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Text of Schwarzenegger's speech at RNC
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-09-01 10:09 The text of a speech by California Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger, as prepared for delivery Tuesday at the Republican National
Convention:
Thank you.
What a greeting!
California Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger addresses the second night of the 2004 Republican
National Convention at Madison Square Garden in New York, August 31, 2004.
Convention delegates formally nominated U.S. President George W.
Bush for another four-year term on Tuesday night and he will deliver
a prime-time televised acceptance speech on Thursday.
[Reuters]
| This is like winning an Oscar! ...As if I would know! Speaking of acting, one
of my movies was called "True Lies." It's what the Democrats should have called
their convention.
My fellow Americans, this is an amazing moment for me. To think that a once
scrawny boy from Austria could grow up to become Governor of California and
stand in Madison Square Garden to speak on behalf of the President of the United
States that is an immigrant's dream. It is the American dream.
I was born in Europe ...and I've traveled all over the world. I can tell you
that there is no place, no country, more compassionate more generous more
accepting and more welcoming than the United States of America.
As long as I live, I will never forget that day 21 years ago when I raised my
hand and took the oath of citizenship.
Do you know how proud I was? I was so proud that I walked around with an
American flag around my shoulders all day long.
Tonight, I want to talk about why I'm even more proud to be an American — why
I'm proud to be a Republican and why I believe this country is in good hands.
When I was a boy, the Soviets occupied part of Austria. I saw their tanks in
the streets. I saw communism with my own eyes. I remember the fear we had when
we had to cross into the Soviet sector. Growing up, we were told, "Don't look
the soldiers in the eye. Look straight ahead." It was a common belief that
Soviet soldiers could take a man out of his own car and ship him off to the
Soviet Union as slave labor.
My family didn't have a car — but one day we were in my uncle's car. It was
near dark as we came to a Soviet checkpoint. I was a little boy, I wasn't an
action hero back then, and I remember how scared I was that the soldiers would
pull my father or my uncle out of the car and I'd never see him again. My family
and so many others lived in fear of the Soviet boot. Today, the world no longer
fears the Soviet Union and it is because of the United States of America!
As a kid I saw the socialist country that Austria became after the Soviets
left. I love Austria and I love the Austrian people — but I always knew America
was the place for me. In school, when the teacher would talk about America, I
would daydream about coming here. I would sit for hours watching American movies
transfixed by my heroes like John Wayne. Everything about America seemed so big
to me so open, so possible.
I finally arrived here in 1968. I had empty pockets, but I was full of
dreams. The presidential campaign was in full swing. I remember watching the
Nixon and Humphrey presidential race on TV. A friend who spoke German and
English, translated for me. I heard Humphrey saying things that sounded like
socialism, which is what I had just left. But then I heard Nixon speak. He was
talking about free enterprise, getting government off your back, lowering taxes
and strengthening the military. Listening to Nixon speak sounded more like a
breath of fresh air.
I said to my friend, "What party is he?" My friend said, "He's a Republican."
I said, "Then I am a Republican!" And I've been a Republican ever since! And
trust me, in my wife's family, that's no small achievement! I'm proud to belong
to the party of Abraham Lincoln, the party of Teddy Roosevelt, the party of
Ronald Reagan and the party of George W. Bush.
To my fellow immigrants listening tonight, I want you to know how welcome you
are in this party. We Republicans admire your ambition. We encourage your
dreams. We believe in your future. One thing I learned about America is that if
you work hard and play by the rules, this country is truly open to you. You can
achieve anything.
Everything I have my career my success my family I owe to America. In this
country, it doesn't make any difference where you were born. It doesn't make any
difference who your parents were. It doesn't make any difference if, like me,
you couldn't even speak English until you were in your twenties.
America gave me opportunities and my immigrant dreams came true. I want other
people to get the same chances I did, the same opportunities. And I believe they
can. That's why I believe in this country, that's why I believe in this party
and that's why I believe in this President.
Now, many of you out there tonight are "Republican" like me in your hearts
and in your beliefs. Maybe you're from Guatemala. Maybe you're from the
Philippines. Maybe Europe or the Ivory Coast. Maybe you live in Ohio,
Pennsylvania or New Mexico. And maybe just maybe you don't agree with this party
on every single issue. I say to you tonight I believe that's not only okay,
that's what's great about this country. Here we can respectfully disagree and
still be patriotic still be American and still be good Republicans.
My fellow immigrants, my fellow Americans, how do you know if you are a
Republican? I'll tell you how.
