    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
    [April 27, 1997]
    [Pages 503-505]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Presenting the President's Service Awards in Philadelphia
    April 27, 1997

        The President. Thank you. I like that version of ``Hail to the
    Chief.'' Maybe the Marine Band could pick it up. [Laughter]
        Ladies and gentlemen, these President's Service Awards are
    traditionally presented at the White House every year, but Hillary and I
    are profoundly honored to be here this evening with President and Mrs.
    Bush, General Powell, and all others who are part of this very important
    ceremony.
        As all of you know, we're here along with President Ford, President
    and Mrs. Carter, Mrs. Reagan, here in Philadelphia where our great
    democracy began, for the first Presidents' Summit for America's Future,
    to mobilize every community and challenge every citizen, to give our
    young people a chance to live up to their God-given potential, and to
    ask our young people to become citizen servants, too.
        So tonight we're going to give these awards, very appropriately, in
    the categories that have been set out for the challenge to America, the
    categories that General Powell talked about in his moving opening
    remarks. And I'm going to have the honor of recognizing the caring
    adults. I'm pleased to be joined tonight by a man who has dedicated his
    entire life to meeting the challenge of service, Harris Wofford.

    [At this point, Harris Wofford, Chief Executive Officer, Corporation for
    National and Community Service, made brief remarks.]

        The President. You know, you might have guessed that before he
    headed our Nation's citizens service effort and the corporation for
    national service, Harris Wofford was in politics--[laughter]--the
    Senator from Pennsylvania. But before that, he was a college president;
    before that, a founder of the Peace Corps; a top aide to President
    Kennedy; a friend and ally of Dr. Martin Luther King. Hardly any
    American living today better personifies citizen service than Harris
    Wofford, and I thank him for that.
        As I said, we begin by recognizing that every single child needs a
    caring adult in his or her life to teach and guide them. Every child
    needs to know that he or she is profoundly important to some grownup.
    The three Americans we honor now have devoted themselves to meeting this
    challenge.
        Marjorie Klein knows that parents are our children's first teachers,
    and she's doing everything she can to help them. At 20 inner-city
    schools throughout the Philadelphia area, PACT, or Parents And Children
    Together, the organization Marjorie founded, brings parents into the
    classroom to read to the children and to help their children learn to
    read. At the same time, parents can improve their own literacy and
    tutoring skills, and they can even earn college credit. We salute
    Marjorie Klein and PACT for their tremendous commitment to families and
    our children.

    [The President presented the award to Ms. Klein.]

        The President. Earl Phelan deeply believes that mentoring is the key
    to young people's success. Through B.E.L.L., or Building Enterprises for
    Learning and Living, the organization he helped to found, he has given
    hundreds of African-American young adults the chance to be role models
    and tutors to inner-city elementary school students throughout the
    greater Boston area. Under their tutelage, those children are thriving,
    their futures are brighter, and therefore so are ours. Tonight we honor
    Earl Phelan for his remarkable contribution to our American community.

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    [The President presented the award to Mr. Phelan.]

        The President. Pat Esparza learned early in life that confidence and
    pride can make all the difference to a young girl's future. A single
    mother of three by the age of 19, she worked her way through school and
    devoted herself to helping at-risk girls. She founded Las Mariposas as a
    dance studio, but for the people of El Paso, Texas, it is a community
    treasure. At Las Mariposas hundreds of young girls have learned to dance
    and to value themselves and their culture. We honor Pat for giving the
    young girls of her community the confidence and pride they need to
    succeed in life.
        Congratulations.

    [The President presented the award to Ms. Esparza.]

        All of them have helped to make sure that more of our young people
    do, in fact, have a caring adult to give them the support they need to
    build positive futures. Your work is an inspiration to all of us. I
    thank you for doing it, and I hope all of us will now be more willing to
    follow your lead. God bless you.

    [Former First Lady Barbara Bush, assisted by actor John Travolta,
    presented the second group of awards. Former President George Bush,
    assisted by actress Brooke Shields Agassi, presented the third group of
    awards. Hillary Clinton, assisted by movie director Rob Reiner,
    presented the fourth group of awards. Following the award presentations,
    singer Patti LaBelle performed.]

