[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book I)]
[May 5, 1994]
[Pages 849-850]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks on Action by the House of Representatives on Legislation 
To Ban Assault Weapons and an Exchange With Reporters
May 5, 1994

    The President. This afternoon, the House of Representatives rose to 
the occasion and stood up for the national interest. Two hundred and 
sixteen Members stood up for our police, our children, and for safety on 
our streets. They stood up against the madness that we have come to see 
when criminals and terrorists have legal access to assault weapons and 
then find themselves better armed than police, putting more and more 
people in increasing danger of their lives.
    The 19 assault weapons banned by this proposal are deadly, dangerous 
weapons. They were designed for one purpose only, to kill people. And as 
long as violent criminals have easy access to them, they will continue 
to be used to kill people. We as a nation are determined to turn that 
around.

[[Page 850]]

    In the last year there has been a sea change in the crime debate. To 
be sure, there is still a national consensus in support of the rights of 
hunters and sportsmen to keep and bear their arms. And as long as I am 
President, those rights will continue to be protected. But we have also 
overcome the partisanship and the rhetoric that has divided us too long 
and kept us from our responsibilities to provide for law and order, to 
protect the peace and safety of ordinary Americans.
    We have come together in the belief that more police, more prisons, 
tougher sentences, and better prevention together can make our 
neighborhoods safer, our streets, our schools, and our homes more 
secure.
    This legislation passed today now becomes part of a larger strategy 
to fight crime, to make the American people safer. That's what the 
elected mayors and Governors want without regard to party. That's what 
every major police organization wants, representing people who put their 
lives on the line to protect the rest of us. And most importantly, that 
is what the American people want, the right to be safe and secure 
without having their freedoms taken away by criminals or by an 
unresponsive or unreasoning National Government.
    I want to especially thank Congressman Schumer for the tenacity, the 
determination that he demonstrated in leading this fight for so long in 
the House. And I want to thank every Member of the House of 
Representatives in both parties who voted for this bill today, and in so 
doing, demonstrated extraordinary courage in the face of extraordinary 
political pressure to walk away.
    I want to thank our remarkable Cabinet led by the Attorney General 
and by Secretary Bentsen who worked so hard for the passage of this 
legislation. I want to thank the band of stalwart workers here in the 
White House, in our Congressional Liaison Office and elsewhere, and 
especially I want to recognize Karen Hancox and Rahm Emanuel who never 
gave up and always believed we could win this fight.
    Let me conclude by reminding all of you that Americans are not 
divided by party or section or philosophy on their deep yearning and 
determination to be safer. And so I close by extending the hand of 
friendship to our friends on both sides of the aisle and both sides of 
this issue. In particular, to Chairman Jack Brooks whose leadership is 
going to bring us the toughest and most significant anticrime bill ever 
passed by the United States Congress. Let us go back to work until our 
work is finished.
    Thank you very much.

Assault Weapons

    Q. Mr. President, how much difference did your lobbying make, sir, 
do you think? How much difference did your personal lobbying make, did 
you think? And when did you know that you had it, if it was before the 
vote itself?
    The President. Well, it's hard for me to know how much difference my 
personal lobbying made. I made dozens of phone calls. I finished my 
phone calls last night at midnight, and I started again this morning. 
And I continued up to the very end.
    To be candid, I never did know we were going to win. I don't think 
we ever knew for sure how this was going to come out. I had an instinct 
right at the beginning of the vote when I spoke with Congressman Carr.
    The hunters and sportsmen of this country and the National Rifle 
Association itself never had a better friend in the Congress than him. 
And he decided to vote for this measure because he thought it was the 
right thing to do. And after I hung up the phone--that was right at the 
beginning of the vote, I think--I said, ``You know, we just might pull 
this off.'' But I didn't know before then.

Whitewater

    Q. Mr. President, there was a very broad subpoena served in the 
White House today which might raise a number of questions for you. How 
will you decide whether to assert executive or lawyer-client privilege 
on things that might be very private, such as notes to you from Vince 
Foster or from you to Vince Foster?
    The President. I don't know. I don't know anything about it. I've 
been working on this all day. I have no knowledge of it.

Note: The President spoke at 5:40 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House.