[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.