    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book I)]
    [June 23, 2000]
    [Pages 1233-1236]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to the United States Olympic Training Center Community in
    Chula Vista, California
    June 23, 2000

        Thank you very much. Thank you, Deena, for
    the wonderful introduction and for the way you represent our country--
    and for the little local reference to Arkansas. I liked that. [Laughter]
        Thank you, Bill Hybl, for the work you do with
    the Olympic Committee. And I want to say a special word of thanks to Pat
    Milkovich for the wonderful tour of the
    training center today. We had a great time, and I thank you so much.
        I want to thank Representative Bob Filner,
    the Congressman from this district, for being with me today and for his
    support. Someone just thanked him on the way for being against having
    all that cargo noise coming over here and interrupting your training
    center. So, I figure he'll take a lot of heat for that position. So,
    somebody who likes it might as well clap. [Laughter]
        I want to thank the Bonita Vista High School Marching Band for
    playing. Let's give them a hand; they're great. [Applause] Some of their
    members have been selected to perform at the opening ceremonies in
    Sydney, and I know they'll have a good time. I'd like to thank Mayor
    Horton from Chula Vista and the Chula
    Vista council members who are here and the county officials who are
    here. And Representative Susan Davis, the
    candidate for Congress, thank you for coming. I'm glad to see all of you
    here.
        Most of all, I'd like to thank the athletes and the coaches and the
    trainers that gave me a tour around this magnificent facility today. I
    had a great time. And I realize that most of these things I can't do
    anymore--[laughter]--but I really had a great time.
        Deena talked about perseverance and hard work, but I want to tell
    you a little something about her. She was too
    humble to mention her own experience with cross country championships in
    Portugal this year. About 100 yards into the race her throat closed up,
    and she couldn't breathe. After 5 kilometers, she blacked out and

    [[Page 1234]]

    fell. It turned out a bee had flown into her mouth and stung her in the
    throat. But she got up and kept going, and thanks to her, the women's
    team still left Portugal with a medal. She gave new meaning to the term
    ``making a beeline.'' Give her a hand; she was great. [Applause]
        One of the real highlights of our White House years for Hillary,
    Chelsea, and me has been the chance to be a part of the Olympic
    experience, cheering on our teams from Lillehammer to Atlanta to Nagano
    and now to Sydney, where at least I know my daughter is going. My wife
    is in a competition of her own, and I am informed that my services may
    be needed elsewhere; but our daughter informed us that she would be in
    Sydney to cheer the teams on.
        I am so glad to have this chance to see all the work that you're
    doing to prepare for the games here. You know, just moments before he
    won one of his gold medals, the legendary Jesse Owens said, ``A lifetime
    of training for just 10 seconds.'' In the magic of the Olympic moment,
    it may be easy for those of us who aren't part of it, except as
    spectators, to lose sight of all that had to be done before: the years
    and years of getting up before the Sun, the time away from your loved
    ones, the hard work, the sacrifice, and something that's often
    overlooked, the pain.
        So on behalf of all the people of this country. I'd like to just say
    more than anything else, I wanted to come here to say to these team
    members and those who want to make the Olympic teams, we appreciate you;
    we thank you; and we are very, very proud of you.
        I have thought a lot, especially in the Olympic season, about why
    the Olympics mean so much to people all over the world, and especially
    why the American people get so completely caught up in them, why they
    capture our imagination and our hearts. Obviously, we love athletics.
    And we are highly competitive people, as that little in-your-face rap
    that Deena gave us showed about the American
    team.
        But I think there's even more to it than the love of competition and
    athletics. I think people like the Olympics, in large measure, because
    the Olympics work pretty much the way we think life ought to work, the
    way we think the world ought to work: Everybody gets an opportunity to
    play, regardless of race or station in life--and increasingly, thank
    goodness, regardless of gender. People are valued based on their
    performance and their effort, not their posturing. People get a chance
    to do their best, and also to bring out the best in one another. And
    everybody, including those that don't win medals, is better off for
    having tried and given his or her best. You win by playing by the rules
    and by doing it well.
        I think we like the Olympics because we all think the world ought to
    work that way. And we know if other forms of human endeavor worked that
    way, we'd be better off. One of the reasons I ran for President 8 years
    ago is that I thought that Washington ought to work more like that. I
    thought it ought to be more about production and less about posturing.
    And it's tough for people in politics, because they know that if they
    produce, they may not get on the evening news. But if they posture, they
    can get there.
        And so I hope part of what will happen in this is that the Olympic
    spirit will catch up in Washington and will actually produce some
    things: medicine for our seniors on Medicare and a Patients' Bill of
    Rights and an increase in the minimum wage, a lot of other things we
    could be doing that we could actually reach agreement on across party
    lines, even though it may cost everybody a few seconds on the evening
    news. The rules of the game there are too often, ``I've got an idea.
    You've got an idea. Let's fight.'' [Laughter] And you give us all a good
    sober reminder that in the end, when it's all said and done, we're going
    to be judged not by what we said but by what we've done. And I thank you
    for that.
        Now, let me just say, this day is special for a lot of reasons. It's
    Olympic Day. On this day more than 100 years ago, the modern Olympic
    games were founded. It was also 100 years ago this summer that women
    were first allowed to compete in the Olympic games, and they did, all 11
    of them. [Laughter] This year more than 4,000 women will compete in the
    Olympic games, the largest number ever.
        Let me say a couple of other things about this day. On this day 60
    years ago one of the greatest Olympians of all time was born, Wilma
    Rudolph. She won her first medal the last time the Olympics were held in
    Australia, in 1956. And finally, today is special because it's also on
    this day 28 years ago that Title IX became the law of the land.

