Bill Clinton: “Ladies and gentlemen, President Yeltsin, Mrs. Yeltsin, distinguished guests: It is a great pleasure for Hillary and I to…”

“Ladies and gentlemen, President Yeltsin, Mrs. Yeltsin, distinguished guests: It is a great pleasure for Hillary and I to welcome Boris and Naina and all the Russian delegation to the White House. We're glad for this opportunity to return the generous hospitality that you bestowed on us in Moscow last January at the magnificent state dinner in the Kremlin's Hall of Facets and St. George's Hall. It was a magnificent evening that brought home to me, to Hillary, and to all the Americans there the vast richness of Russian culture. Mr. President, our fellow Americans know you as the man who has led one of the most peaceful and hopeful revolutions of our time, the second Russian revolution. We were all inspired when you stood up for freedom in the streets of Moscow. And we have admired your patient, persistent, and successful efforts to build the institutions of democracy. We know reform has been difficult, and there is a hard road yet to travel. But as I said this morning when you arrived at the White House, you have already proved the pessimists wrong. Under your leadership, Russia is coming together and moving forward. Her best days are still to come. And we are proud of our partnership with your great country. At one of our previous meetings you were kind enough to give me a copy of your autobiography. It's a remarkable story, a story still in progress, of a man dedicated and determined to give his fellow Russians the opportunity to reach their full potential.…”