    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
    [August 17, 1999]
    [Pages 1450-1452]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Public Service Announcements on School Violence
    August 17, 1999

        Leilani, most people twice your age
    couldn't do that. [Laughter]

    Earthquake in Turkey

        Ladies and gentlemen, because this is my first chance of the week to
    speak to the press, before we get on to showing the spot, I have to say
    just a couple of words about the awful earthquake that occurred in
    Turkey, which I'm sure a lot of you have heard about. It has claimed
    hundreds of lives and many injuries.
        So let me begin by saying on behalf of all Americans, our thoughts
    and prayers are with the victims and their families. Most of you know
    that Turkey has been our friend and ally for a long time now. We must
    stand with them and do whatever we can to help them get through this
    terrible crisis.
        We've already released aid for the Turkish Red Crescent. We're
    sending a team to Turkey to help with search and rescue today. Our
    Energy Secretary, Bill Richardson, and
    General Hugh Shelton, the Chairman of the
    Joint Chiefs of Staff, are actually in Turkey, and they have personally
    conveyed our willingness to provide additional assistance. General
    Shelton has met with his Turkish counterpart to offer the military's
    help with disaster relief. And we will continue to determine what
    further help is needed. But you can only imagine how difficult this is
    for them, and we will do what we can to help.

    School Violence

        Now, let me thank Leilani again and
    Wyatt Keusch and Harrison
    Boatwright, who are the young people
    here with us, who are also in the PSA. I want to thank Secretary
    Riley and Attorney General Reno, who have really done a wonderful job of trying to have
    a coordinated and balanced approach to keeping our children safe.
    Governor Romer, thank you. I want to thank all the
    people here from the entertainment industry, Jack and Richard and Eddie, Sheila and all the others who stood up. Thank you
    so much for your generosity and your farsightedness. Thank you, Peggy
    Conlon; you're a great spokesperson for the
    people you represent, and you've been great in helping us to get this
    far. And I want to thank my long-time friend Drew Altman and the Kaiser Foundation for their support in this
    endeavor. I'd also like to thank the young AmeriCorps members who are
    here today, who spent a lot of time working with our young people and
    trying to help them stay safe. This is a very important issue to
    Hillary, to me, to our entire administration.
        In 2 weeks Leilani's going to start at
    a brand new school. That's probably more scary than introducing the
    President to a bunch of strangers. [Laughter] And you know, there are
    always a lot of worries associated with going to a new school: All these
    strange people--are they going to like me? Am I going to like them?
    You've got to get to know the teachers; you've just got to find your way
    around; got to remember the combination to a new locker. [Laughter]
    Those are the things that our kids ought to be worried about.
        They shouldn't be worried about whether what they saw in Littleton
    or Conyers or what that young madman in Illinois and Indiana or at the
    Jewish community center in L.A. could possibly happen to them. That's
    what they shouldn't worry about. But they do because they've seen the
    press reports, and so has our entire Nation.
        We're still grieving for the young children, the teacher, the
    counselor, the receptionist, at the Jewish community center, or the
    family of that young Filipino-American, Joseph Ileto, who was killed only because he was an Asian-American
    who worked for his country's government.
        Secretary Riley has gone across the
    country trying to make sure that all of us can put this in some kind of
    context. The Attorney General has, as well. The
    crime rate in this country's at a 26-year low; juvenile crime is going
    down;

    [[Page 1451]]

    the Center for Disease Control and the Department of Education show that
    overall violence has actually decreased in our schools. It's important
    to tell these children here with us today, and others, that the chances
    of a tragedy happening are small, less than they used to be, less than
    one in a million.
        But that's not good enough when you see how horrible it is when it
    occurs. Schools ought to be right next to our houses of worship as
    sanctuaries in America. They ought to be places where young people are
    completely safe and absolutely certain that they are. And each of us
    bears a responsibility. If Hillary is
    right that it takes a village to raise a child, it will take our whole
    national village to keep the Nation's children safe in their schools.
        A big part of that responsibility lies with parents and giving
    parents and their children the capacity and courage to communicate with
    one another. And that's a big part of why we're here to launch this
    public service campaign.
        As you will see in a moment, the PSA sponsored by the Kaiser Family
    Foundation, by Children Now, and the Ad Council sends out a powerful
    call to action: If you're a child and you see someone committing
    violence or even just talking about it--that's very important, given the
    evidence we now have about the situation in Colorado and others--if you
    see someone just talking about it, the best thing you can do is to first
    tell your parents. And if you're a parent, you have to take it
    seriously. You have to sit down and talk and listen, to draw your
    children out, to give them a chance to express their fears, to give you
    early warning, and then to share that early warning with your children's
    teachers and principal.
        This is an important message, so I'd like to, again, with thanks to
    all concerned, turn the lights out and watch the ad.

    [The public service announcement video was shown.]

