The Honorable Ed Pastor's Speech Before the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, July 28, 2004

BOSTON, July 28 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is a transcript of the Honorable Ed Pastor's Speech before the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, July 28, 2004:

I am deeply honored to be part of this exciting and historic moment. Not only are we nominating John Kerry and John Edwards to lead our party at a critical moment in our nation's history, but we are energized as a party and as a people to make honor and opportunity the hallmarks of America once again. That is indeed something worth celebrating!

I represent Arizona, the great city of Phoenix and Maricopa County. And I can tell you that my community is ready for leadership to make America stronger at home and respected in the world. That leadership is right here-the next vice president, John Edwards, and the next president of the United States, John Kerry.

With their leadership, we will create good-paying jobs here at home so that we export products to the rest of the world, instead of exporting jobs. We will lower health care and prescription drug costs and expand health care coverage to relieve the great burden of these costs.

We will get serious again about improving our schools to prepare every child for a productive life and to improve job training and retraining to help workers adapt to a changing economy. And we will harness American ingenuity to make us independent of Middle East oil, so that no American will ever have to go to war for oil.

All my life, beginning in the Arizona mining town where I was born, I have witnessed time and again the great potential of the human spirit to create a better life for us all. It is a potential constantly expanded by the immigrant families like mine who came to America to work and to achieve their dreams.

What the American people need to succeed today are the pro-jobs and pro- growth policies in education, health care, the environment, energy security, and the economy that John Kerry and John Edwards are ready to begin on January 20, 2005.

Let the American people pick up these tools and let them get to work! Ladies and gentlemen, let's get to work, too! Let's elect John Kerry and John Edwards on November 2nd!

Source: Democratic National Convention Committee

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

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