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Law Enforcement Ceremony 5/15/92 [OA 6102]
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Law Enforcement Ceremony 5/15/92 [OA 6102]
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Originally Processed With FOIA(s):
FOIA Number:
S
S
FOIA
MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
Library Staff.
Record Group/Collection:
George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
Collection/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting, White House Office of
Series:
Speech File Draft Files
Subseries:
Chron File, 1989-1993
OA/ID Number:
13623
Folder ID Number:
13623-002
Folder Title:
Law Enforcement Ceremony 5/15/92 [OA 6102]
Stack:
Row:
Section:
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G
26
18
2
3
864
May 14 / Administration of George Bush, 1992
Administration of (
working mother in a low-wage job could
how this legislation can best secure this op-
of my heart. It is
receive financial assistance for courses
portunity for all Americans.
of you to mark a (
that would qualify her for better paying,
I urge the Congress to give the Lifelong
ca's finest.
high-skilled jobs.
Learning Act of 1992 prompt and favorable
Police work has
Extend new opportunities for education
consideration.
less job. Well, I
and training to all U.S. citizens. Addi-
on behalf of each
George Bush
tional student loan eligibility would be
We depend on yo
available for full- or part-time students.
The White House
out you. Yours is t}
The Student Loan Marketing Associa-
May 14, 1992.
ing good against E
tion (Sallie Mae) would be authorized
sights in Los Ang
to originate up to $25,000 in loans, in
windows and bur
addition to current GSL loan limits,
businesses. But e
through the Lifelong Learning Line of
Nomination of Donald Herman
of something har-
Credit for those borrowers who want
Alexander To Be United States
chandise, the steal
the option of repaying loans on a basis
Ambassador to The Netherlands
stealing hope, prc
tied to their actual income. The concept
May 14, 1992
cannot allow.
of basing student loan repayment on a
You know bette
borrower's future earnings has long
The President today announced his inten-
a privilege to su}
been attractive to the Administration
tion to nominate Donald Herman Alexander,
officers. Standing
and to many in the Congress. However,
of Missouri, to be Ambassador to the King-
in the heart of S(
a program of this type presents unique
dom of The Netherlands. He would succeed
days ago, I spoke
and complex design issues that demand
C. Howard Williams, Jr.
enforcement, an
careful analysis and structuring. This
Since 1987, Mr. Alexander has served as
spontaneous app
Act would call upon Sallie Mae, a leader
president of the private investment firm of
plauding, those 1
in student loan administration, to offer
Don H. Alexander & Associates, Inc., in Kan-
those were the
$100 million per year in loans and to
sas City, MO. Prior to this, he served as presi-
were most sever
work with the Secretary of Education
dent of Perkins Industries, Inc., 1982-87,
and by the lootin
to devise actuarially and fiscally sound
and as executive vice president of the Com-
the police offic
loan options that would be widely avail-
merce Bank of Kansas City, 1966-82.
should be.
able.
Mr. Alexander graduated from Washburn
So, today I pl
Explore the use of high-quality edu-
University (B.B.A., 1962). He was born July
blue line that se₁
cation and training programs offered by
11, 1938, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
worst instincts
Mr. Alexander has three children and resides
non-school based providers. The Sec-
continuing and
retaries of Education and Labor would
in Kansas City, MO.
less compassion
for the victims 0
be authorized to develop regulations
thorized the 198
under which students attending pro-
boosted its al.
grams offered by nontraditional types of
providers could be eligible for the Life-
Remarks at the Law Enforcement
pensation assist
long Learning Line of Credit. Commu-
Officers Memorial Ceremony
These dollars (
May 15, 1992
payers but from
nity-based organizations, public or pri-
alties. After all
vate agencies, and private employers are
Thank you, Cyndi, very much. Thank you
criminals thems
some examples of the types of providers
that might participate. These providers
all. Cyndi, thank you. And may I salute our
istration has al:
Attorney General who is doing an outstand-
ened criminals
could participate only if the high quality
ing job for law enforcement, Bill Barr; the
Federal Career
of the programs could be ensured and
if these funds do not replace funds al-
Members of Congress who are with us today;
criminal should
ready being spent for this training.
Adolph South; an old friend, Dewey Stokes;
take the law ai
John Walsh; Suzie Sawyer; Barbara Dodge;
cers seriously.
I believe that all Americans should have
Dave Derevere.
We have
an opportunity to pursue education and
Ten years ago the FOP auxiliary began this
anticrime polic
training throughout their lives. I look forward
nationally recognized service for law enforce-
that is up 59 P
to working with the Congress on this legisla-
ment officers who gave their lives in the line
Project Trigge
tion and welcome your recommendations on
of duty, and I salute you from the bottom
gun-toting crin
Bush, 1992
Administration of George Bush, 1992 / May 15
865
re this op-
of my heart. It is an honor to be with all
a conviction rate of nearly 90 percent. And
of you to mark a day that celebrates Ameri-
yet progress made is not mission accom-
e Lifelong
ca's finest.
plished. And so today I again call on the Con-
d favorable
Police work has been described as a thank-
gress to get with it and to pass our crime
less job. Well, I am here to say thank you
legislation. Let us back up our law enforce-
e Bush
on behalf of each American. We need you.
ment officials with laws that are fair, that are
We depend on you, and we cannot do with-
fast, and that are final.
out you. Yours is the priceless task of uphold-
For more than 3 years I've asked Congress
ing good against evil. All of us saw sickening
to pass a comprehensive crime package
sights in Los Angeles of criminals breaking
based on three simple principles: If criminals
windows and burning buildings and looting
commit crimes, they will be caught; if caught,
businesses. But even worse was the looting
they will be tried; and if convicted, they will
an
of something harder to replace than mer-
be punished. We need a crime bill which
es
chandise, the stealing of something precious,
strengthens, not weakens, your ability to up-
nds
stealing hope, promise, the future. This we
hold our laws. And so I again appeal to the
cannot allow.
United States Congress: Send me a tough
You know better than anyone, it is not just
crime bill, one that will not weaken current
1 his inten-
a privilege to support our law enforcement
law, one like the "Crime Control Act of
Alexander,
officers. Standing in Mt. Zion church right
1992," and I will sign it right away.
the King-
in the heart of south central L.A. just a few
Let me take this opportunity to salute or-
Id succeed
days ago, I spoke out there in support of law
ganizations like COPS, that Concerns of Po-
enforcement, and the place erupted into
lice Survivors, who provide aid when it is
served as
spontaneous applause. The people were ap-
most needed. COPS was founded in 1984 to
nt firm of
plauding, those most severely affected-but
have survivors help other survivors, and today
IC., in Kan-
those were the ones that were doing this,
they help 5,000 families nationwide as Good
ed as presi-
were most severely affected by the rioting
Samaritans to those who have lost a loved
1982-87,
and by the looting, and they were supporting
one.
the Com-
the police officers. And that's the way it
Another Good Samaritan can be found
52.
should be.
right up here on our stage today. I'm talking
Washburn
So, today I pledge this to you, to that thin
about John Walsh, host of television's "Amer-
born July
blue line that separates good people from the
ica's Most Wanted." Last Friday, the show
therlands.
worst instincts of our society, I pledge my
celebrated its 200th capture of a fugitive of
nd resides
continuing and full support. We must show
the law. Sadly, John knows firsthand about
less compassion for the criminal and more
the horrors that crime can inflict upon par-
for the victims of crime. That is why we reau-
ents and families and communities. His little
thorized the 1984 Victims of Crime Act and
boy, Adam, was abducted and murdered, and
boosted its annual crime victims com-
the killer has never been found. John could
ment
pensation assistance fund to $150 million.
have shut himself off from the world. Instead
.y
These dollars did not come from the tax-
he started "America's Most Wanted," a show
payers but from the criminals' fines and pen-
that helps law enforcement officers bring
alties. After all, crime should not pay; the
criminals to justice. John, we salute both
Thank you
criminals themselves should. And my admin-
what you are and what you do. Thank you.
salute our
istration has also acted to punish the hard-
Thank you very, very much.
outstand-
ened criminals, career criminals, under the
Let me close on a personal note. Some
Barr; the
Federal Career Criminal Act. No seasoned
have called the Presidency the world's tough-
1 us today;
criminal should walk free because we didn't
est job. Well, I think they're wrong. I believe
ey Stokes;
take the law and our law enforcement offi-
police officers have the toughest job. Police
ra Dodge;
cers seriously.
work is not 9 to 5; it's full time. It is danger.
We have proposed $15 billion for
It is fear. It is not knowing whether you will
began this
anticrime policies for fiscal year 1993, and
end your shift going home in a car or to the
W enforce-
that is up 59 percent in 4 years. We started
emergency room in an ambulance. It's popu-
in the line
Project Triggerlock and already thousands of
lated by people willing to risk their lives to
le bottom
gun-toting criminals have been charged, with
save ours, people who are part social worker
866
May 15 / Administration of George Bush, 1992
Administratio.
and part soldier. It's a job that I sum up in
for Science and Technology, at a meeting
the previous
two words: American hero.
hosted by President LaCalle of Uruguay in
cluded 89
Every day of every year you risk your lives
Montevideo.
SCUD) miss
so that Americans can proceed with theirs.
The President first announced the concept
launchers, 4 I
You truly show what the Bible meant,
of a network of regional institutes to study
ing vehicles,
"Greater love hath no man than this, that
global change in his closing remarks to the
al Husseins ar
a man lay down his life for his friends." I
White House Conference on Science and
to expressing
still have with me this badge. This is the
Economics Research Related to Global
rity Council I
badge of a fallen police officer, a New York
Change, which was convened by the Presi-
said that it was
cop that many of you all knew, Eddie Byrne.
dent in April 1990. Since then, the United
UNSCOM's
I keep it right there in my desk in the Oval
States has actively developed this concept
missile equip.
Office. It's there every single day to remind
and promoted the establishment of the first
prehensive, CO
me of this Nation's debt to those who serve.
of these institutes which will be located in
garding its we.
I will never forget, nor will our Nation.
the Western Hemisphere. The United States
grams. This fu
Thank you for what you do for our country.
will continue to work with senior rep-
ised to deliver
May God bless each and every one of you
resentatives in the areas involved to establish
received.
officers, and especially may God bless those
institutes in the European/African region and
The Intern.
families who have lost loved ones as those
in the Western Pacific region.
(IAEA) and
loved ones served our great Nation. Thank
This agreement reflects the President's
conduct inspe-
you all very, very much.
commitment to global stewardship and his
desire to promote responsible environmental
ed to Iraqi we
Note: The President spoke at 10:15 a.m. at
ballistic missi
policies. It is consistent with his conviction
the Sylvan Theater. In his remarks, he re-
struction of r:
that major decisions on the environment
ferred to Cyndi Calendar, auxiliary presi-
chemical wea
should be based on a sound, informed under-
dent, Fraternal Order of Police; Adolph
11th nuclear
standing of the scientific issues involved.
South, chaplain, National Fraternal Order of
the destructic
Police; Dewey Stokes, president, Grand
weapons pro.
Lodge Fraternal Order of Police; Suzie Saw-
buildings and
yer, founder, and Barbara Dodge, president,
Letter to Congressional Leaders
destroyed. D1
Concerns of Police Survivors; and Dave
tion, which is
Reporting on Iraq's Compliance
Derevere, International Police Chaplains. A
4, 1992, three
With United Nations Security
tape was not available for verification of the
the laboratori
Council Resolutions
content of these remarks.
stroyed. Duri
May 15, 1992
will designate
Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)
destruction.
Consistent with the Authorization for Use
The first C
White House Statement on the
of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution
team visited Ir
Establishment of the Inter-American
(Public Law 102-1), and as part of my con-
24, 1992. The
Institute for Global Change
tinuing effort to keep the Congress fully in-
tion of 463
Research
formed, I am again reporting on the status
Khamissiyah
May 15, 1992
of efforts to obtain compliance by Iraq with
rockets, some
the resolutions adopted by the U.N. Security
agent; others
The President today announced that the
Council.
same agent, W.
United States has joined 10 other countries
Since the events described in my report
From Marc
of the Americas in signing an agreement that
of March 16, 1992, the U.N. Security Council
sile team bega
will formally establish an Inter-American In-
has rejected Iraq's contention that it was in
most recent (
stitute for Global Change Research. The In-
compliance with the relevant Security Coun-
al Hussein mis
stitute will bring together the resources and
cil resolutions. On March 19, 1992, Rolf
declared by Ir
capabilities needed to address important is-
Ekeus, Chairman of the United Nations Spe-
scribed in Ira
sues of global change in the Western Hemi-
cial Commission (UNSCOM), created pursu-
and monitore
sphere.
ant to Resolution 687, received from Iraq ad-
missile produc
The agreement was signed this week by
ditional declarations of weapons of mass de-
listic missile t.
D. Allan Bromley, Assistant to the President
struction, which it claimed to have destroyed
turned to solic
LAW ENFORCEMENT CEREMONY
SYLVAN THEATER
WASHINGTON, D,C.
FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1992
THANK YOU, CYNDI [CALENDER]. ATTORNEY GENERAL
BARR AND MEMBERS OF CONGRESS WITH US TODAY; ADOLPH
SOUTH; DEWEY STOKES; JOHN WALSH; SUZIE SAWYER; BARBARA
DODGE; DAVID DEREVERE.]] TEN YEARS AGO, THE F.O.P.
AUXILIARY BEGAN THIS FIRST NATIONALLY-RECOGNIZED
SERVICE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS WHO GAVE THEIR
LIVES IN THE LINE OF DUTY. I SALUTE YOU FROM THE
BOTTOM OF MY HEART. 11
IT IS AN HONOR TO BE WITH ALL OF YOU -- TO MARK A
DAY THAT CELEBRATES AMERICA'S FINEST. / POLICE WORK
HAS BEEN DESCRIBED AS A THANKLESS JOB. I'M HERE TO
SAY: THANK YOU ON BEHALF OF EACH AMERICAN. WE NEED
YOU. // WE DEPEND ON YOU. WE CAN'T DO WITHOUT YOU. 11
YOURS IS THE PRICELESS TASK OF UPHOLDING GOOD
AGAINST EVIL.
WHEN WE ASK WHAT NATION THE AMERICAN
PEOPLE DESERVE, HERE IS MY ANSWER: A NATION WHICH
REJECTS THOSE WHO ARE SOFT ON THE NEED TO BE HARD ON
CRIME
11
- 2 -
ALL OF US HAVE SEEN THE IMAGES OF LOS ANGELES --
THE HATE AND THE HORROR -- IMAGES STILL VIVID AS I
ASKED CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS TO THE WHITE HOUSE THIS
WEEK -- REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRAT. I OUTLINED MY 6-
POINT PLAN FOR A NEW AMERICA TO USE OPPORTUNITY, NOT
BUREAUCRACY, TO COMBAT POVERTY AND INEQUALITY. / THE
PLAN INCLUDES OUR WEED AND SEED ANTI-CRIME INITIATIVE.
OUR HOPE HOUSING INITIATIVE. ENTERPRISE ZONES.
EDUCATION REFORM, WELFARE REFORM -- AND A STRONG JOBS
PROGRAM FOR CITY YOUTH. / THIS PLAN MAKES A PROMISING
START -- AND I'M GOING TO DO MY LEVEL BEST TO GET IT
PASSED. //
THE PEOPLE IN LOS ANGELES AND ALL ACROSS THE
COUNTRY KNOW THAT THE SOCIAL PROBLEMS THAT BREED
POVERTY CAN AND MUST BE CURED. THEY KNOW SOMETHING
ELSE: LAWLESSNESS MUST, AND WILL BE PUNISHED. //
- 3 -
ALL OF US SAW SICKENING SIGHTS IN LOS ANGELES OF
CRIMINALS BREAKING WINDOWS, BURNING BUILDINGS, AND
LOOTING BUSINESSES. BUT EVEN WORSE WAS THE LOOTING OF
SOMETHING HARDER TO REPLACE THAN MERCHANDISE. THE
STEALING OF SOMETHING PRECIOUS. STEALING HOPE --
PROMISE -- THE FUTURE. / THIS, WE WILL NOT ALLOW. 11
YOU KNOW BETTER THAN ANYONE -- IT IS NOT JUST THE
PRIVILEGED WHO SUPPORT OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS
STANDING IN MT. ZION CHURCH IN THE HEART OF SOUTH
CENTRAL LOS ANGELES I SPOKE OUT IN SUPPORT OF LAW
ENFORCEMENT. THE PLACE ERUPTED IN SPONTANEOUS
APPLAUSE. THE PEOPLE APPLAUDING WERE THOSE MOST
SEVERELY AFFECTED BY THE RIOTING AND LOOTING.
so TODAY, I PLEDGE THIS TO YOU -- TO THE "THIN
BLUE LINE" THAT SEPARATES GOOD PEOPLE FROM THE WORST
INSTINCTS OF OUR SOCIETY. I PLEDGE MY CONTINUING AND
FULL SUPPORT.
- 4 -
WE MUST SHOW LESS COMPASSION FOR THE CRIMINAL AND
MORE FOR THEIR VICTIMS. THAT IS WHY WE REAUTHORIZED
THE 1984 VICTIMS OF CRIME ACT -- AND BOOSTED ITS ANNUAL
CRIME VICTIMS COMPENSATION AND ASSISTANCE FUND TO $150
MILLION. THESE DOLLARS DID NOT COME FROM TAXPAYERS BUT
FROM CRIMINALS' FINES AND PENALTIES. AFTER ALL, CRIME
SHOULDN'T PAY. CRIMINALS SHOULD. III
MY ADMINISTRATION HAS ALSO ACTED TO PUNISH
HARDENED CRIMINALS -- CAREER CRIMINALS -- UNDER THE
FEDERAL ARMED CAREER CRIMINAL ACT. / NO SEASONED
CRIMINAL SHOULD WALK FREE BECAUSE WE DIDN'T TAKE THE
LAW -- AND OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS -- SERIOUSLY. /
WE'VE PROPOSED $15 BILLION FOR ANTI-CRIME POLICIES FOR
FY 1993 -- THAT'S UP 59 PERCENT IN FOUR YEARS. WE
STARTED PROJECT TRIGGERLOCK -- AND ALREADY THOUSANDS OF
GUN-TOTING CRIMINALS HAVE BEEN CHARGED, WITH A
CONVICTION RATE OF NEAR 90 PERCENT. YET PROGRESS MADE
IS NOT MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. so TODAY I AGAIN CALL ON
THE CONGRESS TO GET WITH IT -- AND PASS OUR CRIME
LEGISLATION. LET'S BACK UP OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT
OFFICIALS WITH LAWS THAT ARE FAIR, FAST, AND FINAL. 11
- 5 -
FOR MORE THAN THREE YEARS I HAVE ASKED CONGRESS TO
PASS A COMPREHENSIVE CRIME PACKAGE BASED ON THREE
PRINCIPLES. IF CRIMINALS COMMIT CRIMES, THEY WILL BE
CAUGHT. IF CAUGHT, THEY WILL BE TRIED. AND IF
CONVICTED, THEY WILL BE PUNISHED. / WE NEED A CRIME
BILL WHICH STRENGTHENS - -- NOT WEAKENS -- YOUR ABILITY
TO UPHOLD OUR LAWS. so I SAY TO THE CONGRESS: SEND ME
A TOUGH CRIME BILL -- ONE THAT WON'T WEAKEN CURRENT LAW
-- ONE LIKE THE CRIME CONTROL ACT OF 1992.
LET ME TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SALUTE
ORGANIZATIONS LIKE CONCERNS OF POLICE SURVIVORS --
C.O.P.S. -- WHO PROVIDE AID WHEN IT IS MOST NEEDED.
C.O.P.S. WAS FOUNDED IN 1984 TO HAVE SURVIVORS HELP
OTHER SURVIVORS. TODAY, THEY HELP 5,000 FAMILIES
NATIONWIDE, AS GOOD SAMARITANS TO THOSE WHO'VE LOST A
LOVED ONE.
- 6 -
ANOTHER GOOD SAMARITAN CAN BE FOUND RIGHT HERE ON
OUR STAGE TODAY: JOHN WALSH, HOST OF TELEVISION'S
"AMERICA'S MOST WANTED." LAST FRIDAY, THE SHOW
CELEBRATED ITS 200TH CAPTURE OF A FUGITIVE OF THE LAW.
SADLY, JOHN KNOWS FIRST-HAND ABOUT THE HORRORS THAT
CRIME CAN INFLICT UPON PARENTS, FAMILIES, AND
COMMUNITIES. //
HIS LITTLE BOY, ADAM, WAS ABDUCTED AND MURDERED,
AND THE KILLER HAS NEVER BEEN FOUND. JOHN COULD HAVE
SHUT HIMSELF OFF FROM THE WORLD. INSTEAD, HE STARTED
"AMERICA'S MOST WANTED" -- A SHOW THAT HELPS LAW
ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS BRING CRIMINALS TO JUSTICE. JOHN,
WE SALUTE BOTH WHAT YOU ARE -- AND WHAT YOU DO. /
- 7 -
LET ME CLOSE ON A PERSONAL NOTE. SOME HAVE CALLED
THE PRESIDENCY THE WORLD'S TOUGHEST JOB. THEY'RE
WRONG. POLICE OFFICERS HAVE THE TOUGHEST JOB. POLICE
WORK ISN'T A NINE TO FIVE JOB. IT'S FULL-TIME. IT'S
DANGER. IT'S FEAR. IT'S NOT KNOWING WHETHER YOU'LL
END YOUR SHIFT GOING HOME IN A CAR -- OR TO THE
EMERGENCY ROOM IN AN AMBULANCE. / IT'S POPULATED BY
PEOPLE WILLING TO RISK THEIR LIVES TO SAVE OURS. PEOPLE
WHO ARE PART SOCIAL WORKER AND PART SOLDIER. IT'S A JOB
I SUM UP IN TWO WORDS: "AMERICAN HERQ."
