    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
    [October 21, 1995]
    [Pages 1648-1650]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Dedication of the National Czech and Slovak Museum in
    Cedar Rapids, Iowa
    October 21, 1995

        Thank you very much. President Havel, President Kovac, Governor
    Branstad, Senator Harkin, Congressman Leach, Mayor Serbousek, Mr.
    Schaeffer, Mr. Hruska, Ambassador Albright. Ladies and gentlemen, if we
    have not demonstrated anything else about the Czech and the Slovak
    heritage of Iowa, we have certainly shown to these two Presidents that
    you are a hearty people. I thank the Czech Plus Band for playing today.
    I thought they did a marvelous job, and we thank them.
        I am proud to stand here with these two Presidents, each a pioneer
    and a patriot, each leading his nation through an epic transformation,
    each representing the promise of Europe's future, and their presence
    today reflects our growing partnership as well as the deep roots of
    their people in the soil of Iowa.
        I will never forget visiting Prague in January of 1994, the first
    time I had been there in 24 years, and walking across the magnificent
    Charles Bridge with President Havel. I remembered then all the young
    people I had met there a quarter century before and how desperately then
    they had longed for the freedom they now enjoy. In his devotion to
    democracy and through his courage and sacrifice, Vaclav Havel helped

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    to make the dreams of those young people a reality, and the world is in
    his debt.
        President Kovac stands with us as a leader of a newly independent
    nation with a proud heritage and a hopeful future. Mr. President, we
    know your job has been and continues to be difficult. And the United
    States supports your personal strong commitment to openness and reform
    as Slovakia takes its place within the family of democratic nations. And
    we thank you for your leadership.
        Here in America's heartland, the heart of Europe beats loud and
    clear. Czech immigrants first came to Cedar Rapids in the middle of the
    19th century. Soon, a little Bohemia had blossomed in the city where
    Czech culture flourished in journalism, music, and drama.
        Today that proud heritage is as vibrant as ever. One in five
    residents of Cedar Rapids is of Czech descent, including your mayor.
    There are eight major Czech-American organizations in this city, and
    through the Czech school, American children learn the language and
    traditions of their ancestors an ocean away. Just a few steps from here,
    the shops of Czech Village are filled with authentic crafts and home
    cooking. I think it's fitting that in this celebration of American
    diversity, we have a city which produces both Quaker Oats and kolaches.
    [Laughter]
        In Iowa and beyond, Americans of Czech and Slovak descent have added
    richness and texture to our American quilt. The values they, like so
    many other immigrants, brought from their homelands--love of family,
    devotion to community, taking responsibility, and working hard--these
    values flourished in America and helped America to flourish.
        In the mid-19th century, thousands of Czech settlers farmed
    America's new frontiers, an experience immortalized in Willa Cather's
    novel ``My Antonia.'' Slovak immigrants brought their skill and strength
    to the urban Northeast and the Midwest, where they helped to build heavy
    industry and oil and steel and coal.
        The children and grandchildren of these early pioneers, as well as
    more recent arrivals, have been generous with their gifts to America:
    Filmmakers like Milos Forman have challenged our imagination; students
    of the humanities have been enlightened by Jaroslav Pelikan; and
    stargazers stand in awe of Captain Eugene Cernan, the last human being
    to leave his footprints on the Moon. From city hall to Capitol Hill,
    individuals like Congressman Peter Visclosky of Indiana, former
    Congressman Charles Vanick of Ohio, and former Senator Roman Hruska of
    Nebraska have served our country with distinction. Our dynamic
    Ambassador to the United Nations, Madeleine Albright, who is here with
    me today, was born in Prague. And as I have told President Havel several
    times, the Czech Republic is the only nation in the world that has two
    Ambassadors at the United Nations. [Laughter]
        The National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library we are privileged
    to dedicate here today is a wonderful tribute to two cultures and two
    peoples and to the contributions Czech and Slovak immigrants and their
    descendants have made and continue to make to our great Nation. In
    keeping with tradition, a dozen eggs have been added to the mortar of
    the cornerstone, guaranteeing that the museum will serve the public as
    long and proudly as the Charles Bridge in Prague. To all who have played
    a part in creating this great place, congratulations on your marvelous
    achievement.
        My fellow Americans, I ask you to take just one more minute to
    reflect on what our history and this moment mean for us today and in our
    tomorrows. We celebrate a special corner of our rich and varied mosaic
    of race and ethnicity and culture and tradition that is America. We are
    many different peoples who all cherish faith and family, work and
    community and country. We strive to live lives that are free and honest
    and responsible. We know we have to build our foundation, even in all of
    our differences, on unity, not division; on peace, not hatred; and on a
    common vision for a better tomorrow. We know that our motto, E Pluribus
    Unum, is more than a motto, it's a national commitment.
        As we deal with all the remarkable changes that are moving us from
    the cold war to the global village, from the industrial to the
    information and technology age, we have to remember that we cannot keep
    the American dream alive here at home unless we continue to make common
    cause with people like President Havel and President Kovac, unless we
    continue to stand for freedom and democracy and peace around the world.
        The United States has made a real contribution to the march of
    freedom, democracy, and peace, in accelerating the dismantling of our
    nuclear weapons so that now, for the first time since the dawn of the
    nuclear age, there's not

