Bill Clinton: “Thank you so much, Frank. And thank you all for being here, Mayor Kelly, Carol Casperson, Mr. Walker, Reverend Weathers…”

“Thank you so much, Frank. And thank you all for being here, Mayor Kelly, Carol Casperson, Mr. Walker, Reverend Weathers, and others, and especially to Vivian and Theron Miller. I have really looked forward to coming here today because, as Frank said so eloquently, this house, the work, the love, the concern that made it, reflects what I think we have to do as a people to rebuild the American community and to give this country back to our children and to the future. I have cared a lot about and tried to support Habitat for Humanity for a long time. Millard and Linda Fuller are good friends of Hillary's and mine, and I received a letter from Millard this morning explaining that he couldn't be here today because he's speaking at the Kansas State prayer breakfast. He might have said he couldn't be here today because he's heard me give this speech so many times before--[laughter]--but we really owe all of this to their vision and their lifetime of commitment to service. In the summer of 1992, on my birthday, which is also Tipper Gore's birthday, the Gores and Hillary and I worked on a Habitat project with President and Mrs. Carter in Georgia. It was one of the most memorable birthdays of my life. I like Habitat because it makes the American dream of homeownership possible for good people who are working hard and doing their best and who themselves have to work to make this work.…”