John Kerry - 2004 Democratic National Convention (Part 3 of 3)

You don't value families if you force them them to take up a collection to buy body armor for a son or a daughter in the service, if you deny veterans health care or if you tell middle class families to wait for a tax cut, so that the wealthiest among us can get even more. We believe in the value of doing what's right for everyone in the American family. And that is is the choice in the election.

We believe what matters most is not a narrow appeals masquandering as values, but the shared values that show the true face of America. Not narrow appeals that divide us, but shared values that unite us. Family and faith. Hard work and responsibility. Opportunity for all- so that every child, every parent, every worker has an equal shot at living up to their God givin potential.

What does it mean in America today when Dave McCune, a steel woker I met in Canton ohio, saw his job sent overseas and the equipment in his factory literally unbolted, crated up, and shipped thousnads of of miles away along with that job? What does it mean when workers I've met had to train their foreign replacements?

America can do better. So tonight we say: Help is on the way.

What does it mean when Mary Ann Knowles, a women with breast cancer i met in New Hampshire, had to keep working day after day right through her chemotheropy, no matter how sick she felt, because she was afraid of losing her family's health insurance?

America can do better. And help is on the way.

What does it mean when Deborah Kromins from Philadelphia, Pennslvania works and saves all her life only to find out that her pension has disappeared into thin air- and the executive who looted it has bailed out on a golden parachute?

America can do better. And help is on the way.

What does it mean when 25% of the children in Harlem have asthma because of air pollution?

America can do better. And help is on the way.

What does it mean when people are huddled in blankets in the cold, sleeping in Lafayette Park on the doorstep of the White House itself-and the number of families living in poverty has risen by three million in the last four years?

America can do better. And help is on the way.

And so we come here tonight to ask: Where is the conscience of our country?
I'll tell you where it is: It's in rural and small town America, it's in urban neighborhoods and suburban main streets, it's alive in people I've met in every part of of this land. It's bursting in the hearts of Americans who are determined to give our country back its values and it's truth.

We value jobs that pay you more not less than you earned before. We value jobs where, when you put in a week's work, you can pay your bills, provide for your children, and lift up the quality of your life. We value an America where the middle class is not being squeezed, but doing better. So here is our economic plan to build a stronger America: First, new incentives to revitalize manufacturing. Second, investment in technology and innovation that that will create the good-paying jobs of the future. Third, close tax loopholes that reward companies that create and keep good paying jobs where they belong- in the good old U.S.A.

We value an America that exports products, not jobs- and we believe American workers should never have to subsidize the loss of their own job. Next, we will trade and compete in the world. But our plan calls for a fair playing field- because if you give the American worker a fair playing field, there's nobody the American worker can't compete against.

Our education plan for a stronger America sets high standards and demands accountability for parents, teachers, and schools. It provides for smaller class sizes and treats teachers like the professionals they are. And it gives a tax credit to families for each and every year of college.

When I was a prosecutor, I met young kids who were in trouble, abandoned by adults. As President, I am determined that we stop being a nation content to spend $50,000 a year to keep a young person in prison for the rest of their life- when we could invest $10,000 to given them Head Start, Early Start, Smart Start, the best possible start in life.

And we value health care that's affordablle and accessible for all Americans. Since 2000, four million people have lost their health insurance. Millions more are struggling to afford it. You know what's happening. Your premiums, your co-payments, your deductibles have all gone through the roof.

Our health care plan for a stronger America cracks down on waste, greed, and abuse in our health care system and will save families up to $1000 a year on their premiums. You'll get to pick your own doctor, not insurance company bureaucrats, will make medical decisions. Under our plan, Medicare will negotiate lower drug prices for seniors. And all Americans will be able to buy less expensive prescription drugs from countries like Canada.

And when I'm President, America will stop being the only advanced nation in the world which fails to understand that health care is not a privilege for the wealthy, the connected, and the elected-it is a right for all Americans.

We value an America that controls its own destiny because it's finally and forever indepedent of Mideast oil. What does it mean for our economy and our national security when we only have 3% of the world's oil reserves, yet we rely on foreign countries for 53% percent of what you consume?

I want a America that relies on its own ingenuity and innovation- not the Saudi royal family. And our plan for a stronger America will invest in new technologies and alternative fuels and the cars of the future- so that no young American in uniform will ever be held hostage to our dependence on oil from the Middle East.

And let me say this plainly: we welcome people of faith. America is not us and them. I think of what Ron Reagan said of his father a few weeks ago, and I want to say this tonight: I don't wear my faith on my sleeve. But faith has given me values and hope to live by, from Vietnam to this day, Sunday to Sunday. I don't want to claimthat God is on our side. As Abraham Lincoln told us, I want to pray humbly that we are on God's side. And whatever our faith, one belief should bind us all: The measure of our character is our willingness to give ourselves for others and for our country.

These aren't Democratic values. These aren't Republican values. They're American values. We believe in them. They're who we are. And if we honor them, if we believe in ourselves, we can build an America that's stronger at home and respected in the world.

Never has there been a more urgent moment for Americans to step up and define ourselves. I will work my heart out. But my fellow citizens, the outcome is in your hands more than in mine.

It's time to reach the next dream. It is time to look to the next horizon. For America, the hope is there!
The sun is rising! Our best days are yet to come!

Goodnight, God bless you, and God bless America.