Remarks at East Literature Magnet School in Nashville

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Sept 23, 2002

September 17, 2002

Thank you all for coming. Thanks for that warm welcome--really warm welcome. [Laughter] Across America today, Americans are reciting 31 world--words that help define our country. In one sentence, we affirm our form of government, our belief in human dignity, our unity as a people, and our reliance on Providence.

And this pledge takes on a special meaning in a time of war. Our enemies hate these words. That's what you've got to understand. They hate the words, and they want to erase them. We're determined to stand for these words and Jive them out in our lives. Our allegiance has never been stronger. We've never been more determined. And we must work to teach our children to love our Nation as much as we do.

I want to thank you all for coming today. I particularly want to thank our Secretary of Education for traveling with me, Rod Paige. I picked Rod out of a lot of really good candidates because I wanted somebody to be in Washington who had actually been on the frontlines of educating every child. We didn't need any more theory in Washington. We needed people that had actually done. And when we talk about raising the bar and challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations, so that every child can learn, when we talk about having an accountability system to make sure no child is left behind, our Secretary of Education has actually done it. He ran one of the largest school districts in my State, our State, and he did so with class and dignity. And the children of Houston, Texas, are better off for it. Mr. Secretary, thank you for coming.

I'm also proud to be sharing the stage with another superintendent, Pedro Garcia. Mucho gusto, Pedro. Pedro is a good leader. It's very interesting--we were talking before we came out here and Pedro was a part of what they call Operation Pedro Pan--Operation Peter Pan. So, by the way, was a member of my Cabinet, Mel Martinez. When both Pedro and Mel were young men, their parents wanted their children to grow up in freedom, so they put them on an airplane to a foreign land. They had great faith in America, faith--so much faith in the ideals of our country that they were willing to trust their teenage children with a stranger in a foreign country. And they came and were loved. I don't know about, Pedro, whether your mom and dad came, but Mel's mother and daddy came.

And I want you all to remember these stories about Pedro, who's now your superintendent of school, or Mel, who's in my Cabinet, that this country offered so much hope and so much promise, because we believe so strongly in freedom that people such as the Garcias and the Martinezes were willing to give up their children so they could grow up in a free society. I love the story of Pedro Pan. I love the job you're doing, and I wish you all the best.

And I'm also so appreciative for Kaye, Kaye Schneider, the principal of East Literature Magnet School, for opening up this school. She said it's been an amazing experience. I bet it has, with all these--[laughter]--all these advance people and all the entourage here. But thanks for opening up this great school. I'm here because this is a center of excellence, a school that refuses to leave any child behind, and it starts with having a good, solid, sound principal. So Kaye, thank you very much.

I want to thank all the teachers who are here. Thank you for taking on a noble profession. Old Sam Houston, he used to live in Tennessee. And at one time he had been the Governor of Texas and a Senator from Texas. And he was a famous Tennessee guy, and he was a President of the Republic of Texas. And they said, "Of all the jobs you've ever had, Sam, what was the most important one?" He said, without hesitation, "teacher," because he had been a teacher.

I want to thank the mothers and dads who are here. Thank you for coming. You too are teachers. The best education starts at home, by loving your children with all your heart and all your soul. I want to thank the students who are here. Thanks for letting me come by and visit with you.

I appreciate so very much elected officials who have come today: Senator Fred Thompson, Senator Bill Frist, Congressman Zach Wamp, Congressman Van Hilleary, Congressman Bob Clement, Congressman Bait Gordon, Congressman Ed Bryant. I want to thank your mayor, Bill Purcell, for coming as well, the mayor of Nashville. Thank my friend Lamar Alexander for being here.

But most of all, I want to thank you all for. giving me a chance to come and share some thoughts. It is very important for our youngsters to understand history, the history of our country, the ideals that make our country strong. This morning in the Rose Garden I kicked off a national initiative, and I'm going to describe some of what we're going to do to make sure that we teach more history to our children.

Especially important in a time of war that our children understand the context of why we fight. You see, ours is a history of freedom. One of the most precious ideals we have is freedom for everybody. We love our freedoms. We love the idea of being a free society. And throughout our history, people have fought for freedom. Whether it's been in the Revolutionary War or the heroic struggle to end slavery or civil rights wars in the United States Congress or whether it's World War IL where we fought to free people from tyranny, the history of this Nation has been a history of freedom and justice.