Remarks on Presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to George J. Mitchell

The President. Well, thank you very much. I am very grateful for your warm reception. I take it you had a good time inside. [Laughter] You not only put me out of the White House, you put all of yourselves out, too, because we wanted to be here where we could sit as one, to participate in this very important ceremony.

I thank you, Taoiseach, Celia. I thank all the party leaders who are here: Mr. Trimble, Mr. Mallon, John Hume, Gerry Adams, all the others. I thank Mo Mowlam for her tireless work. And the members of the Irish Government who are here, I thank all of them.

Mo Mowlam has got a great sense of humor, so I'm going to tell you a story she told me upstairs, and I'll never live over it, I know. But she said one night she spent the night here with Hillary and me, and she got in rather late. We stayed up rather later speaking. And then she went to sleep, and something happened, and she had to get on the phone early in the morning, London time, which is in the middle of the night our time. And the operator called back and said that she was having trouble finding Secretary Mowlam; she was in Mr. Lincoln's bedroom. [Laughter] She said it was quite obvious the operator did not know who Mr. Lincoln was or that he had been deceased for quite some time. [Laughter] But she at least felt that she was in good company. [Laughter]

I would like to thank the members of our administration who are here and the rather astonishing number of Members of Congress who are here. I'd like to ask all the Members of the United States Congress who are here to please stand, wherever you are. [Applause] Thank you. Many have come with their spouses. Congressman King came with about 15 members of his family—[laughter]—represents about 5 percent of the total brood. [Laughter] We're delighted to see them all.

I'd also like to say a special word of welcome to Senator Mitchell and to Heather and to all of George's family and friends who are here. As all of you know, in addition to the entertainment, which we'll talk about in a moment, our primary purpose here is to give me the opportunity, in front of the Irish-American community and so many of our friends from Ireland, north and south, to present the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Senator George Mitchell. [Applause] Thank you.

I really don't know if this is going to mean anything to George anymore; he's gotten so many honors lately. He can't walk two blocks down any street without someone throwing some sort of trophy at him—[laughter]—Irish-American of the Year, Honorary Degree from Dublin's Trinity College. He even got an honorary knighthood from the Queen of England. George Lucas offered to give him "the Force"—[laughter]—but he said "the Force" was already with him. [Laughter]

Few Americans have served with such distinction in so many different capacities: prosecutor, judge, Senator, Presidential envoy, chair of Northern Ireland's historic peace talks. His, as most of you know, is a great American story. His father, born to Irish immigrants, adopted by Lebanese immigrants; his mother herself born in Lebanon. She worked a night shift at a textile mill; his father cleaned the buildings at Colby College. They stressed education and hard work, and George supplemented his scholarships with jobs as a steward, dorm proctor, construction worker, night watchman, truck driver, and insurance adjustor. Now we all know why he fought so hard for the working people of our country. At one time or another, he did everything that they do all day, every day.

I've heard George say on more than one occasion that his favorite part of being a Federal judge was administering the citizenship oath to new American citizens. He said he was very moved when one of them told him, "I came here because in America, everybody has a chance."

Well, this son of immigrants has done his dead-level-best to make sure that in our country everybody does have a chance. And he replaced a remarkable man, Senator Edmund Muskie, in the Senate and in just 8 years became the majority leader.

In our time together, he pushed through crucial laws that enabled us to turn around our horrendous deficit, get our budget in order, and start to grow our economy again, to give tax breaks to working people, to broaden voter registration, to give 20 million people, now, access to the family and medical leave law, to put 100,000 police on the street, protect religious freedom, clean up the environment, stand up for our veterans. That's just a few of the things that he did.

When he announced his retirement, it was a bittersweet moment, for friends and colleagues wished him well but also knew we would miss him dearly in this town. And I devised a scheme, the dimensions of which George would only later appreciate. [Laughter] I think it is the only time in our long relationship where I outsmarted him, instead of the other way around. [Laughter]

I asked him to take a small, part-time commitment as my special economic adviser to Northern Ireland. [Laughter] Then the British and Irish Governments stepped in and asked him to chair talks on disarmament and then on bringing a comprehensive peace after a generation of bloodshed. The small, part-time commitment became more all-consuming than being Senate majority leader. I got even with him for leaving me. [Laughter]

He drew up principles of nonviolence, aimed at preventing further tragedies while the talks proceeded. In building common ground among longtime antagonists he was a patient listener when he needed to be and a decisive leader when he had to be. He earned the respect of all parties for fairness, integrity, and judgment. And he built the trust necessary to move toward an agreement.

