i know too that it has not always been easy, though it has been rewarding to speak for those who would otherwise not have a voice. the lidge just dissident in china, the democracy advocate in venezuela, the political prisoner in iran. it has been hard to muster the resources to support fledgling democracies and no intervene on behalf of the mostesperate, the aids orphan in uganda, the refugee fleeing zimbabwe, the young woman who has been trafficked into the sex trade in southeast asia. it has been hard, yet this assistance, together with the compassionate work of private charity, people of conscience and people of faith have shown the soul of our country. and i know, too, i know too that there is a wariness.

i know that it feels asif we have carried these burdens long enough. but we can only know there is one choice. one of two things will happen if we don't lead, either no one will lead and there will be chaos, or someone will fill the vacuum who does not share our values. my fellow americans, we do not have a choice. we cannot be reluctant to lead, and you cannot lead from behind. [cheering and applause] mitt romney and paul ryan understand this reality. our well-being at home and our

a.i.g.s abroad are inextricably linked. they know our friends and allies must be able to trust us, from israel to columbia, from poland to the philippines. our allies and friends have to know that we will be reliable and consistent and determined. and our foes, our foes can have no reason to doubt our resolve because peace really does come through strength. [cheering and applause] our military capability and our technological advantage will be safe in mitt romney's hands. we must work for an opeloba economy and pursue free and fair trade to grow our exports and our influence abroad. if you are worried about the rise of china, just consider this: the united states has negotiated... the united states has ratified only three trade

agreements in the last few years, and those were negotiated in the bush administration. china, china has signed 15 free trade agreements and it's in the progress of negotiating as many as 18 more. sadly, we ar abaoning the field of free and fair trade, and it will come back the haunt us. [applause] we must not allow the chance too slip from our grasp. we are blessed with a gift of oil and gas resources here in north america and we must develop them. we can develop them sensitively, we can develop them securing our environment but we must develop them. [ applause ] and we have the ingenuity to

develop alternative sources of energy, too. but most importantly, mitt romney and paul ryan will rebuild the foundation of our strength, the american economy. stimulating private sector growth and stimulating small business entrepreneurship. [ applause ] when the world looks at us today, they see an american government that cannot live within its means. they see in american government that continues to borrow money, that will mortgage the future of generations to come. the world knows that when a nation loses control of its finances, it eventually loses control of its destiny. that is not the america that has inspired people to follow our lead.

[ applause ] after all, when the world looks to america they look to us because we are the most successful economic and political experiment in human history. that is the true basis of america exceptionalism. you see the efforts of america what rely unit us ot nationality or ethnicity or religion, it is an idea and what an idea it is. that you can come from humble circumstances and do great things that it does not matter where you came from it matters where you are going. [ cheering and applause ]

my fellow americans, ours has never been a narrative of grieve answer and entitle thement. we have never believed that i am doing poorly because you are doing well. we have never been jealous of one another and never envious of each other's successes. [ applause ] no, ours has been a belief in opportunity. and it has been a constant struggle long and hard, up and down. to try to extend the benefits of the american dream to all. but that american ideal is indeed in danger today. there is no country, no, not

even a rising china can do more harm to us than we can do to ourselves if we do not do the hard work before us here at home. [ applause ] more than at any other time in history, greatness is built on mobilizing human potential and ambition. we have always done that better than any country in the world. people have come here from all over because they have believed our creed of opportunity and limitless horizons, they have come here from the world's most impoverished nations just to make a decent wage they have come here from advanced societies as engineers and scientists to fuel the knowledge based revolution in silicon

valley, california, in the research triangle of north carolina, along route 128 in massachusetts. in austin, texas and across this great land. [ applause ] we must continue to welcome the world's most ambitious people to be a part of us. in that way we stay young and optimistic and determined. we need immigration laws that protect our borders, meet our economic needs and yet show that we are a compassionate nation of immigrants. [ applause ] we have been successful, too, because americans have known that one status of birth is not a permanent condition.

americans have believed that you might not be able to control your circumstances but you can control your response to your circumstances. [ applause ] and your greatest in controlling your response to your circumstances has been a quality education. but tod whe i can look a your zip code and i can tell whether you're going to get a good education, can i honestly say it doesn't matter where you came from? it matters where you're going? the crisis in k-12 education is a threat to the very fabric of who we are. [ applause ] my mom was a teacher, i respect the profession. we need great teachers, not poor ones and not diocre ones. wehave to havehigh standards

for our kids. because self-esteem comes from achievement not from lack standards and false praise. [applause] we need to give parents greater choice. particularly -- particularly poor parents whose kids very often minorities are trapped in failing neighborhood schools. this is the civil rights issue of our day. if we do anything less we condemn generations to joblessness and hopelessness and life on the government dole.

