The American people expect the nomination process to be as free of partisanship as possible, and for senators to rive above tricks and gimmicks designed to thwart nominees.

Now, I don't know if you know this or not — we're up to about 7 billion gallons of ethanol being produced and used in America. That's up from 2 billion three or three or four years ago. That's a good deal, if you're interested about energy independence, because that energy's comin' from corn growers here in America. Problem is, we're growing a lotta corn for ethanol, which means the price of corn is goin' up for the pig farmer. So we gotta relieve the pressure on the pig farmer by — well, not all, everybody, you know, but — pig farmer's paying – like you, you, use a lotta corn. And therefore, we're, we're, we're spending money on technologies. And I believe more and more people are gonna be using ethanol to power their automobiles.

The immediate goal is to make sure there are more people on private insurance plans. I mean, people have access to health care in America. After all, you just go to an emergency room.

I'm the Commander-in-Chief. I'm also the Educator-in-Chief. Part of my job is to explain the philosophy behind the decisions that I have made. I'm honored you'd give me a chance to do so.

You'll hear people say in Washington, well, we need to raise taxes in order to either pay for new programs or balance the budget. I happen to believe we can balance the budget without raising taxes if we're wise about how we spend your money. And we're proving it possible.

How many of you have ever said, gosh, I wonder whether this health care quality is better than the neighbors? I doubt any of you — many of you have done that. Why? Because the system is not geared toward that. Somebody else pays your bills. If you really think about it, and you're working, say, for a company in America, and they provide a health care plan for you, there's a third-party payer. Well, if somebody else pays the bills, why do you care what the cost is at the time of purchase?

I wouldn't ask a mother or a dad — I wouldn't put their son in harm's way if I didn't believe this was necessary for the security of the United States and peace of the world.

Uhh, we're, we're, we are better prepared, and drill it a lot. Great question. The more difficult question is his question on pandemic flu. I, uhh, asked Mike Leavitt, who is the head of DD, uhh, uhh, HHS, and, and Chertoff, to — he's, he's the Homeland guy — to chair a — Department of Homeland Security. Secretary of Homeland Security. Heh. In Crawford, we kind of shortcut it. Anyway, uh, look, nobody has accused me of bein' Shakespeare, you know, anyway, uhh — heh — I just hope you can figure out what I'm sayin', uhh — Uhh, is, uhh — is we spend a lot of time on pandemic flu. One way you anticipate a, umm, umm — a crisis is you kinda wargame it.

I've chosen a path that says we will go overseas and defeat them there. I also know full well that it's important for us if we're facing an ideology, if we're facing ideologues, if we're confronting people who believe something, that we have got to defeat their belief system with a better belief system. Forms of government matter, in my opinion. It matters how — the nature of the government in which people live. And therefore, I have put as part of our foreign policy not only an aggressive plan to find extremists and radicals and bring them to justice before they hurt us, but also to help people live in liberty — free societies, as the great alternative to people living under a tyrant, for example.

Iran is influential inside of Iraq. They are influential by providing advanced weaponry. They are influential by dealing with some militias, tend to be Shia militias, all aiming to create discomfort, all aiming to kind of — according to some — to create enough discomfort for the United States, but in doing so, they're making it harder for this young democracy to emerge. Isn't it interesting, when you really take a step back and think about what I just said, that al Qaeda is making serious moves in Iraq, as is surrogates for Iran?

If the definition of success in Iraq or anywhere is no suicide bombers, we'll never be successful. We will have handed al Qaeda — that's what it takes in order to determine whether or not these young democracies, for example, can survive. Think about that: if our definition is no more suiciders, you've just basically said to the suiciders, go ahead. ...Yesterday's bombing — we don't have the intel on it. I suspect it's al Qaeda. Al Qaeda convinces the suiciders to show up. Al Qaeda understands the effects of this kind of warfare on the minds of not only people in Iraq, but here — and elsewhere in the world.

You know, I'm — I've been in politics long enough to know that polls just go poof at times.

There are some similarities, of course — death is terrible. Another similarity, of course, is that Vietnam was the first time a war was brought to our TV screens here in America on a regular basis.

