Bill Clinton: “You know, let me just say--I'll be very brief, because I know we're supposed to go over to this other deal, and I think…”

“You know, let me just say--I'll be very brief, because I know we're supposed to go over to this other deal, and I think Linda's got to go. But I just want to thank you for doing this and for being brave enough to do it. I knew when we started that all of us would be subject to some criticism because, number one, we couldn't solve every problem in America overnight related to race; number two, you could almost relate every problem in America to race; and number three, in a cynical and weary world, it's easy to devalue the importance of people going in good faith to raise the consciousness and quicken the conscience and kind of lift the spirits of other people and encourage them to do the right thing, and then to figure out--it is a complex thing, figuring out how much of this is policy, how much of this is dialog, how much of this is community, how much of this is almost spiritual. I think you have really made a heroic effort to come to grips with all of these elements and to make this a very important milestone on America's journey here, and I hope you'll always be proud of it. I really think--you know, it was a big risk. I knew a lot of people would say, well, we didn't do this; we didn't do that; we didn't do the other thing; or we said this, and it was wrong. And probably some of that criticism is valid. But when you take it all and shake it up, I think there is no question that what we did at this moment, in the absence of a searing crisis, facing a future of incredible kaleidoscopic diversity, was a very good thing for our country. And I do think that we have to keep it going, and I will take all these recommendations seriously. I hope you all meant what you said today. I hope it was a great gift for you, because for your country it was a great gift. Chairman Franklin. We are deeply grateful to you, Mr. President.”