What a greeting!
This is like winning an Oscar! ...As if I would know! Speaking
of acting, one of my movies was called "True Lies." It's what the
Democrats should have called their convention.
My fellow Americans, this is an amazing moment for me. To think
that a once scrawny boy from Austria could grow up to become
governor of California and stand in Madison Square Garden to speak
on behalf of the president of the United States. That is an
immigrant's dream. It is the American dream.
I was born in Europe ...and I've traveled all over the world. I
can tell you that there is no place, no country, more
compassionate, more generous, more accepting and more welcoming
than the United States of America.
As long as I live, I will never forget that day 21 years ago
when I raised my hand and took the oath of citizenship.
Do you know how proud I was? I was so proud that I walked around
with an American flag around my shoulders all day long.
Tonight, I want to talk about why I'm even more proud to be an
American -- why I'm proud to be a Republican and why I believe this
country is in good hands.
When I was a boy, the Soviets occupied part of Austria. I saw
their tanks in the streets. I saw communism with my own eyes. I
remember the fear we had when we had to cross into the Soviet
sector. Growing up, we were told, "Don't look the soldiers in the
eye. Look straight ahead." It was a common belief that Soviet
soldiers could take a man out of his own car and ship him off to
the Soviet Union as slave labor.
My family didn't have a car -- but one day we were in my uncle's
car. It was near dark as we came to a Soviet checkpoint. I was a
little boy, I wasn't an action hero back then, and I remember how
scared I was that the soldiers would pull my father or my uncle out
of the car and I'd never see him again. My family and so many
others lived in fear of the Soviet boot. Today, the world no longer
fears the Soviet Union and it is because of the United States of
America!
As a kid I saw the socialist country that Austria became after
the Soviets left. I love Austria and I love the Austrian people --
but I always knew America was the place for me. In school, when the
teacher would talk about America, I would daydream about coming
here. I would sit for hours watching American movies transfixed by
my heroes like John Wayne. Everything about America seemed so big
to me so open, so possible.
I finally arrived here in 1968. I had empty pockets, but I was
full of dreams. The presidential campaign was in full swing. I
remember watching the Nixon and Humphrey presidential race on TV. A
friend who spoke German and English, translated for me. I heard
Humphrey saying things that sounded like socialism, which is what I
had just left. But then I heard Nixon speak. He was talking about
free enterprise, getting government off your back, lowering taxes
and strengthening the military. Listening to Nixon speak sounded
more like a breath of fresh air.
I said to my friend, "What party is he?" My friend said,
"He's a Republican." I said, "Then I am a Republican!" And I've
been a Republican ever since! And trust me, in my wife's family,
that's no small achievement! I'm proud to belong to the party of
Abraham Lincoln, the party of Teddy Roosevelt, the party of Ronald
Reagan and the party of George W. Bush.
To my fellow immigrants listening tonight, I want you to know
how welcome you are in this party. We Republicans admire your
ambition. We encourage your dreams. We believe in your future. One
thing I learned about America is that if you work hard and play by
the rules, this country is truly open to you. You can achieve
anything.
Everything I have -- my career, my success, my family -- I owe to
America. In this country, it doesn't make any difference where you
were born. It doesn't make any difference who your parents were. It
doesn't make any difference if, like me, you couldn't even speak
English until you were in your twenties.
America gave me opportunities and my immigrant dreams came true.
I want other people to get the same chances I did, the same
opportunities. And I believe they can. That's why I believe in this
country, that's why I believe in this party and that's why I
believe in this President.
Now, many of you out there tonight are "Republican" like me in
your hearts and in your beliefs. Maybe you're from Guatemala. Maybe
you're from the Philippines. Maybe Europe or the Ivory Coast. Maybe
you live in Ohio, Pennsylvania or New Mexico. And maybe, just
maybe, you don't agree with this party on every single issue. I say
to you tonight I believe that's not only okay, that's what's great
about this country. Here we can respectfully disagree and still be
patriotic, still be American and still be good Republicans.
My fellow immigrants, my fellow Americans, how do you know if
you are a Republican? I'll tell you how.
If you believe that government should be accountable to the
people, not the people to the government, then you are a
Republican! If you believe a person should be treated as an
individual, not as a member of an interest group, then you are a
Republican! If you believe your family knows how to spend your
money better than the government does, then you are a Republican!
If you believe our educational system should be held accountable
for the progress of our children, then you are a Republican! If you
believe this country, not the United Nations, is the best hope of
democracy in the world, then you are a Republican! And, ladies and
gentlemen, if you believe we must be fierce and relentless and
terminate terrorism, then you are a Republican!
