[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
[March 12, 2002]
[Pages 387-388]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks Honoring NCAA Champion Teams
March 12, 2002

    Thank you all. Welcome. I like a good, short introduction. 
[Laughter] Thanks, Chris, for being here. I 
appreciate you hosting this, and welcome to the White House.
    We have never had so many champions inside a room in the White House 
history, so thank you for making history, not only on--when you won the 
championship but being here as well. It's such an honor to welcome you 
here. It's an unimaginable honor to live here and to share this with 
people from all around the country. This is the people's house. This 
isn't our house; it's the people's house. And we're glad you're able to 
see it, and we're glad to herald champs as well.
    I love to talk about champs. I love to talk about winning and 
setting high standards and working hard to achieve those standards. And 
that's exactly what you all have done, and I really want to congratulate 
you.
    I want to welcome Elaine Chao, who is the 
Secretary of Labor, who is here, and Mel Martinez, who is the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 
They have got something at stake: One's from Kentucky; one's from 
Florida. [Laughter] Jim Bunning is here, who 
knows something about athletics himself--he's a Hall of Fame pitcher--
fine United States Senator from Kentucky; Jim Kolbe from Arizona; and Ernie Fletcher from Kentucky as well. Thank you all for coming.
    I saw Donna Shalala the other day at an 
event, and she must have a pretty good touch. [Laughter] After all, she 
becomes the president, and they win two national championships. 
Congratulations. Welcome back to the White House, and thank you for your 
service to the country. I appreciate Peter Likins, from the University of Arizona, for being here as well. 
Where's Peter? Thank you for coming, sir. I appreciate you being here. 
Father Paul Locatelli from Santa Clara 
University, thank you, Father, for coming. I appreciate you being here. 
And of course, we've mentioned the coaches and the captains.
    Before we go have our picture taken, I do want to say a few comments 
about our country. First of all, we defend freedom, and we'll continue 
to defend freedom to make sure that our children and grandchildren can 
grow up in a free world. You know, the enemy, when they hit America, 
didn't understand us. They didn't think we were a nation that could 
conceivably sacrifice for something greater than ourself, that we were 
soft, that we were so self-absorbed and so materialistic that we 
wouldn't defend anything we believed in. My, were they wrong. They 
missed--they just were reading the wrong magazine or watching the wrong 
Springer show. [Laughter]
    They didn't understand America, and what they really don't 
understand is the nature of people who care about our society. They 
don't realize we're a compassionate nation.
    And so I hope the champs who are here understand that with being a 
champion, you

[[Page 388]]

have a responsibility, a responsibility to uphold an example to others. 
You probably know this; I don't need to tell you this. But when you're 
playing baseball at the University of Miami, there's some little eighth-
grade kid watching your every move, trying to figure out, you know, how 
cool he can be. If you're a star volleyball player at Stanford, 
somebody's watching; or from Santa Clara, there's some young child, 
young girl watching what it means to be a champ. And you have a 
responsibility as a champ to make the right choices and to set a clear 
example for others.
    And we all have a responsibility to love a neighbor like we'd like 
to be loved ourself. We've got a strong military here in America, and 
that's good. That's how we're going to make sure our homeland is secure, 
by using our military. But we can all stand up in the face of this evil, 
collectively stand up, by doing something good in our society.
    I hope the athletes understand that. I hope you understand that you 
have a responsibility as a champ not only to set the right example but 
to love a neighbor like you'd like to be loved yourself. You have a 
fantastic opportunity as champs to help define the character of America, 
to help say loud and clear that we will not tolerate evil and that we 
will--the collective good will of our country, the gathering momentum of 
millions of acts of kindness will define the very nature of America, 
that we will stand strong against evil by the collective goodness of our 
country. You've shown that on the playing fields, and I want to 
congratulate you for being strong and great athletes. Show it on the 
field of life, as well, and America will be a better place.
    It's such an honor to welcome you here. May God bless your futures, 
may God bless your talent, and may God bless America. Thank you for 
coming.

Note: The President spoke at 3:42 p.m. in the East Room at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Chris Fowler, reporter, ESPN, who 
introduced the President; Donna E. Shalala, president, University of 
Miami; Peter Likins, president, University of Arizona; and Father Paul 
Locatelli, president, Santa Clara University. The President honored the 
University of Arizona women's softball team, the University of Kentucky 
cheerleaders, the University of Miami baseball and football teams, the 
University of North Carolina men's soccer team, the Santa Clara 
University women's soccer team, and the Stanford University women's 
volleyball team.