American Battle Monuments Commission, Board for International Food and Agricultural Federal National Mortgage Association, Board of Directors, members-933, 935 Justice Department, Drug Enforcement Administration, Deputy Administrator-926 National White House Conference on Small Panama Canal Commission, member of the Peace Corps National Advisory Council, Pennsylvania Avenue Development Postal Rate Commission, Commissioner and President's Committee on Mental Retardation, President's Council on Physical Fitness and Appointments and Nominations-Continued South African Working Group for Public Diplomacy, rank of Ambassador for the State Justice Institute, Board of Directors, Treasury Department, Assistant General Counsel and Chief Counsel of the Internal U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, General Advisory Committee, members— White House Office, Associate Counsels to the Sentencing Guidelines Act of 1986, Communications to Congress Highway Safety Act and National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, message-917 Interviews With the News Media New York Daily News-918 White House press corps, informal exchange— Radio Addresses Independence Day and the Centennial of the Constitutionality of the Gramm-Rudman-Hol- Death of Adm. Hyman G. Rickover-918 Supplementary Materials Acts approved by the President-937 Checklist of White House press releases-936 Editor's Note: Following the Name Index is the Document Categories List, a new finding aid that has Week Ending Friday, July 11, 1986 Centennial of the Statue of Liberty Remarks at the Opening Ceremonies. July 3, 1986 Thank you. And Lee Iacocca,1 thank you on behalf of all of America. President and Madam Mitterrand, my fellow Americans, the iron workers from New York and New Jersey who came here to begin restoration work were at first puzzled and a bit put off to see foreign workers, craftsmen from France, arrive. Jean Wiart, the leader of the French workers, said his countrymen understood. After all, he asked, how would Frenchmen feel if Americans showed up to help restore the Eiffel Tower? But as they came to know each otherthese Frenchmen and Americans-affections grew; and so, too, did perspectives. The Americans were reminded that Miss Liberty, like the many millions she's welcomed to these shores, is of foreign birth, the gift of workers, farmers, and shopkeepers and children who donated hundreds of thousands of francs to send her here. They were the ordinary people of France. This statue came from their pockets and from their hearts. The French workers, too, made discoveries. Monsieur Wiart, for example, normally lives in a 150-year-old cottage in a small French town, but for the last year he's been riding the subway through Brooklyn. "A study in contrasts," he said-contrasts indeed. But he has also told the newspapers that he and his countrymen learned something else at Liberty Island. For the first time, they worked in proximity with Americans of Jewish, black, Italian, Irish, Russian, Polish, and Indian backgrounds. “Fascinat 1 Lee Iacocca was chairman of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Foundation, which was responsible for raising funds for the restoration of the statue. ing," he said, “to see different ethnic and national types work and live so well together." Well, it's how we like to think of America. And it's good to know that Miss Liberty is still giving life to the dream of a new world where old antagonisms could be cast aside and people of every nation could live together as one. It's especially fitting that this lesson should be relived and relearned here by Americans and Frenchmen. President Mitterrand, the French and American people have forged a special friendship over the course of two centuries. Yes, in the 1700's, France was the midwife of our liberty. In two World Wars, America stood with France as she fought for her life and for civilization. And today, Mr. President, with infinite gentleness, your countrymen tend the final resting places, marked now by rows of white crosses and stars, of more than 60,000 Americans who remain on French soil, a reminder since the days of Lafayette of our mutual struggles and sacrifices for freedom. So, tonight, as we celebrate the friendship of our two nations, we also pray: May it ever be so. God bless America, and vive la France. And yet, my fellow Americans, it is not only the friendship of two peoples but the friendship of all peoples that brings us here tonight. We celebrate something more than the restoration of this statue's physical grandeur. Another worker here, Scott Aronsen, a marble restorer, has put it well: "I grew up in Brooklyn and never went to the Statue of Liberty. But when I first walked in there to work, I thought about my grandfathers coming through here. And which of us does not think of other grandfathers and grandmothers, from so many places around the globe, for whom this statue was the first glimpse of America. "She was silhouetted very clear," one of them wrote about standing on deck as their ship entered New York Harbor. "We passed her very slowly. Of course we had to look up. She was beautiful." Another talked of how all the passengers rushed to one side of the boat for a fast look at their new home and at her. "Everybody was crying. The whole boat bent toward her. She was beautiful with the early morning light." To millions returning home, especially from foreign wars, she was also special. A young World War captain of artillery described how, on a troopship returning