March 24, 2008

THE PRESIDENT: Well, Laura and I welcome you to the White House for the Easter Egg Roll. How about the Jonas Brothers? Thanks for coming. (Applause.) We are sure glad you're here. We welcome you to the Easter Egg Roll.

Pretty soon after a few remarks, I have the honor of blowing the whistle to start the Easter Egg Roll. But we've got a lot of other people who are going to make sure today is a special day. We want to thank all our volunteers who have made this event possible. We thank our -- (applause) -- yes, there you are. (Laughter.) We thank our readers. For you Dallas Cowboy fans, it is a great honor to welcome Troy Aikman here to be one of the readers. (Applause.)

We want to remind you that we're dedicating today's Easter Egg Roll to our clean oceans. And there's a booth here where you can find out how you can contribute to make sure that we're environmentally sound stewards of our oceans. Ocean conservation is a important aspect of good public service, and it's certainly something that Laura has on her mind, as she comes up to address you. And so now it's my honor to welcome the First Lady of the United States, my dear wife, Laura Bush. (Applause.)

MRS. BUSH: Thank you, darling. Welcome, everybody, to the White House Easter Egg Roll, the 2008 Easter Egg Roll. This event is one of the happiest traditions on the White House lawn. It's always fun to see the South Lawn filled with children. Thank you for coming. And I'd especially like to thank our entertainers, our readers, our volunteers, and our special guests.

And two of the special readers today are my mother-in-law, Barbara Bush -- (applause) -- and my daughter, Jenna. So be sure and listen -- (applause.) Two very famous American children's writers and illustrators -- oh, here's Jenna -- and Barbara. (Laughter.) Rosemary Wells and Nancy Tafuri will also be reading in the reading nook, so look to see, when you can stop by the reading nook, to see them.

Also members of the President's Cabinet will join us. They'll be our special readers. And you might meet some of your favorite book characters on the lawn, as well, like Mickey Mouse, who is returning to the White House Easter Egg Roll for the first time since the 1980s. So thank you, Mickey, for joining us today.

Like the President said, our theme today for the Easter Egg Roll is ocean conservation. I invite all of you to stop by the ocean conservation education area on the lawn to learn what you can do to make sure we keep our oceans clean and healthy for fish and other ocean life. The ocean artist, Wyland, is here to teach us how to paint -- (applause) -- some of the beautiful animals that live in our seas.

I'd also like to welcome the volunteers who are here today from organizations like Ocean Conservancy, Keep America Beautiful, and Take Pride in America. Boys and girls have donated their time to help preserve our natural wonders for future generations. Thanks to all of the volunteers and the staff who are working so hard to make this event a success -- especially Amy Allman, in the White House Visitors Office, who put this great event together. (Applause.)

Okay, now we're ready to start the Easter Egg Roll. President Bush and I wish each one of you good luck on the Egg Roll. Welcome to the White House, everyone, and Happy Easter. (Applause.)

END 9:31 A.M. EDT