George H.W. Bush: “Thank you very, very much. Michael, thank you and all the others at the Chamber. Thank you for that introduction. Let me…”

“Thank you very, very much. Michael, thank you and all the others at the Chamber. Thank you for that introduction. Let me just explain what Michael was talking about. There has been this hurricane down in Florida, and so we leave right from here to go down to Newark, take the plane, and head on down to look at that damage and express our concerns to the people there. But I am just delighted to be here. A warm reception coming into town. I want to thank David Rifkin and especially the Mayor Thomas Hallihan. Let me also mention an old friend and a good man, Gary Franks, who's the Congressman here. I am so indebted to him. And another that you all know so well in this valley, John Rowland, he's a great man, and I want to see him do more. I was touched by the Reverend Father Weiss' invocation. And I want to ask today that we now take a little political look ahead to the fall. I'll tell you something. I came out of that Houston convention, and the whole spirit around this country is different. I am determined to win this election, and I'm determined to do it fair and square. If I hadn't been fired up when I walked in here, the Company, that great music, would have got it going, I'll tell you. That was fantastic. I don't even know where they are. But anyway, we're looking ahead to a great classic that takes place this fall. I'm not talking about Ansonia versus Derby--[laughter]--I'm talking about the November 3d contest. That does have a lot to do with the direction of this country and also the new century beyond. I heard my grandson speak at our convention, and I was so very proud of that young kid. It just reminded me on a very personal basis of what the Reverend Father was talking about and the job that lies ahead of us, to make life better for all. Now, we have witnessed, as I pointed out down there, a world of change from Managua to Moscow. Millions of men and women now turn towards freedom. They're celebrating a new birth of freedom. I believe people right here in the valley, many of whom came here from other countries, many of whose family came here, understand what I'm talking about when I say this Nation can take pride in the freedom of others. Many right in this room, because of family, not just because of freedom and democracy, because of family, prayed for this day of freedom to come to Eastern Europe, to Russia, to the countries south of our border. We've witnessed this remarkable change, and this miracle has come true. So now the challenge for this country is to bring that spirit home from Warsaw, Poland, to Warsaw Park and to focus this great Nation on the mission ahead. We have literally changed the world with the help of the taxpayer, Presidents that preceded me, fighting men and women that have served this great country with distinction. We've changed the world, and now we must change America for the better. Our challenge quite simply is to win the global economic challenge, to win the peace, be a military superpower, an economic superpower, an export superpower. In this election you're going to hear two very different visions of how to do this. Theirs is to turn inward and protect; and ours is to look outward and open new markets and prepare our people to compete, to restore social fabric, to save and invest. When I'm talking about investment, I don't mean more taxpayer money going into Government investment. I mean more private investment, small business investment. I don't want to get too personal in this wonderful area that I understand has some wonderfully smart Democrats, because I need you guys in the fall. But let me say this, that my opponent has spent most of his adult life in government, and that's pretty much, I think, all he knows about. But his idea about creating jobs is to have Government jobs, public payroll jobs. And I come at things a different way. I spent, I computed it the other day, half of my adult life in government service, one kind or another, and half in the private sector. Long before I was in the public sector, I worked for a living out in the oilfields of west Texas, built a company, and did what many here has in small or larger operations, I met a payroll. I took risks, and I made it work. I happen to think having held a job is not a bad qualification even for President of the United States of America. Look, the world economy is changing, and we've got to be in the lead of that change. Think of the economic changes you've seen right here in Ansonia, from moving from that brass and copper age in the mills along the Naugatuck to the new corporate headquarters in the industrial parks across the valley. Right now one in every six American manufacturing jobs is tied directly to exports. That doesn't count the economic ripple effect created when those workers pay mortgages or buy a car or feed the kids. Since '88, since 1988, three-fifths of the economic growth has come from people in other countries buying what we do best, the products we make right here in America. We are the best manufacturers in the world, and don't let anybody tell you, don't you let that gloomy opposition tell you we can't compete or say that we're a nation in decline. We are not. As President, I'm working now to create jobs, new markets, markets in Moscow, markets in Mexico City that mean new American jobs. I am convinced that the answer is not to build a wall around our economy, not to put the Government in charge but to use the Government to help you literally go back to work in this country. That's what I want to tell you, how I'm going to do it. Here are some of what we stand for: open markets for American products. Here's one we have a big difference on: lower Government spending and tax relief, not spend and tax; tax relief and less Federal Government spending. And the other one is opportunities for small business. We've got to do better getting the regulatory burden off the back of these mom-and-pop, these small operators. We're going to keep doing it until we get that job done. You know my feeling about too many lawsuits in this country. I've been fighting to change that, blocked by this gridlocked Congress. We sue each other too much. We care for each other too little. We've got to break the back of those that are breaking this country with these damn lawsuits. Audience members. Clean House! Clean House! Clean House!”