[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
[March 5, 1991]
[Pages 215-217]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 215]]


Remarks at the Attorney General's Crime Summit
March 5, 1991

    Thank you so very much for that welcome, and I will say what I said 
at the State of the Union: I take that warm response as a vote of thanks 
to our fine young men and women who served this country with such 
distinction in the Gulf. What a job they did! And I think everybody was 
saying that.
    Let me greet you, Mr. Attorney General, and thank you for the 
introduction and the invitation to be here. I want to salute the U.S. 
attorneys, the State AG's, the judges, the local DA's, the sheriffs, 
police, State and local officials--and then also, most especially, the 
community leaders from across America. It is an honor to welcome you to 
Washington. You represent one of the most powerful peacetime forces 
known to man. And that's why you've been invited to this unprecedented 
council of war--to share ideas and successes and to help frame the 
battle plan for the fight against violent crime and drugs for the next 
decade and beyond.
    Dick was in a minute ago, briefing me on this conference that ends 
this afternoon, telling me with great pride the accomplishments and the 
enthusiasm that have been brought together here. And I'm here because I 
wanted you to know how strongly I feel about reducing violent crime in 
America and how firmly we support your efforts to fight crime and to 
give back our streets to America's families.
    And against this backdrop, I know there's something else on 
everyone's mind--I heard it when I walked in--because soon your 
hometowns all across America will welcome home the finest fighting force 
ever assembled: the courageous men and women of the United States 
military.
    And for 7 long months, America watched with a lump in our throat and 
a prayer on our lips. And now in Kuwait the fires of destruction are 
beginning to dim, eclipsed by the brilliant flame of freedom.
    The coalition victory in the Gulf is a test to America's leadership 
and skill and to our nation's unparalleled ability to respond swiftly 
and successfully to a clearly stated challenge. We had a challenge. We 
set a goal, and we achieved it.
    These American heroes risked their lives so that America's kids 
could realize a dream--a world free from aggression and fear, a world 
filled with opportunity, a world whose only limits are in the reaches of 
the imagination.
    And I told our troops the other day that, like the coming promise of 
spring, their magnificent victory in the Gulf had brought a renewed 
sense of pride and confidence here at home. It's contagious; it's all 
over our country, and you can feel it every single minute.
    Our confidence in America's future is the foundation for the 
opportunity package we unveiled last week. It calls for improved 
opportunity through education, jobs, home ownership, and programs aimed 
at keeping families healthy and together. And it calls for safe schools, 
neighborhoods, and homes. Because now that the shooting has stopped 
overseas, we've got to redouble our efforts to silence the guns here at 
home. And that's why you're here. That's why you're here, and that is 
why I singled out this summit in my State of the Union Address--because 
here at home you are America's front-line troops. And here at home, the 
triumph of freedom has got to mean freedom from fear.
    Today the fear of crime strikes too many American families. Parents 
fear for their kids in school and on the way home. They fear for their 
teenagers and the lessons they may learn in the streets. And they fear 
for their own parents, for whom a simple trip to the grocery may become 
an exercise in terror.
    Perhaps you saw the report that during the first 3 days of the 
ground offensive more Americans were killed in some American cities than 
at the entire Kuwaiti front. Think of it--one of our brave National 
Guardsmen may have actually been safer in the midst of the largest 
armored offensive in history than he would have been on the streets of 
his own hometown. It's outra-

