Home > News & Policies > April 2003

For Immediate Release
Office of Mrs. Cheney
April 21, 2003

White House Hosts Easter Egg Roll
The South Lawn

     Fact Sheet
     Audio

9:11 A.M. EST

MRS. CHENEY: Good morning. Good morning, everyone. Well, I am so proud that Mrs. Bush has asked me to stand in for her today. This is a great honor, especially since we are honoring military families today. (Applause.)

Performers from Circle of Friends: Am American Girls Musical sing the National Anthem before Mrs. Cheney kicks-off the 2003 Easter Egg Roll.

And I have two people here with me that I'd like to introduce to you. To my right is Mary Jo Myers, and her husband is Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and aren't we proud of him? (Applause.) And to my left is Lynne Pace, and you've seen her husband on television, too. He is Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and aren't we proud of him? (Applause.)

But most of all, we are proud of all of you, the men and women who serve our country, who keep our country free. And one of the most important messages I have to deliver today is to all the little kids here -- we think your moms and dads are terrific. (Applause.) And we are so glad that you could be with us today. This is going to be a lot of fun.

I want to tell you, first of all, that you are going to have some very distinguished readers. You are going to have members of the President's Cabinet, who have taken time off from their really hard jobs so they could come here today and read books to you, because reading is so important. And you will have a good time with them. I'm going to read to you, too. I'll be in one of those little reading nooks. So please come and see me and the other Cabinet members.

There are children's authors here. You'll love meeting them -- the people who write the books that kids love. We have all sorts of entertainers. You're going to have a great time listening and watching the entertainers that have been kind enough to join us today. We have some great sponsors for this event; and I hope if you meet people from the Egg Council, you will thank them for all those thousands of Easter eggs you're going to have such a good time with.

I also want to thank the characters. You're going to find an Easter bunny or two around here, some very good-looking eggs, Arthur, Caillou. You know these characters. I know my grandchildren know these characters, and you'll have a good time talking to them, visiting with them, and maybe -- maybe giving them a hug or two.

Mrs. Cheney reads from her book America: A Patriotic Primer to a group of children during the 2003 East er Egg Roll at the White House.

I also want to thank, especially, Eric Carle. Now, you all know Eric Carle because he wrote a book that is the President's favorite book to read to children, and it's called "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". And actually, the Hungry Caterpillar is with us today, and you'll see him -- or maybe it's a her, I've never been quite sure -- but you'll see the Very Hungry Caterpillar, and thank that Hungry Caterpillar, thank Eric Carle for designing the Easter eggs for this roll, and for designing the poster that you'll all get when you leave, after you've had a very good time today.

Now, I've got to make sure I've thanked everybody. I want to point out to you that we're not only celebrating spring in a very American way today, we've got embassies from around the world who have spots located on the lawn, where you can see what some of the spring traditions in other countries are. And I urge you to do that. That'll be fun. That'll be interesting.

We're going to have a great time. And now, I have a terrific job to do. I'm going to go blow the whistle and start the Easter Egg Roll, so see you in just a second. (Applause.)

(Mrs. Cheney initiates the Easter egg roll and proceeds to the read-aloud session.)

END 9:20 A.M. EDT