[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book II)]
[October 2, 2003]
[Pages 1231-1235]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks at a Reception Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month
October 2, 2003
Thank you very much. Sientese. Sientese, Embajador. Thank you for coming. Bienvenidos. Mi casa
es su casa. I want to thank you all for coming to celebrate Hispanic
Heritage Month.
You know, this Nation is blessed by the talents and the hard work of
Hispanic Americans, and we're really blessed by the values of familia y
fe that strengthen our Nation on a daily basis. It is fitting we honor
Hispanic Americans in our country. It's part of our country--an
incredibly important part of our country. I also think it's fitting that
the way to honor Hispanic Americans is to revel in the vitality of the
Hispanic culture that was displayed today, the music that honors the
roots, the rhythm, the life of the Latino.
I appreciate my Ambassador to Mexico, Tony Garza. He's been a long-time friend. He was the secretary of
state in the State of Texas. It gave him a chance to learn diplomacy.
[Laughter] He's a great man and a great friend.
I have asked people from Hispanic heritage to join my
administration: Hans Hertell, who is the
Ambassador to the Dominican Republic, is with us. Hans brought his
family with him. [Laughter]
I've got a Cabinet Secretary de Cuba, who is Mel Martinez. I don't know if you know Mel's story. This speaks
volumes about our Nation and about Mel's upbringing. In the early
sixties, Cuban parents were worried about their sons growing, their
daughters growing up in tyranny. They were afraid about what it would be
like for a child to grow up in a world in which terror reigned and there
was no freedom. And so Mel's parents put him on an airplane destined for
the United States of America.
Imagine the choice of a parent--I would daresay there's really only
one country,
[[Page 1232]]
though, that a parent would be feeling comfortable of sending their
child to, and that's America, because of what we stand for.
Mel is Pedro Pan. He is now in the Cabinet
of the President of the United States, which speaks volumes about you,
Mel, and volumes about our country as well.
Hector Barreto is with us today, runs
the SBA. Where are you, Hector? Donde esta? Thank you, Hector. Everybody
needs to have a good abogado. [Laughter] I've got a really good one.
[Laughter] Al Gonzales is my lawyer and
close friend. Eduardo Aguirre is the
Director of Citizenship and Immigration Services. Welcome, Eduardo.
Gaddi Vasquez--donde esta, Gaddi? Where is
he? Peace Corps, running the Peace Corps. He's out recruiting new
members. [Laughter] Adonde? Oh, yes, there he is. Gaddi got here a
little late. [Laughter] I want to thank these folks for serving our
administration so well.
We've got ambassadors from around the world here with us today. I am
honored that Embajador Jose--Juan Jose Bremer de Mexico esta aqui. Good to see you, Jose. Hugo
Guiliani de el Dominican Republic. Senor
Embajador. Luis Alberto Moreno Mejia de Colombia. Embajador Rene Leon from El Salvador, good to see you, sir.
Francisco Javier Ruperez de
Espana. Murilo Gabrielli, who is the Deputy
Chief of Mission from Brazil, thank you for coming, Murilo.
I'm so honored that Members of the United States Congress are here
with us today. The Senator from the great State of Texas--I emphasize
``the great State of Texas''--John Cornyn. The
chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Conference, Ileana Ros-
Lehtinen from Florida. Mario Diaz-
Balart from Florida is with us. Devin
Nunes from California--donde esta Devin? It's an
old trick here in Washington, get your name on the roster, but don't
show up. [Laughter] At least you get mentioned. [Laughter] Bob
Beauprez of Colorado is with us. Jon
Porter is with us, from the great State of
Nevada. Thank you, Jon. Jerry Weller is with
us. From Arizona, Rick Renzi is with us. And
finally, from New Mexico, Steve Pearce. Thank
you for coming. I want to thank you all for being here. It's a good sign
that Members of the Congress take an interest in the Hispanic Heritage
Month. And I appreciate you coming.
I also want to thank Brian Sandoval, who
is the attorney general from the State of Nevada. It's awfully kind for
him to come all the way over here. Brian, thank you, sir.
I am so pleased that my friend Emilio Estefan is here. Emilio helps put this event on. Emilio puts
this event on--or helps us put this event on every year. And it's
awfully kind of you to do this. It's good to see you.
I am also honored that Lisa Guerrero is
with us. Lisa, thank you very much for serving as the emcee. I
appreciate you being on TV on Monday nights too. [Laughter]
Carlos Ponce--thank you for coming, Carlos.
