    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book II)]
    [September 26, 1994]
    [Page 1632]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 1632]]

    Remarks at a Reception for Heads of State and United Nations Delegations
    in New York City
    September 26, 1994

        Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary; and thank you, Ambassador
    Albright, and thank you for your outstanding leadership in the United
    Nations.
        Most of what I have to say I have already said to the United Nations
    today. And we did not ask you to come here to listen to speeches but
    simply to enjoy yourselves and to give us a chance to say thank you for
    your friendship to the United States and your cooperation with the
    United States.
        I'm very glad to be here in one of our Nation's truly outstanding
    institutions, this magnificent museum, and particularly in this place.
    When I walked in, the Foreign Minister of Egypt rolled his eyes at me
    because here we are. I do want to say that I am here out of respect for
    Egyptian culture, not because I am a candidate for pharaoh.
        I would just leave you with this one thought. We have an enormous
    opportunity today. Every day we get up and we read about all the
    problems we have in the world, and most of the discussions in the United
    Nations are focused on those problems. But the way that we talk about
    them is made possible because of the triumph of democracy, the triumph
    of freedom, the end of the cold war, the possibilities opened to us by
    the global spread of technology and enterprise and opportunity. And so I
    ask you all to maintain a very hopeful outlook. Even as we are careful
    and calculated about what we can do and we don't reach into those things
    we cannot, let us look to the future with real confidence.
        I feel very, very hopeful about the next 50 years for the United
    Nations, and especially about the next 10 years as we prepare the way
    for the 21st century, in which, as I said, I hope we will prove that
    freedom and democracy can not only endure but can actually triumph and
    change the lives of ordinary people all across the world.
        Thank you very much, and welcome.

    Note: The President spoke at 7:15 p.m. at the Metropolitan Museum of
    Art.