WHILE WE are having the picture taken, I want to congratulate this wonderful team for their performance in the Olympics and also for the great reception they have had in the United States.
As I watched the Olympics on television, I noticed that you all had the capability of always landing on your feet. That is why your visit to Washington is particularly appropriate, because all of the politicians here try to land on their feet, sometimes without success.
Most important, I want you to know that we welcome you not simply because of your athletic achievements but because you represent the youth of your country. In my talks with your leaders last June, and in the talks I will have later this year with Mr. Brezhnev, when he is here, we will be talking about the present, of course, the relations between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. But what we will be talking about most of all is the future, the young people of America, the young people of the Soviet Union, and of all the world. We want it to be a peaceful future.
Whatever the differences between leaders may be, we think that the young people of the world can live with mir i druzhba [peace and friendship].
Note: The President spoke at 12:10 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White House.
The 11-member team was in Washington for a performance at the University of Maryland, College Park, Md.
Richard Nixon, Remarks During a Meeting With the U.S.S.R. Women's Gymnastic Team. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/256260