        The President. Thanks to the commitment of America's broadcast and
    cable networks and cable channels, this ad and others like it will be
    seen by just about every single person in America who turns on the
    television tomorrow night during the family hour of prime time.
        This so-called television roadblock is really unprecedented. The
    networks are donating a million and a half dollars of free air time in
    one night alone. That's more blanket coverage than I get for the State
    of the Union. [Laughter] Many of the networks have already pledged to
    continue airing these PSA's during different timeslots for the remainder
    of this year.
        So let me say once again, I am very, very grateful to all the people
    involved who have fulfilled the commitment that they made at our youth
    violence summit in May, to use the power of your medium to send out
    positive messages to our children. This is a kind of thing we can do
    when we work together, and we need to continue to do so and to include
    all parts of our society.
        You remember that when we had the national summit, the First Lady
    and I said we wanted to organize a national campaign against youth
    violence, to have the same sort of galvanizing impact on our people that
    Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Students Against--I think it's now
    called--Destructive Decisions, the campaign to promote seatbelt use.
    These grassroots campaigns can have a profound effect on the way
    Americans think and the way they behave. It will be much, much easier
    now, because of the work that all of you involved in the media have done
    to bring these public service spots to the people of the United States.
    But we also need our organized campaign.
        So today I have the honor of announcing and introducing the person
    who will be the executive director of this campaign. His name is Jeff
    Bleich, and he's here with us on stage. He's
    been recognized by the American Bar Association as one of our country's
    leading young attorneys. He's also one of San Francisco's leading civic-
    minded citizens. He is the father of three beautiful children he
    desperately wants to have a safe childhood. He has received several
    prestigious awards for his pro bono legal service. He's built strong
    connections in Silicon Valley and in Hollywood, both of whom can be of
    immense help to us in this endeavor. And perhaps most important, he has
    written a very fine book on youth violence. So I'd like to ask Jeff to
    stand up, and to thank him for his service. And thank you for taking on
    this challenge to protect our children.
        Today the Department of Justice is also releasing $15 million to
    fund innovative partnerships between local police and school and
    community groups, something the Attorney General
    has been pushing since the first day she came here. These partnerships
    will help schools do

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    everything from training students in conflict resolution techniques to
    combating drug dealing and use on school grounds.
        But as every police officer in America knows, we're kidding
    ourselves if we think we can conquer youth violence without addressing
    one of its undeniable catalysts, the appalling ease with which young
    people gain access to guns. Hillary has already said, and you know that
    I strongly agree, it is long past time for Congress to step up to its
    responsibility and restore some common sense, sanity, and strength to
    our Nation's gun laws.
        Today I ask the Republican majority: When you come back to work, our
    children will be going back to school; think about them; let's not wait
    until the next senseless tragedy to pass commonsense gun safety measures
    to protect them.
        Now, I know in a country of 270 million people and tens of millions
    of guns, no law can stop every disturbed person from committing a
    violent act with a gun. But we would never do anything, as a people, if
    we gave in to the objection that all of our actions would have less than
    100 percent impact. The Brady bill has kept over 400,000 gun sales,
    which should not have occurred, from happening. It has saved countless
    lives. Closing the gun show loophole will have the same impact. Closing
    the loopholes in the assault weapons ban will have the same impact.
        Doing these other things--will they solve every problem? No. Will
    they stop every act of violence? No. Will they prevent every madman? No.
    If we used that kind of excuse, we would all stay in bed every day. We
    would never get out of bed. We would never get out of bed. We would
    never hit a lick. So we need all the tools at our disposal. Look what
    these media people have done. Will this public service ad get every
    parent in America and every child to talk about every dangerous thing
    that happens at every school? No. But it will have a huge impact.
        And so if the media people are doing their part and the school
    people are doing their part and the law enforcement people are doing
    their part, it is time to pass the reasonable and entirely modest
    measures before the Congress. For those who want to do more, I say, so
    do I. But that is no reason not to do this. This will make a difference.
    And it is certainly not an argument not to do it, that it won't solve
    every problem. It will save some lives, and we ought to do it.
        We have got to work together. That's what our national campaign is
    about; that is the message that the Ad Council is putting out in these
    ads; and down deep inside, that's what all of us know we need to do, so
    that when we see children like Leilani--don't you wish all you ever had
    to worry about was that the kid you're pulling for can get through the
    speech in front of the strangers--[laughter]--can make it through the
    athletic event, can play the solo or sing the song that is so
    excruciatingly difficult the first time you did it? These are the things
    that our children ought to be worried about. We ought to give our kids
    back their childhood. And we can do it, if we do it together.
        Thank you, and God bless you.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:12 a.m. in Presidential Hall (formerly
    Room 450) in the Old Executive Office Building. In his remarks, he
    referred to students Leilani Tassillio, who introduced the President,
    Wyatt Keusch, and Harrison Boatwright; Jack Valenti, president and chief
    executive officer, Motion Pictures Association of America, Inc.; Richard
    Masur, president, Screen Actors Guild; Edward O. Fritts, president and
    chief executive officer, National Association of Broadcasters; former
    Gov. Roy Romer of Colorado, board member, and Peggy Conlon, president
    and chief executive officer, Ad Council; and Drew E. Altman, president
    and chief executive officer, Henry J. Kaiser Foundation.