[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 52 (Monday, December 29, 2003)]
[Page 1838]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks in a Visit With Angel Tree Children in Alexandria, Virginia

December 22, 2003

    The President. Hey everybody.
    Rev. Lee A. Earl. Mr. President.
    The President. Thank you very much, Reverend Lee. Thank you so much 
for having us here. Lee, thank you very much. Merry Christmas to 
everybody.
    Audience members. Merry Christmas.
    The President. We are so honored to be here to celebrate the Angel 
Tree Christmas. This is a program in which people who love you a lot 
want you to have a merry Christmas. And I want to thank you. I want to 
thank Chuck Colson and Mark Earley of the Prison Fellowship program, 
which has been hosting and organizing the Angel Tree program since 1982. 
Six million boys and girls have received a gift on Christmas, and I want 
to thank you very much for doing that.
    Our attitude is--I know that the reverend here at Shiloh shares this 
attitude--that we change America one heart and one soul at a time; that 
everybody matters, everybody counts; that every child has got a hopeful 
and bright future; and each of us has a responsibility of loving that 
child with all our heart and all our soul. And it's important that all 
of us during this time of--joyous time, this holiday, recognize that 
probably the greatest gift you can possibly give is to love a neighbor 
just like you'd like to be loved yourself.
    And that's what we're doing today. We're honoring that call to love 
and the call to service. And so Laura and I are thrilled that you're 
here. We look forward to joining the good reverend here as we pass out 
some of the gifts to the boys and girls.
    Reverend Earl. Absolutely. And thank you for the gifts that you've 
provided.
    The President. Well, thank you very much. We're honored to be here.
    We want to wish you a merry Christmas, and we've got some gifts to 
give out. Don't we, Laura?
    The First Lady. Yes, we have a lot of gifts to give out.
    The President. Where do we want to start?
    The First Lady. I don't know where to start. [Laughter]
    The President. Right over here? Okay, good.

Note: The President spoke at 3:20 p.m. at the Shiloh Baptist Church. In 
his remarks, he referred to Rev. Lee A. Earl, senior pastor, Shiloh 
Baptist Church; and Charles W. Colson, founder, and Mark Earley, 
president, Prison Fellowship Ministries.