One of my concerns is that the health care not be as good as it can possibly be.

Q: Do you believe this, that the war in Iraq and the rise of terrorism are signs of the apocalypse? And if not, why not?
DUBYA: Hmmm, uhh, hah — ummm — I, the answer is — I haven't really thought of it that way, heh, heh. Heh. Here's how I think of it. Ummm — heh heh. First I've heard of that, by the way, I, ah — uhh — the, uhh — I, I guess I'm more of a practical fella. Uhh. I vowed after September the 11th that I would do everything I could to protect the American people. And, uhh — my attitude, of course, was affected by the attacks. I knew we were at a war. I knew that the enemy, obviously, had to be sophisticated, and lethal, to fly hijacked airplanes, uhh, into — facilities that would, we would, killing thousands of people, innocent people, doin' nothing, just sittin' there goin' to work.

REPORTER: Before we went to war in Iraq we said there were three main reasons for going to war in Iraq. Weapons of mass destruction, the claim that Iraq was sponsoring terrorists who had attacked us on 9/11, and that Iraq had purchased nuclear materials from Niger. All three of those turned out to be false. My question is, how do we restore confidence that Americans may have in their leaders and to be sure that the information they are getting now is correct?
DUBYA: That's a great question. First, just if I might correct a misperception. I don't think we ever said — at least I know I didn't say that there was a direct connection between September the 11th and Saddam Hussein. We did say that he was a state sponsor of terror — by the way, not declared a state sponsor of terror by me, but declared by other administrations. We also did say that Zarqawi, the man who is now wreaking havoc and killing innocent life, was in Iraq. And so the state sponsor of terror was a declaration by a previous administration. But I don't want to be argumentative, but I was very careful never to say that Saddam Hussein ordered the attacks on America.

We need to apply the same rigor of No Child Left Behind, particularly in middle age for math and science, to make sure that we're able to compete for the jobs of the 21st century.

One of the interesting things about Katrina, as you well know, is many of the people displaced did not own their own homes, that they were renters.

Step one of any immigration policy is to enforce our border in practical ways. We are spending additional resources to be able to use different detection devices, unmanned UAVs, to help

The people of the city still have many challenges to overcome, including old-age resentments that still create suspicion.

The Senator's willingness to trade principle for political convenience makes it clear that John Kerry is the wrong man for the wrong job at the wrong time.

The Senator's willingness to trade principle for political convenience makes it clear that John Kerry is the wrong man for the wrong job at the wrong time.

And a political candidate who jumps to conclusions without knowing the facts is not the person you want as the Commander-in-Chief.

I want to remind the American people, if Senator Kerry had his way, we would still be taking our global test. Saddam Hussein would still be in power. He would control all those weapons and explosives and could have shared them with our terrorist enemies.

You've got to be able to speak clearly in order to make this world a more peaceful place.

DUBYA: And you came up from where?
CHRIS SANFORD (Dep't of Energy Employee): We were relocated from West Tennessee —
DUBYA: Yes, Tennessee, good. Nice part of the world.

The short-term objective of this country is to find an enemy and bring them to justice before they strike us. The long-term objective is to make this world a more free and hopeful and peaceful place. I believe we'll succeed because freedom is the Almighty God's gift to every man and woman in this world.

We stand for a culture of life in which every person matters, every being counts. We stand for marriage and family, which are the foundations of society. We stand for the Second Amendment.

SPANISH SPEAKER: Mr. President, mi amigo.
DUBYA: Come esta?
SPANISH SPEAKER: Muy bien. Muchas gracias. The Cubans in Miami want to know if you're going to be the President, going to get rid of Fidel Castro. You got rid of Saddam Hussein... so I hope you'll be the one to clean Cuba. Hey, Puerto Rico and Cuba are for you.
DUBYA: Gracias.
SPANISH SPEAKER: No hay de que.
DUBYA: All right, let me tell you what he's talking about. Cuba libre.
SPANISH SPEAKER: Cuba libre.
DUBYA: Sí. Ahora. Here's what he said. We're talking about Cuba.

