[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 51 (Monday, December 25, 2000)]
[Pages 3145-3146]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the Arts and Humanities Awards Dinner

December 20, 2000

    Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. I will be brief. I said what I had 
to say this afternoon. I loved it. I hope all of you did. I can hardly 
believe this is the eighth and last event like this that I will have a 
chance to preside over. But I want all of you to know, it has been a 
great honor.
    And one of the things that I have prized most about being President 
is the opportunity to highlight the good that others do--many times 
famous and powerful people, many times people who would otherwise have 
been completely unknown. But I have a special feeling about the arts and 
humanities because in politics, we are always concerned with the moment 
and trying to win the moment for the American people. But in the end, 
those things that are timeless matter more. And that is what all of you 
have given us.
    I want to thank those who sponsored these events today and made them 
possible. I want to thank the National Endowment for the Arts and the 
National Endowment for the Humanities, Bill Ferris and Bill Ivey and all 
those who work with them. Since we're celebrating the arts tonight, I 
want to thank the magnificent musicians of the United States Marine 
Corps, who have made my life so wonderful these last 8 years. And 
Maestro Slatkin and our hometown symphony here, who will be playing 
later. And my friend Thomas Hampson--thank you all very much.
    I would like to ask all of you just to begin this evening by joining 
me in a toast to our honorees. They are an amazing assemblage of 
creative people, each unique, sharing the common fact that they have 
given us more than we ever could have imagined. Please join me in a 
toast to the 2000 honorees to the National Medal of the Arts and the 
National Medal of the Humanities.

Note: The President spoke at 9:18 p.m. in a pavilion on the South Lawn 
at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to Leonard Slatkin, 
Music

[[Page 3146]]

Director, National Symphony Orchestra; and baritone Thomas Hampson. The 
transcript released by the Office of the Press Secretary also included 
the remarks of the First Lady.