I appreciate you, Carlos. It's good to see you again. It's good to see
you on Monday night as well.
I'm so honored that Father Cutie is here.
Thank you very much for leading us in the blessing.
Bacilos, thank you, guys, for being the young stars. The Ambassador
turned to me and said, ``These are the young dudes, the young stars of
the music scene.'' [Laughter] I can see why. Congratulations. Thank you
for your leadership.
Alexandre, thank you very much.
Fantastic. You know, Alexandre, I love your spirit. It's clear to see
your heart and soul, and thank you very much. You were good tambien, mi
amigo de Puerto Rico. What a voice. Thank you very much.
I am--let me see. I'm probably going to leave somebody out here as
we get moving through here. Victor, thank you. Awesome job. I appreciate
you coming.
Obviously, the person who invited the guest list here knows I love
baseball. We've
[[Page 1233]]
got a lot of the baseball stars here. I do love baseball. One of my
favorite baseball players of all time is a person who's going to be in
the Hall of Fame, and that's Rafael Palmeiro
of the Texas Rangers. I want to thank you for coming. And
Lynne is here. Thank you for coming, Lynne.
I'm glad you brought your manager with you. He's not exactly a
Latino ballplayer, but he's a fine guy, and that's Buck
Showalter. Thank you for coming, Buck, and
thank you for bringing your family. It's good to see you all.
Magglio Ordonez of the Chicago White Sox
is with us. Where are you, Magglio? Yes, thank you, buddy.
Congratulations. Great season, yes. We're watching you. We've got the
dish upstairs. [Laughter] Bartolo Colon--donde
esta Bartolo? I can see why you can throw it hard. [Laughter] Fuerte.
Carlos Beltran of the Kansas City
Royals--Carlos, good job. Donde esta Jose Lima?
There he is--Jose. Yes. You're back. [Laughter] Congratulations on
having a great year. Tino Martinez, Saint
Louis Cardinals; Nelson Figueroa of the
Pirates. Where's Nelson? Yes, thank you, Nelson. Are you sure you're old
enough to qualify? [Laughter] Vladimir
Guerrero--yes, Vladimir. Glad you're here, Vladimir. Thanks for coming.
I also know your general manager really well. He's a really good
guy, isn't he? Omar Minaya, mi amigo. Thank you
for coming, Omar. And congratulations. I knew you'd make it all along.
You're probably wondering why I didn't make you general manager of the
Rangers, but nevertheless--[laughter]--Omar is the general manager of
the Montreal Expos. He really does a great job, and I've known Omar a
long time. He's a great baseball guy. More important, he's a good
person. I'm really proud to have you here.
Just to show you that we're multisport people here, it is my honor
to welcome Carlos Arroyo. Carlos, I want to
thank you very much for coming. He's the basketball player for the Utah
Jazz. Carlos.
Katie, thank you very much for leading us in the anthem. You've got
a beautiful voice. You've got a lot of poise and a lot of talent, and
we're honored that you're here with us today. Thanks for coming. We're
really glad you're here. And thanks for bringing your little brother. I
hope he's nice to you all the time. [Laughter]
The contributions of the Hispanic community have made this country
stronger and better. Today we honor the contributions with the
entertainment we had here in the East Room. I don't know if you know
this, but this is a common occurrence for the Bush administration, to
honor men and women of Hispanic descent, to honor their presence and
listen to their talents. But this has happened throughout the years in
the White House.
There's been some interesting moments here. Pablo Casals was a
Spanish-born cellist. He lived in Puerto Rico. He performed for two
Presidents--catch this--the first was Theodore Roosevelt in 1904 and the
second was John Kennedy in 1961--57 years in between his first and
second visit. Nevertheless, he graced this room and this house.
We've also had Jose Limon. He's a modern
dancer--Edward Villella to my family's friend Gloria Estefan. You should have brought her. [Laughter]
One Hispanic entertainer we remember in a special way today is the
Queen of Salsa, Celia Cruz. She was an unforgettable performer who fled
Cuba in 1960. She became a U.S. citizen and spent the rest of her life
sharing the rhythms of her homeland with people all around the world.
Celia Cruz passed away 3 months ago. We miss her, and we honor today to
welcome her husband, Pedro. Bienvenidos.
