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CNN Live Event/Special
President Bush Delivers Remarks in Philadelphia
Aired July 04, 2001 - 16:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOIE CHEN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we have been telling you that we have been standing by waiting for festivities from Independence Hall to present the guest of honor today -- that is the president of these United States -- about to speak to the audience, who have been waiting to listen. Let's listen in.
(APPLAUSE)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you all.
(APPLAUSE)
Mr. Mayor, thank you very much. I -- I appreciate so much your hospitality. Laura and I are honored to be here in Philadelphia. It's the perfect place to celebrate our nation's birthday.
(APPLAUSE)
I told the mayor in front of the country when I addressed the Congress that I was coming to Philadelphia to celebrate the wonderful missions that take place in this grand city.
Mr. Mayor, thank you for allowing me to come, and thank you for your gracious hospitality.
The same to the governor of this great state, our close friend Tom Ridge and his wife, Michele, thank you all very much for your hospitality.
It's an honor to be on the stage with the senior senator who married quite well himself.
(LAUGHTER)
I appreciate you being here, Senator, and the Honorable.
It's an honor to be on the stage with leaders of the faith community in Philadelphia.
Distinguished guests, my fellow citizens, thank you for your warm welcome.
(APPLAUSE)
And thank you, Mr. Mayor, for your lovely gift.
BUSH: Laura and I will make a special place for it at the White House.
Today, we celebrate American independence in the place of America's birth, close to a symbol of American liberty. As millions know, to see the Liberty Bell is a moving experience.
In America, we set aside certain places and treasures like this to protect them from the passing of the years. We grant them special care to mark a moment in time.
Here in Philadelphia, these markers are all around us, reminders of our history. This is a dynamic and modern city. Yet, if the founders themselves were here, they would know the place.
Benjamin Franklin and his wife could still find their way from here to the corner where they first saw each other at Market and Fourth.
John Adams could make his way to City Tavern and show us the spot where he first shook the hand of George Washington.
Thomas Jefferson would still find waiting for him the room where he drafted the Declaration of Independence.
And each of the founders coming here would know the ring of the Liberty Bell. It rang to announce the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence 225 years ago.
Those new citizens of a nation just four days old heard inspiring words but not original thoughts. Our founders considered themselves heirs to principles that were timeless and truths that were self evident.
When Jefferson sat down to write, he was trying, he said, to place before mankind the common sense of the subject. The common sense of the subject was that we should be free.
And though great evils would linger, the world would never be the same after July 4, 1776. A wonderful country was born and a revolutionary idea sent forth to all mankind: freedom, not by the good graces of government, but as the birthright of every individual; equality, not as a theory of philosophers, but by the design of our creator; natural rights, not for the few, not even for a fortunate many, but for all people, in all places, in all times. The world still echoes with the ideals of America's Declaration. Our ideals have been accepted in many countries and bitterly opposed by tyrants. They are the mighty rock on which we have built our nation. They are the hope of all who are oppressed. They are the standard to which we hold others and the standard by which we measure ourselves.
Our greatest achievements have come when we have lived up to these ideals. Our greatest tragedies have come when we have failed to uphold them.
When Abraham Lincoln wondered whether civil war was preferable to permanent slavery, he knew where to seek guidance. Speaking at Independence Hall, he said, "I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence."
"The Declaration," Lincoln said, "gave promise that in due time the weight would be lifted from the shoulders of all men, and all should have an equal chance."
From the ideals in the Declaration came the laws in the Constitution, including the free exercise of religion. The Liberty Bell was originally cast to mark the 50th anniversary of William Penn's Charter of Privileges, the first guarantee of religious freedom in this commonwealth.
Now, exactly three centuries after William Penn's charter, the founders would be pleased to see that we have respected this right of the people and the limitation on the government. They knew what dangers can follow when government either dictates or frustrates the exercise of religion.
Our founders would also be pleased to walk these streets again and to find, amid the problems of modern life, a familiar American spirit of faith and good works.
BUSH: They would see the signs of poverty and want, but also acts of great kindness and charity. The would see addiction and the wreckage it brings, but they would also see, in the works of the religious groups and charities throughout this city, the power that can rescue abandoned hopes and repair a broken life.
In a world very different from theirs, they would see different kinds of hardships, fears and suffering. Yet they would also recognize the brotherly love that gave this city its name.
Your mayor and I have just come from an Independence Day celebration in north Philadelphia, organized by a great American named Herbert Lusk.
(APPLAUSE)
Herb first came to prominence as an athlete. Today, he is pastor of Greater Exodus Baptist Church.
(APPLAUSE)
And his parishioners still like him.
(LAUGHTER)
Herb's church is one of the hundreds of churches and synagogues and mosques in this city where worship of the All Mighty is expressed in service to neighbors in need. In every part of Philadelphia, caring people are doing the work of compassion. They teach boys and girls to read, as in a program called Youth Education For Tomorrow where more than 20 faith-based literacy centers are producing great results for your city's children.
At the Jesus (ph) school in north Philadelphia, little Anesha Graham (ph) came a year ago, not knowing any letters of the alphabet. Today, at age 7 she reads at the 4th grade level.
CHEN: President Bush speaking at Independence Hall in Philadelphia today. You hear him talking about faith-based service organizations and their service to the community, part of his first address as president being held at this 4th of July celebration at Independence Hall in Philadelphia on the nation's 225th birthday. The president there in Philadelphia today.
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