    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book I)]
    [May 17, 1996]
    [Pages 763-764]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 763]]

    Remarks on Signing Megan's Law and an Exchange With Reporters
    May 17, 1996

        Good morning. I want to welcome Senator Grams and Congressman
    Zimmer, Congresswoman Lofgren, Bonnie Campbell from the Justice
    Department.
        This has been a week in which our country is moving to combat crime
    and violence. A couple of days ago we awarded over 9,000 new police
    officers to some 2,500 communities. That brings us to 43,000 police
    officers in 20 months along the road to our goal of 100,000. We're ahead
    of schedule and under budget.
        But today the valiant presence of five American parents reminds us
    that this fight against crime is so much more a fight for peace and for
    safety for our people and especially for our children. Richard and
    Maureen Kanka, Patty Wetterling, Marc Klaas, and John Walsh have
    suffered more than any parent should ever have to suffer. They have
    lived through the greatest pain a parent can know, a child brutally
    ripped from a parent's love. And somehow they found within themselves
    the strength to bear a further burden. They took up the parents'
    concerns for all children's safety and dedicated themselves to answering
    that concern.
        Each of you deserves the fullest measure of your country's thanks.
    Because of you, steps have already been taken to help families protect
    their children. Study after study has shown us that sex offenders commit
    crime after crime. So 2 years ago we gave every State the power to
    notify communities about child sex offenders and violent sex offenders
    who move into their neighborhoods. We're fighting now to uphold these
    laws in courts all across the country, and we will fight to uphold them
    all the way to the Supreme Court.
        Today we are taking the next step. From now on, every State in the
    country will be required by law to tell a community when a dangerous
    sexual predator enters its midst. We respect people's rights, but today
    America proclaims there is no greater right than a parent's right to
    raise a child in safety and love. Today America warns: If you dare to
    prey on our children, the law will follow you wherever you go, State to
    State, town to town. Today America circles the wagon around our
    children. Megan's Law will protect tens of millions of families from the
    dread of what they do not know. It will give more peace of mind to our
    parents.
        To understand what this law really means, never forget its name, the
    name of a 7-year-old girl taken wrongly in the beginning of her life.
    The law that bears a name of one child is now for every child, for every
    parent and every family. It is for Polly and Jacob and Adam, and, above
    all, for Megan.
        I thank the Congress for passing it. I thank those who led the
    fight. And I thank these families more than anything else. God bless you
    all.

    [At this point, the President signed the legislation.]

        Thank you.
        Q. Mr. President, you said here that studies have shown sex
    offenders commit crime after crime. But apparently the courts,
    especially on the State level, don't seem to recognize that fact. What
    makes you think that all the way up to the Supreme Court they are going
    to change that opinion?
        The President. First of all, I hope that this law will be upheld if
    it is challenged. I believe it will be. And before we went forward with
    this, in consultation with the Congress, including the leaders of
    Congress who are here now, we did a great deal of legal research on it.
    And we felt that we could defend it, and we felt that it was right.
        And Congress has done its job. And now it is our job to get out
    there and defend this law, and we intend to do it if it's challenged.
    And in the meanwhile, we intend to enforce it.

    Death of Admiral Jeremy M. Boorda

        Q. Have you talked to Mrs. Boorda?
        The President. Excuse me?
        Q. Have you talked with Mrs. Boorda?
        The President. I have not because yesterday--I intend to call her as
    soon as this is over. But yesterday I asked the Secretary of Defense to
    determine the family's wishes, and they wanted a day alone, and I
    understood that. But I intend to speak with her this morning as soon as
    this is over.

    [[Page 764]]

    Pennsylvania Avenue

        Q. Mr. President, Pennsylvania Avenue has been closed for a year
    now, and it hasn't exactly become the urban parklike setting that was
    planned when it was closed. And it is frequently, in fact, cut off from
    tourist and pedestrian use. What would you like to see?
        The President. Well, I would like--if it is the judgment of the
    Secret Service and the other security people that we should keep it
    closed, I would like to see it fixed as it was intended in that plan
    that was developed about 30 years or so ago and turned into a genuine
    park so it can be made available to all the many people who live in and
    around Washington and all those who come here to visit. It's quite a
    nice space, and with a little investment, it could be made, I think,
    quite attractive. Right now the skateboarders and the rollerbladers seem
    to like it, but I'd like to see it made more helpful to more people.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:50 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Polly Klaas, Jacob Wetterling,
    Adam Walsh, and Megan Kanka, child crime victims; and Bettie Boorda,
    widow of Adm. Jeremy M. Boorda. H.R. 2137, approved May 17, was assigned
    Public Law No. 104-145.