Transcript of Condi Rice's Convention Speech

Aug. 1

Rising GOP star Condoleezza Rice, foreign policy adviser to George W. Bush, touted the governor’s foreign affairs credentials to the Republican National Convention. Read a full transcript of her remarks here.

Condoleezza Rice:

Ladies and gentlemen, fellow delegates from the Golden State of California and fellow delegates from across this great country.

Tonight, we gather to reflect on America’s unique opportunity to lead the forward march of freedom and to fortify the peace.

We offer special thanks to all those Private Ryans who served over the decades — so that tyranny would not stand.

We remember those great Republican Presidents who sustained American leadership through the decades, ended the Cold War and lifted our nuclear nightmare. Thank you — Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and George Herbert Walker Bush.

And we acknowledge together this remarkable truth: the future belongs to liberty — fueled by markets and trade, protected by the rule of law and propelled by the fundamental rights of the individual. Information and knowledge can no longer be bottled up by the state. Prosperity flows to those who can tap the genius of their people.

We have a presidential nominee who knows what America must do to fulfill the promise of this new century. We have a nominee who knows the power of truth and honor. We have a nominee who will be the next great President of the United States — Texas Governor George W. Bush.

It is fitting that I stand before you to talk about Governor Bush’s commitment to America’s principled leadership in the world, because that is the legacy and tradition of our Party — because our Party’s principles made me a Republican.

The first Republican I knew was my father and he is still the Republican I most admire. He joined our party because the Democrats in Jim Crow Alabama of 1952 would not register him to vote. The Republicans did. My father has never forgotten that day, and neither have I.

I joined for different reasons. I found a party that sees me as an individual, not as part of a group. I found a party that puts family first. I found a party that has love of liberty at its core. And I found a party that believes that peace begins with strength.

George W. Bush and Dick Cheney live and breathe these Republican principles. They understand what is required for our time, and what is timeless.

It all begins with integrity in the Oval Office. George W. Bush is a man of his word. Friend and foe will know that he tells the truth.

He believes that America has a special responsibility to keep the peace — that the fair cause of freedom depends on our strength and purpose.

He recognizes that the magnificent men and women of America’s armed forces are not a global police force. They are not the world’s 911.

They are the strongest shield and surest sword in the maintenance of peace. If the time ever comes to use military force, President George W. Bush will do so to win — because for him, victory is not a dirty word.

George W. Bush will never allow America and our allies to be blackmailed. And make no mistake; blackmail is what the outlaw states seeking long-range ballistic missiles have in mind. It is time to move beyond the Cold War. It is time to have a President devoted to a new nuclear strategy and to the deployment of effective missile defenses at the earliest possible date.