    [[Page 1235]]

        Now, it's interesting that all this stuff happened on this day. But
    Title IX has really enabled America to live up to the Olympic spirit to
    give everybody a chance, to give everybody a chance to play by the
    rules, everybody a chance to live up to his and her God-given abilities.
        Before Title IX, there were 300,000 girls in high school sports.
    Today, there are more than 2 million. It's not a coincidence that in
    Atlanta, the first generation of women to grow up under Title IX--
    literally to have their whole lives in Title IX--went on to win the gold
    medal in soccer, the gold medal in softball, the gold medal in
    gymnastics, and the gold medal in basketball. It works.
        Believe it or not, I found out not long ago that Title IX's
    requirement for equal opportunity in sports and in education does not
    apply to the education and training programs run by the Federal
    Government itself. So on this anniversary of Title IX, I am actually
    signing an Executive order that applies Title IX to the Federal
    Government's programs and prohibits discrimination of any kind in
    federally conducted education and training programs.
        Let me just say one other thing about the importance of broadening
    opportunities here. I would like to ask all of you who are presently
    athletes or who have been or who are otherwise involved in this Olympic
    movement to continue to share your gifts, not only on the field of
    competition but in the playing field of life, and especially with our
    young people--and with those whose job it is to raise them well.
        Let me just give you one example of something that really concerns
    me. Over the last 20 years, too many of our schools have abandoned their
    music, their arts, and their physical education programs. You may have
    noticed that last week I went to New York City to be on the ``Today
    Show'' to talk about the VH1 music in school program, where they worked
    so hard to get instruments back into schools so schools can start their
    school music programs again. There is so much evidence that a lot of
    young people learn better if they have access early to music and arts
    programs. But it's also really troubling to me that so many schools have
    just completely abandoned physical education programs for all kids,
    while maintaining team sports.
        Now, a lot of the athletes behind me may be going to the Olympics in
    sports for which there was no competition in their schools. And they
    wouldn't necessarily have been football or basketball players, or even
    soccer players, if their schools had competitive soccer.
        Listen to this. The percentage of high school students in daily
    physical education has declined more than 30 percent in the last 10
    years. Today, fewer than one in three students are enrolled in phys-ed
    every day. Meanwhile, the percentage of young people who are overweight
    has doubled in the same time period. The two things are closely related.
    And we know that it has an effect on learning, on self-image, on self-
    esteem, on a sense of what you can do.
        Today I'm directing our Secretary of Education, Dick Riley, and Donna Shalala,
    the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to work with the U.S.
    Olympic Committee, our physical fitness council, and others to try to
    find ways to encourage more young people to get fit and stay fit. And
    I'm asking Congress to establish a foundation that will leverage the
    energy, creativity, and resources of the private sector in furthering
    the mission of the President's Council on Physical Fitness, to help
    every young person in America to live an active, safe, and healthy life.
        I hope you'll help us do that. We need to remember that not every 6-
    or 8- or 10-year-old can be on the football team or on a basketball team
    or even on a soccer team, and all of our kids need access to healthy
    lifestyles, good exercise, and basic good athletic habits. We need your
    help in achieving that goal.
        Finally, let me say I'd give anything to be in Sydney. I thank you
    for your dedication, your courage, for reaching deep inside, for giving
    your heart and soul to this. And I want you to win all the medals you
    can, just like Deena said. But I want you to realize that by what you
    have accomplished already and by the way you have done it, you have
    already made your country very proud.
        You carry more than our flag to Sydney. You carry the spirit of our
    country, our hopes, our dreams, our prayers. And all of us will be with
    you all the way.
        Thank you, and God bless you.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:55 a.m. on the terrace at the U.S.
    Olympic Training Center Visitors Center. In his remarks, he referred to
    athlete Deena Drossin, who introduced the President; Bill Hybl,
    president, U.S. Olympic Committee: Pat Milkovich, director, U.S. Olympic
    Training

    [[Page 1236]]

    Center; Mayor Shirley A. Horton of Chula Vista; State Assemblywoman
    Susan Davis, a candidate for California's 49th Congressional District.
    The President also referred to Title IX--Prohibition of Sex
    Discrimination, part of Public Law 92-318, the Education Amendments of
    1972. The Executive order is listed in Appendix D at the end of this
    volume.