    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book II)]
    [August 15, 1997]
    [Pages 1105-1108]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the National Archives and Records Administration Announcing
    the White House Millennium Program
    August 15, 1997

        Thank you very much. Governor Carlin, thank you for hosting us here
    in this wonderful place, in the shadow of our most important historical
    documents. I thank the British and Australian

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    Ambassadors for joining us, along with representatives of the Embassies
    of Brazil, France, Iceland, and Germany. I'm glad we have so many people
    from our Cabinet here today, Secretaries Shalala, Riley, Slater; General
    McCaffrey; Dr. Varmus from the NIH; Joe Duffey, Director of the USIA;
    Senator Harris Wofford, the head of our national service efforts; Dr.
    John Brademas; Robert Stanton; and others who are here.
        We have a number of citizens who've come from--some from quite a
    distance: the mayor of Beverly Hills, California, MeraLee Goldman is
    here; Mr. Pete Homer, the vice president of the National Indian Business
    Association; Mr. Leland Swenson, the president of the National Farmers
    Union, is here. And I want to make particular note of the Director of
    our initiative on race, Judy Winston, because that's going to be a very
    important part of what will happen as we prepare for the millennium.
        As the First Lady said, this gives us a remarkable opportunity to
    honor the past and to imagine the future, and to connect the two in our
    own minds and for our fellow Americans. The 20th century has been called
    the American Century. Through wars and depression and industrial
    revolution and now an information revolution, our American spirit of
    discovery, innovation, and faith in the future have carried us forward
    and inspired billions of people around the world.
        Now we have come to a milestone, nearing the end of an exhilarating
    decade that has seen the fall of communism and the rise of democracy
    around the world; the mapping of the mysteries of the human body and the
    exploration of the terrain of Mars; the creation of new American ideas
    and art. Now we have begun the most important exploration of all, I
    believe, rediscovering and reaffirming our common identity as a people
    in a very new and different time and coming together as one America.
        Still early in our journey, we find ourselves at the turn of our
    first millennium as a nation. For centuries, people have wondered what
    this millennium would bring--would it signal an apocalypse or herald a
    new world, mark a time of decline or a time of renewal. Whatever the
    prophecies and forecasts--and there will be more and more and more
    coming out over the next couple of years--whatever the hopes and fears,
    the millennium is no longer a distant possibility. It has arrived. We
    are present at the future, a moment we must now define for ourselves and
    for our children.
        As the year 2000 draws near, we must ask ourselves, what will it
    take to meet that challenge, to define that future, to prepare ourselves
    for a new century and a new millennium? What of our values and heritage
    will we carry with us? And what gifts shall we give to the future?
        All over the world, nations and communities are preparing to observe
    the millennium with a wide variety of efforts. The United Kingdom will
    build bridges, museums, new parks, and a new university. Germany will
    hold Expo 2000, the first world's fair to mark a millennium. Today I am
    pleased to accept Chancellor Kohl's invitation for the United States to
    participate in Expo 2000, joining 143 other organizations and nations.
    Australia will host the 2000 Summer Olympics. Iceland will celebrate the
    1000th anniversary of Leif Erikson's voyage to the New World.
        The White House Millennium Program will guide and direct America's
    celebration of the millennium by showcasing the achievements that define
    us as a nation, our culture, our scholarship, our scientific
    exploration. I appreciate the interest that the First Lady has shown in
    this endeavor, and I'm pleased she will play a leading role in our
    ongoing efforts. I also appreciate the work that she and her staff have
    done already to bring us to this point today. And I want to thank Ellen
    McCulloch-Lovell, formerly Director of the President's Committee on Arts
    and Humanities, for agreeing to direct the White House Millennium
    Program Office. Thank you, Ellen.
        Today I want to talk about what we are already doing to prepare
    ourselves for the 21st century and to make this new millennium our own.
    First and most important, we are making education our children's first
    priority. They will, after all, live out most of their lives in this new
    millennium and the new century. This month I signed historic legislation
    that balanced the budget but also includes the largest investment in
    education in a generation, from early childhood to college and beyond.
    In the coming months, I will continue to fight to finally establish high
    and measurable national standards of academic excellence.
        By the year 2000, we have set a goal of connecting every single
    classroom and library in the entire United States to the Internet. I
    thank the Congress for funding that endeavor and the

