Bill Clinton: “Dalia, Michelle, Members of Congress, members of the administration, General and Mrs. Shelton, Secretary Christopher…”

“Dalia, Michelle, Members of Congress, members of the administration, General and Mrs. Shelton, Secretary Christopher, Secretary Vance, General Powell, thank you all for coming. To the Ambassadors of Israel and Jordan and Egypt, we thank you for being here today. Shimon and Leah, thank you for your friendship, for your remarks, and for your continued profound and eloquent striving for peace. I am delighted that this prize will fund scholarships for young Americans to study in Israel, further strengthening the bonds between our nations and deepening the friendship between our people. And I am profoundly honored to be the first recipient of the Man of Peace Award. But actually, as we all know, I can accept this only on behalf of all people in our administration and previous administrations and, indeed, citizens in this country who have devoted themselves to helping to bring peace in the Middle East. There can be no greater recognition that this award was founded by the family of Yitzhak Rabin and by Shimon Peres, two men who helped to give the world one of its greatest gifts, the hope of a new era of peace in the land of light and revelation. You know, I was sitting here thinking when Shimon and Leah were talking of all the times that Hillary and I and Al and Tipper were with one or all of them, and it's so hard to say now, but actually, from time to time, we had a lot of fun doing this.…”