[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
[May 15, 1997]
[Pages 602-604]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at the Peace Officers Memorial Ceremony
May 15, 1997

    Thank you. Thank you very much. President Gallegos, Auxiliary 
President Lippe, to all the distinguished law enforcement 
representatives who are here; Senator Thurmond, Senator Biden, Senator 
Leahy, Congressman Stupak; members of our Cabinet administration. I'd 
like to thank all of those who support this endeavor every year, and 
especially this year Tommy Motolla and Gloria Estefan and most 
importantly, to the family members of those who have lost their lives in 
the service of our country.
    In just 2 weeks, on Memorial Day, the American people will pause to 
pay tribute to the fallen military heroes who died to preserve the 
liberties upon which our Nation was founded and which have enabled it to 
endure for more than 200 years. Today we stand here on Peace Officers 
Memorial Day to pay tribute to a sacrifice no less great and no less 
critical to our liberties.
    The police officers whose names are carved on the memorial are also 
our fallen heroes. And in the hearts of their families and the people 
whose lives they touched, their heroism will always shine.

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    Officer Lauretha Vaird was a 9-year veteran on the Philadelphia 
Police Department, a single, working mother. She often said that her two 
greatest loves were her boys and her badge, and she dedicated her life 
to them both. She was a community police officer who walked the streets 
of her beat with pride. One day she responded to a silent alarm at a 
local bank. And as she tried to prevent an armed robbery, a gunman's 
bullet took her life and left her children with only the memory of their 
heroic mother.
    Officer Brian Gibson was a community police officer who grew up on 
streets he would later patrol. A native of this city, he served our 
country as a United States Marine in the Persian Gulf before joining the 
DC police force, a decorated officer who pounded the pavement to fight 
drugs and the people who sell them. One night he was killed at point-
blank range by a raging gang member as he simply sat in the police car 
just a short ride from that memorial where his name will be carved. He, 
too, left behind a grieving family and friends and a legacy of courage.
    Today we honor the service and take pride in all the stories of the 
116 men and women who gave their lives to protect our safety. Our safety 
was their purpose and passion. And while we can never repay them for 
their ultimate sacrifice, we can, and we must, honor their memory not 
only in words but in actions that do justice to their lives and to the 
great loss their families and loved ones have suffered.
    For too many years in our country, crime seemed destined to keep 
rising regardless of citizen outrage or law enforcement frustration. 
Then, slowly, you in law enforcement began to turn the tide, building 
bridges to concerned citizens and needy children and troubled 
neighborhoods, but losing brothers and sisters along the way.
    Four years ago, we joined you as a nation to reclaim our streets, 
our schools, and our society with a commitment to a comprehensive 
approach to crime based on what you told us--what you told us would 
work. You told us we needed more police on the street, tougher penalties 
and better prevention. You told us especially we needed more community 
police officers. Today, we're putting 100,000 more of them on the street 
to join with you.
    You told us illegal handguns and deadly assault weapons were 
undermining your efforts to fight gangs and drugs, so we banned them 
with the Brady bill and the assault weapons ban. Just since the Brady 
bill was enacted in 1993, 186,000 felons, fugitives, and stalkers have 
been denied the right to buy handguns. Today we take another step--
[applause]--thank you. Today we take another step to protect our 
communities from gun violence by dangerous drifters who threaten our 
safety.
    Two months ago, after the terrible tragedy at the Empire State 
Building, I directed the ATF to require people who buy guns from 
federally-licensed dealers simply to prove they were not just passing 
through. Today, we're releasing a new application to make sure that 
certification of residency is an unavoidable step for gun purchases. 
Those who can't prove it, can't purchase.
    These efforts--[applause]--thank you. And thanks to you, these 
efforts are working. Crime is dropping, and all over America, 
neighborhood by neighborhood, hope for a safer future is slowly but 
surely being restored. It is all the more bittersweet that as crime has 
dropped in this country 5 years in a row for the first time in more than 
two decades, we must still gather to carve new names into the hard stone 
of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.
    In 1996, we added 116 names. While the loss of even one of those 
officers' lives is one too many, that is the smallest number of police 
officers to lose their lives in the line of duty since 1959. Today, in 
honor of those 116 officers, let us pledge to redouble our efforts so 
that every year, there will be fewer and fewer names, until one year we 
will gather with not a single name to add to that roll of heroes. Let 
that be our goal and our solemn obligation.
    I ask you all now to move with us to our most pressing priority--to 
take back our streets from violent gangs. Once again, we known what to 
do because you have told us what to do. You have proven in place after 
place that it can be done, in cities like Boston where youth murders 
have dropped by 80 percent in 5 years and not a single child has been 
killed with a gun in a year and a half. If we can do it in one community 
in this country, we must be able to do it in every community in America.
    In February, I sent legislation to the Congress that follows law 
enforcement's advice and Boston's lead, to declare war on gangs and 
youth violence with more prosecutors, tougher penalties, and better 
prevention programs for at-risk young people. For as tough as we must

