[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 32 (Monday, August 12, 1996)]
[Pages 1410-1412]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
<R04>
Remarks at a Ceremony Launching the Paralympic Torch Relay
August 6, 1996
Thank you so much. First of all, welcome to the White House. Welcome
to the lawn. Welcome to summertime.
I want to thank Al Mead and Andy Fleming for being here today; and
Randy Snow and all the members of the 1996 U.S. Paralympic Team. We are
so delighted to have you here, so excited that this is the beginning of
the torch relay. We know that the torch that we launch here today will
ignite the world's second largest sporting event and the first
Paralympic Games ever to be held here in the United States.
I want to echo what has just been said. It is very fitting that the
torch was lit yesterday by the eternal flame at the tomb of Dr. Martin
Luther King. His life has come to symbolize the struggle and the
promise, the opportunity and the responsibility of our Nation. This is
the first time his flame has been shared for any other purpose. And I'd
like to thank Coretta Scott King and Dexter King, the entire King
family, for sharing it with these games. It is a remarkable statement
and an altogether fitting one. [Applause] Thank you.
I know that our American team, many of whom are gathered here today,
and the other teams around the world will thrill people all around the
world with their courage and their achievements. And we will be reminded
everywhere, but especially here in the United States, how much more we
can accomplish when all people everywhere are given the chance to
participate fully in our national life.
The people in these Olympics got here because they believed in
themselves and worked hard to achieve their goals. The organizing
committee of the Atlanta Paralympic Games, under the leadership of Andy
Fleming and Al Mead and many others here today, have also worked very
hard to make these games the best ever. This year's games are the result
of an unprecedented partnership between the committee, the corporate
community, and the Federal Government. And APOC has done an outstanding
job of educating corporate America about the value of being associated
with these games.
For the first time there will be network television coverage. The
dedication to these games for the members of my own administration I can
tell you has been very heartfelt, and I want to thank them. Education
Secretary Riley himself is now down on the Mall waiting to receive the
torch. The Vice President will have the great honor of declaring the
games open on August the 15th, and as all of you know, there will now be
more than 3,500 athletes there from 120 different nations.
Our American team includes some of the finest athletes and some of
the finest individuals in the world. Aimee Mullins, a student at
Georgetown, my alma mater, who is here with us today, is the only
disabled member of an NCAA Division I track team. And I thank her for
being here and for her contribution. She's a world record holder in the
100 and 200 meter dashes and in the long jump, and she'll be competing
in all three of those events in Atlanta. Trischa Zorn is a swimmer from
Indiana who's been competing since the age of 7 and has won more than 30
Gold Medals in her career. Fourteen-year-old LeAnn Shannon from Orange
Park, Florida, is the youngest member of our team and the youngest
member ever. At this year's trials, she finished first in the 100, 200,
400, and 800 meter races. The joys of youth.
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She also volunteers in a rehabilitation hospital in her community,
helping other people.
In addition to being a world stage for some of the greatest
athletes, the Paralympic Games will also give us an opportunity to
reflect on where the disability movement is heading worldwide, in the
areas of equal opportunity, economic opportunity, and access to sports
for all people with disabilities. I'm determined to press on with
meeting the challenge to our Nation that I put forward in 1992, a
national disability policy based on inclusion, independence, and
empowerment. The Paralympic Games are a powerful demonstration of what
can happen when inclusion, independence, and empowerment become
realities in individuals' lives with great abilities and great hearts.
In Atlanta, experts from around the world will be discussing these
issues in the Third Paralympic Congress, chaired by our good friend
Justin Dart who's also here with us today and who in his own way has the
most Olympian spirit I believe I've ever come across. We thank you for
being here, sir.
My domestic policy adviser, Carol Rasco, will cochair a session on
how to make the athletic experience available to children with
disabilities around the world. And we know this will be a very
successful Congress.
In a few minutes, the Paralympic torch, representing the triumph of
the human spirit, will be formally presented to me on behalf of the 1996
Paralympic team by Paralympic swimmer Diane Straub. I want to thank her
not only for bringing the flame to the White House but also for her
selflessness, her determination, and her achievement. The flame of her
life burns just as brightly as the flame of these games and is lighting
the way to others. Even with her demanding medical school studies and
her training schedule, she still finds time to help disadvantaged
children. She is truly a Paralympic champion and an American hero.
I'd also like to thank the Cochair of the President's Commission on
Physical Fitness, Tom McMillen, for being with me here today and for
supporting the concept that physical fitness is every bit as important,
if not more important, for Americans with disabilities than for other
Americans. We are committed to that. And I thank you, Tom, for being
here.
Now, this torch is beginning its journey home to Atlanta carried by
one of America's best. Randy Snow has been a member of six United States
National Wheelchair Basketball teams. An accident when he was 16 left
him a paraplegic. His enthusiasm and excellence in sports, however, did
not diminish. He's gone on to have an outstanding career in both
basketball and tennis. He devotes a lot of his time to extolling the
value of recreation and wellness to people with disabilities. And in
1994, the National Council of Disability presented him with its
Outstanding Citizenship Award. In 1989, he won the coveted Jack Gerhardt
Award as the Wheelchair Athlete of the Year.
He will hand the torch off to Georgia Congressman John Lewis who
was, as many of you know, an associate of Dr. King, who will take it off
the White House grounds. One thousand people will participate in the
relay that will cover 1,000 miles. When the torch reaches Atlanta on
August 15th, it will take its place in the Olympic Stadium, the most
accessible arena of its kind in the world. I am proud that we have
worked hard to make this a reality.
Dr. King once said, ``Everybody can be great because everybody can
serve.'' That is a great lesson of these games. In their dedication to
excellence, equality, and community, APOC, the athletes, their families,
their coaches are the best examples of what is right with our country.
May this torch serve as an inspiration to all Americans to give their
best in every endeavor, to make the most of their God-given abilities,
and to recognize that we are all stronger and more vibrant when we
develop, recognize, and support the talents of all of our people. May
that be the lasting legacy of the 1996 Paralympics.
It is now my honor to invite Diane Straub, a member of the 1996
Paralympic team, to bring the torch to the stage.
Diane.
Note: The President spoke at 10:11 a.m. on the South Lawn at the White
House. In his remarks, he referred to Al Mead, member, board of
directors, and G. Andrew Fleming, president and chief executive officer,
Atlanta Paralympic Organizing Committee; and Justin Dart, Chair,
President's Committee on Employment of People With Disabilities.
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