Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by The Hon. Nikki Haley, Governor

COLUMBIA, SC – August 29, 2012 – I am the proud daughter of Indian immigrants who reminded my brothers,my sister and me every single day how blessed we were to live in thiscountry.

They loved the fact that only in America, we could be as successful aswe wanted to be and nothing would stand in our way. My parents started abusiness out of the living room of our home and, 30-plus years later,it was a multimillion dollar company.

But there wasn’t a single day that was easy and there wasn’t a singleday my Mom and Dad didn’t put everything they had into making thatbusiness a success.

So, President Obama, with all due respect, don’t tell me that my parents didn’t build their business.

Almost forty-five years after my parents first became Americans, I standbefore you and them tonight as the proud governor of the state of SouthCarolina.

We build things in the Palmetto State. We build planes. We build cars.

We have three of the four largest tire producers in the world and areabout to become the number one tire-producing state in the country.

And not too long ago, The Wall Street Journal said, Anyone stillthinking the U.S. has lost its manufacturing chops hasn’t been to SouthCarolina. We have so much potential and so much to be proud of.

But like so many states, we have our challenges, whether they beunemployment or education or poverty. And like so many of my fellowgovernors, I work day in and day out to try and improve the lives of thepeople of my state.

And, sadly, the hardest part of my job continues to be this federal government, this administration, this president.

As I said, my parents loved that when they came to America, if youworked hard, the only things that could stop you were the limits youplaced on yourself. Unfortunately, these past few years, you can workhard, try to be as successful as possible, follow the rules, andPresident Barack Obama will do everything he can to stand in your way.

South Carolina recently passed one of the most innovative illegalimmigration laws in the country. What did this president – who hasfailed to secure our borders and address this issue in any meaningfulway – do? He sued us.

If this President refuses to secure our borders, refuses to protect ourcitizens from the dangers of illegal immigration, then states have anobligation to take it on ourselves.

We said in South Carolina that if you have to show a picture ID to buySudafed and you have to show a picture ID to set foot on an airplane,then you should have to show a picture ID to protect one of the mostvaluable, most central, most sacred rights we are blessed with inAmerica – the right to vote.

And what happened? President Obama stopped us.

And now we come to the most unbelievable of them all. In 2009, SouthCarolina was blessed to welcome a great American company that chose tostay in our country to continue to do business. That company was Boeing.

Boeing started a new line for their 787 Dreamliner, creating 1,000 newjobs in South Carolina, giving our state a shot in the arm when we trulyneeded it. At the same time, they expanded their job numbers inWashington state by 2,000. Not a single person was hurt by theirdecision. Not one.

And what did President Obama and his National Labor Relations Board do?They sued this iconic American company. It was shameful. And not worthyof the promise of America.

But we did one of the things we do best in South Carolina – we got loud.We’re fighters in South Carolina, and as we fought we watched anamazing thing happen: you fought with us.

And guess what, we won.

A few months ago, I sat on the tarmac at the Boeing facility in NorthCharleston and watched as a brand new, mac daddy plane rolled onto therunway sporting a Made With Pride In South Carolina decal andsurrounded by 6,000 nonunion employees, cheering, smiling and so proudof what they had built.

We deserve a president who won’t sacrifice American jobs and Americanworkers to pacify the bullying union bosses he counts as politicalallies.

American businesses deserve a federal government that doesn’t stand in their way, not one that tries to chase them overseas.

Slighting American ingenuity and innovation, that’s what this presidenthas meant to South Carolina. That’s what this president has meant tothis governor.

And that’s why this governor will not stop fighting until we send himhome, back to Chicago, and send Mitt and Ann Romney to 1600 PennsylvaniaAvenue.

I have had the pleasure of knowing Mitt Romney for several years now. There’s so much to appreciate about him.

He fixes things. He’s results driven.

He’s taken broken companies and made them successful. He took a failingOlympics and made it a source of pride for our country. He went into aDemocratic state, cut taxes, brought in jobs and improved education.

Oh, and by the way, he actually balanced his budget.

This is a man at peace with who he is, with the challenges he faces, andwith what he intends to accomplish. This is a man who is not just acandidate looking to win an election, but a leader yearning to returnour nation to its greatest potential.

And this is a man who has a silver bullet, his greatest asset, by far, the next First Lady of the United States, Ann Romney.

Ann is the perfect combination of strength and grace. She does what somany women in America do – she balances, in an exceptional way.

She raised five amazing boys, battled MS, is a breast cancer survivor,and through it all was a true partner to Mitt at every turn.

Ann Romney makes all women proud by the way she has conducted her lifeas a strong woman of faith, as a mother, as a wife and as a truepatriot. She is an amazing inspiration for me and for so many womenacross this country.

Not too long ago I travelled to Michigan to campaign for the Romneys.Towards the end of the day, two self-described independent voters cameup to me and said, We like all that we hear about Governor Romney, andalthough we don’t know everything about him, what we do know, without adoubt, is that we deserve better than what we have today.

They are so right. We deserve a president who will turn our economy around.

We deserve a president who will balance our budget.

We deserve a president who will reform and protect our retirement programs for future generations.

We deserve a president who will fight for American companies, notagainst them. We deserve a president who will strengthen and support ourmilitary, not destabilize them.

America deserves better than what we have today.  We deserve a President Mitt Romney.

Thank you, God bless you, and may He continue to bless the United States of America.