    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
    [April 29, 1998]
    [Pages 638-640]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Reception for the United States Winter Olympic and
    Paralympic Teams
    April 29, 1998

        Thank you, and welcome to the White House. I am delighted to have
    all of you here. I thank the members of the Cabinet for coming, and I
    thank Congressman Ryun from Kansas, a former
    Olympian, for being here. To the president of the Olympic Committee,
    Bill Hybl, to the executive director, Dick
    Schultz, and to all

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    the other officials, and to the members of our Olympic team.
        Let me say--before I get into my remarks, I need to make two
    preliminary comments. First of all, I want to thank Tipper Gore for representing our administration at the 1998 Winter
    Olympics. I wish she could be here with us today. I know she would like
    to be. I'd also like to thank my good friend Mack McLarty for working so hard with the Vice
    President as the Cochair of our White House
    Task Force on the Olympic games.
        The second thing I'd like to do before I get into my remarks is to
    just say, for the benefit--because this is my only chance to talk to the
    press today--I just finished a very good meeting with the Senate
    Republican and Democratic leaders, Trent Lott and
    Tom Daschle, about one of the most
    important votes that our Senate will face this year, and that is to
    expand the alliance of NATO to include Poland, Hungary, and the Czech
    Republic.
        I want to thank them both for their support. This is coming at a
    very important time for America, 4 years after I first proposed that we
    expand our European security alliance to make us more secure and Europe
    safer and more united. And I am very grateful for Senator Lott and Senator Daschle,
    Senator Helms and Senator Biden, and all the others. We are seeing a very impressive,
    high-level debate in the Senate, even among those who don't agree with
    my position. I must say I've been very impressed by the debate. And I'm
    looking forward to a positive vote by the end of this week.
        Now let me say I have looked forward to this day for a long time,
    ever since the Olympics concluded. To see these fine people, and those
    who are not here who are part of their teams, I think makes all
    Americans very proud. In the mountains, the ice rinks, the race courses
    of Japan, we saw America at its best. The young Olympians who are here
    did more than carry our flag. In a fundamental way, they carried with
    them the spirit of America.
        I'd like to say a special word, too, of appreciation to the
    Paralympians who brought home 34 medals in the largest Winter
    Paralympics ever. [Applause] Thank you.
        It's also a great source of pride for us that the Winter Olympics in
    2002 will be in Salt Lake City. When the Olympic flag was lowered and
    passed from the mayor of Nagano to Mayor
    Corradini, it really marked the opening
    events of the 2002 games. So we're very glad that Mayor Corradini has
    joined us today, along with the chairman of the Salt Lake Olympic
    Committee, Robert Garff, and other members
    of the Utah Olympic Committee. We want to help them succeed. And I'd
    like to ask them to stand and receive our support. Mayor Corradini and
    the members of the Utah Committee--there's Mr. Garff. Thank you all for
    being here. [Applause] Thank you--there they are, right there.
        I'd also like to say one more word to America's Olympic teams in
    1998. In a fundamental way, you have become a part of America's team for
    the rest of your lives. If you choose, for the rest of your lives,
    because you were an Olympian, you can have a profound positive impact on
    all the people with whom you come in contact, but especially on young
    people.
        Even though for many of you the Olympic triumphs you had, just being
    a member of the team, must have marked the most magic moment in your
    lives, I hope that the future will be even richer for you. And I think
    it can be if you use the fact that you are an Olympian to have a
    positive impact on the lives of young people. The lessons of setting
    your sights high, working hard, being persistent, believing in
    yourselves, playing by the rules, supporting your team, those are
    lessons that every child in America needs to learn, lessons that every
    child can see in your eyes and in the power of your example.
        Some of you earlier today participated in the Champions in Life
    program. You can reach out, in telling your stories, working in
    communities, approaching future endeavors with this kind of drive and
    commitment, and I hope you'll do that because you can really have a
    positive impact on 21st century America.
        In this century, through all its highs and lows, we have seen
    throughout the 20th century a renaissance in the Olympic games.
    Everybody now knows about the remarkable triumph of Jesse Owens in the
    1936 Berlin games, what it said about prejudice and hatred, what it said
    about the difference between America and the Nazi regime that then
    governed in Germany.
        Jesse Owens said this in 1936: ``Only an Olympian can fully realize
    the grip the games have on the youth of the world.'' It was true in
    1936; it is true today. Then, it was true, and people saw a profound
    good in the midst of a dark time. This is a sunlit moment of peace and
    prosperity. But the Olympic spirit, the spirit

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    of good will, friendship, understanding, and unity across all the lines
    that divide us, that can propel us into an even brighter era of respect
    and success.
        Now I would like to introduce the athlete that has been chosen by
    her teammates to represent the Olympians here today, a person whose
    grace and excellence on the ice--and I must say, even more after the
    competition--must have been a source of enormous joy and pride, not only
    to her teammates but to all Americans.
        Ladies and gentlemen, Ms. Michelle Kwan.

    Note: The President spoke at 3:10 p.m. on the South Lawn at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Bill Hybl, president, and Dick
    Schultz, executive director, U.S. Olympic Committee; Mayor Tasuku
    Tsukada of Nagano, Japan; Mayor Deedee Corradini of Salt Lake City, UT;
    and Robert H. Garff, president, board of trustees, Salt Lake City
    Olympic Organizing Committee. Following the President's remarks,
    Michelle Kwan, silver medalist in women's figure skating, presented a
    U.S. Olympic team jacket to the President.