    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book II)]
    [September 27, 1994]
    [Page 1641]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a State Dinner Honoring President Boris Yeltsin of Russia
    September 27, 1994

        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. I know there are many
    more volumes yet to be written, but one part of your book made a
    particular impression on me.
        In your autobiography you tell the story of your father's ambition
    to invent a brick-laying machine. Time and again, he would describe in
    intricate detail how it would work, how it would mix mortar, lay the
    bricks, clean off the excess mortar, and move on to keep building. He
    had all sorts of sketches and calculations for this machine, which he
    believed would better the lives of the Russian people.
        Mr. President, you have realized your father's dream, and on a scale
    he could never have imagined. Brick by brick, through your tireless and
    steadfast efforts, you have laid the foundation for a democratic Russia.
    Your nation has now an elected President and Parliament, a Constitution,
    an increasingly free economy, and an open society. In just a few short
    years, you have accomplished the work of a lifetime.
        And so it is with great admiration for your historic achievements,
    confidence in our new partnership, and a belief that working together we
    will help to make a better world, that I, and I ask all of you to join
    me, in raising a glass to you, Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin, President of
    the Russian Federation.

    Note: The President spoke at 8:35 p.m. in the State Dining Room at the
    White House.