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    private sector for helping us, so far, to stay slightly ahead of
    schedule. We must redouble our efforts to make sure that every one of
    our fellow citizens has the tools to succeed in the new century.
        Second, we have to continue the path that has restored optimism and
    expansiveness to our economy but now to ensure that all Americans have a
    chance to benefit from it.
        Third, we have to ensure that our unique and vibrant cultural life
    flourishes in the new century and that our rich history is treasured and
    preserved. I am pleased that the National Endowment for the Humanities
    will sponsor a nationally televised series of ``Millennium Minutes''
    that spotlight 1,000 years of important people, events, and
    achievements. The National Endowment for the Arts leadership project for
    the millennium will tell America's stories through the arts and initiate
    projects such as new boys choirs modeled after the acclaimed Boys Choir
    of Harlem. The NEA will also send teams of photographers across the
    country to capture their vision of America at the turn of a new century.
    And the President's Committee on Arts and the Humanities will launch its
    worthy ancestors program, bringing together commercial, creative, and
    nonprofit sectors to save significant cultural materials from folk,
    popular, and classical traditions.
        Fourth, we must take steps to make sure that the documents of our
    democracy are safe for the ages, for the millions of Americans and new
    immigrants and foreign visitors who view them every year. Believe it or
    not, the documents--the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the
    Declaration of Independence--are seriously threatened by the wear of
    time and the elements, unless we act in the next 3 years to save them.
    That is why I am very pleased that the National Archives, under Governor
    Carlin's leadership, has a 3-year plan to ensure that they will also
    survive into the next millennium.
        The highest project for the millennium at the Smithsonian is to save
    our Star-Spangled Banner by 2001, the very flag that flew over Fort
    McHenry and inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem that became our
    national anthem.
        Fifth, we must continue to push the limits of science and technology
    and to continue to explore the universe. The July 4th landing of the
    Sojourner Mars probe transfixed the world. It is inspiring a new
    generation, and I hope very much that it has convinced a majority of
    Americans to continue to support our exploration of space. NASA will
    launch new robotic missions to Mars in 1998, 2001, and 2003.
        The National Science Foundation will be 50 years old in the year
    2000. To celebrate its anniversary and encourage young people to pursue
    careers in science, the Foundation will launch its National Science
    Foundation 2000 program, a national campaign on the importance of
    science, engineering, and mathematics.
        Now, as the millennium turns, as we have all seen from countless
    press reports, so do the dates on our computers. Experts are concerned
    that many of our information systems will not differentiate between
    dates in the 20th and the 21st century. I want to assure the American
    people that the Federal Government, in cooperation with State and local
    government and the private sector, is taking steps to prevent any
    interruption in Government services that rely on the proper functioning
    of Federal computer systems. We can't have the American people looking
    to a new century and a new millennium with their computers, the very
    symbol of modernity and the modern age, holding them back, and we're
    determined to see that it doesn't happen.
        Sixth, we must make sure that the land God has given us is preserved
    for generations to come. At the beginning of the 20th century, Theodore
    Roosevelt said, ``We are not building this country of ours for a day. It
    is to last through the ages.'' As we enter the new century, we have a
    moral obligation to continue that charge. We've already acted to protect
    some of our most treasured places, from Lake Tahoe to the Grand
    Staircase-Escalante National Monument to the Florida Everglades. And we
    are working to address the very real problem of climate change for the
    next century.
        Next we must do everything we can to revive the spirit of citizen
    service in the new century. Every American ought to have the chance to
    serve. And I am very pleased that AmeriCorps, our national service
    program, has set a goal of doubling the number of full-time AmeriCorps
    volunteers by 2000. I'm also pleased that the Peace Corps will build on
    its legacy of service by setting a goal of tripling the size of its
    global learning partnership, World Wise Schools, by the new millennium.
    This program connects

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    Peace Corps volunteers with teachers and students right here in America
    to promote international and intercultural understanding.
        And finally, we must continue to come together as one America. As
    Walt Whitman once said, ``We are a nation of nations.'' It is our
    diversity, alive in our democracy, that is the source of our creativity,
    our inventiveness, our ability to communicate all around the world. That
    is why last June I called upon all of our fellow Americans to begin a
    great national conversation on race and reconciliation to help to carry
    us into a new millennium.
        Now, these are just a few of the ways we are planning to celebrate
    the new millennium and make it our own. Ultimately, every American must
    decide what gifts he or she will give to the future, but each has a
    responsibility for our common destiny. So let me urge every citizen,
    every family, every community to think of ways to celebrate and
    commemorate the millennium, from rebuilding and rejuvenating your local
    schools to restoring historic monuments to recording oral histories of
    family members.
        Already, cities all across America are planning celebrations of
    their own. Over the next 3 years, the First Lady and I will work with
    Governors, mayors, community leaders, to make the millennium a truly
    national celebration of gifts to the future. I invite you to share your
    ideas with us by visiting our new White House Millennium Program website
    at www.whitehouse.gov. I decided that I have a future giving out 800
    numbers and websites. [Laughter] We only can hope to equal the number of
    hits that Governor Carlin has already said the Archives have.
        This is a serious thing. We want the best ideas we can to
    commemorate, to energize, and to drive the largest possible number of
    Americans to work together to make contributions to the future. And
    technology can help us do it. We want people of all ages and all walks
    of life to give us their ideas through the website. Over the next 3
    years the site will give us a chance also to tell the American people
    about what we're planning. We will award the best local projects with
    the honorary title ``Millennium Communities.'' And we'll post those
    stories on our websites for other communities to read about and learn
    from.
        Other nations are keenly interested in what we're doing to mark the
    millennium and today, therefore, the Voice of America is broadcasting
    this event around the world. The Voice of America is also launching its
    own project, a series of special broadcasts about how we are celebrating
    the millennium.
        We mark our own lives by milestones and anniversaries. We mark the
    timeline of our Nation with commemorations: the bicentennial of our
    independence, the 50th anniversary of D-Day, the 50th anniversary of the
    end of World War II in the Pacific, next month the 40th anniversary of
    the Supreme Court's historic order to integrate Little Rock Central High
    School. Each of our major turning points was an affirmation of our
    values, and as we recall them, we renew those values and gain new energy
    from them.
        With the millennium, we must now decide how to think about our
    commitment to the future. Thomas Paine said a long time ago, ``We have
    it in our power to begin the world over again.'' We have always believed
    that in this country, and we must now take it upon ourselves to take
    stock as we approach this new millennium to commit ourselves to begin
    the world over again for our children, our children's children, for
    people who will live in a new century. It is to the people of that new
    century that we must all offer our very best gifts. It is for them that
    we will celebrate the millennium.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:43 a.m. in the Rotunda. In his remarks,
    he referred to John Carlin, Archivist of the United States; Sir John
    Cerr, British Ambassador to the United States; Andrew Peacock,
    Australian Ambassador to the United States; John Brademas, Chair,
    President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities; and Robert
    Stanton, Director, National Park Service.