[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 18 (Monday, May 6, 1996)]
[Pages 774-776]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the Olympic Dinner

May 1, 1996

    Thank you very much. Thank you so much. President Walker, thank you 
for your remarks and for your work and to Dick Schultz and Jim Hardymon, 
Steve Green, Anita DeFrantz, and others who are responsible for this 
dinner tonight. To the Members of Congress who are here, and Mr. Michel, 
it's good to see you again. I miss you. I'm glad you're here--I'm glad 
you're here.
    I want to thank the Vice President and Mack McLarty for the work 
they have done on the Olympics and all those others in our 
administration who have undertaken this endeavor, I must say, with great 
joy and energy. As the Vice President mentioned, Hillary had the honor 
of representing our country at the Olympics in Lillehammer and of being 
in Greece and Olympia with our daughter when the Olympic flame was lit 
to be brought to the United States. Our experience with the Olympics has 
been one of the great highlights of our service here in Washington and 
in this great office.
    I'd also like to say a special word of appreciation to the men and 
women up here on the stage with me, particularly those who were with me 
today earlier when the Vice President, over at Eastern High School, in 
the Champions in Life program, for truly so many of them have been an 
inspiration to young people all across the country who may never be 
Olympic athletes but can be Olympian in their citizenship and character 
and the contribution they give to this country, and who drew inspiration 
and strength from what was said for them today.
    I want to thank Billy Payne and Andy Fleming and all those who have 
worked so hard to make the Atlanta Olympics and the Paralympics a great 
success, but also those who won the competition for the 100th mod- 

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ern Olympics to be in Atlanta. It's a great honor for the United States. 
And when opening day comes, I believe that the United States will 
measure up to that honor, that the world will see America achieving a 
new national best.
    The spirit of the United States Olympic Committee was basically born 
with Dr. William Milligan Sloane, who helped to rekindle the modern 
Olympic Games and who was so dedicated to getting his team to Athens for 
the 1896 Olympics that he gave up his own ticket, and his wife's, so 
that the last 2 of the 13 American team members could go. He didn't even 
get to see the spectacle he had made possible. Now, I know a lot of you 
have given very generously to these Olympic Games, but at least you're 
going to get to see them unfold.
    The legacy that Dr. Sloan left us has been richly fulfilled by this 
U.S. Olympic Committee. When our athletes line up at the starting blocks 
or face off in the wrestlers' circle or the boxing ring or the 
basketball or the tennis court, we will see the best in the world. But 
we have to thank not only them for their dedication, their coaches, 
their trainers, their families, their friends, but also the United 
States Olympic Committee. Here in America we do it our way, the 
Government does not finance the Olympic teams. Everyone pitches in and 
does his or her part, businesses, communities, universities, neighbors, 
friends, and families.
    So not only our athletes but also all of you would have anything to 
do with the Olympics are part of Team USA, and on behalf of the American 
people let me thank you for making Team USA possible. We are very proud 
of you.
    Not very long ago I had the privilege to spend a few hours with 
Billy Payne, walking around the Olympic stadium and some of the 
facilities and being briefed. Andy Fleming was there, others were there. 
And I'm telling you they have done a magnificent job down there, and I 
am in awe of the level of organization, preparation, and execution we 
are seeing. I am very proud of every aspect of this Olympics, and I will 
be bursting with pride when the games begin. I hope in some way I can 
communicate to the American people and to people all over the world what 
the spirit and character of the Olympics mean, what the standard of 
excellence within honorable rules set by these Olympians and the 
Paralympians mean to the United States.
    I also want to thank those who were there with me at Eastern High 
School today, who reminded those young people that no one really makes 
it alone and that every achievement is worthy of respect. That's what I 
want the world to see at the Olympics this summer. And if I could leave 
you with that thought--you know, when this country gets together, when 
we reach across all the lines that divide us, when we say, in spite of 
our differences of color or creed or region or station in life, we 
really are one nation, helping each other to achieve our individual 
dreams--when America does that, we are never defeated. And I believe 
this summer the world will see one America, a place where individual 
dreams are realized through common efforts, where all Americans who want 
to work hard are being given a chance to succeed, where different points 
of view and different heritages are undergirded by shared values that 
keep this great country strong and secure and give it its character and 
its future.
    I thank you, all of you, for contributing to that and for making 
America's Team still the envy of the entire world. Good luck and God 
bless you.

Note: The President spoke at 8 p.m. at the Washington Hilton Hotel. In 
his remarks, he referred to Leroy Walker, president, and Dick Schultz, 
executive director, United States Olympic Committee; Anita DeFrantz, 
member, International Olympic Committee; James F. Hardymon, chairman and 
CEO of Textron, Inc.; Steve Green, chairman and CEO of Samsonite; Bob 
Michel, former House minority leader; Billy Payne, chief executive 
officer, Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games; and G. Andrew Fleming, 
chief executive officer, Atlanta Paralympic Organizing Committee.

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