[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000-2001, Book III)]
[January 8, 2001]
[Pages 2851-2858]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks on Presenting the Presidential Citizens Medal
January 8, 2001

    Thank you, and good afternoon. I would like to thank all of you for 
coming and welcome you to the White House, but especially the Members of 
Congress who either are or have been here. Senator Cleland, welcome, sir; Senator Kennedy; Representative Gilman--Mr. 
Chairman Gilman; Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton; Representative Sununu. And 
Mr. Justice Souter, we're delighted to see 
you here today. We thank you for coming.
    I won't have many more chances to do this, so I'd also like to thank 
the United States Marine Band for being here and for all their work. 
Yesterday Hillary and Chelsea and I went to Foundry Methodist Church, 
which has been our home church since we've been in Washington, and they 
asked me to speak on reflections and anticipations. And I said I had 
many anticipations. I anticipated, for example, that my religious 
bearing would be severely tested when I returned to commercial air 
travel. [Laughter] And I further anticipated that whenever I walked into 
a large room for the next 6 months, I would be lost because the Marine 
Band wouldn't be there to play a song anymore. [Laughter] So I thank 
them so much for all they've done this last 8 years.
    One of the greatest honors I have had as President has been the 
opportunity to recognize and to honor, on behalf of the American people, 
the rich and diverse accomplishments of our fellow citizens. This 
ceremony marks the last time I will honor such a remarkable group at the 
White House, and I am profoundly grateful for this opportunity.
    More than two centuries ago, our Founders staked their lives, their 
fortunes, and their sacred honor on a revolutionary proposition, that 
people of competing ideas but common ideals could form a more perfect 
Union, a democracy built solely on the strength of its citizens. They 
felt it essential that America honor both the individual and the idea 
that a free people can accomplish their greatest work only by doing so 
together, for our common good.
    Today we honor citizens whose individual contributions to the common 
good embody this ideal in its purest essence. We honor them with the 
President's Citizens Medal. Among our Nation's highest civilian honors, 
the Citizens Medal is a symbol of our gratitude as a people for those 
who have, in particular, performed exemplary deeds of service to others.
    Now, let me say a few words about each of those who we honor, and I 
will ask my military aide to present me with a medal, and then I will 
present the medals.
    Every baseball fan knows Hank Aaron 
holds more records than any other single ballplayer. Indeed, one of the 
truly great experiences of my Presidency was going to Atlanta for the 
25th anniversary of the night Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's home run 
record. But his courage and dignity have left a lasting mark on far more 
than baseball.
    We honor him today not only for the 
power of his swing but for the power of his spirit,

[[Page 2852]]

for breaking down barriers not just on the baseball field or in the 
front office but also within America's heart. In the spotlight and under 
pressure, he always answered bigotry and brutality with poise and 
purpose.
    In chasing his dream, Hank Aaron gave 
others the inspiration to chase their own. And after he left baseball, 
he and his wonderful wife, Billye, have done what they could to give 
young people more tools to win their own chase. Hank Aaron, you are an 
American hero, and we salute you for your life.

[At this point, the President presented the medal.]

    Because he could float like a butterfly and sting like a bee, 
Muhammad Ali became the first boxer in history 
to capture the heavyweight title three separate times. Along the way, he 
captured the world's imagination and its heart. Outside the ring, 
Muhammad Ali has dedicated his life to working for children, feeding the 
hungry, supporting his faith, and standing up for racial equality. He 
has always fought for a just and more humane world, breaking down 
barriers here in America and around the world.
    There are no telling how many tens of millions of people had their 
hearts swell with pride and their eyes swell with tears in 1996 when 
Muhammad Ali lit the Olympic torch, because we 
know, now and forever, he is the greatest.

[The President presented the medal.]

    As a civics teacher fresh out of college, Juan Andrade showed up for the first day of class eager to teach his 
students the fundamentals of American democracy. Two days later, he was 
under arrest. What was his terrible crime? He was teaching his students 
in his native tongue, Spanish, which was at the time a violation of 
Texas law.
    That early injustice helped to spark Juan's 
life-long crusade for Hispanic-American civil rights, including the 
founding of the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute and nearly 
1,000 registration drives that have enfranchised over one million new 
voters. Today we honor Juan Andrade for his courage, his commitment to 
both democracy and diversity, and for giving so many more Americans a 
voice in their own destiny.

