[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 48 (Monday, December 4, 2000)]
[Pages 2939-2941]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at an ``Invitation to the White House'' Reception

November 28, 2000

    Thank you very much, and good evening. Hillary and I are delighted 
to welcome all

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of you here, and I want to especially thank Carter Brown and Carl 
Anthony, who I will recognize shortly. I also want to thank Neil 
Horstman, the White House Historical Association, and the White House 
Curator, Betty Monkman, for their work to commemorate the 200th 
anniversary of the White House; and to recognize the members of the 
Committee for the Preservation of the White House for the renovation and 
the refurbishment which they have made possible.
    I hope that you've all had the opportunity to go on the short tour 
just before we started--I understand you have--and to see again what an 
extraordinary place the American people's house really is.
    For two centuries now, the American people have looked at the White 
House as a symbol of our Nation's leadership, strength, and continuity; 
also a symbol of progress and change. The White House wears its history 
proudly but is forever growing and changing, along with America. If you 
think about the history of this room, it's illustrative.
    The East Room began life as Abigail Adams' laundry room when she 
moved into the half-finished house in 1801. A few years later, Thomas 
Jefferson laid out maps and books with Meriwether Lewis to plot the 
expedition that forever changed the map of America. In this room Abraham 
Lincoln lay in state. In this room, a century later, President Lyndon 
Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act.
    Hillary and I have had our own opportunities to add to the history 
of this room, for here we hosted the state dinner, for Nelson Mandela, 
the first President of a free, multiracial South Africa. Appropriately, 
as we enter the new century, the East Room also hosted the first-ever 
White House cybercast. And just today we held here another in a series 
of White House conferences, this one on culture and diplomacy. The 
others have ranged in topics from the new economy to early childhood 
development in the brain.
    Hillary has led the way in meeting our responsibility during these 
years to preserve and enhance the White House and its collections. As 
over 1 \1/2\ million people come here every year, Hillary has taken 
extraordinary steps to ensure that they experience the best of our past 
and the promise of our shared future.
    She personally oversaw the restoration of several of the public 
rooms and helped to build and diversify the collection of American art. 
She established the beautiful sculpture garden in the Jackie Kennedy 
Garden downstairs and worked with the White House Historical Association 
to raise a lasting endowment to preserve the White House and its 
collections. And as we now know, she somehow found the time to chronicle 
our lives here and how the White House works and makes our lives 
possible in ``An Invitation to the White House.''
    I hope her book will give millions of our fellow Americans who may 
never come here a better sense of what is so special about the house, 
what history tells us about the strength of our nation, and about the 
remarkable people who actually make this place work, day-in and day-out, 
year-in and year-out.
    The history of this house is the history of brave men and women, 
from John and Abigail Adams and the men and women who served them, down 
to the present day. As the White House enters its third century, I hope 
that all of those who come after us will find, as Hillary and I have, 
enormous sustenance and strength in the power of this great place.
    I must say, it has been an honor to live here, and I can honestly 
say that there is never a time when the helicopter lands on the South 
Lawn that I still don't feel the thrill of just being here, of being 
able to walk in this place, visit the rooms, and relive, as I have so 
often, the history of our country and what happened in various places in 
this grand old house. So I thank you all for that.
    Now let me welcome J. Carter Brown, who has been a valued artistic 
adviser to us and, indeed, to every First Family since the Kennedy 
administration.
    Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 6 p.m. in the East Room at the White House. 
In his remarks, he referred to J. Carter Brown, chairman, U.S. 
Commission of Fine Arts; historian Carl Anthony; and Neil Horstman, 
executive vice president, White House Historical Association. The First 
Lady's book, entitled ``An Invitation to the White House:

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At Home With History,'' was published by Simon and Schuster. The 
transcript released by the Office of the Press Secretary also included 
the remarks of the First Lady.