Text of Carl Levin's speechTwo hundred and twenty-nine years ago, just a few miles from here a shot was fired that was heard round the world announcing a unique nation was about to be born. Tonight from this place a strong voice will be heard round the world proposing to change our nation's course. John Kerry understands that just as the current administration has squandered the budget surpluses of three years ago, so have their current go-it-alone foreign policies squandered the good will of much of the world and estranged us from our allies. John Kerry understands that to win the war against international terrorism, we must unite the world community against the common foe and not alienate the people of the world so that they sit on the sidelines of this struggle.
John Kerry knows that America is at its strongest and best when we are respected not only for our military power, but for the wisdom and restraint with which we use it. John Kerry knows that as the world's only superpower we must be super-wise in the ways that we use that power. John Kerry understands that if we develop new nuclear weapons, if we walk away from treaties, if we ignore international law, other nations will follow that same dangerous course. John Kerry has felt the sting and the stress of combat. Our service men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and throughout the world will have in John Kerry a commander in chief for whom leave no American behind is not a slogan, but a solemn personal duty, tested and proven under fire.
We will have in John Kerry a commander in chief who has the competence and experience that our brave men and women in uniform deserve. As commander in chief, John Kerry will relentlessly pursue terrorists wherever they operate. But if there is no imminent threat to our nation, John Kerry will never send America's sons and daughters to fight and die in unilaterally declared wars. As we set a new course tonight at home and abroad, we are guided by America's transcendent vision of a secure and peaceful world. We leave here confident that we have nominated the right captain to guide our beloved nation and a troubled world to calmer, safer waters. And we depart focused and determined to do all in our power to put the helm of our ship of state in the steady hands of commander John Kerry. Thank you. |
