[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book I)]
[April 5, 1999]
[Pages 498-499]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at the White House Easter Egg Roll
April 5, 1999

    The President. Thank you very much. I want to welcome you to the 
White House today. And before I say anything else, I want to say in this 
season of peace for us I know all of us will send our thoughts and 
prayers to our men and women in uniform in Kosovo and our prayers and 
best wishes to the many thousands of refugees that have been generated 
by that terrible conflict.
    Now, let me first begin by thanking our sponsors who make this 
possible every year, and I thank the White House volunteers. I'd also 
like to thank the staff for preparing--listen to this--7,000 eggs for 
today's event. That's more

[[Page 499]]

than we ask them to prepare for a state dinner. [Laughter]
    I'd also like to thank Scholastic, Inc., for the Prescription for 
Reading program that Hillary mentioned and tell you all that we have 
tried to make this an occasion for family learning, for children and 
their parents to learn together. The Prescription is one example. You 
can also see an electronic presentation on the White House at the CD-ROM 
pavilion. You can meet American figures in our history at the Historical 
Fun Stage. There will be a lot of storytelling sessions. We have a lot 
of old regulars here and a lot of new people, like Jamie Lee Curtis, who's come to join us this year. And we 
thank all of them for participating.
    Now, I want to get on with the show, but I want to know: Where are 
the people for the Easter egg roll? Are we down there? Turn around. If 
you want to see it, they're down right behind us.
    The First Lady. And over there, 
too.
    The President. And over there. Are you ready? Where's our famous, 
faithful whistle blower? Hey, Bernie. All 
right.
    On your mark. Get ready, set, go!

Note: The President spoke at 10:10 a.m. on the South Lawn at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to actress Jamie Lee Curtis and White 
House volunteer Bernie Fairbanks.