        The President. Thank you, Patti LaBelle, for giving us all a second
    wind. [Laughter] I want to apologize to all of you for having to spend
    so much time tonight watching me walk up and down stairs. But as you
    know, I need the practice. [Laughter]
        I want to say that this last award in some ways may be the most
    important, because we're recognizing young people who, themselves, are
    serving in an extraordinary way. And one of the elements of this summit
    is the proposition that every young person should serve, and that, in so
    doing, we hope to expand the definition of what it means to be a good
    citizen in this country so that when we ask young people in years to
    come, what does it really mean to be a good American, they'll say,
    ``Well, you have to be in school or work, you have to obey the law, and
    you have to serve.''
        I'm joined now on stage by a young public servant, Jahi Davis, an
    AmeriCorps volunteer from north Philadelphia. Like a lot of high school
    students, this young man paid more attention to his social life than to
    his future. Then he nearly lost his life in a serious accident. He says
    now he wouldn't have finished high school without the guidance of a
    tutor who helped him keep his grades up while he was in the hospital.
    When he recovered, he decided to do for others what had been done for
    him. He joined AmeriCorps in 1995, and since then, he has tutored
    children, started a mentoring program in his own neighborhood, and
    rehabilitated houses for low income families. He's planning to attend
    Temple University, where I know he'll continue to give back. Please
    welcome him up here with me. [Applause]
        When 21-year-old Na'Taki Osborne learned that Carver Hills, Georgia,
    a low income African-American community, was the most environmentally
    polluted area in Fulton County, she didn't just become concerned, she
    got involved. She got 200 community volunteers involved, too. And
    together they spent hundreds of hours cleaning up Carver Hills, making
    it a safer and more beautiful place for the entire community to enjoy.
        Thank you, Na'Taki Yatascha Osborne, for caring enough to change
    your community for the better.

    [The President presented the award to Ms. Osborne.]

        The President. Amber Lynn Coffman is only 15 years old, but she's
    been volunteering to help disadvantaged people since she was 8. Her
    mother taught her that even one person can make a real difference, and
    for most of her still-young life, she has tried to be that one person
    and to encourage her friends and schoolmates to do the same. Working
    together as a group called Happy Helpers, they make over 600 box lunches
    every week for the homeless and the hungry. Thank you, Amber Lynn, for
    your wonderful commitment to your community.

    [The President presented the award to Ms. Coffman.]

        Across America, more and more businesses believe that good
    citizenship is also good business. More and more, they're encouraging
    their

    [[Page 505]]

    employees to give something back. Target Stores is a perfect example.
    Through the Family Matters Program, started by Points of Light, Target
    Stores is the first national company to involve its employees and their
    families in community service.
        Last year, nearly 5,000 Target employees and their families
    volunteered. Working alongside their parents, young people learned
    firsthand about the importance and the joy of giving back. We thank
    Target stores for helping so many young children start early on a
    lifetime of service.
        With us tonight to represent Target is Julie Hennessy.

    [The President presented the award to Ms. Hennessy.]

        The President. As Oprah said earlier, the 16 award winners with us
    tonight represent volunteers all over our country who are committed to
    helping us all build a better and stronger future. In honoring their
    contributions, we celebrate the spirit of service that has sustained
    America in times of trouble and united us with common hopes and dreams.
        At the dawn of a new century, let us all resolve to join hands to do
    it more. Remember what this summit is all about. These people were doing
    all this before we gathered. Ninety-three million Americans already
    volunteer. What we're saying is that in every community in America, more
    people must do it in a systematic way, and everyone must do it if
    America is going to have the future it deserves and our children are
    going to all be like those whom we honor here tonight.
        Thank you, and God bless you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:10 p.m. in Exhibit Hall A of the
    Convention Center. In his remarks, he referred to Gen. Colin L. Powell,
    USA (ret.), former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff; former First Ladies
    Rosalynn Carter and Nancy Reagan; and television talk show host Oprah
    Winfrey.