[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book II)]
[August 24, 1996]
[Pages 1334-1335]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



The President's Radio Address
August 24, 1996

    Good morning. As I speak to you today, America can look back on a 
week of remarkable achievement.
    Together we enacted a law to ensure you can take your health 
insurance from job to job and never be denied insurance just because you 
or someone in your family has been sick. Together we made pensions more 
secure and raised the minimum wage to make it easier for working parents 
to raise their children. Together

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we tore down a failed welfare system to move millions of people from 
welfare to work while protecting their children. And together we enacted 
the toughest ever measures to cut off children's access to tobacco 
products.
    America is on the right track, offering more opportunity, demanding 
more responsibility, building a stronger community, a sense of shared 
values, and stronger families.
    Today I want to talk about something else we have to do to really 
strengthen America's families, making sure that children can walk home 
from school or play in their backyards without the plague of violence. 
We've certainly come a long way, with sweeping anti-crime measures that 
have helped to reduce our crime rate for 4 years in a row now. We passed 
the Brady bill, which already has stopped 60,000 felons, fugitives, and 
stalkers from buying handguns. We're putting 100,000 new police officers 
on the beat and banning assault weapons. And we're giving our children 
something to say yes to, some positive activities and strong role models 
to build better futures.
    But nothing is more threatening to our families and communities and 
more destructive of our basic values than sex offenders who victimize 
children and families. Study after study tell us that they often repeat 
the same crimes. That's why we have to stop sex offenders before they 
commit their next crime, to make our children safe and give their 
parents peace of mind.
    Since taking office, I have undertaken an aggressive three-part plan 
to stop sexual predators. First, our crime bill required every State in 
the Nation to keep track of sex offenders. That law is working. Just 
this week, a previously convicted sex offender who had moved to a new 
neighborhood in Illinois was arrested for molesting a 9-year-old boy. 
The police caught him only because they had come to his home to register 
him under our new law.
    Second, I signed Megan's Law, which required States to notify 
communities when sex offenders move into the neighborhood. Now we're 
taking the third and most important step. Sixty days ago I directed the 
Attorney General to draw up a plan for a national registry of sex 
offenders. That plan has now reached my desk. Today I am pleased to 
announce that we are following through on our commitment to keep track 
of these criminals, not just in a single State but wherever they go, 
wherever they move, so that parents and police have the warning they 
need to protect our children. Our reasoning is simple. Deadly criminals 
don't stay within State lines, so neither should law enforcement's tools 
to stop them.
    Here's how it will work. Every time a sex offender is released, 
their State will force them to register. Then the FBI will compile these 
State lists into a national data base. Within 6 months, a new computer 
network will give States information from every other State for the very 
first time. A police officer in Cleveland could get information about 
any known sex offenders in Cleveland, even if the crimes were committed 
in New York or Los Angeles. Then they will share that information with 
the families and communities that have a right to know. This national 
registry sends a simple message to those who would prey on our children: 
The law will follow you wherever you go.
    To meet the parents who have had their children stolen from them, to 
see how these hateful acts destroy whole families and communities is to 
know that we need more than local solutions to stop these criminals. We 
need the resources and resolve of our whole national law enforcement 
team working together.
    Above all, we must move forward to the day when we are no longer 
numb to acts of violence against children, when their appearance on the 
evening news is both shocking and very rare. Our approach is working. 
We're putting cops on the beat, taking guns, drugs, and criminals off 
the streets. More and more, our children can learn and play and dream 
without risk of harm. That is an America that is moving in the right 
direction.
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 7:55 p.m. on August 23 in the Oval 
Office at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on August 24.