The following are excerpts of Dean's remarks as prepared for delivery as provided by the DNC.

"I want to start today by thanking you for standing with me. Not just through the recent controversy over my CBN interview, but for standing with me as we have fought side by side for equal rights under the law for all Americans. That fight continues, and the Democrat Party is standing with you by leading the fight against discrimination, and by helping you meet your electoral objectives this fall..."

"We live in a time when this community and your families are the targets of mean spirited attacks by Republicans who put their own and their party's interests ahead of the national interest, when the President of the United States just this morning used his weekly radio address to endorse a Constitutional amendment that would introduce legalized discrimination in our Constitution. The Democrats will oppose that."

"We are with you, helping equip our state parties against the state ballot measures and standing up to the Federal Marriage Amendment that Bill Frist and President Bush are so eager to embrace. Just yesterday, we sent an email to our entire list of 3.5 million people asking them to sign a petition calling on President Bush and Senator Frist to stop scapegoating LGBT Americans."

"We live in a time when our President thinks it is OK to fire Arabic translators in the military who happen to be gay, even though the 9/11 Commission said we don't have enough translators to fight the war on terrorism."

"It is wrong to discriminate in housing. It is wrong to discriminate in health care. It's wrong to discriminate in hospital visitations. It's wrong to discriminate in hiring. It's wrong for our tax code to be discriminatory. And it is wrong for any group of Americans to live in fear of hate crimes. We believe that every taxpayer should have the same government services and benefits as any other American."

"And, we live in a time when Pittsburgh's own -- and I mean Virginia's own -- Rick Santorum, one of the most mean-spirited and corrupt Republicans in Washington -- and that is saying something -- can rise through the ranks of the Republican-controlled Senate into a position of leadership and power."

"Unlike Republicans, who try to claim the mantle of family values, Democrats value all families.

"I am proud to lead a Party that has led the fight for hate crimes legislation, and fought for laws banning any discrimination based on race, ethnicity, and on sexual orientation... And I am proud to lead a party that understands that using marriage as a wedge issue and scapegoating groups of Americans to win elections is morally wrong."

"Instead of working to provide equal rights for all and instead of engaging in that essential process in a constructive manner, Republicans like Karl Rove and Bill Frist are trying to short-circuit this process by legislating discrimination into the Constitution, converting it from a document that guarantees basic rights to one that denies them. And they are doing it all to deflect attention away from their failed leadership..."

"This is morally wrong. It hurts LGBT Americans, and it hurts our country..."

"Five months from this Wednesday, Americans head to the polls with one question in mind: do we want more of the same Bush and Republican policies? Or do we want change? Here's what we offer in the Democratic Party: We offer honest leadership and open government. We offer real security and a strong defense... We offer American jobs that stay in America and a health care system that works for everyone... We offer an energy independence industry in America that creates jobs and reduces our dependence on foreign oil. And we offer retirement security forge real pension reform..."

"A few Saturdays ago, Democrats across America knocked on more than one million doors with the same message in Alabama and Pittsburgh and Maine. Local Stonewall chapters were right there with us and I thank you for that..."

"We have a fundamentally American belief that everyone who works hard and plays by the rules should be able to live with dignity and respect, with equal protection under that law. No matter their race, religion or sexual orientation..."

Posted by David at June 4, 2006 10:08 PM