    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book II)]
    [July 30, 2004]
    [Pages 1435-1436]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the International Children's Games and Cultural Festival in
    Cleveland, Ohio
    July 30, 2004

        Thank you. Thanks for coming. Welcome to the United States. I am
    honored to have been introduced by a great Iranian-American, silver
    medalist Matt Ghaffari. Thank you, Matt, for
    being here, and thank you for your introduction.
        Listen, I don't know if you know this--hold on--there are--the
    Governor of this great State is with us today.
    Senators are with us today, very fine people in Senators
    Voinovich and DeWine. Members of the Congress are here today. The reason why
    is they want to join me in welcoming you who do not live in the United
    States to our great country. We're glad you're here, and we hope you
    have a wonderful experience in America.
        You're in a great United States city. Cleveland, Ohio, is a
    fantastic place to visit. And I want to thank--and I know you join me in
    thanking the mayor of Cleveland, Mayor Jane Campbell, for her gracious hospitality.
        I want to thank the sports authority figures who are here. I
    appreciate David Gilbert of the Cleveland
    Sports Commission. I want to thank Alex Machaskee, who is the cochair of the International Children's
    Games, and Dr. Fred Loop, who is the other
    chairman, for working so hard to put this event on.
        I know you join me in thanking all the volunteers from the city of
    Cleveland who have worked hard to make sure your stay here is a good
    stay. I suggest you go to the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame. Oh, yes, that's
    where you need to spend some time.
        I want to thank the former Olympians who are here. They wish you all
    the very best in the games and hope that you become Olympians
    yourselves. And this is a good place to start, right here in the
    competition.
        A couple things I want to tell you. One, I hope you enjoy yourself,
    and I hope you spend time not only competing hard but getting to know
    each other. Like, there's all kinds of cultures here and different
    languages are spoken, but I think you'll find you share a lot of things
    in common. Yes, you hope for a better life. You care deeply about people
    you love. You want the world to be a better place. And so, not only
    compete hard, but spend time with each other and share cultures. I think
    you'll find you're all God's children. There's so much in common.
        A couple other things I want to tell you is make sure that you
    continue to make

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    the right choices in life. See, you're at the age where you're going to
    be challenged with some tough choices: drugs and alcohol, prejudice and
    hate. Reject that. Reject those kinds of temptations and continue
    serving your bodies and your soul well by making right choices in life.
    You made right choices to get here to compete. Continue doing so. I
    think it will help you--I know it will help you in your life.
        I want to say one other word. I want to welcome the Afghan girls'
    soccer team who is here. We're glad every country is represented. I
    think it's especially interesting and an especially poignant and
    uplifting moment that young girls are here from the country of
    Afghanistan. Because your country is free, you're here. Because your
    country is free, you can now go to school for the first time--many of
    you can now go to school for the first time.
        Freedom is such a powerful part of the world in which we live, and
    we take great pride in welcoming you all into a free society from a free
    society.
        May God bless you, and may God bless all the athletes and their
    families and coaches who are here. Enjoy yourselves. Good luck. All my
    best.

    Note: The President spoke at 6:35 p.m. at Cleveland Browns Stadium. In
    his remarks, he referred to Matt Ghaffari, 1996 Olympic silver medalist,
    Greco-Roman wrestling; Gov. Bob Taft of Ohio; and Floyd D. Loop,
    cochair, International Children's Games.