[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book I)]
[July 16, 1994]
[Pages 1258-1259]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



The President's Radio Address
July 16, 1994

    Good morning. My radio address this weekend is being hosted by 
Philadelphia station KYW.
    When I was running for President, I met Americans all over our 
country who were uncertain about their future, worried about a tough 
economy in which every new day made it harder and harder to make ends 
meet, worried about a sudden health care crisis that could drown them in 
a sea of debt, and most often, worried about the surging tide of crime 
and violence that has become a familiar threat in almost every 
neighborhood in our country.
    We've made real progress toward renewing the American dream since I 
took office a year and a half ago, putting our economic house in order 
with $255 billion in spending cuts, tax cuts for 15 million working 
families, an increase for the wealthiest 1.5 percent of our citizens, 
all of it going to deficit reduction. Our deficit will go down 3 years 
in a row for the first time since Harry Truman was President. And we've 
got 3.8 million new jobs and record numbers of new businesses to show 
for it.
    Expanded trade, real progress on health reform--we're moving in the 
right direction. But no matter how impressive these lists of 
accomplishments is, we will have failed to do our jobs if this year ends 
and Congress hasn't passed legislation to answer the urgent call of the 
American people to do something about crime and violence. For many 
millions of Americans, this is our number one concern. The random 
violence violates our values, our sense of family, our community, our 
whole hope for the future.
    For 6 long years, the American people have waited while Congress and 
the President have debated on what to do about crime. The American 
people have asked for action, but all they've gotten is gridlock. As 
Americans have waited, children have been killed, terror has flourished. 
That waiting has to end and end now.
    Both Chambers of Congress have now passed sweeping anticrime bills. 
Both versions will provide the most significant Federal attack on crime 
in the history of the United States. They include every major element of 
the crime fighting program I first called for when I was running for 
President: 100,000 more police officers on our street in community 
policing units; a ban on the most serious assault weapons that make our 
police officers often out-gunned by the gangs they face; a ban on 
ownership and possession of handguns by minors; a very tough penalty 
law, including a ``three strikes and you're out'' law; and prevention 
programs to help give kids something to say yes to.
    The crucial task before Congress now is to prevent few remaining 
differences in the House and the Senate bill from threatening the whole 
bill. Congress is close to finishing this bill. Hard work by Members of 
both parties has resolved all the major differences.
    In the past, Congress has been stymied by an either-or debate over 
the false choice between tougher punishment or smarter prevention. One 
of the first things I noticed during the Presidential campaign was that 
every place I went Americans, and police officers, especially, rejected 
that argument. Our citizens want crimi-


[[Page 1259]]

nals to be punished. They want young people, particularly in our poorest 
communities, also to have something to say yes to, to turn away from a 
life of crime.
    The crime bill before Congress does both. It provides tough 
punishments for violent criminals, like ``three strikes and you're 
out,'' and it provides about $8 billion to build prisons to ensure that 
violent criminals can be locked up. But it also provides about $8 
billion for effective prevention programs, like the youth employment and 
skills program that will give youth in high-crime areas a chance to 
learn skills on the job, midnight basketball programs, after school 
programs, summer jobs programs, things that our young people can do to 
avoid getting into trouble.
    After passing the Brady bill last year, we also worked very hard to 
earn an impressive victory that guarantees the bill will include a ban 
on deadly assault weapons that don't belong on our streets or in our 
schoolyards. And perhaps most important of all, this crime bill will put 
100,000 new police officers on the streets of America, walking the beat, 
getting to know the neighborhoods, providing a strong role model for 
local youth, the best protection, toughest enforcement, and smartest 
prevention you can find.
    In Philadelphia today, I have nearly a dozen of Philadelphia's 
finest police officers. This city has an effective community policing 
program, but like all cities, they need more help to do the job right.
    So don't let anybody fool you. This crime bill will make a real 
difference across our country in every neighborhood, every city, and 
every town. It will help to lower the crime rate. It's what the American 
people are waiting for.
    Let me close with a terrible story about a little boy who understood 
why we can't wait any longer. James Darby, a 9-year old from New 
Orleans, wrote me on April 29th. ``Dear Mr. Clinton,'' he said, ``I want 
you to stop the killing in the city. I think somebody might kill me. I'm 
asking you nicely to stop it. I know you can do it.'' Just 9 days later, 
walking home from a Mother's Day picnic, James Darby, age 9, was shot in 
the head and killed.
    I can't tell you that our crime bill would have saved James' life. 
But I can tell you with absolutely no doubt that it will save other 
lives and without it we have no hope of giving a new sense of purpose 
and safety to our people.
    Like thousands of children across our country, James Darby was 
terrified of the violence ravaging his own neighborhood. He knew it 
wasn't right, he knew it shouldn't continue, and he knew it could 
endanger him. His letter to me was just the best way he knew to ask for 
help. Well, we can help. This crime bill will help. All the major 
elements of the bill have been endorsed by the United States Conference 
of Mayors, by every major law enforcement organization in the country, 
including the Law Enforcement Steering Committee, with over half a 
million police officers in its membership, and by countless local police 
chiefs, sheriffs, community leaders, elected officials.
    Join them. Together, the American people will be a mighty coalition 
with a simple but essential demand: Congress, pass the crime bill and 
pass it now. Remember what James Darby wrote. I know you can do it.
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 6:20 p.m. on July 15 at the Public 
Ledger Building in Philadelphia, PA, for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on July 
16.