[The President presented the medal.]

    Ruby Bridges was born in 1954, the year the 
Supreme Court decided Brown v. Board of Education. Six years later, when 
she entered the first grade, the schools in her hometown of New Orleans 
were still separate and unequal. Ruby was 
chosen to integrate William Frantz Public School, singlehandedly. So 
when mobs gathered and shouted around this 6-year-old girl, she knelt 
and prayed. She had two U.S. marshalls ahead of her and two behind, but 
``prayer,'' she later said, ``was my protection.''
    Today, in lectures and books, Ruby is 
telling younger generations her story of strength and faith. And through 
the Ruby Bridges Foundation, she is helping schools to establish 
diversity programs, to achieve without the struggle and pain what she 
did four and a half decades ago.
    Today we pay tribute to the courage of a little girl and to the 
commitment of a lifetime.

[The President presented the medal.]

    One of Ron Brown's favorite Bible passages came from the 40th 
chapter of Isaiah, ``Those who wait upon the Lord shall have their 
strength renewed; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall 
run, and not grow weary; they shall walk, and not faint.''
    Well, Ron walked, ran, and soared through life and, I can personally 
testify, never grew weary. As the chairman of my party, he inspired 
people to believe in our democratic system and to get involved. As 
Secretary of Commerce, he opened up new markets at home and abroad, so 
that people throughout the world and here in America might, through 
work, have better lives for their families.
    His legacy still burns brightly, not only in the hearts of those who 
knew him but also in the work of his daughter, Tracey, who wrote a wonderful biography of her father; the work of 
his son, Michael, who runs the Ron Brown 
Foundation; and the living testimony of all the young people who even 
now walk through doors he opened and cross bridges he built.
    We honor his memory today and, Alma, I am 
glad you could be with us to share the moment.

[The President presented the medal to Alma Brown, 
Ron Brown's widow.]

    For nearly 20 years, Don Cameron has served 
as the executive director of the National Education Association. But his 
career began long before that, as a Michigan junior high school

[[Page 2853]]

teacher in the early sixties. His starting salary was a handsome $5,100 
a year, hardly enough to support a family. So while teaching, he worked 
odd jobs, pumping gas, selling hardware, driving a truck, even digging 
graves--all for the love of teaching. Let no one say this man was not 
deadly serious about his job. [Laughter]
    His enthusiasm has never wavered. During his 
remarkable tenure, the National Education Association grew by more than 
a million members; it nearly doubled in size. He has always fought for 
quality schools, smaller classes, making sure that teachers are meeting 
high professional standards, and in turn, are treated as the 
professionals they are. Our schools are stronger and our children's 
future brighter because of his decades of dedicated leadership.
    Thank you, Don Cameron.

[The President presented the medal.]

    When Pope John the 23d urged Catholics to engage in the world and 
address the needs of the poor, Sister Carol Coston, an Adrian Dominican nun, answered the call. She left 
the security of her convent to live and work in a public housing 
project. Then she helped to create Network, a national Catholic lobby 
that has mobilized thousands of nuns and lay people to fight for social 
progress in South Africa, for women's rights, and for economic justice. 
She helped to win passage of the Community Reinvestment Act, which has 
led to billions of dollars in investment in our inner cities--I am proud 
to say, Sister, 95 percent of it in the last 8 years.
    And she founded Partners for the Common 
Good, a fund that invests in housing and entrepreneurship in low income 
neighborhoods. For your work as an agent of change, rooted in the values 
of your faith, Sister Carol, a grateful nation honors you today.

[The President presented the medal.]

    As a young Government lawyer during World War II, Archibald Cox helped to get labor unions and corporations to stop 
fighting each other--a work that's still going on today--and to start 
working together for an allied victory. That same steely resolve and 
sense of high purpose have marked his entire astonishing career. 
Fighting for labor rights in the fifties, civil rights in the sixties, 
and during Watergate, rising that fateful night to defend our 
Constitution, he has come to embody the highest ideals of integrity and 
courage in public life.
    Archibald Cox, every American, whether he 
or she knows your name or not, owes you a profound debt of thanks for a 
lifetime of your service to your country and its Constitution.

[The President presented the medal.]

