    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book II)]
    [December 8, 1993]
    [Pages 2142-2144]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Exchange With Reporters
    December 8, 1993

    Violent Crime

        Q. Give us your reaction, sir, to the shootings on Long Island--
    [inaudible]--in the shootings.
        The President. First of all, it's a terrible human tragedy, and my
    sympathies go out to all the families involved.
        I will say, I think we have to note that the gun that was used
    contained, apparently, two 15-round clips that were expended while this
    man in a manic state was walking down the subway aisle. And one of the
    reasons we ought to pass the crime bill is that Senator Feinstein's

    [[Page 2143]]

    amendment to limit assault weapons would make those 15-round clips
    illegal. They're not necessary for hunting or sports purposes, and it
    simply allows you to shoot and wound more people more quickly. So I hope
    that this will give some more impetus to the need to act urgently, to
    deal with the unnecessary problems of gun violence in the country.
        The second thing I would say is that while no one believes that
    there is anything we can ever do to solve every problem of someone who
    snaps mentally and does something terrible like this, and we have to
    acknowledge that honestly, there are a lot of things that we're going to
    have to do in this country to get violence under control that relate to
    rebuilding our communities and healing across racial lines and economic
    lines. But we need to start with public safety. Put those 100,000 police
    officers on the street. Pass this ban on assault weapons and these
    multiround clips. And let's get about the business of making the country
    safer.
        Q. [Inaudible]--requirement for licensing and testing to purchase a
    gun?
        The President. Well, that was recommended to me, as you know, by the
    Mayor-elect of New York and the Mayor of Los Angeles, and I've asked the
    Attorney General to review it and make a recommendation to me on it. I
    think I should wait to hear from her on it. It is interesting how we
    regularly have requirements, for example, for getting and driving cars
    that don't apply to the use of guns. When I was a boy and first started
    to hunt, you know, one of the first things I was told was you have to
    learn how to use a gun safely and responsibly. And it's something I
    think we ought to look at. But I want to ask the Attorney General for an
    opinion before I discuss it further.

    Lobbyists

        Q. Sir, Roy Neel and Howard Paster are getting very lucrative jobs
    in PR and lobbying. Doesn't that, at the very least, give the impression
    of a revolving door that you spoke against?
        The President. What I spoke of was not that citizens should go back
    to their private lives from Government and not that they shouldn't be
    able to use the knowledge and experience they have, but they shouldn't
    be able to abuse it.
        What we did was to erect bigger walls against abuse. Neither one of
    them can ever lobby for a foreign interest and neither one of them can
    lobby the Executive Office of the President for 5 years on any matter
    even though the law only requires one year. So we've raised the wall
    higher, which is exactly what I promised to do.
        Now if, in addition to that, the House will follow the Senate's lead
    and pass the lobby bill, lobby restriction bill, which will put
    restrictions on the activities of lobbyists and disclose more of them,
    and if the House and Senate will agree to a good campaign finance reform
    bill and the Congress will agree to live under the laws it imposes on
    private employers--if they'll do all that, which is on our agenda, then
    I think the public confidence will be much, much higher.

    Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders

        Q. Dr. Elders, obviously, has said a lot of things that have created
    a controversy, but unless I'm mistaken, this is the first time I can
    remember her making a comment that was a fundamental disagreement with
    you and that a member of your administration talked about reining her
    in--that she needs to only speak for the administration.
        The President. I just don't agree with that position. When you have
    someone as outspoken and energetic as she is, there's going to be times
    when she'll be outspoken and energetic in a way that I don't necessarily
    agree with.
        Q. Is she allowed to disagree with you?
        The President. But I certainly stand behind her foursquare as
    Surgeon General. I think she's done a good job, and she's beginning to
    really focus the country on a lot of these public health problems. So,
    she needs to make it very clear that--and I think she did, to be fair--
    that I just disagree with that. I have thought about it a lot, and I
    think the cost of legalizing drugs would far outweigh the benefits. But
    I think the fact that everybody in America feels overwhelmed and
    determined to do something about crime and violence and drugs and gangs
    is a very positive thing. So we'll just go from here.

    President's Health

        Q. Mr. President, how's your back?
        The President. Much better, thank you. It just happens every couple
    of years. I wait for it to heal up, and I go back to running. It's fine.

    [[Page 2144]]

    Note: The exchange began at 2:11 p.m. at Blair House. During the
    exchange, the President referred to a December 7 incident in which a
    gunman on the Long Island Rail Road in Garden City, New York, killed 5
    persons and wounded 20 before he was subdued by 3 other passengers. A
    tape was not available for verification of the content of this exchange.