[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 10 (Monday, March 15, 1993)]
[Pages 403-404]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the Swearing-In Ceremony for Janet Reno as Attorney General

 March 12, 1993

    Thank you very much. Please be seated. We are honored here in the 
White House to be joined today by distinguished Members of the Senate 
and the House: Senator Biden, Senator Hatch, Senator Kennedy, Senator 
Sarbanes, one of Janet Reno's Senators, Senator Connie Mack. Senator 
Graham called me last night. He's in Florida today with the First Lady 
at a health care hearing. And he said he had an excused absence from the 
Attorney General. [Laughter]
    The Speaker and Congressman Edwards are here, and we're delighted to 
see all of them. I also would say we're delighted to be joined by Mr. 
Justice White and Mrs. White. Thank you very much for coming. Let me say 
that it is a great honor for me to be able to be here at this ceremony 
today with Janet Reno, her family, and a few of her many friends.
    I'd like to say a special word of thanks to Stuart Gerson, who has 
served ably and honorably as Acting Attorney General since the 
Inauguration. I think we owe him a round of applause. [Applause]
    Somehow I don't think any of my other proposals will pass the Senate 
by the same vote margin--[laughter]--that Janet's confirmation did. I 
especially want to thank Senator Biden and Senator Hatch and the members 
of the Judiciary Committee for waiving the normal waiting period between 
hearings and the confirmation vote, making this event possible today and 
making it possible for us to proceed immediately with the urgent tasks 
at hand.
    But more than anything else, I think it is clear that Janet Reno 
made her own swift confirmation possible, showing the Senate and all who 
followed the hearings the qualities of leadership and integrity, 
intelligence, and humanity that those gathered in this room have 
recognized for a very long time.
    You shared with us the life-shaping stories of your family and 
career that formed your deep sense of fairness and your unwavering drive 
to help others to do better. You showed us that your career in public 
service, working on the frontlines in your community, fighting crime, 
understanding the impact on victims and on neighborhoods, mending the 
gritty social fabric of a vibrant but troubled urban area, is excellent 
preparation for carrying forward the banner of justice for all the 
American people.
    You'll help to guide the Federal Government to assist State and 
local law enforcement in ways that really count. You demonstrated that 
you will be a formidable advocate for the vulnerable people in our 
society and especially for our children.
    Most of all, you proved to the Nation that you are a strong and an 
independent person who will give me your best legal judgment whether or 
not it's what I want to hear. [Laughter] It's an experience I've already 
had, I'm glad to say. That is the condition upon which you accepted my 
nomination and the only kind of Attorney General that I would want 
serving in this Cabinet.
    As Janet Reno begins her work at the Justice Department, she will 
enter a building that symbolizes our Nation's commitment to

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justice, to equality, to the enforcement of our laws. On the side of 
that building, carved above one of the portals, is the inscription, 
``The halls of justice are a hallowed place.'' With Janet Reno serving 
as our Nation's Attorney General, those words will have great meaning 
for all Americans.

Note: The President spoke at 9:21 a.m. in the Roosevelt Room at the 
White House. Following the President's remarks, Justice Byron White 
administered the oath of office.