My grandfather was raised right here in Columbus, Ohio. So I'm here to ask that you send a homeboy back to Washington, D.C.

It's only fair if other countries treat us the way they treat them.

I'm here to tell you I've got a reason to seek the presidency again. There is a reason to want to serve, and that's to keep the country safer and stronger and better.

Freedom in the heart of the Middle East is going to serve a powerful example for Palestinians who are wondering whether or not there's a — a free state can emerge. And that's important. That's important, especially for our ally and friend, Israel, that there be a peaceful state grow up.

I love the entrepreneurial spirit of America, don't you? Good job. There's nothing better. There is nothing better, is it, to be in an ownership society. Don't you love the idea of somebody saying, this is my business? How about the fact that home ownership rates in America are at an all-time high? More people — and it's a fantastic statistic. It is a fantastic statistic of our society. It means more people are opening up that front door, saying, welcome to my home. Come into my piece of property. See, I love an ownership society.

[Laura] was a public school librarian when I asked her to marry me. She said, I'll marry you just so long as I don't have to give any speeches. It's the only political promise I've ever broken. And thankfully, I broke it. What a fabulous, articulate woman she is.

Once you figure out the nature of the enemy, and know that they hide in caves and dark resorts of the city, it requires a universal effort to find them.

We will not rest until every America who wants to find a job has one.

I saw a threat in Afghanistan. I looked at the intelligence and saw a threat. The Congress looked at the intelligence. Members of both political parties looked at that same intelligence and saw and threat. The United Nations Security Council looked at the intelligence and it saw a threat. The United Nations Security Council, like me, remembered — we saw more than a threat, we remembered that Saddam Hussein had used weapons of mass destruction against his own people and against his neighborhood, that Saddam Hussein professed hatred for America, that he had terrorist ties, that he paid suiciders to kill innocent citizens in the Middle East. We remembered all that.

You can't tax the rich enough to pay for his promises. Guess who he's going to tax? He's going to tax me and you.

Higher productivity means that workers earn more.

These highway bills come in six-year increments. I proposed $30 billion more spending on highways over the next six, and the last six.

Three million people are now off the tax rolls. 3.9 million households received tax relief. No, we're making a difference.

Companies are seeing more orders, especially orders for heavy equipment. No, things are getting better.

And we had an emergency and a recession, which affected the revenue growth of the U.S. Treasury. I mean, the stock market went down. Some of the pie-in-the-sky projections didn't make, and the investors said, oops. The numbers weren't real. The investors said, well, it looks like the days of everything is going up may end. And so people started selling, and the markets went down. That affected the revenues coming into the U.S. Treasury. Recession — negative growth means less revenues. And so, of course, we've got a deficit.

But this nation has got a deficit because we have been through a war.

Last year, this company paid out more than $30 million in dividends — and a lot of that went to Timken employees. So when you hear politicians say the tax cut is only for the rich, they're talking about you.

Work is not done. There's still dangers and challenges to remain.

Last year, one of the first preparations for possible war — one of the first parts of our planning for war came when General Tommy Franks — from Midland, Texas I want you to know — went to the same high school as First Lady Laura Bush did — who, by the way, sends her love, and her best — Tommy Franks asked one of the first requests in preparation for possible war was that we send 1,200 Abrams tanks to the field.

You see, it wasn't all that long ago that our tanks were in Baghdad. It may seem like a lot of time — there's a lot on our TV screens — but it wasn't all that long ago that the people got the first whiff of freedom.