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geous. It's wrong, and it's going to change.
    The temptation is strong to use the words of a victorious war to 
send you back to your daily challenge. But wars serve us best when we 
learn from them, not glorify them. And among the lessons is that in 
furtherance of a widely accepted moral value, collective action 
succeeds. This is a simple but powerful message that applies to this 
summit today. And a second great message is that numbers alone are not 
determinative. More than simply sheer numbers, our victory was based on 
creativity, strategic thinking, and the skilled execution of a bold 
plan.
    And you'll forgive an old Navy man if my message to you today is 
drawn from the lessons of America's great World War II admiral, William 
F. ``Bull'' Halsey. ``Carry the battle to the enemy,'' he said. ``Lay 
your ship alongside his.'' And on the eve of the battle of Santa Cruz, 
in which his ships were outnumbered more than 2 to 1, Halsey sent his 
task force commanders a three-word dispatch: ``Attack--repeat--attack.'' 
And they did attack, heroically, and when the battle was done, the enemy 
had turned away.
    Just look at what we've done in the Gulf--pilots, our missile men, 
the impressive logistics and diplomatic operations. America is a ``can-
do'' nation. And today at home, we must seize the day. The kind of moral 
force and national will that freed Kuwait City from abuse can free 
America's cities from crime. As in the Gulf, our goal is to strengthen 
and preserve the rule of law. As in the Gulf, we need creative and 
strategic thinking to free our cities from crime. And as in the Gulf, 
this means assembling an unprecedented coalition. We've got to 
cooperate, really cooperate, on a level never before seen--Federal, 
State, and local prosecutors; Federal, State, and local police; 
Governors; mayors; and the new corps of neighborhood peacekeepers, the 
community leaders who have stood up to the violence and despair.
    Our administration is committed to doing its part. I know Dick 
Thornburgh, our very able Attorney General, spoke with you about this 
yesterday. Under his leadership, we've taken the lead in fighting 
organized crime, drug trafficking, and the deadly tide of violence that 
follows in their wake. We've made record increases in Federal 
prosecutors and agents. By 1992, we will be well on our way to more than 
doubling our Federal prison space, allowing us to use tough Federal laws 
to put violent offenders behind bars to stay. Asset forfeiture laws 
allow us to take the ill-gotten gains of drug kingpins and use them to 
put more cops on the streets and more prosecutors in court. In the last 
5 years alone, the Justice Department shared over half a billion dollars 
in forfeited assets with State and local law enforcement.
    We understand that fighting violent crime is first and foremost a 
State, local, and community responsibility. And that's why, since coming 
to this office, we have increased the amount of funding through the 
Edward Byrne Memorial Fund for State and local law enforcement by 220 
percent. We are foursquare behind the police and people like those in 
this room who make sacrifices every day to protect our citizens and to 
assure that those who scorn justice are brought to justice.
    Just look at the all-American heroes here today. There's always the 
risk when you single them out in a room like this, but people like L.A. 
police chief Daryl Gates, who stood with me on Foster Webster's front 
porch in Oakwood last May, looking out over a neighborhood where they 
reclaimed their streets, their kids, their future. Or South Carolina's 
Dean Kilpatrick, who we honored in the Rose Garden in April, and who's 
here to help build an America where every victim of every crime is 
treated with the dignity and the compassion they deserve. And Al Brooks, 
who in Kansas City a year ago showed me their four-word warning to the 
cowards of the night: ``This neighborhood fights back.''
    I mentioned the Byrne Memorial Fund. And by the way, I still keep 
this policeman's badge in my Oval Office desk. It's there night and day. 
Shield 14072 belonged to patrolman Eddie Byrne. And he died on the front 
line--gunned down by cocaine cowards. I'll never forget--never, ever. 
And each one of you have an example that means something--of a friend 
lost or a comrade who's been killed by these cocaine

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cowards.
    Two years ago on a somber, rainy, springtime afternoon, I stood 
before the U.S. Capitol to commemorate police officers slain in the line 
of duty. Many of you in this audience were there that day. And to honor 
their sacrifice, I called upon the Congress to join me in launching a 
new strategy--a new partnership with America's cities and States to 
``take back the streets.''
    Congress deserves our thanks for giving us the new prosecutors and 
agents we requested. But it's not enough. We also need to back up these 
new troops with new laws and give them the tools they need to finish the 
job and secure the peace. America needs a crime bill that's tough on 
criminals, not on law enforcement.
    Too many times, in too many cases, too many criminals go free 
because the scales of justice are unfairly loaded against dedicated law 
men and women like you. But even after a year and a half, and despite 
the urgency of the problem, Congress never did act on our proposals. And 
that's why we're here again to work with you--to develop new proposals, 
to try to steady the scales of justice, to seek a fair balance between 
the legitimate rights of suspects and society's right to protect itself.
    We need a crime bill that will stop the endless, frivolous appeals 
that clog our habeas corpus system. One that guarantees that criminals 
who use serious weapons face serious time, and one that ensures that 
evidence gathered by good cops acting in good faith is not barred by 
technicalities that let bad people go free. And for the most heinous of 
crimes, we need a workable death penalty--which is to say, a real death 
penalty.
    As Dick has told you, we need your ideas in putting together our new 
crime package. And we'll need your help in getting it through Congress. 
But I promise you this: We're not giving up on this crime bill. We're 
not going to let it get watered down. And we're not going to put our 
crime fighters in harm's way without backing them to the hilt.
    And there's another important message I would ask you to bring home 
to your cities and States: Your troops in State and local law 
enforcement need the same tools that we've proposed for the Feds--
mandatory time for weapons offenders; no plea-bargaining on guns; the 
death penalty for heinous crimes; and the kind of increased resources--
in police, prosecutors, and prisons--that ensure these vicious thugs 
will be caught, prosecuted, and swiftly punished. Because public safety 
is not just another line item in a city or State budget--it is the first 
duty of any government.
    Yes, there remain vital tests ahead, both here and abroad, but 
nothing the American people can't handle. So, we're going to roll up our 
sleeves, raise up the flag, and stand up for the decent men, women, and 
children of this great country--block by block, day by day, school by 
school--for your kids, for mine, for America's kids. Take back the 
streets and liberate our neighborhoods from the tyranny of fear--that is 
our objective, and we will succeed.
    Thank you all for coming. I really wanted to thank you all for 
coming and for all you do to protect the people of this great nation. 
Thank you all, and may God bless the United States. Thank you very much.

                    Note: The President spoke at 2:18 p.m. in the 
                        ballroom at the Sheraton Washington Hotel. In 
                        his remarks, he referred to Attorney General 
                        Dick Thornburgh; Daryl F. Gates, chief of the 
                        Los Angeles, CA, Police Department; Foster 
                        Webster, chairman of the Oakwood Beautification 
                        Committee; Dean G. Kilpatrick, 1990 recipient of 
                        a Department of Justice award for outstanding 
                        public service on behalf of victims of crime; 
                        Alvin L. Brooks, executive director and founder 
                        of the Ad Hoc Group Against Crime; and Edward 
                        Byrne, slain New York City policeman.