Free Republic

ARLINGTON, Va., July 9 /Standard Newswire/ -- U.S. Senator John McCain will deliver the following remarks as prepared for delivery at a town hall meeting in Portsmouth, OH, today at 3:00 p.m. EDT: Before I take your questions, I want to begin by talking about the issue in this campaign that Americans worry the most about -- the American economy. All of us know what is happening to the economy. It is slowing. More than 400,000 people have lost their jobs since December, and the rate of new job creation has fallen sharply. Americans are worried about the security of...

In recent days I have set before the American people an energy plan, the Lexington Project named for the town where Americans asserted their independence once before. And let it begin today with this commitment: In a world of hostile and unstable suppliers of oil, this nation will achieve strategic independence by 2025. This pledge is addressed to all concerned -- to those abroad whose power flows from an accident of geology, and to you, my fellow Americans, whose strength proceeds from unity of purpose. Together, we will break the power of OPEC over the United States. And never again...