Bill Clinton: “Ladies and gentlemen, I think you all know we are here to announce a terribly important initiative in this…”

“Ladies and gentlemen, I think you all know we are here to announce a terribly important initiative in this administration to bring about greater efficiency and lower cost of Government. I want to begin by saying that we intend for this to be a bipartisan and a citizen Government effort. And I'm delighted by the concerned Members of Congress who are here today with the Vice President and me, people who have already worked on this issue. I'd like to begin just by acknowledging the presence here of Senators Glenn and Levin, Senator Cohen, Senator Dorgan, Senator Lieberman, Senator Roth, and Senator Krueger; and in the House, Congressman Conyers, Congressman Clinger, Congressman Gordon, Congressman Laughlin, and Congresswoman Pryce and Congresswoman Slaughter. All of them have manifested an interest in the issues we are here to discuss today. I also want to especially thank the distinguished comptroller of the State of Texas, John Sharp, who's to my right here, for the work that he did with us to put this project together and for coming all the way from Texas to be with us and with his Senator. Today I am taking what I hope and believe will be a historic step in reforming the Federal Government by announcing the formation of a national performance review. Our goal is to make the entire Federal Government both less expensive and more efficient, and to change the culture of our national bureaucracy away from complacency and entitlement toward initiative and empowerment.…”