if we do anything less we'll tear apart the fabric of who we are mitt romney and paul ryan will rebuild us at home. and they will help us lead abroad. they will provide an answer to the question, where does america stand. ameca h overcome hard challenges before. whenever you find yourself doubting us, just think about all those times that america made the impossible seem inevitable in retrospect. we had a kill war, brother

against brothers, hundreds of thousands a dead on both sides, a second founding when i am patient patriots were determined to overcome the defects of slerynd scourge of gregatio along struggle against communism with the soviet union eventually in collapse and europe free and as peace. and in the aftermath of 9/11 the willingness to take really hard, hard decisions that secured us and prevented the follow-on attack that everybody thought preordained. and on a personal note -- [ applause ] on a personal note, a little girl grew up in birmingham, a segregated city of south where her parents can can't her to a movie theater or to a restaurant, but they have her absolutely convinced that even if she can't happen a hamburger

at the wool worth's lunch counter she can be president of the united states if she wanted to be and she becomes the secretary of state. [ cheering and applause ] that s

why this is a moment and an election of consequence. because it just has to be. that the freest and most compassionate country on the face of the ear wl continue to be the most powerful and a beacon for prosperity and liberty across the world. god bless you and god bless this extraordinary country, this exceptional country the united states of america! [ cheering and applause ] >> woodruff: former secretary of state, that was the biggest speech of the week so far. everybody stopped, everybody paid attention. she never once mentioned barack obama by name, david.

>> why was it the best? it wasn't filled with political cliches, and key pronoun was "we" and "us." >> woodruff: it was a mean-spirited speech in any way, how this country can be great when she said the civil rights issue of our day is providing in so many words, access to a good education. the crowd erupted. >> it was marvelous personal statement. about a remarkable american life. the same time it was distillation of the compassionate conservatism of george w. bush. and it was a tribute to america and to an energized federal government that divided civil rights. >> ifill: and she wanted to be -- a lot in this room thought that might ab good idea. at the podium is governor susana

martinez. she's going to introduce the keynote speaker. >> -- could one day become a goveor. but this is america. [speaking spanish] [ applause ] my parents taught me to never give up. and to always believe that my future to be whatever i dreamt it to be. success they taught me is built on the foundation of courage, hard work and individual responsibility. despite what some would have us believe success is not built on resentment and fear. [ applause ] we grew up on the border and truly lived paycheck to paycheck. my dad was a golden gloves boxer

in the marine corps. then a deputy sheriff. my mom worked as an office assistant. one day they decided to start a seurity guardusiess. i thought th were absolutely crazy. we literally had no savings. but they always believed in the american dream. [ applause ] my dad worked to grow the business. my mom did the books at night. at 18 i guarded the parking lot at the catholic church bingos. now, ad made su i culd take care of myself. i carried a smith and wesson .357 magnum. [ cheering and applause ]

yes, that gun weighed more than i did. my parents grew that small business from one 18-year-old guarding a bingo to more than 125 employees in three states. [ applause ] sure, there was help along the way. but my parents took the risk, they stood up and you better believe they built it. [ applause ] my parents taught me about having the courage to stand f somethin so i went to law school and i became a prosecutor. i took on a specialty that very

few choose to pursue. i pros cued child abuse. and child homicide cases. cases that were truly gut wrenching. but standing up for those kids, being their voice for justice was the honor of a lifetime. [ applause ] sometimes you pay a price for standing up. when i was a young prosecutor i got called to testify against my boss. i could have backed down. but i didn't. i stood up to him and he fired me for it. so, i took him on, ran against him for district attorney and beat him by a landslide! [ cheering and applause ]

i fearsome of our leaders today have lost the courage to stand up. that we have now politicians, they won't offer real plans and only stand up when they want to blame someone else. and i don't say that just because a democrat is in the white house. i was a democrat for many years, so were my parents. before i ran fo district attorney two republicans invited my husband and me to lunch. and i knew a party switch was exactly what they wanted. so, i told chuck, we'll be polite, enjoy your free lunch and then say goodbye. but we talked about issues, they never used the word republican or democrat, conservative or

liberal. we talked about many issues, like welfare, is it a way of life or hand up. talked about size of government. how much should it tax families and small businesses. when we left that lunch we got in the car, i looked over at chuck and said, i'll be damned, we're republicans! [ laughter ] [ applause ] this election is not about political parties. too many americans are out of work and our debt is out of control. this election needs to be about those issues, and it is the

