Addressing New Hampshire Republicans yesterday, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said there are four challenges facing the country: radical Islamist warriors, the threat of Asia as a technological superpower, America's dependence on foreign oil and preserving the sanctity of marriage.

"I know that a lot of people, when I go through a list like that, can get a little discouraged," said Romney to the audience at the New Hampshire Republican State Convention at Concord's Capitol Center for the Arts. "But don't. America always rises to the occasion."

Romney, who is mulling a run for president in 2008, voiced support for President Bush, saying there was no way Bush would allow radicals in the Middle East to unite the nations of Islam under a single, tyrannical government. Romney also said he supports the troops overseas, and he compared America with Iraq and Afghanistan.

"It is a very different nation and a very different world that we enjoy here," Romney said. "Where life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are not just words. They mean something very deep to us."

But he warned that America needs to keep its competitive edge. Asia, Romney said, has a multitude of "knowledge workers," and graduates far more students with math and science degrees. He called for the country to fix its "upside down" immigration laws, which mandate foreign students return to their home countries after earning degrees here but welcome illegal immigrants.

"It makes no sense to me that we put up a big concrete wall against those that have education and skills, but our door is wide open to those that have neither," Romney said.

Romney also said the country spends too much money on foreign oil and should instead use its resources to develop new sources of energy.

Lastly, he spoke of what he called the "softer" challenge faced by America, but which he said is perhaps the most important: defining the country's moral values. He said the high court in Massachusetts made a "monumental error" when it ruled in favor of gay marriage because in doing so, it only recognized the rights of adults.

"Marriage is not primarily about adults," Romney said. "Marriage is primarily about the development and nurturing of children. And every child deserves a mother and father."

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By MELANIE ASMAR

Monitor staff