Following are remarks by Barbra Streisand concerning the upcoming presidential election which she made during her performance at the An Evening With John Kerry And Friends fundraising concert at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Thursday evening, June 24, 2004:

WHEN I FIRST SANG THAT SONG IN 1963, ANOTHER BRILLIANT MASSACHUSETTS SENATOR WITH THE INITIALS JFK WAS PRESIDENT. IT WAS A TURBULENT, UNCERTAIN TIME. KENNEDY CORRECTLY VIEWED THE WORLD AS A COMPLICATED PLACE WHICH NEEDED VERY INTELLIGENT PEOPLE WHO COULD TACKLE DIFFICULT PROBLEMS AND FIND REASONABLE SOLUTIONS, WHICH HE DID!

NOW WE’RE AT A FORK IN THE ROAD, AND THIS IS A DEFINING MOMENT IN OUR COUNTRY’S HISTORY. THERE ARE TWO PATHS. THEY ARE NOT DEFINED BY RIGHT OR LEFT, BUT BY RIGHT OR WRONG.

THE WRONG PATH IS A NARROW ONE.. NOT THE WAY OF IDEAS, BUT OF IDEOLOGIES, WITH MINDS THAT ARE CLOSED TO ANYTHING THAT DOESN’T FIT WITHIN THEIR NARROW BELIEF SYSTEM, A PATH PAVED WITH DECEPTION AND SECRECY. THIS IS THE WAY TAKEN BY THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.

THE OTHER PATH IS WIDER, MORE OPEN. IT ALLOWS FOR INTELLECTUAL CURIOSITY, DISCOURSE, DISSENT AND DEBATE. ALL ESSENTIAL TO DEMOCRACY. THIS IS THE PATH CHOSEN BY JOHN KERRY.

GEORGE BUSH AND JOHN KERRY WERE BOTH CHILDREN OF PRIVILEGE – WITH THE SAME OPPORTUNITIES, FACING THE SAME CHOICES. BUT THEY MADE VERY DIFFERENT ONES. BUSH NEVER STRAYED FROM THE NARROW PATH. WHEN CHALLENGED, HE’S NEVER BEEN HELD ACCOUNTABLE. WORSE, HE’S NEVER HELD HIMSELF ACCOUNTABLE. HE’S VIEWED HIS PRIVILEGED UPBRINGING AS A WAY TO EASE HIS PATH IN LIFE. WITH THE WORLD AT HIS FEET, HE CHOSE NOT TO LOOK AT IT.

AND NOW, THE WORLD IS LOOKING TO US TO MAKE A CHANGE… TO MAKE A CHOICE.

JOHN KERRY MADE A CHOICE WHEN HE CHOSE TO FIGHT IN A WAR AND THEN SPEAK ABOUT THE ATROCITIES OF THAT WAR. NOT ONLY DID HE FIGHT FOR HIS COUNTRY ON THE BATTLEFIELD, BUT IN THE HALLS OF CONGRESS – WHEN AS A VETERAN, HE CHOSE TO TESTIFY ABOUT THE WAR HE DIDN’T AGREE WITH. THEN, RATHER THAN GOING BACK TO HIS PRIVILEGED WORLD, HE CHOSE TO PICK UP ARMS IN A DIFFERENT WAY: AS A LAW MAKER ENFORCING THE IDEALS OF THE COUNTRY THAT HE FOUGHT FOR. THAT’S HOW ONE’S CHARACTER IS DEFINED.

NOW THE SENATOR IS FACING THE MOST DIFFICULT, HISTORIC ELECTION OF OUR TIME… AN ELECTION IN WHICH THE CHARACTER OF OUR COUNTRY IS AT STAKE.

JOHN KERRY HAS THE STRENGTH, THE INTELLECT AND THE INTEGRITY TO SET THIS COUNTRY ON THE RIGHT COURSE FROM WHICH IT HAS SADLY STRAYED.

MANY PEOPLE PRAISE GEORGE BUSH’S “ORDINARY MAN” QUALITY – SOMEONE YOU’D LIKE TO HAVE A BEER WITH AT THE NEIGHBORHOOD BAR. BUT, IN CHOOSING A LEADER, WE WANT AN EXTRAORDINARY MAN. A MAN LIKE JOHN KERRY.

I HAVE FAITH IN THE AMERICAN PEOPLE – FAITH THAT COME NOVEMBER 2ND, STANDING AT THIS FORK IN THE ROAD THEY WILL CHOOSE THE RIGHT PATH TO THE PRESIDENCY…THE PRESIDENCY OF ANOTHER JFK… JOHN FORBES KERRY.