Today, I offer my ideas -- my experience - and my energy to the
American people -- to lead our great nation into the 21st Century
-- as the next President of the United States.
I do so humbly -- in the presence of the monuments of America's
great presidents -- especially Abraham Lincoln -- the founder of
the Republican Party -- whose deep commitment to equality and
opportunity I share.
With the election of a Republican Congress in 1994 -- and a
Republican President in l996, -- we have a unique opportunity to
move America toward unprecedented prosperity -- and unlimited
economic opportunity for all Americans.
We do so by focusing on implementing our core Republican beliefs
-- smaller government, -- less spending, -- lower taxes,-- civil
rights and liberties -- strong national defense -- and effective
arms control -- that will unleash the full potential of the
American people.
In 1994, Republican Representatives won the House with a ten
point contract -- the Contract with America. In 1996, I intend
to win the other house -- the White House -- with ten commitments
to America:
( 1 ) to balance the budget through spending reduction;
( 2 ) to begin to pay off the national debt;
( 3 ) to foster economic growth through enactment of a flat tax;
( 4 ) to reduce violent crime;
( 5 ) to improve education with innovations like privatization and
charter schools;
( 6 ) to reform health care through the free market;
( 7 ) to provide strong leadership in international affairs;
( 8 ) to contain weapons of mass destruction;
( 9 ) to control terrorism; and
(10 ) to champion tolerance and freedom, including a woman's right
to choose.
These commitments embody my personal core beliefs as a fiscal and
economic conservative and social libertarian.
I agree with Barry Goldwater when he said we must get government
out of our pocketbooks -- off our backs -- and out of our
bedrooms.
My commitment to America is to balance the Federal budget by the
target date -- the year 2002. By balancing the budget by 2002, --
-- my Commitment to America is to make the first payment on
reducing the national debt by the year 2003 -- during the first
presidential term of the 21st Century.
My commitment to America is to reduce the Federal bureaucracy, --
by eliminating the 12,000 pages of Internal Revenue Service
regulations -- and most of the 110,000 IRS employees. That could
be done -- by enacting my plan for a 20% flat tax. Americans
would save 5 billion hours -- and $200 billion dollars a year --
by filing their tax returns on a postcard -- with only 10 lines
with only two deductions: for home mortgage interest and
charitable deductions.
Taxation is the noose-knot around the throat of enterprise and
opportunity. The tax system that we use in America today is a
national disgrace, -- with a dedicated deduction for every
interest group -- and a loophole for every lobbyist.
Our current income tax system is bizarre, burdensome, and biased
against growth. The flat tax will give the American people a
system which is simple, -- fair -- and pro-growth. It would
increase the gross national product by $2 trillion dollars within
seven years -- by encouraging savings -- with no tax on interest,
dividends or capital gains. I believe the flat tax is an idea
whose time has come. My plan will move America towards
unprecedented prosperity, -- full employment -- and economic
opportunity for all Americans.
I make a simple pledge: on the date of my inauguration -- at the
end of my speech --, I will deliver a flat tax bill to the
leaders of the Congress on the steps of the Capitol.
My commitment to America is to improve personal security for our
Citizens at home -- and abroad. From my hands on experience
during 12 years in the Philadelphia District Attorneyžs Office
-- I am confident that violent crime can be cut as much as 50%.
No more plea bargains with violent criminals. No more career
criminals set free -- because there arenžt enough jail cells to
hold them. No more court-ordered prison caps that make
criminals' comfort more important than citizens' safety.
Letžs begin with an early intervention for juvenile offenders --
with job training and education -- to see if they can be led away
from a life of crime. But if they can't, -- if they become
career criminals, -- let's lock them up till they are too old to
be dangerous.
And finally, -- I will put the teeth back into the death penalty.
I believe in deterrence. The best weapon we have in the battle
against crime -- is the certainty of tough sentences -- for
tough criminals -- swiftly carried out. Give every defendant a
fair trial and fair appeal -- but once guilt has been decided and
a sentence fairly imposed, -- don't let years of court delay in
carrying out the death penalty -- make a mockery of justice.
My commitment to America is to retain the free enterprise system
-- that provides the best health care in the world -- for 85% of the
American People -- and then to target the problems of spiraling
costs, -- affordablity -- and coverage on change of
job -- for prexisting conditions --and for those now excluded
from health care plans.
My commitment to America is to restore our nation to its
preeminent role in world affairs. From my vantage point as
Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, -- I see the need
for a military force able to defend out vital interests. I see
the need for a president who understands and identifies those
vital interests -- I see the need for a president who projects a
foreign policy -- that is more than a surprised reaction to world
events.
My commitment to America is to pursue an aggressive foreign
policy -- to stop rogue notions from developing weapons of mass
destruction. I reject the President's deal which allows North
Korea a window of up to five years without inspections. Those
inspections are necessary to determine whether North Korea is
developing nuclear weapons.
