LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS.- Former President Bill Clinton, together with thousands of guests, were present at the official opening of his presidential library in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Bill Clinton stated: "Ladies and gentlemen, if my beloved mother were here, she would remind me that rain is liquid sunshine... and that I shouldn't complain about this because the ground probably needs it and somebody is benefiting from it. Mr. President, Mrs. Bush, President and Mrs. Carter, President and Mrs. Bush, members of the Eisenhower, Nixon, Johnson, Kennedy and Carter families, to the vast number of members of Congress and former members of Congress here -- I don't know they are because you're all in ponchos, but...there they are. There's a huge group from Congress. The president sent four planes down. And I thank him for that. To all the guests from other countries and my fellow Americans, welcome to my rainy library dedication. Thank you, Skip Rutherford, and all those on my staff and the volunteers of Arkansas and across America who worked so hard to make this event just perfect and except for one thing it is. I thank the previous speakers and those who have sung and entertained.
Mr. President, I can't thank you enough for your generous words and for coming to the opening at all. I mean, after all, you just delayed your own library opening by four years. I congratulate you on your election, and I wish you God speed, especially in a new and more hopeful time for peace in the Middle East. I remember the first time I ever heard George W. Bush give a speech in Iowa. And I called a friend of mine, I said, "My God, that guy can beat us. He is a good politician."