Yes we must do the impossible

When John F. Kennedy said we would put a man on the moon in 10 years, everyone said it was impossible. We did it in 8½ years.

When Jonas Salk set out to eliminate polio, everyone said it was impossible. Polio is now a distant memory.

The work to find a cure for cancer has been going on for 30 years. Many times during the early work it was viewed as an impossible problem. Now every year cures for additional cancers are announced, the most recent being the immunization for HPV.

230 years ago a group of men proposed creating a country governed as a Democracy. A system that had not been successful for over 2,000 years and that had never been successful for an entire country (just individual cities). Everyone said it couldn’t work. However, here we are 230 years later living in the world’s longest established democracy.

When this country puts its mind and efforts and will to a job, it can accomplish things that are first considered impossible. Eliminating all use of foreign oil is not impossible. It is extremely difficult. It will take a large focused effort by this country. But if we make that effort, we will succeed.

And this is not an option. India and China are not going to slow their growth. The demand for energy is going to continue to increase dramatically. We must find alternatives to oil not just because it is a good thing to do, not just to stop the funding of terrorists through oil payments to the Middle East, not just to stop global warming, but because without alternatives we will face a serious energy crisis.

I know we can accomplish this if we set ourselves to do so. And this is why I want to go to Washington. This is what I will work to accomplish. And to those who say it can’t be done all I can say is don’t bet against what the men and women of this country can accomplish if we decide we must do so.

The environment is our legacy to our children

One of my children asked me the other day why the environment comes first with me. His comment was that there are 5 or 6 issues that are the largest issues facing us and while the environment is clearly one of them, why that one.

It was not an easy question for me to answer. I have been fighting for the environment from even before I was in the legislature and it has been what I have concentrated on these past 16 years in the house.

I have done so because I know it's so very important. But articulating the reasons – that took me a minute.

The environment is what we leave for our children. How we treat it, what we take from it, what we leave – that is our legacy to our children. All of these other problems – we will fix them one way or another and move beyond them. But when we destroy the environment, that destruction is then passed on to our children, and their children, and their children. That is what we are leaving them.

I think living in Hawaii makes this even more clear. We have been given such a beautiful land by those that came before us. And when we destroy the land in places, it creates such an ugly scar. But the problem, and the required solutions, are worldwide.

WHEN OUR NATION CONTINUES TO DEPEND ON FOREIGN OIL, WE SEND MONEY TO NATIONS THAT HARBOR TERRORISTS. WHEN OUR NATION CONTINUES TO DRILL FOR OIL AND RELY UPON FOSSIL FUEL FOR ENERGY NEEDS, WE DAMAGE THE ENVIRONMENT.

We have the solutions available to us: CLEAN, RENEWABLE ENERGY, TAPPING OUR NATION'S ABUNDANCE OF WIND, SOLAR, AND OCEAN RESOURCES. I BELIEVE IN AMERICAN INGENUITY. WE CAN CHANGE AMERICA'S ENERGY POLICY AND CREATE A CLEANER ENVIRONMENT AND A SAFER WORLD.

Our great great great grandchildren will not know of us other than a name occasionally mentioned. Iraq will be in the history books, healthcare will be resolved, and our educational system will be improved. All these things today will have no effect on them. But what we do to the environment, that they will be living with. This is our legacy.

My headquarters opening

Nine days ago when the Republican Committee selected me to run this race, I started from scratch. We didn’t have a sign, an office, a bumper sticker, a scheduled speaking engagement, a volunteer outside my own family, or a campaign account, much less a dime to put in it.

Now, nine days later, we have all those things and more. We have our headquarters. We have a calendar full of campaign appearances, including invitations to AARP, Rotary Club and more. The phone has been ringing off the hook with people wanting to help in any way they can. And in the few days our campaign account has been open, we’ve received an outpouring of donations, with pledges of tens of thousands more to come. We have hit the ground running, and we are going to keep ip the pace all the way to November 7.

I want to speak directly to the over one hundred thousand Ed Case voters out there. I know that to many of you Ed Case was a fresh voice of moderation, independence, and change from the status quo. Many of you are deeply disappointed at the result of the Democratic primary, and even more disappointed at the message that the Democratic machine sent, loud and clear, that it is not interested in moderation, or independence, or change.

I am here to tell you that your chance to change politics in Hawaii is not lost. My message and spirit is much closer to that of Representative Case than the incumbent’s is. That’s why so many Ed Case supporters have already offered support for my campaign. That’s why I am asking you not to give up hope for bipartisanship and moderation in Hawaii