How is everyone this morning? Good to see everyone here. I'm trying to figure out what this tent is doing. I guess in the unlikely event that it rains, I'm in good in shape. I don't know about you, but I'm protected. [laugh]

First of all, I'd like to thank WorldStrides for having me out here. I'd like to acknowledge, first of all, Terri our mistress of ceremonies. Give her a big hand, isn't she doing a great job? [clap] I want to acknowledge Chaplain Haynes for his work with the Pentagon, with our troops, and even more importantly the brave work that I know that he's done since September 11th in providing support and consolation for bereaved families and loved ones in a very, very difficult time. Give the Chaplain a big hand. The Col. has really done a remarkable job as well. [clap] And finally give yourselves a big hand, all of you - families, students, teachers - all of you in this organization for being out here today and making an important statement about the future of our country and the future of our youth. Give yourselves a big hand for being out here today and for standing up for what's right. [clap]

It gives me great pleasure always to invite people to our nation's capital. It's always a pleasure to invite people to come here and enjoy our beautiful downtown, our national mall, our attractions, our neighborhoods, our great restaurants, give parking tickets. [laugh] It's always a great opportunity.

I am encouraged by something even more important. The fact that you're even here, says a lot about the American spirit. It says a lot about determination. It says a lot about steadfastness. It says a lot about your willingness to say loud and clear, 'let freedom ring' today on Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C. Because the fact is, it is now important, now more than ever, to stand up as Americans and to live proud as Americans, to do this to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country over the centuries, and certainly on September 11th and in the aftermath. People who were in the line of duty whether they are postal workers, whether they are firemen, whether they are police personnel, whether they are flight crew and yes, whether they are passengers on flight 93. All of them gave their lives for something greater and we honor them here today.

I am pleased that all of you as students, principals, administrators, and teachers are continuing in your tradition of visiting Washington, D.C., especially now. You know, each year approximately 25 million visitors come to our city to celebrate the freedoms of being an American; the very freedoms that were threatened by the recent terrorist attacks. It's important that you are standing here today because I know this means that you will bring students back here to Washington, D.C.

I can't imagine a 7th grade student merely reading about the legislative work of that big building down the street, the U.S. Capitol. You have to experience it. I can't imagine an eighth grader just envisioning the place where Doctor Martin Luther King delivered his moving 'I have a dream' speech on the national mall or his last speech given here in Washington at the National Cathedral. You must see it for yourself. I can't imagine any teacher simply explaining what it's like to visit the Smithsonian Museum or my favorite, the Air and Space Museum. You have to see it for yourself. You have to experience it for yourself. It's imperative. It's vital. It's critical that students travel and learn beyond the confines of their classroom and that they travel and learn across this great country.

I know my first visit to Washington, D.C. was on a trip as a student. My parents were great parents. Both my parents worked at the post office. Both of my parents raised eight children and sent them all to college working at the post office. They were remarkable parents. We managed to travel around the country for six or seven years, every year in our camper, across the country. The only way we made it was to camp everywhere we went or we had some lucky relatives who would take us all in, we'd say 'hi we're here.' [laugh] We came here in 1964. I'll never forget those memories. These are the things in every adult 'hard drive.' It's our memory. It's seeing. It's smelling. It's experiencing the greatness of this country. That's what student travel is about. I'm still not sure how we got 12 people in that camper, but 'hey' we got around the country and it was a great trip.

You know the events of September 11th made our young people - I found this as I visited schools and as I visited classrooms - much more curious about political events and much more interested in what it means to be patriotic. That's why I think it is important to visit our city and to learn what it means to be a leader in a difficult time. Because all these folks up the street here in the Capitol and all these folks right here in the City Hall of Washington, D.C., and certainly all these folks in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., are all showing our students what it means to be a leader in a difficult time. I think it's here that students learn how to form relationships. It's here, that students with real experience, learn how to form networks to get the job done for a larger cause.

The fact is our city is steeped in heritage and tradition and I believe that every student in our country ought to come here and experience it. Because the fact is, a walk across the national mall is a trip from 1776 to 2001. It is here that you are able to appreciate America's struggles; America's struggles in the revolution, America's struggles in the Civil War, at the Grant monument, America's struggles in the depression, with the monument of Franklin Roosevelt, America's struggles in the Civil War, certainly with a magnificent memorial to Abraham Lincoln, our finest President. When I think I've had a tough time, I think of Abraham Lincoln. And that is transforming leadership. That's what students ought to be able to see.

Now as I close, I want you all to think about something. Your name is WorldStrides, right? It's not World-Stand-Still, it's not World-Crawl, it's not World-Move-Along-At-A-Snail's-Pace. No, it's WorldStrides. That's because you are about REACHING. That's because you're about what this country is all about.

The district officials recently moved back into this beautiful building here. We were up the road in a modern, ugly-looking building. We're now back in this beautiful building. And I've been across this plaza hundreds and hundreds of times. I was standing here listening to the Chaplain and I noticed this great quotation from a great writer, Charles Dickens, all of you who are English teachers know what a great writer Charles Dickens was in Victorian England. No one better captured - well he wrote some long sentences, but no one captured in prose [laugh] Didn't he? God, he wrote some long sentences. [laugh] But, he was a real craftsman at capturing a picture and a vision. You know what he said about this city? He said, "It is sometimes called the city of magnificent distance, but it might in greater propriety be called the city of magnificent intentions." That's what this city is about. That's what this country is about. Magnificent intentions.

When I think of my father, my father was a policeman in St. Paul, Minnesota. He had to fight to become a policeman. Then he had to fight to get into the military because he was an African-American. He was a Captain in the U.S. Army in World War II. He got a bronze star, other medals; he was highly decorated. For an African-American that was an incredible achievement. And he never forgot that. Now, when he got out of the military after that great experience, the only job he could get was in the post office. This man worked 36 years in the post office. He never took one day of sick leave. Can you imagine that? I think there were two reasons why he did that. One, he wanted to get out of the house with 8 kids, [laugh] but the other reason was, he was dedicated. I would dare say that anyone of you from the baby boomer generation, all of your parents, whether they were seamstresses, whether they were iron workers or postal workers, or policemen, or whatever they did, everything they did was for the future. Because the beauty and the power of this country is not what we've already done. The beauty and the power of this country is not what we are today. For my father, this country wasn't that great in 1952 or 1953. He had this great background and he was working in the post office. He wasn't that happy. But he kept working, he kept striving, he kept STRIDING because of the promise and the potential of this country. We must never ever, ever, ever deny our students the ability to dream because that's what's keeping this country powerful. That's what's keeping the eagle aloft; the ability to try, to realize, to drive for a higher goal.

You know Mohammed Ali was in a great fight. I understand in the 6th round, he was knocked out in this fight and then the count commenced. The count was just about ready to finish when he [Mohammed] staggered up to his feet and wandered over to the corner. Then he came back into the fight. And the fight continued. Then he won the fight by a decision. Remember Howard Cosell, remember him? He said, "Tell me, Mohammed, how did you make it through the fight?" He [Mohammad} said, "A champ's place is on his feet, not on the mat." Because of the power of dreaming and striding and driving, this country is a champion. You can knock us down, but you can't knock us out. God bless you all and keep doing what you're doing.