    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
    [April 15, 1998]
    [Pages 565-566]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Exchange With Reporters on Tornado Damage in the Pratt City Neighborhood
    of Birmingham, Alabama
    April 15, 1998

        Q. Mr. President, now that you've seen it firsthand, what do you
    think?
        The President. It's horrible. But I'm glad so many people lived,
    like these people here. They were in the--they got warning, so they went
    in the bathroom and lay down. They have two 8-year-old twins. They had
    their children with them. So they're all unhurt.
        We've just got to make sure that they get--they have no livelihood
    here. And the important thing is that we move this assistance as quickly
    as we can to them.
        Q. What assistance are you bringing today?
        The President. We have all kinds of personal assistance, and we're
    also going to try to help them with the cleanup so they can get back to
    normal and also hire some people around here, while they're otherwise
    idle, to be part of the cleanup.
        Q. What are you trying to say to these people? It's got to be so
    difficult to talk to people----
        The President. I think the most important thing is that they--right
    now a lot of them are still almost in shock, but they're beginning to
    think--it's been a few days now--they're beginning to think about how
    they're going to live. And the important thing is that we work out all
    the practical problems of their lives right now--make sure everybody has
    got a place to

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    live and food and income to live on--and then that we move all these
    claims through as quickly as possible and do everything we can to speed
    the process by which they can return to normal.
        There is so much grief and frustration and loss. The most positive
    thing that can be done is just to get everybody focused on tomorrow. If
    they've all got something to look forward to tomorrow, some progress, no
    matter how halting, it's been my experience that that's the healthiest
    thing that can happen, that everybody--just start people focused on
    coming back. And so that's what we're trying to do.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:35 a.m. while touring the area struck by
    a tornado on April 8. A tape was not available for verification of the
    content of this exchange.