AllPolitics - Text Of Kasich's Remarks

Remarks of Rep. John Kasich, R-Ohio, to the Republican National Convention in San Diego on Tuesday night.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Let me just say how proud I am to be a member of the Republican Congress, congress dedicated to deeds, not words.

Instead of playing that old Washington game of saying one thing when you run for office and doing another after you're elected, or telling people what you think they want to hear, we've done something most people don't expect from politicians. We have worked every single day to keep our word.

From reforming welfare to forcing Congress to live under the same laws as the rest of America, to making health insurance more available and more affordable, to shrinking the size of the Washington bureaucracy, we told you what we were going to do and then we did it. And we did it all with one simple principle in mind, restoring the American dream for our children.

You know, if you're like me, you grew up with parents who worked hard. My dad carried mail on his back for 29 years. My mother would rather walk than take the bus, just to save 50 cents. My parents educated three kids without a dime of student loans so their kids would have more than they had.

I'm proud to serve in a Congress where our goal has been to make America better, with our children's future as our guiding star. As we approach the 21st century, we must all be part of an effort to guarantee the promise of a brighter future for all of those who will follow us, and ladies and gentlemen, that is America's greatest legacy, that our children are left with more than our parents left to us.

A big part of that promise has been our dedication and work to balance the budget. You may think that budgets are about green eye shades and numbers, but it's far more important that that. You see, budgets are about ideas. Budgets are about values. And most important, they are about people.

Senator Phil Gramm of Texas said it well.

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Ladies and gentlemen, I want you to know, and I want the American people to know, that our 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.

We've put our faith and our trust in people in the neighborhoods and people in the communities, and we've put our faith in the American family.

And I'll tell you why. Because we know that you, America, can better develop solutions to local problems at less cost than Washington bureaucrats.

And you know, I want to say something to all of you and too the people that are listening, you see, ladies and gentlemen, we can reclaim our neighborhoods, we can reclaim our communities, and we can rebuild our families and ensure that our children's future will be protected.

Americans won a great victory for common sense when Congress passed the welfare reform bill last month. We've all known for years that Washington hasn't gotten it right. We can only make welfare work by runnin lady will become president of the United States.

As Bob Dole has suggested, teachers in schools should compete for the privilege of educating our children, and our kids will be the winners of that competition.

And folks, what's a better way to empower people, to give people control back, than to cut their taxes and let them keep more of what they earn, as Bob Dole has proposed?

When my mother went to work, our family moved forward. You know, so much so that we could even afford to buy a car with an automatic transmission. Now mothers and fathers both work just to keep from falling behind.

We need to cut American's taxes to reward them for hard work. No longer should the average American family pay more that the tax man than for food, clothing, and shelter combined. We've got to change it.

You know, I'll tell you what I was taught. America's about the reward of walking the extra mile, the rewards of reaching for the stars for everybody in America.

And our program's about one more thing, also. It's about reestablishing a strong spiritual base in our country, reattaching our souls to one another, and sending a clear message to God that he is invited back into American life.

We cannot be prepared, we cannot be prepared for the new century without returning to the fundamental values on which this country was founded.

And as we look to the year 2000, we can't help but be excited about the challenges before us. You see, we know deep in our souls that our program of returning power and money and influence to Americans will help us meet those challenges.

And we know we can restore basic American values and good old fashioned common sense. We've done much already. But as the Beatles sang a quarter century ago, "It's a long and winding road" -- as we reconnect with America.

But with President Bob Dole leading our party, a party built on trusting the American people, 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.

Thank you and God bless.

By The Associated Press

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