Bill Clinton: “London, Connecticut May 22, 1996 Thank you very much. Secretary Pena, Commandant Kramek--thank you for doing such an…”

“London, Connecticut May 22, 1996 Thank you very much. Secretary Pena, Commandant Kramek--thank you for doing such an excellent job, Admiral,--Admiral Versaw, Commander Wiemer. To the United States Coast Guard Band, thank you today. To the members of this fine class, your families, and your friends, this is your day, and I am deeply honored to share it with you. I am especially indebted to the Coast Guard right now because there are four members of the White House Staff who are Coast Guard officers. Three of them are graduates of this Academy: Commander Peter Boynton, Lieutenant Matt Miller, Lieutenant Commander Bob Malkowski. The fourth is not a graduate of this Academy, but she is my Coast Guard military aide, and I'm very proud of her: Lieutenant Commander June Ryan. And she informed me that every Coast Guard officer was a supporter of this Academy. I am delighted to be here with all of you. I must say I only had one pause when I was invited to be your commencement speaker, and that's when I heard that the mascot for the Class of '96 is the guinea pig. [Laughter] Having been in that position more than once in my life, I was not particularly anxious to take on another one. [Laughter] But then I remembered what a wonderful reception that the ``coasties'' gave the First Lady and our daughter, Chelsea, when they visited here 2 years ago. And I told the pilot to go on and hold course for New London. I am honored to be here today.…”