    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book II)]
    [September 14, 1994]
    [Pages 1546-1548]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to United States Attorneys on the Violent Crime Control and Law
    Enforcement Act of 1994
    September 14, 1994

        Thank you very much, General Reno, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to
    the White House, and I want to begin by just thanking you, all of you,
    for the work you did to help us pass the crime bill. It was one of the
    more interesting and rigorous legislative exercises we've had around
    here in a long time. I believe that you fought for this crime bill
    because you knew that there was so much in it that would actually work
    for this country.
        And I'm encouraged as I saw some of the coverage on the crime bill
    last night that people are finally beginning to look at a lot of the
    provisions that weren't so hotly debated during the campaign for and
    against the crime bill that are really going to help us to make a
    difference to lower the crime rate and make the American people safer.
    We know that some of these things will work. We have example after
    example in America that more police, properly deployed in community
    policing settings, will actually lower the crime rate. We have example
    after example that if you can figure out how to lock up the repeat
    offenders and give the first-time folks a chance to build a better life,
    you can lower the crime rate. We know that if you can keep guns out of
    the hands of schoolchildren, you can make the schools and the streets
    safer, you can save a lot of victims, and you can save a lot of
    potential criminals, too, for a more constructive life.
        But the hard work of passing the crime bill, as I said yesterday
    when I signed it, was only the beginning. It's up to those of us who are
    charged with executing the laws to roll up our sleeves and put the crime
    bill to work as quickly as we possibly can.
        One of the most important provisions of this crime bill is one which
    has been largely overlooked, I think, in this debate. I want to discuss
    it with you today because I think it can make a huge difference. And
    that is the ban on juve-

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    nile possession of handguns. Except when hunting or target shooting with
    a parent or other responsible adult, young people simply shouldn't be
    carrying guns. Period. This provision is critical to our ability to make
    our schools and neighborhoods safer. It is so critical that I am
    directing you today, each of you, to prepare a plan in your districts
    for enforcing this law over the next 100 days. We need to work with
    local law enforcement officials and other local officials as you have
    been doing.
        And I want to compliment all of you and compliment the Attorney
    General for bringing this group in on a repeated, disciplined basis and
    working closely with you on policy. And then I want to thank you for the
    work you've done with State and local officials.
        But we have to make this work. If this law turns out to be just a
    law on the books that is widely ignored and never enforced, it will be a
    terrible shame, because this law can save our children's lives. This law
    can make a huge difference, but we obviously have to have a strategy to
    enforce it, and the means by which it is enforced may not be the same,
    as a practical matter, in every district in the country. So I want to
    urge you to do that. By January the 1st, we should have a strategy in
    every community to get guns out of the hands of violent teens and away
    from young criminals. Anybody can talk tough on crime; this law gives
    you a chance to be both tough on criminals and successful in making your
    community safer. We must--we must--implement it vigorously and promptly.
        I also want to discuss the penalties which are in the laws, which
    are now available to you, to make sure that people who do commit serious
    crimes are punished, people who commit violent crimes are punished
    severely, people who repeat their offenses are punished even more
    severely.
        This crime bill gives you the ultimate punishment, capital
    punishment, for most heinous crimes, including murdering a police
    officer. It makes it possible to keep repeat violent offenders off the
    street for good with the so-called ``three strikes and you're out'' law.
    It stiffens the penalty for criminals who lure children into the drug
    trade. And from now on, if you use a child to sell drugs, the penalty
    will automatically be tripled.
        It tells young people that if you commit a serious crime or belong
    to a gang, you can get more time in jail automatically. It not only
    helps to protect communities by notifying them of people who have
    committed crimes which qualify them as sexual predators, but from now
    on, the penalty for these offenses has doubled. The bill has some
    remarkable provisions in the violence against women section, which I
    urge all of you to read, become familiar with, and use. Violence in and
    around the home is still a terrible problem in this country, and it
    gives us the tools to do something about it. It has some innovative
    provisions for boot camps and drug courts, and other innovations which
    we know have worked to lower the crime rate and to give people the
    chance to live a safer and more secure life.
        These are just some of the examples of what is in the crime bill.
    Much of America does not know everything that's in the crime bill yet,
    but many people in the law enforcement community don't know everything
    that's in the crime bill yet. The penalties for selling drugs to
    residents of public housing are doubled. There are increased penalties
    for felons who commit crimes with guns, for criminals who use assault
    weapons, for those who sell guns to minors.
        All of these things have to be implemented in order to work. The
    most important thing I want to emphasize today is the sweeping ban on
    handgun possession by minors. If we can enforce this, it will make a
    massive difference in the problem of youth violence. So let's come back
    here in 100 days with a plan to do it, and let's start the next year,
    1995, with a system in place that will prove that the confidence of the
    people in this crime bill is not misplaced, and that we are going to
    lower crime, reduce violence, and increase security in the United States
    with your leadership.
        Thank you very much.
        Now I would like to introduce Mary Jo White and Michael Stiles, and
    they're going to speak, and maybe they'll ask me to do something, since
    I asked you to do something.
        The Attorney General said that's dangerous; they'll ask for money.
    I've gotten good at saying no to that. [Laughter]
        Let me also say, just as I introduce Mary Jo and Michael, because I
    know they are the leaders of this task force representing you in working
    with the Attorney General, we have worked very hard here at the White
    House and in the Justice Department in the appointment of United States
    Attorneys, in the appointment of Federal judges, and we are proud of the

    [[Page 1548]]

    job that we have done because of the job that you are doing and the job
    you will do. And I want you to know that that is also, to me, a very
    important part of the President's job, and I spend a great deal of time
    on it.
        So I want to emphasize again, as I ask Mary Jo and Michael to come
    up here, that one of the things that I have been so pleased about the
    Attorney General's performance in doing is bringing you here on a
    regular basis and involving you in a regular way in making the policy of
    the Justice Department. Because for most Americans, the policy of the
    Justice Department is not the decisions we make about what appeals to
    enter into or what position to take on appeals; for most Americans, the
    policy of the Justice Department is what you do all day every day, and
    we thank you for that.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:40 p.m. in the State Dining Room at the
    White House.