    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
    [December 31, 1999]
    [Pages 2353-2354]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Opening of the ``America's Millennium'' Celebration
    December 31, 1999

        Thank you very much. Thank you. Good morning. Happy new year. Thank
    you, Senator Daschle, to other Members of
    the Congress who are here. Thank you, Mayor Williams, for your kind comments to Hillary and to me and your
    outstanding leadership in this city. Thank you, Robert Pinsky, for being here today and for opening the ears and eyes
    and hearts of so many young children to the wonders of poetry. Thank
    you, Dean Baxter. I want to thank the
    children's choir and the military band; they were wonderful today--and
    the singing sergeants who have left. I want to thank Ellen
    Lovell and the members of our millennial
    council, and Terry McAuliffe and all those
    who made it possible for us to have all these wonderful events today. I
    also want to thank the Lord for this wonderful weather, so we all feel
    good being out here.
        The New Millennium Choir sang ``Rising Like the Sun.'' Their
    vitality and their voices are living proof that the light may be fading
    on the 20th century, but the Sun is still rising on America. Even though
    this is an opening ceremony, what we celebrate did not begin today, and
    it won't end tomorrow. Two years ago Hillary and I created the White
    House Millennium Council to bring Americans together, in her words, ``to
    honor our past and imagine our future.'' Since then, she has hosted
    Millennium Evenings at the White House with some of our Nation's most
    gifted scholars and artists, and people all over the world have
    participated on the Internet. She has crisscrossed America to save our
    historical treasures, from Harriet Tubman's home to Thomas Edison's
    factory to Native American pueblos. This morning we kick off not only a
    weekend of celebrations but a whole series of events throughout the
    coming year that will further mark our new millennium.
        This is more than a unique moment for our calendar. It is also a
    unique moment for our country. Our economy is strong; our social fabric
    is on the mend. We're moving forward on America's remarkable journey of
    creating a more unified nation, a more just society, a more perfect
    Union.
        There is no better moment to reflect on our hopes and dreams and the
    gifts we want to leave our children, no better opportunity to open a new
    chapter of progress and possibility for all people, no better time to
    join hands and build the one America of our dreams, no better time to be
    a truly good neighbor to the people of the world who share this smaller
    and smaller planet of ours.
        So as we honor the past, let us truly imagine the future. I hope
    every single one of you, sometime today, and everyone within the sound
    of my voice will take just a little time to dream about what you want
    for your grandchildren and their grandchildren and what you would like
    the story of the 21st century to be.

    [[Page 2354]]

        Now it is my privilege to present the person who has done more than
    anyone else in America to help us appreciate and properly celebrate the
    dawn of the new millennium. Ladies and gentlemen, the First
    Lady of the United States.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:51 a.m. at 12th St. and Constitution
    Ave., NW. In his remarks, he referred to Mayor Anthony A. Williams of
    Washington, DC; Robert Pinsky, poet laureate; Rev. Nathan D. Baxter,
    dean, Washington National Cathedral, who delivered the invocation; and
    Terence McAuliffe, millennium celebration fundraiser. The transcript
    released by the Office of the Press Secretary also included the remarks
    of the First Lady.