[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.