Bill Clinton: “Last night I went to bed early--at 1:15 a.m.--for you, and I was taking odds on how many of you would actually be here…”

“Last night I went to bed early--at 1:15 a.m.--for you, and I was taking odds on how many of you would actually be here this morning at 8:30 a.m. [Laughter] This may be a greater test of loyalty than the votes yesterday. [Laughter] I want to say to you, Mr. Speaker, a special word of thanks, and in his absence, to Mr. Gephardt, to whom I talked last night sometime after midnight. I want to thank you, David Bonior, for your work. And I want to say a special word of thanks for the southern-drawled discipline of Butler Derrick, the fine job he did. I love to listen to Butler talk. He makes me sound like a Yankee. [Laughter] I'd also like to thank the other leaders up here on the platform but especially the two chairs who are here, Mr. Natcher and Mr. Sabo, for the work they did. And I want to thank, of course, most of all, all of you for what you did yesterday. And I want to thank your constituents, the people who made this possible. If it hadn't been for the American people voting for a change in direction in this country, communicating that to you, and telling you that they would stay behind you if you made the tough decisions, none of this would have been possible. Yesterday was a great day of victory for ordinary Americans and for the proposition that this Government can work for them again, that we don't have to be mired in gridlock, that we don't have to spend all of our time posturing and dividing and running for cover instead of moving into the future.…”