[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book I)]
[April 19, 1996]
[Page 600]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at a Wreath-Laying Ceremony in St. Petersburg
April 19, 1996

    Mayor Sobchak, Commander Seleznev, Director Shoshmin, ladies and 
gentlemen. We gather in this place as friends to remember the sacrifice 
of those who made our shared victory over fascism in World War II 
possible. In this cemetery lie the victims of the siege of Leningrad. 
For 900 days and 900 nights, the citizens here wrote with their blood 
and defiance one of the greatest chapters in all the history of human 
heroism. This place is testimony to all the Russian people gave and all 
they lost in the great struggle of World War II. It calls out to all of 
us, Russians and Americans alike, to work together in peace for the 
common good for all our people and for the world.
    Mr. Mayor, here in this brave and beautiful city of St. Petersburg, 
we Americans are thousands of miles from home. But on this day, April 
19th, 1996, our hearts must be very close to home and to the sadness and 
sacrifice of our own citizens. For it was exactly one year ago today 
that a bomb destroyed the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City and 
struck at the very heart of America.
    The people who fell under the rubble of that building were ordinary 
Americans, men and women going about their jobs, working hard to provide 
for their families. They were Government workers dedicating their lives 
to helping people make the most of their own lives. They were daycare 
providers, looking out for and teaching our young children, and they 
were our children, full of promise and wonder, the pride and joy of 
their parents, the lifeblood of our future.
    Today, in the somber spirit of this magnificent memorial to Russia's 
unforgotten and unforgettable sacrifice, I ask every American to join in 
a national moment of silence for the victims of Oklahoma City.
    The loss we suffered in Oklahoma City reminds us all that when peace 
is broken, life itself becomes fragile. And so today, as we remember the 
staggering losses of the Russian people in World War II and the 
Americans who died in Oklahoma City, we pray, too, for an end to 
violence and the restoration of peace in the Middle East and everywhere 
where neighbors still fight over their ethnic and religious differences.
    Let us pause to give thanks for the freedoms, old and new, that now 
bless our lives. And let us pause to pray for those who lost their lives 
to freedom's enemies, and for those whose tomorrows can still be saved, 
if we are wise enough and strong enough to find peace.

Note: The President spoke at 9:50 a.m. at the Piskaryevskoye Cemetery. 
In his remarks, he referred to Mayor Anatoliy Aleksandrovich Sobchak of 
St. Petersburg; Comdr. Sergei Seleznev, Leningrad Military District; and 
Alexander Shoshmin, director, Piskaryevskoye Cemetery.