    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book II)]
    [July 18, 1996]
    [Pages 1147-1148]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on the Aircraft Tragedy in East Moriches, New York, and an
    Exchange With Reporters
    July 18, 1996

        The President. I'd like to say a few words about the crash last
    night. First, on behalf of the American people, I want to say to the
    families of the passengers of Flight 800,\1\ we are well aware that only
    the passage of time, the love of your family, and faith in God can ease
    your pain, but America stands with you. Our thoughts, our prayers have
    been with you through the night, and they will be with you in the days
    to come.
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            \1 \White House correction.
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          Our Government is doing everything we can to continue the search
    for survivors and to find out the causes of this accident. The Chief of
    Staff, Leon Panetta, has just met in the White House Situation Room with
    all the agencies involved and has finished briefing me on our response.
    I've asked him to ensure that our response will continue to be prompt,
    effective, and comprehensive.
        Right now the Coast Guard, the National Transportation Safety Board,
    the FAA, and the FBI are on the scene of the crash. As of now, no
    survivors have been found. Hundreds of rescue personnel rushed to help
    in pitch dark, lit only by the flames of burning wreckage. And I want to
    thank them for their brave work in these treacherous waters on behalf of
    the people who were on that flight.
        We do not know what caused this tragedy. I want to say that again;
    we do not know as of this moment what caused this tragedy. We are
    beginning the painstaking process of piecing together what happened.
    Additional briefings to provide the latest details of what is being done
    will be coordinated by the Department of Transportation and will be
    given to you on a regular basis. We will determine what happened. But
    for now, I want to caution again the American people against jumping to
    any conclusions and ask that today, overwhelmingly, our people remember
    the families of the people who are on that flight in their prayers.
        Thank you very much.
        Q. Are you worried that it is terrorism?
        Q. Mr. President, are you doing anything further on the issue of
    airline safety? Are you ordering any steps today, any action that you
    think might be warranted?
        The President. Terry [Terence Hunt, Associated Press], I want to
    wait, first of all, until we at least get further along in this
    investigation. I think we need to focus on this investigation now.
        Q. Are you worried, sir, that there is some kind of increase in
    terrorism in this country now? And what are you doing to try to get at
    least in position to combat that, if it is the reason for this crash?
        The President. Well, we are doing a number of things continuously to
    try to continue to upgrade the safety of our infrastructure and the
    ability of the United States to protect itself from terrorism. That's
    one of the reasons I pushed so hard for the antiterrorism legislation.

    [[Page 1148]]

        But I want to caution the American people; we have no evidence--we
    have no evidence on this flight yet that would indicate the cause of the
    accident. And I want to remind you that when we had the terrible tragedy
    in Oklahoma City, a lot of people immediately concluded that this must
    have been done by some force outside our country, and it appears that
    that was not the case now. So let's wait until we see the evidence. We
    are working hard on this.
        I just spoke with Mayor Giuliani and Governor Pataki, who are most
    concerned right now with the victims and seeing that the families get
    notified quickly, and we're working on that with them. But they said
    that they were quite confident that the Federal people who were on the
    ground were doing everything they could. They are very, very good at
    piecing these things together, and we need to let them do their work and
    not jump to any conclusions.
        Q. [Inaudible]--Giuliani was quite critical of the management of
    TWA, Mr. President----
        Q. How would you characterize----
        The President. One at a time.
        Q. Mr. President, how would you characterize the various phone calls
    of individuals claiming so-called responsibility that have come into
    various news organizations and law enforcement authorities?
        The President. Well, I wouldn't characterize them yet. Again, it's
    hard to know. You know, sometimes such calls are accurate; sometimes
    such calls are attempting to ride along on a tragedy. And therefore I
    believe we should wait for the evidence. We will find out what happened.
    Let's wait for the evidence.
        Q. Mr. President, Mayor Giuliani was quite critical of the senior
    management of TWA, which he said was inadequately staffing the situation
    there last night. He praised the Federal effort. Have you guys any
    indication that the airline is not doing all it could, or have you
    spoken with the airline, have the Federal authorities spoken with the
    airline about----
        The President. Well, let me say, last night--I stayed up until a
    little past midnight last night, but I was depending more on you all
    than anything else once I got my preliminary reports. And then this
    morning I've been more concerned with making sure we were doing our job.
    So this issue with TWA and the notification of families has just been
    presented to me. We will do what we can. I can't believe the airline
    doesn't want to do the right thing. They may be--you know, everybody,
    when something like this happens, may be a little bit in shock at the
    moment. We'll look into that and see whether there's anything we can do.
        But I have no--again, the main thing I want to say to the American
    people today is, we are working overtime on this. Do not jump to
    conclusions. Let's wait until we get the facts, and let's remember the
    families.
        Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:17 a.m. in the Briefing Room at the
    White House. In his remarks, he referred to Mayor Rudolph Giuliani of
    New York City and Gov. George Pataki of New York.