Text of Laura Bush's speech

Page 3 of 4 -- 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.

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I wasn't born when my father went to World War II. Like so many of our greatest generation he is gone now, lost to Alzheimer's nine years ago. He served in the US 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. Almost every eligible voter -- over ten million Afghan citizens -- has 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 is one of the new Iraqi Fulbright scholars. She survived horrific ordeals, including the gassing of her village by Saddam Hussein. 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 told me. Vaclav Havel -- playwright, intellectual, freedom fighter, political prisoner, then President of the Czech Republic -- said "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 for America 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. They expose our flaws, and 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.   Continued...