responsibility of both parties to offer up real solutions and have an honest debate. in new mexico, i inherited the largeststrtural ficit in state history. and our legislature is controlled by democrats. we don't always agree. but we came together in a bipartisan manner and turned that deficit in to a surplus. [ applause ] and we did it without raising taxes! [ applause ] but that's nothe kindof leadership that we're seeing from president obama. he promised to bring us all together, to cut unemployment, to pass immigration reform in its first year and even promised

to cut the deficit in half in his first term. do you remember that n but he hasn't come close, they haven't even passed a budget in washington, d.c. in three years. [audiee reacts] if he can take credit for government building small businesses, then he can accept responsibility for breaking his promise and adding five trillion dollars to the national debt. [ applause ] because he did build that. [ applause ]

as the first hispanic female governor in the history, little girls they corf come up to me in the grocery store or the mall, they look, they point, when they get the courage to come up they ask, are you susana? they run up and they give me a hug. and i wonder, how do you know who i am? but they d these are little girls, it's in moments like these when i'm reminded that we each pave a path and for me it's about paving a path for those little girls to follow. they need to know, no more barriers. [ applause ] in many ways mitt romney are very different. different starts in life, different paths to leadership,

different cultures. but we've each shared in the promise of america. and we share a core belief that the promise of america must be kept for the next generation. [speaking spanish] it's success and success is the american dream. that success is not something to be ashamed of or to demonize. there is one candidate in this election who will protect that dream. one leader who will fight hard to keep the promise of america for the next generation. and that is why we must stand up and make mitt romney the next president of the united states! [ cheering and applause ]

>> woodruff: the first hispanic woman to be governor. introducing this video that will introduce the vice president shall nominee. >> his character and values. he's a person of great steadiness, whose integrity is unquestions questioned whose word is good. he understands fiscal challenges facing america and the fiscal catastrophe that awaits us if we don't change course. today is a good day for america, there are better days ahead. >> when i look at all he's done, his life, his wife, his family, i am just so proud. i know his father would be as well. especially tonight. >> i am so proud to introduce my husband, the next vice president of the united states, paul ryan! [ applause ]

♪ >> hello, everybody! thank you very much! thank you. hey, wisconsin! thank you. [ applause ] you guys are great. thank you so much. mr. chairman, delegates, and

fellow citizens, i am honored by the support of this convention for vice president of the united states! [ applause ] i accept the duty to help lead our nation out of a jobs crisis and back to prosperity and i know we can do this. [ applause ] i accept the calling of my generation to give our children the america that was given to us with opportunity for the young and security for the old. and i know that we are ready. our nominee is sure ready. his whole life prepared him for this moment. to meet serious challenges in a

serious way. without excuses and idle words. after four years of getting the run around, america needs a turn around and the man for the job is governor mitt romney! [ cheering and applause ] i'm the newcomer to this campaign. let me share a first impression. i have never seen seen opponent so silent about their record and so desperate to keep their power. they have run out of ideas. their moment came and went. fear and division is all they have got left. with all their attack ads, the president is just throwing away

money and he's pretty experienced at that. [ laughter ] you see, some people can't be dragged down by the usual cheap tactics because their character, ability and plain decency are so on video just and, ladies and gentlemen, that is mitt romney. [ cheering and applause ] for my part, your nomination is an unexpected turn. certainly came as news to my family. and i'd like you to meet them. my best friend and wife, jana you are our daughter liza and our boys charlie and sam. [ applause ]

the kids are happy to see their grandma, who lives in florida, there's my mom, betty. [applause] my dad, a small town lawyer was also named paul. until we lost him when i was 16 he was a gentle presence in my life. i'd like to think he'd be proud of me and my sister and brothers. [ applause ] you know what, i'm sure proud of him and where i come from, janesville, wisconsin. [ cheering and applause ]

i live on the same block where i grew up. we belong to the same parish where i was baptized. it's that kind of plac the people of wisconsin have been good to me. i've tried to live up to their trust. and now i ask those hard working men and women and millions like them across america to join our cause and get this country working again. [applause] when governor romney asked me to join the ticket, i said, let's get this done. that is exactly what we are going to do. [ applause ]

president barack obama came to office during an economic crisis as he has reminded us a time or two. those are very tough days. and any fair measure of his record has to take that in to account. my home state voted for president owe bam match when he talked about chge, many people like the sound of it he is specially in janesville where we were about to lose a major factory. a lot of guys i went to high school with worked at that g.m. plant. right there at that plant candidate obama said, i believe that if our government is there to support you, this plant will be here another 100 years. that's what he said in 2008. well, as it turns out that plant didn't last another year. it is locked up and emp to this day. that's how it is in so many

