Bill Clinton: “for the 21st Century'' April 25, 1999 [Moderator Al From, president of the Democratic Leadership Council, opened the…”

“for the 21st Century'' April 25, 1999 [Moderator Al From, president of the Democratic Leadership Council, opened the discussion.] President Clinton. Thank you very much. I'd like to begin just by expressing my profound gratitude to Al From and to all the people at the Democratic Leadership Council for having the passion and the patience to work at this for years and years and years. I, too, want to thank Hillary and the hearty band within the White House who keep us focused on the big ideas and values that got us here in the first place. And I'd like to say a special word of thanks to my friend and aide Sidney Blumenthal for the work that he's done in trying to put this meeting together. I would also like to just very briefly say how very much I admire the people who are here with me at this table today, how much I have learned from them, how much I look forward to working with them at every opportunity. Wim Kok, from The Netherlands, actually was doing all this before we were. He just didn't know that--he didn't have anybody like Al From who could put a good label on it. [Laughter] But he was doing it, for years and years and years. Tony Blair has made me long for a parliamentary system. [Laughter] Gerhard Schroeder had to wait even longer than I did--[laughter]--and was also a distinguished Governor.…”