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REMARKS BY: DONNA E. SHALALA, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
PLACE: 1998 OLYMPIC DINNER AND ANCILLARY EVENTS, WASHINGTON, D.C.
DATE: APRIL 29, 1998
Like so many Americans, I loved watching the Olympic Games in Nagano. But it's always a special treat to meet the athletes in person.
And I know how excited -- and inspired -- the children were to meet these "Champions in Life" at their schools and at the White House today.
The President knows that today, more than ever, children need the guiding light of the Olympic torch and the athletes who compete beneath it.
Because today, the path stretching between children and a healthy life can be an obstacle course of bad choices, wrong turns and dead ends.
Substance abuse. Crime. Violence. Pregnancy. Despair. Dropping out. And tuning out.
These bad choices lead straight to a teenage wasteland. But they also threaten to waste a generation of Americans -- the "children of the millennium."
Our challenge is to help today's children become champions of the millennium. To be champions in life.
And to be champions in life, children need us to champion their lives.
Government can champion our children, and we do. I'm proud to be part of an Administration that puts children first.
But government doesn't raise children.
Our schools don't raise children.
The media doesn't raise children.
Parents and families raise children.
But like many Olympic events, raising America's children is a team endeavor -- and we must all pitch in.
It takes every person who has an influence on children -- from TV to teachers, from parents to public leaders, and from artists to athletes.
And we all know, few people inspire children more than our Olympic athletes.
They raise a torch of excellence that raises the bar for all young people.
Because what it takes to be a champion in the Olympics -- is also what it takes to be a champion in life.
It's about more than just about winning. It's about getting into the game.
It's about working hard.
It's about doing your best.
It's about making new friends and teammates that cross and erase the divides of race, nationality, religion and ethnicity.
It's about discipline. Learning. And good health.
It's about treating yourself with respect. Keeping your body strong and tuned. And keeping your system free of tobacco, alcohol and drugs.
Maybe Cammi Granato summed it up best in her Olympic journal, as she prepared for the Winter Games.
She wrote down what her coach said: "Enjoy each day as it comes. Get proper sleep. Don't sweat the small stuff."
"... And just because we worked hard to make the team, we cannot get complacent and stop working.
"We must continue to improve each day and remain focused on our goal: An Olympic Gold Medal."
Cammi wrote that journal entry on January 3rd.
As a nation, we need to take a page from Cammi's book.
When it comes to helping families raise their children, we also need to improve every day. Stay focused. And help children go for the gold.
On behalf of the President, the First Lady and every proud American, let me say, thank you, Team USA, for being champions in our children's lives. Thank you very much.
But we also know that Olympic athletes can't be the only champions to our children. Children need everyday champions, every day. They need role models to engage them. Guide them. Show them what it takes to be a good person, a good parent, a good citizen. I'm talking about all of us here in this room tonight. Every one of us must be a champion to our children, or to children we know or meet. Tell them there's nothing they can't learn, can't achieve, or can't do to improve themselves, their society, their world.Tell them if they want to see a real champion in the making, a real champion in life, they should look in the mirror. Let's help every child in the mirror to see beauty. The potential. And a champion with the power to shape themselves, their nation -- and the new millennium. Who knows? Maybe they'll see a future Olympic champion looking back at them.