Deanna Gelak

Date Added: Sunday, August 1st, 2004

We will do more to make America more job friendly and America's workplaces more family friendly. To keep American jobs in America, regulations should be reasonable and fair. To keep the jobs here at home, we must lessen our dependence on foreign sources of energy. (Applause.) To keep American jobs here, we must end the junk lawsuits that hurt our small businesses. (Applause.) And to keep this economy growing so people can find work, we will not overspend your money, and we will keep your taxes low. (Applause.)

We'll offer America's workers a lifetime of learning, and help them get training for jobs of the future at places like our community colleges. The education and training they offered can bridge -- can be the bridge between people's
lives as they are, and people's lives as they want them to be.

Good education means workers can realize their dreams. To make sure we continue to grow our economy, we will insist on a level playing field when it comes to trade. We want Missouri farmers selling Missouri crops all over the world. (Applause.) And we'll make sure American families keep more of something they never have enough of, and that's time -- time to play with the kids, time to go to the little league games, time to care for elderly parents,
or time to go to class themselves. I believe Congress ought to enact comp-time and flex-time to help America's families better juggle the demands of work and their home. (Applause.)

The goals of the economic agenda are clear. After four more years, our nation will have more small businesses, greater opportunities, better jobs, and higher wages for the American people. (Applause.)

These are exciting times for our country. It's a time of amazing change.  The economy is changing. The world is changing. In our parents' generation, moms usually stayed home while fathers worked for one company until retirement. The company provided health care, and training, and a pension. Many of the government programs and most basic systems, from health care to Social Security to the tax code were based, and still are based on those old assumptions.

This is a different world. Workers change jobs and careers frequently. Most of these jobs are created by small businesses. They can't afford to provide health care or pensions or training. Parents are working; they're not at home. We need to make sure government changes with the times, and to work for America's working families. You see, American workers need to own their own health care accounts. They need to own and manage their own pensions and retirement systems. (Applause). They need more ownership so they can take the benefits from job to job. They need flex-time so they can work out of the home.

All of these reforms are based on this conviction: The role of government is not to control or dominate the lives of our citizens. (Applause.) The role of government is to help our citizens gain the time and the tools to make their own choices and improve their own lives. (Applause.) That's why I will continue to work to usher in a new era of ownership and opportunity in America.

In this world of rapid change, some things will never change. Our conviction that every life matters and every life counts will not change. (Applause.) Our belief in liberty and opportunity and the non-negotiable demands of human
dignity will not change. (Applause.) The individual values we try to live by -- courage and compassion, reverence and integrity, hard work and duty -- won't change. (Applause.) We'll always honor the institutions that give us direction and purpose, our families, our schools, our religious congregations. (Applause.) These values and institutions are fundamental to our future. They deserve the respect of our government. (Applause.)