[The following is a FirstDraft -- a machine-generated transcript by our AI, Margaret. She's good, but neither perfect nor human. There will likely be a handful of errors. Please check any quotes against the primary video source. Thank you.]

  Thank you. Steve, thank you very much. Laura and I are delighted to be here. Actually, we are. We you know, we got to learn to laugh in this town. And I appreciate the humor. I really do. I think a society that can poke fun at its political leaders is a society that's a confident society and a free society. So we're delighted to be here.

  And I was looking forward to doing a little poking myself. But in light of this week's tragedy at Virginia Tech, I decided not to be funny. Many of the men and women in this room have spent this week reporting from Blacksburg, Virginia. You have interviewed grieving students and faculty members. You have spoken with the families who lost a child. You have brought home to millions of Americans the sense of sorrow and loss that the Virginia Tech community is going through now.

  And I appreciate your work. At a memorial service on Tuesday, I told the university community that people all over this country are thinking about them and many are praying for them. And so really, this dinner comes at a good time. It's been a tough week for a lot of folks, particularly the folks at Virginia Tech. So I'm not going to try to be the funny guy, but I had the opportunity to introduce one who will be here.

  And so thanks for the dinner. And it is now my honor to bring to this podium a talented and good man. Rich Little.