AllPolitics - Text Of Edgar's Speech

Text of Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar's speech to the Republican National Convention in San Diego on Tuesday night

Thank you very much. I am delighted to be with you tonight as we highlight small business in America.

No sector of our economy is more important to helping the American dream become a reality.

In my state of Illinois, 85 percent of the new jobs are being created by small business.

We have created an environment where small business can flourish.

We downsized government. We cut taxes. We overhauled laws that enriched a few lawsuit-happy lawyers at the expense of small businesses in our state.

And, when it comes to regulating business, we have proven that we can protect the environment, the consumer, and the bottom line by replacing nonsense with common sense.

I am proud that our unemployment rate in Illinois is lower than it has been for decades and has been consistently below the national average.

When we create the right climate for small businesses to grow and prosper, we all thrive.

More jobs. Better pay. A strong and expanding economy.

But today in America, Bill Clinton's government has created the wrong climate for small businesses -- high taxes, oppressive regulations, intrusive government that stifles growth.

Bill Clinton pushed through the largest tax increase in history. It fell hardest on America's small-business owners. Bob Dole will change that.

With Bob Dole's extraordinary leadership in the White House, we are going to get less government, not bigger government.

We will accomplish on a national level what Republicans have been doing in statehouses throughout this nation.

Bob Dole cares about small business.

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.

This will mean new investment, new markets, and most importantly, new jobs.

It will mean new opportunity for small-business owners like Lu Ann Maddox in my state.

(Break for video remarks by Lu Ann Maddox.)

Lu Ann Walker Maddox and Barbara Williams aren't asking government to guarantee them success.

But they, like small-business owners nationwide, are asking government to get out of the way and allow them a chance to succeed.

Bob Dole will fight to give tax and regulatory relief to small businesses. We need Bob Dole to help hard-working business people like Noelle Clark of Lansing, Mich.

(Break for remarks by Barbara Williams.)

Every day, millions of small businesses are helping make the American dream come true. Bob Dole and the Republican Party are committed to that dream.

We need lower taxes, less government, less nonsense, and far more common sense.

These are the principles for which we stand.

With your help, and with Bob Dole as the next president of the United States, we will indeed begin to rebuild the American dream.

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