Press Conference with NBA Sports Envoys

[AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY IN FRENCH]

Opening Statement
Ambassador Roger A. Meece
Monday, 16 July 2007, 10:00AM
Grand Hotel, Salon Congo

Good Morning, Ladies and Gentlemen, and welcome.

I am delighted today to appear before you with other American “Ambassadors” who are here on very special missions.  These “Ambassadors” come with the message that sports can teach children lessons in life, such as the importance of disciplined practice, team work, competition, good health, and achieving goals.  They also come with the mission of celebrating the opening of a very special hospital.

As you can tell, it is basketball that these “Ambassadors” employ to teach lessons in life. 

Speaking of teamwork, the Department of State and the National Basketball Association have teamed up to send these Sports Envoys from the NBA and the WNBA for these missions.  I am especially grateful that these envoys and their delegation have traveled here to share their impressive skills and experience.  My thanks go to al who made this possible.

Mr. Juwan Howard has played for 13 years in the NBA, most recently with the Houston Rockets.  Next year he will be a forward with the Minnesota Timberwolves.  Mr. Howard is known for his consistency and his work ethic.  You can see him in Hoop Dreams, a movie about high school basketball in Chicago, his home town.  He also appears in a television episode of The West Wing, which is about the White House in Washington, the city where he played most of his NBA career.  Mr. Howard has traveled to the Congo with his lovely wife, Jenine.

Ms. Nikki McCray played on five teams in her eight-year career in the Women’s national Basketball Association, most recently with the Chicago Sky.  She was three times a WNBA All-Star player.  Nikki McCray also won Olympic gold medals in 1996 in Atlanta, and 2000 in Sydney in basketball.

Both Juwan Howard and Nikki McCray are bringing their sports mission to Congolese children.  In fact, they started yesterday with 8-to-11 year olds, two of whom are with us this morning.  They will continue this afternoon at Martyrs Stadium with 12-to-15 year olds, and on Wednesday with 16-to-18-year-old children selected by the Congolese Basketball Federation, represented here this morning.   

Juwan Howard and Nikki McCray are here because of one man, Dikembe Mutombo.  Dikembe Mutombo was on television in America, too, last January. That was when the President of the United States introduced him to a joint session of Congress and to millions of Americans watching the President’s State of the Union address.  President Bush singled out Dikembe for his Foundation and its work to build a modern hospital in Kinshasa. 

The U.S. government is pleased to help make the inauguration of the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital a special event by bringing in our basketball stars from the NBA and WNBA, Juwan and Nikki.  I take pride in their desire to help others. 

I am proud, in fact, of America’s reputation as a generous nation, and of Americans as a generous people.  The statistics are eloquent.  For every one-dollar of official foreign assistance from the U.S. government, three to four dollars more come from individuals, voluntary organizations, charities, churches, and foundations in America, like Dikembe Mutombo’s. 

He needs no further introduction, so let me turn the microphone over to Dikembe Mutombo.