Bush mr. Chairman mr. Chairman [applause] bush thank you, all. [applause] george w. Bush mr. Chairman, delegates, and my fellow citizens. I proudly accept your nomination. [applause] george w. Bush thank you for this honor. Together, we will renew americas purpose. [applause] george w. Bush our Founders First defined that purpose here in philadelphia. Ben franklin was here. Thomas jefferson. And, of course, George Washington or, as his friends called him, george w. [laughter] [applause] george w. Bush i am proud to by my side. Eney [applause] george w. Bush he is a man of integrity and sound judgment, who has proven that Public Service can be noble service. America will be proud to have a leader of such character to succeed al gore as Vice President of the united states. [applause] bush im grateful for senator john mccain. I appreciate very much i his speech tonights ago, i appreciate his friendship, i appreciate the spirit for america. And i want to thank the other candidates who sought this nomination. Their convictions have strengthened our party. [applause] george w. Bush i am especially grateful tonight to my family. No matter what else i do in life, asking laura to marry me was the best decision i ever made. [applause] george w. Bush to our daughters, barbara and jenna, we love you, were proud of you, and as you head off to college this fall dont stay out too late, and email your old dad once in a while, will you . And mother, Everybody Loves you and so do i. [applause] george w. Bush growing up, she gave me love and lots of advice. I gave her white hair. [laughter] george w. Bush and i want to thank my dad, the most decent man i have ever known. [applause] george w. Bush all my life i have been amazed that a gentle soul could be so strong. Dad, i am proud to be your son. My father was the last president of the great generation, a generation of americans who stormed beaches, liberated concentration camps and delivered us from evil. Some never came home. Those who did put their medals in drawers, went to work, and built on a heroic scale highways and universities, suburbs and factories, great cities and grand alliances the strong foundations of an american century. Now the question comes to the sons and daughters of this achievement. What is asked of us . This is a remarkable moment in the life of our nation. Never has the promise of prosperity been so vivid. But times of plenty, like times of crisis, are tests of american character. Prosperity can be a tool in our hands used to build and better , our country. Or it can be a drug in our system dulling our sense of , urgency, of empathy, of duty. Our opportunities are too great, our lives too short, to waste this moment. So tonight, we bow to our nation, we will seize this moment of american promise. We will use these good times for great goals. [applause] george w. Bush we will confront the hard issues threats to our national security, threats to our health and Retirement Security before the challenges of our time become crises for our children. And we will extend the promise of prosperity to every forgotten corner of this country. To every man and woman, a chance to succeed. To every child, a chance to learn. To every family, a chance to live with dignity and hope. [applause] george w. Bush for eight years, the Clinton Gore Administration has coasted through prosperity. The path of least resistance is always downhill. But americas way is the rising road. This nation is daring and decent and ready for change. [applause] george w. Bush our current president embodied the potential of a generation. So many talents, so much charm, such great skill. But, in the end, to what end . So much promise, to no great purpose. [applause] bush little more than a decade ago, the cold war thawed and, with the leadership of president s reagan and bush, that wall came down. [applause] george w. Bush but instead of seizing this moment, the Clinton Gore Administration has squandered it. We have seen a steady erosion of American Power and an unsteady exercise of american influence. Our military is low on parts, pay and morale. , if called on by the commanderinchief today, two entire divisions of the army would have to report not ready for duty, sir. This administration had its moment. They had their chance. They have not led. We will. [applause] george w. Bush this generation was given the gift of the best education in american history. Yet we do not share that gift. Ith everyone seven of ten fourthgraders in our highest poverty schools cannot read a simple childrens book. And still this administration , continues on the same old path with the same old programs while millions are trapped in schools where violence is common and learning is rare. This administration had its chance. They have not led. We will. [applause] george w. Bush america has a Strong Economy and a surplus. We have the Public Resources and the public will even the bipartisan opportunities to strengthen Social Security and repair medicare. But this administration, during eight years of increasing need, did nothing. They had their moment. They have not led. We will. [applause] george w. Bush our generation has a chance to reclaim some essential values to show we have grown up before we grow old. But when the moment for leadership came, this administration did not teach our children, it disillusioned them. They had their chance. They have not led. We will. [applause] george w. Bush and now they come asking for another chance, another shot. Our answer . Not this time. Not this year. This is not a time for third chances, it is a time for new beginnings. [applause] george w. Bush the rising generations of this country have our own appointment with greatness. It does not rise or fall with the stock market. It cannot be bought with our wealth. Greatness is found when american character and american courage overcome american challenges. When lewis morris of new york was about to sign the declaration of independence, his brother advised against it, warning he would lose all his property. But morris, a plainspoken responded, damn the pen. Ences, give me the [applause] george w. Bush that is the eloquence of american action. We