    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
    [June 19, 1991]
    [Pages 696-698]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Presentation Ceremony for the Presidential Scholars
    Awards
    June 19, 1991

        Welcome. Good to see all of you. Welcome. Well, please be seated.
    It's a delight to have you all here at the White House. May I salute the
    Chairman, my old friend John Engler, who also doubles as the Governor
    from Michigan, an awesome assignment, but has found time like all of our
    committee to give to this worthwhile program. And I'm very grateful to
    you, John. And then, of course, on my right here, Secretary Lamar
    Alexander, our new Secretary of Education, a former Governor who's
    really bringing a new drive and a new focus on our program, America
    2000, which I think has a real shot now at revolutionizing education in
    this country. And we need it. We need to start from scratch and take a
    new look. So, I salute both of them.
        I particularly want to thank the members of the Commission and the
    corporate sponsors, and all of you, thank you for coming. Welcome to the
    White House and to an event that bestows the highest scholastic honor
    that a President can bestow.
        First, I want to say that there's absolutely no rule here that says
    that the person giving the speech has to be as smart as the students
    receiving the scholarships. [Laughter] Thank heavens. [Laughter]
        Which reminds me of what George Burns once said: ``Smartness runs in
    my family. When I went to school I was so smart my teacher was in my
    class for 5 years.'' [Laughter] Well, even at 95--and he was here the
    other day--George Burns would salute this program, the Presidential
    scholarship program, now 27 years old. And today, I would like to
    discuss briefly how education can and must help prepare America's
    children to serve the Nation and the world.
        Let me begin by asking you to look at yourselves and say, what do
    you see? You see some of our best and brightest young people. You see
    living educational success stories. You see our hope for an exciting and
    rich future.
        You come from every sort of background, every race and creed. You
    live in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and in
    other lands. But as Americans, you revere learning, achievement, and the
    hope that both create.
        California's Marisa DeSalles realizes all of

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    that. And she expects to be the first woman in her--where is she? Now,
    we've got to salute some of these folks, if I'm going to be talking
    about you. Okay. She expects to be the first woman in her family to earn
    an undergraduate degree.
        And so does Jonathan Sievers. No, no? Okay, the guy didn't make it.
    Well, I'll talk about him anyway. There he is. Good. Good. He was born
    in Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands, and he is the third sibling in his
    family commended as a Presidential scholar. And that is really
    remarkable. And he knows who to thank. He thanks his parents--and let me
    just say how he phrased it--for ``making me practice and for leaving the
    fish alone.'' [Laughter] You have to be from Kwajalein, like I was once,
    to understand this inside joke. [Laughter]
        Then there's another, Kai Ng of Illinois. Kai, where are you? Right
    there. Coming here from Hong Kong in 1974, she learned English from her
    sister and ``Sesame Street.'' She can tell you how you can do it. That's
    the same place I'm trying to learn how to run a computer. [Laughter]
        Now, education traditionally has served as the ladder that enables
    individual Americans to reach beyond the clouds. And every time someone
    succeeds in going further, higher, we all reap initiatives. And we all
    reap the benefits.
        Aimee Crago, a Presidential scholar from Louisiana--she's here with
    us. Aimee, now, we don't want to embarrass you, but stand up. And if you
    don't mind my quoting you, ``I think that in order to be the person one
    wants to be, one needs to have a knowledge of all the people one could
    be, and education provides this knowledge.''
        It's become something of a cliche to say that knowledge is power,
    but it really is. And knowledge, imagination, ambition--these form the
    pillars of our future. Education can help us keep our competitive edge
    and imaginative fires, here and abroad. It gives us the means to raise
    our standards, the standards of living, to improve the quality of our
    lives. It can lead us into a new golden age of information,
    understanding, and technology.
        America has no natural resource more precious than its intellectual
    resources. And that's why recently I announced this program I referred
    to earlier called America 2000. It's an education strategy. It is
    really--look at the details--it's a pioneering crusade to make and keep
    American education number one.
        For today's students, we must make existing schools not only better
    but more accountable. For tomorrow's students, the next generation, we
    must create a new generation of American schools. And for all of us--for
    the adults who think our school days are over--we've got to become a
    nation of students, recognizing that learning is a lifelong process.
    Finally, outside our schools, we must make our communities places where
    learning can occur.
        Our education strategy realizes that education can help us
    practically. For over 200 years, America's genius has created
    innovations like the wireless, the Model T, and integrated circuits. I'm
    reminded of the man who was asked what he would take if his house was on
    fire and he could only remove one thing. He answered, ``I would take the
    fire.'' American scholarship works. [Laughter]
        Yet education must also shape us morally, providing the grounding
    ideas and values crucial to democracy. I have said, and I really believe
    this, that in America the definition of a successful life must include
    serving others. But you cannot serve if you can't think. You cannot
    serve if you can't separate good from bad, true from false, practical
    from dreamy.
        Just as many have labored to share their knowledge with you--parents
    and teachers and administrators and friends--you must follow suit. Give
    of yourselves: as a tutor in a prison, at a local school, in a homeless
    center. You will share something far more profound than little scraps of
    information. You will share a way of looking at the world and, in the
    process, of looking at yourself.
        So, this may be hard to put in focus, but you are today's
    trailblazers and leaders. What you learn today and in years to come will
    help us make the 21st century the next American century. It won't be
    easy. I recall once, marvelous story of a professor who left Yale just
    before I got there. He was marking an examination paper shortly before
    Christmas--and for those of my gen-

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    eration, I'm talking about William Lyon Phelps, and the noted scholar
    that he was--came across a note. The note read: ``God only knows the
    answer to this question. Merry Christmas.'' The guy handed his paper in
    like that. Phelps returned the paper with an annotation: ``God gets an
    A. You get an F. Happy New Year.'' [Laughter] True story.
        I guess what I'm saying is, you can't bluff your way through the
    future. And you have to face it squarely and take it on. And you will
    encounter obstacles, but you will overcome them. And you will conquer
    through resilience, through scholarship and, above all, the example of
    your lives.
        And as you do, think of those in this program again who deserve our
    thanks. Our Governor here, Governor John Engler, who is Chairman of this
    White House Commission. Think of the Commission sponsors who enable you
    to do this. And let me salute the Commission members who choose 141
    honorees from among all of America's high school seniors.
        But also remember the teachers who inspired you, the friends or
    adults who counseled you, supported you, gave you the confidence to
    achieve great things. Kathryn Cunningham, a scholar from Vermont, has
    said, ``I thank my parents for their advice that achievements mean
    nothing if they don't help anyone else.'' All your parents ought to be
    proud. While this is your day, I kind of think it's also theirs.
        And to every Presidential scholar, my heartfelt congratulations. And
    in closing, a challenge: Let us not only move mankind into the future,
    let us better it, ennoble it. Make the best of the special blessings
    bestowed upon you. God bless you all and your wonderful families. And
    may God bless the United States of America. Thank you, and
    congratulations to all of you.

                        Note: The President spoke at 2:35 p.m. on the South
                            Lawn at the White House. In his remarks, he
                            referred to Gov. John Engler of Michigan,
                            Chairman of the Commission on Presidential
                            Scholars; Secretary of Education Lamar
                            Alexander; comedian George Burns; and
                            Presidential scholars Marisa DeSalles, Jonathan
                            Sievers, Kai Ng, Aimee Crago, and Kathryn
                            Cunningham.