[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: GEORGE W. BUSH (2001, Book I)]
[April 28, 2001]
[Pages 468-469]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner
April 28, 2001

    Thank you, Arlene. Laura and I are 
delighted to be here with all the major leaguers. [Laughter] Tonight 
I've decided to do something a little different. See, my mother, over the years, has put together at least 70 
scrapbooks about our life as a family. What I've done is pull out some 
of the actual, never-before-seen photos from these scrapbooks and create 
a little slide show. [Laughter] And so, Gordon, if everybody's cell phones are turned off--
[laughter]--you can hit the lights.
    Tonight I present a Bush family album. What you may not realize is 
that I grew up at a time in Texas history when it was still a rough and 
tumble frontier. [Laughter] We were ranchers back then. [Laughter] This 
was my favorite horse. He was sure-footed, steady. I trusted that horse 
totally. And here's the really weird part: His name was Dick 
Cheney. [Laughter]
    But times were hard back then. [Laughter] This, of course, was 
during the great drought of 1953. [Laughter] Dad, Neil, Doro, Marvin, and 
Jeb--in my family, with all those kids in the tub, it's not arsenic in 
the water I'd be worried about. [Laughter] Personally, I've always 
preferred a private bath. [Laughter]
    This is my actual first-grade report card. Up top, it says, ``George 
W. Bush.'' And then notice the final grades on the right:

[[Page 469]]

Writing, A; Reading, A; Spelling, A; Arithmetic, A; Music, A; Art, A. So 
my advice is, don't peak too early. [Laughter]
    Here, I am with my fifth-grade science project. [Laughter] Built it 
myself. And it's still meeting our energy needs. [Laughter]
    I went on to college and graduate school, but somehow, the press has 
gotten the wrong idea, that I was a smart aleck party guy. [Laughter] 
This is an unfair perception. See, in college, I actually did a lot of 
independent reading. [Laughter]
    After graduation I joined the Texas Air National Guard. I'm the one 
who committed the State of Texas to defend Taiwan from attack. 
[Laughter]
    Speaking of pilots, I'm so proud and honored to welcome to our 
Nation's Capital Lieutenant Shane Osborn and 
crewmember Lieutenant j.g. John Comerford. I 
hope you and your crew will be coming to the White House soon. I think 
you'll like it there. [Laughter] I know I've said this to you personally 
on the phone, but I'm proud to say it publicly: Welcome back, 
Lieutenant.
    Some people wondered--and I'm sure there might have been a few out 
here--how I would handle the recent incident in China. Truth is, I have 
long been a serious student of the Orient. [Laughter] My mom and dad, of course, were in 
China when Dad was the U.S. liaison there. People have asked me, ``Is it 
difficult trying to follow in the footsteps of a man who was President, 
Vice President, U.N. Ambassador, a man who held so many other important 
jobs? Is it hard being such a man's son?'' Not really. [Laughter]
    Most people don't realize it, but Dad has 
had some tough times. [Laughter] Back in the fifties, he went through a 
period where he thought aliens were trying to contact him. [Laughter] So 
he built this contraption to receive their signals. [Laughter]
    As for my mom, after bearing six children 
she herself became a bit stressed. [Laughter] She took to acting very 
strangely. [Laughter] For a while, she thought she was too tall and 
walked like this. [Laughter] As if that weren't strange enough, next she 
wrote a book with that damn, mangy, ill-tempered dog. [Laughter] I hated 
that dog. [Laughter] My mother treated the dog better than she treated 
me. [Laughter] She never helped me write my book. [Laughter]
    I will say this, however, my mom always 
stuck up for us kids. Here's Mom replying to a reporter's question about 
something Barbra Streisand said recently. [Laughter]
    Fortunately, I've got great brothers and a great sister. Some people have asked me, however, if the vote 
recount left any hard feelings between my brother Jeb and me? Not a bit. 
In fact, here's a picture of the Governor of Florida. [Laughter]
    All this brings me to a seriouser point. [Laughter] Eventually, I 
met a woman named Laura Welch. She changed my 
life. She has given me as an adult what I enjoyed as a child, and that 
is a loving family. The defining moments in the Bush family are not when 
my father was elected President or when I was elected President. The 
defining moments have been family moments. Ladies and gentlemen, I've 
been blessed with a family that is full of love, and I pray the same for 
you.
    Good evening.

Note: The President spoke at 8:30 p.m. in the Ballroom at the Washington 
Hilton. In his remarks, he referred to his parents, former First Lady 
Barbara Bush and former President George Bush, brothers Neil Bush, 
Marvin Bush, and Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida, and sister, Dorothy Bush 
Koch; Arlene Dillon, president, White House Correspondents' Association; 
Assistant Press Secretary Gordon Johndroe; Lt. Shane Osborn, USN, and 
Lt. (jg.) John Comerford, USN, pilot and crewmember of the U.S. Navy EP-
3E Aries II electronic surveillance aircraft held by the Government of 
China after the aircraft made an emergency landing on China's Hainan 
Island due to a mid-air collision with a Chinese F-8 fighter jet over 
the South China Sea on March 31; and entertainer Barbra Streisand.