EVERY DAY OF EVERY YEAR YOU RISK YOUR LIVES so
THAT AMERICANS CAN PROCEED WITH THEIRS. YOU TRULY SHOW
WHAT THE BIBLE MEANT: "GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN
THIS, THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS." /
FOR THAT I THANK YOU WITH A FEELING THAT KNOWS NO
WORDS. MAY GOD BLESS YOU, AND THE LAND YOU SO NOBLY
SERVE - -- THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. [[PROCEED TO
FRONT OF STAGE AND PLACE FLOWER IN MEMORIAL WREATH. ]]
#
#
#
#
LAW ENFORCEMENT CEREMONY
SYLVAN THEATER
WASHINGTON, D,C.
FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1992
THANK YOU, CYNDI [CALENDER]. ATTORNEY GENERAL
BARR AND MEMBERS OF CONGRESS WITH US TODAY; ADOLPH
SOUTH; DEWEY STOKES; JOHN WALSH; SUZIE SAWYER; BARBARA
DODGE; DAVID DEREVERE.]] TEN YEARS AGO, THE F.O.P.
AUXILIARY BEGAN THIS FIRST NATIONALLY-RECOGNIZED
SERVICE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS WHO GAVE THEIR
LIVES IN THE LINE OF DUTY. I SALUTE YOU FROM THE
BOTTOM OF MY HEART. 11
IT IS AN HONOR TO BE WITH ALL OF YOU -- TO MARK A
DAY THAT CELEBRATES AMERICA'S FINEST. / POLICE WORK
HAS BEEN DESCRIBED AS A THANKLESS JOB. I'M HERE TO
SAY: THANK YOU ON BEHALF OF EACH AMERICAN. WE NEED
YOU. 11 WE DEPEND ON YOU. WE CAN'T DO WITHOUT YOU. //
YOURS IS THE PRICELESS TASK OF UPHOLDING GOOD
AGAINST EVIL. WHEN WE ASK WHAT NATION THE AMERICAN
PEOPLE DESERVE, HERE IS MY ANSWER: A NATION WHICH
REJECTS THOSE WHO ARE SOFT ON THE NEED TO BE HARD ON
CRIME. 11
- 2 -
ALL OF US HAVE SEEN THE IMAGES OF LOS ANGELES --
THE HATE AND THE HORROR -- IMAGES STILL VIVID AS I
ASKED CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS TO THE WHITE HOUSE THIS
WEEK -- REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRAT. I OUTLINED MY 6-
POINT PLAN FOR A NEW AMERICA TO USE OPPORTUNITY, NOT
BUREAUCRACY, TO COMBAT POVERTY AND INEQUALITY. / THE
PLAN INCLUDES OUR WEED AND SEED ANTI-CRIME INITIATIVE.
OUR HOPE HOUSING INITIATIVE. ENTERPRISE ZONES.
EDUCATION REFORM, WELFARE REFORM -- AND A STRONG JOBS
PROGRAM FOR CITY YOUTH. / THIS PLAN MAKES A PROMISING
START -- AND I'M GOING TO DO MY LEVEL BEST TO GET IT
PASSED. //
THE PEOPLE IN LOS ANGELES AND ALL ACROSS THE
COUNTRY KNOW THAT THE SOCIAL PROBLEMS THAT BREED
POVERTY CAN AND MUST BE CURED. THEY KNOW SOMETHING
ELSE: LAWLESSNESS MUST, AND WILL BE PUNISHED. //
- 3 -
ALL OF US SAW SICKENING SIGHTS IN LOS ANGELES OF
CRIMINALS BREAKING WINDOWS, BURNING BUILDINGS, AND
LOOTING BUSINESSES. BUT EVEN WORSE WAS THE LOOTING OF
SOMETHING HARDER TO REPLACE THAN MERCHANDISE. THE
STEALING OF SOMETHING PRECIOUS. STEALING HOPE --
PROMISE -- THE FUTURE. / THIS, WE WILL NOT ALLOW. 11
YOU KNOW BETTER THAN ANYONE -- IT IS NOT JUST THE
PRIVILEGED WHO SUPPORT OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS
STANDING IN MT. ZION CHURCH IN THE HEART OF SOUTH
CENTRAL LOS ANGELES I SPOKE OUT IN SUPPORT OF LAW
ENFORCEMENT. THE PLACE ERUPTED IN SPONTANEOUS
APPLAUSE. THE PEOPLE APPLAUDING WERE THOSE MOST
SEVERELY AFFECTED BY THE RIOTING AND LOOTING.
so TODAY, I PLEDGE THIS TO YOU -- TO THE "THIN
BLUE LINE" THAT SEPARATES GOOD PEOPLE FROM THE WORST
INSTINCTS OF OUR SOCIETY. I PLEDGE MY CONTINUING AND
FULL SUPPORT.
- 4 -
WE MUST SHOW LESS COMPASSION FOR THE CRIMINAL AND
MORE FOR THEIR VICTIMS. THAT IS WHY WE REAUTHORIZED
THE 1984 VICTIMS OF CRIME ACT -- AND BOOSTED ITS ANNUAL
CRIME VICTIMS COMPENSATION AND ASSISTANCE FUND TO $150
MILLION. THESE DOLLARS DID NOT COME FROM TAXPAYERS BUT
FROM CRIMINALS' FINES AND PENALTIES. AFTER ALL, CRIME
SHOULDN'T PAY. CRIMINALS SHOULD. ///
MY ADMINISTRATION HAS ALSO ACTED TO PUNISH
HARDENED CRIMINALS -- CAREER CRIMINALS -- UNDER THE
FEDERAL ARMED CAREER CRIMINAL ACT. / NO SEASONED
CRIMINAL SHOULD WALK FREE BECAUSE WE DIDN'T TAKE THE
LAW -- AND OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS -- SERIOUSLY. /
WE'VE PROPOSED $15 BILLION FOR ANTI-CRIME POLICIES FOR
FY 1993 -- THAT'S UP 59 PERCENT IN FOUR YEARS. WE
STARTED PROJECT TRIGGERLOCK -- AND ALREADY THOUSANDS OF
GUN-TOTING CRIMINALS HAVE BEEN CHARGED, WITH A
CONVICTION RATE OF NEAR 90 PERCENT. YET PROGRESS MADE
IS NOT MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. SO TODAY I AGAIN CALL ON
THE CONGRESS TO GET WITH IT -- AND PASS OUR CRIME
LEGISLATION. LET'S BACK UP OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT
OFFICIALS WITH LAWS THAT ARE FAIR, FAST, AND FINAL. 11
- 5 -
FOR MORE THAN THREE YEARS I HAVE ASKED CONGRESS TO
PASS A COMPREHENSIVE CRIME PACKAGE BASED ON THREE
PRINCIPLES. IF CRIMINALS COMMIT CRIMES, THEY WILL BE
CAUGHT. IF CAUGHT, THEY WILL BE TRIED. AND IF
CONVICTED, THEY WILL BE PUNISHED. / WE NEED A CRIME
BILL WHICH STRENGTHENS -- NOT WEAKENS -- YOUR ABILITY
TO UPHOLD OUR LAWS. so I SAY TO THE CONGRESS: SEND ME
A TOUGH CRIME BILL -- ONE THAT WON'T WEAKEN CURRENT LAW
-- ONE LIKE THE CRIME CONTROL ACT OF 1992.
LET ME TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SALUTE
ORGANIZATIONS LIKE CONCERNS OF POLICE SURVIVORS --
C.O.P.S. -- WHO PROVIDE AID WHEN IT IS MOST NEEDED.
C.O.P.S. WAS FOUNDED IN 1984 TO HAVE SURVIVORS HELP
OTHER SURVIVORS. TODAY, THEY HELP 5,000 FAMILIES
NATIONWIDE, AS GOOD SAMARITANS TO THOSE WHO'VE LOST A
LOVED ONE.
- 6 -
ANOTHER GOOD SAMARITAN CAN BE FOUND RIGHT HERE ON
OUR STAGE TODAY: JOHN WALSH, HOST OF TELEVISION'S
"AMERICA'S MOST WANTED." LAST FRIDAY, THE SHOW
CELEBRATED ITS 200TH CAPTURE OF A FUGITIVE OF THE LAW.
SADLY, JOHN KNOWS FIRST-HAND ABOUT THE HORRORS THAT
CRIME CAN INFLICT UPON PARENTS, FAMILIES, AND
COMMUNITIES. //
HIS LITTLE BOY, ADAM, WAS ABDUCTED AND MURDERED,
AND THE KILLER HAS NEVER BEEN FOUND. JOHN COULD HAVE
SHUT HIMSELF OFF FROM THE WORLD. INSTEAD, HE STARTED
"AMERICA'S MOST WANTED" -- A SHOW THAT HELPS LAW
ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS BRING CRIMINALS TO JUSTICE. JOHN,
WE SALUTE BOTH WHAT YOU ARE -- AND WHAT YOU DO. /
- 7 -
LET ME CLOSE ON A PERSONAL NOTE. SOME HAVE CALLED
THE PRESIDENCY THE WORLD'S TOUGHEST JOB. THEY'RE
WRONG. POLICE OFFICERS HAVE THE TOUGHEST JOB. POLICE
WORK ISN'T A NINE TO FIVE JOB. IT'S FULL-TIME. IT'S
DANGER. IT'S FEAR. IT'S NOT KNOWING WHETHER YOU'LL
END YOUR SHIFT GOING HOME IN A CAR -- OR TO THE
EMERGENCY ROOM IN AN AMBULANCE. / IT'S POPULATED BY
PEOPLE WILLING TO RISK THEIR LIVES TO SAVE OURS. PEOPLE
WHO ARE PART SOCIAL WORKER AND PART SOLDIER. IT'S A JOB
I SUM UP IN TWO WORDS: "AMERICAN HERQ."
EVERY DAY OF EVERY YEAR YOU RISK YOUR LIVES so
THAT AMERICANS CAN PROCEED WITH THEIRS. YOU TRULY SHOW
WHAT THE BIBLE MEANT: "GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN
THIS, THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS." /
FOR THAT I THANK YOU WITH A FEELING THAT KNOWS NO
WORDS. MAY GOD BLESS YOU, AND THE LAND YOU SO NOBLY
SERVE -- THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. [[PROCEED TO
FRONT OF STAGE AND PLACE FLOWER IN MEMORIAL WREATH. ]]
#
#
#
#
LAW ENFORCEMENT CEREMONY
SYLVAN THEATER
WASHINGTON, D,C.
FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1992
THANK YOU, CYNDI [CALENDER]. ATTORNEY GENERAL
BARR AND MEMBERS OF CONGRESS WITH US TODAY; ADOLPH
SOUTH; DEWEY STOKES; JOHN WALSH; SUZIE SAWYER; BARBARA
DODGE; DAVID DEREVERE.]] TEN YEARS AGO, THE F.O.P.
AUXILIARY BEGAN THIS FIRST NATIONALLY-RECOGNIZED
SERVICE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS WHO GAVE THEIR
LIVES IN THE LINE OF DUTY. I SALUTE YOU FROM THE
BOTTOM OF MY HEART. //
IT IS AN HONOR TO BE WITH ALL OF YOU -- TO MARK A
DAY THAT CELEBRATES AMERICA'S FINEST. / POLICE WORK
HAS BEEN DESCRIBED AS A THANKLESS JOB. I'M HERE TO
SAY: THANK YOU ON BEHALF OF EACH AMERICAN. WE NEED
YOU. 11 WE DEPEND ON YOU. WE CAN'T DO WITHOUT YOU. //
YOURS IS THE PRICELESS TASK OF UPHOLDING GOOD
AGAINST EVIL. WHEN WE ASK WHAT NATION THE AMERICAN
PEOPLE DESERVE, HERE IS MY ANSWER: A NATION WHICH
REJECTS THOSE WHO ARE SOFT ON THE NEED TO BE HARD ON
CRIME. //
- 2 -
ALL OF US HAVE SEEN THE IMAGES OF LOS ANGELES --
THE HATE AND THE HORROR -- IMAGES STILL VIVID AS I
ASKED CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS TO THE WHITE HOUSE THIS
WEEK -- REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRAT. I OUTLINED MY 6-
POINT PLAN FOR A NEW AMERICA TO USE OPPORTUNITY, NOT
BUREAUCRACY, TO COMBAT POVERTY AND INEQUALITY. / THE
PLAN INCLUDES OUR WEED AND SEED ANTI-CRIME INITIATIVE.
OUR HOPE HOUSING INITIATIVE. ENTERPRISE ZONES.
EDUCATION REFORM, WELFARE REFORM -- AND A STRONG JOBS
PROGRAM FOR CITY YOUTH. / THIS PLAN MAKES A PROMISING
START -- AND I'M GOING TO DO MY LEVEL BEST TO GET IT
PASSED. //
THE PEOPLE IN LOS ANGELES AND ALL ACROSS THE
COUNTRY KNOW THAT THE SOCIAL PROBLEMS THAT BREED
POVERTY CAN AND MUST BE CURED. THEY KNOW SOMETHING
ELSE: LAWLESSNESS MUST, AND WILL BE PUNISHED. 11
- 3 -
ALL OF US SAW SICKENING SIGHTS IN LOS ANGELES OF
CRIMINALS BREAKING WINDOWS, BURNING BUILDINGS, AND
LOOTING BUSINESSES. BUT EVEN WORSE WAS THE LOOTING OF
SOMETHING HARDER TO REPLACE THAN MERCHANDISE. THE
STEALING OF SOMETHING PRECIOUS. STEALING HOPE --
PROMISE -- THE FUTURE. / THIS, WE WILL NOT ALLOW. 11
YOU KNOW BETTER THAN ANYONE -- IT IS NOT JUST THE
PRIVILEGED WHO SUPPORT OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS
STANDING IN MT. ZION CHURCH IN THE HEART OF SOUTH
CENTRAL LOS ANGELES I SPOKE OUT IN SUPPORT OF LAW
ENFORCEMENT. THE PLACE ERUPTED IN SPONTANEOUS
APPLAUSE. THE PEOPLE APPLAUDING WERE THOSE MOST
SEVERELY AFFECTED BY THE RIOTING AND LOOTING.
SO TODAY, I PLEDGE THIS TO YOU -- TO THE "THIN
BLUE LINE" THAT SEPARATES GOOD PEOPLE FROM THE WORST
INSTINCTS OF OUR SOCIETY. I PLEDGE MY CONTINUING AND
FULL SUPPORT.
- 4 -
WE MUST SHOW LESS COMPASSION FOR THE CRIMINAL AND
MORE FOR THEIR VICTIMS. THAT IS WHY WE REAUTHORIZED
THE 1984 VICTIMS OF CRIME ACT -- AND BOOSTED ITS ANNUAL
CRIME VICTIMS COMPENSATION AND ASSISTANCE FUND TO $150
MILLION. THESE DOLLARS DID NOT COME FROM TAXPAYERS BUT
FROM CRIMINALS' FINES AND PENALTIES. AFTER ALL, CRIME
SHOULDN'T PAY. CRIMINALS SHOULD. III
MY ADMINISTRATION HAS ALSO ACTED TO PUNISH
HARDENED CRIMINALS -- CAREER CRIMINALS -- UNDER THE
FEDERAL ARMED CAREER CRIMINAL ACT. / NO SEASONED
CRIMINAL SHOULD WALK FREE BECAUSE WE DIDN'T TAKE THE
LAW -- AND OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS -- SERIOUSLY. /
WE'VE PROPOSED $15 BILLION FOR ANTI-CRIME POLICIES FOR
FY 1993 -- THAT'S UP 59 PERCENT IN FOUR YEARS. WE
STARTED PROJECT TRIGGERLOCK -- AND ALREADY THOUSANDS OF
GUN-TOTING CRIMINALS HAVE BEEN CHARGED, WITH A
CONVICTION RATE OF NEAR 90 PERCENT. YET PROGRESS MADE
IS NOT MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. SO TODAY I AGAIN CALL ON
THE CONGRESS TO GET WITH IT -- AND PASS OUR CRIME
LEGISLATION. LET'S BACK UP OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT
OFFICIALS WITH LAWS THAT ARE FAIR, FAST, AND FINAL. //
- 5 -
FOR MORE THAN THREE YEARS I HAVE ASKED CONGRESS TO
PASS A COMPREHENSIVE CRIME PACKAGE BASED ON THREE
PRINCIPLES. IF CRIMINALS COMMIT CRIMES, THEY WILL BE
CAUGHT. IF CAUGHT, THEY WILL BE TRIED. AND IF
CONVICTED, THEY WILL BE PUNISHED. / WE NEED A CRIME
BILL WHICH STRENGTHENS -- NOT WEAKENS -- YOUR ABILITY
TO UPHOLD OUR LAWS. so I SAY TO THE CONGRESS: SEND ME
A TOUGH CRIME BILL -- ONE THAT WON'T WEAKEN CURRENT LAW
-- ONE LIKE THE CRIME CONTROL ACT OF 1992.
LET ME TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SALUTE
ORGANIZATIONS LIKE CONCERNS OF POLICE SURVIVORS --
C.O.P.S. -- WHO PROVIDE AID WHEN IT IS MOST NEEDED.
C.O.P.S. WAS FOUNDED IN 1984 TO HAVE SURVIVORS HELP
OTHER SURVIVORS. TODAY, THEY HELP 5,000 FAMILIES
NATIONWIDE, AS GOOD SAMARITANS TO THOSE WHO'VE LOST A
LOVED ONE.
- 6 -
ANOTHER GOOD SAMARITAN CAN BE FOUND RIGHT HERE ON
OUR STAGE TODAY: JOHN WALSH, HOST OF TELEVISION'S
"AMERICA'S MOST WANTED." LAST FRIDAY, THE SHOW
CELEBRATED ITS 200TH CAPTURE OF A FUGITIVE OF THE LAW.
SADLY, JOHN KNOWS FIRST-HAND ABOUT THE HORRORS THAT
CRIME CAN INFLICT UPON PARENTS, FAMILIES, AND
COMMUNITIES. 11
HIS LITTLE BOY, ADAM, WAS ABDUCTED AND MURDERED,
AND THE KILLER HAS NEVER BEEN FOUND. JOHN COULD HAVE
SHUT HIMSELF OFF FROM THE WORLD. INSTEAD, HE STARTED
"AMERICA'S MOST WANTED" -- A SHOW THAT HELPS LAW
ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS BRING CRIMINALS TO JUSTICE. JOHN,
WE SALUTE BOTH WHAT YOU ARE -- AND WHAT YOU DO. /
- 7 -
LET ME CLOSE ON A PERSONAL NOTE. SOME HAVE CALLED
THE PRESIDENCY THE WORLD'S TOUGHEST JOB. THEY'RE
WRONG. POLICE OFFICERS HAVE THE TOUGHEST JOB. POLICE
WORK ISN'T A NINE TO FIVE JOB. IT'S FULL-TIME. IT'S
DANGER. IT'S FEAR. IT'S NOT KNOWING WHETHER YOU'LL
END YOUR SHIFT GOING HOME IN A CAR -- -- OR TO THE
EMERGENCY ROOM IN AN AMBULANCE. / IT'S POPULATED BY
PEOPLE WILLING TO RISK THEIR LIVES TO SAVE OURS. PEOPLE
WHO ARE PART SOCIAL WORKER AND PART SOLDIER. IT'S A JOB
I SUM UP IN TWO WORDS: "AMERICAN HERO."
EVERY DAY OF EVERY YEAR YOU RISK YOUR LIVES so
THAT AMERICANS CAN PROCEED WITH THEIRS. YOU TRULY SHOW
WHAT THE BIBLE MEANT: "GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN
THIS, THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS.' " /
FOR THAT I THANK YOU WITH A FEELING THAT KNOWS NO
WORDS. MAY GOD BLESS YOU, AND THE LAND YOU so NOBLY
SERVE -- THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. [[PROCEED TO
FRONT OF STAGE AND PLACE FLOWER IN MEMORIAL WREATH. ]]
#
#
#
#
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
S2MAY13 P6: 04
May 13, 1992
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
THROUGH:
DAVID DEMAREST
M
FROM:
CURT SMITH
SUBJECT:
LAW ENFORCEMENT CEREMONY
On Friday, May 15th at 10:20 a.m., you will address 20,000
attendees at the National Peace Officers Memorial ceremony at the
Sylvan Theatre (the outdoor amphitheater south of the Washington
Monument). Your remarks (12 minutes, teleprompter) focus on the
Administration's commitment to signing a tough crime bill.
NOTE: Some staffing comments urged the inclusion of a section
underlining the importance of equal justice under the
law. This section is bracketed on page two.
OK
PRESIDENT THE OF THE UNITED
OF
SEAL
TES
STYLES
You know better than anyone
It is not just the priviledged who support our law enforcement
officers
Standing in Mt ZIon church in the heart ofr Sol
Central L>A> I spoke out in support of law enforcement. The place
erupted in spontaneous applause. These people applauding were
those most severely affected by the rioting and looting.
FROM THE PRESIDENT
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
May 13, 1992
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
THROUGH:
DAVID DEMAREST
M
FROM:
CURT SMITH
SUBJECT:
LAW ENFORCEMENT CEREMONY
On Friday, May 15th at 10:20 a.m., you will address 20,000
attendees at the National Peace Officers Memorial ceremony at the
Sylvan Theatre (the outdoor amphitheater south of the Washington
Monument). Your remarks (12 minutes, teleprompter) focus on the
Administration's commitment to signing a tough crime bill.