    Just as Lewis and Clark set forth to explore a continent shrouded in 
mysterious possibility, Charles DeLisi 
pioneered the exploration of a modern day frontier, the human genome. As 
an administrator and researcher in the Department of Energy in the mid-
1980's, he worked in close partnership with 
Senator Pete Domenici, along with others 
who supported his efforts to marshal Federal resources and secure 
funding for this groundbreaking research.
    Charles DeLisi's imagination and 
determination helped to ignite the revolution in sequencing that would 
ultimately unravel the code of human life itself. Thanks to Charles 
DeLisi's vision and leadership, in the year 2000 we announced the 
complete sequencing of the human genome. And researchers are now closer 
than ever to finding therapies and cures for ailments once thought 
untreatable.
    At once scientist, entrepreneur, and teacher, Charles DeLisi is also, in the truest sense, a humanitarian, a man 
whose life work has been life itself. We honor you today, sir, along 
with the Members of the United States Congress, including your friend, 
Senator Domenici, who had the vision to 
support you when you began, before we could see this great turn in the 
road. Thank you.

[The President presented the medal.]

    The spread of civil and human rights throughout America and across 
the globe has been one of the great dramas and triumphs of the last half 
century. Jack Greenberg has been at the 
center of the action. As a young lawyer, he 
helped Thurgood Marshall argue Brown v. Board of Education before the 
Supreme Court. As head of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund for 23 years, he, 
himself, argued dozens of key racial discrimination cases before the 
high court. Through his early involvement with organizations such as 
Asia Watch, he aided the expansion of human rights around the world.
    Oliver Wendell Holmes once said that to truly live, one must share 
the action and passion of one's time. If that remains the standard, Jack 
Greenberg has truly lived and, in the 
process, has lifted the lives of countless others.

[[Page 2854]]

[The President presented the medal.]

    When David Ho was a boy, he used puppets to act 
out stories about heroes who used supernatural powers to defend the 
weak. Everyone knew young David was uncommonly bright, but few could 
have imagined that one day he would harness the unimagined powers of 
science to defend patients whose immune systems were fatally weakened by 
AIDS. By demonstrating the ways HIV attacks the human body, he fundamentally changed the way we understand and treat 
this devastating disease. His groundbreaking work, using protease 
inhibitors, in combination with standard therapies, has offered a longer 
life to countless people living with AIDS.
    And so we thank you, David Ho, for giving us 
new hope that AIDS can be treated and one day cured and for reminding us 
that a child's dream can lead to miracles for others.

[The President presented the medal.]

    In 1988 the students at Gallaudet University rose up to demand a 
university president who was like them, deaf or hard of hearing. 
Gallaudet, the only university in the world designed entirely for 
students who are deaf or hard of hearing, never had had a deaf 
president. That is, not until I. King Jordan. 
His appointment was not only a triumph for the students of Gallaudet but 
a historic breakthrough for all people with disabilities and a powerful 
reminder for the rest of our Nation that deaf people like I. King Jordan 
can excel and lead as well as any other Americans. Moved by his example 
and the efforts of the entire disability community, Congress soon passed 
the Americans with Disabilities Act, the most important civil rights 
legislation in the last quarter century.
    I. King Jordan has been a great teacher, 
a great university president, a great inspiration to millions of people 
around the world. Along the way, he's found time to be a not 
inconsiderable athlete, I might add, running great distances at more 
than reasonable speeds. [Laughter] And he has been a very good friend to 
this President for the last 8 years.
    Thank you, President Jordan, for your 
example and your leadership.

[The President presented the medal.]

    Franklin Roosevelt once said, ``We must scrupulously guard the civil 
rights and civil liberties of all our citizens, whatever their 
background.'' In the decades since, America has had few guardians of 
liberty more scrupulous or staunch than Anthony Lewis. Reporter, columnist, professor, author, Tony Lewis in 
every role has been a clear and courageous voice for the values at the 
core of our Constitution.
    In books like ``Gideon's Trumpet,'' he has 
deepened our understanding of freedom of speech and our continuing 
battle for civil rights. Twice, his reporting has won the Pulitzer 
Prize. Perhaps even more important, throughout a lifetime, all his 
writings, including his column, have shown a commitment and a passion 
with a civil tone and a careful, thoughtful reasoning that have been 
more powerful than the forces of brute power and injustice.
    Thank you, Tony Lewis, for the values you 
have espoused, for the way you have espoused them, and for never growing 
weary.

[The President presented the medal.]

