Remarks at the
Presentation Ceremony for the Take Pride in
Well,
I appreciate your presence here today and deeply appreciate all that many of
you have been doing to ensure that our countrymen continue to enjoy the
richness and beauty of
It
has to do with an old farmer who picked up some creek-bottom land. It was all
covered with rocks and overgrown with brush, but he set to work. And he hauled
the rocks away, and he cleaned the brush. And he cultivated, and he fertilized,
and he planted. And he had a garden spot. And one day at church, he asked the
preacher if he wouldn't, after church, come on out and see what he'd done.
Well, the Reverend got out there, and he looked at that corn. And he said,
``I've never seen such corn. My,'' he said, ``how the Lord has blessed this
land. Those melons -- I've never seen anything so big.'' He said, ``God has
certainly been good to this place here.'' And he went on that way, and the old
boy was getting a little fidgety. And finally, he says, ``Reverend, I wish you
could have seen it when the Lord was doing it by Himself.'' [Laughter]
Well,
today we're honoring praiseworthy citizens who are giving God a hand in
preserving our precious gifts. Unlike the farmer in the story, more often than
not, those we honor today are protecting our land from some of mankind's more
wasteful and destructive ways. Some of
We
take pride in our freedom, and we also take pride in the natural grandeur of
our land. And there's much to be proud of. We have in our country the world's
first and best national park system, national forests and wildlife refuges, an
extraordinary urban park system, and preserved historic sites. And all this is
the legacy of caring individuals, perhaps like the ones we honor today, who acted
to see that these treasures were preserved and passed on. Our administration
has been solidly committed to the restoration and maintenance of this
inheritance. In the past 6 1/2 years, we've spent $1 billion to restore our
national parks, which had been permitted to fall in some disrepair over a
period of time. In the past 6 1/2 years, as I say, we've done that, and we've
strictly upheld laws protecting our endangered species and have vigorously
pursued plans to recover them. We've moved to stem the serious loss of vital
wetlands, and we've set aside millions of acres of wilderness, created 29 new
wildlife refuges, and protected thousands of miles of scenic rivers and trails.
One
of the hallmarks of our administration has been the concerted effort we've made
to mobilize the American people, to get them involved in helping each other and
in community building projects instead of just waiting for government. We call
it our private sector initiatives program. When Secretary Hodel
came to me with the idea of a Take Pride in
It
was some 20 years ago when Lady Bird Johnson first brought this issue to the
American people. We owe her a debt of gratitude, and I think we can show her
our appreciation under this campaign. Today we recognize individuals and
organizations who are doers, who are protecting what belongs to all Americans.
And with this, we reaffirm that preserving our parks and public lands is
important to us. Our message to anyone who would trash or vandalize our public
lands has been forcefully stated -- and that may be putting it mildly -- by
some of the distinguished celebrities that were with us today. Those who would
reduce the natural beauty of our land had better pay attention: ``They either clean up their act or get out of town!''
[Laughter] Just in case some people don't take us seriously, we've enlisted Lou
Gosset, Clint Eastwood, and Charlie Bronson, who
couldn't be here -- but for them to give those other people the message.
I
want to thank our celebrities and each and every one of you for the role that
you are playing. I know the Ad Council has given time to send the word over the
airwaves and across the country, and they deserve a special
thanks. And so, too, do Secretaries Bennett, Hodel,
and Lyng who -- well, they, too, have given us inspiring
and energetic leadership.
And
today, we've selected 38 recipients for our Take Pride in America Award.
They've been selected from over 500 nominees. Let me suggest, however, that all
those who contribute their time and effort are winners. And clearly, our
country is the greatest winner of all. And this is the first time this award
ceremony, or a part of it, has been held here at the White House. I think it
underscores how important we feel this issue is. And our citizens need to know
that they can and should make a difference. Could I ask the 38 award winners to
stand? [Applause] And that's what the rest of us will do, is applaud you. You
have made a difference, and we do all applaud you.
And
thank you all. God bless you. And I'll bet it won't take you long to get back
in the shade, will it? [Laughter] I'm heading there right now.
Note: The President
spoke at