Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000 / Dec. 3

Thanks for listening. NOTE: The President spoke at 10:06 a.m. from the Oval Office at the White House.

Remarks at the Kennedy Center Honors Reception December 3, 2000

Thank you very much. Thank you, Senator. his freedom to move beyond classical ballet to [Laughter] I’m trying to get used to that. I want movies and to Broadway and, in 1976, to fulfill to—[laughter]—look, I’ve got to take every op- a lifelong dream by bounding onto the stage portunity I can to practice here. [Laughter] of American modern dance. And it has never I want to welcome you all here, especially, been the same since. of course, our honorees and other artists and From ‘‘Push Comes To Shove’’ to his path- former honorees; Members of Congress who are breaking White Oak Dance Project, Mikhail here—Senator and Mrs. Lott, welcome; we’re Baryshnikov has pushed the boundaries of a glad to see you—and to all our other distin- challenging art form even as he has broadened guished guests. its audience. He continues to give brilliant per- As Hillary said, it has been a profound honor formances at an age when most of us are, frank- for us and a great joy to do these Kennedy ly, being told to get our exercise in private. Center Honors for 8 years in a row now. We [Laughter] thank the people we honor tonight and their So tonight America says, thank you, Mikhail predecessors for lifting our spirits and broad- Baryshnikov, for the heights to which you have ening our horizons. lifted the art of dance and the heights to which Thirty-eight years ago, President Kennedy you have lifted all of us. Thank you. wrote that ‘‘art means more than a resuscitation No less an authority than John Lennon once of the past. It means the free and unconfined said, ‘‘If you tried to give rock and roll another search for new ways of expressing the experi- name, you might call it Chuck Berry.’’ [Laugh- ence of the present and the vision of the fu- ter] The Beatles, the Beach Boys, the Rolling ture.’’ Each in their own way, tonight’s honorees Stones all copied him, but Chuck Berry was have brought to a venerable art form a spark the original. He fused country and blues into of the new and unexpected. And each has left a new sound that was distinctly American and it more modern, more brilliant, and forever utterly new. And 40 years later, the Chuck Berry changed for the better. Now, let me present sound still blazes across our stages and from them. our radios. Very few people visit the East Room, where He is, quite simply, one of the 20th century’s we now are, and find themselves in danger of most influential musicians. His guitar riffs were striking the 20-foot ceiling. [Laughter] But that some of rock’s first, and they’re still some of is exactly what happened to Mikhail Baryshnikov its greatest. His stage moves, especially the when he arrived to rehearse for a White House duckwalk, which he invented, are often imitated, performance in 1979. With a portable stage set sometimes intentionally—[laughter]—but never up, even this stately ceiling was too low for equalled. His fresh and vivid lyrics captured his trademark soaring leaps. No ceiling or American life, whether you’re rich or poor, boundary, not even the Iron Curtain, has ever young or not so young, and they suggested the held him back for long. rhythms of a new and better day for black and His successful performance of that night was white Americans alike. NASA even sent Chuck televised for millions of Americans as Berry’s music on a space probe searching for ‘‘Baryshnikov at the White House,’’ another step intelligent life in outer space. [Laughter] Well, towards cementing his reputation as the greatest now, if they’re out there, they’re duckwalking. male classical dancer of our time. With his dar- [Laughter] ing leap to freedom in 1974, he also inspired It was my great honor to invite Chuck to millions with the idea of liberty, and he used play at both my Inaugurals and my 25th reunion

