[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 49 (Monday, December 8, 2003)]
[Pages 1748-1749]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Lighting the National Christmas Tree

December 4, 2003

    Thank you all very much. Welcome to the Christmas Pageant of Peace. 
This evening we continue a tradition in Washington as we gather to light 
the National Christmas Tree. Tonight and throughout the Christmas season 
our thoughts turn to a star in the east, seen 20 centuries ago, and to a 
light that can guide us still. Laura and I are so pleased to join you in 
this ceremony, and we thank you all for being here.
    It's always good to see Santa. I know you've got a lot of 
commitments this time of year. [Laughter] We also know how Santa gets 
around: He travels in the dark of night; he arrives unannounced--
[laughter]--and

[[Page 1749]]

he's gone before you know he was there. [Laughter] Santa, I can assure 
you, it's a lot easier on a flying sled than it is on Air Force One. 
[Laughter]
    I want to thank Peter Nostrand, the chairman of the Christmas 
Pageant of Peace, and John Betchkal, the president. I want to thank very 
much Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton and her staff for helping put 
this fine event on. I want to thank all the members of my Cabinet who 
are here. I appreciate Fran Mainella, who's the Director of the National 
Park Service. I want to thank all the National Park Service employees 
who work so hard on behalf of the American people.
    I want to thank Father Kleinweber for his gracious offering of 
prayer. I appreciate the musicians--fantastic job tonight. Thank you all 
for coming. I want to thank the members of the board of the Christmas 
Pageant of Peace. I want to welcome all the children from the Boys and 
Girls Clubs from this region for being here.
    Also with us this evening are military personnel, including some who 
have recently returned from duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. I know your 
families are glad to have you back. They're proud of your service, and 
so is our country. On behalf of all Americans, welcome home, and job 
well done.
    We also honor all of our fellow Americans serving far away from home 
during the holidays. Separation from loved ones is especially difficult 
this time of year. Our people in uniform can know that their families 
miss them and love them, that millions are praying for them, and that 
America is grateful for the men and women who serve and defend our 
country.
    The story of Christmas is familiar to us all, and it still holds a 
sense of wonder and surprise. When the good news came first to a young 
woman from Nazareth, her response was understandable. She asked, ``How 
can this be?'' The news would bring difficulty to her family and 
suspicion upon herself. Yet, Mary gave her reply, ``Be it unto me 
according to Thy word.'' The wait for a new king had been long, and the 
manner of his arrival was not as many had expected. The king's first 
cries were heard by shepherds and cattle. He was raised by a carpenter's 
son.
    Yet this one humble life lifted the sights of humanity forever. And 
in His words we hear a voice like no other. Across the generations, the 
poor have heard words of hope, the proud have heard words of challenge, 
and the weak and the dying have heard words of assurance. And mankind 
has been given a message first delivered by angels on a shepherd's 
field: ``Fear not.''
    As we near Christmas in a time of war, these words bring comfort. We 
don't know all of God's ways, yet the Christmas story promises that 
God's purpose is justice and His plan is peace. At times this belief is 
tested. During the Civil War, Longfellow wrote a poem that later became 
a part of a Christmas carol, ``Hate is strong and mocks the song of 
peace on Earth, good will to men.''
    That poem also reminds us that hate is not the final word: ``Then 
pealed the bells more loud and deep, `God is not dead, nor doth He 
sleep, the wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on Earth, 
good will to men.'''
    And now as an expression of our own hope for peace in this Christmas 
season, we light the national tree. Maggie Stuempfle and Andre Joyner 
are with us here. They're members of the Boys and Girls Clubs of 
America. Laura and I would like to ask Maggie and Andre to come up, and 
we'll turn on the lights. But I ask you all to join us in a national 
count down, starting with five, four, three, two, one.

Note: The President spoke at 5:55 p.m. on the Ellipse during the annual 
Christmas Pageant of Peace. In his remarks, he referred to Father Dennis 
Kleinweber, pastor, St. Philomena Catholic Church, East Cleveland, OH.