Bill Clinton: “I was trying to think of something really funny to say, but it would be a polite way of saying I don't discuss my…”

“I was trying to think of something really funny to say, but it would be a polite way of saying I don't discuss my private conversations with my wife. [Laughter] Actually, while I was very pleased with the First Lady's trip and with the way my wife and daughter were treated and what they learned, and very, very pleased with the coverage, I don't really agree with that. I mean, I think that I very much wanted her to go to India, to Pakistan, to Bangladesh, Nepal, to Sri Lanka because that part of the world is a very important part of the world to us. And for various reasons, we have not been as closely involved, even with the democracies there, as we might have been, largely as a legacy of the cold war. But one of the biggest obstacles to the modernization of those countries and to the vitality and preservation of democracy are the challenges faced by women and children there. I did not consider the trip either too traditional or unimportant. I thought what they were doing--what Hillary was doing was profoundly important. And after getting a blow-by-blow description of the trip for a good long while yesterday from both my wife and daughter, I still feel that way. So I--when my wife was an unconventional First Lady of Arkansas and working full-time and, as she told that lady in the Bangladesh village, making more money than her husband--[laughter]--still her first concern was always for the welfare of mothers, children, and families. She founded an organization called the Advocates for Families and Children in our State. She was on the board of the Children's Hospital. We built an intensive care nursery there, the first time the State had ever been involved. This is a 25-year concern of hers, and I wouldn't over-read the significance of it. I also wouldn't underestimate the significance of having a First Lady who can galvanize a glob- al discussion about the role of women and young girls on our planet and for our future. Electronic Information Regulation”