NOTE: Some staffing comments urged the inclusion of a section
underlining the importance of equal justice under the
law. This section is bracketed on page two.
(Smith/Aarhus)
Draft Four
May 13, 1992
LAW2
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LAW ENFORCEMENT CEREMONY
SYLVAN THEATER
WASHINGTON, D,C.
FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1992
[[Acknowledgements; and of course, members of the Fraternal
Order of Police Auxiliary with us today.]] Ten years ago, the
F.O.P. Auxiliary began this first nationally-recognized service
for law enforcement officers who gave their lives in the line of
duty. I salute you from the bottom of my heart. //
It is an honor to be with all of you -- to mark a day that
celebrates America's finest. / Police work has been described as
a thankless job. I'm here to say: Thank you on behalf of each
American. // We need you. We depend on you. We can't do
without you. //
We need you so that the lawless won't transform "life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" into death, carnage, and
open season on the innocent. / We depend on you to defend
civility through America's system of law.
Nor can we do without you -- for yours is the priceless task
of upholding good against evil. When we ask what nation the
American people deserve, here is my answer: A nation which
rejects those who are soft on the need to be hard on crime. //
All of us have seen the images of Los Angeles -- the hate
and the horror -- images still vivid as I asked Congressional
leaders to the White House this week -- Republican and Democrat.
2
I outlined my 6-point plan for a New America to use opportunity,
not bureaucracy, to combat poverty and inequality. / The plan
includes our Weed and Seed anti-crime initiative. Our HOPE
housing initiative. Enterprise Zones. Education reform, welfare
reform -- and a strong jobs program for city youth. / This plan
makes a promising start -- and I'm going to do my level best to
get it passed. //
The people in Los Angeles and all across the country know
that the social problems that breed poverty can and must be
cured. They know something else: Lawless thugs who claim that
poverty excuses crime must, and will, be punished. //
All of us saw sickening sights in Los Angeles of criminals
breaking windows, burning buildings, and looting businesses. But
even worse was the looting of something harder to replace than
merchandise. The stealing of something precious. Stealing hope
-- promise -- the future. / This, we will not allow. //
So today, I pledge this to you -- the "thin blue line" that
separates good people from the worst instincts of our society. I
pledge my full support. Across America, we will restore the rule
of law. / I pledge my conscience. I intend to stand for decency
against indecency. / [[I pledge justice. It's important for all
Americans -- of any color -- to feel that the criminal justice
system treats them fairly. It's the essence of our democracy. ]]
Finally, I pledge policies to build a society where citizens are
safe and feel safe.
3
In 1990, our war on crime helped the percentage of American
households affected by crime fall to 24 percent -- the lowest
rate since the federal government introduced this indicator in
1975. Good -- but not good enough. So by the end of 1992, we
will have 36 percent more federal prosecutors than in 1988.
We must show less compassion for the criminal and more for
their victims. That is why we reauthorized the 1984 Victims of
Crime Act -- and boosted its annual crime victims compensation
and assistance fund to $150 million. These dollars did not come
from taxpayers but from criminals' fines and penalties. After
all, crime shouldn't pay. Criminals should. ///
My Administration has also acted to punish hardened
criminals -- career criminals -- under the Federal Armed Career
Criminal Act. / No seasoned criminal should walk free because we
didn't take the law -- and our law enforcement officers --
seriously. / We've proposed $15 billion for anti-crime policies
for FY 1993 -- that's up 59 percent in four years. We started
Project Triggerlock -- and already the states and federal
government have sent more than 500 gun felons to prison to serve
a total of 2,500 years behind bars. / Yet progress made is not
mission accomplished. So today I again call on the Congress to
get with it -- and pass our crime legislation. Let's back up our
law enforcement officials with laws that are fair, fast, and
final. //
You know what I'm talking about. Fair: When good cops have
acted in good faith to nail criminals, those criminals shouldn't
4
go free as they would under the Democrats' crime bill. Fast: We
need habeas corpus reforms to stop frivolous appeals from choking
our courts. We must not allow the victims of crime to suffer
twice: Once, when they are victimized by the criminal, and
again, when justice is delayed for years while the convicted
criminal files endless appeals. / We need laws, too, that are
final -- and you know my belief: For anyone who kills a law
enforcement officer -- no penalty is too tough. We want
Congress to enact the steps needed to expand the death penalty.
Not some time. Not some place. But across America -- now. //
For more than three years I have asked Congress to pass a
comprehensive crime package based on three principles. If
criminals commit crimes, they will be caught. If caught, they
will be tried. And if convicted, they will be punished. / We
need a crime bill which strengthens -- not weakens -- your
ability to uphold our laws. So I say to the Congress: Send me a
tough crime bill -- one that won't weaken current law -- one like
the Crime Control Act of 1992. Then, and only then -- will I
also sign the Mitchell-Dole alternative to the Brady Bill. //
You should understand me well: Some say there are reasons
crimes take place. I say: There is never an excuse. // They
know that in North Carolina, where a cop helping with a homicide
investigation was followed by suspects he had interrogated. They
followed him to his home, then shot him and his wife. His wife
is still living. The officer died. They know that in Florida,
too, where a deranged man stole an officer's gun -- then shot him
5
dead with the policeman's own bullets. / or Minnesota, where two
police officers found a man in his car that had plunged into a
ditch. They called a tow truck for his car -- then put him in
the squad car to take him into town. They never made it: The
man pulled out a .357 magnum and shot both officers in the head.
Why? He said he didn't want to sit in the backseat. //
There's another seat I want to find for murderers like this.
I have said it before: "Better that [criminals] had never been
born than to attack one of America's finest. We are going after
those who kill or would kill our police officers.' // I think
the F.O.P. agrees with that: You know the death penalty will
help take criminals off the streets -- so that Americans can take
back their streets. / So does the group called Concerns of
Police Survivors -- C.O.P.S. -- who provide aid when it is most
needed. C.O.P.S. was founded in 1984 to have survivors help
other survivors. Today, they help 5,000 families nationwide, as
Good Samaritans to those who've lost a loved one.
Another Good Samaritan can be found right here on our stage
today: John Walsh, host of television's "America's Most Wanted."
Last Friday, the show celebrated its 200th capture of a fugitive
of the law. Sadly, John knows first-hand about the horrors that
crime can inflict upon parents, families, and communities. //
His little boy, Adam, was abducted and murdered, and the killer
has never been found. John could have shut himself off from the
world. Instead, he started "America's Most Wanted" -- a show
6
that helps law enforcement officers bring criminals to justice.
John, we salute both what you are -- and what you do. /
Let me close on a personal note. Some have called the
Presidency the world's toughest job. They're wrong. Police
officers have the toughest job. Police work isn't a nine to five
job, with martini lunches and friendly chats around the water
cooler. It's danger. It's fear. It's not knowing whether
you'll end your shift going home in a car -- or to the emergency
room in an ambulance. / It's populated by people willing to risk
their lives to save ours. People who are part social worker and
part soldier. It's a job I sum up in two words: "American hero.' "
Every day of every year you risk your lives so that
Americans can proceed with theirs. You truly show what the Bible
meant: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down
his life for his friends. " / For that I thank you with a feeling
that knows no words. May God bless you, and the land you so
nobly serve -- the United States of America.
#
#
#
#
Document No. 327335ss
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
5/14/92
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
---
DATE:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LAW ENFORCEMENT CEREMONY
SUBJECT:
FRIDAY, MAY 15 - 10:20 a.m.
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
HORNER
SKINNER
MCBRIDE
SCOWCROFT
MOORE
DARMAN
V
PETERSMEYER
BRADY
PORTER
BROMLEY
ROGICH
CALIO
ROLLINS
DEMAREST
SMITH
YEUTTER
FITZWATER
GRAY
FINDLAY
HOLIDAY
KAUFMAN
MCGROARTY
REMARKS:
The attached has been forwarded to the President.
RESPONSE:
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Assistant to the President
and Staff Secretary
Ext. 2702
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
C2MAY13 P6: Oy
May 13, 1992
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
THROUGH:
FROM:
DAVID DEMAREST M
M
CURT SMITH
SUBJECT:
LAW ENFORCEMENT CEREMONY
On Friday, May 15th at 10:20 a.m., you will address 20,000
attendees at the National Peace Officers Memorial ceremony at the
Sylvan Theatre (the outdoor amphitheater south of the Washington
Monument). Your remarks (12 minutes, teleprompter) focus on the
Administration's commitment to signing a tough crime bill.
NOTE: Some staffing comments urged the inclusion of a section
underlining the importance of equal justice under the
law. This section is bracketed on page two.
(Smith/Aarhus)
Draft Four
May 13, 1992
LAW2
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LAW ENFORCEMENT CEREMONY
SYLVAN THEATER
WASHINGTON, D,C.
FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1992
[[Acknowledgements; and of course, members of the Fraternal
Order of Police Auxiliary with us today.]] Ten years ago, the
F.O.P. Auxiliary began this first nationally-recognized service
for law enforcement officers who gave their lives in the line of
duty. I salute you from the bottom of my heart. //
It is an honor to be with all of you -- to mark a day that
celebrates America's finest. / Police work has been described as
a thankless job. I'm here to say: Thank you on behalf of each
American. // We need you. We depend on you. We can't do
without you. //
We need you so that the lawless won't transform "life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" into death, carnage, and
open season on the innocent. / We depend on you to defend
civility through America's system of law.
Nor can we do without you -- for yours is the priceless task
of upholding good against evil. When we ask what nation the
American people deserve, here is my answer: A nation which
rejects those who are soft on the need to be hard on crime. //
All of us have seen the images of Los Angeles -- the hate
and the horror -- images still vivid as I asked Congressional
leaders to the White House this week -- Republican and Democrat.
2
I outlined my 6-point plan for a New America to use opportunity,
not bureaucracy, to combat poverty and inequality. / The plan
includes our Weed and Seed anti-crime initiative. Our HOPE
housing initiative. Enterprise Zones. Education reform, welfare
reform -- and a strong jobs program for city youth. / This plan
makes a promising start -- and I'm going to do my level best to
get it passed. //
The people in Los Angeles and all across the country know
that the social problems that breed poverty can and must be
cured. They know something else: Lawless thugs who claim that
poverty excuses crime must, and will, be punished. //
All of us saw sickening sights in Los Angeles of criminals
breaking windows, burning buildings, and looting businesses. But
even worse was the looting of something harder to replace than
merchandise. The stealing of something precious. Stealing hope
-- promise -- the future. / This, we will not allow. //
So today, I pledge this to you -- the "thin blue line" that
separates good people from the worst instincts of our society. I
pledge my full support. Across America, we will restore the rule
of law. / I pledge my conscience. I intend to stand for decency
against indecency. / [[I pledge justice. It's important for all
Americans -- of any color -- to feel that the criminal justice
system treats them fairly. It's the essence of our democracy. ]]
Finally, I pledge policies to build a society where citizens are
safe and feel safe.
3
In 1990, our war on crime helped the percentage of American
households affected by crime fall to 24 percent -- the lowest
rate since the federal government introduced this indicator in
1975. Good -- but not good enough. So by the end of 1992, we
will have 36 percent more federal prosecutors than in 1988.
We must show less compassion for the criminal and more for
their victims. That is why we reauthorized the 1984 Victims of
Crime Act -- and boosted its annual crime victims compensation
and assistance fund to $150 million. These dollars did not come
from taxpayers but from criminals' fines and penalties. After
all, crime shouldn't pay. Criminals should. ///
My Administration has also acted to punish hardened
criminals -- career criminals -- under the Federal Armed Career
Criminal Act. / No seasoned criminal should walk free because we
didn't take the law -- and our law enforcement officers --
seriously. / We've proposed $15 billion for anti-crime policies
for FY 1993 -- that's up 59 percent in four years. We started
Project Triggerlock -- and already the states and federal
government have sent more than 500 gun felons to prison to serve
a total of 2,500 years behind bars. / Yet progress made is not
mission accomplished. So today I again call on the Congress to
get with it -- and pass our crime legislation. Let's back up our
law enforcement officials with laws that are fair, fast, and
final. //
You know what I'm talking about. Fair: When good cops have
acted in good faith to nail criminals, those criminals shouldn't
4
go free as they would under the Democrats' crime bill. Fast: We
need habeas corpus reforms to stop frivolous appeals from choking
our courts. We must not allow the victims of crime to suffer
twice: Once, when they are victimized by the criminal, and
again, when justice is delayed for years while the convicted
criminal files endless appeals. / We need laws, too, that are
final -- and you know my belief: For anyone who kills a law
enforcement officer -- no penalty is too tough. We want
Congress to enact the steps needed to expand the death penalty.
Not some time. Not some place. But across America -- now. //
For more than three years I have asked Congress to pass a
comprehensive crime package based on three principles. If
criminals commit crimes, they will be caught. If caught, they
will be tried. And if convicted, they will be punished. / We
need a crime bill which strengthens -- not weakens -- your
ability to uphold our laws. So I say to the Congress: Send me a
tough crime bill -- one that won't weaken current law -- one like
the Crime Control Act of 1992. Then, and only then -- will I
also sign the Mitchell-Dole alternative to the Brady Bill. //
You should understand me well: Some say there are reasons
crimes take place. I say: There is never an excuse. // They
know that in North Carolina, where a cop helping with a homicide
investigation was followed by suspects he had interrogated. They
followed him to his home, then shot him and his wife. His wife
is still living. The officer died. They know that in Florida,
too, where a deranged man stole an officer's gun -- then shot him
5
dead with the policeman's own bullets. / or Minnesota, where two
police officers found a man in his car that had plunged into a
ditch. They called a tow truck for his car -- then put him in
the squad car to take him into town. They never made it: The
man pulled out a .357 magnum and shot both officers in the head.
Why? He said he didn't want to sit in the backseat. //
There's another seat I want to find for murderers like this.
I have said it before: "Better that [criminals] had never been
born than to attack one of America's finest. We are going after
those who kill or would kill our police officers." // I think
the F.O.P. agrees with that: You know the death penalty will
help take criminals off the streets -- so that Americans can take
back their streets. / So does the group called Concerns of
Police Survivors -- C.O.P.S. -- who provide aid when it is most
needed. C.O.P.S. was founded in 1984 to have survivors help
other survivors. Today, they help 5,000 families nationwide, as
Good Samaritans to those who've lost a loved one.
Another Good Samaritan can be found right here on our stage
today: John Walsh, host of television's "America's Most Wanted."
Last Friday, the show celebrated its 200th capture of a fugitive
of the law. Sadly, John knows first-hand about the horrors that
crime can inflict upon parents, families, and communities. //
His little boy, Adam, was abducted and murdered, and the killer
has never been found. John could have shut himself off from the
world. Instead, he started "America's Most Wanted" -- a show
6
that helps law enforcement officers bring criminals to justice.
John, we salute both what you are -- and what you do. /
Let me close on a personal note. Some have called the
Presidency the world's toughest job. They're wrong. Police
officers have the toughest job. Police work isn't a nine to five
job, with martini lunches and friendly chats around the water
cooler. It's danger. It's fear. It's not knowing whether
you'll end your shift going home in a car -- or to the emergency
room in an ambulance. / It's populated by people willing to risk
their lives to save ours. People who are part social worker and
part soldier. It's a job I sum up in two words: "American hero." "
Every day of every year you risk your lives so that
Americans can proceed with theirs. You truly show what the Bible
meant: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down
his life for his friends. " / For that I thank you with a feeling
that knows no words. May God bless you, and the land you so
nobly serve -- the United States of America.
#
#
#
#
Document No. 327335
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
5:5
3
The
05/11/92
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: 11:00 Wednesday 05/13
DATE:
SUBJECT:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LAW ENFORCEMENT
CEREMONY,
stroptand
ACTION FYI
CACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
HORNER
SKINNER
MCBRIDE
SCOWCROFT
neversed MOORE
DARMAN
PETERSMEYER N/C
BRADY
PORTER
BROMLEY
ROGICH
If CALIO N/C
ROLLINS N/C
DEMAREST
SMITH
YEUTTER
FITZWATER
KAUFMAN
GRAY
FINDLAY
HOLIDAY
MCGROARTY
REMARKS:
Please provide any comments directly to Dan McGroarty, Rm 122, X2930,
no later than 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, 05/13, with a copy to this
office. Thanks.
RESPONSE:
See Justice comments and attachment.
PK
Paul Korforta
MASTER
Dorrance Smith- use 05/13 terminology highlighting
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Assistant to the President
our "plan for a new America.
and Staff Secretary
Ext. 2702
Liberman- Comment to Carol Aarhus
05/13/92
00:11
202 514 0468
ATTORNEY GENERAL
006
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 ; 5-12-92 : 8:28AM :
OPD-
202 514 0468:# 2
(Smith/Aarhus)
Draft Three
32 MAY 11 P7: 06
May 11, 1992
LAW2
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LAW ENFORCEMENT CEREMONY
SYLVAN THEATER
WASHINGTON, D,C.
FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1992
[Acknowledgements; and of course, members of the Fraternal
Order of Police Auxiliary with us today.]] Ten years ago, the
F.O.P. Auxiliary began this first nationally-recognized service
for lost law enforcement officers. I salute you from the bottom
of my heart. 11
It is an honor to be with all of you -- to mark a day that
celebrates America's finest. / Police work has been described as
a thankless job. I'm here to say: Thank you on behalf of each
American. 11 We need you. We depend on you. We can't do
without you. 11
We need you SO that the lawless won't transform "life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" into death, carnage, and
open season on the innocent. 11
We depend on you to defend civility through America's system
of law.
Nor can we do without you -- for yours is the priceless task
of upholding good against evil. When we ask what nation the
American people deserve, here is my answer: A nation which
rejects those who are soft on the need to be hard on crime.
11
(CabASSaics)
As you know, I've just come back from "The city of the
Angels", Los Angeles, California. It's a city today whose heart
I?
05/13/92
00:12
202 514 0468
ATTORNEY GENERAL
1
007
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 ; 5-12-92 i 8:29AM ;
OPD-
202 514 0468:# 3
2
(Cab.Affirs) Affairs)
is broken -- and where angels must not fear to tread. A city I
love and grieve for -- and whose heart only love and hard work
can mend. 11
That is why several days ago, I called on the Congress to
(C.A)
act now to create hope in our inner cities -- to use opportunity,
not bureaucracy, to combat the problems of poverty and
plan for new America
inequality. 11 I wish you could have talked, as I did, to
children parents, business owners, community leaders in Los
Angeles. You would know why, more than ever, I believe there is
no place in America for bigotry and discrimination of any kind.
Recent days have reminded us that we are one Nation under
God -- we must act as one -- must learn to trust one another, not
hate one another. / The people in Los Angeles know that the
social problems that breed poverty can and must be cured. They
know something else: Lawless thugs who claim that poverty
excuses crime must, and will, be punished. 11
All of us saw sickening sights in Los Angeles of criminals
breaking windows, burning buildings, and looting businesses. But
even worse was the looting of something harder to replace than
merchandise. The stealing of something precious. Stealing hope
-- promise -- the future. / This, we will not allow. //
Larady 4844)
so today, I pledge this to you -- the "thin blue line" that
NO
pledge my full support. Across America, we will restore the rule of
separates good (smith) people from the worst instincts of our society. I
NO
law. / I pledge (Smith) my conscience. I intend to stand for decency
NO
against indecency. Finally, I pledge policies to build a
05/13/92
00:12
202 514 0468
ATTORNEY GENERAL
008
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 ; 5-12-92 : 8:29AM :
OPD-
202 514 0488;# 4
(Grady)
finally, l pledge justice It's important for all
limericans - of any color to fell that the criminal
justice treats them fairly. its the
essence of our democracy
((A)(Pocter)
TP In 1990
society where citizens are safe -- and feel safe
our
war on crime helped the percentage of American households
affected by crime fall to 24 percent the lowest rate since the
federal government introduced this indicator in 1975. Good --
O36 but not good enough. So by the end of 1992, we will have so
36/46(Hale)
percent more federal prosecutors than in 1988. We have also 36% for all
justice Aftoring
acted to curb furlough abuses by further cutting the already 4640 if only
u.s. Attorney
limited furlough for federal offenders. In April 1989, the
this
C.60 percent
furlough rate was 1.2 per 100 inmates last April it was less lawer.
Stet (PORTER)
than half that Here's a final pledge: Today, no furloughs are
granted for anyone serving a sentence of life without parole --
and we're going to keep it that way. Furlough is a privilege --
not a right. ///
We must show less compassion for the criminal and I more for
(D.Smith)
NO
(D.Smith)
their victims. That is why we reauthorized the 1984 Victims of
(CA) crime V/(PORTER)
Crime Act and boosted its annual victims compensation and
assistance fund to $150 million. These dollars did not come from
taxpayers but from criminals' fines and penalties. After all,
crime shouldn't pay. Criminals should. 11111
(C.A.)
Career
My Administration has also acted to punish hardened
memo
criminals career criminals -- under the Federal Armed Criminal
Act. / No seasoned criminal should walk free because we didn't
take the law (PORTERS, -- and our law enforcement officers -- seriously. /
We've proposed $14.8 billion for anti-crime policies for FY 1993
that's up 59 percent in four years (C.A.) We started Project
Triggerlock and alroady the states and federal government have
13/92
00:13
202 514 0468
ATTORNEY GENERAL
009
SEN BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 ; 5-12-92 ; 8:30AM ;
OPD-
202 514 0468:# 5
(Hale)
5,330
(PORTER) FY93 Budget
p.1-201
(C.A.)
sent over 500 gun felons to prison to serve atotal
of over 2,500 years behind bars.
produced XXX indictments against persons for firearms offenses.
