The Republican Convention
As It Happened

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Molinari takes aim at gender gap in keynote

Rep. Susan Molinari, R-New York, delivered a keynote address tonight aimed at working mothers like herself who are "stretched to the limit, trying to hold down a job while trying to hold down the fort at home, too."

Molinari blamed President Clinton for this predicament. He "passed the largest tax increase in history," she said, "and now Americans pay almost 40 cents of every dollar they earn in taxes, the most ever. Every year Bill Clinton's been in office, taxes have been higher, and family incomes have been lower."

"Bob Dole and Jack Kemp have a better idea," she said.

The address appeared designed to help close the gender gap. Molinari mentioned her 3-month-old daughter or other mothers and children no less than 20 times.

Like many of the evening's speakers before her, the 38-year-old congresswoman slammed Clinton for breaking his 1992 campaign promises -- particularly his promise of a middle class tax cut. "Americans know that Bill Clinton's promises have the life span of a Big Mac on Air Force One," she said. "While that tag line may be funny, what's not funny is what he is doing to the promise of America."

"We can do better," she said. "We can elect Bob Dole."

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Kasich sings praises of Republican Congress, Dole

Rep. John Kasich, R-Ohio, gave a thumbs up to the Republican Congress tonight, saying "instead of playing that old Washington game of saying one thing when you run for office and doing another after you're elected ... we told you what we were going to do, then we did it."

Citing welfare reform, health insurance reform, and cuts in federal spending programs, the House Budget Committee chairman said the "budget efforts in Congress have not been about cutting and slashing, they've been about sending your power and your money back to you in every city and town across America because we trust you."

Kasich said Dole was just the man to lead the party and the nation forward: "With President Bob Dole leading our party, we can build a more prosperous, a more peaceful, a more beautiful America not just for our generation or our children's generation, but for the next century and beyond."

Full Text Of Remarks

Watts: If you can dream it, you can do it

Oklahoma Representative J.C. Watts addressed most of his convention remarks to the nation's young people tonight, promoting what he called "old-fashioned" values like hard-work, self-help, and character (which he defined as " doing what's right when nobody's looking").

"We must not let government programs disconnect our souls," he said." "Washington can't teach people right from wrong." It is up to each individual, he said, to make the American dream a reality. "If you can dream it, you can do it" in America, he said. "Bob Dole understands."

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Hutchison slams Clinton's "broken promises"

Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison said November's election offers Amercians a stark choice: President Clinton, who "will take us down the road of the past," or Bob Dole and Jack Kemp, who " will lead us in a new direction to a brighter, better America."

Hutchison took President Clinton to task for breaking campaign promises he made in 1992. "It's time to elect a president who will keep Bill Clinton's promises," she said, "and that man is Bob Dole." Reeling off a list of what she said were Clinton's broken promises, Hutchison blasted the President for having "filled Americans with empty words whose meanings changed with the political winds." "With Bob Dole character counts," she said. "His word is his bond."

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Whitman: "America can look to Bob Dole"

New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman said Bob Dole "will bring to the Presidency the same integrity, grit , and determination that Eisenhower did." Calling Democrats the party of big government, she said Bob Dole and the Republicans, by contrast, "believe in the value of the individual." Whitman defended Dole's proposed 15 percent tax cut, saying it is "exactly the tonic our sluggish national economy and struggling American families need." "Bob Dole knows what makes America great," she said. "Not the size and scope of its government, but the strength and wisdom of its people."

Rowland hails Dole tax plan

Connecticut Governor John Rowland spelled out details of Bob Dole's tax-cutting plan tonight, saying it will "end the IRS as we know it." Claiming that the average family now spends more on taxes than it does on food, clothing and housing combined, Rowland said that to restore the American dream, "we've got to dramatically reduce the government's share of our paychecks." And, he said, the Dole tax plan would do just that: "a single mom with two kids, earning $30,000 a year, would see her taxes drop by $1,341." Rowland criticized President Clinton for backing away from a middle class tax cut: "Instead of cutting taxes, he raised them," said the former U.S. Representative. "Mr. Clinton, we do feel the pain. And you're causing it."

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Gingrich: Republicans have a "dream"

Paraphrasing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Republicans have a dream for America -- a dream "that represents the most compassionate, charitable, and hopeful vision for America today." He said the GOP dreams of a "Monday morning when it is easy to find a job or create a job and your own government doesn't punish you for trying... when working Americans keep enough of the money they earn so that they have the resources to be better parents, better neighbors and better volunteers... when every child in America goes to an effective school that works."

"True compassion," he said, "is measured by our own good works, not by how many tax dollars we spend." Citing several examples of such "good works," the Georgia Representative touted volunteerism as a solution to many of the nation's social and economic ills. To that end, he quoted de Tocqueville: "The genius of America is to be found in its voluntary organizations, its houses of worship and in the hearts of individual Americans." The November election, said Gingrich, "is not about power or glory or political games, (it's) about the kind of country we want for our children and our grandchildren."

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Ridge blasts Clinton on crime

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge slammed President Clinton's record on crime, saying he "talks tough" on the issue, while drug use among children and violent juvenile crime soar. Ridge said Bob Dole's agenda, is "more than V-chips, curfews and cell phones." He said a Dole victory will mean more conservative judges, sterner sentences, and expanded use of the death penalty. "Republicans," he said, "are smart on crime."

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Engler says Dole tops on education

Michigan Governor John Engler took the podium tonight "to celebrate what makes the American dream possible, education." While not mentioning President Clinton, Engler blasted "special interests, who want to maintain the status quo and hold our kids hostage in a high-stakes battle for control of our local schools." Engler said Bob Dole is "for local control, for choice, and for children" and "has the vision and the leadership America needs to restore excellence to our public schools."

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Thompson attacks "Clinton" welfare

Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson blasted the welfare system "as Bill Clinton liked it," and heralded the recently passed welfare reform legislation as "the dismantling of the welfare state by Bob Dole and the Republican Congress." Thompson said a Bob Dole-led Republican party "will bring new hope, opportunity and optimism to the families enslaved by the welfare narcotic." Thompson chastised Clinton's claim that he would " end welfare as we know it," but "it took Bob Dole and the Republican Congress to do it."

Frist knocks Clinton on health care

Tennessee Senator (and certified physician) Bill Frist said Americans have a clear choice this November on the issue of health care. He said a vote for Clinton would be a vote for a Washington-run health care system, while a vote for Dole would be a vote for letting "you and your doctor decide what's best." In a live satellite interview, Lucretia Machado of Miami, Florida, whose husband recently died, told Frist she's concerned about the future of Medicare. Frist claimed that President Clinton "has given citizens like Lucretia good reason to be afraid," because he "wants to play politics with Medicare." By contrast, he said, Bob Dole is committed to keeping Medicare afloat and cutting down on waste and fraud.

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Edgar touts small business

Illinois Governor Jim Edgar touted small business as the solution to the nation's economic woes, and said President Clinton's policies "created the wrong climate" for small business: "high taxes, oppressive regulations, and intrusive government that stifles growth." The Illinois governor said Bob Dole's 15 percent across-the-board cut in the income-tax rate and his 50 percent cut in the top rate of the capital gains tax will put money back in the hands of people who own small businesses.

Bush extols Republican values

In his opening remarks, Deputy Permanent Convention Chairman and Texas Governor George W. Bush extolled the virtues of the Republican party, saying the GOP is the party of "compassion, hard work, personal responsibility, and family."