[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)]
[September 17, 1992]
[Pages 1587-1588]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at Olympic Flag Jam '92 in Atlanta, Georgia
September 17, 1992

    Thank you all very much. Bill Hybl, thank you for that introduction; 
and to Lieutenant Governor Pierre Howard and Ambassador Andy Young and 
Robert Holder, IOC member Anita DeFrantz; entertainers, special 
entertainers, Dick Clark and Whitney Houston, Gladys Knight; and of 
course, Billy Payne, a Bulldog on the field, a bulldog for these 
Olympics. Sir, I salute you for what you've done for Atlanta and all 
America.
    You know, it's been said that if the South begins anywhere, it 
begins in Atlanta. Let me speak for millions of Americans: If the 1996 
Olympics begin anywhere, they begin in Atlanta tonight. Look at this 
wonderful new dome--what a metaphor for this region's can-do spirit--and 
this setting, thousands of Georgians, all members of the family called 
America. Look at this Olympic flag, a symbol of the kind of world we 
want where differences are solved peacefully, not violently. What a 
great night to be back in the heart of the South.
    A little while ago Whitney Houston sang about a ``precious moment in 
time.'' And already you should be proud of some precious memories, for 
once again, the South has made the impossible possible. Skeptics said 
that no American city could impress the Olympic committee so soon after 
Los Angeles, but you did. Their trust means Atlanta will host the 100th 
anniversary of the Olympic games. Skeptics said you'd never win the 
games on your first attempt, no city ever had, but you did. In 1996 
you'll host a record number of countries, the largest peacetime event of 
the 20th century.
    The games are coming just as Americans are coming together. The 
capital of Georgia

[[Page 1588]]

is about to become the sports capital of the entire world. As it does, 
let's remember past Olympics, for this event is like a tapestry, 
seamless, indivisible. And for me, tonight is like Yogi Berra says, 
``Deja vu all over again.''
    Last month I got to meet the 1992 summer Olympic team at the White 
House. And the team competed hard, as America always has, competed to 
win and did, as America always does. Think of it, in Barcelona we won 
108 medals, the most ever since 1904 in a nonboycotted Olympics.
    The games showed how the Olympics have changed the world, changed 
the world for the better, athletically as well as economically. They 
occurred without boycotts, without terrorism, without politics, and that 
is as it should be.
    Carl Sandburg once wrote, ``The Republic is a dream. Nothing happens 
unless first a dream.'' With us tonight are the people who this year 
made dreams a reality. They showed how the Olympics are not just poetry 
in motion but history in action; athletes, heroes who made us proud to 
be Americans and made America proud.
    Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, and I am proud to present, the 
United States Olympic athletes.

                    Note: The President spoke at 8:07 p.m. in the 
                        Georgia Dome. In his remarks, he referred to 
                        William J. Hybl, president, U.S. Olympic 
                        Committee; and Robert Holder and Billy Payne, 
                        cochairman and chairman, Atlanta Committee for 
                        Olympic Games.