    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book I)]
    [April 21, 1995]
    [Pages 567-569]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks and an Exchange With Reporters on the Oklahoma City Bombing
    April 21, 1995

        The President. Good afternoon. First let me say how very proud I am
    of the swift and decisive and determined work of law enforcement
    officials on this case throughout the country. I know every American is
    proud of them, too. Their continued vigilance makes me sure that we will
    solve this crime in its entirety and that justice will prevail.
        Today I want to say a special word of thanks to the Justice
    Department, under the able leadership of the Attorney General, to
    Director Freeh and all the hundreds of people in the FBI who have worked
    on this case, to the men and women of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
    Firearms, to all the Federal authorities, and to all the State and local
    enforcement officials, especially those in Oklahoma who have been
    working on this case. And of course, I'd like to say a personal thanks,
    as I know all Americans would, to the Oklahoma lawman whose vigilance
    led to the initial arrest of the suspect.
        As I said on Wednesday, justice for these killers will be certain,
    swift, and severe. We will find them. We will convict them. And we will
    seek the death penalty for them.
        Finally, I know I speak for all Americans when once again I extend
    our deepest thanks to the brave men and women who are still involved in
    the rescue teams. Let us not forget them. There is a lot of work for
    them still to do. It is difficult, and it is often heartbreaking now.
        Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the people in Oklahoma
    City. And let me say again: You will overcome this moment of grief and
    horror. You will rebuild. And we will be there to work with you until
    the work is done.
        Q. Mr. President, is there a sense now, sir, that this was not a
    foreign threat, that this was something from within our own borders?
        The President. Let me say that I have never and the Justice
    Department has never said that it was a foreign threat. But the most
    important thing that you understand is that even though this is a
    positive development, this investigation has a lot of work still to be
    done in it, and therefore it would be--it would be wrong to draw any
    conclusions. There have been lots of twists and turns in this
    investigation. But I would say to the American people, we should not
    assume, as I said yesterday, that we should not assume that any people
    from beyond our borders are involved in it. We should not assume
    anything, except what we know.
        Q. Any idea about motive, Mr. President? Anything in terms of the
    one suspect who's been arrested, any feeling about what--where he was or
    who he was or what he was up to?

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        The President. I would defer, with the same comment that the
    Attorney General and Director Freeh had on that, that we simply must not
    speculate on that at this time.
        Q. Mr. President, will this prompt the United States--or the
    Government to take a new and a tougher look at the white supremacist
    groups, the hate groups, the militias? Is this going to trigger any kind
    of crackdown?
        The President. Let me say that we need to finish this investigation
    now. We need to focus on this investigation. We need to finish this
    investigation. We need to finish the rescue. We then need to obviously
    examine anew, as we will over the next few days, the sufficiency of our
    efforts in the whole area of terrorism.
        Maybe it would be helpful--let me just take a few moments to talk
    about what we have been doing for the last couple of years before the
    Oklahoma City incident, because I think it is apparent to any observant
    person that all civilized societies have to be on their guard against
    terrorism.
        We have increased the counterterrorism budgets and resources of the
    FBI and the CIA. We arrested a major terrorist ring in New York before
    they could consummate their plans to blow up the U.N. and tunnels in New
    York City. We've retrieved terrorists who have fled abroad, as I said
    yesterday, from Pakistan, the Philippines, from Egypt, and elsewhere. We
    broke up a major terrorist ring before they could consummate their plans
    to blow up airplanes flying over the Pacific. We brought together all
    the various agencies of the Federal Government that would be involved in
    rescue and in response to a terrorist action and did a comprehensive
    practice earlier. And some of that work, I think, was seen in the very
    efficient way that they carried out their work at Oklahoma City.
        And finally, let me say, there's been a lot of activity that the
    public does not see, most of which I should not comment on. But let me
    give you one example. There was one recent incident of which I was--or
    with which I was intimately familiar, which involved a quick and secret
    deployment of a major United States effort of FBI and FEMA and Public
    Health Service and Army personnel because we had a tip of a possible
    terrorist incident, which, thank goodness, did not materialize. But we
    went to the place, and we were ready. We were ready to try to prevent
    it. And if it occurred, we were ready to respond.
        So we have been on top of this from the beginning. Finally, let me
    say, I issued the Executive order which gives us the ability to try to
    control funding more strictly. And I have sent counterterrorism
    legislation to the Hill, which I hope will be acted upon quickly when
    they return.
        Rita [Rita Braver, CBS News].
        Q. Mr. President, does the way this is coming down give Americans
    any reason to feel a little bit more secure that this particular group
    is not going to carry out something else, or do you just not know yet?
        The President. I think Americans can be secure that our country has
    able law enforcement officials, that we work together well, that we have
    prevented terrorist activities from occurring, that, obviously, every
    civilized society is at risk of this sort of thing. I cannot, I must not
    comment on any of the specific people involved in this investigation at
    this time.
        Wolf [Wolf Blitzer, CNN].
        Q. Mr. President, is there anything that has come across your desk
    so far to suggest that this bombing in Oklahoma City could have been
    prevented, as other terrorist incidents that you were referring to were
    prevented? Was there a failure somewhere down the chain of command,
    someplace that a tip, a clue, a source, could have provided information
    leading to this explosion?
        The President. I have no evidence to that effect at this time.
        Gene [Gene Gibbons, Reuters].
        Q. Mr. President, there has been a loud, constant drumbeat in this
    country in recent years: The Government is the enemy; the Government is
    bad. Given the way this case seems to be pointing, do you think that in
    any way contributed to what happened in Oklahoma City on Wednesday?
        The President. I think it's important that we not speculate about
    the motives, the atmosphere, or anything else until this investigation
    is complete. It can only--anything I say could only undermine the
    successful conclusion of this.
        Q. Mr. President, you have been cautious about warning us and all
    Americans not to draw any conclusions over the past several days. Can
    you rule out a foreign tie to a domestic group, and can you in any way
    blame this incident on any kind of climate presently in this country?

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        The President. I cannot rule in or rule out anything. It would be
    inappropriate. The investigation has not been completed. And again,
    that's a variation of the question that was just asked. I cannot and I
    should not characterize this in terms of the climate or anything else at
    this time.
        Let us do this investigation. Let the people get the work done. Let
    us follow every lead, pursue every alley. Let's wrap this up so we can
    see it whole, and then there will be time for this kind of analysis. I
    understand why you want to do it. It's perfectly understandable and
    appropriate, but it's not ripe yet. We have to solve the heinous crime
    first.
        Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 4:05 p.m. in the Briefing Room at the White
    House. The Executive order of January 23 prohibiting transactions with
    terrorists is listed in Appendix D at the end of this volume.