[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?

[[Page 568]]

    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?

[[Page 569]]

    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.