[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 33 (Monday, August 18, 1997)]
[Pages 1248-1251]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the National Archives and Records Administration Announcing 
the White House Millennium Program

August 15, 1997

    Thank you very much. Governor Carlin, thank you for hosting us here 
in this wonderful place, in the shadow of our most important historical 
documents. I thank the British and Australian Ambassadors for joining 
us, along with representatives of the embassies of Brazil, France, 
Iceland, and Germany. I'm glad we have so many people from our Cabinet 
here today, Secretaries Shalala, Riley, Slater; General McCaffrey; Dr. 
Varmus from the NIH; Joe Duffey, Director of the USIA; Senator Harris 
Wofford, the head of our national service efforts; Dr. John Brademas; 
Robert Stanton; and others who are here.
    We have a number of citizens who've come from--some from quite a 
distance--the mayor of Beverly Hills, California, MeraLee Goldman is 
here. Mr. Pete Homer, the vice president of the National Indian Business 
Association; Mr. Leland Swenson, the president of the National Farmers 
Union, is here. And I want to make particular note of the Director of 
our initiative on race, Judy Winston, because that's going to be a very 
important part of what will happen as we prepare for the millennium.
    As the First Lady said, this gives us a remarkable opportunity to 
honor the past and to imagine the future, and to connect the two in our 
own minds and for our fellow Americans. The 20th century has been called 
the American century. Through wars and depression and industrial 
revolution and now an information revolution, our American spirit of 
discovery, innovation, and faith in the future have carried us forward 
and inspired billions of people around the world.
    Now we have come to a milestone, nearing the end of an exhilarating 
decade that has seen the fall of communism and the rise of democracy 
around the world; the mapping of the mysteries of the human body and the 
exploration of the terrain of Mars; the creation of new American ideas 
and art. Now we have begun the most important exploration of all, I 
believe: rediscovering and reaffirming our common identity as a people

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in a very new and different time, and coming together as one America.
    Still early in our journey, we find ourselves at the turn of our 
first millennium as a nation. For centuries, people have wondered what 
this millennium would bring. Would it signal an Apocalypse or herald a 
new world, mark a time of decline or a time of renewal. Whatever the 
prophecies and forecasts--and there will be more and more and more 
coming out over the next couple of years--whatever the hopes and fears, 
the millennium is no longer a distant possibility. It has arrived. We 
are present at the future, a moment we must now define for ourselves and 
for our children.
    As the year 2000 draws near, we must ask ourselves, what will it 
take to meet that challenge, to define that future, to prepare ourselves 
for a new century and a new millennium? What of our values and heritage 
will we carry with us? And what gifts shall we give to the future?
    All over the world, nations and communities are preparing to observe 
the millennium with a wide variety of efforts. The United Kingdom will 
build bridges, museums, new parks, and a new university. Germany will 
hold Expo 2000, the first world's fair to mark a millennium. Today I am 
pleased to accept Chancellor Kohl's invitation for the United States to 
participate in Expo 2000, joining 143 other organizations and nations. 
Australia will host the 2000 Summer Olympics. Iceland will celebrate the 
1000th anniversary of Leif Erikson's voyage to the New World.
    The White House Millennium Program will guide and direct America's 
celebration of the millennium by showcasing the achievements that define 
us as a nation, our culture, our scholarship, our scientific 
exploration. I appreciate the interest that the First Lady has shown in 
this endeavor, and I'm pleased she will play a leading role in our 
ongoing efforts. I also appreciate the work that she and her staff have 
done already to bring us to this point today. And I want to thank Ellen 
McCulloch-Lovell, formerly Director of the President's Committee on Arts 
and Humanities, for agreeing to direct the White House Millennium 
Program Office. Thank you, Ellen.
    Today I want to talk about what we are already doing to prepare 
ourselves for the 21st century and to make this new millennium our own. 
First and most important, we are making education our children's first 
priority. They will, after all, live out most of their lives in this new 
millennium and the new century. This month I signed historic legislation 
that balanced the budget but also includes the largest investment in 
education in a generation from early childhood to college and beyond. In 
the coming months, I will continue to fight to finally establish high 
and measurable national standards of academic excellence.
    By the year 2000, we have set a goal of connecting every single 
classroom and library in the entire United States to the Internet. I 
thank the Congress for funding that endeavor and the private sector for 
helping us, so far, to stay slightly ahead of schedule. We must redouble 
our efforts to make sure that every one of our fellow citizens has the 
tools to succeed in the new century.
    Second, we have to continue the path that has restored optimism and 
expansiveness to our economy but now to ensure that all Americans have a 
chance to benefit from it.
    Third, we have to ensure that our unique and vibrant cultural life 
flourishes in the new century and that our rich history is treasured and 
preserved. I am pleased that the National Endowment for the Humanities 
will sponsor a nationally televised series of ``Millennium Minutes'' 
that spotlight 1,000 years of important people, events, and 
achievements. The National Endowment for the Arts leadership project for 
the millennium will tell America's stories through the arts and initiate 
projects, such as new boys choirs modeled after the acclaimed Boys Choir 
of Harlem. The NEA will also send teams of photographers across the 
country to capture their vision of America at the turn of a new century. 
And the President's Committee on Arts and the Humanities will launch its 
worthy ancestors program, bringing together commercial, creative, and 
nonprofit sectors to save significant cultural materials from folk, 
popular, and classical traditions.
    Fourth, we must take steps to make sure that the documents of our 
democracy are safe for the ages, for the millions of Ameri