    It was 1944, wartime, and African-American soldiers were fighting 
and dying to protect freedom around the world. Unfortunately, African-
Americans were also battling an insidious enemy here at home, Jim Crow. 
It was then that a young mother named Irene Morgan took up that fight with dignity and determination. On 
her way to a doctor's appointment, she refused 
to give up her seat on a segregated Greyhound bus and appealed her 
subsequent arrest all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court's 
1946 ruling banning segregation on interstate transportation was an 
early victory in the struggle for civil rights. It signaled the 
beginning of the end for Jim Crow.
    Over all the decades since, Irene Morgan 
has never asked for accolades, but today we honor her. We acknowledge 
our debt to her quiet and brave fight for freedom. And we acknowledge 
the fact that she was there before just about anybody else, and in spite 
of that, she still looks like a beautiful, young woman. Irene Morgan.

[The President presented the medal.]

    When Constance Baker Motley 
joined the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, she set out to do 
nothing less than remake American law. Along the way, she herself made 
history. A key strategist in the civil rights movement, sheargued nine winning cases before the Supreme 
Court. She went on to become the first African-American woman elected to 
the New York State Senate, the first woman and

[[Page 2855]]

the first African-American to be borough president of Manhattan, the 
first African-American woman to be named a Federal court judge.
    Once she said she sought to, 
``prove in everything I do that blacks and women are as capable as 
anyone.'' As advocate, lawyer, public servant, and judge, she has been far more than capable; she has been 
superb. And Constance Baker Motley, we are all in your debt.

[The President presented the medal.]

    In the 1960's, Dr. Helen Rodriguez-Trias grew outraged at the poor quality of pediatric health 
care in her native Puerto Rico, so she created the island's first center 
for newborn babies at the University of Puerto Rico Medical Center and 
cut the hospital's infant death rate in half. Ever since, in New York, 
in California, all across America, Dr. Rodriguez-Trias has been working for better patient care, for better 
treatment and prevention of AIDS, for women's health rights.
    For fighting the good fight and saving countless lives, mostly among 
poor people that are too often forgotten by others, I am proud to 
present this medal to Dr. Helen Rodriguez-Trias.

[The President presented the medal.]

    When Edward Roybal joined the Civilian 
Conservation Corps in 1934, he didn't know he was embarking on a 
lifetime of service to his country, but it turned out that way. In World 
War II, he served in the Army; in the 1950's, on the Los Angeles city 
council. In 1962 he became the first Hispanic elected to Congress from 
California in almost a century, paving the way for a whole generation of 
Latino lawmakers. During his 30 years in Congress, he championed 
veterans, the elderly, the mentally ill, education, health care, and 
minority rights.
    For a lifetime of work that has improved the lives of millions and 
for lighting the path for other Latino office holders, we honor today 
Edward Roybal. He is unable to join us, but it 
is a particular pleasure for me to present this award to his daughter, 
now a Member of the United States Congress, Representative Lucille 
Roybal-Allard.

[The President presented the medal.]

    Eight years ago, in a very troubled time for the American economy, I 
asked Bob Rubin to head my economic team and 
to establish for the first time a National Economic Council in the White 
House and involving all the economic agencies of the Government. I did 
it not because he had been immensely successful in making money and knew 
a lot about the economy but because he also understood the very real 
impact decisions in Washington have on the lives and livelihoods of 
ordinary Americans all across this Nation.
    As my National Economic Adviser and later as a superb Secretary of 
the Treasury, Bob balanced a commitment to 
fiscal prudence and social progress. He understood that good economics 
and a generous progressive social policy could go hand in hand. 
He helped to balance the Nation's books and 
to balance the Nation's priorities. And it is no accident that his 
leadership in economic policy accompanied not only the longest economic 
expansion in history but, last year, the biggest drop in child poverty 
in 34 years, the biggest increase in personal income among the lowest 20 
percent of working Americans in a very long time, and a general growth 
in the equality and harmony we all seek from all our people.
    He also never let me forget our special 
responsibilities to the inner cities of America, which is why I 
mentioned earlier that even though the Community Reinvestment Act has 
been on the books for over 20 years, 95 percent of all the investment 
occurred during the last 8 years.
    Thank you, Bob Rubin, for helping make 
America a better place.

[The President presented the medal.]

