[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book II)]
[July 20, 1996]
[Pages 1160-1162]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



The President's Radio Address
July 20, 1996

    Good morning. This week the tragedy involving TWA Flight 800 took 
the lives of 230 people. Hillary and I join all our Nation in sending 
their families and friends our deepest condolences and prayers. We are 
doing all we can to find the cause of this disaster, and we will find 
what caused it.
    Sixteen of the victims were young high school students from a small 
town in Pennsylvania, flying to Paris to see some of the world and work 
on their French. By setting off to expand their horizons and seeking 
newer knowledge, these students were trying to live up to their God-
given potential. Now, that's all we can ask of any of our children.
    So let us remember the dream these children shared, the dream of 
making the most of their own lives. As a nation, we should dedicate our-


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selves to encouraging all our young people to think that way and to 
making sure that they all have the opportunity to live up to their 
dreams. Our children have many different strengths and talents and 
abilities, but every child can achieve something, and together, in so 
doing, they can all secure a brighter future for America.
    That's the lesson we saw come to life so vividly yesterday in 
Atlanta at the opening of the centennial Olympic games. In the next 2 
weeks we'll see and celebrate the heroic efforts and achievements of 
young Americans who have worked a lifetime to reach their highest 
potential and make their dreams come true. Our athletes will push the 
limits of the human body and the human spirit. In doing that, they will 
inspire people of all ages, but I hope young people especially will 
learn from their example.
    For whether in sports or in everyday life, there's a lesson in what 
our Olympians have accomplished and in how they've done it. For these 
are people who were given an opportunity to succeed, but they also made 
the most of it. They took personal responsibility and did the hard work. 
For some, it's meant waking up before dawn to run or swim laps or to 
practice routines on the balance beam. For others, the going was even 
tougher.
    I'll never forget the day that Carla McGhee came to the White House 
to carry away the Olympic torch to continue its path to Atlanta. Carla 
was terribly injured in a car accident. It seemed to end her brilliant 
basketball career. But she came back against all the odds. And now she's 
playing for our Olympic women's basketball team. She did something no 
one else could do for her; she didn't give up.
    But we also know that every one of our Olympians, in addition to 
their personal achievements, are a part of a larger community. They are 
of many different races and creeds and cultures, but they're bound 
together in mutual respect and shared values. For even in individual 
sports, no one wins alone. Back there somewhere there's always a 
lifetime of support from family and friends, from coaches and fans, from 
teachers and role models. So whenever the ``Star-Spangled Banner'' is 
played and a gold medal is being hung around an athlete's neck, you can 
be sure that the triumph is shared by a larger community.
    We're all better off when we work together to help each other 
realize our dreams, to meet our challenges, and to protect our values. 
These games really remind us that for all of our differences and all of 
our American rugged individualism, we are still one American community. 
We cheer our athletes not because they're men or women, not because of 
the color of their skin, sometimes not even because we particularly 
understand every last aspect of the sport they're involved in. We keep 
cheering them because they're Americans.
    These Olympics are about what's right with America. And Atlanta's 
magnificent effort at hosting the Olympics is about what's right with 
America. There are some other things that I believe reflect what's right 
with America at the Olympics. For example, this year 197 nations have 
teams, and these teams include places that the United States has helped 
to move toward peace and freedom. And even in places where the work of 
peace and freedom is not yet finished, at least there's been enough 
progress for an Olympic team to emerge.
    Yesterday I met a young man from Croatia who thanked me for the work 
that we were doing to try to rebuild that war-torn region. And I 
couldn't help thinking about Secretary Ron Brown and the business 
leaders who literally gave their lives as Americans to bring peace to 
the Croatians. Bosnia now has a team coming back here, something that 
was unthinkable 4 years ago. Haiti has a team here--South Africa. I met 
one of the Irish athletes who thanked me for America's efforts on behalf 
of peace and asked me to do everything I could to bring the peace back. 
And I met a Palestinian who said to me, ``Mr. President, Palestinians 
are a very old people, but we never had an Olympic team before. Thank 
you and the United States for helping to bring peace in our area, and 
please keep working on it.''
    All these people in their own way reflect something that's good 
about America. In many other countries there are athletes who studied 
and competed and got a good education in the United States. We gave them 
an opportunity to make the most of their own lives, and now they're 
giving something back to their native lands. They, too, reflect what's 
right with America.
    And most important of all, there are the members of our Olympic 
team. We will cheer for them when they win, and we'll cry with them when 
they don't. But we'll always be proud of them. For they are living 
examples

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of what dreamers can do with peace and freedom, with opportunity and 
responsibility, with a commitment to a community coming together, not 
drifting apart. They will show America at its best on the world stage. 
And we are very, very proud of them. We wish them all the best.
    Thanks for listening.

 Note: The address was recorded at 4:14 p.m. on July 19 at the 
Governor's Mansion in Atlanta, GA, for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on July 
20.