Lt
Yet progress made is not mission accomplished. So today I again
call on the Congress to get with it -- and pass our crime
legislation. Let's back up our law enforcement officials with
(PORTAFIRME
laws that are fair, fast. and final. 11 (C.A.
when good raps have acted
You know what I'm talking about. Fair:
in good faith
exclusionary rule designed to punish guilty criminals good - not good
exception to the
(Holsia) want An to noil criminals
those
(Porter Firm
Climinals
cops who have acted in good faith / Fast: We need habeas
shouldn't
(Hale) from
corpus reforms to stop frivolous appeals choking our courts. We
go
free as
must not allow the victims of crime to suffer twice: once, when
they wdw The
Democratics under crime bill
they are victimized by the criminal, and again, when misguided
to challenge their convictions for years and sometimes PUPI
policies allow criminalsyto creape scot free through some
new
9°
loophole in the law / We need laws, too, that are final -- and (PORTER)
you know my belief: For anyone who kills a law enforcement
is justice delayed
officer -- no penalty is too tough. we want Congress to enact for years
while the
the steps needed to expand the death penalty. Not some time. criminal convicted
Not some place. But across America -- now. 11
files
enduss
For more than three years I have asked Congress to pass a appeals.
comprehensive crime package based on three principles. If
criminals commit crimes, they will be caught. If caught, they
will be tried. And if convicted, they will be punished. / We
need a crime bill which strengthens -- not weakens -- your
ability to uphold our laws. So I say to the Congress: Send me a
tough crime bill one that won't weaken current law -- one like
the Crime Control Act of 1992. Then, and only then -- will I
(PORTER) mitchell-Dole alternative to the
also sign the Brady Bill. 11
05/13/92
00:13
C202 514 0468
ATTORNEY GENERAL
010
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 : 5-12-92 i 8:30AM :
OPD-
202 514 0468:# 6.
5
You should understand me well: Some say there are reasons
crimes take place. I say: There is never an excuse. 11 They
know that in North Carolina, where a cop helping with & homicide
investigation was followed home by suspects he had interrogated.
They followed him to his home, then shot him and his wife. His
wife is still living. The officer died. // They know that in
Florida, too, where a deranged man stole an officer's gun -- then
shot him dead with the policeman's own bullets. / or Minnesota,
where two police officers found a man in his car that had plunged
into a ditch. They called a tow truck for his car -- then put
him in the squad car to take him into town. They never made it:
The man pulled out a .357 magnum and shot both officers in the
head. Why? He said he didn't want to sit in the backseat. 11
There's another seat I want to find for murderers like this.
I have said it before: "Better that [criminals] had never been
born than to attack one of America's finest. We are going after
those who kill or would kill our police officers." 11 I think
the F.O.P. agrees with that: You know the death penalty will
help take criminals off the streets -- so that Americans can take
back their streets. / So does the group called Concerns of
Police Survivors -- C.O.P.S. -- who provide aid when it is most
needed. C.O.P.S. was founded in 1984 to have survivors help
other survivors. Today, they help 5,000 families nationwide, as
Good Samaritans to those who've lost a loved one.
Another Good Samaritan can be found right here on our stage
today: John Walsh, host of television's "America's Most Wanted."
05/13/92 00:14 202 514 0468
ATTORNEY GENERAL
5.
011
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 ; 5-12-92 ; 8:31AM :
OPD-
202 514 0468:# 7
6
Last Friday, the show celebrated its 200th capture of a fugitive
of the law. Sadly, John knows first-hand about the horrors that
crime can inflict upon parents, families, and communities. // His
little boy, Adam, was abducted and hasn't yet been found. John
could have shut himself off from the world. Instead, he started
"America's Most Wanted" -- a show that helps law enforcement
officers bring criminals to justice. John, we salute both what
you are -- and what you do. /
Let me close on a personal note. Some have called the
Presidency the world's toughest job. They're wrong. Police
officers have the toughest job. / Police work isn't a nine to
five job, with martini lunches and friendly chats around the
water cooler. It's danger. It's fear. It's not knowing whether
you'll end your shift going home in a car -- or to the emergency
room in an ambulance. / It's populated by people willing to risk
Se
3/
their lives to save ours. / People who are part social worker
(D.Smith)wo
American
and part soldier. / It's a job I sum up in one word: "Here." 11
Every day of every year you risk your lives so that
Americans can proceed with theirs. You truly show what the Bible
meant: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down
his life for his friends." / For that I thank you with a feeling
that knows no words. May God bless you, and the land you so
richly bless -- the United States of America.
05/13/92
00:09
202 514 0468
ATTORNEY GENERAL
002
Office of the Attorney General
MAYICA
Washington, B. C. 20530
THE
May 13, 1992
MEMORANDUM TO: PAUL KORFONTA
FROM:
EUGENE SCALIA
SUBJECT:
FRIDAY'S LAW ENFORCEMENT SPEECH
Porter
Attached is the draft, with changes.
see
I am also attaching more extensive possible language on the
two crime bills in the Senate. The speechwriters should know --
they probably do already -- that law enforcement groups have
drifted toward the Democrats' bill because they very much want
gun control at whatever price. For this reason, briefly
contrasting the two bills might be appropriate (though perhaps
the nature of the event dictates otherwise). The circled portion
of the proposed language makes such a comparison.
Specific explanations and comments:
Scabe A
It's editorial, but the language at the bottom of page 1,
top of page 2 is probably a little too dramatic.
see
First and second full paragraphs, page 2, I would suggest
that the speech approaches the issue of urban programs too
defensively. The best approach, it seems to me, is not that the
riots are "why" the President "several days ago" called on
Congress to pass his package -- he proposed the package some time
ago, because he has long recognized the need for a better
approach to improving inner cities. I also think this audience
particularly will be surprised by the refernces to bigotry and
discrimination.) By whom? Against whom? The references to
"trust" and "hatred" also are elusive. The Administration ought
not to be identifying these as the leading causes of the riots.
Perhaps you could say in place of the paragraphs I have
crossed out: "Now, restoring vitality in the wake of the Los
Angeles riots has focused this country's attention on a problem
that I have been discussing for some time -- in my State of the
Union Address, for instance. I mean the fact that we need to
rethink the ways that we assist residents.of the inner cities
Several days ago I asked Congressional leaders to join me in
enacting a package of programs and reforms that this
Administration has been urging to invigorate our inner cities and
the people who live there. I hope to work with Congress, united
all ameuran 14 on
05/13/92 00:10
202 514 0468
ATTORNEY GENERAL
003
in purpose. The people in Los Angeles and across America know
that
Bottom of page 3, reference to Federal Armed Career Criminal
Act: it was passed in 1984, and was far more a Sen. Specter
initiative than Reagan-Bush.
Middle, page 4, important, if nuanced, substantive changes.
(Smith/Aarhus)
Draft Four
May 13, 1992
LAW2
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LAW ENFORCEMENT CEREMONY
SYLVAN THEATER
WASHINGTON, D,C.
FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1992
[[Acknowledgements; and of course, members of the Fraternal
Order of Police Auxiliary with us today.]] Ten years ago, the
F.O.P. Auxiliary began this first nationally-recognized service
for law enforcement officers who gave their lives in the line of
duty. I salute you from the bottom of my heart. //
It is an honor to be with all of you -- to mark a day that
celebrates America's finest. / Police work has been described as
a thankless job. I'm here to say: Thank you on behalf of each
American. // We need you. We depend on you. We can't do
without you. 11
We need you so that the lawless won't transform "life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" into death, carnage, and
open season on the innocent. / We depend on you to defend
civility through America's system of law.
Nor can we do without you -- for yours is the priceless task
of upholding good against evil. When we ask what nation the
American people deserve, here is my answer: A nation which
rejects those who are soft on the need to be hard on crime. //
All of us have seen the images of Los Angeles -- the hate
and the horror -- images still vivid as I asked Congressional
leaders to the White House this week -- Republican and Democrat.
2
I outlined my 6-point plan for a New America to use opportunity,
not bureaucracy, to combat poverty and inequality. / The plan
includes our Weed and Seed anti-crime initiative. Our HOPE
housing initiative. Enterprise Zones. Education reform, welfare
reform -- and a strong jobs program for city youth. / This plan
makes a promising start -- and I'm going to do my level best to
get it passed. 11
The people in Los Angeles and all across the country know
that the social problems that breed poverty can and must be
cured. They know something else: Lawless thugs who claim that
poverty excuses crime must, and will, be punished. //
All of us saw sickening sights in Los Angeles of criminals
breaking windows, burning buildings, and looting businesses. But
even worse was the looting of something harder to replace than
Msu
merchandise. The stealing of something precious. Stealing hope
-- promise -- the future. / This, we will not allow. 11
So today, I pledge this to you -- the "thin blue line" that
separates good people from the worst instincts of our society. I
pledge my full support. Across America, we will restore the rule
of law. / I pledge my conscience. I intend to stand for decency
against indecency. / [[I pledge justice. It's important for all
Americans -- of any color -- to feel that the criminal justice
system treats them fairly. It's the essence of our democracy.]]
Finally, I pledge policies to build a society where citizens are
safe and feel safe.
3
In 1990, our war on crime helped the percentage of American
households affected by crime fall to 24 percent -- the lowest
rate since the federal government introduced this indicator in
1975. Good -- but not good enough. So by the end of 1992, we
will have 36 percent more federal prosecutors than in 1988.
We must show less compassion for the criminal and more for
their victims. That is why we reauthorized the 1984 Victims of
Crime Act -- and boosted its annual crime victims compensation
and assistance fund to $150 million. These dollars did not come
from taxpayers but from criminals' fines and penalties. After
all, crime shouldn't pay. Criminals should. III
My Administration has also acted to punish hardened
criminals -- career criminals -- under the Federal Armed Career
Criminal Act. / No seasoned criminal should walk free because we
didn't take the law -- and our law enforcement officers ---
seriously. / We've proposed $15 billion for anti-crime policies
for FY 1993 -- that's up 59 percent in four years. We started
Project Triggerlock -- and already the states and federal
government have sent more than 500 gun felons to prison to serve
a total of 2,500 years behind bars. / Yet progress made is not
mission accomplished. So today I again call on the Congress to
get with it -- and pass our crime legislation. Let's back up our
law enforcement officials with laws that are fair, fast, and
final. 11
You know what I'm talking about. Fair: When good cops have
acted in good faith to nail criminals, those criminals shouldn't
Housessed
go free as they would under the Democrats' crime bill. Fast: We
need habeas corpus reforms to stop frivolous appeals from choking
our courts. We must not allow the victims of crime to suffer
twice: Once, when they are victimized by the criminal, and
again, when justice is delayed for years while the convicted
criminal files endless appeals. / We need laws, too, that are
final -- and you know my belief: For anyone who kills a law
enforcement officer -- no penalty is too tough. We want
Congress to enact the steps needed to expand the death penalty.
Not some time. Not some place. But across America -- now. //
For more than three years I have asked Congress to pass a
comprehensive crime package based on three principles. If
criminals commit crimes, they will be caught. If caught, they
will be tried. And if convicted, they will be punished. / We
need a crime bill which strengthens -- not weakens -- your
ability to uphold our laws. So I say to the Congress: Send me a
tough crime bill -- one that won't weaken current law -- one like
Police
the Crime Control Act of 1992. Then, and only then -- will I
for
also sign the Mitchell-Dole alternative to the Brady Bill. 11
+w
You should understand me well: Some say there are reasons
crimes take place. I say: There is never an excuse. // They
know that in North Carolina, where a cop helping with a homicide
investigation was followed by suspects he had interrogated. They
followed him to his home, then shot him and his wife. His wife
is still living. The officer died. They know that in Florida,
too, where a deranged man stole an officer's gun -- then shot him
5
dead with the policeman's own bullets. / or Minnesota, where two
police officers found a man in his car that had plunged into a
ditch. They called a tow truck for his car -- then put him in
the squad car to take him into town. They never made it: The
man pulled out a .357 magnum and shot both officers in the head.
Why? He said he didn't want to sit in the backseat. //
There's another seat I want to find for murderers like this.
I have said it before: "Better that [criminals] had never been
inflam
born than to attack one of America's finest. We are going after
those who kill or would kill our police officers." // I think
the F.O.P. agrees with that: You know the death penalty will
help take criminals off the streets -- so that Americans can take
back their streets. / So does the group called Concerns of
Police Survivors -- C.O.P.S. -- who provide aid when it is most
needed. C.O.P.S. was founded in 1984 to have survivors help
other survivors. Today, they help 5,000 families nationwide, as
Good Samaritans to those who've lost a loved one.
Another Good Samaritan can be found right here on our stage
today: John Walsh, host of television's "America's Most Wanted."
Last Friday, the show celebrated its 200th capture of a fugitive
of the law. Sadly, John knows first-hand about the horrors that
crime can inflict upon parents, families, and communities. //
His little boy, Adam, was abducted and murdered, and the killer
has never been found. John could have shut himself off from the
world. Instead, he started "America's Most Wanted" -- a show
6
that helps law enforcement officers bring criminals to justice.
John, we salute both what you are -- and what you do. /
Let me close on a personal note. Some have called the
Presidency the world's toughest job. They're wrong. Police
officers have the toughest job. Police work isn't a nine to five
job, with martini lunches and friendly chats around the water
It's full true.
cooler. It's danger. It's fear. It's not knowing whether
you'll end your shift going home in a car -- or to the emergency
room in an ambulance. / It's populated by people willing to risk
their lives to save ours. People who are part social worker and
part soldier. It's a job I sum up in two words: "American hero." "
Every day of every year you risk your lives so that
Americans can proceed with theirs. You truly show what the Bible
meant: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down
his life for his friends." / For that I thank you with a feeling
that knows no words. May God bless you, and the land you so
nobly serve -- the United States of America.
#
#
#
Document No. 327335ss
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
DATE:
5/14/92
---
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LAW ENFORCEMENT CEREMONY
SUBJECT:
FRIDAY, MAY 15 - 10:20 a.m.
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
HORNER
SKINNER
MCBRIDE
SCOWCROFT
MOORE
DARMAN
PETERSMEYER
BRADY
PORTER
BROMLEY
ROGICH
CALIO
>
ROLLINS
DEMAREST
SMITH
YEUTTER
FITZWATER
GRAY
FINDLAY
HOLIDAY
KAUFMAN
MCGROARTY
REMARKS:
The attached has been forwarded to the President.
RESPONSE:
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Assistant to the President
and Staff Secretary
Ext. 2702
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
S2MAY13 OR P6: 04
May 13, 1992
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
THROUGH:
FROM:
DAVID DEMAREST M
M
CURT SMITH
SUBJECT:
LAW ENFORCEMENT CEREMONY
On Friday, May 15th at 10:20 a.m., you will address 20,000
attendees at the National Peace Officers Memorial ceremony at the
Sylvan Theatre (the outdoor amphitheater south of the Washington
Monument). Your remarks (12 minutes, teleprompter) focus on the
Administration's commitment to signing a tough crime bill.
NOTE: Some staffing comments urged the inclusion of a section
underlining the importance of equal justice under the
law. This section is bracketed on page two.
(Smith/Aarhus)
Draft Four
May 13, 1992
LAW2
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LAW ENFORCEMENT CEREMONY
SYLVAN THEATER
WASHINGTON, D,C.
FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1992
[[Acknowledgements; and of course, members of the Fraternal
Order of Police Auxiliary with us today. ]] Ten years ago, the
F.O.P. Auxiliary began this first nationally-recognized service
for law enforcement officers who gave their lives in the line of
duty. I salute you from the bottom of my heart. //
It is an honor to be with all of you -- to mark a day that
celebrates America's finest. / Police work has been described as
a thankless job. I'm here to say: Thank you on behalf of each
American. // We need you. We depend on you. We can't do
without you. //
We need you so that the lawIess won't transform "life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" into death, carnage and
open season on the innocent. / We depend on you to defend
civility through America's system of law.
Nor can we do without you for yours is the priceless task
of upholding good against evil. When we ask what nation the
American people deserve, here is my answer: A nation which
rejects those who are soft on the need to be hard on crime. //
All of us have seen the images of Los Angeles -- the hate
and the horror -- images still vivid as I asked Congressional
leaders to the White House this week -- Republican and Democrat.
2
I outlined my 6-point plan for a New America to use opportunity,
not bureaucracy, to combat poverty and inequality. / The plan
includes our Weed and Seed anti-crime initiative. Our HOPE
housing initiative. Enterprise Zones. Education reform, welfare
reform -- and a strong jobs program for city youth. / This plan
makes a promising start -- and I'm going to do my level best to
get it passed. //
The people in Los Angeles and all across the country know
that the social problems that breed poverty can and must be
ness must, and will be
cured. They know something else: Lawless thugs who cláim that
poverty excuses crime must, and will, be punished. //
All of us saw sickening sights in Los Angeles of criminals
breaking windows, burning buildings, and looting businesses. But
even worse was the looting of something harder to replace than
merchandise. The stealing of something precious. Stealing hope
-- promise -- the future. / This, we will not allow. // ment A
So today, I pledge this to you -- to the "thin blue line" that
separates good people from the worst instincts of our society.
V
continuing and fiell
are making
pledge my full support. Across America, we will restore the rule
of law. / I pledge my conscience. I intend to stand for décency
against indecency. / [[I pledge justice. It's important for all
Americans -- of any colór -- to feel that the criminal justice
system treats them fairly. It's the essence of our democracy. ]]
Finally, I pledge policies to build a society where citizens are
safe and feel safe.
3
In 1990, our war on crime helped the percentage of American
households affected by crime fall to 24 percent -- the lowest
rate since the federal government introduced this indicator in
1975. Good -- but not good enough. So by the end of 1992, we
will have 36 percent more federal prosecutors than in 1988.
We must show less compassion for the criminal and more for
their victims. That is why we reauthorized the 1984 Victims of
Crime Act -- and boosted its annual crime victims compensation
and assistance fund to $150 million. These dollars did not come
from taxpayers but from criminals' fines and penalties. After
all, crime shouldn't pay. Criminals should. ///
My Administration has also acted to punish hardened
criminals -- career criminals -- under the Federal Armed Career
Criminal Act. / No seasoned criminal should walk free because we
didn't take the law -- and our law enforcement officers --
seriously. / We've proposed $15 billion for anti-crime policies
for FY 1993 -- that's up 59 percent in four years. We started
Project Triggerlock -- and already the states and federal
government have sent more than 500 gun felons to prison to serve
a total of 2,500 years behind bars. / Yet progress made is not
mission accomplished. So today I again call on the Congress to
get with it -- and pass our crime legislation. Let's back up our
law enforcement officials with laws that are fair, fast, and
final. //
You know what I'm talking about. Fair: When good cops have
acted in good faith to nail criminals, those criminals shouldn't
4 House -passed
go free as they would under the Democrats crime bill. Fast: We
need habeas corpus reforms to stop frivolous appeals from choking
our courts. We must not allow the victims of crime to suffer
twice: Once, when they are victimized by the críminal, and
again, when justice is delayed for years while the convicted
criminal files endless appeals. / We need laws too, that are
final -- and you know my belief: For anyone who kills a law
enforcement officer -- no penalty is too tough. We want
Congress to enact the steps needed to expand the death penalty.
Not some time. Not some place. But across America -- now. //
For more than three years I have asked Congress to pass a
comprehensive crime package based on three principles. If
criminals commit crimes, they will be caught. If caught, they
will be tried. And if convicted, they will be punished. / We
need a crime bill which strengthens -- not weakens -- your
ability to uphold our laws. So I say to the Congress: Send me a
tough crime bill -- one that won't weaken current law -- one like
the Crime Control Act of 1992. Then, and only then will PI
also sign the Mitchell Dole alternative to the Brady Bill. //
You should understand me well: Some say there are reasons
crimes take place. I say: There is never àn excuse // They
know that in North Carolina, where a cop helping with a homicide
investigation was followed by suspects he had interrogated. They
followed him to his home, then shot him and his wife. His wife
is still living. The officer died. They know that in Florida,
too, where a deranged man stole an officer's gun -- then shot him
5
dead with the policeman's own bullets. / or Minnesota, where two
police officers found a man in his car that had plunged into a
ditch. They called a tow truck for his car -- then put him in
the squad car to take him into town. They never made it: The
man pulled out a .357 magnum and shot both officers in the head.
Why? He said he didn't want to sit in the backseat. //
There another seat I want to find for murderers like this.
I have said it before: "Better that [criminals] had never been
born than to attack one of America's finest. We are going after
those who kill or would kill our police officers." / I think
the F.O.P. agrees with that: You know the death penalty will
help take criminals off the streets -- so that Americans can take
Let me take this opportunity to Salute argangated
back their streets. / So does the group called Concerns of like.
Police Survivors -- C.O.P.S. -- who provide aid when it is most
needed. C.O.P.S. was founded in 1984 to have survivors help
other survivors. Today, they help 5,000 families nationwide, as
Good Samaritans to those who've lost a loved one.
Another Good Samaritan can be found right here on our stage
today: John Walsh, host of television's "America's Most Wanted." "
Last Friday, the show celebrated its 200th capture of a fugitive
of the law. Sadly, John knows first-hand about the horrors that
crime can inflict upon parents, families, and communities. //
His little boy, Adam, was abducted and murdered, and the killer
has never been found. John could have shut himself off from the
world. Instead, he started "America's Most Wanted" -- a show
6
that helps law enforcement officers bring criminals to justice.
