    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book I)]
    [June 19, 1996]
    [Pages 928-929]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Church Burnings in the South and an Exchange With Reporters
    June 19, 1996

        The President. I would like to welcome the Governors, the other
    State elected officials who are here, the commissioners of public safety
    who are here, the Members of Congress who have come together to discuss
    the problem of church burnings, which has troubled so much of our
    country. I expect that for our part we will cover three areas today. We
    want to talk about the efforts to prosecute those who are responsible
    for these crimes, and we want to give a report

    [[Page 929]]

    on that. We want to talk a little about the rebuilding efforts. And I
    compliment the National Council of Churches and the other religious
    organizations and citizens that are involved there. And I think we all
    know we need to try to do more to prevent these burnings from occurring
    in the first place. So we're going to talk about some initiatives that
    we might be able to take together to work with communities to do more
    prevention work. And we may have more to say about that in the days
    ahead.
        The most important thing to me is that as Americans we consistently
    and passionately come together to say this crosses racial lines, this
    crosses party lines, and this crosses religious lines. The first freedom
    in the Constitution, the first amendment, enshrines the freedom of
    religion in America. And whether they're black churches or white
    churches or synagogues or the mosque that was burned in South Carolina,
    we cannot tolerate any of it.
        I thank all these people for coming together, particularly the
    Governors, to work with us to see what we can do together to stem this
    tide and turn it around. The American people do not support this, they
    are passionately opposed to it, and we need to do what we can to end it.
        Q. Do you think it's a conspiracy, Mr. President, in the country
    against black churches per se?
        The President. No. I do not believe that based on the evidence I
    have seen it is a conspiracy. On the other hand, I do believe a lot of
    these instances are racially motivated, and they tend to play off of one
    another. I think that, you know, just because they're not connected
    doesn't mean there's not a feeling there that we need to all reject
    together. And I must say I've been very moved by the range of religious
    and political organizations that have come out to speak out against
    this, offered to contribute to rebuild these churches. I think that this
    is a place where nearly 100 percent of Americans are in accord. And I
    think we just need to make our voices heard, and we need to do the right
    things. And if we can do that, I think we'll get the results that we
    want.
        Q. Given the number of church burnings that have taken place since
    you spoke out about it, are you concerned that the publicity being given
    to the issue has perhaps had the opposite effect of what you've
    intended?
        The President. Well, I don't think it will over the long run because
    the people will see that we're being effective in prosecuting these
    cases. And more and more people will rally in their own communities and
    even across community lines. We see people even across State lines
    volunteering to send church groups into other States to help rebuild
    churches and things of that kind. And I think if we develop a prevention
    strategy, it won't.
        It was quite a sizable problem before there was a lot of national
    attention to it. In the last 18 months--I've monitored the numbers over
    the last several years--the last 18 months it's gotten quite a lot
    worse. So, I think we just--we have to focus on it, and we have to speak
    out as a country about it. And I think as we speak out together and as
    people see there is no politics in this--we have Republicans and
    Democrats here, we have people--we have African-Americans, Hispanics,
    and WASP's and Jews in this room together and in this country. We're all
    going to work together on it. We can do that.

    Bruce Lindsey

        Q. Mr. President, Bruce Lindsey has been named an unindicted co-
    conspirator by Whitewater investigators. Do you still have complete
    faith in him?
        The President. Absolutely.
        Q. Will this change his status at the White House in any way?
        Q. Does this hit close to home to you, sir, with Mr. Lindsey being
    named in this way?
        The President. No. He was thoroughly investigated and not charged,
    with ample opportunities. I've got lots of confidence in him. I'm
    confident he didn't do anything wrong.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:52 p.m. in the Cabinet Room at the White
    House prior to a meeting with a group of Southern Governors and law
    enforcement officials.