'George W. Bush sees . . . terrorism for the evil that it is'
Excerpts of remarks from the Republican National Convention, as prepared for delivery:
Senator John McCain on President Bush: ''He has been tested and has risen to the most important challenge of our time, and I salute him. I salute his determination to make this world a better, safer, freer place. He has not wavered. He has not flinched from the hard choices. He will not yield. And neither will we.
''The sacrifices in this war will not be shared equally by all Americans. The president is the first to observe [that] most of the sacrifices fall, as they have before, to the brave men and women of our armed forces. We may be good citizens, but make no mistake, they are the very best of us. It's an honor to live in a country that is so well and so bravely defended by such patriots. May God bless them, the living and the fallen, as he has blessed us with their service.
''No American alive today will ever forget what happened on the morning of September 11th. That day was the moment when the hinge of history swung toward a new era. The opening chapter was tinged with great sadness and uncertainty. It shook us from our complacency in the belief that the Cold War's end had ushered in a time of global tranquility. But an absence of complacency should not provoke an absence of confidence. What our enemies have sought to destroy is beyond their reach. It cannot be taken from us. It can only be surrendered."
Former mayor Rudolph Giuliani of New York: ''In choosing a president, we really don't choose a Republican or Democrat, a conservative or liberal. We choose a leader. And in times of danger, as we are now in, Americans should put leadership at the core of their decision. There are many qualities that make a great leader, but having strong beliefs, being able to stick with them through popular and unpopular times, is the most important characteristic of a great leader. Winston Churchill saw the dangers of Hitler when his opponents and much of the press characterized him as a war-mongering gadfly. Ronald Reagan saw and described the Soviet Union as 'the Evil Empire' when world opinion accepted it as inevitable and belittled Ronald Reagan's intelligence. George W. Bush sees world terrorism for the evil that it is, and he will remain consistent to the purpose of defeating it while working to make us ever safer at home."
Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert: ''John Kerry [is] on the wrong side of taxation. He's on the wrong side of litigation. And he's on the wrong side of regulation. These are the job killers. They . . . put American workers at a disadvantage. But you know, John Kerry doesn't see it that way, folks. No, at his Boston tax party, John Kerry promised to increase taxes on the job creators. . . . Does anybody really know where John Kerry stands on the war? You know, he's voted for it, and he's voted against it. My friends, this is no time to pick a leader who is weak on the war and wrong on taxes."