John, we salute both what you are -- and what you do. /
Let me close on a personal note. Some have called the
Presidency the world's toughest job. They're wrong. Police
officers have the toughest job. Police work isn't a nine to five
It' full-time. full
job, with martini lunches and friendly chats around the water
cooler. It's danger. It's fear. It's not knowing whether
you'll end your shift going home in a car -- or to the emergency
room in an ambulance. / It's populated by people willing to risk
their lives to save ours. People who are part social worker and
part soldier. It's a job I sum up in two words: "American hero." "
Every day of every year you risk your lives so that
Americans can proceed with theirs. You truly show what the Bible
meant: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down
his life for his friends." / For that I thank you with a feeling
that knows no words. May God bless you, and the land you so
nobly serve -- the United States of America.
#
#
#
#
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 ; 5-14-92 ; 9:53AM ;
2024566218->
OPD:# 1
Document No. 327335ss
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
DATE:
5/14/92
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LAW ENFORCEMENT CEREMONY
SUBJECT:
FRIDAY, MAY 15 - 10:20 a.m.
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
HORNER
SKINNER
MCBRIDE
SCOWCROFT
MOORE
DARMAN
PETERSMEYER
BRADY
PORTER
BROMLEY
ROGICH
CALIO
ROLLINS
DEMAREST
SMITH
FITZWATER
YEUTTER
GRAY
FINDLAY
HOLIDAY
KAUFMAN
MCGROART
REMARKS:
The attached has been forwarded to the President.
RESPONSE:
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Assistant to the President
and Staff Secretary
Ext. 2702
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 ; 5-14-92 ; 9:54AM ;
2024566218-
OPD;# 2
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
2MAY13 P6: 04
May 13, 1992
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
THROUGH:
FROM:
DAVID DEMAREST M
M
CURT SMITH
SUBJECT:
LAW ENFORCEMENT CEREMONY
On Friday, May 15th at 10:20 a.m., you will address 20,000
attendees at the National Peace Officers Memorial ceremony at the
Sylvan Theatre (the outdoor amphitheater south of the Washington
Monument). Your remarks (12 minutes, teleprompter) focus on the
Administration's commitment to signing a tough crime bill.
NOTE: Some staffing comments urged the inclusion of a section
underlining the importance of equal justice under the
law. This section is bracketed on page two.
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 ; 5-14-92 ; 9:54AM ;
2024566218-
OPD;# 3
(Smith/Aarhus)
Draft Four
May 13, 1992
LAW2
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LAW ENFORCEMENT CEREMONY
SYLVAN THEATER
WASHINGTON, D,C.
FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1992
[[Acknowledgements; and of course, members of the Fraternal
Order of Police Auxiliary with us today.]] Ten years ago, the
F.O.P. Auxiliary began this first nationally-recognized service
for law enforcement officers who gave their lives in the line of
duty. I salute you from the bottom of my heart. 11
It is an honor to be with all of you -- to mark a day that
celebrates America's finest. / Police work has been described as
a thankless job. I'm here to say: Thank you on behalf of each
American. 11 We need you. We depend on you. We can't do
without you. 11
We need you so that the lawless won't transform "life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" into death, carnage, and
open season on the innocent. / We depend on you to defend
civility through America's system of law.
Nor can we do without you -- for yours is the priceless task
of upholding good against evil. When we ask what nation the
American people deserve, here is my answer: A nation which
rejects those who are soft on the need to be hard on crime. 11
All of us have seen the images of Los Angeles -- the hate
and the horror -- images still vivid as I asked Congressional
leaders to the White House this week -- Republican and Democrat.
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 ; 5-14-92 ; 9:55AM ;
2024566218->
OPD;# 4
2
I outlined my 6-point plan for a New America to use opportunity,
not bureaucracy, to combat poverty and inequality. / The plan
includes our Weed and Seed anti-crime initiative. Our HOPE
housing initiative. Enterprise Zones. Education reform, welfare
reform -- and a strong jobs program for city youth. / This plan
makes a promising start -- and I'm going to do my level best to
get it passed. 11
The people in Los Angeles and all across the country know
that the social problems that breed poverty can and must be
cured. They know something else: Lawless thugs who claim that
poverty excuses crime must, and will, be punished. 11
All of us saw sickening sights in Los Angeles of criminals
breaking windows, burning buildings, and looting businesses. But
even worse was the looting of something harder to replace than
merchandise. The stealing of something precious. Stealing hope
-- promise -- the future. / This, we will not allow. //
so today, I pledge this to you -- the "thin blue line" that
separates good people from the worst instincts of our society. I
pledge my full support. Across America, we will restore the rule
of law. / I pledge my conscience. I intend to stand for decency
against indecency. / [[I pledge justice. It's important for all
Americans -- of any color -- to feel that the criminal justice
system treats them fairly. It's the essence of our democracy.
Finally, I pledge policies to build a society where citizens are
safe and feel safe.
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 ; 5-14-92 ; 9:55AM ;
2024566218-
OPD;# 5
3
In 1990, our war on crime helped the percentage of American
households affected by crime fall to 24 percent -- the lowest
rate since the federal government introduced this indicator in
1975. Good -- but not good enough. So by the end of 1992, we
will have 36 percent more federal prosecutors than in 1988.
We must show less compassion for the criminal and more for
their victims. That is why we reauthorized the 1984 Victims of
Crime Act -- and boosted its annual crime victims compensation
and assistance fund to $150 million. These dollars did not come
from taxpayers but from criminals' fines and penalties. After
all, crime shouldn't pay. Criminals should. ///
bendio
My Administration has also acted to punish hardened
514-2291
criminals -- career criminals -- under the Federal Armed Career
Criminal Act. / No seasoned criminal should walk free because we
didn't take the law -- and our law enforcement officers --
Important
seriously. / We've proposed $15 billion for anti-crime policies
for FY 1993 -- that's up 59 percent in four years. We started
thousands of qun-toting criminals
Project Triggerlock -- and already the states and federal
have been
government have sent more than 500 gun felons to prison to serve
Charged,
with a
a total of 2,500 years behind
Yet progress made is not
conviction
mission accomplished. So today I again call on the Congress to
rate
near
get with it -- and pass our crime legislation. Let's back up our 90%
law enforcement officials with laws that are fair. fast. and
final. 11
You know what I'm talking about. Fair: When good cops have
acted in good faith to nail criminals, those criminals shouldn't
Verty premature
Justice majorin will announcement have
weeks. several
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 ; 5-14-92 ; 9:56AM ;
2024566218-
OPD;# 6
4
go free as they would under the Democrats' crime bill. Fast: We
need habeas corpus reforms to stop frivolous appeals from choking
our courts. We must not allow the victims of crime to suffer
twice: Once, when they are victimized by the criminal, and
again, when justice is delayed for years while the convicted
criminal files endless appeals. / We need laws, too, that are
final -- and you know my belief: For anyone who kills a law
enforcement officer -- no penalty is too tough. We want
Congress to enact the steps needed to expand the death penalty.
Not some time. Not some place. But across America -- now. 11
For more than three years I have asked Congress to pass a
comprehensive crime package based on three principles. If
criminals commit crimes, they will be caught. If caught, they
will be tried. And if convicted, they will be punished. / We
need a crime bill which strengthens -- not weakens -- your
ability to uphold our laws. So I say to the Congress: Send me a
tough crime bill -- one that won't weaken current law -- one like
the Crime Control Act of 1992. Then, and only then -- will I
also sign the Mitchell-Dole alternative to the Brady Bill. 11
You should understand me well: Some say there are reasons
crimes take place. I say: There is never an excuse. 11 They
know that in North Carolina, where a cop helping with a homicide
investigation was followed by suspects he had interrogated. They
followed him to his home, then shot him and his wife. His wife
is still living. The officer died. They know that in Florida,
too, where a deranged man stole an officer's gun -- then shot him
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 ; 5-14-92 ; 9:56AM ;
2024566218-
OPD:# 7
5
dead with the policeman's own bullets. / or Minnesota, where two
police officers found a man in his car that had plunged into a
ditch. They called a tow truck for his car -- then put him in
the squad car to take him into town. They never made it: The
man pulled out a .357 magnum and shot both officers in the head.
Why? He said he didn't want to sit in the backseat. 11
There's another seat I want to find for murderers like this.
I have said it before: "Better that [criminals] had never been
born than to attack one of America's finest. We are going after
those who kill or would kill our police officers." 11 I think
the F.O.P. agrees with that: You know the death penalty will
help take criminals off the streets -- so that Americans can take
back their streets. / So does the group called Concerns of
Police Survivors -- C.O.P.S. -- who provide aid when it is most
needed. C.O.P.S. was founded in 1984 to have survivors help
other survivors. Today, they help 5,000 families nationwide, as
Good Samaritans to those who've lost a loved one.
Another Good Samaritan can be found right here on our stage
today: John Walsh, host of television's "America's Most Wanted."
Last Friday, the show celebrated its 200th capture of a fugitive
of the law. Sadly, John knows first-hand about the horrors that
crime can inflict upon parents, families, and communities. //
His little boy, Adam, was abducted and murdered, and the killer
has never been found. John could have shut himself off from the
world. Instead, he started "America's Most Wanted" -- a show
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 ; 5-14-92 ; 9:57AM ;
2024566218-
OPD;# 8
6
that helps law enforcement officers bring criminals to justice.
John, we salute both what you are -- and what you do. /
Let me close on a personal note. Some have called the
Presidency the world's toughest job. They're wrong. Police
officers have the toughest job. Police work isn't a nine to five
job, with martini lunches and friendly chats around the water
cooler. It's danger. It's fear. It's not knowing whether
you'll end your shift going home in a car -- or to the emergency
room in an ambulance. / It's populated by people willing to risk
their lives to save ours. People who are part social worker and
part soldier. It's a job I sum up in two words: "American hero."
Every day of every year you risk your lives so that
Americans can proceed with theirs. You truly show what the Bible
meant: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down
his life for his friends." / For that I thank you with a feeling
that knows no words. May God bless you, and the land you so
nobly serve -- the United States of America.
Second Master
(Smith/Aarhus)
Draft Three
May 13, 1992
LAW2
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LAW ENFORCEMENT CEREMONY
SYLVAN THEATER
WASHINGTON, D,C.
FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1992
[[Acknowledgements; and of course, members of the Fraternal
Order of Police Auxiliary with us today. ]] Ten years ago, the
F.O.P. Auxiliary began this first nationally-recognized service
for lost d law enforcement officers on I salute you from the bottom
who gave thes luco in the luc of denty,
of my heart. //
It is an honor to be with all of you -- to mark a day that
celebrates America's finest. / Police work has been described as
a thankless job. I'm here to say: Thank you on behalf of each
American. // We need you. We depend on you. We can't do
without you. //
We need you so that the lawless won't transform "life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" into death, carnage, and
open season on the innocent. / We depend on you to defend
civility through America's system of law.
Nor can we do without you -- for yours is the priceless task
of upholding good against evil. When we ask what nation the
American people deserve, here is my answer: A nation which
rejects those who are soft on the need to be hard on crime. //
As you know, I've just come back from "The City of the
Angels" Los Angeles, California. It's a city today whose heart
All of no have seen the mages
pround
of for angeleo - the haber
2
the horor.
is injured and where angels must not fear to tread. A city I
to
love and care for -- and whose heart love and hard work can mend.
Tuesday, I called Congressional leaders to the White House -
- Republican and Democrat. I outlined my 6-point plan for a New
America to use opportunity, not bureaucracy, to combat poverty
and inequality. / The plan includes our Weed and Seed anti-
to
crime initiative. Our HOPE housing initiative. Enterprise
Zones. Education reform, welfare reform -- and a strong jobs
program for city youth. / I talked of meeting children, parents,
business owners, community leaders in Los Angeles -- and why,
more than ever, I believe there is no place in America for
bigotry and discrimination of any kind. //
Recent days have reminded us that we are one Nation under
God -- we must act as one -- must learn to trust one another, not
+
hate one another. / The people in Los Angeles know that the
across the comby
social problems that breed poverty can and must be cured. They
know something else: Lawless thugs who claim that poverty
excuses crime must, and will, be punished. //
All of us saw sickening sights in Los Angeles of criminals
breaking windows, burning buildings, and looting businesses. But
even worse was the looting of something harder to replace than
merchandise. The stealing of something precious. Stealing hope
-- promise -- the future. / This, we will not allow. //
So today, I pledge this to you -- the "thin blue line" that
separates good people from the worst instincts of our society. I
pledge my full support. Across America, we will restore the rule
3
of law. / I pledge my conscience. I intend to stand for decency
against indecency. / Finally, I pledge policies to build a
society where citizens are safe and feel safe
In
1990,
our
war
on crime helped the percentage of American households affected by
crime fall to 24 percent -- the lowest rate since the federal
government introduced this indicator in 1975. Good -- but not
good enough. So by the end of 1992, we will have 36 percent more
federal prosecutors than in 1988. [[We have also acted to curb
furlough abuses by further cutting the already limited furlough
for federal offenders. In April 1989, the furlough rate was 1.2
per 100 inmates -- last April it was less than half that. Here's
a final pledge: Today, no furloughs are granted for anyone
serving a sentence of life without parole -- and we're going to
keep it that way. Furlough is a privilege --not a right. ]] ///
We must show less compassion for the criminal and more for
their victims. That is why we reauthorized the 1984 Victims of
Crime Act -- and boosted its annual crime victims compensation
and assistance fund to $150 million. These dollars did not come
from taxpayers but from criminals' fines and penalties. After
all, crime shouldn't pay. Criminals should. ///
My Administration has also acted to punish hardened
criminals -- career criminals -- under the Federal Armed Career
Criminal Act. / No seasoned criminal should walk free because we
didn't take the law -- and our law enforcement officers --
seriously. / We've proposed $15 billion for anti-crime policies
for FY 1993 -- that's up 59 percent in four years. We started
4
Project Triggerlock -- and already the states and federal
government have sent more than 500 gun felons to prison to serve
a total of 2,500 years behind bars. / Yet progress made is not
mission accomplished. So today I again call on the Congress to
get with it -- and pass our crime legislation. Let's back up our
law enforcement officials with laws that are fair, firm, and
final. //
You know what I'm talking about. Fair: When good cops have
acted in good faith to nail criminals, those criminals shouldn't
go free as they would under the Democrats' crime bill. Firm: We
need habeas corpus reforms to stop frivolous appeals from choking
our courts. We must not allow the victims of crime to suffer
twice: Once, when they are victimized by the criminal, and
again, when justice is delayed for years while the convicted
criminal files endless appeals. / We need laws, too, that are
final -- and you know my belief: For anyone who kills a law
enforcement officer -- no penalty is too tough. We want
Congress to enact the steps needed to expand the death penalty.
Not some time. Not some place. But across America -- now. //
For more than three years I have asked Congress to pass a
comprehensive crime package based on three principles. If
criminals commit crimes, they will be caught. If caught, they
will be tried. And if convicted, they will be punished. / We
need a crime bill which strengthens -- not weakens -- your
ability to uphold our laws. So I say to the Congress: Send me a
tough crime bill -- one that won't weaken current law -- one like
5
the Crime Control Act of 1992. Then, and only then -- will I
also sign the Mitchell-Dole alternative to the Brady Bill. //
You should understand me well: Some say there are reasons
crimes take place. I say: There is never an excuse. // They
know that in North Carolina, where a cop helping with a homicide
investigation was followed home by suspects he had interrogated.
They followed him to his home, then shot him and his wife. His
wife is still living. The officer died. // They know that in
Florida, too, where a deranged man stole an officer's gun -- then
shot him dead with the policeman's own bullets. / Or Minnesota,
where two police officers found a man in his car that had plunged
into a ditch. They called a tow truck for his car -- then put
him in the squad car to take him into town. They never made it:
The man pulled out a .357 magnum and shot both officers in the
head. Why? He said he didn't want to sit in the backseat. //
There's another seat I want to find for murderers like this.
I have said it before: "Better that [criminals] had never been
born than to attack one of America's finest. We are going after
those who kill or would kill our police officers." // I think
the F.O.P. agrees with that: You know the death penalty will
help take criminals off the streets -- so that Americans can take
back their streets. / So does the group called Concerns of
Police Survivors -- C.O.P.S. -- who provide aid when it is most
needed. C.O.P.S. was founded in 1984 to have survivors help
other survivors. Today, they help 5,000 families nationwide, as
Good Samaritans to those who've lost a loved one.
6
Another Good Samaritan can be found right here on our stage
today: John Walsh, host of television's "America's Most Wanted. "
Last Friday, the show celebrated its 200th capture of a fugitive
of the law. Sadly, John knows first-hand about the horrors that
crime can inflict upon parents, families, and communities. // His
little boy, Adam, was abducted and hasn't yet been found. John
could have shut himself off from the world. Instead, he started
"America's Most Wanted" -- a show that helps law enforcement
officers bring criminals to justice. John, we salute both what
you are -- and what you do. /
Let me close on a personal note. Some have called the
Presidency the world's toughest job. They're wrong. Police
officers have the toughest job. / Police work isn't a nine to
five job, with martini lunches and friendly chats around the
water cooler. It's danger. It's fear. It's not knowing whether
you'll end your shift going home in a car -- or to the emergency
room in an ambulance. / It's populated by people willing to risk
their lives to save ours. / People who are part social worker
and part soldier. / It's a job I sum up in two words: "American
hero. " //
Every day of every year you risk your lives so that
Americans can proceed with theirs. You truly show what the Bible
meant: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down
his life for his friends " / For that I thank you with a feeling
that knows no words. May God bless you, and the land you so
richly bless -- the United States of America.
Pronsional Mader
Dmar
(Smith/Aarhus)
Draft Three
May 11, 1992
LAW2
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LAW ENFORCEMENT CEREMONY
SYLVAN THEATER
WASHINGTON, D,C.
FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1992
[[Acknowledgements; and of course, members of the Fraternal
Order of Police Auxiliary with us today. ]] Ten years ago, the
F.O.P. Auxiliary began this first nationally-recognized service
for lost law enforcement officers. I salute you from the bottom
of my heart. //
It is an honor to be with all of you -- to mark a day that
celebrates America's finest. / Police work has been described as
a thankless job. I'm here to say: Thank you on behalf of each
American. // We need you. We depend on you. We can't do
without you. //
We need you so that the lawless won't transform "life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" into death, carnage, and
open season on the innocent. //
We depend on you to defend civility through America's system
of law.
Nor can we do without you -- for yours is the priceless task
of upholding good against evil. When we ask what nation the
American people deserve, here is my answer: A nation which
rejects those who are soft on the need to be hard on crime. //
As you know, I've just come back from "The City of the
Angels", Los Angeles, California. It's a city today whose heart
Too despanns
a note? What
are witryng
to say ?
2
is broken -- and where angels must not fear to tread. A city I
love and grieve for -- and but whose heart only love and hard work
can mend.
That is why several days ago, I called on the Congress to
help?)
act now to create hope in our inner cities -- to use opportunity,
not bureaucracy, to combat the problems of poverty and
Detail inequality X, I wish you could have talked, as I did, to
ourle point
children, parents, business owners, community leaders in Los
plan.
Angeles. You would know why, more than ever, I believe there is
Via Carl as
Las
no place in America for bigotry and discrimination of any kind.
Recent days have reminded us that we are one Nation under
pun
God -- we must act as one -- must learn to trust one another, not
hate one another. / The people in Los Angeles know that the
social problems that breed poverty can and must be cured. They
know something else: Lawless thugs who claim that poverty
excuses crime must, and will, be punished. //
All of us saw sickening sights in Los Angeles of criminals
breaking windows, burning buildings, and looting businesses. But
even worse was the looting of something harder to replace than
merchandise. The stealing of something precious. Stealing hope
-- promise -- the future. / This, we will not allow. //
So today, I pledge this to you -- the "thin blue line" that
separates good people from the worst instincts of our society. I
pledge my full support. Across America, we will restore the rule of
law. / I pledge my conscience. I intend to stand for decency
against indecency. / Finally, I pledge policies to build a
3
IN 1990
society where citizens are safe -- and feel safe. Last year, our
war on crime helped the percentage of American households
affected by crime fall to 24 percent -- the lowest rate since the
federal government introduced this indicator in 1975. Good --
but not good enough. So by the end of 1992, we will have
36%
percent more federal prosecutors than in 1988.
(We We have also
acted to curb furlough abuses by further cutting the already
limited furlough for federal offenders. In April 1989, the
furlough rate was 1.2 per 100 inmates last April it was less
PINKI
than half that Here's a final pledge: Today no furloughs are
granted for anyone serving a sentence of life without parole --
and we're going to keep it that way. Furlough is a privilege
not a right.
We must show less compassion for the criminal and more for
their victims. That is why we reauthorized the 1984 Victims of
crime
Crime Act -- and boosted its annual victims compensation and
assistance fund to $150 million. These dollars did not come from
taxpayers but from criminals' fines and penalties. After all,
crime shouldn't pay. Criminals should. /////
My Administration has also acted to punish hardened
CAREER
criminals -- career criminals -- under the Federal Armed Criminal
Act. / No seasoned criminal should walk free because we didn't
take the law -- and our law enforcement officers -- seriously. /
We've proposed $15.8 billion for anti-crime policies for FY 1993
15
-- that's up 59 percent in four years. We started Project
Triggerlock -- and already the states and federal government have
?
sent oner 500 qun felons to prison- 4 to sewa a totalof2500 years behind
produced XXX indictments against persons for firearms offenses. / Oaro.
Yet progress made is not mission accomplished. So today I again
call on the Congress to get with it -- and pass our crime
legislation. Let's back up our law enforcement officials with
STET
laws that are fair, fast, and final. //
gowt.
