FOXNews.com: Transcript of Rahm Emanuel's speech at the DNC

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Transcript of Rahm Emanuel's speech at the DNC Sep 5th 2012, 02:59 The following is a transcript of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's speech at the Democratic National Convention on Sept. 4, 2012. EMMANUEL:  Good evening.  From President Obama's hometown of Chicago...    (APPLAUSE)    ... it's my honor to speak to you about the president I served. I want to tell you what I saw up close while serving our president in a time of crisis, about the values he leans on and the voices he listens to.    When President Obama entered the White House, the economy was in a freefall.  The auto industry -- on its back.  The banks were frozen up.  More than 4 million Americans have already lost their jobs.  And America's bravest, our men and women in uniform, were fighting for what would soon be the longest war in our history.  You remember the uncertainty, and the fear that seized our country.  On the first day, I said, ``Mr. President, which crisis do you want to tackle first?''  He looked me in the eye with that look reserved just for his chief of staff, ``Rahm, we were sent here to tackle all of them, not choose between them.''    (APPLAUSE)    There was no blueprint for how to manual for preventing in global financial meltdown, an auto crisis, two wars and a great recession all at the same time.  Believe me, if it existed, I would have found it.    Each crisis was so deep and so dangerous.  Anyone of them would have defined another presidency.  We faced a once in a generation moment in American history, and fortunately for all of us, we have a once in a generation president.    (APPLAUSE)    And in those unchartered waters, I saw where the president finds his north star.  Every night, President Obama reads ten letters from everyday Americans.  When I met with the president at the end of each day, he made sure he had their letters to read at his residence. Letters from people just hoping for someone in power to understand their struggles.    I can't tell you how many times, whether we were discussing the economy, health care or energy crisis, the president walked to his desk, take out one of the letters and read them to us and say, ``This is who we are fighting for.''  Parents working hard to save for their child's education.  Middle-class Americans fighting tooth and nail to hold onto their jobs, their homes or their life savings.  It is their voices that President Obama brings to the Oval Office.  It is their values I saw him fight for everyday. In the first month, he fought for the American Recovery Act to cut taxes for the middle-class, to put people to work building America's roads, rails and runways.  And today, our economy has gone from losing 800,000 jobs a month, to adding 4.5 million private-sector jobs in the last 29 months.    (APPLAUSE)    Banks, are slowly but surely lending again, and never again will taxpayers pay -- foot the bill for Wall Street's excesses.    In case we forgot, that was the change we believe in, that was the change we fought for, that was the change President Obama delivered.  President Obama took office knowing full well that, for the last century, presidents have tried to reform our health care system.    Today, because of President Obama's courage to my kids can stay on their parents' plan until they are 26.  Insurers cannot take you off your policy because you have a pre-existing limit. Because you have hit the existing limit.  They will be able to deny you because you have any pre- existing condition.  Because of President Obama's leadership, every American will have access to affordable quality health care.    (APPLAUSE)    That was the change we believed in print that was the change we fought for.  That was the change President Obama delivered.    I saw the president make the tough calls and the situation room. Today, our troops in Iraq have finally come home so America can do some nation-building here at home.    (APPLAUSE)    That was a change we believed in.  That was the change we fought for.  That was the change President Obama delivered.  I remember when the president received a report that the auto industry had a few weeks before its collapse.  We met in the Roosevelt room late into the night.  Some of the president's advisers said that them in order to save General Motors, you had to let Chrysler go under.  Others said, it is like throwing good money after bad.    Among all the experts, there were only guesses and only put it better than a one in four shot.  Only the president suggested going all in to save the industry and the jobs.    (APPLAUSE)    Rising above all the voices in Washington, President Obama listened to the voices that mattered to him most, the voices of the auto workers in the communities that depended on him.  Just like the voices of the steelworkers and the communities in the south side of Chicago where he worked earlier in his career. President Obama -- to President Obama, they were not just companies that needed a loan. They were communities that need a leader to stand up for them.    (APPLAUSE)    And because President Obama made the right choice, over 1 million Americans are still working today .  The American auto industry is not just surviving.  It is thriving.    (APPLAUSE)    Where Mitt Romney was willing to turn his back on Akron, Dayton, and Toledo, Ohio, the president said, ``I've got your back''.  That was the change we believe in.  That was the change we fought for.  That was the change President Obama delivered.    In those first few months, the president worked to put accountability in our children's schools with ``Race to the Top'' so that every child has an education that measures up to their full potential.  He was willing to demand change and embrace reform.  The president never changed his views to suit the moment with the audience pinned and that is also a measure of leadership.    (APPLAUSE)    Every challenge is different.  Every choice was difficult. But every time the leadership was steady.    Now, the one thing I know with absolute certainty, having served two great presidents, is that coming the next four years, and unforeseen crisis, challenge or conflicts will show up and sees this country.  Whose leadership, whose judgment, whose values do you want in the White House when that lands like a thud on the oval office desk?  That's right.  A person who said in four words, ``let Detroit to go bankrupt'', or a president who had another four words, ``not on my watch''?    (APPLAUSE)    A person who believes in giving tax cuts to the more fortunate or a president who believes in making college more affordable for all Americans?    (APPLAUSE)    A person who wanted to keep the ``Don't ask, Don't tell'' or a president who believes that who you love should I keep you from serving in the country you love?    (APPLAUSE)    Believe me, having served two great presidents, when the fog of uncertainty that surrounds the crisis storms into the White House and all the advisers and chiefs of staff have only guesses and hedges to offer the president, it will be the president's leadership that determines how we as a nation meet the challenges that face the middle-class.  It is the president's values that face the future in which the middle class as hope.    The person who takes the oval office in the next four months will shape not just the next four years, but the next 40 years of this great nation.  In these next four years, we need proven leadership, proven judgment and proven values.    America needs four more years of Barack Obama.    Thank you and God bless you!    (APPLAUSE)

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