On St. Patrick's Day 2001, within weeks of taking office, President Bush stood before the American people, with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern at his side in the White House, and declared that peace in Northern Ireland was in America's "national interest." He then announced the appointment of his special ambassador for the Northern Ireland peace process, a position currently held by one of the State Department's top officials, Ambassador Mitchell Reiss.

The work of the Northern Ireland peace process has not been easy, but we have made real progress in four years. The second round of elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly was held, and mutual disarmament has resulted in the dismantling of dozens of British forts and watchtowers from Northern Ireland, and three acts of arms decommissioning by the Provisional IRA. Northern Ireland is at peace, and has not seen serious organized violence for over six years.

And while there remains much to be done, President Bush has never flip-flopped about doing the right thing. When the Cory Report found official collusion in the murder of Pat Finucane, President Bush's envoy called for an immediate and prompt public inquiry. When certain Orange Order parades threatened to provoke violence, President Bush's envoy denounced them. And when loyalists threatened Catholic neighborhoods and schoolchildren, President Bush put them on the terrorist organization watch list.

President Bush made an unprecedented two trips to Ireland during his first term, each time meeting with the political leaders of Northern Ireland. He has built a close personal relationship with the taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, which has helped both Ireland and America. On Ireland, President Bush is a defining figure -- he has made U.S. policy on Ireland a bipartisan effort, institutionalized the appointment of U.S. special envoys, and made engagement in the peace process the standard for an American president.

President Bush's commitment to Ireland would be significant in any context, but in the wake of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2201, it is even more telling. The murder of 3,000 Americans in changed everything. The death rolls from the World Trade Center read like an Irish massacre.

In the wake of these attacks, President Bush did not try to negotiate or reason with Al Qaeda or the Taliban; he moved to eliminate them. The success of our war on terror can be measured in the fact that in the three years since 9/11, not one single attack against the homeland of America has succeeded. We and our families are more secure today because President Bush moved decisively to crush terrorism, and to keep terrorists out of America.

In contrast to the strong leadership of President Bush, his opponent, Sen. John Kerry, has too often stood for weakness and appeasement of the enemies of the United States. Kerry can't defend his Senate record -- of supporting the Communist Sandinistas in Nicaragua, opposing the elected government of El Salvador, pushing for nuclear "freeze," opposing the UN-backed coalition to stop Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait, constantly attacking President Ronald Reagan, and generally undermining the struggle of the U.S. and free nations to win the Cold War.

Irish Americans are the backbone of this country. Our hard work and enterprise has built our roads, bridges, and our great commercial ventures. The guiding principles of President Bush's philosophy are that working Americans should keep the fruits of their labor, that taxes should be reduced, and that we should encourage people to own their own homes, businesses and investments.

That is why President Bush enacted the largest tax reduction in American history. Bush fought to let working Americans keep over $1.7 Trillion in our earnings, rather than be taxed by the government. President Bush's tax reduction is working to stimulate the economy, with job and productivity growth of 4.8 percent over the last year.

By contrast, John Kerry, rated the most liberal member of the Senate, promises to raise taxes on working Americans. That is one promise we can expect Kerry to keep. Kerry has voted 98 times to raise taxes, which would have hit working Americans with $2.3 trillion in crushing new taxes.

Our children are our future, and President Bush has made education the cornerstone of his presidency. The president's "No Child Left Behind" initiative has improved student testing, school accountability, introduced early child reading programs, given parents more school choice, and established new scholarships for math and science students. By contrast, Congressional Quarterly has rated Kerry's record on education as "thin."

We live in very dangerous times. Fortunately, we have in President Bush a man who has fought to defend us, while standing with working Americans to keep taxes down, create jobs, and to maintain our values and our childrens' future. Irish Americans should reelect President Bush.

(Grant M. Lally is an attorney and solicitor. He serves as executive director of the Irish American Republicans and is chairman of Irish for Bush/Cheney.)