heard it during world war ii, when general eisenhower told paratroopers on dday morning not to worry. And one replied, were not worried, general. Its hitlers turn to worry now. [applause] george w. Bush we heard it in the civil rights movement, when brave men and women did not say, we shall cope, or we shall see. They said we shall overcome. ,[applause] george w. Bush an american president must call upon that character. Tonight, in this hall, we resolve to be, not the party of repose, but the party of reform. We will write, not footnotes, but chapters in the american story. We will add the work of our hands to the inheritance of our fathers and mothers and leave this nation greater than we found it. [applause] george w. Bush we know the tests of leadership. The issues are joined. We will strengthen Social Security and medicare for the greatest generation, and for generations to come. [applause] george w. Bush medicare does more than meet the needs of our elderly, it reflects the values of our society. We will set it on Firm Financial ground, and make prescription drugs available and affordable for every senior who needs them. [applause] george w. Bush Social Security has been called the third rail of american politics the one youre not supposed to touch because it might shot you. But, if you dont touch it, you cant fix it. And i intend to fix it. [applause] bush to the seniors in this country, you earned your benefits. You made your plans. And president george w. Bush will keep the promise of Social Security no changes, no reductions, no way. [applause] george w. Bush our opponents will say otherwise. This is their last, parting ploy, and dont believe a word of it. Now is the time for republicans and democrats to end the politics of fear and save Social Security, together. [applause] george w. Bush for younger workers, we will give you the option your choice to put a part of your payroll taxes into sound, responsible investments. [applause] george w. Bush this will mean a higher return on your money, and, over 30 or 40 years, a nest egg to help your retirement, or pass on to your children. When this money is in your name, in your account, its not just a program, its your property. Now is the time to give American Workers security and independence that no politician can ever take away. [applause] george w. Bush on education, too Many American children are segregated into schools without standards, shuffled from gradetograde because of their age, regardless of their knowledge. This is discrimination, pure and simple the soft bigotry of low expectations. [applause] george w. Bush and our nation should treat it like other forms of discrimination. We should end it. [applause] george w. Bush one size does not fit all when it comes to educating our children, so local people should control local schools. [applause] george w. Bush and those who spend your tax dollars must be held accountable. When a School District receives federal funds to teach poor children, we expect them to learn. And if they dont, parents should get the money to make a different choice. [applause] bush now is the time to make head start an Early Learning program, teach all our children to read, and renew the promise of americas public schools. [applause] george w. Bush another test of leadership is tax relief. [applause] george w. Bush the last time taxes were this high as a percentage of our economy, there was a good reason. We were fighting world war ii. Today, our high taxes fund a surplus. Some say that growing federal surplus means washington has more money to spend. But theyve got it backwards. The surplus is not the governments money. The surplus is the peoples money. [applause] george w. Bush i will use this moment of opportunity to bring common sense and fairness to the tax code. And i will act on principle. On principle, every family, every farmer and small businessperson, should be free to pass on their lifes work to those they love. So we will abolish the death tax. [applause] george w. Bush on principle, no one in america should have to pay more than a third of their income to the federal government. So we will reduce tax rates for everyone, in every bracket. [applause] george w. Bush on principle, those in the greatest need should receive the greatest help. So we will lower the bottom rate from 15 to 10 and double the child tax credit. [applause] bush now is the time to reform the tax code and share some of the surplus with the people who pay the bills. [applause] george w. Bush the world needs americas strength and leadership, and Americas Armed forces need better equipment, better training, and better pay. [applause] george w. Bush we will give our military the means to keep the peace, and we will give it one thing more a commanderinchief who respects our men and women in uniform, and a commanderinchief who earns their respect. [applause] george w. Bush a generation shaped by vietnam must remember the lessons of vietnam. When america uses force in the world, the cause must be just, the goal must be clear, and the victory must be overwhelming. [applause] george w. Bush i will work to reduce Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Tension in the world to turn these years of influence into decades of peace. And, at the earliest possible date, my administration will deploy missile defenses to guard against attack and blackmail. [applause] george w. Bush now is the time, not to defend outdated treaties, but to defend the american people. A time of prosperity is a test of vision. And our nation today needs vision. That is a fact or as my opponent might call it, a risky truth scheme. [laughter] [applause] bush every one of the proposals ive talked about tonight, he has called a risky scheme, over and over again. It is the sum of his message the politics of the roadblock, the philosophy of the stop sign. If my opponent had been at the moon launch, it would have been a risky rocket scheme. [laughter] [applause] george w. Bush if hed been there when edison was testing the light bulb, it would have been a risky anticandle scheme. [laughter] [applause] george w. Bush and if hed been there when the internet was invented [applause] george w. Bush he now leads the party of Franklin Delano roosevelt. But the only thing he has to offer is fear itself. [applause] george w. Bush that outlook is typical of many in washington always seeing the tunnel at the end of the light. [laughter] [applause] bush but i come from a different place, and it has made me a different leader. In midland, texas, where i grew up, the town motto was the sky is the limit and we believed it. There was a restless energy, a basic conviction that, with hard work, anybody could succeed, and everybody deserved a chance. Our sense of community was just as strong as that sense of promise. Neighbors helped each other. There were dry wells and sandstorms to keep you humble, and lifelong friends to take your side, and churches to remind us that every soul is equal in value and equal in need. [applause] george w. Bush this background leaves more than an accent, it leaves an outlook. Optimistic, impatient with pretense, confident that people can chart their own course. That background may lack the polish of washington. Then again, i dont have a lot of things that come with washington. I dont have enemies to fight. I have no stake in the bitter arguments of the last few years. I want to change the tone of washington to one of civility and respect. [applause] george w. Bush the largest lesson i learned in midland still guides me as governor. Of texas. Everyone, from immigrant to entrepreneur, has an equal claim on this countrys promise. So we improved our schools, dramatically, for children of every accent, of every background. We moved people from welfare to work. We strengthened our juvenile justice laws. Our budgets have been balanced, with surpluses, and we cut taxes not only once, but twice. [applause] george w. Bush we accomplished a lot. I dont deserve all the credit, and dont attempt to take it. I worked with republicans and democrats to get things done. A bittersweet part of tonight is that someone is missing, the late lt. Governor of texas bob bullock. [applause] governor bush bob was a democrat, a crusty veteran of texas politics, and my great friend. We worked sidebyside. He endorsed my reelection, and i know he is with me in spirit in saying to those who would malign our state for political gain dont mess with texas. [applause] governor bush as governor, ive made difficult decisions, and stood by them under pressure. Ive been where the buck stops in business and in government. Ive been a chief executive who sets an agenda, sets big goals, and rallies people to believe and achieve them. I am proud of this record, and im prepared for the work ahead. If you give me your trust, i will honor it. Grant me a mandate, and i will use it. Give me the opportunity to lead this nation, and i will lead. [applause] bush and we need a leader to seize the opportunities of this new century the new cures of medicine, the amazing technologies that will drive our economy and keep the peace. But our new economy must never forget the old, unfinished struggle for human dignity. And here we face a challenge to the very heart and founding premise of our nation. A couple of years ago, i visited a juvenile jail in marlin, texas, and talked with a group of young inmates. They were angry, wary kids. All had committed grownup crimes. Yet when i looked in their eyes, i realized some of them were still little boys. Toward the end of conversation, one young man, about 15, raised his hand and asked a haunting question. What do you think of me . He seemed to be asking, like Many Americans who struggle is , there hope for me . Do i have a chance . And frankly, do you, a white man in a suit, really care what happens to me . A small voice, but it speaks for so many. Single moms struggling to feed the kids and pay the rent. Immigrants starting a hard life in a new world. Children without fathers in neighborhoods where gangs seem like friendship, where drugs promise peace, and where sex, sadly, seems the closest thing to belonging. We are their country, too. And each of us must share in its promise, or that promise is diminished for all. If that boy in marlin believes he is trapped and worthless and hopeless if he believes his life has no value, then other andd no value to him we are all diminished. When these problems arent confronted, it builds a wall within our nation. On one side are wealth and technology, education and ambition. On the other side of the wall are poverty and prison, addiction and despair. And, my fellow americans, we must tear down that wall. [applause] governor bush Big Government is not the answer. But the alternative to bureaucracy is not indifference. It is to put conservative values and conservative ideas into the thick of the fight for justice and opportunity. This is what i mean by compassionate conservatism. And on this ground we will govern lead our nation. [applause] governor bush we will give lowincome americans tax credits to buy the private Health Insurance they need and deserve. [applause] governor bush we will transform todays Housing Rental Program to help hundreds of thousands of lowincome families find stability and dignity in a home of their own. [applause] governor bush and, in the next bold step of welfare reform, we will support the heroic work of homeless shelters and hospices, food pantries and Crisis Pregnancy Centers people reclaiming their communities blockbyblock and heartbyheart. [applause] governor bush i think of mary jo copeland, whose ministry called sharing and caring hands serves 1,000 meals a week in minneapolis, minnesota. [applause] governor bush each day, mary jo washes the feet of the homeless, then sends them off with new socks and shoes. Look after your feet, she tells them they must carry you , a long way in this world, and then all the way to god. Government cannot do this work. It can feed the body, but it cannot reach the soul. [applause] governor bush yet government can take the side of these groups, helping the helper, encouraging the inspired. My administration will give taxpayers new incentives to donate to charity, encourage afterschool programs that build character, and support mentoring groups that shape and save young lives. [applause] governor