is on the way." But with all their flip-flopping and zig-zagging their real slogan should be, "Hype is on the way."

You know, as Republicans we're lucky. This fall we're going to win one for the Gipper. But our opponents - they're going lose one with the Flipper.

I thank God that on September 11th, we had a president who didn't wring his hands and wonder what America had done wrong to deserve this attack.

I thank God we had a president who understood that America was attacked, not for what we had done wrong, but for what we do right.

The President took strong action to protect our country.

That sounds like something any president would do. How I wish that were so.

You know the history. Osama bin Laden declared war on America -- and then came the attacks -- the first World Trade Center, the embassies, the USS Cole -- hundreds dead, thousands injured.

How I wish the administration at that time, in those years had done something.

How I wished they had moved to protect us -- But - they - didn't - do - it.

On September 11th Al Qaeda attacked again. But this time they made a terrible mistake.

There's one thing they didn't bank on.

They didn't bank on George W. Bush.

He didn't run from history. He faced it.

George Bush raised our spirits.

He came to New York, stood on that smoking heap, looked at our heroes and said I can hear you and soon the whole world will hear you ...

He declared a new doctrine: The United States will find and remove terrorists, whoever they are and wherever they are, and if you harbor them, there will be hell to pay.

He mobilized our forces and went to Afghanistan, where the United States fought and won a war.

Al Qaeda camps were pulverized, the Taliban deposed.

George Bush protected our country. And - he - protects - it - still.

With supreme guts - and rightness - President Bush went into Iraq.

The US had asked for peace, went to the UN time and again, asked Saddam to step aside. But Saddam would not be moved.

So President Bush moved him ...

Our American troops, our citizen soldiers and the Coalition of the Willing moved him. And soon a dictator who had used poison gas on his own people was found cowering in the earth.

Some people have called this an abuse of power. I call it progress.

There are those who still say that there was no reason to liberate Iraq. They ask about weapons of mass destruction.

On September 11th in New York we learned that in the hands of a monster, a box cutter is a weapon of mass destruction.

And Saddam Hussein was a monster -- a walking- talking weapon of mass destruction.

It is good for the world that he is gone.

Where does Senator Kerry stand on all this? In Boston, he said that in the future "any attack would be met with a swift and certain response".

Well, respectfully Senator, that's not good enough.

We've already been attacked, time and again.

And President Bush understands we can't just wait for the next attack. We have to go after them in their training camps, in their hiding places, in their spider holes, before they have the chance to attack us again.

Senator Kerry says, "America should go to war not when it wants to go to war but when it has to go to war."

Well, Senator: the fire fighters and cops who ran into those burning towers and died on September 11th didn't want to go to war, they were heroes in a war they didn't even know existed. America did not choose this war. But we have a President who chooses to win it.

This is no ordinary time. The stakes could not be higher. Fate has handed our generation a grave new threat to freedom. And fortune has given us a leader who will defend that freedom. This is no ordinary time.

And George W. Bush is no ordinary leader.

I'm a New Yorker.

We've got a lot of feeling deep down, though we don't always show it.

But let me ask you: What is this election about if it isn't about our love of Freedom?

A love for all we are, and can be - for that old Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, for Constitution Hall, fle world's people came to share in our freedom.

And love too for that statue in New York's great grand harbor. That noble statue that greeted the lonely, and seemed by her very grandeur to be telling them, 'Take heart, take heart, it's going to be better here.'

We had to close her down after September 11th. But we opened her again a few weeks ago.

That was a good day.

And now she stands, tall and immovable, lighting the way to dreams, that symbol of hope, that Statue of Liberty.

Ladies and Gentlemen ...

On this night and in this fight there is another who holds high that torch of freedom. He is one of those men God and fate somehow lead to the fore in times of challenge.

And he is lighting the way to better times, a safer land, and hope.

He is my friend, he is our president, President George W. Bush.