 Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States, and Mrs. Reagan, Mrs. Sergeant Shriver, Mr. Frank Gifford, and Mr. Christopher Reeve. President and Mrs. Reagan, distinguished guests, I am proud to present the international athletes of Special Olympics. Leading the parade of athletes is the yellow and blue banner of Special Olympics. It will be carried today by William James, a Special Olympian from the District of Columbia, and accompanying him is the 1960 Olympic Decathlon Champion and head coach of Special Olympics, Rayford Johnson. Our band, the musical pride of Washington DC, the 75-member Cardozo High School band under the direction of Mr. Richard Gill. Following the band are athletes from the five world regions of Special Olympics, carrying the flags of their countries. First, representing the athletes of Europe, the delegation from Greece. Marching with them is Tamara McKinney, the Women's World Cup Alpine Skiing Champion, the first American woman ever to hold that title. And now, representing the African region, the delegation from Kenya. They are accompanied by 1968 Olympic Long Jump Champion, a world record holder, Bob Beeman. Representing the Asia Pacific region, the delegation from Japan. They are accompanied by Milton Campbell, 1956 Olympic Decathlon Champion. Representing the Latin American region, the delegation from Chile. Marching with them is Alberto Salazar, world record holder for the marathon. And representing North America, special Olympians and coaches from Virginia and Maryland, accompanied by Julius Irving, captain of the 1983 World Champion, Philadelphia 76ers. And now, led by Rocky Blyre, former Pittsburgh Steeler and by Loretta Claiborne, Pennsylvania Special Olympian the delegation from Maryland. Each athlete carries the flag of one of the 52 nations participating in the 1983 International Summer Olympic Games, which will begin exactly one month from today on the campus of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. The flags they are carrying range alphabetically from Argentina to Ghana. And led by Jim Hartung, men's national gymnastics champion and Billy Kidd, Olympic silver medalist skier and former World Cup champion, the delegation from Virginia. They carry the flags of participating nations from Greece to New Zealand. Now, led by Rick Mahorn, outstanding forward of the Washington Bullets and Special Olympics Chairwoman of Community Relations, Susan St. James, a delegation from the District of Columbia carrying the flags from Norway to Venezuela. And finally, we are proud to present the 1983 Special Olympics Outstanding Families, Frank, Alice, Mary, Karen, and David Addison of Duluth, Minnesota, and Rod, Sherry, Gary, and Doug Redding of Laramie, Wyoming. Following a tradition which began over 2,700 years ago with the first Olympic Games, the Special Olympics Flame has arrived. It will be carried here, symbolically, from Olympia by Spiritan Mootsoulis, a Special Olympics athlete. He's from Athens, Greece. The torch will now be turned over to Special Olympian James Keith of Washington, DC, who will light the Special Olympics Flame of Hope. Now, ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States. But first of all, welcome to the White House and to those of you from Chile, Greece, Japan, and Kenya, welcome to the United States. I hope you all enjoyed seeing Superman 3 starring Christopher Reeve, and isn't it great to have Christopher Superman as a coach. This looks like it might be so much fun. I wish I'd worn my track clothes. I understand that in Special Olympics, your torch is called the Flame of Hope. And that's exactly what your athletes represent today. By training and competing in these events, you're realizing your hopes for a fuller, more productive life and you're kindling in the rest of us the hope that through individual effort, we can make this a more caring world. And, Eunice, we're grateful for all you've done to give these special young people new opportunities for special growth. We're grateful to these athletes for letting us share in their joy today. Thank you again, and welcome. Thank you, Mr. President. And now the founder and president of Special Olympics, through our own sheer strength and inner courage, has made the Special Olympics what they are today. Mrs. Eunice Kennedy Shriver. Thank you very much. President Reagan, Mrs. Reagan, special Olympians, parents, athletes, coaches, stars of Superman 3, the fine musicians from Cardoza High School, and the friends of Special Olympics. We thank you, President and Mrs. Reagan, for inviting us here to celebrate this 15th anniversary of Special Olympics and to take part in the benefit premiere of Superman 3, which has been so generously donated by Warner Brothers. All Americans, Mrs. Reagan, are grateful to you for your work with foster