towns, where the recovery that was promise asked no where in sight. right now 23 million men and women are struggling to find work. 23 million people. unemployed or under employed. nearly one in six americans is in poverty. millions of young americans have graduated from college during the obama presidency, ready to use the gifts and get moving in life. half of them can't find work they studied for or any work at all. so here's the question. without a change in leadership why would the next four years be any different from the last four years? [ cheering and applause ]

the first troubling sign came with the stimulus. it was president obama's first and best shot at fixing the economy. at a time when he got everything he wanted on one party rule. it cost $831 billion. the largest one-time expenditure every by our federal government. went to companies like solindra with their gold plated connections, make believe markets. a stimulus was a case of political patronage, corporate welfare and cronyism at its worst. [applause] you the american people of this country were cut out of the deal. what did taxpayers get out of the obama stimulus, more debt.

that money wasn't just spent and wasted. it was borrowed, spent and wasted. applause ] maybe the greatest waste of all was time. here we were faced with massive job crisis, so deep that if everyone out of work stood in single file that unemployment line would stretch the length of the entire american continent. you would think that any president, whatever his party, would make job creation and nothing else his first order of economic business. but this president didn't do that. instead we have a long devie sieve, attempt to put the

government in charge of welfare. [audience reacts] obama care comes to more than 2,000 pages of rules, mandates, taxes, fees and fines that have no place in a free country! [ applause ] that's right. you know what, the president has declared that the debate over god controlled health care is over. that will come as news to the

millions of americans who elect mitt romney so we can repeal obama care -- [ applause ] and the biggest, coldestpower play of all in obamacare came at the expense of the elderly. you see, en with all the hidden taxes to pay for the health care take over, even with the new law and new taxes on nearly a million small businesses, the planners in washington still didn't have enough money, they needed more. they needed hundreds of billions more. so they just took it all away from medicare. 716 billion dollars funneled out of medicare by president obama.

[audience reacts] an obligation we have to our parents and grandparents is being sacrificed all to pay for a new entitlement we didn't even ask for. [ applause ] the greatest threat to medicare is obamacare and we're going to stop it. [applause] and congress, when they take out the heavy books and the wall charts on medicare, my thoughts go back to a house on garfield street in janesville. my wonderful grandma, janet, had alzheimer's. she moved in with mom and me.

though she felt lost at times, we did all of the little things that made her feel loved. we had help from medicare, it was there just like it's there for my mom today, medicare is a promise and we will honor it. a romney-ryan administration will protect and strengthen medicare for my mom's generation, for my generation and for my kids and yours. [ applause ] so, our opponents can consider themselves on notice. in this election, on this issue, the usual posturing on the left isn't going to work. mitt romney and i know the difference between protecting a program and raiding it. ladies and gentlemen, our nation

needs this debate, we want this debate, we will win this debate. [ cheering and applause ] obamacare as much as anything else explains why a presidency that began with such anticipation nowos to such a disappointing close. it began with a financial crisis, it ends with a job crisis. it began with a housing crisis they alone didn't cause, it ends with a housing crisis they didn't correct.

[ applause ] it began with a perfect triple-a credit rating for the united states, it ends with a downgraded america. it all started off with stirring speeches, greek columns, the thrill of something new. now all that's left is a presidency adrift surviving on slogans that already seem tired, grasping at a moment that has already passed. like a ship trying to sail on yesterday's wind. [ applause ] you know, president obama was asked not long ago to reflect on

any mistakes he might have made. he said, well, i haven't communicated enough. [ laughter ] he said, his job is to, quote, tell a story to the american people. as if that's the whole problem here? he needs to talk more and we need to be better listeners? ladies and gentlemen, these past four years we have suffered no shortage of words in the white house. what is missing is leadership in the white house! [ cheering and applause ]

and the story that barack obama does tell forever shifting blame to the last administration is getting old. the man assumed office almost four years ago, isn't it about time he assumed responsibility? [ cheering and applause ] in this generation a defining responsibility of government is to steer our nation clear of a debt crisis while there is still time.

back in 2008, candidate obama called a ten trilli doll national debt unpatriotic. serious talk from what looks like a serious reformer. yet by his own decisions, president obama has added more debt than any other president before him. and more than all the troubled governments of europe combined. one president, one term, five trillion new debt. [audience reacts] he created a new bipartisan debt commission, they came back with an urgent report. he thanked them, sent them on their way and then did exactly nothing. republicans stepped up with good faith reforms and solutions equal to the problems. how did the president respond? by doing nothing.

