[The hearings also came in the wake of the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina, with significant numbers of the National Guard of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama deployed in Iraq.] It is time we looked after our own backyard, ... We cannot do this as long as we continue to make Iraq the fifty-first state.

Then I heard this young veteran on TV speaking about the war. It was John Kerry. He put everything I was feeling into words. Tonight, I'd like to let you know, that even before I met John Kerry, he was my brother. Even before I knew John Kerry, he was my friend. Even before I spoke with John Kerry, he gave me hope.

The Bible tells me that no greater love has a man than to lay down his life for his friends. John Kerry's fellow crewmates -- the men I am honored to share the stage with -- are living testimony to his leadership, his courage under fire, and his willingness to risk his life for his fellow Americans. There is no greater act of patriotism than that.

Within the soul of each Vietnam veteran there is probably something that says "Bad war, good soldier." Only now are Americans beginning to separate the war from the warrior.

We gave you the authority to go after those who came after us,

The Bush campaign is trying to define John Kerry now, but for my money, the defining moment was 35 years ago when both of these young men, graduating from Yale from favored families, had a defining moment in their lives, ... John choose to volunteer and serve his country and risk his life doing so. George Bush did not.