My commitment to America is to fight the scourge of international
terrorism -- illustrated by the bombing of the world Trade Center
in New York -- and the nerve gas attack in the Tokyo subway.
At the outset of my presidency, I will move the U.S. Embassy to
Jerusalem to implement the Sense of the Senate Resolution calling
for recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capitol.
My commitment to America -- is to replace a President who has
been inattentive, inactive and indecisive -- when it comes to
Americažs interests abroad.
Today I have outlined goals and priorities I see for America.
Even though we have this historic opportunity for these
achievements, there are those in our party who would lead us down
a different path -- and squander this unique moment in our
nation's history - by using our political capita to pursue a
radical social agenda -- that would end a woman's right to choose
-- and mandate school prayer.
When Pat Robertson says there is no constitutional doctrine of
separation between Church and State, -- I say he is wrong. The
First Amendment freedom of religion is as important today -- as
when the Bill of Rights was written.
When Pat Buchanan calls for a Holy War in our society, -- I say
he is wrong. We donžt need holy wars, -- we need tolerance and
simple humanity.
When Ralph Reed says a pro-choice Republican isnžt qualified to
be our President, -- I say the Republican Party will not be
blackmailed. I and millions of other pro-choice Republicans --
will not be disenfranchised.
I believe there is an important place in public life -- for
people with deep religious and moral convictions. I am one of
them. When I look at teenage pregnancies, -- the high crime rate,
-- the fact that many high school graduates cannot read their own
diplomas, -- there is no doubt that people with deep religious
and moral convictions must be active in the political process.
But it is not Christian, -- or religious, -- or Judeo-christian
to bring God into politics -- or to advocate the intolerance and
exclusion.
I think Jack Kemp put it best -- when he said when it comes to
moral values -- we must seek to persuade rather than impose.
I want to take abortion out of polities. I want to keep the
Republican Party focused on the vital economic and foreign policy
issues -- and leave moral issues such as abortion to the
conscience of the individual.
I believe abortion is an issue to be decided by women -- not by
big government.
I will lead the fight to strip the strident anti-choice language
from the Republican National platform -- and replace it with
language that respects human life -- but also respects the
diversity of opinion within our own Party on this issue.
Let me say it as plainly as I can: Neither this nation -- nor
this Party can afford a Republican candidate -- so captive to the
demands of the intolerant right -- that we end up reelecting a
President of the incompetent left.
Let me now speak from the heart -- about my vision of America's
future, -- from the lessons of the past -- lessons passed on to
me by the quiet example of my father, -- Harry Specter.
Everything I learned about opportunity, hard work, and sacrifice,
I learned from my father. A peasant in his native land. An
American in this one.
You see, my father grew up in a small town in Russia called
Batchkurina, -- in a one room hut with a dirt floor -- a hut he
shared with his parents, -- seven brothers, -- and one sister
As the only Jewish family in the town, -- they were a convenient
target for the slurs of the villagers -- and the threats of the
Cossacks.
When he turned 18, he walked clear across the European Continent
-- alone, uneducated and destitute -- and sailed in steerage --
looking for a better life in America. He found that better life,
but it did not come easily. He would rise before dawn and work
past dusk, -- earning a living any way and anywhere he could:
driving a truck in the coal fields of Pennsylvania; -- selling
blankets to farmers in the winter in Nebraska; and peddling
cantaloupes door to door in the summer in Kansas; -- finally
opening a modest business -- a junkyard in Russell, Kansas.
Let me tell you something: A man who has walked across Europe to
escape the Czar -- and the violent prejudice of his neighbors --
knows what America's promise of opportunity really means -- and
he passed that on to me.
And as much as I learned from my father, -- everything I learned
about compassion and family values I learned from my mother,
Lillie Specter. It was my mother who would tell me -- that in
America, -- I could be anything I wanted to be -- even President.
And I listened to her and I am still listening to her.
From both my parents -- I learned the virtue of education because
they had so little of it. My father had no formal education --
and my mother left school in the 8th grade to help support her
family. My brother, my two sisters and I have shared in the
American dream because of our educational opportunities -- so I
am very, very deeply committed to education and economic
opportunity for all Americans.
And so I stand before you today -- to declare my Candidacy -- a
man no more worthy than many, a man far less worthy -- than those
giants who founded the nation -- and held it fast through
revolutionary and civil wars, in whose shadows we stand today.
But for all that, -- I stand before you today as a man willing to
work with every ounce of my energy -- and every fiber of my
determination -- to renew once again the dreams of freedom and
opportunity -- that for 200 years have made this nation the envy
off and the example for the entire world.
To all American's I optimistically say: tomorrow can be better
than today.
To that cause -- I pledge my total dedication; in that cause, I
ask my fellow for their hearts, their hands, and their help.