There is another way you can tell you're a Republican. You have
faith in free enterprise, faith in the resourcefulness of the
American people, and faith in the U.S. economy. To those critics
who are so pessimistic about our economy, I say: "Don't be
economic girlie men!"
The U.S. economy remains the envy of the world. We have the
highest economic growth of any of the world's major industrialized
nations. Don't you remember the pessimism of 20 years ago when the
critics said Japan and Germany were overtaking the U.S.?
Ridiculous!
Now they say India and China are overtaking us. Don't you
believe it! We may hit a few bumps -- but America always moves
ahead! That's what Americans do!
We move prosperity ahead. We move freedom ahead. We move people
ahead. Under President Bush and Vice President Cheney, America's
economy is moving ahead in spite of a recession they inherited and
in spite of the attack on our homeland.
Now, the other party says there are two Americas. Don't believe
that either. I've visited our troops in Iraq, Kuwait, Bosnia,
Germany and all over the world. I've visited our troops in
California, where they train before they go overseas. And I've
visited our military hospitals. And I can tell you this: Our young
men and women in uniform do not believe there are two Americas!
They believe we are one America and they are fighting for it! We
are one America -- and President Bush is defending it with all his
heart and soul!
That's what I admire most about the President. He's a man of
perseverance.
He's a man of inner strength. He is a leader who doesn't flinch,
doesn't waiver, does not back down. My fellow Americans, make no
mistake about it. Terrorism is more insidious than communism,
because it yearns to destroy not just the individual, but the
entire international order. The President didn't go into Iraq
because the polls told him it was popular. As a matter of fact, the
polls said just the opposite. But leadership isn't about polls.
It's about making decisions you think are right and then standing
behind those decisions. That's why America is safer with George W.
Bush as president.
He knows you don't reason with terrorists. You defeat them. He
knows you can't reason with people blinded by hate. They hate the
power of the individual. They hate the progress of women. They hate
the religious freedom of others. They hate the liberating breeze of
democracy. But ladies and gentlemen, their hate is no match for
America's decency.
We're the America that sends out Peace Corps volunteers to teach
village children. We're the America that sends out missionaries and
doctors to raise up the poor and the sick. We're the America that
gives more than any other country, to fight AIDS in Africa and the
developing world. And we're the America that fights not for
imperialism but for human rights and democracy.
You know, when the Germans brought down the Berlin Wall,
America's determination helped wield the sledgehammers. When that
lone, young Chinese man stood in front of those tanks in Tiananmen
Square, America's hopes stood with him. And when Nelson Mandela
smiled in election victory after all those years in prison, America
celebrated, too.
We are still the lamp lighting the world especially for those
who struggle. No matter in what labor camp they slave, no matter in
what injustice they're trapped, they hear our call, they see our
light, and they feel the pull of our freedom. They come here as I
did because they believe. They believe in us.
They come because their hearts say to them, as mine did, "If
only I can get to America." Someone once wrote: "There are those
who say that freedom is nothing but a dream." They are right. It's
the American dream.
No matter the nationality, no matter the religion, no matter the
ethnic background, America brings out the best in people. And as
governor of the great state of California, I see the best in
Americans every day -- our police, our firefighters, our nurses,
doctors, and teachers, our parents.
And what about the extraordinary men and women who have
volunteered to fight for the United States of America! I have such
great respect for them and their heroic families.
Let me tell you about the sacrifice and commitment I've seen
firsthand. In one of the military hospitals I visited, I met a
young guy who was in bad shape. He'd lost a leg had a hole in his
stomach, his shoulder had been shot through.
I could tell there was no way he could ever return to combat.
But when I asked him, "When do you think you'll get out of the
hospital?" He said, "sir, in three weeks." And do you know what
he said to me then? He said he was going to get a new leg, and get
some therapy, and then he was going back to Iraq to serve alongside
his buddies! He grinned at me and said, "Arnold, I'll be back!"
Ladies and gentlemen, America is back! Back from the attack on
our homeland, back from the attack on our economy, back from the
attack on our way of life. We're back because of the perseverance,
character and leadership of the 43rd President of the United
States, George W. Bush.
My fellow Americans, I want you to know that I believe with all
my heart that America remains "the great idea" that inspires the
world. It's a privilege to be born here. It's an honor to become a
citizen here. It's a gift to raise your family here, to vote here
and to live here.
Our president, George W. Bush, has worked hard to protect and
preserve the American dream for all of us. That's why I say, send
him back to Washington for four more years!
Thank you, America, and God bless you all!