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at Georgetown University, which we held here can’t do what he did in most of his movies on the White House grounds. I, too, have loved to your adversaries—[laughter]—although you him for more than 40 years. So we say, thank can wish to do it, from time to time. [Laughter] you, Chuck Berry, for making us laugh, making His path to stardom began with bit parts in us shout, making us dance, and making us happy movies that starred a tarantula and a talking together. Thank you. mule. His break came in the spaghetti western These days you hear a lot of people saying ‘‘A Fistful of Dollars,’’ an Italian movie filmed we need to change the tenor here in Wash- in Spain, based on a classic Japanese film. ington. [Laughter] They are not talking about [Laughter] But the rest is history for the Placido Domingo. [Laughter] We are truly Italians, the Spanish, the Japanese, and most blessed to have him as artistic director, as a of all, for the Americans. conductor, and still performing as one of the greatest operatic tenors of all time. ‘‘The Man With No Last Name’’ has truly It is almost now impossible to imagine opera become a household name. His characters have without him. He has performed 118 roles, prob- ranged the peaks and valleys of human experi- ably more than any other tenor ever. He is ence, from urban vigilantes to mythical cowboys, still adding new ones. He has set new standards, from troubled artists to Secret Service agents. and he has worked unceasingly to bring opera And while he keeps making top-grossing movies, to a wider audience through movies, television, Clint Eastwood also keeps taking risks, playing and live concerts, and of course, especially as against type, making small, thoughtful films that one of the famed Three Tenors. Their concerts no one else would, quietly building a second have brought operatic singing to an audience career as one of our best directors, composing of one billion people across the globe. Think songs for five of his movies, and turning his about it: one in six people has thrilled to the lifelong love of jazz into a movie about the leg- sound of this man’s voice. endary saxophonist Charlie Parker. But he has always been more than a voice. Like the strong, silent cowboy he so often As a young man, he prepared for later life in played, Clint Eastwood has become a quiet force Washington as an amateur bullfighter. [Laugh- in American film and a star for the ages. We ter] Now, instead of a cape, however, he waves thank you, Clint Eastwood, for giving us a lot the baton, which means that he is the only per- to cheer about and lately, a lot to think about. son in Washington who gets at least a finite Thank you very much. group of people to do what he tells them to Earlier this decade, TV Guide gave Angela do. [Laughter] Lansbury a perfect 100 on its lovability index. As a visionary artistic director of opera here [Laughter] Now, that’s what we need more of in Washington and in Los Angeles, a frequent in Washington. [Laughter] There’s no mystery performer around our Nation, he has truly why. She’s known and adored by tens of millions sparked the rebirth of American opera. And he of viewers as Jessica Fletcher on ‘‘Murder She has shared his prodigious gifts wider, in support Wrote.’’ But fans who have followed her remark- of disaster relief efforts from Armenia to Aca- able career know her just as well as Broadway’s pulco. Through his annual vocal competition he has championed young singers all over the world greatest stage mother of them all, Gypsy Rose and has worked to bring opera to places it has Lee. And everyone who loves movies about poli- never before been heard. tics remembers her brilliant performances in So we say thank you—thank you, Placido Do- ‘‘The Manchurian Candidate’’ and ‘‘State of the mingo, for sharing with us your matchless ar- Union.’’ tistry and for being a true citizen of the world. The United States was lucky to welcome An- For more than 35 years now, Clint Eastwood gela Lansbury to our shores as a child refugee has been one of America’s favorite movie stars. from the Nazi bombing of London in 1940. Just Of course, he’s also an Oscar-winning director. 4 years later, she made her first movie and He’s actually done pretty well for a former elect- won her first Oscar nomination. She went on ed official. [Laughter] I hope I am half as suc- to earn two more and became an acclaimed cessful. [Laughter] actress in an impressive variety of roles. I think he didn’t keep running for office be- Hollywood alone couldn’t hold her. She con- cause he realized once you get in politics, you quered Broadway in ‘‘Mame’’ and went on to

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win four Tony Awards. Then she found tele- of Fame; and Angela Lansbury, who left her vision, and ‘‘Murder She Wrote,’’ which began childhood home in England to become Amer- in 1984, continued for 12 successful seasons. ican royalty. Over her career her acting has given us a Each one has given us something unique and window into the full range of human emotion enriched us beyond measure. Together they and experience. Her inventiveness and courage bring us closer to President Kennedy’s vision have inspired her colleagues, and her commit- of art as a great unifying and humanizing experi- ment to charity, especially the fight against ence. Their triumphs have lifted our Nation and AIDS, should inspire us all. left us a better and richer place. Well, Angela, you earned your perfect score. Again let me say to all of you, this night And we thank you for a wonderful lifetime of and every night before, it has been a profound gifts. honor for Hillary and me. You may find people Well, there they are, ladies and gentlemen: who do this night better in the future; you will Mikhail Baryshnikov, who soared out of the So- never find anybody who loves it as much. viet Union and into our hearts; Chuck Berry, Thank you, and God bless you. who rock-and-rolled his way from segregated St. Louis into the American mainstream; Placido Domingo, who brought the songs from Spain NOTE: The President spoke at 6 p.m. in the East and changed the tenor of America’s music; Clint Room at the White House. In his remarks, he Eastwood, who rose out of Depression-era Cali- referred to Patricia Thompson Lott, wife of Sen- fornia to earn a place on the Hollywood Walk ator Trent Lott.

Remarks on the Establishment of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve December 4, 2000

Good morning, and thank you, President every day that our human activity is profoundly Fahey, for making us feel so welcome at Na- affecting and, in some cases, overwhelming the tional Geographic; Secretary Mineta; Under Sec- natural systems that surround and sustain us on retary of NOAA Baker. To all the members our planet. of the Coral Reef Task Force and the Ocean For 8 years now we have worked to act on Exploration Panel, I welcome you. this understanding to better protect our natural I want to say a special word of appreciation resources for future generations. We have cre- to Peter Benchley for the work that he has ated and expanded national parks, established done for nearly a lifetime now and for the re- 11 national monuments, saved the California marks he made. And I thank our two native redwoods, protected the Yellowstone National Hawaiians who are here, Tammy Leilani Harp, Park from gold mining. We’re restoring the who spoke before me, and our Hawaiian elder, Florida Everglades and preserving vistas of the who’s affectionately known as Uncle Buzzy. Grand Canyon, and we are setting aside over Thank you very much for being here. 40 million roadless acres in our national forests. I want to thank the National Geographic for All together, this amounts to more land protec- giving us a place to make this announcement tion in the 48 continental States than any admin- and for all the years of helping people to under- istration since that of Teddy Roosevelt a century stand the universe and this small planet. We ago. are fortunate to live in an age of unprecedented But we must recognize that, just as land is discovery, most of it in the biological sciences. an important part of our legacy in the preserva- It seems that almost every day there is another tion of our ecosystem, so, too, is our water. unlocking of a secret of subatomic particles or the complexities of the human genome. But We launched a nationwide effort to clean up we’re also discovering more and more evidence polluted rivers, lakes, and streams. We created

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