grandparents and for the programs you have created for young people suffering from drug problems. And for the warm affection you always display for special children and their families. You are a gallant symbol of tenderness, which should be an essential part of every person and every nation's life. People ask how Special Olympics has become the fastest growing sports program in the world. In the summer of 1968, we were a single track meet in Chicago with 1,500 athletes. In this summer of 1983, we are 20,000 separate sports events for one million athletes in every state and 50 foreign countries. I believe the answer is near to us in this great home of our presidents. For almost 200 years, this place has been the center of the moral life of this country. The White House opens its doors to excellence, to Nobel Prize winners, artists and poets, philosophers, musicians, athletes and astronauts. This house is the symbolic home of all those who lead, who discover, who transcend. Mr. President, it is right and good that our Special Olympians are here today. For they are extraordinary human beings and the world has taken to its heart their shining example of striving against the greatest odds, whether it is a boy without legs, who learns to dive and to swim, or a girl with cerebral palsy who runs the marathon. The Special Olympians are here because of their spiritual strength, their excellence and their achievements and the light of their lives now illuminates the ancient values of this house, skill, courage, sharing and joy. In them we see the best of our own humanity and by their presence here they honor us far more than we can ever honor them. In the North and South of Ireland, that wounded, suffering land, I have seen Special Olympians training for national and international games together, competing together, cheering their athletes together with one voice united under the banner of Special Olympics. And in Honduras, one of the poorest nations in this hemisphere, more than 8,000 parents and friends travel to see their Special Olympians compete in the national games. In Poland and Cuba, whose political systems are so different from ours, hundreds of youngsters are now training hard for the 1983 International Special Olympic Games in Louisiana next month. President Reagan, 20 years ago my brother stood on this lawn as you stand here today. He was burdened by all the problems that beset the world just as you are burdened now. Yet when he assessed his country and its role as a world leader, he concluded, and I quote, we as a nation will be judged by our caring for our least powerful citizens. In our giving to others, in our failing to give, in our caring or failing to care, we inch mankind forward or let it fall back. The love we give to our friends, our parents, our children, the sick, the aged, the poor, and the powerless becomes a part of each of us and multiplies as we pass it on. And slowly, day by day, through this mysterious arithmetic, the hardness and pain of life are diminished and the thin precious spiral of hope sends. Thank you, Mr. President. And now, the star of Superman 3 and Special Olympics head coach of volunteers, Mr. Christopher Reed. Chris. Thank you. Mr. President and Mrs. Regan, ladies and gentlemen, I'm here on behalf of all of us who are responsible for the making and distributing of Superman 3. And I'm here to say that we are delighted that you've invited us. Superman may be make-believe, unfortunately. But, it came as a shock to me when I heard that. But the qualities of courage and of character that make him unique are very real in Special Olympians. And I know this because I've coached them and I've been amazed. I've seen in a race where an athlete has been about to win just about to cross the finish line, he's stopped and waited for the man behind him so they could go across the finish line together. And I think that if the rest of us did that together, we might go further. And now, let's watch as Special Olympians show us their skills in juggling a soccer ball, in performing gymnastics routines, and competing in a 400 meter relay race, which are just three of the 16 Special Olympics sports these athletes learned to perform with such joy and such grace. Thank you very much and for your commentary, once again, Frank Gifford. Thank you, Chris. And athletes all over the world indeed have been training for the upcoming international games and we'd like to show you first a soccer juggling demonstration by Special Olympians, Takashi Ochimoto of Japan and Luis Soto of Chile, who have learned this skill, by the way, as part of their Special Olympics training. All right, let's have it. Just try that sometime. Very good. Thank you, Takashi and Luis. I don't think any of us could do any better. And now an exhibition of one of Special Olympics' most