Schedule for Welcome
Dinner Rice Eccles Stadium Salt Lake City, UT Monday, April 5,
2010
7:00 – Voice Over
Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome the president of the
University of Utah, Michael Young.
7:01
Welcome ladies and gentlemen. I’d like to extend an especially
warm welcome to:
Extend a special welcome to:
Chairman Michael Steele
Site Selection Committee Chairperson Holly Hughes
AND
Distinguished members of the Selection Committee.
Joining us tonight are:
Governor Gary Herbert
Lt. Governor Greg Bell
Senator Orrin Hatch
Senator Bob Bennett
Representative Rob Bishop
Mayor Ralph Becker
Other distinguished guests
[President Young’s remarks]
7:05
Prayer by Reverend Javier Virgen (Ha-vee-air Veer-hen)
7:10 – Voice Over
Ladies and Gentlemen, please enjoy your meal. Our program will
resume shortly.
7:45 – Voice Over
Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome the Governor of the Great
State of Utah, Gary Herbert.
7:45 – Governor Herbert
[Governor Herbert’s remarks]
7:50 – Voice Over
Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome Senator Bob Bennett
7:50 – Senator Bennett
[Sen. Bennett remarks]
7:55 – Voice Over
Ladies and Gentlemen, pleas welcome Representative Rob Bishop
7:55 – Rep. Bishop
[Rep. Bishop remarks]
8:00 – Voice Over
Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome the Mayor of Salt Lake City,
Ralph Becker.
[Mayor Becker remarks]
8:05 – Downtown Rising
Video
[TRT 3:16]
8:10 – Voice Over
Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome the Chairman of the Host
Committee, President and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber, Lane Beattie.
--Lane Beattie--
Good evening and thank you all so much for joining us.
As we prepared for your visit, there was a lot of talk about the
delegate experience and making a good impression. It occurs to me as I
stand
here that the best way to do that may be to briefly welcome you and
then turn
on the Butler-Duke game.
I won’t tell you the score, though I will say we understand if you
have taken a brief peek at your BlackBerrys to get an update.
Some of you may know this but the NCAA Tournament wasn’t always
such a big deal. It’s now held annually in a large football stadium
reconfigured to hold some 80,000 people and broadcast to millions more
across
the country.
The popularity of the NCAA Tournament can be traced back just over
30 years to a spot about 300 yards from here—at the Huntsman
Center. Back then the tournament included only 40
teams and on March 26, 1979, a couple of kids named Ervin “Magic”
Johnson and
Larry Bird played for the national championship.
You could say that was a pivotal moment in Utah’s history of
hosting big time events.
Magic and Bird went on to greatly increase the popularity of the
NBA. In 1984 the Chicago Bulls drafted Michael Jordan with the third
pick in
the draft; 13 picks later John Stockton became a member of the Utah
Jazz and a
year later Karl Malone joined him. It was 12 years later that those
three men
made us the center of the basketball universe as we hosted the NBA
Finals two
years in a row.
Four years later, and only six months removed from the attacks of
September 11th, Salt Lake City hosted the world for the 2002 Winter
Olympic Games.
Because of the events of September 11th, there were
many who said we should cancel the games—but in Utah, we knew there was
never a
more important time to host the games—and the stakes were high.
[TELL STORY OF FLYING TO WASHINGTON, D.C. TO MEET IN ROOSEVELT
ROOM OF WHITE HOUSE]
When entrusted with showing the world all that is right with
America, I’m proud to say Utah rose to the occasion.
Dick Ebersol, the chairman of NBC Sports, said it was, “far and
away, the most successful Olympics, summer or winter, in history.”
And what was it that made it so?
It was more than our ability to handle security, it was more than
our impressive number of multilingual citizens and it was more than the
facilities we constructed.
There is an intangible quality to Utah.
It comes from our sense of community, from our ability to put our
best foot forward when the lights are brightest, and from our desire to
showcase a place we all love dearly.
For many, the last look they got at Salt Lake City was eight years
ago at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. Let me show you what has happened
since
then.
Our vision, which has become a reality, was to do more than just
host the Olympics, we wanted to become the Winter Sports Capital of
America. We
did that. Athletes come from around the world to train here: 12
countries sent
their athletes to train here, 60 athletes who competed in Vancouver
call Utah
home and nearly half of all American Olympians who competed in
Vancouver, trained
here.
We’ve embraced a vision for Salt Lake City as the Capital City of
the New American West. We are the fastest growing state in the fastest
growing
region in the country. The intermountain west is no longer a group of
“fly-over”
states.
We have a vision for our Capital City, which we call Downtown
Rising.
This vision includes a new federal courthouse, which is now under
construction.
It includes new high-rise office and residential towers—some of
which are now open while some are nearing completion.
The vision includes enhancing our robust arts scene by building a
new Broadway-style theatre.
The vision includes the remarkable, privately funded City Creek
Center, which is ahead of schedule and set to open in the first quarter
2012.
And the vision includes our Downtown Farmers Market voted one of
the top three in the nation.
The exposure of the Olympics propelled us onto the world stage.
Our land-locked state set a record with 10.3 billion dollars in
merchandise
exports two years ago and last year we topped that—making Utah the only
state
in the country to see an increase in exports.
Tonight we gather on the campus of the University of Utah—one of
the top 100 universities in the world. The U—as we affectionately call
it—has developed
three Nobel Prize winners, so far. This university has created more
spin-off
businesses as part of our Utah Science Technology and Research program
than any
other university in the nation. And they do it with less public
funding.
We’ve made a commitment to public transit. We’re building 70 miles
of rails in seven years. Two years ago this month we opened our
commuter line
that runs two counties north of Salt Lake City with a southern line on
the way.
The expansion includes four extensions to our light rail line including
one to
our already easily-accessible airport.
We’ve also taken important steps to further enhance our
hospitality, including modernizing our liquor laws. Getting a drink in
Utah is
no different than it any other place in America.
As we embrace this exciting future for our state, we do so while
embracing our rich history.
On July 24, 1847, Brigham Young led a group of pioneers to this
beautiful valley. Like the pilgrims who arrived on the eastern shores
of our
nation before them, they were in search of a place where they could
worship
according to the dictates of their own conscience. They found refuge in
this
desert wedged between a vast mountain range and a great body of salt
water.
Through hard work they made it a flourishing city, which became
the Crossroads of the West. We continue that work today—always
reaching, always
innovating, always improving. Always striving to make good on Brigham
Young’s
declaration that “this is the right place.”
On January 4, 1896, nearly 50 years after the pioneers arrived in
this valley, Utah became the 45th state in our great union.
As a state we embody the most American of values: hard work, ingenuity,
determination, family, faith and country.
At the peak of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring
freedom, a higher percentage of the Utah National Guard was deployed
than any
other state in the Union.
In so many ways, our city and our state represent the incredible
history of our great nation.
And we represent all that is possible in this great land when men
are guaranteed the certain unalienable rights of Life, Liberty and the
Pursuit
of Happiness.
8:15 Choir sings “God
Bless America”
8:20 – Lane Beattie
Our thanks to the incredible Faith Temple Pentecostal Church
Choir. What an incredible performance.
Thank you for spending some time with us this evening. We welcome
you to our city and trust you’ll have an enjoyable visit.