[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 1 (Monday, January 10, 2000)]
[Pages 18-19]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Videotape Remarks for Dr. George Washington Carver National Recognition 
Day

January 5, 2000

    It's an honor for me to send my greetings to all of you in Santa 
Clara. I thank you for what you're doing to help instill the joy of 
science in our children, to help close the digital divide, and to honor 
the legacy of George Washington Carver.
    Dr. Carver overcame enormous obstacles to become one of our greatest 
scientists and teachers. He was born to a slave mother on a Missouri 
farm, orphaned from an early age, survived great illness, and often was 
the victim of bigotry and hate. It wasn't until his late twenties that 
he was able to obtain a high school education.
    And even as a child, Dr. Carver was known for talking to God through 
flowers and other plants. It's no wonder that agriculture became his 
ministry to mankind. At Booker T. Washington's Tuskegee Institute, 
Carver applied the almost magical possibilities of chemistry to the 
fields and farms of the South. He created 300 useful products from 
peanuts and more than 100 from sweet potatoes, spawning numerous 
industries. He helped save the South's depleted soils. And no person 
deserves more credit for liberating the South from its reliance on 
cotton.
    Dr. Carver was also a great humanitarian. In everything he did, he 
was motivated by a deep desire to help poor, struggling farmers lead 
healthier, happier, more prosperous lives. And as if his scientific 
contributions were not great enough, he donated his entire life savings 
to help establish the Carver Research Foundation at Tuskegee.
    Dr. Carver once said that he tried to lead his life ``in the spirit 
of a little child seeking only to know the truth and follow it.'' That 
is the spirit of discovery that the Healing Institute and the Santa 
Clara Alliance of Black Educators are helping to nurture in our children 
today. I am deeply grateful for that.
    Congratulations to all the Carver Scholars, and to all of you who 
are helping our children soar beyond limitations. God bless you all.

Note: The President's remarks were videotaped at approximately 12:30 
p.m. in the Roosevelt

[[Page 19]]

Room on December 16, 1999, for transmission on January 5, 2000, to the 
Santa Clara County Carver Scholars Program meeting at the Santa Clara 
County Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. The transcript was released 
by the Office of the Press Secretary on January 5. A tape was not 
available for verification of the content of these remarks.