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be on violent juvenile crime, we also must ensure a safer environment 
and positive opportunities and role models for our children in the most 
vulnerable communities.
    Statistics show that half of juvenile crime at least occurs in the 3 
hours after school is closed and before the parents come home. My bill 
will help to launch 1,000 after-school initiatives. Who can be against 
allowing a child to stay in school instead of on a street corner? Who 
can be against teachers as children's role models instead of thugs? Who 
can be against adults to supervise children instead of a lawless world 
of gangs to guide them?
    Finally, we know we must cut off young people's access to guns that 
can cut off their lives. And I believe someone who commits a violent 
crime at 17 should not be able to turn around and buy a gun for a 
birthday present at 21. I want a juvenile crime bill to extend the Brady 
bill to violent juvenile offenders.
    I also believe that these guns should be sold with child safety 
locks. We protect aspirin bottles in this country better than we protect 
guns from accidents by children.
    In March, I directed Federal agencies to provide their agents with 
such child safety devices, and I'm pleased to say that today every FBI 
and ATF agent has a child safety lock. By October 15th, every agent from 
the DEA to the U.S. Marshal to the Border Patrol to the Park Police will 
have one, as well. If a child safety lock is good enough for law 
enforcement, it ought to be even better for the general public.
    In the last 4 years we have proved that we can work together and 
learn from each other and that when we do, we can restore hope and 
improve safety in our communities. Now we have a chance to build on that 
progress by passing a smart, balanced juvenile justice bill that does 
more than talk tough. The American people deserve that. A juvenile crime 
bill that doesn't crack down on guns and gangs, that doesn't guarantee 
more prosecutors, probation officers, and after-school hours is a crime 
bill in name only.
    Today I ask the Members of the Congress to work with me, without 
regard to party, to pass a juvenile crime bill that will help us to work 
toward year-in and year-out fewer and fewer people to honor here, until 
there is no one new to add to the wall.
    To the family members of the victims who are here, I know and I must 
say again that nothing we can do or say can bring them back or ease your 
sorrow. Only God and the time and comfort you give to each other can do 
that. But I ask you this: to know that the cause in which your loved 
ones died, right against wrong, law against lawlessness, hope against 
fear, is a worthy and noble cause. And because of their efforts and the 
efforts of others who wear our uniforms, it has now become a winning 
cause.
    It is our job, those of us who remain, to make sure that we press on 
and on and on until such tragedies are a stunning exception, not a 
numbing statistic. As we go forward into that future, that is our most 
solemn obligation to you.
    Thank you, and God bless you.

Note: The President spoke at 1:30 p.m. on the West Grounds of at the 
Capitol. In his remarks, he referred to Gil Gallegos, president, and 
Karen Lippe, auxiliary president, Fraternal Order of Police; Thomas 
Motolla, president and chief operating officer, Sony Music 
Entertainment; and entertainer Gloria Estefan. The Peace Officers 
Memorial Day and Police Week proclamation of May 7 is listed in Appendix 
D at the end of this volume.