popular and demanding sports, gymnastics. First, the floor exercise by our little sweetheart, Cathy Sager. Thank you, Cathy. You're the best. Cathy Sager. And now a floor exercise routine by Whitney Burkheimer. He's from Virginia. Don't be afraid to let him know you appreciate it. Thank you, Whitney. That was beautiful. Thank you, Whitney Burkheimer. And now our final event, that's a relay race, featuring athletes from all around the world who have traveled a long way to show us their skills. Now they're going to be three teams with four athletes each, the red, the blue, and the gold. And they're going to run a complete lap, and there's quite a ways. I covered it earlier today. And at the finish line, they're going to be greeted by athletes, they're gonna be greeted by former athletes who are the Huggers, and they're such an integral part of the Special Olympics. And with us today, Timer McKinney, would like to have you come out, Susan St. James and Rocky Blyre. And we have our Huggers wherever we have competition. They are such an important part. Now, Mr., I did it. Mr. President, if you would, I would like you to be our official starter, and it will go something like this on your mark, get set, and the whistle. And the whistle. We wanted you to compete, but no tracksuit. Thank you, sir. If you stand up to the starting line. All right, they will make one complete lap. This also will be one of the events that we will have down in Baton Rouge. Again, it begins the international games in just one month, one month from today. There are 13 other events that will be competed. As Mr. Shriver said, there will be 50 nations involved, 4,300 athletes, 450,000 volunteers have given of their time, their resources, their efforts to make all of this possible. The Special Olympics really is not all wrapped up in winning or losing. It's wrapped up in just the honor of being able to compete. The pride that comes from within and all of us. Chris Reeve spoke of it a moment ago, the feeling that an athlete has just being able and given the opportunity to do his best. And Special Olympians are no different. That's how bring them around. And out in front is the gold team. The gold team, the winners, symbolically of our relay, the blue team and the red team. But there is never a loser in Special Olympics. As I mentioned, the games will be in Baton Rouge, the international games. And as Eunice recalled those years from 1968 until now, what a tremendous growth with over 50 nations, well over a million athletes involved in the program. And we are gathering all of our international athletes together, our youngster from Kenya, from Chile and a very special moment now in their lives. And here's to Mr. President and Mrs. Reagan, we'd like to have you present each participating athlete a medal and it's been a specially designed for the Superman III Presidential Premier. So we will call them forward, Mr. President, Mrs. President. First from Chile, Maria Hausman and Luis Soto. All right. From Greece, Angeles, Pilihous, and Spiridon, Mootsoulas. Thank you, man. From Japan, Takashi Ochimoto and Kanako Kimuru. From Japan, from Kenya, Kamau Kiiru and Steven Gattaku. From Kenya and now from the United States, Mary Green, she's from Virginia. Steven Devilbiss from Maryland. Woodrow Harrison from Maryland. Mark Bryant from DC. And our gymnast, Kathy Seiger, she's from Virginia. And also Whitney Burkeimer from Virginia. And here is Whitney Burkeimer. How about one outstanding ovation for all of them? Whitney Burkeimer, yes, we know the name, love. Thank you very much. Thank you. Again, Mr. President. Every time I'd ever heard those words that I just used to start that race, I was out there on the starting line. I never, one of the satisfactions of being president is the privilege of recognizing citizens who possess unique gifts or who make uncommon contributions to society. There are medals for bravery, awards for skill, citations for achievement. The Special Olympics encompasses all these honors. As Eunice pointed out, the spirit of Special Olympics includes skill, courage, sharing, and joy. Values every one of us can learn from these remarkable young men and women. Yet the Special Olympics also represents another spirit, one that I've been talking about for years. It's the spirit of volunteerism. If Special Olympics had waited for government to create, legislate, and appropriate a sports program like this, we'd barely be at the starting line. The young athletes and the heart and energy they've displayed today are a tribute to you volunteers and to your faith in what these special people can accomplish in life. Congratulations to the athletes and the volunteers. Thank you all for the most inspiring afternoon. And now, as they say in training camp, chow is on, let's get in the feed line in the tent.