THE
PRESIDENT: Thank you Barbara and Jenna. You make me so very proud. I
have really enjoyed being on the campaign trail with both of you. It's
kind of like the camping trip I promised to take you on. (Laughter.)
Tonight, I have the best and easiest job of this convention --
introducing our First Lady. (Applause.) My life has been better every
day since that wonderful day Laura Welch said yes to me. (Applause.) At
every stage of our journey, Laura has shown the grace and character I
fell in love with. She's a wonderful mother who fills our home with love
and kindness. She's a teacher who wants every American child to read and
discover a broader world of ideas. She's a friend of authors, who has
brought talented Americans to the attention of the world. She has been a
voice of calm and comfort in difficult times.
I'm a lucky man to have Laura at my side, and America would be
fortunate to have her in the White House for four more years.
(Applause.)
It is my honor to introduce my wife, my partner and the First Lady of
the United States, Laura Bush. (Applause.)
MRS. BUSH: Thank you all. Thank you so much. And thank you, George. I
like being introduced by the President of the United States. (Applause.)
And Barbara and Jenna, you were great. We're so proud of you both.
(Applause.)
I also want to recognize the best father- and mother-in-law anyone
could ever ask for: President Bush and Barbara Bush. (Applause.) And my
husband's brothers and sister who have become my brothers and sister
too, thank you all. Thanks so much for being here. (Applause.) And
watching tonight from her home in Midland, Texas, my mother, Jenna
Welch. Hi, Mom. (Applause.) And Vice President Cheney and Lynne, and all
the Cheney family. Thank you all so much. Thanks for everything you do.
Where are they? Oh, there they are. (Applause.) And I want to thank
everybody here tonight. Thank you all very much for the wonderful
privilege you have given me and my husband of serving our great country.
Our lives have been enriched by meeting so many of our fellow
Americans. As we've visited your communities, we have witnessed your
decency, your kindness and your character. I'm enjoying this campaign.
It has reminded me of our very first one, 25 years ago. George and I
were newlyweds and he was running for Congress. Our transportation
wasn't quite as fancy back then -- an Oldsmobile Cutlass, and George was
behind the wheel. (Laughter.) Even then, he was always on time and he
knew where he wanted to go. (Applause.)
You learn a lot about your husband when you spend that much time in a
car with him. By the end of the campaign, he had even convinced me to
vote for him. (Laughter.)
This time, I don't need any convincing. (Applause.)
I'm so proud of the way George has led our country with strength and
conviction. Tonight, I want to try to answer the question that I believe
many people would ask me if we sat down for a cup of coffee or if ran
into each other at the store: You know him better than anyone else.
You've seen things no one else has seen -- why do you think we should
reelect your husband as President?
As you might imagine, I have a lot to say about that. (Applause.)
I could talk about my passion, education. At every school we visit,
the students are so eager. Last fall, the President and I walked into an
elementary school in Hawaii, and a little second grader -- there's
Hawaii -- a little second grader came out to welcome us and bellowed,
"George Washington!" Close, just the wrong George W.
When my husband took office, too many schools were leaving too many
children behind, so he worked with Congress to pass sweeping education
reform. The No Child Left Behind Act provides historic levels of funding
with an unprecedented commitment to higher standards, strong
accountability and proven methods of instruction. We are determined to
provide a quality education for every child in America. (Applause.)
I could talk about the small business owners and entrepreneurs who
are now creating most of the new jobs in our country -- women like
Carmela Chaifos -- the only woman to own a tow truck company in all of
Iowa. (Applause.) The President's tax relief helped Carmela to buy the
business, and modernize her fleet, and expand her operations. Carmela is
living proof of what she told me. She said, "If you're determined and
you want to work hard, you can do anything you want to. That's the
beautiful thing about America." (Applause.)
I could talk about health care. For years, leaders in both parties
said we should provide prescription drug coverage in Medicare. George
was able to bring Republicans and Democrats together to get it done.
(Applause.)
I could talk about the fact that my husband is the first President to
provide federal funding for stem cell research. And he did it in a
principled way, allowing science to explore its potential while
respecting the dignity of human life. (Applause.)
I could talk about the recent record increase in home ownership. Home
ownership in America, especially minority home ownership, is at an
all-time high. (Applause.)
All of these issues are important. But we are living in the most
historic struggle my generation has ever known. The stakes are so high.
So I want to talk about the issue that I believe is most important for
my own daughters, for all of our families, and for our future: George's
work to protect our country and defeat terror so that all children can
grow up in a more peaceful world. (Applause.)
As we gather in this hall and around our television sets tonight,
Joshua Crane stands watch aboard the U.S.S. John C. Stennis. His
brothers Matthew and Nicholas stand watch near Fallujah. And at home in
Colorado -- (applause) -- their mother Cindy stands watch too -- with
worry, and prayer. She told me all three of her sons enlisted after
September 11th, because they recognized the threat to our country.
(Applause.) Our nation is grateful to all the men and women of our armed
forces who are standing guard on the front lines of freedom. (Applause.)
A dad whose wife is deployed in Iraq recently wrote about what he is
learning as he struggles to rear his three children alone. "I have
ruined at least three loads of laundry," he said. "Once you turn
everything pink, it stays pink." (Laughter.) He goes on: "I have learned
what our soldiers' wives have known for generations: hope and grief and
perseverance."
This time of war has been a time of great hardship for our military
families. The President and I want all of our men and women in uniform
and their wives and husbands, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters to
know that we appreciate their sacrifice. (Applause.) And we know that it
will mean a more peaceful future for our children and grandchildren.
No American President ever wants to go to war. Abraham Lincoln didn't
want to go to war, but he knew saving the Union required it. Franklin
Roosevelt didn't want to go to war -- but he knew defeating tyranny
demanded it. And my husband didn't want to go to war, but he knew the
safety and security of America and the world depended on it. (Applause.)