bush we must give our children a spirit of moral courage, because their character is our destiny. [applause] bush we must tell them with confidence that drugs and alcohol can destroy you, and bigotry disfigures the heart. [applause] governor bush our schools must support the ideals of parents, elevating character and abstinence from afterthoughts to urgent goals. [applause] governor bush we must help protect our children, in our schools and streets, by finally and strictly enforcing our gunons gun laws nations laws. [applause] governor bush most of all, we must teach our children the values that defeat violence. I will lead our nation toward a culture that values life the life of the elderly and the sick, the life of the young, and the life of the unborn. [applause] bush bush good people can disagree on this issue, but surely we can agree on ways to value life by promoting adoption and parental notification, and when Congress Sends me a bill against partialbirth abortion, i will sign it into law. [applause] governor bush behind every goal i have talked about tonight is a great hope for our country. A hundred years from now, this must not be remembered as an age rich in possessions and poor in ideals. Instead, we must usher in an era of responsibility. [applause] governor bush my generation tested limits and our country, in some ways, is better for it. Women are now treated more equally. Racial progress has been steady, if still too slow. We are learning to protect the Natural World around us. We will continue this progress, and we will not turn back. [applause] governor bush at times, we lost our way. But we are coming home. [applause] governor bush so many of us held our first child, and saw a better self reflected in her eyes. And in that family love, many have found the sign and symbol of an even greater love, and have been touched by faith. We have discovered that who we are is more important than what we have. And we know we must renew our values to restore our country. [applause] governor bush this is the vision of americas founders. They never saw our nations greatness in rising wealth or advancing armies, but in small, unnumbered acts of caring and courage and selfdenial. Their highest hope, as robert frost described it, was to occupy the land with character and that, 13 generations later, is still our goal to occupy the land with character. [applause] governor bush in a responsibility era, each of us has important tasks work that only we can do. Each of us is responsible to love and guide our children, and help a neighbor in need. Synagogues, churches and mosques are responsible not only to , worship but to serve. Corporations are responsible to treat their workers fairly, and leave the air and waters clean. [applause] governor bush and our nations leaders are responsible to confront problems, not pass them on to others. And to lead this nation to a responsibility era, a president himself must be responsible. [applause] governor bush and so, when i put my hand on the bible, i will swear to not only uphold the laws of our land, i will swear to uphold the honor and dignity of the office to which i have been elected, so help me god. [applause] governor bush i believe the presidency the final point of decision in the American Government was made for great purposes. It is the office of lincolns conscience and Teddy Roosevelts energy and Harry Trumans integrity and Ronald Reagans optimism. [applause] governor bush for me, gaining this office is not the ambition of a lifetime, but it is the opportunity of a lifetime. And i will make the most of it. I believe great decisions are made with care, made with conviction, not made with polls. [applause] governor bush i do not need to take your pulse before i know my own mind. I do not reinvent myself at every turn. I am not running in borrowed clothes. [applause] governor bush when i act, you will know my reasons. And when i speak, you will know my heart. I believe in tolerance, not in spite of my faith, but because of it. [applause] bush i believe in a god who calls us, not to judge our neighbors, but to love them. Governor bush i believe in grace, because i have seen it. In peace, because i have felt it. In forgiveness because i have , needed it. [applause] governor bush i believe true leadership is a process of addition, not an act of division. I will not attack a part of this country, because i want to lead the whole of it. [applause] governor bush and i believe this will be a tough race, down to the wire. Their war room is up and running , but we are ready. Their attacks will be relentless, but they will be answered. We are facing something familiar, but they are facing something new. [applause] governor bush we are now the party of ideas and innovation, the party of idealism and inclusion. The party of a simple and powerful hope. My fellow citizens, we can begin again. [applause] governor bush after all of the shouting, and all of the scandal. After all of the bitterness and broken faith. We can begin again. [applause] governor bush the wait has been long, but it wont be long now. [applause] governor bush a prosperous nation is ready to renew its purpose and unite behind great goals and it wont be long now. Our nation must renew the hopes of that boy i talked with in jail, and so many like him. And it wont be long now. Our country is ready for high standards and new leaders. And it wont be long now. [applause] governor bush an era of tarnished ideals is giving way to a responsibility era and it wont be long now. I know how serious the task is presidencyi know the is an office that turns pride into prayer. But i am eager to start on the work ahead. And i believe america is ready for a new beginning. [applause] governor bush my friend, the artist tom lea of el paso, texas, captured the way i feel about our great land, the land i love. He and his wife, he said, live on the east side of the mountain it is the sunrise side, not the sunset side. It is the side to see the day that is coming, not to see the day that is gone. Americans live on the sunrise side of mountain. The night is passing. And we are ready for the day to come. God bless america. [applause]