



			   THE WHITE HOUSE

		    Office of the Press Secretary
______________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                             April 13, 1994     

	     
		       REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
	       TO 1994 AMERICAN WINTER OLYMPIC ATHLETES 
	     
	     
			    The East Room 
	     
	     
2:34 P.M. EDT
	     
	     
	     THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much, Mr. Vice President. 
the First Lady, thank you for coming out here, in this case, not 
warming up but trying to cool down the crowd -- (laughter) -- while I 
was trying to get out of the Oval Office.  To all of our 
distinguished guests, and especially to the Olympians.
	     
	     Let me say, first of all, that the Olympics for me, like 
most Americans, is primarily a personal experience; not something I 
experienced as President, but something -- I'm just another American, 
cheering for our teams.  I'm proud of the fact that we brought home 
more medals than any U.S. Winter Olympic Team in history.  I'm proud 
of the astonishing achievements of this -- Olympic team and the fact 
that at least two of the athletes won four gold medals.
	     
	     I was elated and a little resentful, frankly, when my 
wife and daughter were able to go to Lillehammer and I couldn't.  But 
you can bet your last nickel that all of us will be in Atlanta --
(applause) -- our friends from Georgia there.  (Applause.)
	     
	     There's not much I can add to what the First Lady and 
the Vice President have said, except to first say how terribly 
impressed I was at the reports I got from Hillary and Chelsea about 
their contacts with the Olympians from the United States; about what 
kind of young people we sent over there and what kind of courage they 
had and the efforts that they made.  It made an incredible impression 
on me.
	     
	     And, second, to tell you what I said when I started -- I 
experience the Olympics primarily as a citizen.  I was -- as a matter 
of fact, I may have endangered the national security, because I 
stayed up every night until you went off the air.   (Laughter.)  I 
saw every last event.  I saw every last interview.  I heard the Star 
Spangled Banner played every time it was played.  I did it first when 
I was alone and then, when Hillary and Chelsea came back, we did it 
together.  And I want to say something very personal about it.

	     What you did there just by getting there I hope with all 
my heart was communicated to the children that you visited when you 
went to the schools.  And I thank you for that.  And if I could ask 
you just for one thing, it would be to try to take some of your time 
-- and I saw from the television portraits of some of you, that a lot 
of you have done this already -- but to try to take some of your time 
for as long as you can just to find some way to expose yourselves to 
the young people of this country.  Because so many of them have so 
many troubles; they have so many difficulties; they have no one to 
cheer them on or spur them on or get them up at 4:00 o'clock in the 
morning the way some of you had to to become what you wanted to be.  
And yet, by seeing you they can imagine themselves in the light of 
your life.  
	     
	     And I can tell you that I work hard up here every day, 
all of us do, trying to find ways to pull this country together and 


push this country forward and give our people the opportunities to 
live up to their God-given capacities.  But in the end, this country 
is great because of what happens inside people's spirits, and in 
families, and in communities.  
	     
	     And there are many of those young people who you could 
reach better than I ever could.  And because of what you have done, 
they will see that there are things that they could do.  Because of 
what you became, there are things that they can become.  
	     
	     I thank my friends, Florence Griffith-Joyner and Tom 
McMillen, for their leadership of our Council on Athletics and 
Physical Fitness; and all the others who have never forgotten the 
power of example in a positive way.  Just never forget that.  All of 
us as Americans are elated at just the very thought that we could 
send people to the Olympic Games and what you had to do.  You will 
probably never know, and most of you will probably never see the 
results of the people you may have influenced just by visiting these 
schools in the last day.  But I plead with you to keep doing it, 
because there are a lot of young people out there that we need for 
America's future.  There are a lot of young people out there who will 
be making decisions about their lives in the next couple of years who 
literally may be profoundly affected just by seeing you standing in 
their classrooms or walking their halls or having a simple 
conversation with them.
	     
	     You are the embodiment of what the rest of us try to 
create every day.  I hope you'll never forget it, and always give a 
little of it back to the next generation of young Americans.
	     
	     Thank you, and God bless you all.  (Applause.)
	     
	     (Gifts are presented to the President.)
	     
	     THE PRESIDENT:  I don't know if I have the courage to 
get on this.  (Laughter.)  When I got this jacket, the Vice 
President, never one to pass up an opportunity to keep me humble, 
said, "They also have a "luge suit" for you.  (Laughter.)  Nothing he 
says ever has one meaning.  The other meaning was, "think how much 
thinner you would look in it."  (Laughter.)
	     
	     This is wonderful.  Thank you very much.  (Applause.)
	     
	     (More gifts are presented.)

				 END2:41 P.M. EDT

