    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book II)]
    [August 10, 1996]
    [Pages 1288-1290]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    August 10, 1996

        Good morning. Earlier this week Hillary and I were honored to
    welcome America's Olympic team to the White House. I believe the
    centennial Olympics were the best ever. The competition was wonderful. A
    record 197 teams were involved. The crowds were enormous and
    enthusiastic. Our athletes amassed a terrific record. There were
    powerful moments of courage in victory and defeat that captured the
    imagination of the entire world.
        I think most of us wish the world would work more like the Olympics.
    There were all kinds of people bound together by mutual respect and
    acceptance of the rules of the game. All the individuals and teams had a
    chance, gave it their best, and win or lose, were better off for their
    efforts.
        As heroic as the feats of the athletes in this Olympics was the way
    all those involved in the Atlanta games pressed on in the face of
    adversity. Just 2 weeks ago today a pipe bomb exploded in Centennial
    Olympic Park. It was a terrorist act aimed not only at the innocent
    people there but the very spirit of the Olympics. This was brutal
    evidence that no nation is immune from terrorism and an urgent reminder
    that we must do everything we can to fight the terrorists.
        The world we live in is more open than ever. People have more
    opportunities than ever because people and technology and information
    travel quickly across national borders. But these things that make us
    all closer and give us more chances also make us more vulnerable to the
    forces of organized destruction, to the drug traffickers, the organized
    criminals, the people who sell weapons of mass destruction, and of
    course, especially to the terrorists.
        What happened in the Olympic Centennial Park, that wonderful public
    space open to all people who visited Atlanta, is symbolic of the world's
    problem with terrorism. Now, that's why terrorism must be a central
    national security priority for the United States. Our efforts must and
    will be unrelenting, coordinated, and strong.
        We are pursuing a three-part strategy against terrorism.
        First, we're rallying the world community to stand with us against
    terrorism. From the Summit of the Peacemakers in Sharm al-Sheikh,

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    Egypt, where 13 Arab nations for the very first time condemned terror in
    Israel and throughout the Middle East to the antiterror agreements we
    reached with our G-7 partners in Russia last month to take specific
    common actions to fight terrorism, we are moving forward together. Our
    intelligence services have been sharing more information with other
    nations than ever to stop terrorists before they act, capture them if
    they do, and see that they're brought to justice. We've imposed stiff
    sanctions with our allies against states that support terrorists. When
    necessary, we're acting on our own. A law I signed this week will help
    to deny Iran and Libya the money they use to finance international
    terrorism.
        Second, our antiterrorism strategy relies on tough enforcement and
    stern punishment here at home. We made terrorism a Federal offense,
    expanded the role of the FBI, imposed the death penalty. We've hired
    more law enforcement personnel, added resources, improved training. And
    I'm proposing a new law that will help to keep terrorists off our soil,
    fight money laundering, and punish violent crimes committed against
    Americans abroad.
        Third, we're tightening security on our airplanes and at our
    Nation's airports. From now on, we'll hand-search more luggage and
    screen more bags and require preflight inspections for any plane flying
    to or from the United States. I've asked Vice President Gore to head an
    effort to deploy new high-technology inspection machines at our airports
    and to review all our security operations.
        We'll continue to press forward on all three of these fronts. But we
    cannot cast aside any tools in this fight for the security of our
    country and the safety of our people. That is exactly what the
    Republican majority in Congress did by stripping from the antiterrorism
    legislation key provisions that law enforcement needs to help them find
    out, track down, and shut down terrorists.
        Law enforcement has asked for wiretap authority to enable them to
    follow terrorists as they move from phone to phone. This is the only way
    to track stealthy terrorists as they plot their crimes. This authority
    has already been granted to our law enforcement officials when they're
    dealing with organized criminals. Surely it is even more urgent to give
    them this authority when it comes to terrorists. But Congress said no.
        And law enforcement has also asked that explosives used to make a
    bomb be marked with a taggant, a trace chemical or a microscopic plastic
    chip scattered throughout the explosives. This way sophisticated
    machines can find bombs before they explode, and when they do explode
    police scientists can trace a bomb back to the people who actually sold
    the explosive materials that led to the bomb.
        Now, tagging works. In Switzerland over the past decade it's helped
    to identify who made bombs and explosives in over 500 cases. When it was
    being tested in our country several years ago, it helped police to find
    a murderer in Maryland.
        In the last 2 weeks since the Olympic bombing, our law enforcement
    officers have been working around the clock, but they have been denied a
    scientific tool that might help to solve investigations like this one.
        Our antiterrorism bill would have given us the ability to require
    tagging gunpowder often used in making pipe bombs. The Republicans in
    Congress could give law enforcement this antiterrorism tool, but once
    again they're listening to the gun lobby over law enforcement. It may be
    good politics, but it's not good for the American people. This is a
    reasonable proposal from our law enforcement community. It doesn't have
    anything to do with limiting people's ability to own or use guns in a
    lawful manner. The same people who opposed the Brady bill and the
    assault weapons ban are opposing this provision. I'd just like to remind
    them that no hunter or sportsman has lost a weapon or the right to use a
    weapon in a lawful manner as a result of the Brady bill or the assault
    weapons ban, but we're getting rid of 19 deadly assault weapons, and
    60,000 felons, fugitives, and stalkers have not gotten handguns because
    of the Brady bill.
        We should have a good taggants provision in our antiterrorism
    legislation. So let's put aside interest group politics and honor the
    victims of terrorism, protect our people, and support our law
    enforcement officials by giving them the tools they plainly need.
        This fight against terrorism will be long and hard. There will be
    setbacks along the way. But let's remember, we can win. Already we have
    prevented planned terrorist attacks on the Holland Tunnel in New York,
    on the United Nations building, on our airplanes flying out of our west
    coast airports. Already we have suc-

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    ceeded in extraditing terrorists back to America and convicting
    terrorists and arresting others who are suspected of terrorism. We can
    whip this problem.
        Just as no enemy could drive us from the fight to meet our
    challenges and protect our values in World War II and the cold war, we
    cannot be driven from the fight against today's enemy, terrorism. We
    know that if we all work together, America will prevail.
        Thanks for listening.

    Note: The address was recorded at 3:30 p.m. on August 9 at the Bar B Bar
    Ranch in Jackson Hole, WY, for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on August 10.