God bless you. I am honored to have this chance to say thank you to you—the delegates to the 44th Democratic convention. Thank you for your activism. Thank you for making this convention a turning point for America. Thank you for working to elect John Kerry as the next president of the United States.
I come to you as the granddaughter of Thomas Davie, a patriot who served his country in World War I, who was prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for America. He did not have the right to vote. In fact, he had no rights.
But his patriotism survived the hard rock of segregation because he believed that his sacrifice would help to make things better for the next generation, and that the future he sought to create would be better than the past he could not change.
He fought to give us freedom from fear, and want. He fought to secure for us the freedom of faith and expression and speech that are the light of our world. He fought for an America that did not yet exist but that he believed was possible. And he was right.
I stand here today as a beneficiary of his sacrifice, and of the sacrifices of generations of patriots who dreamed of making the way better for me and for you than it was for them. I have served my country as an Assistant US Attorney, as a state legislator, as a county executive, as a United States senator, as a United States ambassador.
I have had opportunities my grandfather could not have imagined, but in his time he worked to move this country in the direction of its highest ideals. The future he fought for is the present we inherited. It is now our time and our turn to create a future we will be proud to leave to the next generation of Americans.
We have a choice. We can either give them an America of opportunity or we can allow others to turn the lights out on the American dream. We can protect their personal freedoms, or resign ourselves to fear and insecurity.
Nothing less than our duty to our ancestors and our children is at stake in this November election, and nothing is more stark than the contrast between the potential of John Kerry and the track record of the current administration.
I worked with John Kerry in the US Senate for six years, and I had the chance to get to know him as only a colleague can. Based on that experience, I can stand here and say to you without reservation that in John Kerry we have a chance to put a patriot in the White House who will save our great country, and put us on a path of peace, prosperity and progress. We have the opportunity to give our great country a great President.
I did not know John Kerry as a decorated hero who served two tours of duty in Vietnam, but when I put myself forward as a candidate for your nomination I met some of the men who had served with him. Those Vietnam veterans, black and white and brown, hold a special place in my heart, and, I am sure, in yours too.
Most importantly, they know the real deal, they know the genuine article, they know the truth, and they hold John Kerry in a special place in their hearts, because of who he is, because of his courage and his spirit, and what he means to our country. John Kerry will make America safer, and give us a strong and sensible foreign policy.
He will restore America's honor and regard in the world, by respecting the aspirations of the world's people and by working with others to address the global issues of health and human rights, the environment and education, and trade. He will make job creation here at home a priority, and I know he will fight for pay equity and fair representation for women. He will restore our confidence that those freedoms my grandfather cherished are still alive and well.
John Kerry has the capacity and commitment to create an America we will be proud to pass on to the next generation. But he has to get elected. You will leave this convention with a nominee and a message that can inspire the American people, and revitalize their faith that this country can work for them.
You can assure them that Democrats will reward the hard work of millions of everyday people by restoring the greatest values of the greatest country in the world. You will give our country better leadership than we have today. And that is why I want to thank you. Because you are the patriots who will make John Kerry the next president of the United States.
You are the patriots who will keep faith with the sacrifice that my grandfather and all our ancestors made last century, and that is being made even today by young men and women who are in harms way in what is still a dangerous world. You are the patriots who will inspire every voter to go to the polls and then make sure that every vote is counted.
You are the hope of our nation. Thank you for your work, for your dedication and for your service. I feel good about this election. I see a bright day ahead. I see an America on sure footing, headed in the direction of a future we will be happy to meet.
Because of you, I see John Kerry in the White House as the next president of the United States.
Thank you and God bless you.