    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
    [May 15, 1998]
    [Page 764]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Prior to a Working Luncheon With President Jacques
    Chirac of France in Birmingham, United
    Kingdom
    May 15, 1998

        I was playing on a basketball team in Oxford, and I can remember
    playing the University of Birmingham. But it's changed very much. I
    learned today Birmingham has more meters of canals than Venice. I didn't
    know that, either. And I went walking--it's amazing--you should take a
    little time to go for a walk on the canal. It's utterly amazing; it's
    beautiful--it's beautiful. Mostly it's new development, mostly in the
    last 10 years, new pubs, new stores. But they have a lot of the old
    hooks lifting things off the barges--[inaudible]--factories, heavy
    industry.
        But it's very, very beautiful. It's amazing what they've done. I now
    see why Tony wanted us to come. I mean it's a
    real symbol of--[inaudible]--in a new direction. Even if you just have a
    few minutes, I think, to walk along the canal and have some local person
    explain how it works, as I did, it's fascinating.
        So we have to go to work, everyone. [Laughter]
        They have to work, too. They work hard. When we go on these walks,
    they have to carry all this heavy equipment. I feel so badly for them.
    You didn't even get a beer, did you, when we were done? [Laughter]

    Note: The President spoke at 2 p.m. at the Swallow Hotel. In his
    remarks, he referred to Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom.