Home > News & Policies > March 2001

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 21, 2001

Remarks by the President at La Sociedad Cubana
Orlando, Florida

11:28 A.M. EST

     THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  Thank you for that warm welcome.   I suspect you're cheering so loudly because I'm traveling in good company.  (Applause.)

     (Speaking Spanish.)  (Laughter and applause.)

     I'm honored to be here with my brother, the Governor of Florida.  He's a good man.  You know something about -- both of us share something in common:  we picked a pretty darn good mother.  (Applause.)  And she's still telling us what to do.  (Laughter.)  I'm listening all the time; he's listening about half the time.  (Laughter.)

     What made me think of that is I saw Barbara sitting there.  And then Mel Martinez -- you all know Mel.  (Applause.)  I think I made a pretty darn good pick when I named him to my Cabinet.  Yes.  (Applause.)  I love Mel's story.  (Speaking Spanish.)  He's a good man.  (Laughter.)  He represents the really best about America, doesn't he -- doesn't he?  That you can realize dreams in this country.  And I'm so thrilled that he's agreed to sacrifice and serve the country.  And he is a good man, as you know.

     I'm honored to be traveling with members from the United States Congress.  We've got some congressmen that are traveling with us today. These men are going to be responsible for working with our administration to make sure that we keep the promise to the elderly.

     And so I want to tell you all that, for example, in our budget we doubled the Medicare budget over the next 10 years.  (Applause.)  And we're going to focus on making sure children are educated, too.  We're going to focus on keeping the promise to the elderly and then we're also going to make sure that the young have a good chance for realizing the American Dream by making sure the schools are strong at the local level, making sure children aren't left behind.

     I know you all care about that a lot.  Many of you have got grandchildren and you want to make sure the public school system holds out the hope for every child, regardless of their background, regardless of where they're from.

     And that's our dream; that's our dream for the country.  This is a fabulous land.  I'm so honored to be your President.  It is a huge, huge honor for me.  (Applause.)

     So I want to thank you for your warm greeting.  I look forward to walking around and shaking your hands and thanking you in person.  God bless.  (Applause.)

     END  11:30 A.M. EST