You know what I'm talking about. Fair: We want
Justice
exclusionary rule designed to punish guilty criminals -- not good
cops who have acted in good faith. / Fast: We need habeas
SLe
from
corpus reforms to stop frivolous appeals choking our courts. We
must not allow the victims of crime to suffer twice: Once, when
they are victimized by the criminal, and again, when misguided justice
isde layed for years while couricted criminals file endless appeals.
policies allow criminals to escape scot-free through some
loophole in the law / We need laws, too, that are final -- and
you know my belief: For anyone who kills a law enforcement
officer -- no penalty is too tough. We want Congress to enact
the steps needed to expand the death penalty. Not some time.
Not some place. But across America -- now. //
For more than three years I have asked Congress to pass a
comprehensive crime package based on three principles. If
criminals commit crimes, they will be caught. If caught, they
will be tried. And if convicted, they will be punished. / We
need a crime bill which strengthens -- not weakens -- your
ability to uphold our laws. So I say to the Congress: Send me a
tough crime bill -- one that won't weaken current law -- one like
the Crime Control Act of 1992. Then, and only then -- will I
mitchell-Dole aldernative to the
also sign the Brady Bill. //
5
You should understand me well: Some say there are reasons
crimes take place. I say: There is never an excuse. // They
know that in North Carolina, where a cop helping with a homicide
investigation was followed home by suspects he had interrogated.
They followed him to his home, then shot him and his wife. His
wife is still living. The officer died. // They know that in
Florida, too, where a deranged man stole an officer's gun -- then
shot him dead with the policeman's own bullets. / or Minnesota,
where two police officers found a man in his car that had plunged
into a ditch. They called a tow truck for his car -- then put
him in the squad car to take him into town. They never made it:
The man pulled out a .357 magnum and shot both officers in the
head. Why? He said he didn't want to sit in the backseat. //
There's another seat I want to find for murderers like this.
I have said it before: "Better that [criminals] had never been
born than to attack one of America's finest. We are going after
those who kill or would kill our police officers. // I think
the F.O.P. agrees with that: You know the death penalty will
help take criminals off the streets -- so that Americans can take
back their streets. / So does the group called Concerns of
Police Survivors -- C.O.P.S. -- who provide aid when it is most
needed. C.O.P.S. was founded in 1984 to have survivors help
other survivors. Today, they help 5,000 families nationwide, as
Good Samaritans to those who've lost a loved one.
Another Good Samaritan can be found right here on our stage
today: John Walsh, host of television's "America's Most Wanted."
6
Last Friday, the show celebrated its 200th capture of a fugitive
of the law. Sadly, John knows first-hand about the horrors that
crime can inflict upon parents, families, and communities. // His
little boy, Adam, was abducted and hasn't yet been found. John
could have shut himself off from the world. Instead, he started
"America's Most Wanted" -- a show that helps law enforcement
officers bring criminals to justice. John, we salute both what
you are -- and what you do. /
Let me close on a personal note. Some have called the
Presidency the world's toughest job. They're wrong. Police
officers have the toughest job. / Police work isn't a nine to
five job, with martini lunches and friendly chats around the
water cooler. It's danger. It's fear. It's not knowing whether
you'll end your shift going home in a car -- or to the emergency
room in an ambulance. / It's populated by people willing to risk
their lives to save ours. / People who are part social worker
and part soldier. / It's a job I sum up in two one word: 4/ Amenican Hero. //
Every day of every year you risk your lives so that
Americans can proceed with theirs. You truly show what the Bible
meant: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down
his life for his friends." / For that I thank you with a feeling
that knows no words. May God bless you, and the land you so
richly bless -- the United States of America.
#
#
#
#
4
is the perfect playground for the entire family, this country's
greatest natural resource.
This summer can also be a time for lots of families -- whole
communities -- to come together. We all saw what happened in Los
Angeles a couple of weeks ago -- a community divided, torn apart
and turning on itself in despair. But already the communities
within South Central LA are coming together -- rebuilding,
renewing -- leaving the war zones behind to embrace the heart of
what makes LA such a special place.
Beyond our urgent emergency aid, we've got to take action to
bring hope and opportunity to Los Angeles and to all American
cities, including the District of Columbia.
7
Tuesday, I called
Congressional leaders to the White House -- Republican and
Democrat. I outlined my 6-point plan for a New America: Our
Weed and Seed anti-crime initiative. Our HOPE housing
initiative. Enterprise Zones. Education reform, welfare reform
-- and a strong jobs program for city youth. I'm pleased with
the early reaction to my plan. It's a promising start -- and
we'll push ahead. ]*
I think we all agree: we've all got to come together --
rebuild the hearts of our nation's cities / renew the spirit of
our nation's communities.
We see this sense of renewal at work right here today at
this beautiful park. People coming together to clean the river,
plant trees, pick up litter -- people coming together because
fink
(Smith/Aarhus)
Draft Three
May 11, 1992
LAW2
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LAW ENFORCEMENT CEREMONY
SYLVAN THEATER
WASHINGTON, D,C.
FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1992
[[Acknowledgements; and of course, members of the Fraternal
Order of Police Auxiliary with us today.]] Ten years ago, the
F.O.P. Auxiliary began this first nationally-recognized service
for lost law enforcement officers. I salute you from the bottom
of my heart. //
It is an honor to be with all of you -- to mark a day that
celebrates America's finest. / Police work has been described as
a thankless job. I'm here to say: Thank you on behalf of each
American. // We need you. We depend on you. We can't do
without you. //
We need you so that the lawless won't transform "life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" into death, carnage, and
open season on the innocent. //
We depend on you to defend civility through America's system
of law.
Nor can we do without you -- for yours is the priceless task
of upholding good against evil. When we ask what nation the
awk.
American people deserve, here is my answer: A nation which
rejects those who are soft on the need to be hard on crime. //
As you know, I've just come back from "The City of the
Angels", Los Angeles, California. It's a city today whose heart
2
is broken -- and where angels must not fear to tread. A city I
love and grieve for -- and whose heart only love and hard work
can mend. //
That is why several days ago, I called on the Congress to
act now to create hope in our inner cities -- to use opportunity,
not bureaucracy, to combat the problems of poverty and
inequality. / I wish you could have talked, as I did, to
children, parents, business owners, community leaders in Los
Angeles. You would know why, more than ever, I believe there is
no place in America for bigotry and discrimination of any kind.
Recent days have reminded us that we are one Nation under
God -- we must act as one -- must learn to trust one another, not
hate one another. / The people in Los Angeles know that the
social problems that breed poverty can and must be cured. They
know something else: Lawless thugs who claim that poverty
excuses crime must, and will, be punished. //
All of us saw sickening sights in Los Angeles of criminals
breaking windows, burning buildings, and looting businesses. But
even worse was the looting of something harder to replace than
merchandise. The stealing of something precious. Stealing hope
-- promise -- the future. / This, we will not allow. //
So today, I pledge this to you -- the "thin blue line" that
separates good people from the worst instincts of our society. I
pledge my support. Across America, we will restore the rule of
law. / I pledge my conscience. I intend to stand for decency
against indecency. / Finally, I pledge policies to build a
set
b out heart ''om for Willie florton.
3
society where citizens are safe -- and feel safe. Last year, our
war on crime helped the percentage of American households
affected by crime fall to 24 percent -- the lowest rate since the
federal government introduced this indicator in 1975. Good --
but not good enough. So by the end of 1992, we will have 50
percent more federal prosecutors than in 1988. [we have also
acted to curb furlough abuses by further cutting the already
would
limited furlough for federal offenders. In April 1989, the
furlough rate was 1.2 per 100 inmates -- last April it was less
than half that. Here's a final pledge: Today, no furloughs are
decorries
granted for anyone serving a sentence of life without parole --
+ asamit use. no
and we're going to keep it that way. Furlough is a privilege --
not a right. 111]
We must show less compassion for the criminal and more for
their victims. That is why we reauthorized the 1984 Victims of
Crime Act -- and boosted its annual victims compensation and
assistance fund to $150 million. These dollars did not come from
taxpayers but from criminals' fines and penalties. After all,
crime shouldn't pay. Criminals should. /////
My Administration has also acted to punish hardened
criminals -- career criminals -- under the Federal Armed Criminal
Act. / No seasoned criminal should walk free because we didn't
take the law -- and our law enforcement officers -- seriously. /
We've proposed $14.8 billion for anti-crime policies for FY 1993
-- that's up 59 percent in four years. We started Project
Triggerlock -- and already the states and federal government have
4
produced XXX indictments against persons for firearms offenses. /
Yet progress made is not mission accomplished. So today I again
call on the Congress to get with it -- and pass our crime
legislation. Let's back up our law enforcement officials with
laws that are fair, fast, and final. //
You know what I'm talking about. Fair: We want an
exclusionary rule designed to punish guilty criminals -- not good
cops who have acted in good faith. / Fast: We need habeas
corpus reforms to stop frivolous appeals choking our courts. We
must not allow the victims of crime to suffer twice: Once, when
they are victimized by the criminal, and again, when misguided
policies allow criminals to escape scot-free through some
loophole in the law. / We need laws, too, that are final -- and
you know my belief: For anyone who kills a law enforcement
officer -- no penalty is too tough. We want Congress to enact
the steps needed to expand the death penalty. Not some time.
Not some place. But across America -- now. //
For more than three years I have asked Congress to pass a
comprehensive crime package based on three principles. If
criminals commit crimes, they will be caught. If caught, they
will be tried. And if convicted, they will be punished. / We
need a crime bill which strengthens -- not weakens -- your
ability to uphold our laws. So I say to the Congress: Send me a
tough crime bill -- one that won't weaken current law -- one like
the Crime Control Act of 1992. Then, and only then -- will I
also sign the Brady Bill. //
5
You should understand me well: Some say there are reasons
crimes take place. I say: There is never an excuse. // They
know that in North Carolina, where a cop helping with a homicide
investigation was followed home by suspects he had interrogated.
They followed him to his home, then shot him and his wife. His
wife is still living. The officer died. // They know that in
Florida, too, where a deranged man stole an officer's gun -- then
shot him dead with the policeman's own bullets. / Or Minnesota,
where two police officers found a man in his car that had plunged
into a ditch. They called a tow truck for his car -- then put
him in the squad car to take him into town. They never made it:
The man pulled out a .357 magnum and shot both officers in the
head. Why? He said he didn't want to sit in the backseat. //
There's another seat I want to find for murderers like this.
I have said it before: "Better that [criminals] had never been
born than to attack one of America's finest. We are going after
those who kill or would kill our police officers. " // I think
the F.O.P. agrees with that: You know the death penalty will
help take criminals off the streets -- so that Americans can take
back their streets. / So does the group called Concerns of
Police Survivors -- C.O.P.S. -- who provide aid when it is most
needed. C.O.P.S. was founded in 1984 to have survivors help
other survivors. Today, they help 5,000 families nationwide, as
Good Samaritans to those who've lost a loved one.
Another Good Samaritan can be found right here on our stage
today: John Walsh, host of television's "America's Most Wanted." "
6
Last Friday, the show celebrated its 200th capture of a fugitive
of the law. Sadly, John knows first-hand about the horrors that
crime can inflict upon parents, families, and communities. // His
little boy, Adam, was abducted and hasn't yet been found. John
could have shut himself off from the world. Instead, he started
"America's Most Wanted" -- a show that helps law enforcement
officers bring criminals to justice. John, we salute both what
you are -- and what you do. /
Let me close on a personal note. Some have called the
Presidency the world's toughest job. They're wrong. Police
officers have the toughest job. / Police work isn't a nine to
five job, with martini lunches and friendly chats around the
water cooler. It's danger. It's fear. It's not knowing whether
you'll end your shift going home in a car -- or to the emergency
room in an ambulance. / It's populated by people willing to risk
their lives to save ours. / People who are part social worker
and part soldier. / It's a job I sum up in one word: "Hero." " //
Every day of every year you risk your lives so that
Americans can proceed with theirs. You truly show what the Bible
meant: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down
his life for his friends.' / For that I thank you with a feeling
that knows no words. May God bless you, and the land you so
richly bless -- the United States of America.
#
#
#
#
05/13/92
00:10
202 514 0468
GENERAL
004
Possible Language Comparing the Crime Bills
(Shorter, bracketed sections contained within)
One of my priorities as President has been to nominate
judges who will not hesitate to impose tough penalties, including
the death penalty, when those penalties have been properly
provided for by statute and handed down by juries. That is why I
have made appointments like David Souter to the Supreme Court.
Justice Souter is a scholar who not only had years of experience
as a judge but also had served as a prosecutor before his
nomination.
Nominations like this have made a difference. Last year,
for instance, the Supreme Court delivered an important decision
on what is known as abuse of the writ of habeas corpus. I am
referring to the endless appeals up and down the federal courts
that give some of our most vicious criminals a cushion of years
and often decades before they pay the price for their crimes.
The convicted murderer in last year's decision is a case in
point. He had not just had his day in court; he took 13 years
and a total of 8 court hearings -- two of them in the Supreme
Court -- to challenge his conviction and death sentence. In the
last appeal to the Supreme Court, the prisoner's claim was not
that he had never committed the crime; on the contrary, it was
that the trial court shouldn't have admitted an uncoerced
confession he had made in prison that he did commit the crime.
The Supreme Court reached the sensible conclusion in that
case that the prisoner had gotten more than enough chances to
raise this issue. He had abused the writ of habeas corpus.
Now I think it is safe to say that this decision might have
gone the other way, and this murderer might be still biding his
time in the courts, if not for the appointments that President
Reagan and I have made to the Court. [In the last 10 years this
country has seen the restoration of sense to how the Supreme
Court deals with criminals. We no longer have a Court that seems
bound and determined to keep juries from applying the death
penalty even in cases of atrocious crimes. We no longer have a
Court inventing new reasons to exclude incriminating evidence.
But I am here to tell you today that though we have won the
battle, we are in danger of losing the war. Because
Congressional Democrats right now have a crime bill they want to
use to roll the law of habeas corpus back to where it was in the
days of the ultra-liberal Warren Court. Altogether, the bill
would overrule at least 14 Supreme Court decisions on habeas
corpus. Let me give you one example of what it would do. By
overruling a couple recent Supreme Court decisions, it would
allow convicts to file new habeas petitions on the basis of
Supreme Court decisions that made minor changes in the law after
the prisoner was convicted. This is nothing more than an
invitation for prisoners to scour the Supreme Court reports every
aswell
(seenext
hi-lited sxn)
05/13/92
00:11
202 514 0468
ATTORNEY GENERAL
005
year for a new decision they can latch on to to challenge their
sentence.
The Democrats' crime bill would challenge the Supreme Court
in other areas of criminal law as well. For instance, it would
call for automatic reversal of convictions when an involuntary
confession had been admitted, even if there was other,
independent and overwhelming evidence of guilt. Just last term
the Supreme Court reached the opposite and sensible conclusion.
Now Congress is trying to undo it. [Possible additional points:
The Democratic leadership's bill would also cut back on a 1984
Supreme Court decision limiting the so-called exclusionary rule,
a judge-made rule that enables obviously guilty criminal
defendants to go free. And while the Democratic bill talks tough
about the death penalty, the truth is that it saddles that
important sanction with procedural rules that will dissuade
juries from imposing it.]
We need to stop that crime bill. The liberals have lost the
battle against sensible criminal law in the courts and now they
are carrying it to Congress. With our crime problem even worse
than in the hey-day of the Warren Court, we cannot afford to let
them roll that clock back. What we need instead is passage of
the Crime Control Act of 1992, which this Administration supports
and which would respect and build on some of the Supreme Court's
recent no-nonsense decisions.]
Document No.
327335
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
92 MAY 13 P12: 01
05/11/92
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: 11:00 Wednesday 05/13
DATE:
SUBJECT:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LAW ENFORCEMENT CEREMONY, 05/15
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
HORNER
SKINNER
MCBRIDE
SCOWCROFT
MOORE
DARMAN
PETERSMEYER
R
BRADY
PORTER
8
BROMLEY
ROGICH
CALIO
ROLLINS
DEMAREST
SMITH
YEUTTER
FITZWATER
KAUFMAN
GRAY
FINDLAY
HOLIDAY
MCGROARTY
REMARKS:
Please provide any comments directly to Dan McGroarty, Rm 122, X2930,
no later than 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, 05/13, with a copy to this
office. Thanks.
RESPONSE:
See Comments
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Assistant to the President
and Staff Secretary
Ext. 2702
(Smith/Aarhus)
Draft Three
02 MAY 11 P7: 06
May 11, 1992
LAW2
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LAW ENFORCEMENT CEREMONY
SYLVAN THEATER
WASHINGTON, D,C.
FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1992
[[Acknowledgements; and of course, members of the Fraternal
Order of Police Auxiliary with us today. ]] Ten years ago, the
F.O.P. Auxiliary began this first nationally-recognized service
for lost law enforcement officers. I salute you from the bottom
of my heart. //
It is an honor to be with all of you -- to mark a day that
celebrates America's finest. / Police work has been described as
a thankless job. I'm here to say: Thank you on behalf of each
American. // We need you. We depend on you. We can't do
without you. //
We need you so that the lawless won't transform "life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" into death, carnage, and
open season on the innocent. //
We depend on you to defend civility through America's system
of law.
Nor can we do without you -- for yours is the priceless task
of upholding good against evil. When we ask what nation the
American people deserve, here is my answer: A nation which
rejects those who are soft on the need to be hard on crime. //
As you know, I've just come back from "The City of the
Angels", Los Angeles, California. It's a city today whose heart
2
is broken -- and where angels must not fear to tread. A city I
love and grieve for -- and whose heart only love and hard work
can mend. / /
That is why several days ago, I called on the Congress to
act now to create hope in our inner cities -- to use opportunity,
not bureaucracy, to combat the problems of poverty and
inequality. / I wish you could have talked, as I did, to
children, parents, business owners, community leaders in Los
Angeles. You would know why, more than ever, I believe there is
no place in America for bigotry and discrimination of any kind.
Recent days have reminded us that we are one Nation under
God -- we must act as one -- must learn to trust one another, not
hate one another. / The people in Los Angeles know that the
social problems that breed poverty can and must be cured. They
know something else: Lawless thugs who claim that poverty
excuses crime must, and will, be punished. //
All of us saw sickening sights in Los Angeles of criminals
breaking windows, burning buildings, and looting businesses. But
even worse was the looting of something harder to replace than
merchandise. The stealing of something precious. Stealing hope
-- promise -- the future. / This, we will not allow. //
I
So today, I pledge this to you the "thin blue line" that Grady
separates good people from the worst instincts of our society. I
4844
pledge my support. Across America, we will restore the rule of
law. / I pledge my conscience. I intend to stand for decency
against indecency. / Finally, I pledge policies to build a
Finally, 1 pledge justice
It's at for
Americans to inport feel that of the an criminal in color 'It's the them fairly. of our $ democracy. Grady
4844
society where citizens are safe -- and feel safe.
Last year, our
war on crime helped the percentage of American households
affected by crime fall to 24 percent -- the lowest rate since the
federal government introduced this indicator in 1975. Good --
but not good enough. So by the end of 1992, we will have 50
36/46
percent more federal prosecutors than in 1988. We have also
(HALI20)
acted to curb furlough abuses by further cutting the already
limited furlough for federal offenders. In April 1989, the
furlough rate was 1.2 per 100 inmates -- last April it was less
36%
for all
than half that. Here's a final pledge: Today, no furloughs are
Justice
granted for anyone serving a sentence of life without parole --
attorney
and we're going to keep it that way. Furlough is a privilege --
46% Ed
not a right. ///
if only
We must show less compassion for the criminal and more for
U.S.
their victims. That is why we reauthorized the 1984 Victims of
Attorney
Crime Act and boosted its annual victims compensation and
(HALE)
assistance fund to $150 million. These dollars did not come from
taxpayers but from criminals' fines and penalties. After all,
crime shouldn't pay. Criminals should. /////
My Administration has also acted to punish hardened
criminals -- career criminals -- under the Federal Armed Criminal
Act. / No seasoned criminal should walk free because we didn't
take the law -- and our law enforcement officers -- seriously. /
We've proposed $14.8 billion for anti-crime policies for FY 1993
-- that's up 59 percent in four years. We started Project
Triggerlock -- and already the states and federal government have
5,330 (HALED)
4
produced XXX indictments against persons for firearms offenses. /
Yet progress made is not mission accomplished. So today I again
call on the Congress to get with it -- and pass our crime
legislation. Let's back up our law enforcement officials with
laws that are fair, fast, and final. //
a "good Faith"
exception to the
You know what I'm talking about. Fair: We want an (HAL20)
exclusionary rule designed to punish guilty criminals -- not good
cops who have acted in good faith. / Fast: We need habeas
corpus reforms to stop frivolous appeals from choking our courts. We (HALE ) HALE
must not allow the victims of crime to suffer twice: Once, when
they are victimized by the criminal, and again, when misguided
policies allow criminals to escape scot-free through some
loophole in the law. / We need laws, too, that are final -- and
you know my belief: For anyone who kills a law enforcement
officer -- no penalty is too tough. We want Congress to enact
the steps needed to expand the death penalty. Not some time.
Not some place. But across America -- now. //
For more than three years I have asked Congress to pass a
comprehensive crime package based on three principles. If
criminals commit crimes, they will be caught. If caught, they
will be tried. And if convicted, they will be punished. / We
need a crime bill which strengthens -- not weakens -- your
ability to uphold our laws. So I say to the Congress: Send me a
tough crime bill -- one that won't weaken current law -- one like
the Crime Control Act of 1992. Then, and only then -- will I
also sign the Brady Bill. //
5
You should understand me well: Some say there are reasons
crimes take place. I say: There is never an excuse. // They
know that in North Carolina, where a cop helping with a homicide
investigation was followed home by suspects he had interrogated.
