Governor Schwarzenegger's Remarks at the Republican National Convention

Governor Schwarzenegger's Remarks at the Republican National Convention
Tuesday, 08/31/2004 07:00 pm


As Delivered

Thank you.

What a greeting!

This is like winning an Oscar!... As if I would know! Speaking of acting,
one of my movies was called "True Lies." And that's what the Democrats
should have called their convention.

You know, on the way up here to the podium a gentleman came up to me and
said, "Governor, you are as good a politician as you were an actor." What a
cheap shot. I can't believe it.

My fellow Americans, this is an amazing moment for me. To think that a once
scrawny boy from Austria could grow up to become Governor of the State of
California and stand here in Madison Square Garden to speak on behalf of the
President of the United States that is an immigrant's dream. It is the
American dream.

I was born in Europe... and I've traveled all over the world. I can tell you
that there is no place, no country, that is more compassionate, more
generous, more accepting, and more welcoming than the United States of
America.

As long as I live, I will never forget that day 21 years ago when I raised
my hand and took the oath of citizenship.

Do you know how proud I was? I was so proud that I walked around with an
American flag around my shoulders all day long.

Tonight, I want to talk to you about why I'm even more proud to be an
American why I'm proud to be a Republican and why I believe this country is
in good hands.

When I was a boy, the Soviets occupied part of Austria. I saw their tanks in
the streets. I saw communism with my own eyes. I remember the fear we had
when we had to cross into the Soviet sector. Growing up, we were told,
"Don't look the soldiers in the eye. Just look straight ahead." It was
common belief that Soviet soldiers could take a man out of his own car and
ship him back to the Soviet Union as slave labor.

Now my family didn't have a car, but one day we were in my uncle's car. It
was near dark as we came to a Soviet checkpoint. I was a little boy, I
wasn't an action hero back then, but I remember how scared I was that the
soldiers would pull my father or my uncle out of the car and I would never
see him again. My family and so many others lived in fear of the Soviet
boot. Today, the world no longer fears the Soviet Union and it is because of
the United States of America!

As a kid I saw the socialist country that Austria became after the Soviets
left. Now don't misunderstand me, I love Austria and I love the Austrian
people, but I always knew America was the place for me. In school, when the
teacher would talk about America, I would daydream about coming here. I
would sit there and watch for hours, watching American movies transfixed by
my heroes like John Wayne. I would daydream about living there. Everything
about America seemed so big to me, so open, so possible.

I finally arrived here in 1968. What a special day it was. I remember I
arrived here with empty pockets, but full of dreams, full of determination,
full of desire. The presidential campaign was in full swing. I remember
watching the Nixon and Humphrey presidential race on TV. A friend who spoke
German and English, translated for me. I heard Humphrey saying things that
sounded like socialism, which I had just left. But then I heard Nixon speak.
He was talking about free enterprise, getting government off your back,
lowering taxes and strengthening the military. Listening to Nixon speak
sounded more like a breath of fresh air.

I said to my friend, "What party is he?" My friend said, "He's a
Republican." I said, "Then I am a Republican!" And I've been a Republican
ever since! And trust me, in my wife's family, that's no small achievement!
I'm proud to belong to the party of Abraham Lincoln, the party of Teddy
Roosevelt, the party of Ronald Reagan and the party of George W. Bush.

To my fellow immigrants listening tonight, I want you to know how welcome
you are in this party. We Republicans admire your ambition. We encourage
your dreams. We believe in your future. One thing I learned about America is
that if you work hard and play by the rules, this country is truly open to
you. You can achieve anything.

Everything I have, my career, my success, my family, I owe to America. In
this country, it doesn't make any difference where you were born. It doesn't
make any difference who your parents were. It doesn't make any difference if
you're like me, and you couldn't even speak English until you were in your
twenties.

America gave me opportunities and my immigrant dreams came true. I want
other people to get the same chances I did, the same opportunities. And I
believe they can. That's why I believe in this country, that's why I believe
in this party and that's why I believe in this President.

Now, many of you out there tonight are "Republican" like me in your hearts
and in your beliefs. Maybe you're from Guatemala. Maybe you're from the
Philippines. Maybe you're from Europe or the Ivory Coast. Maybe you live in
Ohio, Pennsylvania or New Mexico. And maybe, just maybe, you don't agree
with this party on every single issue. I say to you tonight I believe that's
not only okay but that's what's great about this country. Here we can
respectfully disagree and still be patriotic still be American, and still be
good Republicans.

My fellow immigrants, my fellow Americans, how do you know if you are a
Republican? Well I'll tell you how.