If you believe that government should be accountable to the people, not the
people to the government...then you are a Republican! If you believe a person
should be treated as an individual, not as a member of an interest group... then
you are a Republican! If you believe your family knows how to spend your money
better than the government does... then you are a Republican! If you believe our
educational system should be held accountable for the progress of our children
... then you are a Republican! If you believe this country, not the United
Nations, is the best hope of democracy in the world ... then you are a
Republican! And, ladies and gentlemen ...if you believe we must be fierce and
relentless and terminate terrorism ... then you are a Republican!
There is another way you can tell you're a Republican. You have faith in free
enterprise, faith in the resourcefulness of the American people ... and faith in
the U.S. economy. To those critics who are so pessimistic about our economy, I
say: "Don't be economic girlie men!"
The U.S. economy remains the envy of the world. We have the highest economic
growth of any of the world's major industrialized nations. Don't you remember
the pessimism of 20 years ago when the critics said Japan and Germany were
overtaking the U.S.? Ridiculous!
Now they say India and China are overtaking us. Don't you believe it! We may
hit a few bumps — but America always moves ahead! That's what Americans do!
We move prosperity ahead. We move freedom ahead. We move people ahead. Under
President Bush and Vice President Cheney, America's economy is moving ahead
in spite of a recession they inherited and in spite of the attack on our
homeland.
Now, the other party says there are two Americas. Don't believe that either.
I've visited our troops in Iraq, Kuwait, Bosnia, Germany and all over the world.
I've visited our troops in California, where they train before they go overseas.
And I've visited our military hospitals. And I can tell you this: Our young men
and women in uniform do not believe there are two Americas!
They believe we are one America and they are fighting for it! We are one
America — and President Bush is defending it with all his heart and soul!
That's what I admire most about the President. He's a man of perseverance.
He's a man of inner strength. He is a leader who doesn't flinch, doesn't
waiver, does not back down. My fellow Americans, make no mistake about it
terrorism is more insidious than communism, because it yearns to destroy not
just the individual, but the entire international order. The President didn't go
into Iraq because the polls told him it was popular. As a matter of fact, the
polls said just the opposite. But leadership isn't about polls. It's about
making decisions you think are right and then standing behind those decisions.
That's why America is safer with George W. Bush as President.
He knows you don't reason with terrorists. You defeat them. He knows you
can't reason with people blinded by hate. They hate the power of the individual.
They hate the progress of women. They hate the religious freedom of others. They
hate the liberating breeze of democracy. But ladies and gentlemen, their hate is
no match for America's decency.
We're the America that sends out Peace Corps volunteers to teach village
children. We're the America that sends out missionaries and doctors to raise up
the poor and the sick. We're the America that gives more than any other country,
to fight aids in Africa and the developing world. And we're the America that
fights not for imperialism but for human rights and democracy.
You know, when the Germans brought down the Berlin Wall, America's
determination helped wield the sledgehammers. And when Nelson Mandela smiled in
election victory after all those years in prison, America celebrated, too.
We are still the lamp lighting the world especially for those who struggle.
No matter in what labor camp, they slave no matter in what injustice they're
trapped — they hear our call ... they see our light ... and they feel the pull
of our freedom. They come here as I did because they believe. They believe in
us.
They come because their hearts say to them, as mine did, "If only I can get
to America." Someone once wrote — "There are those who say that freedom is
nothing but a dream." They are right. It's the American dream.
No matter the nationality, no matter the religion, no matter the ethnic
background, America brings out the best in people. And as Governor of the great
state of California — I see the best in Americans every day ... our police, our
firefighters our nurses, doctors and teachers, our parents.
And what about the extraordinary men and women who have volunteered to fight
for the United States of America! I have such great respect for them and their
heroic families.
Let me tell you about the sacrifice and commitment I've seen firsthand. In
one of the military hospitals I visited, I met a young guy who was in bad shape.
He'd lost a leg had a hole in his stomach ... his shoulder had been shot
through.
I could tell there was no way he could ever return to combat. But when I
asked him, "When do you think you'll get out of the hospital?" He said, "Sir, in
three weeks." And do you know what he said to me then? He said he was going to
get a new leg ... and get some therapy ... and then he was going back to Iraq to
serve alongside his buddies! He grinned at me and said, "Arnold ... I'll be
back!"
Ladies and gentlemen, America is back! Back from the attack on our homeland —
back from the attack on our economy, back from the attack on our way of life.
We're back because of the perseverance, character and leadership of the 43rd
President of the United States, George W. Bush.
My fellow Americans ...I want you to know that I believe with all my heart
that America remains "the great idea" that inspires the world. It's a privilege
to be born here. It's an honor to become a citizen here. It's a gift to raise
your family here to vote here and to live here.
Our president, George W. Bush, has worked hard to protect and preserve the
American dream for all of us. That's why I say ... send him back to Washington
for four more years!
Thank you, America — and God bless you all!
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