Text: Remarks by First Lady Laura Bush to the Republican National
Convention

FDCH E-Media, Inc.  Tuesday, August 31, 2004; 11:24 PM

The following are remarks by First Lady Laura Bush at the 2004 Republican
National Convention:

LAURA BUSH: Thanks, everybody. Thank you all so much. Thanks. Thank you
all. Thanks so much. Thanks a lot. Thank you all. Thank you so much.

And thank you, George.

I like being introduced by the president of the United States.

And Barbara and Jenna, you were great. We're so proud of you both.

I also want to recognize the best father and mother-in-law anyone could
ever ask for: President Bush and Barbara Bush.


And my husband's brothers and sister, who have become my brothers and
sister, too. Thank you all. Thanks so much for being here.


LAURA BUSH: And watching tonight from her home in Midland, Texas, my
mother, Jenna Welch -- hi, mom.


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.

And I want to thank everybody here tonight. Thank you all very much for
the wonderful privilege you've given my husband and me of serving our
great country.

Our lives have been enriched by meeting so many of our fellow Americans.
We've visited your communities, we have witnessed your decency, kindness
and character. I am enjoying this campaign. It's 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.

LAURA BUSH: Even then, he was always on time and he knew where he wanted
to go.


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.


This time I don't need any convincing.


I am 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 ran into
each other at the store: You know him better than anyone, you've seen
things no one else has seen, why do you think we should re-elect your
husband as President?

As you might imagine, I have a lot to say about that.


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 2nd-grader...


... a little 2nd grader came out to welcome us and bellowed, "George
Washington."


Close, just the wrong George W.


LAURA BUSH: When my husband took office, too many 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.

I could talk about the small-business owners and entrepreneurs who are
now creating most of the new jobs in our country, women like Carmella
Chaifos, the only woman to own a tow truck company in all of Iowa.


The president's tax relief helped Carmella to buy the business and
modernize her fleet and expand her operations.

LAURA BUSH: Carmella 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."


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.


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.


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.


LAURA BUSH: 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 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.


As we gather in this hall and around our television sets tonight, Joshua
Crane stands watch aboard the USS John C. Stennis. His brothers, Matthew
and Nicholas, stand watch near Fallujah.

LAURA BUSH: And at home in Colorado, their mother Cindy...

... 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.


Our nation is grateful to all the men and women of our arms forces who
are standing guard on the front lines of freedom.


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."


He goes on: "I have learned what our soldiers' wives have known for
generations: hope and grief and perseverance."

LAURA BUSH: 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.

And we know 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.


LAURA BUSH: 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.


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.


After years of being treated as virtual prisoners in their own 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.


LAURA BUSH: 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.


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?


I recently met a young Iraqi woman. She's 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.

LAURA BUSH: 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.


Our nation has not always lived up to its ideals, yet those ideals have
never ceased to guide us.

LAURA BUSH: They expose our flaws, and they lead us to mend them. We
are the beneficiaries of the work of the generations before us, and it
is each generation's responsibility to continue that work.


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 been heartened to discover
that we are also braver than we thought, stronger and more generous.


LAURA BUSH: These have been years of change for our family as well. Our
girls went off to college and graduated, and now they're back home.
We're so happy they're campaigning with us this fall and we're so proud
that they'll 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's 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.


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.

LAURA BUSH: His friends don't change and neither do his values.


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.


And he's a loving man with a big heart. I've seen tears as he's 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'd come, bringing an infectious
spirit of uniquely American confidence that we're doing the right thing
and that our future will be better because of our actions today.


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.

LAURA BUSH: 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.


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.


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.


LAURA BUSH: 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 have
been reminded of our responsibilities to the country that 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 so for four more years.


These are times that require an especially strong and determined leader.
And I'm proud that my husband is that kind of leader.

Thank you all. God bless you, and God bless America.