[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 50 (Monday, December 19, 1994)]
[Pages 2493-2494]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the Concert of the Americas in Miami

December 10, 1994

    Thank you. Thank you, Michael, my fellow leaders of the Americas and 
their families, and to all of our distinguished guests tonight. I know 
you all join me in a heartfelt thanks to David Salzman and to our friend 
Quincy Jones and all the wonderful entertainers from all over our 
hemisphere who made us so wonderfully happy tonight.

[[Page 2494]]

    We are gathered tonight as a family of nations, each with cultures 
that are unique and yet familiar to all of us. The arts help us to 
appreciate and to gain a deeper understanding of our hemispheric 
heritages, as well as the ideas, the voices, the images that we share as 
members of the larger American family.
    We all know that art strengthens the bonds among us. Our nations 
grow ever closer as we delve into the souls of our culture through our 
artists: the soaring voice of a Placido Domingo, the rich performances 
of the wonderful, late Raul Julia, the magical words of Nobel Prize 
winner Derrick Wolcott, and the many artists who are performing for us 
tonight.
    The poet Pablo Neruda, on receiving the Nobel Prize for literature, 
spoke of moving toward the splendid city. He reminded us that as we 
build a better world, the two guiding stars of our journey are struggle 
and hope. ``Do not forget,'' he said, ``on the way to the splendid city, 
there should be no such thing as a lone struggle and no such thing as a 
solitary hope.''
    Neighbor with neighbor, we have gathered here tonight in that 
spirit, to share our gifts, to contemplate our common destiny, to 
celebrate not only who we are but the joyous possibilities of what this 
splendid community of democracies can yet become.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 9:43 p.m. at the James L. Knight Center. In 
his remarks, he referred to actor Michael Douglas, television producer 
David Salzman, and musician Quincy Jones, who served as master of 
ceremonies for the concert.