Too many of our children cannot read. Reading is the building block, and it must be the foundation for education reform.

The enemies of liberty and our country should make no mistake: America remains engaged in the world by history and by choice, shaping a balance of power that favors freedom. We will defend our allies and our interests. We will show purpose without arrogance. We will meet aggression and bad faith with resolve and strength. And to all nations, we will speak for the values that gave our nation birth... an angel still rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm.

So many people commute in this country by car long enough distances to really cut into their income, their real income, that they would change their vote based on gas prices.

When it comes to the common rights and needs of men and women, there is no clash of civilizations. The requirements of freedom apply fully to Africa and Latin America and the entire Islamic world. The peoples of the Islamic nations want and deserve the same freedoms and opportunities as people in every nation. And their governments should listen to their hopes.

There are cameras nowadays that have been developed to tell the difference between a squirrel and a bomb.

I will never relent in defending America - whatever it takes.

America is the land of the second chance - and when the gates of the prison open, the path ahead should lead to a better life.