They followed him to his home, then shot him and his wife. His
wife is still living. The officer died. // They know that in
Florida, too, where a deranged man stole an officer's gun -- then
shot him dead with the policeman's own bullets. / or Minnesota,
where two police officers found a man in his car that had plunged
into a ditch. They called a tow truck for his car -- then put
him in the squad car to take him into town. They never made it:
The man pulled out a .357 magnum and shot both officers in the
head. Why? He said he didn't want to sit in the backseat. //
There's another seat I want to find for murderers like this.
I have said it before: "Better that [criminals] had never been
born than to attack one of America's finest. We are going after
those who kill or would kill our police officers." // I think
the F.O.P. agrees with that: You know the death penalty will
help take criminals off the streets -- so that Americans can take
back their streets. / So does the group called Concerns of
Police Survivors -- C.O.P.S. -- who provide aid when it is most
needed. C.O.P.S. was founded in 1984 to have survivors help
other survivors. Today, they help 5,000 families nationwide, as
Good Samaritans to those who've lost a loved one.
Another Good Samaritan can be found right here on our stage
today: John Walsh, host of television's "America's Most Wanted." "
6
Last Friday, the show celebrated its 200th capture of a fugitive
of the law. Sadly, John knows first-hand about the horrors that
crime can inflict upon parents, families, and communities. // His
little boy, Adam, was abducted and hasn't yet been found. John
could have shut himself off from the world. Instead, he started
"America's Most Wanted" -- a show that helps law enforcement
officers bring criminals to justice. John, we salute both what
you are -- and what you do. /
Let me close on a personal note. Some have called the
Presidency the world's toughest job. They're wrong. Police
officers have the toughest job. / Police work isn't a nine to
five job, with martini lunches and friendly chats around the
water cooler. It's danger. It's fear. It's not knowing whether
you'll end your shift going home in a car -- or to the emergency
room in an ambulance. / It's populated by people willing to risk
their lives to save ours. / People who are part social worker
and part soldier. / It's a job I sum up in one word: "Hero." " //
Every day of every year you risk your lives so that
Americans can proceed with theirs. You truly show what the Bible
meant: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down
his life for his friends." / For that I thank you with a feeling
that knows no words. May God bless you, and the land you so
richly bless -- the United States of America.
#
#
#
#
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
May 13, 1992
MEMORANDUM FOR DAN McGROARTY
FROM:
ROGER B. PORTER
RBP
SUBJECT:
Presidential Remarks: Law Enforcement Ceremony
We have reviewed the attached presidential remarks and
have noted a few suggested changes on the draft.
If you have any questions or we can be of further
assistance, please let us know.
CC: Phillip D. Brady
Document No. 327335
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
BETSY
05/11/92
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: 11:00 Wednesday 05/13
DATE:
SUBJECT:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LAW ENFORCEMENT CEREMONY, 05/15
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
HORNER
SKINNER
MCBRIDE
SCOWCROFT
MOORE
DARMAN
PETERSMEYER
BRADY
PORTER
BROMLEY
ROGICH
CALIO
ROLLINS
DEMAREST
SMITH
YEUTTER
FITZWATER
KAUFMAN
GRAY
FINDLAY
HOLIDAY
MCGROARTY
REMARKS:
Please provide any comments directly to Dan McGroarty, Rm 122, X2930,
no later than 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, 05/13, with a copy to this
office. Thanks.
RESPONSE:
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Assistant to the President
and Staff Secretary
Ext. 2702
(Smith/Aarhus)
Draft Three
2MAY 11 P7: 06
May 11, 1992
LAW2
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LAW ENFORCEMENT CEREMONY
SYLVAN THEATER
WASHINGTON, D,C.
FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1992
[[Acknowledgements; and of course, members of the Fraternal
Order of Police Auxiliary with us today. ]] Ten years ago, the
F.O.P. Auxiliary began this first nationally-recognized service
for lost law enforcement officers. I salute you from the bottom
of my heart. //
It is an honor to be with all of you -- to mark a day that
celebrates America's finest. / Police work has been described as
a thankless job. I'm here to say: Thank you on behalf of each
American. // We need you. We depend on you. We can't do
without you. //
We need you so that the lawless won't transform "life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" into death, carnage, and
open season on the innocent. //
We depend on you to defend civility through America's system
of law.
Nor can we do without you -- for yours is the priceless task
of upholding good against evil. When we ask what nation the
American people deserve, here is my answer: A nation which
rejects those who are soft on the need to be hard on crime. //
As you know, I've just come back from "The City of the
Angels", Los Angeles, California. It's a city today whose heart
2
is broken -- and where angels must not fear to tread. A city I
love and grieve for -- and whose heart only love and hard work
can mend. //
That is why several days ago, I called on the Congress to
act now to create hope in our inner cities -- to use opportunity,
not bureaucracy, to combat the problems of poverty and
inequality. / I wish you could have talked, as I did, to
children, parents, business owners, community leaders in Los
Angeles. You would know why, more than ever, I believe there is
no place in America for bigotry and discrimination of any kind.
Recent days have reminded us that we are one Nation under
God -- we must act as one -- must learn to trust one another, not
hate one another. / The people in Los Angeles know that the
social problems that breed poverty can and must be cured. They
know something else: Lawless thugs who claim that poverty
excuses crime must, and will, be punished. //
All of us saw sickening sights in Los Angeles of criminals
breaking windows, burning buildings, and looting businesses. But
even worse was the looting of something harder to replace than
merchandise. The stealing of something precious. Stealing hope
-- promise -- the future. / This, we will not allow. //
So today, I pledge this to you -- the "thin blue line" that
separates good people from the worst instincts of our society. I
pledge my support. Across America, we will restore the rule of
law. / I pledge my conscience. I intend to stand for decency
against indecency. / Finally, I pledge policies to build a
3
In 1990
society where citizens are safe -- and feel safe. Last year, our
war on crime helped the percentage of American households
affected by crime fall to 24 percent -- the lowest rate since the
federal government introduced this indicator in 1975. Good --
but not good enough. So by the end of 1992, we will have 50
percent more federal prosecutors than in 1988. We have also
acted to curb furlough abuses by further cutting the already
limited furlough for federal offenders. In April 1989, the
furlough rate was 1.2 per 100 inmates -- last April it was less
than J half that. Here's a final pledge: Today, no furloughs are
granted for anyone serving a sentence of life without parole --
and we're going to keep it that way. Furlough is a privilege --
not a right. ///
We must show less compassion for the criminal and more for
their victims. That is why we reauthorized the 1984 Victims of
Crime Act -- and boosted its annual victims compensation and
assistance fund to $150 million. These dollars did not come from
taxpayers but from criminals' fines and penalties. After all,
crime shouldn't pay. Criminals should. 11/11
Career
My Administration has also acted to punish hardened
criminals -- career criminals -- under the Federal Armed Criminal
Act. / No seasoned criminal should walk free because we didn't
take the law -- and our law enforcement officers -- seriously. /
15
We've proposed $14.8 billion for anti-crime policies for FY 1993
stet
-- that's up 59 percent in four years. We started Project
Triggerlock -- and already the states and federal government have
sent over 500 sun felons
F493 FY 93
to pnson to serve a total
Budget,
of over 2,500 years behind
p.1-201.
bars.
4
produced XXX indictments against persons for firearms offenses. /
Yet progress made is not mission accomplished. So today I again
call on the Congress to get with it -- and pass our crime
legislation. Let's back up our law enforcement officials with
Firm
laws that are fair, fast, and final. //
You know what I'm talking about. Fair: We want an
exclusionary rule designed to punish guilty criminals -- not good
Firm
cops who have acted in good faith.
/
Fast:
We
need
habeas
corpus reforms to stop frivolous appeals choking our courts. We
must not allow the victims of crime to suffer twice: Once, when
justice
they are victimized by the criminal, and again, when misguided
is delayed for years while convicted criminals fils endless
policies allow criminals to escape scot-free through some
appeals.
loophole in the law. / We need laws, too, that are final -- and
you know my belief: For anyone who kills a law enforcement
officer --- no penalty is too tough. We want Congress to enact
the steps needed to expand the death penalty. Not some time.
Not some place. But across America -- now. //
For more than three years I have asked Congress to pass a
comprehensive crime package based on three principles. If
criminals commit crimes, they will be caught. If caught, they
will be tried. And if convicted, they will be punished. / We
need a crime bill which strengthens -- not weakens -- your
ability to uphold our laws. So I say to the Congress: Send me a
tough crime bill -- one that won't weaken current law -- one like
the Crime Control Act of 1992. Then, and only then -- will I
also sign the Brady Bill. //
Mitchell Dole alternative to the
5
You should understand me well: Some say there are reasons
crimes take place. I say: There is never an excuse. // They
know that in North Carolina, where a cop helping with a homicide
investigation was followed home by suspects he had interrogated.
They followed him to his home, then shot him and his wife. His
wife is still living. The officer died. // They know that in
Florida, too, where a deranged man stole an officer's gun -- then
shot him dead with the policeman's own bullets. / or Minnesota,
where two police officers found a man in his car that had plunged
into a ditch. They called a tow truck for his car -- then put
him in the squad car to take him into town. They never made it:
The man pulled out a .357 magnum and shot both officers in the
head. Why? He said he didn't want to sit in the backseat. //
There's another seat I want to find for murderers like this.
I have said it before: "Better that [criminals] had never been
born than to attack one of America's finest. We are going after
those who kill or would kill our police officers." // I think
the F.O.P. agrees with that: You know the death penalty will
help take criminals off the streets -- so that Americans can take
back their streets. / So does the group called Concerns of
Police Survivors -- C.O.P.S. -- who provide aid when it is most
needed. C.O.P.S. was founded in 1984 to have survivors help
other survivors. Today, they help 5,000 families nationwide, as
Good Samaritans to those who've lost a loved one.
Another Good Samaritan can be found right here on our stage
today: John Walsh, host of television's "America's Most Wanted."
6
Last Friday, the show celebrated its 200th capture of a fugitive
of the law. Sadly, John knows first-hand about the horrors that
crime can inflict upon parents, families, and communities. // His
little boy, Adam, was abducted and hasn't yet been found. John
could have shut himself off from the world. Instead, he started
"America's Most Wanted" -- a show that helps law enforcement
officers bring criminals to justice. John, we salute both what
you are -- and what you do. /
Let me close on a personal note. Some have called the
Presidency the world's toughest job. They're wrong. Police
officers have the toughest job. / Police work isn't a nine to
five job, with martini lunches and friendly chats around the
water cooler. It's danger. It's fear. It's not knowing whether
you'll end your shift going home in a car -- or to the emergency
room in an ambulance. / It's populated by people willing to risk
their lives to save ours. / People who are part social worker
and part soldier. / It's a job I sum up in one word: "Hero." //
Every day of every year you risk your lives so that
Americans can proceed with theirs. You truly show what the Bible
meant: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down
his life for his friends." / For that I thank you with a feeling
that knows no words. May God bless you, and the land you so
richly bless -- the United States of America.
#
#
#
#
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 ; 5-13-92 :11:31AM ;
The White House-
2024566218:# 1
Document No.
327335
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
92 MAY 13 P12: 34
05/11/92
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: 11:00 Wednesday 05/13
SUBJECT:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LAW ENFORCEMENT CEREMONY, 05/15
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
HORNER
SKINNER
MCBRIDE
SCOWCROFT
MOORE
DARMAN
PETERSMEYER
BRADY
PORTER
BROMLEY
ROGICH
CALIO
ROLLINS
DEMAREST
SMITH
YEUTTER
FITZWATER
KAUFMAN
GRAY
FINDLAY
HOLIDAY
MCGROARTY
REMARKS:
Please provide any comments directly to Dan McGroarty, Rm 122, X2930,
no later than 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, 05/13, with a copy to this
office. Thanks.
RESPONSE:
use TERMINALOGY Hydrighting X6218 1
ONR" PLAN FORA NEW AMERICA.
see comments
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Assistant to the President
and Staff Secretary
Ext. 2702
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 5-13-92 :11:31AM ;
The White House-
2024566218;# 2
(Smith/Aarhus)
Draft Three
02MAY 11 P7: 06
May 11, 1992
LAW2
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LAW ENFORCEMENT CEREMONY
SYLVAN THEATER
WASHINGTON, D,C.
FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1992
[[Acknowledgements; and of course, members of the Fraternal
Order of Police Auxiliary with us today.]] Ten years ago, the
F.O.P. Auxiliary began this first nationally-recognized service
for lost law enforcement officers. I salute you from the bottom
of my heart. //
It is an honor to be with all of you -- to mark a day that
celebrates America's finest. / Police work has been described as
a thankless job. I'm here to say: Thank you on behalf of each
American. 11 We need you. We depend on you. We can't do
without you. 11
We need you so that the lawless won't transform "life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" into death, carnage, and
open season on the innocent. 11
We depend on you to defend civility through America's system
of law.
Nor can we do without you -- for yours is the priceless task
of upholding good against evil. When we ask what nation the
American people deserve, here is my answer: A nation which
rejects those who are soft on the need to be hard on crime. 11
As you know, I've just come back from "The City of the
Angels", Los Angeles, California. It's a city today whose heart
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 ; 5-13-92 :11:32AM ;
The White House-+
2024566218:# 3
2
is broken -- and where angels must not fear to tread. A city I
love and grieve for -- and whose heart only love and hard work
can mend. //
plan
Amorith
That is why several days ago, I called on the Congress to
now to create hope in our inner cities -- to use opportunity,
not bureaucracy, to combat the problems of poverty and
inequality. I wish you could have talked, as I did, to
children, parents, business owners, community leaders in Los
Angeles. You would know why, more than ever, I believe there is
no place in America for bigotry and discrimination of any kind.
Recent days have reminded us that we are one Nation under
God -- we must act as one -- must learn to trust one another, not
hate one another. / The people in Los Angeles know that the
social problems that breed poverty can and must be cured. They
know something else: Lawless thugs who claim that poverty
excuses crime must, and will, be punished. 11
All of us saw sickening sights in Los Angeles of criminals
breaking windows, burning buildings, and looting businesses. But
even worse was the looting of something harder to replace than
merchandise. The stealing of something precious. Stealing hope
-- promise -- the future. / This, we will not allow. 11
so today, I pledge this to you -- the "thin blue line" that
separates good people from the worst instincts of our society. I
pledge my EULL support. Across America, we will restore the rule of
law. / pledge my conscience. I intend to stand for decency
against indecency. / Finally, I pledge policies to build a
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 ; 5-13-92 11:32AM ;
The White House-
2024566218:# 4
3
society where citizens are safe -- and feel safe. Last year, our
war on crime helped the percentage of American households
affected by crime fall to 24 percent -- the lowest rate since the
federal government introduced this indicator in 1975. Good --
but not good enough. So by the end of 1992, we will have 50
percent more federal prosecutors than in 1988. We have also
acted to curb furlough abuses by further cutting the already
limited furlough for federal offenders. In April 1989, the
furlough rate was 1.2 per 100 inmates -- last April it was less
than half that. Here's a final pledge: Today, no furloughs are
granted for anyone serving a sentence of life without parole --
and we're going to keep it that way. Furlough is a privilege --
not a right.
We must show less compassion for the criminal and more for
them victims. That is why we reauthorized the 1984 Victims of
Crime Act -- and boosted its annual victims compensation and
assistance fund to $150 million. These dollars did not come from
taxpayers but from criminals' fines and penalties. After all,
crime shouldn't pay. Criminals should. /////
My Administration has also acted to punish hardened
criminals -- career criminals -- under the Federal Armed Criminal
Act. / No seasoned criminal should walk free because we didn't
take the law -- and our law enforcement officers -- seriously. /
We've proposed $14.8 billion for anti-crime policies for FY 1993
-- that's up 59 percent in four years. We started Project
Triggerlock -- and already the states and federal government have
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 ; 5-13-92 :11:33AM ;
The White House-
2024566218:# 5
4
produced XXX indictments against persons for firearms offenses. /
Yet progress made is not mission accomplished. so today I again
call on the Congress to get with it -- and pass our crime
legislation. Let's back up our law enforcement officials with
laws that are fair. fast, and final. 11
You know what I'm talking about. Fair: We want an
exclusionary rule designed to punish guilty criminals -- not good
cops who have acted in good faith. / Fast: We need habeas
corpus reforms to stop frivolous appeals choking our courts. We
must not allow the victims of crime to suffer twice: Once, when
they are victimized by the criminal, and again, when misguided
policies allow criminals to escape scot-free through some
loophole in the law. / We need laws, too, that are final -- and
you know my belief: For anyone who kills a law enforcement
officer -- no penalty is too tough. We want Congress to enact
the steps needed to expand the death penalty. Not some time.
Not some place. But across America -- now. 11
For more than three years I have asked Congress to pass a
comprehensive crime package based on three principles. If
criminals commit crimes, they will be caught. If caught, they
will be tried. And if convicted, they will be punished. / We
need a crime bill which strengthens -- not weakens -- your
ability to uphold our laws. So I say to the Congress: Send me a
tough crime bill -- one that won't weaken current law -- one like
the Crime Control Act of 1992. Then, and only then -- will I
also sign the Brady Bill. 11
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 ; 5-13-92 :11:33AM ;
The White House->
2024566218;# 6
5
You should understand me well: Some say there are reasons
crimes take place. I say: There is never an excuse. 11 They
know that in North Carolina, where a cop helping with a homicide
investigation was followed home by suspects he had interrogated.
They followed him to his home, then shot him and his wife. His
wife is still living. The officer died. 11 They know that in
Florida, too, where a deranged man stole an officer's gun -- then
shot him dead with the policeman's own bullets. / or Minnesota,
where two police officers found a man in his car that had plunged
into a ditch. They called a tow truck for his car -- then put
him in the squad car to take him into town. They never made it:
The man pulled out a .357 magnum and shot both officers in the
head. Why? He said he didn't want to sit in the backseat. //
There's another seat I want to find for murderers like this.
I have said it before: "Better that [criminals] had never been
born than to attack one of America's finest. We are going after
those who kill or would kill our police officers." 11 I think
the F.O.P. agrees with that: You know the death penalty will
help take criminals off the streets -- so that Americans can take
back their streets. / So does the group called Concerns of
Police Survivors -- C.O.P.S. -- who provide aid when it is most
needed. C.O.P.S. was founded in 1984 to have survivors help
other survivors. Today, they help 5,000 families nationwide, as
Good Samaritans to those who've lost a loved one.
Another Good Samaritan can be found right here on our stage
today: John Walsh, host of television's "America's Most Wanted."
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 ; 5-13-92 :11:34AM ;
The White House->
2024566218;# 7
6
Last Friday, the show celebrated its 200th capture of a fugitive
of the law. Sadly, John knows first-hand about the horrors that
crime can inflict upon parents, families, and communities. // His
little boy, Adam, was abducted and hasn't yet been found. John
could have shut himself off from the world. Instead, he started
"America's Most Wanted" -- a show that helps law enforcement
officers bring criminals to justice. John, we salute both what
you are -- and what you do. /
Let me close on a personal note. Some have called the
Presidency the world's toughest job. They're wrong. Police
officers have the toughest job. / Police work isn't a nine to
five job, with martini lunches and friendly chats around the
water cooler. It's danger. It's fear. It's not knowing whether
you'll end your shift going home in a car -- or to the emergency
room in an ambulance. / It's populated by people willing to risk
their lives to save ours. / People who are part social AMERICAN worker
two words
and part soldier. / It's a job I sum up in one word: 'Hero. 11 11
Every day of every year you risk your lives so that
Americans can proceed with theirs. You truly show what the Bible
meant: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down
his life for his friends." / For that I thank you with a feeling
that knows no words. May God bless you, and the land you so
richly bless -- the United States of America.
Document No.
327335
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
92 05/11/92 MAY 12 A8:20
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: 11:00 Wednesday 05/13
DATE:
SUBJECT:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LAW ENFORCEMENT CEREMONY, 05/15
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
HORNER
SKINNER
MCBRIDE
SCOWCROFT
X
MOORE
DARMAN
PETERSMEYER N/C
>
BRADY
PORTER
BROMLEY
ROGICH
CALIO N/C
ROLLINS N/C
DEMAREST
x
SMITH
YEUTTER
FITZWATER
GRAY Liberman 6251
KAUFMAN
FINDLAY
HOLIDAY
MCGROARTY
REMARKS:
Please provide any comments directly to Dan McGroarty, Rm 122, X2930,
no later than 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, 05/13, with a copy to this
office. Thanks.
RESPONSE:
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Assistant to the President
and Staff Secretary
Ext. 2702
(Smith/Aarhus)
Draft Three
02 MAY 11 P7: 06
May 11, 1992
LAW2
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LAW ENFORCEMENT CEREMONY
SYLVAN THEATER
WASHINGTON, D,C.
FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1992
[[Acknowledgements; and of course, members of the Fraternal
Order of Police Auxiliary with us today. ]] Ten years ago, the
F.O.P. Auxiliary began this first nationally-recognized service
for lost law enforcement officers. I salute you from the bottom
of my heart. //
It is an honor to be with all of you -- to mark a day that
celebrates America's finest. / Police work has been described as
a thankless job. I'm here to say: Thank you on behalf of each
American. // We need you. We depend on you. We can't do
without you. //
We need you so that the lawless won't transform "life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" into death, carnage, and
open season on the innocent. //
We depend on you to defend civility through America's system
of law.