Eleven years ago, as a condition for ending the Persian Gulf War, the Iraqi regime was required to destroy its weapons of mass destruction, to cease all development of such weapons, and to stop all support for terrorist groups. The Iraqi regime has violated all of those obligations. It possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nukyular weapons. ... Many people have asked how close Saddam Hussein is to developing a nukyular weapon. Well, we don't know exactly, and that's the problem. Before the Gulf War, the best intelligence indicated that Iraq was eight to ten years away from developing a nukyular weapon. After the war, international inspectors learned that the regime has been much closer — the regime in Iraq would likely have possessed a nukyular weapon no later than 1993. The inspectors discovered that Iraq had an advanced nukyular weapons development program, had a design for a workable nukyular weapon, and was pursuing several different methods of enriching uranium for a bomb. Before being barred from Iraq in 1998, the International Atomic Energy Agency dismantled extensive nukyular weapons-related facilities, including three uranium enrichment sites. That same year, information from a high-ranking Iraqi nukyular engineer who had defected revealed that despite his public promises, Saddam Hussein had ordered his nukyular program to continue. The evidence indicates that Iraq is reconstituting its nukyular weapons program. Saddam Hussein has held numerous meetings with Iraqi nukyular scientists, a group he calls his nukyular mujahideen — his nukyular holy warriors. Satellite photographs reveal that Iraq is rebuilding facilities at sites that have been part of its nukyular program in the past. Iraq has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes and other equipment needed for gas centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium for nukyular weapons. If the Iraqi regime is able to produce, buy, or steal an amount of highly enriched uranium a little larger than a single softball, it could have a nukyular weapon in less than a year. And if we allow that to happen, a terrible line would be crossed. Saddam Hussein would be in a position to blackmail anyone who opposes his aggression. He would be in a position to dominate the Middle East. He would be in a position to threaten America. And Saddam Hussein would be in a position to pass nukyular technology to terrorists. Some citizens wonder, after 11 years of living with this problem, why do we need to confront it now? And there's a reason. We've experienced the horror of September the 11th. We have seen that those who hate America are willing to crash airplanes into buildings full of innocent people. Our enemies would be no less willing, in fact, they would be eager, to use biological or chemical, or a nukyular weapon. ...After eleven years during which we have tried containment, sanctions, inspections, even selected military action, the end result is that Saddam Hussein still has chemical and biological weapons and is increasing his capabilities to make more. And he is moving ever closer to developing a nukyular weapon. ...We could wait and hope that Saddam does not give weapons to terrorists, or develop a nukyular weapon to blackmail the world.

This isn't a — the type of war we're all used to. It's not the kind of war where there's tanks moving across, you know, some plain, everybody gets to see the progress of the tanks. This isn't the kind of war where planes are in formation.

Roberta is a mom of five children, and her passion is a passion which is shared by moms all across America. Her passion is pretty simple. I want my children to go to a safe school where he or she can realize their full potential.

For the first time, young girls go to school in Afghanistan, thanks to the United States and our coalition.

Over 75 percent of white Americans own their home, and less than 50 percent of Hispanos and African Americans don't own their home. And that's a gap, that's a homeownership gap.

It is conservative to understand government can hand out money, but it cannot put hope in people's hearts.

When we were walking in, Bob was telling me how proud he is of Hope and the job she does, particularly to promote literacy. And I told him, I'm real proud of my wife, too.

We have just passed historic reform in Washington, D.C., education reform. It may be hard for you to believe, but there are, at moments, when Republicans and Democrats come together for the good of the nation.

Tommy [Thompson] did a fabulous job as the governor of Wisconsin in helping people, and he's doing a great job as the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

I'm here to talk about welfare reform, but I'm also here to make sure that the good people of Ohio send this good man back to the Governor's Mansion. There was a lot of reasons to send him back, but none greater than the fact that he married well.

I understand taking tests aren't fun.

There are mothers and dads in Mexico who love their children just as much as mothers and dads in America do. And if there are a mother or dad who can't find work, worried about food on the table, they're going to come and find work in America.

Anyway, after we go out and work our hearts out, after you go out and help us turn out the vote, after we've convinced the good Americans to vote, and while they're at it, pull that old George W. lever, if I'm the one, when I put my hand on the Bible, when I put my hand on the Bible, that day when they swear us in, when I put my hand on the Bible, I will swear to not — to uphold the laws of the land.

I think if you know what you believe, it makes it a lot easier to answer questions. I can't answer your question.

Unfairly but truthfully, our party has been tagged as being against things. Anti-immigrant, for example.