[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 32 (Monday, August 9, 2004)]
[Pages 1401-1402]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the International Children's Games and Cultural Festival in 
Cleveland, Ohio

July 30, 2004

    The President. Thank you. Thanks for coming. Welcome to the United 
States. I am honored to have been introduced by a great Iranian-
American, silver medalist Matt Ghaffari. Thank you, Matt, for being 
here, and thank you for your introduction.
    Listen, I don't know if you know this--hold on--there are--the 
Governor of this

[[Page 1402]]

great State is with us today. Senators are with us today, very fine 
people in Senators Voinovich and DeWine. Members of the Congress are 
here today. The reason why is they want to join me in welcoming you who 
do not live in the United States to our great country. We're glad you're 
here, and we hope you have a wonderful experience in America.
    You're in a great United States city. Cleveland, Ohio, is a 
fantastic place to visit. And I want to thank--and I know you join me in 
thanking the mayor of Cleveland, Mayor Jane Campbell, for her gracious 
hospitality.
    I want to thank the sports authority figures who are here. I 
appreciate David Gilbert of the Cleveland Sports Commission. I want to 
thank Alex Machaskee, who is the cochair of the International Children's 
Games, and Dr. Fred Loop, who is the other chairman, for working so hard 
to put this event on.
    I know you join me in thanking all the volunteers from the city of 
Cleveland who have worked hard to make sure your stay here is a good 
stay. I suggest you go to the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame. Oh, yes, that's 
where you need to spend some time.
    I want to thank the former Olympians who are here. They wish you all 
the very best in the games and hope that you become Olympians 
yourselves. And this is a good place to start, right here in the 
competition.
    A couple things I want to tell you. One, I hope you enjoy yourself, 
and I hope you spend time not only competing hard but getting to know 
each other. Like, there's all kinds of cultures here and different 
languages are spoken, but I think you'll find you share a lot of things 
in common. Yes, you hope for a better life. You care deeply about people 
you love. You want the world to be a better place. And so, not only 
compete hard, but spend time with each other and share cultures. I think 
you'll find you're all God's children. There's so much in common.
    A couple other things I want to tell you is make sure that you 
continue to make the right choices in life. See, you're at the age where 
you're going to be challenged with some tough choices: drugs and 
alcohol, prejudice and hate. Reject that. Reject those kinds of 
temptations and continue serving your bodies and your soul well by 
making right choices in life. You made right choices to get here to 
compete. Continue doing so. I think it will help you--I know it will 
help you in your life.
    I want to say one other word. I want to welcome the Afghan girls' 
soccer team who is here. We're glad every country is represented. I 
think it's especially interesting and an especially poignant and 
uplifting moment that young girls are here from the country of 
Afghanistan. Because your country is free, you're here. Because your 
country is free, you can now go to school for the first time--many of 
you can now go to school for the first time.
    Freedom is such a powerful part of the world in which we live, and 
we take great pride in welcoming you all into a free society from a free 
society.
    May God bless you, and may God bless all the athletes and their 
families and coaches who are here. Enjoy yourselves. Good luck. All my 
best.

Note: The President spoke at 6:35 p.m. at Cleveland Browns Stadium. In 
his remarks, he referred to Matt Ghaffari, 1996 Olympic silver medalist, 
Greco-Roman wrestling; and Gov. Bob Taft of Ohio. This item was not 
received in time for publication in the appropriate issue.