Remarks at the Simon Wiesenthal Center Dinner in Los Angeles, California June 16, 1991
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Administration of George Bush, 1991 / June 16 all. But most of all, may God bless the tion KNBC; Porntip Narkhirunkanok, 1989 United States of America. Thank you very Miss Universe; Elizabeth Szu, Inder Singh, much. Thank you. and Ky Ngo, coordinators for the event; John Tsu, senior adviser for the event; Henry Note: The President spoke at 12:38 p.m. at Tang, an education and sports leader in the Mile Square Park. In his remarks, he re- community; Leo Esaki, 1973 Nobel Prize ferred to Senator John Seymour; Representa- tives Dana Rohrabacher, Robert K. Dornan, winner for physics; President Saddam Hus- C. Christopher Cox, Norman Y. Mineta, sein of Iraq; Patricia F. Saiki, Administrator David Dreier, and Nancy Pelosi; Delegate of the Small Business Administration; Julia to Congress Eni F.H. Faleomavaega; Deputy Chang Bloch, U.S. Ambassador to Nepal; Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao; and Sichan Siv, Deputy Assistant to the Frank Kwan, a producer for television sta- President for Public Liaison. Remarks at the Simon Wiesenthal Center Dinner in Los Angeles, California June 16, 1991 Thank you all very much. Let me first I also want to pay a special tribute to thank my dear friend, Jerry Weintraub, for Gayle Wilson. Sorry Pete couldn’t be with that generous introduction. And thanks to us tonight; he’s up wrestling with the budg- Wilson Phillips for the anthem so beau- et problems. And to Senator John Seymour, tifully done. My thanks to Tony Danza for our wonderful new Senator in the United being here. [Laughter] Had to go out and States Senate; to David Dreier, who’s with get a haircut so we would recognize him. us tonight—down here—a fine Member of [Laughter] But what a good man he is. the United States Congress. I’m told Mayor And Barbara and I are just delighted to Bradley was to be here. I haven’t seen him. be here tonight. We wanted to specially But anyway, I wanted to salute him. We’re be here to salute our—yours and our— in his city and delighted to be here. Is he guest of honor. As you may know, Arnold— there? Well, Tom, I can’t see you, but nice Arnold Schwarzenegger—spent a day with to see you. us up at Camp David, and competing with And all the friends of Simon Wiesenthal Barbara in tobogganing, she broke her leg. Center who are here tonight. The Counsel [Laughter] Then, Arnold spent a day with General of Israel is with us, Ron Ronen. us at the White House promoting fitness, And it’s a particular pleasure to see our and I ended up in the hospital with arterial friend, the Bushes’ friend, Rabbi Hier, fibrillation, or something like that. [Laugh- again. Thank you, sir, for that honor, that ter] You’ll never eat lunch in my town again, beautiful cup. And let me just say that your Arnold. [Laughter] But I’m delighted to see vision, your conscience, and commitment you. Come to think of it, you could be set a challenge for us all. I will cherish my special emissary to Congress. [Laughter] this sacred gift of this Cup of Elijah. To Talk about ‘‘The Terminator.’’ you, ‘‘I lift up the cup of redemption in Honestly, though, this guy is a wonderful thanks and gratitude.’’ choice, wonderful choice, for your National Let me say that I’ve heard that at Seder Leadership Award. He embodies the good, this Cup of Elijah is filled, as he just said, essential values of this world, values like with wine and with the promise of redemp- caring and fairness and faith. He’s simply tion. I know the verse that says Elijah ‘‘shall a decent, nice human being. And congratu- turn the heart of the parents to the children, lations, my friend. And thank you for hon- and the heart of the children to their par- oring this wonderful American. ents.’’ I really hope that this symbolic 677 VerDate May 04 2004 08:07 Jul 20, 2004 Jkt 010199 PO 00000 Frm 00689 Fmt 1240 Sfmt 1240 D:\91PAP1\91PAP1.013 APPS10 PsN: 91PAP1 June 16 / Administration of George Bush, 1991 gift can challenge us to do the same, to and final accounting of his precious life. reclaim our soul through the love of the We all know Elie Wiesel. He dedicates human family, a love borne of remem- his life to the Holocaust and its victims brance. because ‘‘anyone who does not remember Let me just make a few comments, eating betrays them again.’’ The freedom we enjoy before the broccoli is served—[laughter]— carries a profound responsibility. Now the and asking your forgiveness for pushing on. victims of other human rights abuses call We have a big day tomorrow, off in Colo- to us daily from across the globe. In the rado and Wisconsin, before returning to memory of the millions who died, we must Washington. So, please forgive us. But let not forget. We must not close our hearts. me just say a word about this Center and We must not fail to act. for the man it’s named for. The extraor- We’ve been acting for years to promote dinary hero that this center honors is our freedom in the Soviet Union, including the living embodiment of remembrance. The freedoms of religion and emigration. That two pledges of Simon Wiesenthal’s life in- action has paid off. Jews in the Soviet Union spire us all—‘‘Never forget’’ and ‘‘Never can now study Hebrew. Jews who choose again.’’ to leave can do so. Some delays, admittedly, He reminds us that we as a people must but they can leave. Hundreds of thousands study closely the lessons of the concentra- have made aliyah to Israel. This is freedom tion camps. And, yes, like many here, Bar- in action. bara and I have been to Auschwitz. We’ve seen the images of human evil. And literally, In the Gulf, Simon Wiesenthal was when I left, I left part of me. But I took among the first to speak out against Saddam something away in its place: the determina- Hussein’s brutality. He said: ‘‘Silence is ad- tion not just to remember but also to act. mittance. We cannot tolerate silence.’’ It I say this to you as a World War II vet- was because of Saddam’s aggression that eran, as an American, and now as President we made our stand in the Persian Gulf. of the United States: The haunting images The world had ignored the brewing mad- compel us to guard against tyranny and in- ness 50 years ago. We would not make the humanity. Remembering makes us strong. same mistake this time. It was a moral im- Remembering makes us act. perative to act. But there’s something else. We must also As I contemplated as Commander in remember something more powerful than Chief of the Armed Forces what action to the horror: the triumph of the inextinguish- take against Saddam Hussein’s aggression, able human spirit. Those who survived the I thought of the world’s inaction those many Holocaust could have sunk into hate and years ago when first the army and then revenge. Instead, they lifted themselves and the SS marched into Poland. It was on my all of humanity toward a greater goal. I mind as I had to make this fateful decision believe that the ultimate lesson here is the to send our sons and daughters into combat transcendent glory of survival. Hope tri- in the Gulf. umphed over horror. Life triumphed over And then there’s exciting and emotional death. freeing of the Ethiopian Jews that was re- And we must also remember the story ferred to a minute ago. Rudy Boschwitz, of a single life. In this case, the story of a former United States Senator, a wonderful a great man named Raoul Wallenberg, a man, was our special emissary. Recently in story brought to the conscience of the world the Rose Garden, I was privileged to honor by another great man, the one whose name him, Bob Frasure of the National Security this center bears. When I was over with Council, Irvin Hicks of the State Depart- Barbara in Budapest we went to Raoul’s ment, Robert Houdek there in our Em- memorial to pay tribute. His actions em- bassy—embattled Embassy in Addis Ababa. bodied the highest ideals of human decency For their extraordinary actions we honored and morality, a hero of our times. We owe them, helping in what turned out to be him not only tribute, not only remem- one of the most intensive humanitarian air- brance, but also commitment, to have a full lifts in history. Thanks in considerable part to 678 VerDate May 04 2004 08:07 Jul 20, 2004 Jkt 010199 PO 00000 Frm 00690 Fmt 1240 Sfmt 1240 D:\91PAP1\91PAP1.013 APPS10 PsN: 91PAP1 Administration of George Bush, 1991 / June 16 the efforts of the United States—a lot of the ones on which they founded their new people in the United States—the Ethiopian homeland. These shared values unite our Jews were delivered from harm’s way within country and Israel in an extraordinary, spe- 30 hours, reunited with loved ones, and cial kinship—values like freedom, democ- given the opportunity to begin new lives racy, morality, respect, deeply rooted tradi- in Israel. What a joyous, wonderful home- tions of tolerance, individual rights, and lib- coming. erties. Our countries have forged an un- These events remind us that Israel was precedented bond, a bond of shared ideals, created as a refuge for Jews who face or shared struggles, shared commitments.