    As a combat platoon leader in the Korean war, Warren Rudman never worried about the race or background of the men 
with whom he fought. As a United States Senator, he never let his party 
affiliation keep him from speaking his mind or building alliances to 
fight the great legislative battles. He fought to strengthen and 
modernize our national defense and to put our fiscal house in order. As 
a private citizen, he has continued to 
champion those causes with bipartisan zeal. As cofounder of the Concord 
Coalition and as the leader of my Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, 
he has repeatedly, during these 8 years of my Presidency, undertaken 
difficult, thankless, inherently controversial tasks with an honesty and 
candor that showed a support for our Nation and a willingness to call 
them as he saw them.

[[Page 2856]]

    For his wise counsel, and his faithful service to our Nation, I am 
grateful and proud to present Senator Warren Rudman with the Citizens Medal.

[The President presented the medal.]

    Soon after graduating from law school, Charles Ruff volunteered to 
go to Liberia to teach law. There he contracted an illness that left him 
in a wheelchair for life. But this obstacle, nor any other, could ever 
keep him from doing good. He went on to serve in the Justice Department 
as United States Attorney and the chief lawyer for the District of 
Columbia, the town he loved so well. I chose him as my White House 
Counsel because of his unmatched ability as a legal advocate and his 
even deeper devotion to the Constitution and the rule of law. Not long 
ago he agreed to lead the Fair Labor Association to help end sweatshops 
and improve the lives of the world's poorest people.
    A few weeks ago, Chuck Ruff left our lives, far too soon. But his 
determined spirit continues to inspire us and to call on us to do more, 
to do right, to do good. We at the White House loved him very much, but 
so did countless others, far beyond the walls of this hallowed place. 
His secretary of 21 years, Ora Theard, will 
accept the medal in his memory. And we thank him for the memories.

[The President presented the medal.]

    As a young man, Arthur Schneier fled his 
homeland and survived the Holocaust as a refugee. He knows, therefore, 
firsthand the consequences of hatred and intolerance and has devoted his 
life to fighting them. As founder and president of the Appeal of 
Conscience Foundation, he has encouraged interfaith dialog, 
intercultural understanding, and the cause of religious freedom around 
the world. He has served as international envoy for four 
administrations, including my own.
    As Chairman of the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's 
Heritage Abroad and as the long-time rabbi of Park East Synagogue in New 
York City, Rabbi, I thank you for all the 
many things you have done here with me the last 8 years to promote 
religious liberty around the world, and I thank you for a lifetime of 
good work and good examples. I look forward to seeing you in New York, where perhaps you will become my 
rabbi. Thank you.

[The President presented the medal.]

    Before he was 40 years old, Eli Segal had 
already built a string of successful businesses. He had also had a 
string of successful friends. In 1992, by blind accident, I wound up 
being one of them, and I asked my old friend, Eli Segal, to join my 
administration, where he built from scratch two of our most successful 
programs.
    Eli began AmeriCorps, which has already given 
more than 150,000 young people a chance to serve in their communities 
and, in so doing, earn some money for college. Indeed, more people 
served in AmeriCorps in the first 5 years of its existence than in the 
first 25 years of the Peace Corps' existence.
    After he returned briefly to private life and 
his great affinity for making money, I called him back, and I said we 
needed some more help. He then built our Welfare to Work Partnership, 
which enlisted in the space of about 3 years, over 20,000 businesses, in 
hiring more than one million people from the welfare rolls.
    These efforts have both widened the circle of opportunity in America 
and strengthened the tradition of service to country. For this, all 
Americans owe Eli Segal a special debt of 
gratitude. If you have ever seen the faces of those young AmeriCorps 
kids or the pride of people who have moved from welfare to work, you 
know why we're in Eli's debt. Thank you very much.

[The President presented the medal.]

    John Seiberling has worn many hats 
and won many accolades. As a soldier in World War II, as a lawyer for 
the New York Legal Aids Society, a community planner for his beloved 
city of Akron, a Congressman from Ohio fighting for civil rights and 
arms control--in all arenas he has contributed to community and country. 
But his greatest achievement was crafting and winning passage of the 
Alaska Lands Act of 1980, which doubled the size of our inventory of 
national parks and wildlife refugees and tripled the area of federally 
designated wilderness. With that legislation, John Seiberling 
singlehandedly saved more of our wilderness than any previous American, 
a legacy that will last for generations.
    Unfortunately, this environmental hero is unable to join us today, but we are very glad that his 
son John will accept the medal on his 
behalf.

