The Honorable Charles Schumer's Speech Before the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, July 28, 2004

BOSTON, July 28 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is a transcript of a speech by the Honorable Charles Schumer before the Democratic National Convention, Wednesday, July 28, 2004:

Ladies and gentlemen, fellow delegates and honored guests, before I begin, I want to mention someone who we New Yorkers dearly miss at this convention - Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Senator Moynihan was one of the greatest intellectual leaders in government that our country has ever seen and he would have wanted nothing more than to see John Kerry elected president.

This November, America will hold its first presidential election since the horrendous terrorist attacks of September 11th that so deeply affected our country, especially my home state of New York. So many of us in New York think of those attacks every day. We think of them because we know that we must do everything we can to prevent them from ever happening again.

Here in this hall, we have no doubt who will make America safer, stronger, and more secure: John Kerry and John Edwards!

We know John Kerry is a decorated war veteran, who boldly served and sacrificed for his country. We know that John Kerry is a strong leader who can make the tough decisions; a passionate patriot who won't shrink from doing what is necessary to keep us safe.

John Kerry understands that we need a strong foreign policy - to prevent terrorists from taking advantage of the openness that we cherish and continuing to attack us. But he knows that we also need a multilateral foreign policy because no country, no matter how strong, can fight this war on terror alone.

John Kerry also understands that to win the war on terror, we need a president who will focus on the war overseas and dedicate far more focus and resources to defend our homeland - our ports, railways, roads and bridges.

But when we proposed protecting our commercial airplanes from shoulder- launched missiles, this administration said no. John Kerry will say yes.

When we proposed providing detection devices to keep nuclear materials out of our ports, they said no. John Kerry will say yes.

When we proposed efforts to protect our subways and mass transit systems, they said no. John Kerry will say yes.

And one final thing, veterans can rest assured that John Kerry will never forget your service to our country. He will never short-change you on health care or cut corners with your benefits. He will honor our nation's debt for your service.

The choice is clear. John Kerry will keep America safe. John Kerry will keep America strong. And John Kerry is the right choice for America's safety, security, and strength.

Source: Democratic National Convention Committee

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

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