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President referred to President Slobodan has made ballet strong as well as beautiful. Milosevic of Serbia and Sir Leon Brittan, Vice Through his performances in ‘‘Carousel,’’ President of the European Commission. ‘‘Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,’’ and ‘‘Stars and Stripes,’’ a distinctively American Remarks at the Kennedy Center ballet created especially for him. He danced Honors Reception until he was 50, which may be young in some careers, but not in ballet; I’m not so sure December 3, 1995 it’s young in others, as well. [Laughter] I am delighted to see you here. I am de- Today we thank you for sharing your talents lighted to see you here on this, what is really by teaching dance to a whole new generation the first day of our Christmas season. It is of performers. We thank you for your work true that Hillary saw these decorations a cou- as a performer and choreographer, and for ple of hours ago, but I went up and crashed. giving new dimension to the world of ballet. You saw them all before I did. [Laughter] Marilyn Horne made her professional This is a happy time at the White House, debut at the age of four when she sang at and this is an appropriate way to begin. As a fundraiser for President Roosevelt—that’s all of you know, we’ve just come home from Franklin Roosevelt—[laughter]—and it was Europe, from a trip to London, Belfast, Dub- very late in his term of service. [Laughter] lin, to see our forces in Germany, and to Ma- Showing good judgment in art and politics, drid. she still had a glitch or two in the road. Her I was especially moved again, as I think career didn’t exactly take off in a straight line. every person who goes to Ireland is, by the In fact, she was rejected from her grade incredible power of the art of Ireland. The school glee club because her voice was too Irish playwright John Millington Synge wrote powerful. By age 17, however, she was back of artists that they know the stars, the flowers on track giving a solo recital in the Hollywood and the birds, and converse with the moun- Bowl and dubbing the music for the title role tains, moors, and ferns. Today we honor five in the film ‘‘Carmen Jones.’’ She went on to such artists, and I am delighted to see so form a legendary partnership with Joan Suth- many more in the audience tonight joining erland, to record remarkable Christmas car- us. I think all of us know that our Nation ols and, most of all, to light up the opera and our world are in a period of profound houses of the world with a spirit as magnifi- change, perhaps the most sweeping period cent as her songs. And today as she continues of change in the way we work and live and to perform, she is passing on her sheer love relate to one another in a hundred years. We of music and her generous spirit. know that there is an enormous amount of In addition, Marilyn, to thanking you on possibility in this period and still a great deal behalf of the American people, let me thank to trouble the soul. you again for your several years of friendship At such a time we have to do everything to me and to Hillary and for gracing our inau- we can to imagine the right kind of future guration with your beautiful voice. and to remember what is best and constant Thank you. about human nature throughout all ages. And Riley B. King was known during his days so at this time we need our artists in a special on Memphis’s Beale Street as ‘‘the blues way, in a profound way. And so, especially boy.’’ Eventually he became known to all at this Christmas season, I welcome all of America simply as B.B. King. For genera- you to the White House. tions of Americans the music and the man Joseph Jacques d’Amboise was a natural are synonymous. Like nearly everyone else athlete and a tough street kid in New York my age, I grew up listening to ‘‘Three City. He discovered his true gift one day O’Clock Blues.’’ B.B. King was a troubadour when he took his sister to ballet class and on the American road. He spent decades discovered the new sport of dance. Ever touring, perfecting, and inventing. The since that day he has taken ballet into the sounds he created became the soul of a new neighborhoods and consciousness of America music, with Jerry Garcia, Eric Clapton, and in a way that no other performer has. He the Rolling Stones all modeling their music

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after his. He has traveled the world to rep- Today we meet at the summit of five lives resent our country, and set hands clapping of artistic grace and greatness. Jacques from London to Lagos. He still averages— d’Amboise, Marilyn Horne, B.B. King, Sid- listen to this—275 performances a year. ney Poitier and Neil Simon, we are pleased Music is his life, and yes, the blues is B.B. to honor all of you for your work. But more King. importantly, we honor you for your spirit and When Sidney Poitier left Cat Island in the your heart. Bahamas for Miami at the age of 15, he was Thank you, and congratulations. stunned at the signs of segregation, signs that read ‘‘colored’’ and ‘‘white.’’ More than any NOTE: The President spoke at 6:03 p.m. in the East Room at the White House. other person, he would remove those signs from the world of film. He broke these bar- riers by sheer force of his powerful presence Remarks on Signing the Human on screen. From the start he was a leading Rights Proclamation man, and his performances have become December 5, 1995 landmarks in America’s consciousness of itself. When he filmed ‘‘Cry, The Beloved Thank you very much. Thank you for being Country,’’ he had to enter South Africa as here. And most important of all, thank you an indentured servant to the director. But for your commitment to the people of Bos- we are all grateful to him and in his service nia, for your care and your courage. for the way he has graced the screen with Many of you in this room have worked films like ‘‘To Sir, With Love,’’ ‘‘Guess Who’s throughout the war to stop the human rights Coming To Dinner,’’ ‘‘A Raisin In The Sun,’’ abuses that horrified the world and to ease and many, many others. He has captivated the suffering of the people of Bosnia. Now us with his performances and reminded us the Balkan leaders have ended the war and that excellence comes in all colors. have made a commitment to peace, so that Thank you for entertaining and educating now I can say to you, we need your help America with dignity, strength, and grace, more than ever to make sure the peace takes Sidney Poitier. hold and endures. Marvin Neil Simon’s humor distills the es- I have just had a remarkable meeting in sence of his life and our lives, sometimes the Oval Office with a group of Bosnians who whether we like it or not. [Laughter] He has just came in and took their seats. They were written the lines behind the laughs of Phil forced to flee their country, and they have Silvers, Victor Borge, Buddy Hackett, and resettled in ours: the Capin family, the Jackie Gleason. He collaborated with Sid Ibisevic family, and Dr. Oljaca. They are all Caesar on what many people hailed as ‘‘the here with me. They bear witness to loved best show ever on television.’’ He has written ones lost, homes destroyed, careers shat- a string of magnificent hit plays unprece- tered, families separated. They can tell us dented in the history of the American thea- what it’s like to leave the land they love, ter. where they were born and went to school, Audiences found them so funny that at where they married and raised families, first, that few people noticed the gentle, where they should have been able to enjoy deep, and sometimes sharp truths behind the the basic human right to build a good future comedy. Felix and Oscar became American in peace. archetypes. We saw what it was to grow up These people and so many more like them in ‘‘Brighton Beach Memoirs’’ and to grow are the human faces of the war in Bosnia. older in ‘‘The Sunshine Boys.’’ We saw flaws They are the story behind the unbelievable and foibles and faults, but always, through numbers of a quarter of a million dead, 2 them all, the indomitability of the human million people displaced, more than half the spirit. Neil Simon takes his work seriously, population of pre-war Bosnia. but he challenges us and himself never to Many of you have actually witnessed and take ourselves too seriously. documented the war’s atrocities firsthand, Thank you for the wit and the wisdom. the executions, the ethnic cleansing, the rape

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