[The President presented the medal.]

[[Page 2857]]

    Few newspaper publishers in American history have been more 
effective crusaders for justice than the late John Sengstacke. As owner 
and editor of the legendary Chicago Defender for almost 60 years, he 
provided a national forum for African-American issues and voices that 
otherwise would have gone unheard. He nurtured the talents of countless 
black journalists, and as a confidant of Presidents, played a key roll 
in integrating the armed services, the Postal Service, Major League 
Baseball, and the White House press corps.
    On behalf of a grateful nation, I offer this medal posthumously to 
his son, Bobby.

[The President presented the medal.]

    When bigots blew up his house with dynamite, the Reverend Fred 
Shuttlesworth stood in front of the 
smoking rubble and renewed his call for an integrated Birmingham. When 
the city fathers had him arrested for civil disobedience, he filled the 
jails with so many sympathetic protesters, there was no room to hold 
them all. When angry authorities blasted him with a firehose, he told 
them they could knock him down, but they could not extinguish the torch 
of justice.
    Fred Shuttlesworth risked his life so 
that every American, no matter the color of his or her skin, might live 
in a nation of dignity, opportunity, and equal justice under law. We 
thank him for a lifetime of leadership and for an unextinguished spirit.

[The President presented the medal.]

    She was born in England, but Elizabeth Taylor became thoroughly American royalty. For more than a 
generation, she has reigned over the silver screen, stirring hearts and 
capturing imaginations. She earned two Oscars and countless other honors 
as an actress.
    But perhaps her greatest role has been 
off the screen, as a relentless and very, very early crusader for AIDS 
research and care. She has not only raised--[applause]--she raised 
millions and millions of dollars in this fight and raised awareness 
about the human impact of this dreaded disease before many, many others 
were on the bandwagon.
    Elizabeth Taylor has brought to life 
unforgettable characters on film, but she has brought even more hope to 
millions around the world. We thank her for sharing her talent and her 
heart. Thank you, Elizabeth Taylor.

[The President presented the medal.]

    When the Nazis marched on Vienna, a 6-year-old girl fled with her 
mother across Europe, only to wind up in an internment camp rife with 
starvation, disease, and death. Out of that searing experience, Marion 
Wiesel summoned the courage to commit her life 
to teaching others, especially children, about the human cost of hatred, 
intolerance, and racism.
    She has written a documentary about the 
1.3 million children murdered in the Holocaust and has translated the 
books of her husband, Elie Wiesel, so that 
countless more people can read and learn their lessons. With the money 
from his Nobel Prize, she and Elie established the Wiesel Foundation, to 
educate children against indifference to the suffering of others.
    Marion, for your mission of hope against 
hate, of life against death, of good over evil, it is an honor to award 
you this Citizens Medal.

[The President presented the medal.]

    Patrisha Wright was training to be an 
orthopedic surgeon when a degenerative muscle disease left her with 
double vision. Instead of fixing broken bones, she set about to fix what 
was broken in our system and dedicated her life to ending discrimination 
against people with disabilities. As founder of the Disability Rights 
Education and Defense Fund, she joined 
forces with the wider civil rights community. Her strategic brilliance 
and no-nonsense approach during passage of the Americans with 
Disabilities Act earned her the title of ``The General.'' Now she works 
to empower people and families with disabilities throughout the entire 
world.
    Ever since a visual impairment changed the path of her career, 
her dedication to civil rights has changed 
the path of America and helped more of us to see clearly. Today, we 
salute you, ``The General,'' Patrisha Wright.

[The President presented the medal.]

    Ladies and gentlemen, we thank you for joining us to honor these 
remarkable people. Some of them are famous, and some were not, at least 
until today. Some of them had their service thrust upon them by 
circumstances; others chose the path. Whatever their stories, together 
they form a remarkable fabric of what is best about our country, what is 
best about its history, and what is most encouraging when we look to the 
future.

[[Page 2858]]

    They remind us, once again, something that I need to remember in 
these days, that the greatest title any one of us can ever hold is that 
of citizen.
    Thank you, and goodbye.

Note: The President spoke at 3:32 p.m. in a pavilion on the South Lawn 
at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to Lt. Comdr. Pat 
DeQuattro, USCG, Coast Guard Aide to the President.