We are not only blessed with the culture of the Hispanic in America;
we're also blessed by the fact that our country is strengthened because
of the spirit of hard work and enterprise. It's part of the Latino
[[Page 1234]]
culture. We see the spirit in thousands of small businesses and the
careers of business people all across our country. One of the most
vibrant parts of our economy is the small-business sector, and one of
the vibrant parts of the small-business sector is the Latinos who own
small businesses, really one of the great success stories of America.
Tell you a story about Lou Sobh, who is with us
today. In 1960, he left Mexico, no money, and he couldn't speak the
language. He came to America. He didn't--he couldn't speak the language
at all, so he worked, and he taught himself English. He ended up
becoming a janitor in a department store, a hard worker. He had a dream,
and he was working toward his dream. He served in the United States
Army. He got out of the Army, and he had a dream to open up his own car
dealership. Today, he owns 14--not one car dealership but 14 car
dealerships. He employs 800 people. He's got three car franchises in
Mexico. He's living proof of the American Dream--an incredibly important
part of our Nation, the Latino spirit of hard work and drive and
enterprise. And Lou, I want to congratulate you for being a success and
setting an example. Thank you for coming, sir.
Today, as we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, we also must take
pride in the generations of Hispanic Americans who have served in
America's Armed Forces, served to protect and defend a nation they love.
Forty-two Hispanic Americans--42--cuarenta y dos--have earned the
highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor. That's a lot. Today,
men and women of Hispanic heritage continue to serve and sacrifice in
the defense of freedom. They have our respect, and they have our
gratitude.
Earlier this year, at the National Naval Medical Center, I had an
amazing experience. Eduardo was there. I had the chance and privilege of
meeting a patriot, Master Gunnery Sergeant Guadalupe Denogean. Sergeant
Denogean is an immigrant from Mexico. He has served in the Marine Corps
for 25 years. Last spring, he was wounded in combat in Basra, Iraq, and
he was sent back for treatment. They asked Sergeant Denogean, did he have any requests? He said he had two. He
wanted a promotion for the corporal who helped rescue him, and the
second request is he wanted to be an American citizen.
I was there the day Sergeant Denogean
took his oath of citizenship. Eduardo
administered the oath. In a hospital where he was recovering, this son
of Mexico raised his right hand and pledged to support and defend the
Constitution of the United States of America. What made that moment
amazing to me is that he had kept that oath for decades before he took
it. I'm proud of the sergeant. I'm proud to call him citizen. I'm proud
to call him fellow citizen to America.
Through the lives of people like Sergeant Denogean and Lou and Celia Cruz, it is
clear that the American Dream belongs to todos. It's for everybody, not
just a few. And that's the greatness of our country. It's the spirit of
America. And it's important that this generation and future generations
keep that dream alive.
We've got to make sure that hard work is a place that is respected
and rewarded. We must make sure that our entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs
from all walks of life have the opportunity to dream and work hard and
realize their ambitions. We must make sure that the dream of
homeownership is available for every citizen in our country. We must
make sure that every child gets educated, that the public schools
educate every single child, those whose parents may speak English, those
whose parents may not yet speak English. Education belongs to everybody.
High standards belongs to everybody. We must challenge the soft bigotry
of low expectations in American public schools.
We're proud of our country. We're a strong country. We're militarily
strong, and
[[Page 1235]]
I'll keep us that way. But our wealth isn't really found in our military
or our pocketbooks. The true strength of America is found in the
character of the American people, in the courage of the people, the
creativity of our people, and in the compassion of our people.
As Governor, and now as President, I've seen the character of
America and the character of millions of Hispanic Americans who make our
Nation a better place. The warmth and the vitality of the Hispanic
culture, the energy and faith of Hispanic men and women are great gifts
to America.
I want to thank you all for coming to celebrate those gifts. Que
Dios los bendiga a todos, y que Dios bendiga a los Estados Unidos. Thank
you for coming.
Note: The President spoke at 3:35 p.m. in the East Room at the White
House. In his remarks, he referred to Secretary Murilo Gabrielli, head
of the Cultural and Public Affairs section, Brazilian Embassy in
Washington, DC; Lisa Guerrero, FOX Sports broadcast journalist; Carlos
Ponce, actor and television personality; Father Alberto Cutie, Telemundo
network talk show host; Latin music group Bacilos; Brazilian musician
Alexandre Pires; Lynne Palmeiro, wife of baseball player Rafael
Palmeiro; Edward Villella, founding artistic director and chief
executive officer, Miami City Ballet; and entertainer Gloria Estefan.
The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language
transcript of these remarks.