    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book I)]
    [May 11, 2000]
    [Pages 898-900]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Exchange With Reporters Following the National Equal Pay Day Observance
    May 11, 2000

    [The exchange is joined in progress.]

    Forest Fires in Los Alamos, New Mexico

        Q. ----beyond the usual response which is low interest loans and to
    actually rebuild the community?
        The President.  First of all, we're examining all that now. I want
    to know what the facts are. The Forest Service for a very long time has
    had these controlled burns, but we have to look in to it to see what the
    real facts are and what the responsibility of the Government is. And the
    rule here ought to be the ``do right'' rule: Whatever the right thing to
    do is, is exactly what should be done.
        Right now we should be focusing on doing everything we can to
    minimize the damage of the fire and protect the lab assets, deal with
    the human problems, protect the lab assets. But as we look to rebuild, I
    think we ought to ascertain the facts and just do what the right thing
    to do is. That's going to be my policy. And I just don't know about the
    facts now to be absolutely sure, but as I do, I will be for bending over
    backwards to do the right thing. That will be my policy.

    Elian Gonzalez and Asylum Law

        Q.  Should Congress put into law whether a 6-year-old boy--or what
    age a child should be

    [[Page 899]]

    able to, of his own free will, seek asylum in the United States?
    Because, of course, it's not in the law right now.
        The President.  It's not in the law. Well, traditionally, the courts
    have ruled on these things based on the facts, and there have been
    certain presumptions about people who were above or below a certain age.
    And this decision, like others, has been governed by the assumption that
    a person below a certain age should be spoken for by a parent if the
    parent is a fit parent. Whether clarifying legislation will be needed, I
    think no one ever thought so before now. And I think we all ought to
    just sit and see what the Court of Appeals says and what happens, and
    that court decision may clarify whether we need legislation or not.

    Forest Fires in Los Alamos, New Mexico

        Q.  Have you now been assured that the laboratory is safe?
        Q.  Are you going to march on Sunday?
        The President.  Well, they've taken extraordinary precautions.
    They've taken extraordinary precautions.
        Am I going to what?

    Million Mom March

        Q.  Are you going to march on Sunday?
        The President.  Well, I'm going to do something to support them.
    What I want to do is be supportive and do nothing to take away or
    distract from it. I'm going to do my best to help them. And we have a
    plan for a way that we--Hillary and I both want to be very supportive,
    and we will.

    Gun Safety Legislation

        Q.  Do you believe that will motivate Congress----
        The President.  I don't know, but it ought to, because that's
    another one of those issues which is far less partisan out in the
    country than it is here in Washington. It's like this equal pay issue.
        Q. ----seeing all those women, all those people down there, will
    that motivate Congress to get this legislation through?
        The President.  It might or it might not. It depends upon whether
    the Members of Congress feel the human impact, which to me is the most
    powerful thing, and also realize that there are more and more people who
    care about this issue. It's becoming what I call a voting issue, because
    that's the thing that very often motivates Congressmen who feel torn,
    want to do something, but are afraid to do it because of the political
    implications. Most of the polls you see on issues don't mean anything to
    them, because the real issue is whether this issue affects how people
    vote.

        And I think if a couple hundred thousand people show up here and
    several hundred thousand more at these sites around the country, it
    ought to send a signal that we want America to be a safe country and
    commonsense gun measures is a part of the strategy. And that, plus just
    the human impact of the stories, there's a chance it will break through
    and help us break this logjam. I hope and pray that it will.

    Elian Gonzalez and Asylum Law

        Q.  Any suggestion----

        The President.  What?

        Q.  Any suggestion as to when a child might be of his own free will?

        The President.  I want to wait. I may want to comment on that later,
    but I think we should, in all fairness, let the Court of Appeals issue
    their ruling, see what the state of the law is, and then make some sort
    of judgment about whether legislation is required.

    New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani

        Q.  Any reaction to the Giuliani news yesterday?

        The President.  Well, I wish him and his wife and their
    children well on the health front and on
    the domestic front. I think that's all there is--all anybody should
    want. People in public life have challenges and difficulties like people
    in other kinds of life do.

        And I've always had a good personal relationship with Mayor
    Giuliani. It's not been affected by the fact that I think my wife would
    be a better Senator. And on this, I think everybody in New York and
    everybody in America ought to be rooting for the human side of this to
    work out. We should wish him well in his struggle over his illness. We
    should wish that family well. We should want the best for their
    children, and we should want some space for all of them, out of the
    glare of publicity, to work their family issues out. That's what I want,
    and I hope he gets it.

    [[Page 900]]

     Note:  The exchange began at 1:10 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White
    House. In his remarks, the President referred to Mayor Giuliani's wife,
    Donna Hanover, and their children, Andrew and Caroline. The transcript
    released by the Office of the Press Secretary did not include the
    complete opening portion of this exchange. A tape was not available for
    verification of the content of this exchange.