Bill Clinton: “Thank you. Thank you, Reverend Hicks, Mrs. Hicks, members of the ministry. Thank you, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes…”

“Thank you. Thank you, Reverend Hicks, Mrs. Hicks, members of the ministry. Thank you, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, for telling me I should come here today, thank you. I must say, I would rather be in the choir than in the pulpit. [Laughter] They were wonderful. Thank you. Mr. Mayor, City Council Chair Cropp, and members of the council; Dr. Swygert and Mrs. Swygert; my good friend Maya Angelou, thank you for being here; David Du Bois. I thank three members of my Cabinet-- Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman; the Secretary of Transportation, Rodney Slater; and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Frank Raines--for coming with me, and many members of the White House staff and friends. We're all glad to be here, and we have a happy heart after hearing all the wonderful music and seeing the people here, and especially the children. Sean and Ahjah and the other children gave me the letters and the drawings; I was back there reading them. One letter said, ``Can Project Spirit come and visit the White House and see the Christmas tree?'' [Laughter] Yes. As a matter of fact, Dr. Hicks, anybody, any of these children in your youth group you want to bring, just bus them on in. We'd be glad to see them, and we'll arrange it. I'd like that. Now, the letters contain some interesting things. One young man wrote, ``I'm not trying to get myself in trouble, but I've always had a crush on Hillary.'' [Laughter] Now, I can certainly understand that.…”