nothing except to dodge and demagogue the issue. so here we are. $16 trillion in debt and still he do nothing. in europe, massive debts have put entire governments at risk of collapse. and still he does nothing. all we have heard from this president and his team are attacks on anyone who dares to point out the obvious. they have no answer to this simple reality. we need to stop spending money, we don't have. [ applause ] really not that hard. [ applause ] my dad used to say to me, son,

you have a choice. you can be part of the problem or you can be part of the solution. the president's administration has made its choices and mitt romney and i have made ours. before the math and momentum overwhelms us we'll solve this nation's economic problem. [applause] and i'm going to level with you. we don't have that much time. but if we're serious and smart and we lead, we can do this. after four years of government trying to divide up the wealth, we will get america creating wealth again. [applause] protect regulatory reform.

we'll put government back on the side of men and women who create jobs and the men and women who need jobs. my mom started a small business and i've seen what it takes. mom was 50 when my dad died. she got on a bus every weekday for years and ro 40 miles each morning to mison. she earned a degree and learned new skills to start her small business. it wasn't just a new livelihood. it was a new life. it transformed my mom from a widow in grief to a small business woman whose happiness wasn't just in the past. her work gave her hope, it made our family proud. and to this day my mom is my role model. [ applause ]

behind eve small business, there' a story worth knowing. all the corner shops in our towns and cities, the restaurants, cleaners, gyms, hair salons, hardware stores, these didn't come out of no where. a lot of heart goes in to each one. and if small business people say they made it on their own, all they're saying is that nobody else worked seven days a week in their place. nobody showed up in their place to open the door at 5:00 in the morning.

nobody did their thinking and worrying and sweating for them. aft all that work and in a bad economy, it sure doesn't help to hear from their president that government gets the credit. what they deserve to hear is the truth, yes, you did build that! [ cheering and applause ] we have a plan for a stronger middle class with a goal of generating 12 million new jobs over the next four years. in a clean break from the obama years and frankly, from the years before this president, we will keep federal spending at 20% of gdp or less because that

is enough. [ applause ] the choice is whether to put hard limits on economic growth or hard limits on the size of government. and we choose to limit government. [ applause ] i learned a good deal about economics and about america from the author of the reagan tax reform, the great jack kemp. [ applause ] what gave jack that incredible enthusiasm was his belief in the possibilities of free people, in the power of free enterprise and strong communities to overcome poverty and despair. we need that same optimism right

now. in our dealings with other nations, a romney-ryan administration will speak with confidence and clarity whenever men and women rise up for their own freedom, they will know that the american president is on their side. [ applause ] instead of managing american decline, leaving allies to doubt it and adversaries to test us we'll act in the conviction that the united states is still the greatest force for peace and liberty that this world has ever known! [ cheering and applause ]

president obama is the kind of politics who puts promises on the record and then calls back the record. we are four years in to this presidency. the issue is not the economy that barack obama inherited. not the economy that he envisions. but this economy that we are living. college graduates should not have to live our their 20s in their childhood bedrooms staring up at fading obama fosters and wondering when they can get out and going! [ applause ]

everyone who feels stuck in the obama economy is right to focus on the here and now. and i hope you understand this, too. if you're feeling left out or passed by, you have not failed. your leaders have failed you. [ applause ] none of us -- none of us should have to settle for the best this administration offers, a dull adventureless journey from one entitlement to the next, a government planned life, a country where everything is free but us.

listen to the way -- police ento the way we are spoken to already. as if everyone is stuck in some class or station in life. victims of circumstances beyond our control. with the government there to help us cope with our fate, it's the exact opposite of everything i learned growing up in wisconsin or at college in ohio. [ applause ] now, when i was waiting tables, washing dishes or mowing lawns for money, i never thought of myself as stuck in some station in life. i was on my own path, my own journey an american journey where i could think for myself, decide for myself, define happiness for myself. that's what we do in this country.

that's the american dream. [ applause ] that's freedom and i'll take it any day over the supervision and sanctimony of the central planners! [ applause ] by themselves the failures of one administration are not a mandate for a new administration. a challenger must stand on his own merit. he must be ready and worthy to serve in the office of president. we're a full generation apart,, governor romney and i. and in some ways we're different, there are the songs in his ipod which i've heard on the campaign bus. and i've heard it on money hotel elevators. laugh laugh. [ laughter ]

he actually urged me to play some of these songs