If you believe that government should be accountable to the people, not the
people to the government... then you are a Republican! If you believe that a
person should be treated as an individual, not a member of an interest
group... then you are a Republican! If you believe that your family knows
how to spend your money better than the government does... then you are a
Republican! If you believe our educational system should be held accountable
for the progress of our children... then you are a Republican! If you
believe that this country, not the United Nations, is the best hope of
democracy in the world... then you are a Republican! And, ladies and
gentlemen... if you believe we must be fierce and relentless and terminate
terrorism... then you are a Republican!

There is another way you can tell you're a Republican. You have faith in
free enterprise, faith in the resourcefulness of the American people... and
faith in the U.S. economy. And to those critics who are so pessimistic about
our economy, I say: "Don't be economic girlie men!"

The U.S. economy remains the envy of the world. We have the highest economic
growth of any of the world's major industrialized nations. Don't you
remember the pessimism of 20 years ago when the critics said Japan and
Germany are overtaking the U.S.? Ridiculous!

Now they say India and China are overtaking us. Don't you believe it! We may
hit a few bumps but America always moves ahead! That's what Americans do!

We move prosperity ahead. We move freedom ahead. We move people ahead. And
under President Bush and Vice President Cheney, America's economy is moving
ahead in spite of a recession they inherited and in spite of the attack on
our homeland.

Now, the other party says that we are two Americas. Don't believe that
either. I've visited our troops in Iraq, Kuwait, Bosnia, Germany and all
over the world. I've visited our troops in California, where they train
before they go overseas. I have visited our military hospitals. And I tell
you this: That our young men and women in uniform do not believe there are
two Americas!

They believe we are one America and they are fighting for it! We are one
America and President Bush is defending it with all his heart and soul!

That's what I admire most about the President. He's a man of perseverance.

He's a man of inner strength. He is a leader who doesn't flinch, doesn't
waiver, does not back down. My fellow Americans, make no mistake about it,
terrorism is more insidious than communism, because it yearns to destroy not
just the individual, but the entire international order. The President did
not go into Iraq because the polls told him it was popular. As a matter of
fact, the polls said just the opposite. But leadership isn't about polls.
It's about making decisions you think are right and then standing behind
those decisions. That's why America is safer with George W. Bush as
President.

He knows you don't reason with terrorists. You defeat them. He knows you
can't reason with people blinded by hate. They hate the power of the
individual. They hate the progress of women. They hate the religious freedom
of others. They hate the liberating breeze of democracy. But ladies and
gentlemen, their hate is no match for America's decency.

We are the America that sends out Peace Corps volunteers to teach village
children. We're the America that sends out the missionaries and doctors to
raise up the poor and the sick. We are the America that gives more than any
other country, to fight aids in Africa and the developing world. And we are
the America that fights not for imperialism, but for human rights and
democracy. You know when the Germans brought down the Berlin Wall, America's
determination helped wield the sledgehammers. And when that lone, young
Chinese man stood in front of those tanks in Tiananmen Square, America stood
with him. And when Nelson Mandela smiled in election victory after all those
years in prison, America celebrated, too.

We are still the lamp lighting the world, especially those who struggle. No
matter in what labor camp they slave, no matter in what injustice they're
trapped, they hear our call... they see our light... and they feel the pull
of our freedom. They come here as I did because they believe. They believe
in us.

They come because their hearts say to them, as mine did, "If only I can get
to America." Someone once wrote "There are those who say that freedom is
nothing but a dream." They are right. It's the American dream.

No matter the nationality, no matter the religion, no matter the ethnic
background, America brings out the best in people. And as Governor of the
great state of California I see the best in Americans every day... our
police, our firefighters our nurses, doctors and teachers, our parents.

And what about the extraordinary men and women who have volunteered to fight
for the United States of America! I have such great respect for them and
their heroic families.

Let me tell you about the sacrifice and the commitment that I have seen
firsthand. In one of the military hospitals I visited, I met a young guy who
was in bad shape. He'd lost a leg, had a hole through his stomach... his
shoulder had been shot through. And the list goes on, and on, and on. I
could tell there was no way he could ever return to combat. But when I asked
him, "When do you think you'll get out of the hospital?" He said, "Sir, in
three weeks." And do you know what he said to me then? He said he was going
to get a new leg... and then he was going to get some therapy... and then he
was going back to Iraq to fight alongside his buddies! And you know what he
said to me then? He said, "Arnold... I'll be back!"

Ladies and gentlemen, America is back! Back from the attack on our homeland,
back from the attack on our economy, and back from the attack on our way of
life. We are back because of the perseverance, character and leadership of
the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush.

My fellow Americans... I want you to know that I believe with all my heart
that America remains "the great idea" that inspires the world. It is a
privilege to be born here. It is an honor to become a citizen here. It is a
gift to raise your family here, to vote here, and to live here.

Our president, George W. Bush, has worked hard to protect and preserve the
American dream for all of us. That's why I say... send him back to
Washington for four more years!

Thank you. Thank you America and God bless you all!