Bill Clinton: “Senator Boxer, Congressman Horn, Mayor O'Neill, Mr. Stonecipher, Mr. Kozlowski, Betty Cavanagh--I'm glad she cleared up…”

“Senator Boxer, Congressman Horn, Mayor O'Neill, Mr. Stonecipher, Mr. Kozlowski, Betty Cavanagh--I'm glad she cleared up how old she was when she came to work here. I thought I'd have to charge McDonnell Douglas with violating the child labor laws. [Laughter] I also thank you, Betty, for the ribbon and for the hug. That's the most fun I ever had hugging a Republican. [Laughter] I want to thank you--seriously--all of you for being here and for the work you've done. Before I go forward I think we should all give a hand to the Lakewood High School Band who played for us today and did such a fine job. Thank you very much. Let me say I value the jacket. I value the wonderful model of the plane I flew to Bosnia. I value this ribbon, and I will save it always. But most important, I value the hard work that all of you have done to make the C-17 possible and to make our country stronger. The C-17 is the finest military transport plane in the world, or as I said in non-jargon, the best moving van in the world. It was forged with an extraordinary partnership between the Department of Defense and the workers and management here at McDonnell Douglas to cut costs, to increase efficiency, to make the C-17 program a model for public/private sector teamwork. When I became President I had advocated the C-17. It was obvious to me we needed it for our national defense. There were people in Washington who said the program was in trouble and could not be fixed.…”