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    a single nuclear missile pointed at a single American citizen.
        We are working with people all around the world to combat the
    dangers of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of destruction. We
    have tried to be a force for peace and freedom from the Middle East to
    Northern Ireland to Haiti and, most recently, in Bosnia, where we are
    hoping and praying that the peace talks will succeed and that the cease-
    fire will turn into a genuine peace agreement. All of that, of course,
    especially affects the efforts of these two Presidents to secure their
    own people and their future.
        The Czech Republic, Slovakia, other nations in Central Europe, they
    are working hard to build the democracy and foster the prosperity that
    we sometimes take for granted. They've made an awful lot of progress in
    the face of real challenges, and we have to continue to stand by them by
    opening the door to new NATO members, by supporting their integration
    into the other institutions of Europe, by improving access to our own
    markets and enabling them to move from aid to trade. The Czech and the
    Slovak people who came to the United States helped us to build our
    country. It's time for us to return the favor.
        More and more Americans are investing in becoming economic partners.
    There was $300 million worth of economic transactions with the Czech
    Republic and about $100 million with Slovakia last year, with much more
    in the pipeline. And I have to say, a lot of that was due to the
    extraordinary personal efforts of one distinguished citizen of Iowa, the
    head of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, Ruth Harkin, who is
    here with us today. And I thank her for her efforts.
        Making these countries economically strong and helping them to be
    free and to stay free is the best way to ensure that American soldiers
    never again have to shed their blood on Europe's soil. It's also good
    business for us, as you well know. Cedar Rapids is the largest exporting
    city per capita in the entire United States. Foreign trade creates jobs
    here.
        But we have to do this because it's also the right thing to do. For
    45 years we challenged the people of these nations to cast off the yoke
    of communism. They have done it, and we dare not abandon them now. We
    have an obligation to work together so that all our people can enjoy the
    rewards of freedom and prosperity in the 21st century.
        I believe the citizens of Cedar Rapids understand that. Those of you
    of Central European descent have to know it and feel it in your bones.
    But all of us as Americans should feel it in our hearts, for we believe
    the American dream is not for Americans only. It is for every hard-
    working man and woman who seeks to build a brighter future, every boy or
    girl who studies hard and wants to learn and live up to their dreams,
    every community trying to clean its streets of crime and pollution and
    build a better future for all the people who live there, every nation
    committed to peace and progress. That dream belongs to every citizen of
    the world who shares our values and will work to support them.
        President Havel, President Kovac, my fellow Americans, as we
    celebrate the opening of this marvelous museum, a monument to those who
    had faith in the American dream and who struggled to make it come true
    for themselves and their children, let us resolve to work together for
    hope and opportunity for all who are reaching for their dreams.
        Thank you, and God bless you all.

    Note: The President spoke at approximately 11:30 a.m. In his remarks, he
    referred to President Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic; President
    Michal Kovac of the Slovak Republic; Governor Terry E. Branstad of Iowa;
    Mayor Larry Serbousek of Cedar Rapids, IA; and Robert Schaeffer,
    president, and Roman Hruska, chairman of the board, National Czech and
    Slovak Museum.