    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book I)]
    [May 1, 1996]
    [Pages 673-674]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Honoring the United States Olympic Committee's
    Champions in Life
    May 1, 1996

        Thank you very much. Let me say that whoever organized this program
    so that I could follow Buddy Lee--[laughter]--should take up another
    line of work. [Laughter] Wasn't he wonderful? Let's give him another
    hand. [Applause]
        And thank you, Bonnie Blair, for your story and your example. Thank
    you, Ralph Neal, for letting us come here to Eastern. I thank the Senior
    High School Band, and I thank the wonderful Eastern High School Choir
    that sings for us every Christmas, I'm told. I thank the students from
    Elliot and Payne and the Head Start kids who are here; thank you. I want
    to thank Al Oerter and the representatives of the U.S. Olympic Committee
    and all the Champions in Life who are here.
        I am so honored to be here with you today. And I hope that all of
    you have enjoyed this just as much as I have and has gotten just as much
    as I have out of it.
        You know, I'm very proud that the United States is going to be
    hosting the Olympics again and that this is the 100th anniversary of the
    modern games. I'm proud that there will be people from 197 different
    nations coming here. And when I see these folks behind me, the Olympians
    and the Paralympians, I know that they will see America at its best.
        They'll see our diversity and our unity. They'll see that we have
    differences that don't divide us. They'll see that we understand
    individual excellence and teamwork. They'll see, as Buddy Lee said, that
    no champion wins alone, not in athletics and not in life. There's always
    a parent who cares or a teacher who listens or a coach who believes or a
    friend who encourages or a church and community that supports.
        And behind them, there must be an America--an America where every
    child, without regard to race or gender or however they start out in
    life, has a chance to make the most of his or her own life through a
    decent education and safe streets and a clean environment and a brighter
    future.
        We know that it takes extraordinary individual effort to achieve.
    The Vice President talked about Jeff Blatnick's heroism in the face of
    his cancer. We know that there are incredible stories of heroism here on
    this stage and throughout the Olympic teams: people like Deanna Sodoma,
    a cyclist until she was paralyzed, and now she will race in a wheelchair
    in the

    [[Page 674]]

    Paralympics, still an Olympic champion; people like Bill Demby, who lost
    both his legs serving our country in Vietnam, and is now a member of our
    Paralympics volleyball team.
        All these athletes, each in their own way, and in some special way
    the members of the Paralympics team, remind us that we all have a lot of
    important muscles in our body, but the most important muscle we ever use
    on the field of competition as well as in life is the heart. Having
    heart means doing the very best we can with our God-given capacity,
    whatever that is, just like Bonnie Blair said.
        If you young people have heart, you will remember the pledge that
    Buddy Lee got you to make: You'll stay in school; you'll stay drug-free;
    you'll stay away from gangs and violence; and you'll get into developing
    your minds and your bodies. If you have heart, you know you can be a
    better student, a better athlete, a better musician, and you can be a
    good son or daughter, a good brother or sister, a good friend. If you
    have heart, you know that you have to respect yourself and others, and
    you have to show the responsibility that every human being can that
    makes you a champion.
        A lot of heart has gone into putting the Olympics together. In the
    final weeks, it's all coming together. There are a lot of people being
    recognized in the Olympics for what they do every day, not as athletic
    champions but because they are champion human beings.
        Today, this day, in Boulder City, Nevada, a woman named Irene Wisner
    is carrying the Olympic torch on its way to Opening Day in Atlanta, July
    19th. Most of you have probably never heard of Irene Wisner. She won't
    be in the Olympics; she is 74 years old. The children in Washington, DC,
    don't know her, but there are 100 children who know her very well
    because they were abused children, abandoned children and no one would
    take care of them, but this one 74-year-old woman took 100 of these
    children into her love and life to give them a better chance. And for
    that service, she was one of many Americans selected to carry the
    Olympic torch.
        There are people like that all around. Just this morning before I
    came out here, I was with one of your fellow students in Washington,
    Alicia Brown, a young woman who made a television spot with me about
    violence because she had lost friends of hers, and she was speaking out
    not only personally but to all the people of this country against
    violence against our young people. I thank her for that, and I hope all
    of you will do that in your individual lives.
        I hope you young people will watch this torch as it travels through
    42 States and 15,000 miles. It will follow the work of countless
    volunteers who are trying to make this country better. They've cleaned
    roads, painted houses, even shuttled neighbors to places where they can
    see the torch passed. I want you all to cheer on our torchbearers and
    follow their example by holding high the torch of good citizenship in
    your own lives.
        And that's what I want to say, finally, about these Champions of
    Life behind me. Yes, they all have succeeded in athletics. Yes, many of
    them have succeeded against extraordinary odds, and every one of them
    has achieved something extraordinary against the odds. But what they are
    doing now is in some ways more important because they are trying to set
    an example for the next generation of champions. We should be grateful
    to them. And I'd like to ask you to recognize all of them with a warm
    round of applause. [Applause]
        The America these champions represent is a place where individual
    dreams must be realized through our common efforts, a place where all
    Americans who are willing to work hard can succeed, a place where we
    have different points of view and different heritages, but a place
    where, like the champions here today, we come together as a team,
    wearing the colors of liberty and freedom, respecting our honest
    differences and working together to help each of us clear life's highest
    hurdles together. One America, good for all, where we all work for the
    common good--this is the America we want the world to see in Atlanta,
    and this is the America that we want you young people to grow up in.
        Good luck. God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:01 p.m. in the stadium at Eastern High
    School. In his remarks, he referred to Buddy Lee, U.S. Olympic Greco-
    Roman wrestling team member; Olympic Gold Medalists Bonnie Blair, Al
    Oerter, and Jeff Blatnick; and Ralph Neal, principal, Eastern High
    School.