[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 50 (Monday, December 20, 1993)]
[Pages 2569-2570]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Organized Crime in the United States and Italy

 December 12, 1993

    In the ongoing struggle against the Mafia and other international 
crime syndicates, the United States renews its pledge of solidarity with 
and support for the Government and people of Italy. Organized crime is a 
scourge that has exacted a terrible toll in both our nations, a toll in 
lives ravaged by narcotics, brutalized by violence, destroyed by murder.
    The Government of the United States, like the Government of Italy, 
is committed to fighting back, to reclaiming our streets, and to 
punishing those whose criminal conduct tears at the fabric of our 
societies and threatens the lives of our citizens. Accordingly, I am 
directing the Department of Justice and the Department of the Treasury 
to do all they can to strengthen the cooperation between American and 
Italian law enforcement.
    As evidence of our resolve, Louis Freeh, Director of the Federal 
Bureau of Investigation, and Ronald K. Noble, Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement in the Department of the Treasury, are in Italy this weekend 
for high-level meetings with Italian authorities to discuss new steps we 
can take to combat organized crime. Director Freeh and Assistant 
Secretary Noble are speaking today in Palermo on these joint law 
enforcement efforts. They will underscore the debt that we and all 
nations owe to Judge Giovanni Falcone, the courageous jurist murdered 
while leading the fight against the Italian Mafia, and to the scores of 
other brave Italians who put their lives on the line every day in the 
battle against organized crime.
    The United States Government was pleased that we were able to assist 
Italy in the search for Judge Falcone's murderers. FBI laboratory 
experts facilitated the processing of DNA evidence at the crime scene in 
Sicily. Their help proved to be a crucial factor leading to the recent 
filing of charges against a large number of suspects.
    Director Freeh is also carrying our message of commitment and 
cooperation to Italian law enforcement officials. Their sustained and 
determined assistance has helped American law enforcement officials make 
real and

[[Page 2570]]

tangible progress against the Mafia in the United States.