For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
April 10, 2001
Remarks by the President in Character Education Event
The State Dining Room
Listen to the President's
Remarks
3:12 P.M. EDT
THE
PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Mr. Secretary, thank
you very much. Mr. Mayor, thank you very much for being
here. I'm glad to see you. And I'm glad to see the
Superintendent. I appreciate you all being here. This is
not the first time I've been with the Mayor, nor with the
Superintendent, both of whom are doing a fine job for Washington,
D.C. I'm proud to call this place home, and I'm proud to
have you all leading the city and the school district.
I want to
thank the members of the Young Gentlemen's Club, and I'm looking
forward to shaking your hand after the discussion. And thank
you all for making the right choices in life. I want to
thank our panelists. I look forward to hearing from our
panelists.
I want to
start the discussion by quoting Martin Luther King, Jr., who said
this: "Intelligence is not enough. Intelligence
plus character, that is the goal of true education." So
we're here today to herald character-building
programs. We're here today to recommend that throughout
America we teach values to our children; that we not only teach our
children how to read and write, but that we be bold enough to teach
them the difference between right and wrong, as well. And
we've picked a pretty darn good school as an example.
By the way,
I found this, that one of the keys to success in our public education
is to have good strong principles. So, Andy, thank you for
being here. I'm looking forward to hearing from
you. One of the keys to success is to have role models not
only live a quality life, but be willing to take time out of their
lives to share their experiences. So I'm pleased to have a
star basketball player with us here.
One of the
keys to success is to find people who are willing to use their
intelligence to rally people of compassion to serve as mentors and role
models for children, young ladies in this case. And so I'm
pleased that Elaine Bennett is here. One of the keys to
success is being a good mom. And so I'm so thankful you're
here, Nicole. One of the keys to success is to be willing to
listen to what the adults say. And so, Isaiah, thank you for
being here, as well.
And
finally, it is an honor that Mr. Bob Howard is with us, a person who
has taken time out of his life to make sure that the Young Gentlemen's
Club flourishes.
Parents
have a tough battle in America today. Their children
sometimes receive conflicting messages. And what public
education ought to do is stand on the side of parents, and be willing
to reinforce the values that parents teach their
children. And the Young Gentlemen's Club does just
that. And so I'm looking forward to hearing the
stories. I'm looking forward to hearing how best I can
help.
One way we
can help, by the way, is to have our budgets reflect our
priorities. And the budget I submitted to Congress triples
the amount of character education money available for public
education. The budget I submitted to the Congress increases
the amount of money available for abstinence education
programs. And the money and program I've submitted to the
Congress encourages after-school programs to be run by faith-based and
community-based programs that exist because they've heard the universal
call to love a neighbor just like they'd like to be loved themselves.
We can make
a huge difference in the lives of America's children. It starts
recognizing that society's changed one child at a time; one heart, one
soul, one conscience at a time. And this program, the Young
Gentlemen's Club, does precisely that.
So thank
you, Mr. Secretary, it's an honor. And thank you all for
coming.
*
* * * *
THE
PRESIDENT: Let me say one thing, Mr.
Secretary. To prove the principal's point, they use a
Stanford Nine here in the District of Columbia. Many of you
know that I'm a strong advocate for accountability. If you don't
measure, you don't know. And so, under the leadership of the
Superintendent, there's a lot of measuring that goes
on. It's really important to measure, by the way, and I hope
the Congress gets the message how important it is that in return for
more money, we need to have strong accountability systems developed at
the local level.
Cleveland
Elementary School, on the Stanford Nine, is on partnership with
affluent local suburban districts. In other words, it's not
just talking the talk, the results have improved significantly as a
result of character programs, and focus on each child.
And I want
to thank you for your hard work, Madam Principal, and the results bear
out what you just said. There is a connection between good
character and good education. And we've got to remember that
in this country. That's why it's important to spread
character education programs throughout America.
*
* * * *
THE
PRESIDENT: I think we've got a perfect gentleman
here. Tell us about your program, Isaiah, can you?
Q Yes. The
program teaches us how to be -- how to respect women and how to control
our attitude.
THE
PRESIDENT: And when do you meet? How often do you
meet?
Q When
I was there we used to meet in the afternoons.
THE
PRESIDENT: Oh, good. And so who is -- teaches you
how to respect women? Is that what you just
said? And is it working?
Q Yes. (Laughter.)
THE
PRESIDENT: How about mom?
Q Yes.
THE
PRESIDENT: You listen to your mom?
Q Yes.
THE
PRESIDENT: I listen to mine. (Laughter.)
* * * * *
THE
PRESIDENT: Is he studying?
Q He's
studying hard. He's very --
THE
PRESIDENT: That's great.
Q --
excited about his school work, and all that he does.
THE
PRESIDENT: He's going to college, isn't he?
Q That's
right. Yes, he is. (Applause.)
THE
PRESIDENT: Have you got anything to add to that, Isaiah?
(Laughter.)
*
* * * *
THE
PRESIDENT: Well, I want to thank our panelists. I
believe America can conquer any problem we're faced with, I truly
believe that, because this is a loving country, because a lot of people
really care about members of the Young Gentlemen's Club, whether it be
at Cleveland Elementary or any other elementary. There are a
lot of people who really care about their neighbor in this country.
All of us
have got to do our part. The federal government can put
money up, but we can't make people love one another. And
that's something we've just got to understand in our
country. That we can fund programs -- and we will -- there
will be a lot of discussions about what gets funded and what doesn't
get funded, and this, that, and the other. But the truth of the matter
is the issue is bigger than budgets. The issue is about
whether or not loving people in America want to help somebody in need.
And I think
so. And to the extent that you all are helping, I want to
thank you from the bottom of my heart. One of my missions is
to encourage mentoring programs all across the country. One
of our missions is to make sure that boys and girls whose mother or dad
may be in prison finds a mentor, somebody to love them. One
of our missions is to teach -- is to help teach children right from
wrong so that they can enjoy the great fruits of the greatest country
on the face of the Earth. And to the extent you're helping,
I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Thank you
all for coming. I look forward to getting to shake hands
with the members of the Young Gentlemen's Club, if that's okay with
you. God bless. (Applause.)
END
3:34 P.M. EDT
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