[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,

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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

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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

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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

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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.