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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release November 23, 1994

                       REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
                 AT THANKSGIVING TURKEY PRESENTATION

The Rose Garden

10:10 A.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT: Well, good morning.

AUDIENCE: Good morning!

THE PRESIDENT: It's nice to see all of you here. I want to especially welcome the fifth graders from Murch Elementary School. I'm glad you're here, and hope you're having a good time. And I'm glad the sun is shining down at least on some of you.

I want to thank Larry Fanella, the chairman of the National Turkey Federation; and say a special word of thanks to Robert Strickler and to Sean Arbogast, the 10-year-old boy who raised this year's turkey in Dayton, Virginia. Let's give him a hand. (Applause.)

Tomorrow we'll all celebrate Thanksgiving. It's an opportunity and a responsibility for all of us to give thanks for our many blessings in this life, to appreciate the good things we have in this country, and to think about those who still live among our ranks who don't have the things that many of us take for granted. In a few hours, Hillary and I will visit So Others Might Eat, a local soup kitchen, to help prepare Thanksgiving dinner for some of Washington's less fortunate families. I think that this is an important time for all of us to think about the larger American community of which we are a part.

The very presence of these children from schools and the different walks of life and backgrounds from which they come reminds us that this has always been a country of great diversity, and the great strength of America is that we offer an opportunity for all different kinds of people to live up to the fullest of their Godgiven capacities. We can only do that if we're committed to creating a stronger and better American community every day.

That is the commitment of our administration. That is the commitment of the public education movement in this country. That is the commitment of everybody devoted to the idea that every child can learn and that we can all do better if we work together.

So I would like to leave you with that thought on this Thanksgiving. And now I want to accept the turkey, and a lot of you know this already, but this will be the second official presidential pardon of my administration -- I granted one to a turkey last year. Unlike the 45 million American turkeys who will make the supreme sacrifice this Thanksgiving for the rest of us, this turkey will retire to Kidwell Farms, a replica of the 1930's working farm in Frying Pan Park in northern Virginia. So I'm glad I can make at least one turkey happy this year. (Laughter.)

Thank you very much. (Applause.)

Are we going to let the kids come up and see the turkey?

Q Mr. President, what do you have to be thankful for this year?

THE PRESIDENT: A lot, but let me just -- I'll mention two things. One is there's more than five million Americans more who have jobs and who, therefore, can afford to have Thanksgiving this Thanksgiving than there were two Thanksgivings ago, right after I was elected. And I'm very thankful for that. And I'm very thankful for the opportunity that my family and I have been given to get up here every day and work on the problems and the opportunities of this country. Those are the two things that I feel very grateful for.

Q When are you going to Camp David?

THE PRESIDENT: When am I going? Tonight when Chelsea gets home from her activities. We're going up late tonight.

END10:20 A.M. EST