[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 35 (Monday, September 6, 1993)]
[Pages 1680-1682]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on the Swearing-In of Federal Bureau of Investigation Director 
Louis Freeh

 September 1, 1993

    Thank you very much, General Reno, for that fine introduction and 
for your exemplary work. I want to thank, as the Attorney General did, 
Floyd Clarke for his distinguished work over a lifetime for the FBI and 
his work as the Acting Director. Also, I think bound to thank Judge 
Freeh's family, his wife, his children, his parents, who are here, for 
their willingness to support him and for the work they did to make him 
what he is today.
    Finally, let me say by way of introduction, I am profoundly honored 
to be here in the presence today of the person Judge Freeh picked to 
swear him in, Judge Frank Johnson. To those of us who grew up in the 
South, Frank Johnson was a symbol of respect for law, the determination 
to live by it, and the belief that all of us who live in this country, 
without regard to the color of our skin, are entitled to a fair shot at 
life's brass ring. And I thank you for being here today, Judge.
    I am also honored to be here today among the thousands of brave men 
and women who make up our FBI, people who continue to be our elite force 
in the fight against crime. You should know that I have special respect 
for FBI agents. When I was Governor of my State, a former agent served 
as my chief of staff, and other former agents served in my 
administration.

[[Page 1681]]

    Today we come to celebrate the elevation of a genuine law 
enforcement legend, Judge Louis Freeh, to take the reins of this great 
Agency. It is a new day for the FBI. Judge Freeh has agreed to take on a 
difficult task, but no job is more important. And I want to thank the 
leaders of the Congress on a bipartisan basis, beginning with Senators 
Biden and Hatch and Mitchell and Dole, for their historic and rapid move 
to confirm Judge Freeh virtually as soon as I nominated him.
    The FBI's mandate is broad. Its reach is sweeping. Its 24,000 
employees track down violators of civil rights, people who defraud the 
health care system, those who run drugs ultimately into the veins of our 
children. The FBI scientists and technicians perform feats of 
investigative wizardry that can find wrong-doers through a fragment of a 
fingerprint or a shard of a bomb. Its agents show commonly that bravery 
is uncommon everywhere but the FBI, the Armed Forces, and a few other 
places in our country.
    There are many heroes that do their work in the ordinary course of 
business: people like Special Agent Daniel Miller of Minneapolis, who 
subdued an armed bank robber by hand to ensure that no one else got 
hurt; Special Agent Neil Moran of New York, who was severely injured 
when he used his car to block a suspect's getaway vehicle rather than 
risk wounding his colleagues with gunfire; people like the 45 others who 
received Agency medals over the past 3 years. All of you have served 
well, and America is justly proud of you.
    Today's FBI operates in a new and challenging world, without that 
part of the Agency's mission that was driven by the cold war, but with 
new and even more immediate threats. Terrorism once seemed far from our 
shores, an atrocity visited on people in other lands. Now, after the 
attack on the World Trade Center, we know that we, too, are vulnerable. 
Violent crime has been frightful but limited. But now armed drug gangs 
stalk the streets of our cities, equipped like mercenary armies, 
randomly cutting down innocent bystanders in a primitive struggle for 
territory.
    The FBI has already begun to meet these challenges head on. Through 
the safe streets program, the Agency has begun working with State and 
local police forces to combat drug gangs and to reclaim our 
neighborhoods. But we must do more, and we will. Today, I was given a 
pin which I am wearing that commemorates the FBI's drug prevention 
program. In churches, in schools and Scout troops all across this 
country, agents work with young people to stop drug use before it 
starts.
    The FBI has always worked at the cutting edge of law enforcement 
technology. Today, the scientists and technicians are exploring new 
frontiers, pioneering the use of DNA analysis to ferret out the guilty 
and to protect the innocent. And in the interest of justice and 
effectiveness, the Agency has begun to open its doors to full equality 
for minorities and for women. We must do more, and we will.
    Now, amid this swirl of change, a new era at the FBI is about to 
begin. The FBI has passed through some troubled times, but I believe 
those times are over. The men and women who work day and night to 
protect the public never let us down. And now, a vigorous new Director 
is going to lead the FBI into the next century so that the men and women 
who work for the FBI will be led and not let down.
    In a few moments, Judge Freeh will take the oath of office. He is, 
as has been widely chronicled and now is as widely known by his fellow 
Americans, a brilliant investigator, a tough prosecutor, a born leader. 
He has the unique combination of experience, courage, and prudent 
judgment that I believe the directorship of the FBI demands. A career as 
the scourge of drugrunners and terrorists, tempered by his service as a 
Federal judge, in my judgment makes him the ideal Director of the FBI. 
He does have, as the Attorney General said, both humanity and humility 
to go with experience and brilliance and toughness and judgment. Even 
those who serve with him respect him and also notice all these 
qualities. I must say, I have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of 
support for Judge Freeh, and I have to tell you one example which may 
surprise even the biggest supporters of the judge. One fellow wrote in 
and told us that he'd had a lot of experience with the criminal justice 
system. I'd like to paraphrase the letter we received--the judge re- 

[[Page 1682]]

ceived. He said, ``Earlier this year you sentenced me to 20 years in 
prison. But I want you to know that of the five judges who have 
sentenced me to prison, you have been by far the fairest''--[laughter]--
``and I endorse your nomination to be the Director of the FBI.'' With 
all the problems we've got in this country, I hope he'll be getting a 
lot more of those letters in the next few years.
    I believe that under the leadership of this dynamic, young Director, 
the FBI will capture the imagination of the American people once again 
and will enlist once again the millions of ordinary Americans in the 
work of keeping our streets safe and fighting our crimes for us in 
partnership with the FBI and with State and local law enforcement 
officials. I want the men and women of the FBI to look back on the 
1990's as a decade in which the FBI became well-known and well-loved for 
its successes in cracking down on terrorists and drug lords, just as 
much as the G-men of the thirties were successful in cracking down on 
racketeers and mobsters.
    And to Judge Freeh I say, keep showing the vision and integrity that 
brought you here, that earned you the esteem of all your colleagues, 
your countrymen and -women, and even those you sent to jail. To the men 
and women of the FBI I say, you are the finest we have. Just keep on 
doing your best, and we will stand behind you. And to the American 
people I say, we know that our people value law and order and safety. We 
are working to pass a crime bill that will put more police officers on 
the street. We are working to get guns out of the hands of criminals. We 
are working to expand the toughness of our law enforcement. Our 
frontline crime fighters, Attorney General Reno, Drug Policy Coordinator 
Lee Brown, and now the FBI Director, Louis Freeh, are putting decades of 
grassroots experience to work for you.
    You, the American people, have a right to freedom from fear. Your 
families have a right to security and to safety. We won't rest until you 
have those rights. We ask only for your support and your cooperation as 
this fine Director launches what I believe will be a legendary career in 
the legendary Federal Bureau of Investigation.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 10:16 a.m. at FBI headquarters. Following 
the President's remarks, Judge Frank Johnson administered the oath of 
office, and Director Freeh made remarks.