For Immediate Release
Office of the Vice President
August 29, 2004
Vice President's Remarks at a Welcome Rally at Ellis Island
Liberty State Park
Jersey City, New Jersey
12:36 P.M. EDT
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. (Applause.) Thank you very
much. Thank you for the warm welcome. It's a pleasure to see so many
friends here this morning. And I've got family with me. Lynne is here
with me. (Applause.) And you saw our three granddaughters run off the
stage. (Laughter.) If we leave them up here, they steal the show
during my speech, so we get rid of them. (Laughter.) But our
daughters are here, as well, too. And it's great to see so many
families here, as well, today.
It's an honor to be in New York, and New York harbor with the
Governor of New York, George Pataki. He does a superb job for
everybody here in the state, his wife Libby. (Applause.) And of
course with who everybody refers to as their favorite mayor, Rudy
Guiliani. (Applause.) And I also want to thank Mayor Bloomberg, who
couldn't be with us today, but he has done a superb job of helping the
city get ready for an outstanding convention. (Applause.)
All of us are gathering this week for one reason and one reason
only, and that is make certain that George W. Bush is President for the
next four years. (Applause.)
And it's a special honor to kick things off here this morning, on
this island, at such an important place in American public life.
Obviously, this was the gateway to America for millions of people.
They came from many parts of the world, all of them seeking better
lives for themselves and their children and all of them sure that they
would find it here.
One Italian grandmother told her grandson as she put him on a ship
for America, "The gold you will find will not be in the streets, it
will be in the dreams you will realize, in the golden dreams of the
future." (Applause.)
America is still the land of golden dreams, and it's the duty of
our generation to make sure that our children and our children's
children have all the opportunities that we have enjoyed -- and more.
That effort has to begin with keeping our nation safe, and a sure
reminder of that is the skyline of this great city, which was altered
so violently on September 11, 2001. There are those in this world who
have set themselves against the freedoms we enjoy, fanatics who hate
the idea of equality, who want everyone to live the way they do, and
who are willing to murder innocents to accomplish their goals. They
have attacked our nation and they wish to do us further harm, and it is
from them that we must protect our children, our country, and our
future. (Applause.)
The election that brings us here on this August day could not be
more important, given the challenges our nation faces, and my job here
this week and in the two months ahead, is to tell people all across
America about how strong and steadfast our President is -- how
compassionate and concerned. He is exactly the leader we need for
these times. And we need him for four more years. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: In the weeks following the terrorist attacks
on America, people in every part of the country, regardless of party,
took great comfort and pride in the conduct and the character of our
President. They saw a man calm in a crisis, comfortable with
responsibility, and determined to do everything necessary to protect
our people.
We all remember when the President came to New York City to visit
with Mayor Guiliani and Governor Pataki, and when the workers at Ground
Zero shouted that they could not hear him, he shouted back, "I can hear
you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will soon hear
from all of us." (Applause.)
He is a man of his word, as the Taliban were the first to find
out. Under the President's leadership, we drove them from power in
Afghanistan and closed down the camps where terrorists trained to kill
Americans. (Applause.)
Under the President's leadership, we rid the world of a gathering
threat by eliminating the regime of Saddam Hussein. Sixteen months
ago, Saddam controlled the lives and the future of nearly 25 million
people. Today, he is in jail. (Applause.)
At the very heart of these efforts have been the fine men and women
who wear the uniform of the United States of America, and all of us
here today and across the nation owe them an enormous debt of
gratitude. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE: USA! USA! USA!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Let it be recorded for generations to come
that they defended freedom with great bravery, just as their
forefathers did in earlier times. And let it be recorded that they
treated the men, women, and children whom they liberated with
compassion, just as Americans always have.
One of the finest accounts of the immigrant experience was written
by a woman named Mary Antin, who came to this country from Russia as a
child. In her autobiography, she remembered the great thrill of
finding out that she was going to what she called The Promised Land.
"So at last I was going to America!" she wrote. "Really, really going,
at last! The boundaries burst. The arch of heaven soared. A million
suns shone out for every star. The winds rushed in from outer space,
roaring in my ears, 'America! America!'"
Mary Antin found her dream in this country, as millions of others
have, and as millions more will. With the leadership of this President
and the resilient spirit of the American people, we will meet the
challenges of our time and carry the gift of freedom forward to the
future.
May God bless America. (Applause.)
END 12:43 P.M. EDT
|