Through more than 100 trips across the Atlantic—shall I say that again? Through more than 100 trips across the Atlantic, he continued to press ahead in the cause of peace. Northern Ireland learned what his sister and brothers knew from endless nights of cribbage, what his college basketball teammates saw from their tenacious starting guard, what his fellow legislators learned on the Senate floor and on the tennis court, and what I learned as his friend and colleague: Don't be fooled by the calm demeanor; this guy is a ferocious competitor, determined to succeed.

During the course of this endeavor, George and Heather's son, Andrew, was born. George thought of Andrew, and also of the 61 children born in Northern Ireland on the same day. He wanted to champion their future as well, to give them the same chance for a good life he wanted for his own son.

What motivated George brought to mind for me a letter I read last summer at Omagh when, together, we met with survivors of the bombing there. It was sent to our then-Ambassador to Ireland, Jean Kennedy Smith, who is also with us tonight, and thank you, Jean. I want to read this to you so you will understand from a personal point of view why I'm giving this medal to George tonight and why I want every person who is a part of this process to leave here tonight determined to get over this last hurdle and to remember that we do not have a day to waste. Easter is coming again. Good Friday is coming again. We have to give an accounting of ourselves. So remember this:

"Dear Ambassador, you may not know me. You may not even get this letter. But after yesterday's tragedy, I wanted to do something. I'm 29 years old, an Irishman to the very core of my being. But throughout my life, there has never been peace on this island. I never realized how precious peace could be until my wife gave birth to our daughter, Ashleen, 20 months ago. We don't want her to grow up in a society that is constantly waiting for the next atrocity, the next batch of young lives snuffed out by hatred and fear.

"Ashleen's name means ‘vision' or ‘dream,' and we have a dream of what Ireland might be like when she grows up. Ireland could be a place where dreams would come true, where people would achieve things never imagined before, where people would not be afraid of their neighbors. We know America has done much for Ireland and all we ask is that you keep trying. Please keep Ireland in mind because Ashleen and all Irish children need to be able to dream."

Well, my thanks go to the Taoiseach, to Prime Minister Blair, to Mo Mowlam, the leaders of the parties, our Government, but especially to my good friend George Mitchell, who never meant to sign on for quite the job he got but who did it as an act of love and devotion.

George, thank you for your service to our Nation. Thank you for your wisdom. Thank you for being so tenacious. Thank you for your friendship and for being a truly fine human being.

Major Everhart, read the citation.

[At this point, Maj. Carlton D. Everhart, USAF, Air Force Aide to the President, read the citation. The President then presented the medal, and Mr. Mitchell made brief remarks.]

The President. Thank you, George, for your service and your remarks tonight.

You know, when you stay in this work as long as Senator Mitchell and I have, you're not often moved by what other people in public life say. And even sometimes when you're moved, you doubt the ability of one person's words to move another. Tonight I think I can speak for all of us when I say we were genuinely moved by what George Mitchell said.

And I believe I can speak for all of us who are not parties and will have no direct say, that we hope and pray that they were moved and emboldened and redetermined by Senator Mitchell's words. I will say what I have said from the beginning: The United States will support all sides in Ireland that take honest steps for peace. And I hope and believe that the necessary steps can be taken before we pass another Good Friday.

Thank you very much.

Now, enough of this really too serious stuff. Now we're going to have Saint Patrick's Day fun. Let me begin by thanking the performers who already have been entertaining you here and in the White House. Let me mention them all, and then I think we should give them a round of applause: the Irish Fire band and dancers from the O'Hare School of Irish Dance; the Culkin School of Traditional Irish Dance and The Next Generation Band; the harpists, Ellen James and Michael O'Hanlan; the Prince George's County Police Pipe Band; and the U.S. Marine Band Irish Ensemble. Thank you very much. Hillary and I appreciate it. [Applause]

There is another great performance ahead: Both Sides Now, music and spoken words celebrating the people of Northern Ireland. You will hear the great music from our friends Phil Coulter and James Galway, two of Ireland's and the world's great musicians. Last December they performed together in Oslo on a great day, the day John Hume and David Trimble received the Nobel Peace Prize. They are joined by some familiar faces, Roma Downey and Aidan Quinn. We thank them for being here. And you will hear from the musicians of Different Drums of Ireland, whose sounds represent a melding of Ireland's traditions.

Finally, you will hear from a truly beautiful and remarkable young woman, Claire Gallagher. She lost her sight in the terrible bombing at Omagh, but she did not lose the vision and strength of her spirit and soul. And her mission for peace is powerful and clear. Claire came here tonight with her parents, her siblings, her teacher, and we are genuinely honored to have her. Hillary was so moved by her before in Northern Ireland, and I can't say enough about my respect for what she has done to carry on with what will still be a genuinely remarkable life.

I thank all of our performers in advance. And again, I say I hope the music and the spirit embodied by the Irish who are here will also help to give us the strength and resolve to fulfill the final promises of the Good Friday accord.

Thank you, and God bless you.