    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 3 (Monday, January 24, 1994)]
    [Pages 116-118]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks on the Los Angeles Earthquake and an Exchange With Reporters

    January 17, 1994

        The President. Good afternoon. As all of you know, this morning at
    dawn a violent earthquake struck southern California near Los Angeles.
    Because it occurred in a densely populated area, it was an unusually
    destructive one. We have all seen today on our own televisions the
    buildings that have collapsed, the freeways turned into rubble. The
    power has been cut off and gas mains have exploded and, most tragically,
    many people have been injured and several lives have already been lost.
        Due to the damage caused by the earthquake, I have, by signing the
    document that I will sign at the end of this statement, declared these
    areas of California to be a major disaster, thereby authorizing the
    expenditures of funds necessary for Federal disaster assistance that is
    requested by Governor Wilson.
        This program will include, among other things, low-interest loans to
    replace homes and businesses, cash grants where needed, housing
    assistance, energy unemployment, emergency unemployment assistance, and
    funds to rebuild the highways, the schools, and other infrastructure.
        At my direction, the Director of FEMA, James Lee Witt, is now on his
    way to California, along with Secretary of Transportation Pena and
    Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Cisneros. In addition, I have
    directed some senior White House staff to the scene as well. Our hearts
    and prayers go out to the people of southern California. I spoke early
    this morning with Mayor Riordan and then with Governor Wilson and wished
    them well and pledged to them that the United States Government would do
    all that we possibly can to be helpful. They were, obviously,
    appreciative, and we are glad that James Lee Witt, as well as our
    Cabinet Secretaries, were on their way to the scene.
        The people of southern California have been through a lot recently
    with the fires. The economy of the State of California has suffered
    enormous stresses in the last few years, and I think all of us should be
    very sensitive to what they are going through now. I know the rest of
    America will offer them their thoughts and their prayers tonight and
    will support our common efforts to help them to recover from this
    tragedy and to get on with the business of rebuilding their lives.
        The assistance here will be short-term to help people get through
    the next few days, but there will also be long-term work to be done, and
    we expect to be involved as full partners in that.
        Again, let me say I wish the Mayor, the Governor, the people of
    California well. We are looking forward to working with them.

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    I have had the opportunity to speak with both Senator Boxer and Senator
    Feinstein today, and I am confident that everybody is doing everything
    they can. I am going to be here basically waiting for reports today and
    tomorrow as we assess what our next steps should be. Let me sign the
    document for disaster declaration, and then I will answer a few
    questions.

    [At this point, the President signed the declaration.]

        Q. Mr. President, when you say that this will be short-term
    assistance, any idea how much money this is going to cost the Federal
    Government in the short term as well as in the long term? Will you be
    going back to Congress seeking emergency assistance?
        The President. I don't know. We have got to wait until we get some
    sense of how much money is involved. The most expensive thing I know
    about now would obviously be the three freeways. And any of you who have
    ever--and I guess all of you, certainly with me and probably on your
    own, have been on those freeways in times of difficult traffic know how
    pivotal that's going to be to restoring the economic capacity of the
    people of southern California. They depend heavily on those freeways;
    and then with that many, with three of them severely damaged, I would
    imagine that would be the most urgent and most expensive need that we
    know about now. Now, of course, there may be other things and I have to
    get a report. Again, I expect to be getting reports on this all through
    tomorrow.
        Q. Mr. President, are you considering going out there yourself to
    look at the damage?
        The President. Yes. As you know, I went to the flooded areas in the
    Middle West and I went--I basically like to take a firsthand view of
    these things, but I don't want to be in the way. When I go, I want to be
    a constructive presence. And we've got Mr. Witt out there. We've got
    Secretary Cisneros and Secretary Pena out there. We've got people from
    my staff out there. I think it's important that I not go out there and
    get in the way. So, I don't know when it would be appropriate for me to
    go. I'm going to wait until I get some feedback from the folks on the
    ground there. They've got enough of a traffic jam with those three
    interstates messed up as it is.
        Q. Mr. President, what went through your mind this morning when you
    first were told about this earthquake? We understand you called your
    brother right away.
        The President. Well, the first thing, I guess I was a citizen first.
    The first thing I did was pick up the phone and call my brother, because
    I knew that he lived very close to the epicenter of the earthquake. And
    I called him probably at 5:15 a.m. their time, so it was maybe 35
    minutes or 40 minutes after the earthquake had occurred. He was fine. He
    said they'd suffered some significant disruption in movement there in
    his apartment, but they didn't have any significant loss. So I felt good
    about that.
        And then I tried to get another report, and then I started calling
    folks in California in a more official capacity. But, of course, like
    all of you, I was able to watch it all unfold on television. It was
    really something.
        Q. Mr. President, do you anticipate a need to activate Federal
    troops----
        The President. If we need to do it, we can. We are organized to do
    it. But again, I want to wait until I get a report back from Mr. Witt
    after he talks to the Mayor and the Governor and others involved out
    there. We've had a pretty good record of--you know, we've had experience
    working with the folks in that area. Ironically, you know, we've got
    some sites that were made available for emergency aid during the fires
    that could still be activated rather quickly. I mean, our folks are in
    place there and the contingencies that they need to think through, I
    think, have pretty well been thought through. So, we should be able to
    give you a much better report tomorrow sometime.
        Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 5:07 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. A tape was not available for verification of the content of these
    remarks.

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