[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.