    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book II)]
    [August 13, 1997]
    [Pages 1100-1102]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks in Support of the Oklahoma City Memorial
    August 13, 1997

        Thank your very much. Thank you, Mayor, and thank you for your
    extraordinary leadership in a very difficult time. I thank you, Robert
    Johnson, for taking on this project and seeing it through with such care
    and ability and love. Governor, Kathy, thank you for being here.
    Councilman Schwartz, Madam Attorney General, I would like to thank you
    and, through you and Mr. Young, all the people who worked so hard on
    this from the Federal Government in the days and months and for a long
    time afterward. And Toby, thank you for the sapling. I will take good
    care of it. I have already been advised by the people who run the
    grounds here that I cannot run out and plant it--[laughter]--in the hot
    Washington summer but that we can keep it in our greenhouse, and then in
    October we will plant it alongside the dogwood on the

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    White House lawn. It is a great gift to the American people. It comes
    from what is a true tree of life, and that tree will always remind us of
    the city, the people who bent but did not break.
        Hillary and I will never forget what happened on April 19, 1995, or
    our trips there afterward, the losses people endured, the heroism of the
    rescue workers, the compassion of the neighbors and the friends from
    around America. And I think we now know that, in spite of everything,
    you did not lose America. And America, I think, is very proud of the
    people of Oklahoma City and the entire State of Oklahoma. I think there
    is not a citizen in our country that didn't identify with the people in
    that awful moment and in the days afterward. Every one of us who ever
    came there and saw you wearing the pictures of your loved ones, we saw
    our children and our parents and our sisters and our brothers.
        We owe you an enormous debt because you have given us a gift, too,
    of reminding us of what is truly important. I have talked to Governor
    Keating about this at times. You know, we went to college together, and
    we sort of weren't in the same political party back then either--
    [laughter]--and the issues that we deal with now make the ones we dealt
    with then seem small. But the truth is, here in this town where we do a
    lot of things that are very important and we argue and we debate and we
    ferociously struggle over things that in that awful moment were stripped
    of all their pretense and significance and we were reminded once again,
    as we are today, about the things which really count in life, the things
    which God has given to all of us, the things which no one can take away,
    and the things that perhaps we'll do a better job of never forgetting in
    the pressure of our daily lives when we sometimes are fooled into
    thinking that what we're doing now will be of some lasting benefit, more
    profound than the simple gift of life and the human spirit that we have
    been given and that it is our charge to preserve as best we can for all
    of our fellow citizens--that was a gift that the people of Oklahoma City
    gave to me, that your dignity and generosity, and yours, Mayor, and all
    the people gave to me, and I'm very grateful to you for it. And I think
    that maybe it makes all of us who were so moved by it a little more
    effective and a little more human day-in and day-out than we otherwise
    might have been. And for those of you who endured terrible losses,
    perhaps at least you can know that your loved ones and what they gave up
    live on in all of us trying just a little harder every day to be better
    people and to do the right thing than we might have otherwise done.
        I want to also say that I have been terrifically impressed by the
    design for this memorial. It is elegant. It is symbolic. It manages to
    focus on this act of unconscionable violence and still honor the valor
    of the people of the community and the lives of the victims in a setting
    of reflection and peace that should leave people, when they go through
    it, feeling stronger rather than weaker. And that is no small task. So
    I'm glad, Hans and Torrey, you're here, and I wish Mr. Berg was here.
    This is an inspired effort, and you too will give, over time, millions
    of people a gift that is truly priceless.
        Let me say, too--Mr. Johnson talked about this, but I want to
    compliment the process. I have no doubt that the totally open and
    democratic nature of this process, the reaching out to the family
    members and the survivors every step of the way, was absolutely
    indispensable to the healing of the people who were affected by what
    happened. I also have no doubt that it gave you a better memorial, a
    more powerful, more profound, more lasting memory. I also understand
    that there are several people here who have made substantial financial
    contributions to make it possible for the groundbreaking to occur next
    April, and I want to thank all of them. And having been involved in
    matters like this in the past, I want to encourage others to help them
    until the full cost is met.
        Let me say that there's something we should do at the national level
    as well. We all know that the Oklahoma City bombing was an attack not
    just on the people, a city, a State but the Nation and, as the mayor
    said, on what we stand for, how we govern ourselves, and the values we
    live by. The Congress is now considering legislation to make all three
    components of the Oklahoma City Memorial a national monument and part of
    our national park system. I strongly support that goal. The tragedy was
    a national one, and the memorial should be recognized and embraced and
    supported by the Nation. Thanks to the Oklahoma City Memorial Foundation
    and the family members and the survivors, we have now reached another
    crucial stage in our recovery, and we have now a memorial that

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    I hope will be part of our national park system--a memorial of true
    power and amazing grace.
        I'm grateful to all of you. I look forward to the success of the
    legislation. And again I say, you have helped our Nation, and for that
    we are very grateful.
        Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 6:09 p.m. in the Roosevelt Room at the
    White House. In his remarks, he referred to Mayor Ronald J. Norick of
    Oklahoma City; Robert M. Johnson, chairman, Oklahoma City Memorial
    Foundation; Gov. Frank Keating of Oklahoma; Kathleen Treanor and Toby
    Thompson, relatives of bombing victims; Oklahoma City Councilman Mark
    Schwartz; R.L. (Buddy) Young, Region VI Director, Federal Emergency
    Management Agency; and memorial architects Hans-Ekkehard Butzer, Torrey
    Butzer, and Sven Berg.