[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 48 (Monday, December 3, 2001)]
[Pages 1715-1716]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Honoring the United States Nobel Laureates

November 27, 2001

    Ambassador, thank you very much. Welcome. Dr. Marburger, thanks for 
putting this on. We're so honored that so many great Americans have 
shown up today. Laura and I are thrilled to not only greet you but host 
a reception after this brief dialog.
    I want to welcome all the Nobel laureates, past and present. I want 
to thank Members of the Congress for being here. I want to thank members 
of my Cabinet for coming. And I am grateful that family and friends have 
joined such a distinguished crowd.
    As the Ambassador said, for a century now the Nobel Prize has 
recognized human striving and accomplishment. Since 1901 more than 700 
Nobel Prizes have been awarded, and a third of those to Americans.
    Standing with me are seven of those who have been selected this 
year. Among their achievements are pathbreaking discoveries in physics, 
helpful insights in the workings of the market economies, and a new 
treatment for Parkinson's disease. And all of America congratulates 
them.
    Each Nobel laureate here today belongs to a incredibly select group 
of people. It includes the names of Martin Luther King, Jr.; George C. 
Marshall; T.S. Eliot; Albert Einstein; Vice President Charles Dawes; and 
President Theodore Roosevelt, the first American Nobel laureate, whose 
Peace Prize today occupies a place of honor in the West Wing of the 
White House.
    Tomorrow I'll meet with the newest recipient of that prize, 
Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Several other Nobel laureates have visited 
the White House this year: Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, Shimon Peres.
    These folks come from different regions of the world, but the Nobel 
Foundation is never limited by region or culture. The standard is a 
universal one. It is awarded to men and women who have served the 
highest aspirations of humanity and have done so with success. Many 
awards recognize excellence; the Nobel Foundation recognizes greatness.
    So much of human progress depends on achievements in medicine, 
physics, chemistry, economics, literature, and peace. The annual 
selection of the laureates expresses a profound optimism about humanity 
and our prospects for improvement. This optimism was captured by William 
Faulkner, when accepting his Nobel Prize a half century ago. ``I 
believe,'' he said, ``that man will not merely endure, he will prevail. 
He is immortal, not because he alone amongst creatures has an 
inexhaustible voice but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of 
compassion, sacrifice, and endurance.''
    Each of you, in your own field of excellence, has carried forward 
that same belief in human progress. You've achieved greatness through 
service to others. You have been given great gifts, and you've used them 
to your fullest.
    Our Nation is proud of the work each of you have done. We're proud 
to count you as fellow citizens. We thank you for bringing credit to our 
country and great benefit to mankind.

[[Page 1716]]

    And now, Laura and I would like to invite you all into the foyer for 
a reception.
    God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 1:20 p.m. in the East Room at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Swedish Ambassador to the U.S. Jan 
Eliasson; John H. Marburger III, Director, Office of Science and 
Technology Policy; 2001 Nobel laureates Eric A. Cornell, Wolfgang 
Ketterle, and Carl E. Wieman (Physics), William S. Knowles (Chemistry), 
Leland H. Hartwell (Physiology or Medicine), George A. Akerlof, A. 
Michael Spence, and Joseph E. Stiglitz (Economic Sciences), and United 
Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan (Peace); former President Nelson 
Mandela of South Africa, 1993 Nobel Peace laureate; and Foreign Minister 
Shimon Peres of Israel, 1994 Nobel Peace laureate.