Nor can we do without you -- for yours is the priceless task
of upholding good against evil. When we ask what nation the
American people deserve, here is my answer: A nation which
rejects those who are soft on the need to be hard on crime. //
As you know, I've just come back from "The City of the
Angels", Los Angeles, California. It's a city today whose heart
2
is broken -- and where angels must not fear to tread. A city I
love and grieve for -- and whose heart only love and hard work
can mend. //
That is why several days ago, I called on the Congress to
act now to create hope in our inner cities -- to use opportunity,
not bureaucracy, to combat the problems of poverty and
inequality. / I wish you could have talked, as I did, to
children, parents, business owners, community leaders in Los
Angeles. You would know why, more than ever, I believe there is
no place in America for bigotry and discrimination of any kind.
Recent days have reminded us that we are one Nation under
God -- we must act as one -- must learn to trust one another, not
hate one another. / The people in Los Angeles know that the
social problems that breed poverty can and must be cured. They
know something else: Lawless thugs who claim that poverty
excuses crime must, and will, be punished. //
All of us saw sickening sights in Los Angeles of criminals
breaking windows, burning buildings, and looting businesses. But
even worse was the looting of something harder to replace than
merchandise. The stealing of something precious. Stealing hope
-- promise -- the future. / This, we will not allow. //
So today, I pledge this to you -- the "thin blue line" that
separates good people from the worst instincts of our society. I
pledge my support. Across America, we will restore the rule of
law. / I pledge my conscience. I intend to stand for decency
against indecency. / Finally, I pledge policies to build a
3
society where citizens are safe -- and feel safe. Last year, our
war on crime helped the percentage of American households
affected by crime fall to 24 percent -- the lowest rate since the
federal government introduced this indicator in 1975. Good --
but not good enough. So by the end of 1992, we will have 50
percent more federal prosecutors than in 1988. We have also
acted to curb furlough abuses by further cutting the already
limited furlough for federal offenders. In April 1989, the
furlough rate was 1.2 per 100 inmates -- last April it was less
than half that. Here's a final pledge: Today, no furloughs are
granted for anyone serving a sentence of life without parole --
and we're going to keep it that way. Furlough is a privilege --
not a right.
We must show less compassion for the criminal and more for
their victims. That is why we reauthorized the 1984 Victims of
Crime Act -- and boosted its annual victims compensation and
assistance fund to $150 million. These dollars did not come from
taxpayers but from criminals' fines and penalties. After all,
crime shouldn't pay. Criminals should. /////
My Administration has also acted to punish hardened
criminals -- career criminals -- under the Federal Armed Criminal
Act. / No seasoned criminal should walk free because we didn't
take the law -- and our law enforcement officers -- seriously. /
We've proposed $14.8 billion for anti-crime policies for FY 1993
-- that's up 59 percent in four years. We started Project
Triggerlock -- and already the states and federal government have
4
produced XXX indictments against persons for firearms offenses. /
Yet progress made is not mission accomplished. So today I again
call on the Congress to get with it -- and pass our crime
legislation. Let's back up our law enforcement officials with
laws that are fair, fast, and final. //
You know what I'm talking about. Fair: We want an
exclusionary rule designed to punish guilty criminals -- not good
cops who have acted in good faith. / Fast: We need habeas
corpus reforms to stop frivolous appeals choking our courts. We
must not allow the victims of crime to suffer twice: Once, when
they are victimized by the criminal, and again, when misguided
policies allow criminals to escape scot-free through some
loophole in the law. / We need laws, too, that are final -- and
you know my belief: For anyone who kills a law enforcement
officer -- no penalty is too tough. We want Congress to enact
the steps needed to expand the death penalty. Not some time.
Not some place. But across America -- now. //
For more than three years I have asked Congress to pass a
comprehensive crime package based on three principles. If
criminals commit crimes, they will be caught. If caught, they
will be tried. And if convicted, they will be punished. / We
need a crime bill which strengthens -- not weakens -- your
ability to uphold our laws. So I say to the Congress: Send me a
tough crime bill -- one that won't weaken current law -- one like
the Crime Control Act of 1992. Then, and only then -- will I
also sign the Brady Bill. //
5
You should understand me well: Some say there are reasons
crimes take place. I say: There is never an excuse. // They
know that in North Carolina, where a cop helping with a homicide
investigation was followed home by suspects he had interrogated.
They followed him to his home, then shot him and his wife. His
wife is still living. The officer died. // They know that in
Florida, too, where a deranged man stole an officer's gun -- then
shot him dead with the policeman's own bullets. / or Minnesota,
where two police officers found a man in his car that had plunged
into a ditch. They called a tow truck for his car -- then put
him in the squad car to take him into town. They never made it:
The man pulled out a .357 magnum and shot both officers in the
head. Why? He said he didn't want to sit in the backseat. //
There's another seat I want to find for murderers like this.
I have said it before: "Better that [criminals] had never been
born than to attack one of America's finest. We are going after
those who kill or would kill our police officers." // I think
the F.O.P. agrees with that: You know the death penalty will
help take criminals off the streets -- so that Americans can take
back their streets. / So does the group called Concerns of
Police Survivors -- C.O.P.S. -- who provide aid when it is most
needed. C.O.P.S. was founded in 1984 to have survivors help
other survivors. Today, they help 5,000 families nationwide, as
Good Samaritans to those who've lost a loved one.
Another Good Samaritan can be found right here on our stage
today: John Walsh, host of television's "America's Most Wanted."
6
Last Friday, the show celebrated its 200th capture of a fugitive
of the law. Sadly, John knows first-hand about the horrors that
crime can inflict upon parents, families, and communities. // His
little boy, Adam, was abducted and hasn't yet been found. John
could have shut himself off from the world. Instead, he started
"America's Most Wanted" -- a show that helps law enforcement
officers bring criminals to justice. John, we salute both what
you are -- and what you do. /
Let me close on a personal note. Some have called the
Presidency the world's toughest job. They're wrong. Police
officers have the toughest job. / Police work isn't a nine to
five job, with martini lunches and friendly chats around the
water cooler. It's danger. It's fear. It's not knowing whether
you'll end your shift going home in a car -- or to the emergency
room in an ambulance. / It's populated by people willing to risk
their lives to save ours. / People who are part social worker
and part soldier. / It's a job I sum up in one word: "Hero. " //
Every day of every year you risk your lives so that
Americans can proceed with theirs. You truly show what the Bible
meant: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down
his life for his friends." / For that I thank you with a feeling
that knows no words. May God bless you, and the land you so
richly bless -- the United States of America.
#
#
#
#
Memorandum for Speechwriting Staff
From:
Dan McGroarty Bob
Simon
Regarding:
10 Law Enforcement
Please return your comments to
ROOM 122 by:
10 AM Wednesday
Today' Date: MAY 12 I 1992
(Smith/Aarhus)
Draft Three
May 11, 1992
LAW2
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LAW ENFORCEMENT CEREMONY
SYLVAN THEATER
WASHINGTON, D,C.
FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1992
[[Acknowledgements; and of course, members of the Fraternal
Order of Police Auxiliary with us today. ]] Ten years ago, the
F.O.P. Auxiliary began this first nationally-recognized service
for lost law enforcement officers I salute you from the bottom
who died in the line of daty.
of my heart. //
It is an honor to be with all of you -- to mark a day that
celebrates America's finest. / Police work has been described as
a thankless job. I'm here to say: Thank you on behalf of each
American. // We need you. We depend on you. We can't do
without you. //
We need you so that the lawless won't transform "life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" into death, carnage, and
open season on the innocent. //
We depend on you to defend civility through America's system
of law.
Nor can we do without you -- for yours is the priceless task
of upholding good against evil. When we ask what nation the
American people deserve, here is my answer: A nation which sounds
rejects those who are soft on the need to be hard on crime.
As you know, I've just come back from "The City of the // awkwad
Angels", Los Angeles, California. It's a city today whose heart
2
is broken -- and where angels must not fear to tread. A city I
love and grieve for -- and whose heart only love and hard work
can mend. //
come on! you gotta be Nadding. about This
audience doesn't care hoodlums who
That is why several days ago, I called on the Congress to burned they
act now to create hope in our inner cities -- to use opportunity, city down.
not bureaucracy, to combat the problems of poverty and
inequality. / I wish you could have talked, as I did, to
children, parents, business owners, community leaders in Los
Angeles. You would know why, more than ever, I believe there is
no place in America for bigotry and discrimination of any kind.
Recent days have reminded us that we are one Nation under
God -- we must act as one -- must learn to trust one another, not
hate one another. / The people in Los Angeles know that the
social problems that breed poverty can and must be cured. They
know something else: Lawless thugs who claim that poverty
excuses crime must, and will, be punished. //
All of us saw sickening sights in Los Angeles of criminals
breaking windows, burning buildings, and looting businesses. But
even worse was the looting of something harder to replace than
merchandise. The stealing of something precious. Stealing hope
-- promise -- the future. / This, we will not allow. //
this is
So today, I pledge this to you -- the "thin blue line" that
better
separates good people from the worst instincts of our society. I
pledge my support. Across America, we will restore the rule of
law. / I pledge my conscience. I intend to stand for decency
against indecency. / Finally, I pledge policies to build a
other measures of
arime are way
3
up
society where citizens are safe -- and feel safe. Last year, our
war on crime helped the percentage of American households
affected by crime fall to 24 percent -- the lowest rate since the
federal government introduced this indicator in 1975. Good --
but not good enough. So by the end of 1992, we will have 50
percent more federal prosecutors than in 1988. We have also
How
does
the acted to curb furlough abuses by further cutting the already
furlough
limited furlough for federal offenders. In April 1989, the
question
furlough rate was 1.2 per 100 inmates -- last April it was less
help us
this
year?
?
than half that. Here's a final pledge: Today, no furloughs are
granted for anyone serving a sentence of life without parole --
and we're going to keep it that way. Furlough is a privilege --
not a right. ///
We must show less compassion for the criminal and more for
their victims. That is why we reauthorized the 1984 Victims of
Crime Act -- and boosted its annual victims compensation and
assistance fund to $150 million. These dollars did not come from
taxpayers but from criminals' fines and penalties. After all,
crime shouldn't pay. Criminals should. /////
My Administration has also acted to punish hardened
criminals -- career criminals -- under the Federal Armed Criminal
Act. / No seasoned criminal should walk free because we didn't
take the law -- and our law enforcement officers -- seriously. /
We've proposed $14.8 billion for anti-crime policies for FY 1993
-- that's up 59 percent in four years. We started Project
Triggerlock -- and already the states and federal government have
4
produced XXX indictments against persons for firearms offenses. /
Yet progress made is not mission accomplished. So today I again
call on the Congress to get with it -- and pass our crime
legislation. Let's back up our law enforcement officials with
laws that are fair, fast, and final. //
You know what I'm talking about. Fair: We want an
exclusionary rule designed to punish guilty criminals -- not good
cops who have acted in good faith. / Fast: We need habeas
corpus reforms to stop frivolous appeals choking our courts. We
must not allow the victims of crime to suffer twice: Once, when
they are victimized by the criminal, and again, when misguided
policies allow criminals to escape scot-free through some
loophole in the law. / We need laws, too, that are final -- and
you know my belief: For anyone who kills a law enforcement
officer -- no penalty is too tough. We want Congress to enact
the steps needed to expand the death penalty. Not some time.
Not some place. But across America -- now. //
On May 15, 1989, and every year since,
For more than three years I have asked Congress to pass a
comprehensive crime package based on three principles. If
criminals commit crimes, they will be caught. If caught, they
will be tried. And if convicted, they will be punished. / We
need a crime bill which strengthens -- not weakens -- your
How much longer
ability to uphold our laws. So I say to the Congress: Send me a must
tough crime bill -- one that won't weaken current law -- one like
america
wait?
the Crime Control Act of 1992. Then, and only then -- will I
also sign the Brady Bill. //
who
is
they?
5
You should understand me well: Some say there are reasons
crimes take place. I say: There is never an excuse. //
They
know that in North Carolina, where a cop helping with a homicide
investigation was followed home by suspects he had interrogated.
They followed him to his home, then shot him and his wife. His
wife is still living. The officer died. // They know that in
Florida, too, where a deranged man stole an officer's gun -- then
shot him dead with the policeman's own bullets. / Or Minnesota,
where two police officers found a man in his car that had plunged
into a ditch. They called a tow truck for his car -- then put
him in the squad car to take him into town. They never made it:
The man pulled out a .357 magnum and shot both officers in the
head. Why? He said he didn't want to sit in the backseat. //
There's another seat I want to find for murderers like this.
I have said it before: "Better that [criminals] had never been
born than to attack one of America's finest. We are going after
those who kill or would kill our police officers. " // I think
the F.O.P. agrees with that: You know the death penalty will
help take criminals off the streets -- so that Americans can take
back their streets. / So does the group called Concerns of
Police Survivors -- C.O.P.S. -- who provide aid when it is most
needed. C.O.P.S. was founded in 1984 to have survivors help
other survivors. Today, they help 5,000 families nationwide, as
Good Samaritans to those who've lost a loved one.
Another Good Samaritan can be found right here on our stage
today: John Walsh, host of television's "America's Most Wanted."
6
Last Friday, the show celebrated its 200th capture of a fugitive
of the law. Sadly, John knows first-hand about the horrors that
crime can inflict upon parents, families, and communities. // His
little boy, Adam, was abducted and hasn't yet been found. John
could have shut himself off from the world. Instead, he started
"America's Most Wanted" -- a show that helps law enforcement
officers bring criminals to justice. John, we salute both what
you are -- and what you do. /
Let me close on a personal note. Some have called the
Presidency the world's toughest job. They're wrong. Police
officers have the toughest job. / Police work isn't a nine to
2-hour
five job, with martini lunches and friendly chats around the
water cooler. It's danger. It's fear. It's not knowing whether
you'll end your shift going home in a car -- or to the emergency
room in an ambulance. / It's populated by people willing to risk
their lives to save ours. / People who are part social worker
and part soldier. / It's a job I sum up in one word: "Hero." " //
Every day of every year you risk your lives so that
Americans can proceed with theirs. You truly show what the Bible
meant: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down
his life for his friends." / For that I thank you with a feeling
that knows no words. May God bless you, and the land you so
richly bless -- the United States of America.
#
#
#
#
Jeannic Bunton
Memorandum for Speechwriting Staff
From:
Dan McGroarty
Regarding:
Law Enforcement
Please return your comments to Room
122 by:
10 AM Widnesday
Today's Date: MAY 12 1992
(Smith/Aarhus)
Draft Three
May 11, 1992
LAW2
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LAW ENFORCEMENT CEREMONY
SYLVAN THEATER
WASHINGTON, D,C.
FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1992
[[Acknowledgements; and of course, members of the Fraternal
Order of Police Auxiliary with us today.]] Ten years ago, the
F.O.P. Auxiliary began this first nationally-recognized service
for lost law enforcement officers. I salute you from the bottom
of my heart. //
It is an honor to be with all of you -- to mark a day that
celebrates America's finest. / Police work has been described as
a thankless job. I'm here to say: Thank you on behalf of each
American. // We need you. We depend on you. We can't do
without you. //
We need you so that the lawless won't transform "life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" into death, carnage, and
open season on the innocent. //
We depend on you to defend civility through America's system
of law.
Nor can we do without you -- for yours is the priceless task
of upholding good against evil. When we ask what nation the
American people deserve, here is my answer: A nation which
rejects those who are soft on the need to be hard on crime. //
As you know, I've just come back from "The City of the
Angels", Los Angeles, California. It's a city today whose heart
2
is broken -- and where angels must not fear to tread. A city I
love and grieve for -- and whose heart only love and hard work
can mend. / /
That is why several days ago, I called on the Congress to
act now to create hope in our inner cities -- to use opportunity,
not bureaucracy, to combat the problems of poverty and
inequality. / I wish you could have talked, as I did, to
children, parents, business owners, community leaders in Los
Angeles. You would know why, more than ever, I believe there is
no place in America for bigotry and discrimination of any kind.
Recent days have reminded us that we are one Nation under
God -- we must act as one -- must learn to trust one another, not
hate one another. / The people in Los Angeles know that the
social problems that breed poverty can and must be cured. They
know something else: Lawless thugs who claim that poverty
excuses crime must, and will, be punished.
//
All of us saw sickening sights in Los Angeles of criminals
breaking windows, burning buildings, and looting businesses. But
even worse was the looting of something harder to replace than
merchandise. The stealing of something precious. Stealing hope
-- promise -- the future. / This, we will not allow. //
So today, I pledge this to you -- the "thin blue line" that
separates good people from the worst instincts of our society. I
pledge my support. Across America, we will restore the rule of
law. / I pledge my conscience. I intend to stand for decency
against indecency. / Finally, I pledge policies to build a
3
society where citizens are safe -- and feel safe. Last year, our
war on crime helped the percentage of American households
affected by crime fall to 24 percent -- the lowest rate since the
federal government introduced this indicator in 1975. Good --
but not good enough. So by the end of 1992, we will have 50
percent more federal prosecutors than in 1988. We have also
acted to curb furlough abuses by further cutting the already
limited furlough for federal offenders. In April 1989, the
furlough rate was 1.2 per 100 inmates -- last April it was less
than half that. Here's a final pledge: Today, no furloughs are
granted for anyone serving a sentence of life without parole --
and we're going to keep it that way. Furlough is a privilege --
not a right ///
We must show less compassion for the criminal and more for
their victims. That is why we reauthorized the 1984 Victims of
Crime Act -- and boosted its annual victims compensation and
assistance fund to $150 million. These dollars did not come from
taxpayers but from criminals' fines and penalties. After all,
crime shouldn't pay. Criminals should. /////
My Administration has also acted to punish hardened
criminals -- career criminals -- under the Federal Armed Criminal
Act. / No seasoned criminal should walk free because we didn't
take the law -- and our law enforcement officers -- seriously. /
We've proposed $14.8 billion for anti-crime policies for FY 1993
-- that's up 59 percent in four years. We started Project
Triggerlock -- and already the states and federal government have
4
produced XXX indictments against persons for firearms offenses. /
Yet progress made is not mission accomplished. So today I again
call on the Congress to get with it -- and pass our crime
legislation. Let's back up our law enforcement officials with
laws that are fair, fast, and final. //
You know what I'm talking about. Fair: We want an
exclusionary rule designed to punish guilty criminals -- not good
cops who have acted in good faith. / Fast: We need habeas
corpus reforms to stop frivolous appeals choking our courts. We
must not allow the victims of crime to suffer twice: Once, when
they are victimized by the criminal, and again, when misguided
policies allow criminals to escape scot-free through some
loophole in the law. / We need laws, too, that are final -- and
you know my belief: For anyone who kills a law enforcement
officer -- no penalty is too tough. We want Congress to enact
the steps needed to expand the death penalty. Not some time.
Not some place. But across America -- now. //
For more than three years I have asked Congress to pass a
comprehensive crime package based on three principles. If
criminals commit crimes, they will be caught. If caught, they
will be tried. And if convicted, they will be punished. / We
need a crime bill which strengthens -- not weakens -- your
ability to uphold our laws. So I say to the Congress: Send me a
tough crime bill -- one that won't weaken current law -- one like
the Crime Control Act of 1992. Then, and only then -- will I
also sign the Brady Bill. //
5
You should understand me well: Some say there are reasons
crimes take place. I say: There is never an excuse. // They
know that in North Carolina, where a cop helping with a homicide
investigation was followed home by suspects he had interrogated.
They followed him to his home, then shot him and his wife. His
wife is still living. The officer died. // They know that in
Florida, too, where a deranged man stole an officer's gun -- then
shot him dead with the policeman's own bullets. / Or Minnesota,
where two police officers found a man in his car that had plunged
into a ditch. They called a tow truck for his car -- then put
him in the squad car to take him into town. They never made it:
The man pulled out a .357 magnum and shot both officers in the
head. Why? He said he didn't want to sit in the backseat. //
There's another seat I want to find for murderers like this.
I have said it before: "Better that [criminals] had never been
born than to attack one of America's finest. We are going after
those who kill or would kill our police officers. " // I think
the F.O.P. agrees with that: You know the death penalty will
help take criminals off the streets -- so that Americans can take
back their streets. / So does the group called Concerns of
Police Survivors -- C.O.P.S. -- who provide aid when it is most
needed. C.O.P.S. was founded in 1984 to have survivors help
other survivors. Today, they help 5,000 families nationwide, as
Good Samaritans to those who've lost a loved one.
Another Good Samaritan can be found right here on our stage
today: John Walsh, host of television's "America's Most Wanted."
6
Last Friday, the show celebrated its 200th capture of a fugitive
of the law. Sadly, John knows first-hand about the horrors that
crime can inflict upon parents, families, and communities. // His
little boy, Adam, was abducted and hasn't yet been found. John
could have shut himself off from the world. Instead, he started
"America's Most Wanted" -- a show that helps law enforcement
officers bring criminals to justice. John, we salute both what
you are -- and what you do. /
Let me close on a personal note. Some have called the
Presidency the world's toughest job. They're wrong. Police
officers have the toughest job. / Police work isn't a nine to
five job, with martini lunches and friendly chats around the
water cooler. It's danger. It's fear. It's not knowing whether
you'll end your shift going home in a car -- or to the emergency
room in an ambulance. / It's populated by people willing to risk
their lives to save ours. / People who are part social worker
and part soldier. / It's a job I sum up in one word: "Hero.' " //
Every day of every year you risk your lives so that
Americans can proceed with theirs. You truly show what the Bible
meant: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down
his life for his friends. " / For that I thank you with a feeling
that knows no words. May God bless you, and the land you so
richly bless -- the United States of America.
#
#
#
#