I remember some very quiet nights at the dinner table. George was
weighing grim scenarios and ominous intelligence about potentially even
more devastating attacks. I listened many nights as George talked with
foreign leaders on the phone, or in our living room, or at our ranch in
Crawford. I remember an intense weekend at Camp David. George and Prime
Minister Tony Blair were discussing the threat from Saddam Hussein. And
I remember sitting in the window of the White House, watching as my
husband walked on the lawn below. I knew he was wrestling with these
agonizing decisions that would have such profound consequence for so
many lives and for the future of our world.
And I was there when my husband had to decide. Once again, as in our
parents' generation, America had to make the tough choices, the hard
decisions, and lead the world toward greater security and freedom.
(Applause.)
I wasn't born when my father went to World War II. Like so many of
our greatest generation, he is now gone, lost to Alzheimer's nine years
ago. He served in the United States Army in Europe for almost three
years, and helped liberate Nordhausen, one of the concentration camps.
You can imagine his horror at what he found there. The methods of the
terrorists we face today are different -- but my father would know this
struggle.
Our parents' generation confronted tyranny and liberated millions. As
we do the hard work of confronting today's threat, we can also be proud
that 50 million more men, women and children live in freedom thanks to
the United States of America and our allies. (Applause.)
After years of being treated as virtual prisoners in their homes by
the Taliban, the women of Afghanistan are going back to work. After
being denied an education, even the chance to learn to read, the little
girls in Afghanistan are now in school. (Applause.) Almost every
eligible voter -- over 10 million Afghan citizens -- have registered to
vote in this fall's presidential election, more than 40 percent of them
women. (Applause.) And wasn't it wonderful to watch the Olympics and see
that beautiful Afghan sprinter race in long pants and a t-shirt,
exercising her new freedom while respecting the traditions of her
country. (Applause.)
I recently met a young Iraqi woman. She is one of the new Iraqi
Fulbright scholars studying in the United States. She survived horrific
horrors, including the gassing of her village by Saddam Hussein. She
told me that when people look at Iraq, what they don't see is that Iraq
is a country of 25 million people, each with their own hope.
As we watch the people of Iraq and Afghanistan take the first steps
to build free countries, I am reminded of what Vaclav Havel once told
me. Vaclav Havel -- playwright, intellectual, freedom fighter, political
prisoner, then President of the Czech Republic -- said to me, "Laura,
you know, democracy is hard: it requires the participation of
everybody." I think of how long it took us in our country, even though
we were given such a perfect document by our founders. It took almost
100 years after the founders declared that all men are created equal to
abolish slavery -- and not until 84 years ago this month did American
women get the right to vote. (Applause.) Our nation has not always lived
up to its ideals -- yet those ideals have never ceased to guide us. They
expose our flaws, and they lead us to mend them. We are the
beneficiaries of the works of the generations before us, and it is each
generation's responsibility to continue that work. (Applause.)
These last three years since September 11th have been difficult years
in our country's history, years that have demanded the hope, grief and
perseverance that our soldier's husband wrote about. We've learned some
lessons we didn't want to know -- that our country is more vulnerable
than we thought, that some people hate us because we stand for liberty,
religious freedom and tolerance. But we have also been heartened to
discover that we are also braver than we thought, stronger and more
generous. (Applause.)
These have been years of change for our family as well. Our girls
went off to college and graduated, and now they are back home. We are so
happy they are campaigning with us this fall and we're so proud that
they will be pursuing their own careers soon. My mother moved out of my
childhood home and into a retirement community. We lost our beloved dog
Spotty, and had our hearts warmed by the antics of Barney.
People ask me all the time whether George has changed. He's a little
grayer -- and of course, he has learned and grown as we all have. But
he's still the same person I met at a backyard barbecue in Midland,
Texas, and married three months later. (Applause.) And you've come to
know many of the same things that I know about him. He'll always tell
you what he really thinks. You can count on him, especially in a crisis.
His friends don't change -- and neither do his values. (Applause.) He
has boundless energy and enthusiasm for his job, and for life itself. He
treats every person he meets with dignity and respect; the same dignity
and respect he has for the office he holds. (Applause.)
And he's a loving man, with a big heart. I've seen tears as he has
hugged families who've lost loved ones. I've seen him return the salute
of soldiers wounded in battle. And then, being George, he invites them
to come visit us at the White House. And they've come, bringing an
infectious spirit of uniquely American confidence that we are doing the
right thing and that our future will be better because of our actions
today. (Applause.)
Many of my generation remember growing up at the height of the Cold
War, hiding under desks during civil defense drills in case the
communists attacked us. And now when parents ask me, what should we tell
our children -- I think about those desks. We need to reassure our
children that our police, our firemen, our military and our intelligence
workers are doing everything possible to keep them safe. (Applause.) We
need to remind them that most people in the world are good. And we need
to explain that because of strong American leadership in the past we
don't hide under our desks anymore. (Applause.)
And because of President Bush's leadership and the bravery of our men
and women in uniform, I believe our children will grow up in a world
where today's terror threats have also become a thing of the past.
(Applause.)
These are also years of hope for our country and our people. We have
great confidence in our ability to overcome challenges. We have gained a
new appreciation of the many blessings of America, and we've been
reminded of our responsibilities to the country we love.
George and I grew up in West Texas, where the sky seems endless, and
so do the possibilities. He brings that optimism, that sense of purpose,
that certainty that a better day is before us, to his job every day --
and with your help, he'll do it for four more years. (Applause.)
These are times that require an especially strong and determined
leader. And I'm proud that my husband is that kind of leader.
(Applause.)
Thank you all. God bless you, and God bless America. (Applause.)