Bill Clinton: “Thank you very much. I never thought I would enter what may well be the first meeting of its kind in the history of our…”

“Thank you very much. I never thought I would enter what may well be the first meeting of its kind in the history of our country-- [applause]--that I would enter this meeting hearing our erudite Vice President quote Lao Tse. But today, I think we could solve all our problems with China, too, and everything else. All things are possible today. I do want to acknowledge the presence, also, of a person here who has done a lot of wonderful work on this and the other foreign policy efforts we've made since I've been President, my National Security Adviser, Tony Lake. I want to thank all of you for the work that so many of you have done, many of you for years and years and years, to help make this day come. I know well that there were a lot of people--I couldn't help when I was looking out at that crowd today, I thought there were so many people I wish I had the luxury of just standing up and mentioning, because I knew of the things which have been done to help this day come to pass. And I thank you all. I know that most of what needs to be said specifically has already been said, so let me just say this: I am convinced that the United States must assume a very heavy role of responsibility to make this work, to implement this agreement, and that means I must ask you for two or three things, specifically.…”