Text of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Speech at the Republican National
Convention

FDCH E-Media, Inc.  Monday, August 30, 2004; 12:22 PM

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's speech at the Republican National
Convention, August 30, 2004, New York City.

Delegates and guests, welcome to my New York, your New York, our New York,
everybody's New York.

And thank you, Mayor Koch, for serving this town so well over so
many years, and especially for helping us mobilize not only the 8,000
volunteers you sought, but the more than 20,000 you got for this amazing
event.


You betcha. Thank you to every one of them.

Your success is a mark of just how excited New Yorkers are to have the
convention here. It's also our way of saying thank you to the Republicans
for your tremendous vote of confidence in our city.


We should remember it wasn't so long ago that confidence in New York
was in short supply. When I took the oath of office nearly three years
ago, we were a city in mourning, a city that had in a few dreadful hours
lost almost 3,000 of our own -- husbands, wives, sons and daughters from
every part of the nation and every corner of the globe.

There were those who doubted then whether this city could hold on to
the gains made during the 1990s under Mayor Guiliani. A lot of people
were wondering what the future held for New York City, or whether we
even had a future.

But neither America nor President Bush ever stopped believing in us.


Nearly two years ago, with the city's fate still a question mark in many
minds, our president decided that this convention would come to New
York City. This was a show of faith that required courage and vision;
one that all New Yorkers will not forget.

And today, it fills me with enormous pride and gratitude to tell everyone
that New York City is back.


Our economy is growing, with 45,000 private sector jobs created in the
last 12 months alone. Our neighborhoods are humming with a level of
public and private construction not seen since the end of World War II.

Our streets are bustling with a three-year 15 percent reduction in crime
that has defied the odds and made the nation's safest city even safer.


Our schools are reviving. Our streets are cleaner. Our quality of life
is better. And our future is brighter than ever.


What's more, New York City has been given the high honor of representing
all America in the competition to host the world's greatest athletic
event, the 2012 Olympic Games.

That's only fitting because from our earliest days, when Peter Stuyvesant
was the governor of a small, multilingual frontier outpost, right up to
today when 170 different languages are spoken on our streets and in our
homes, New York has been and always will be an Olympic village.

We've shown the world that New York can never be defeated, because of
its dynamic and diverse population and because it embodies the spirit of
enterprise and the love of liberty. And because no matter who you are,
if you believe in yourself and your dream, New York will always be the
place for you.

This is the city of dreamers and time and again it's the place where
the greatest dream of all, the American dream, has been tested and
has triumphed.

It's where in his first major national speech, in 1860, Abraham Lincoln
challenged this party and our nation to face the moral evil of slavery
with the faith that right makes might.

And later that year, it was New York's delegation to the Republican
National Convention that moved to make Abraham Lincoln's nomination for
the presidency of the United States unanimous.

I'm proud to say that framed on a wall of my home is the flag those
New York Republicans carried during that convention. It is a constant
reminder to me of the proud role New York played at a pivotal moment in
our nation's history.

Four score and seven years later, New York City is where Jackie Robinson
erased the color barrier in our national pastime with his bat and glove
and gallant spirit. A monument to this trailblazer is being constructed
in Brooklyn to remind us all, America is for everyone.


And our city is also where, on Independence Day, Governor George Pataki
and I laid the tombstone for the Freedom Tower at the site of the World
Trade Center. The terrorists hit us there, our knees buckled, but we
stayed on our feet.


And we showed that our dreams, like our liberties, will never be lost
to violence or hate.

No place epitomizes the American experience and the American spirit more
than New York City. Ironically, it is exactly because we are a city that
embraces freedom, that welcomes everyone and encourages their dreams,
that New York remains on the front lines in the war on terror.

I want to thank President Bush for supporting New York City and changing
the homeland security funding formula and for leading the global war
on terrorism.

The president deserves our support.


We are here to support him.


And I am here to support him.


We all must recognize that homeland security funds should be allocated
by threat and no other reason.

And I will repeat this message to my fellow Republicans, Democrats and
independents as many times as it takes so we can keep New York safe
and secure.

New Yorkers will go forward doing our duty for our city, our nation and
our families and we know that you will, too. Because in our greatest hour
of need, you, all our fellow Americans, from every corner of this land,
were there for us. And we owe you more than we can say.


Your police officers and firefighters volunteered for duty at ground
zero. Your houses of worship sent blankets, food and prayers. Your
children mailed us pictures and poems.

That's another reason that this convention is our chance to say thank
you. And it's why we're making our town your town for the week.


We're the world's second home, the place where every religion is practiced
and every culture is celebrated. It's all there for you, from Brooklyn
Heights to Bayside, from Coney Island to Chelsea; take it all in. The
world's greatest museums, Broadway, the Yankees and the Mets, high-fashion
shopping and bargain-hunting specials, and more than 18,000 restaurants
in all five boroughs, eager to please any palate and fit any budget.

And let me give you an insider's tip: my own personal favorite thing to
do in this city. At least once, one morning while you're here, begin the
day with a ride on the ferry to Staten Island. Out there in the harbor
you'll glide past the Statue of Liberty, the beacon of freedom that
America holds out to people everywhere. It's guaranteed to bring a lump
to your throat, because you'll be looking at New York the way generations
of new Americans have, as the place to make all your dreams come true.

Thank you and have a great convention. God bless.