Bill Clinton: “States Air Force Academy Falcons in Colorado Springs, Colorado June 2, 1999 Thank you very much, General Oelstrom, Coach…”

“States Air Force Academy Falcons in Colorado Springs, Colorado June 2, 1999 Thank you very much, General Oelstrom, Coach DeBerry, members of the team, and family and friends. You know, one of the best things about being the President are the things that every President gets to do. I mean, every year I turn on the White House Christmas tree; every year I give a pardon to a Thanksgiving turkey. You know, there are things you do every year. And when the history of our administration is written, I will be credited with instituting a new permanent tradition. Every year I give the Commander in Chief's Trophy to the Air Force Academy. There has been only one lapse in 7 years now. It's been an amazing experience. I follow football very closely, and I know a lot of people think this is the best Falcon team ever. You won the conference. You had a great record, a top-10 finish. You won the conference. You won your bowl game, beat Army and Navy by a combined 70 points. I hope the press won't report that. [Laughter] I still have a few more trips to make to those academies. [Laughter] It was a truly amazing thing. And to me, in some ways, the most impressive statistic of all was that for 2 years in a row you were, next to Ohio State, the second best defensive team in the country. I've actually met the Ohio State football team, and they're slightly larger. [Laughter] I don't think they could fly jet airplanes--lift them maybe, but not fly them.…”