The Honorable Michael Michaud's Speech Before the Democratic National Convention, Thursday, July 29, 2004

/EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UPON DELIVERY OF SPEECH, SCHEDULED FOR 6:19 P.M. EDT TODAY, JULY 29/

BOSTON, July 29 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is a transcript of the Honorable Michael Michaud's speech before the Democratic National Convention on Thursday, July 29, 2004:

Hello fellow Democrats and my brothers and sisters in the labor movement and also a special hello to my constituents in the Second Congressional District of Maine.

As a third-generation mill worker, I carried the same lunch bucket to work for 28 years at the Great Northern Paper Company in Maine.  I lived through layoffs and picket lines and worked with people who struggled just to stay in the middle class.

Today that very same lunch bucket sits prominently in my Washington office and reminds me never to stop working as hard as the hard-working people of Maine.  That bucket reminds me that those same working families are barely scraping by today and cannot afford to send their kids to college.

It reminds me that many of them are faced with the brutal choice of buying food or prescription drugs that cost too much.  And it reminds me that in the last 4 years we have lost more than 2.7 million manufacturing jobs.  In my home town of East Millinocket, unemployment rose to over 30%.  America needs a president and vice president who believe that working families deserve not only to stay afloat but to soar.

America needs John Kerry and John Edwards. John Kerry has spent a lifetime in public service fighting for working families.  And, like me, John Edwards grew up the son of a mill worker and spent decades protecting everyday people against powerful interests.

Together, they have a concrete plan to offer new hope for working families.  A Kerry Administration will create 10 million new jobs at home and will work to stop outsourcing jobs abroad.  And they have a plan to make quality health care more affordable by cutting health care premiums up to $1,000 so no family will have to make the painful choice between bankruptcy and staying healthy.

This November, we will choose a vision for America where everyone who is willing to work hard deserves an opportunity to get ahead.  With John Kerry as president, Americans will go back to work and all of us; veterans, union workers, teachers, public employees, small business owners, children, seniors, and women will once again have the power to make America stronger.

Fellow Democrats, I believe America's best days still lie ahead, and John Kerry and John Edwards have the courage and vision to lead us there.

Thank you very much!

Source: Democratic National Convention Committee

CONTACT:  Peggy Wilhide of the Democratic National Convention Committee,
+1-617-366-3100

Web site:  http://www.dems2004.org/