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cans and new immigrants and foreign visitors who view them every year. 
Believe it or not, the documents--the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, 
and the Declaration of Independence--are seriously threatened by the 
wear of time and the elements, unless we act in the next 3 years to save 
them. That is why I am very pleased that the National Archives, under 
Governor Carlin's leadership, has a 3-year plan to ensure that they will 
also survive into the next millennium.
    The highest project for the millennium at the Smithsonian is to save 
our Star-Spangled Banner by 2001--the very flag that flew over Fort 
McHenry and inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem that became our 
national anthem.
    Fifth, we must continue to push the limits of science and 
technology, and to continue to explore the universe. The July 4th 
landing of the Sojourner Mars Probe transfixed the world. It is 
inspiring a new generation, and I hope very much that it has convinced a 
majority of Americans to continue to support our exploration of space. 
NASA will launch new robotic missions to Mars in 1998, 2001, and 2003.
    The National Science Foundation will be 50 years old in the year 
2000. To celebrate its anniversary and encourage young people to pursue 
careers in science, the Foundation will launch its National Science 
Foundation 2000 program, a national campaign on the importance of 
science, engineering, and mathematics.
    Now, as the millennium turns, as we have all seen from countless 
press reports, so do the dates on our computers. Experts are concerned 
that many of our information systems will not differentiate between 
dates in the 20th and the 21st century. I want to assure the American 
people that the Federal Government, in cooperation with State and local 
government and the private sector, is taking steps to prevent any 
interruption in Government services that rely on the proper functioning 
of Federal computer systems. We can't have the American people looking 
to a new century and a new millennium with their computers, the very 
symbol of modernity and the modern age, holding them back, and we're 
determined to see that it doesn't happen.
    Sixth, we must make sure that the land God has given us is preserved 
for generations to come. At the beginning of the 20th century, Theodore 
Roosevelt said, ``We are not building this country of ours for a day. It 
is to last through the ages.'' As we enter the new century, we have a 
moral obligation to continue that charge. We've already acted to protect 
some of our most treasured places, from Lake Tahoe to the Grant 
Staircase-Escalante National Monument to the Florida Everglades. And we 
are working to address the very real problem of climate change for the 
next century.
    Next we must do everything we can to revive the spirit of citizen 
service in the new century. Every American ought to have the chance to 
serve. And I am very pleased that AmeriCorps, our national service 
program, has set a goal of doubling the number of full-time AmeriCorps 
volunteers by 2000. I'm also pleased that the Peace Corps will build on 
its legacy of service by setting a goal of tripling the size of its 
global learning partnership, World Wise Schools, by the new millennium. 
This program connects Peace Corps volunteers with teachers and students 
right here in America to promote international and intercultural 
understanding.
    And finally, we must continue to come together as one America. As 
Walt Whitman once said, ``We are a nation of nations.'' It is our 
diversity, alive in our democracy, that is the source of our creativity, 
our inventiveness, our ability to communicate all around the world. That 
is why last June I called upon all of our fellow Americans to begin a 
great national conversation on race and reconciliation to help to carry 
us into a new millennium.
    Now, these are just a few of the ways we are planning to celebrate 
the new millennium and make it our own. Ultimately, every American must 
decide what gifts he or she will give to the future, but each has a 
responsibility for our common destiny. So let me urge every citizen, 
every family, every community to think of ways to celebrate and 
commemorate the millennium, from rebuilding and rejuvenating your local 
schools to restoring historic monuments to recording oral histories of 
family members.

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    Already, cities all across America are planning celebrations of 
their own. Over the next 3 years, the First Lady and I will work with 
Governors, mayors, community leaders, to make the millennium a truly 
national celebration of gifts to the future. I invite you to share your 
ideas with us by visiting our new White House Millennium Program website 
at www.whitehouse.gov. I decided that I have a future giving out 800 
numbers and websites. [Laughter] We only can hope to equal the number of 
hits that Governor Carlin has already said the Archives have.
    This is a serious thing. We want the best ideas we can to 
commemorate, to energize, and to drive the largest possible number of 
Americans to work together to make contributions to the future. And 
technology can help us do it. We want people of all ages and all walks 
of life to give us their ideas through the website. Over the next 3 
years the site will give us a chance also to tell the American people 
about what we're planning.
    We will award the best local projects with the honorary title, 
Millennium Communities. And we'll post those stories on our websites for 
other communities to read about and learn from. Other nations are keenly 
interested in what we're doing to mark the millennium and today, 
therefore, the Voice of America is broadcasting this event around the 
world. The Voice of America is also launching its own project, a series 
of special broadcasts about how we are celebrating the millennium.
    We mark our own lives by milestones and anniversaries. We mark the 
timeline of our Nation with commemorations: the bicentennial of our 
independence, the 50th anniversary of D-Day, the 50th anniversary of the 
end of World War II in the Pacific, next month the 40th anniversary of 
the Supreme Court's historic order to integrate Little Rock Central High 
School.
    Each of our major turning points was an affirmation of our values, 
and as we recall them, we renew those values and gain new energy from 
them. With the millennium, we must now decide how to think about our 
commitment to the future. Thomas Paine said a long time ago, ``We have 
it in our power to begin the world over again.'' We have always believed 
that in this country, and we must now take it upon ourselves to take 
stock as we approach this new millennium to commit ourselves to begin 
the world over again for our children, our children's children, for 
people who will live in a new century. It is to the people of that new 
century that we must all offer our very best gifts. It is for them that 
we will celebrate the millennium.

    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 9:43 a.m. in the Rotunda. In his remarks, 
he referred to John Carlin, Archivist of the United States; Sir John 
Cerr, British Ambassador to the United States; Andrew Peacock, 
Australian Ambassador to the United States; Dr. John Brademas, 
president, New York University; and Robert Stanton, Director, National 
Park Service.