from France, even the most hard-bitten veteran had trouble blinking back the tears. "I've never seen anything that looked so good," that doughboy, Harry Truman, wrote to his fiancee, Bess, back in Independence, Missouri, "as the Liberty Lady in New York Harbor." And that is why tonight we celebrate this mother of exiles who lifts her light beside the golden door. Many of us have seen the picture of another worker here, a tool belt around his waist, balanced on a narrow metal rod of scaffolding, leaning over to place a kiss on the forehead of Miss Liberty. Tony Soraci, the grandson of immigrant Italians, said it was something he was proud to do, "something to tell my grandchildren." Robert Kearney feels the same way. At work on the statue after a serious illness, he gave $10,000 worth of commemorative pins to those who visited here. Part of the reason, he says, was an earlier construction job over in Hoboken and his friend named Blackie. They could see the harbor from the building where they were working on, and every morning Blackie would look over the water, give a salute, and say, "That's my gal." Well, the truth is, she's everybody's gal. We sometimes forget that even those who came here first to settle the new land were also strangers. I've spoken before of the tiny Arabella, a ship at anchor just off the Massachusetts coast. A little group of Puritans huddled on the deck. And then John Winthrop, who would later become the first Governor of Massachusetts, reminded his fellow Puritans there on that tiny deck that they must keep faith with their God, that the eyes of all the world were upon them, and that they must not forsake the mission that God had sent them on, and they must be a light unto the nations of all the world—a shining city upon a hill. Call it mysticism if you will, I have always believed there was some divine providence that placed this great land here between the two great oceans, to be found by a special kind of people from every corner of the world, who had a special love for freedom and a special courage that enabled them to leave their own land, leave their friends and their countrymen, and come to this new and strange land to build a new world of peace and freedom and hope. Lincoln spoke about hope as he left the hometown he would never see again to take up the duties of the Presidency and bring America through a terrible civil war. At each stop on his long train ride to Washington, the news grew worse: The Nation was dividing; his own life was in peril. On he pushed, undaunted. In Philadelphia he spoke in Independence Hall, where 85 years earlier the Declaration of Independence had been signed. He noted that much more had been achieved there than just independence from Great Britain. It was, he said, "hope to the world, future for all time." Well, that is the common thread that binds us to those Quakers on the tiny deck of the Arabella, to the beleaguered farmers and landowners signing the Declaration in Philadelphia in that hot Philadelphia hall, to Lincoln on a train ready to guide his people through the conflagration, to all the millions crowded in the steerage who passed this lady and wept at the sight of her, and those who've worked here in the scaffolding with their hands and with their love-Jean Wiart, Scott Aronsen, Tony Soraci, Robert Kearney, and so many others. We're bound together because, like them, we too dare to hope-hope that our children will always find here the land of liberty in a land that is free. We dare to hope too that we'll understand our work can never be truly done until every man, woman, and child shares in our gift, in our hope, and stands with us in the light of liberty-the light that, tonight, will shortly cast its glow upon her, as it has upon us for two centuries, keeping faith with a dream of long ago and guiding millions still to a future of peace and freedom. And now we will unveil that gallant lady. Thank you, and God bless you all. Note: The President spoke at 9:28 p.m. on Governors Island. His remarks concluded with the illumination of the Statue of Liberty. The President then bestowed Medals of Liberty on Henry A. Kissinger, Franklin R. Chang-Diaz, IM. Pei, Itzhak Perlman, James B. Reston, Kenneth Clark, Albert B. Sabin, An Wang, Elie Wiesel, Bob Hope, and Hanna Holburn Gray. Centennial of the Statue of Liberty Remarks on the Lighting of the Statue's Torch. July 3, 1986 While we applaud those immigrants who stand out, whose contributions are easily discerned, we know that America's heroes are also those whose names are remembered by only a few. Many of them passed through this harbor, went by this lady, looked up at her torch, which we light tonight in their honor. They were the men and women who labored all their lives so that their children would be well-fed, -clothed, and -educated, the families that went through great hardship yet kept their honor, their dignity, and their faith in God. They passed on to their children those values, values that define civilization and are the prerequisites of human progress. They worked in our factories, on ships and railroads, in stores, and on road construction crews. They were teachers, lumberjacks, seamstresses, and journalists. They came from every land. What was it that tied these profoundly different people together? What was it that made them not a gathering of individuals, but a nation? That bond that held them together, as it holds us together tonight, that bond that has stood every test and travail, is found deep in our national consciousness: an abiding love of liberty. For love of liberty, our forebears-colonists, few in number and with little to defend themselves-fought a war for independence with what was then the world's most powerful empire. For love of liberty, those who came before us tamed a vast wilderness and braved hardships which, at "The God who gave us life," Thomas Jefferson once proclaimed, "gave us liberty at the same time." But like all of God's precious gifts, liberty must never be taken for granted. Tonight we thank God for the many blessings He has bestowed on our land; we affirm our faithfulness to His rule and to our own ideals; and we pledge to keep alive the dream that brought our forefathers and mothers to this brave new land. On this theme the poet Emma Lazarus, moved by this unique symbol of the love of liberty, wrote a very special dedication 100 years ago. The last few lines are ones we know so well; set to the music of Irving Berlin, they take on tonight a special meaning. [At this point, a choir sang the last few lines from the poem "The New Colossus"] We are the keepers of the flame of liberty. We hold it high tonight for the world to see, a beacon of hope, a light unto the nations. And so with joy and celebration and with a prayer that this lamp shall never be extinguished, I ask that you all join me in this symbolic act of faith, this lighting of Miss Liberty's torch. Note: The President spoke at 11:04 p.m. on Governors Island. At the conclusion of the ceremonies, he went to Pocantico Hills, NY, where he stayed overnight. Centennial of the Statue of Liberty Remarks During the Review of Operation Sail. July 4, 1986 Thank you, Lee, and thank you all. It's been said that we Americans count our blessings too seldom. But not this weekend. This weekend we celebrate, my friends, we cut loose. The procession that we are about to witness will be as colorful as fireworks, as majestic as Lady Liberty herself. I hear you.1 [Laughter] It will speak to us of the past, of the days when great ships like these dropped anchor in our harbors to unload tea from China, whale oil from open seas, and, yes, immigrants from around the world. It will speak to us of present and future amity between our nation and the many nations that have sent ships here today to lend their beauty-the curve of their hulls, the lines of their masts and rigging as they stand out against the sea, the sky-to our rejoicing. Passing in review today we see more than 20 of the 30 or so tall ships that are left in the world. The U.S. Coast Guard bark Eagle will lead the procession. Schooners, barks, brigantines, and ketches from more than 30 countries are entering the harbor. Somehow, men have always found. moving the sight of these vessels of wood and metal and canvas. Indeed, some centuries ago one writer of proverbs described as "wonderful the way of a ship in the midst of a sea." Perhaps it has something to do with the knowledge that nothing binds sailing ships, nothing holds them back, that they can travel anywhere across the vast and trackless sea. Perhaps, indeed, these vessels embody our conception of liberty itself: to have before one no impediments, only open spaces; to chart one's own course and take the adventure of life as it comes; to be free as the wind-as free as the tall ships themselves. It's fitting, then, that this procession should take place in honor of Lady Liberty. And as the wind swells the sails, so too may our hearts swell with pride that all that Liberty's sons and daughters have accomplished in this the land of the free. This spectacle has been literally years in the planning. On behalf of the American people I want to thank Ambassador Bus Mosbacher and his entire Operation Sail staff for making this international celebration, this stately salute to Liberty. 1 The President referred to the sounding of a ship's horn. And now, Bus, where are you? Come forward. Note: The President spoke at 10:59 a.m. on Governors Island. He was introduced by Lee Iacocca, chairman of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Foundation. Emil Mosbacher, Jr., was the chairman of Operation Sail. Prior to President Reagan's remarks, he and President Mitterrand were presented first day issue stamps commemorating the Statue of Liberty by Alain Madelin, French Director of Posts, and Albert V. Casey, U.S. Postmaster General, respectively. Earlier in the morning, the President went to the U.S.S. Iowa in New York Harbor to view the International Naval Review. International Issues Informal Exchange With Reporters at a Meeting With President François Mitterrand of France. July 4, 1986 Q. Mr. President, are you going to send a message to Mr. Gorbachev with French President Mitterrand? President Reagan. I don't think that would be appropriate to impose on him. He has his own matters-other countries— Q. What would you like him to say, though? Q. Will you discuss with him today the East-West relationship? President Reagan. Oh, I think we'll talk about things like that, yes. Q. What would you like him to express to Mr. Gorbachev about your view toward a summit and an arms control agreement? President Reagan. As I say, we each have our own relationships with our countries and Q. Are you concerned that he is not more supportive of strategic defense than he is— President Mitterrand? President Reagan. We have a very happy relationship. Q. Mr. Gorbachev, in his latest speech, said that you are still-the United Statesstill not serious about arms control. President Reagan. Well, then he's just misinformed. |