[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 18 (Monday, May 9, 1994)]
[Pages 991-993]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Legislation To Ban Assault Weapons and an Exchange With 
Reporters

May 5, 1994

    The President. In a few weeks the Congress will pass, and I will be 
able to sign, landmark legislation to fight crime in this country. 
Working together we have been able to show that crime is not a partisan 
issue. It's an American issue, and it requires com- 

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prehensive solutions, more punishment, more prevention, more police 
officers.
    This afternoon, the House of Representatives will be considering a 
key part of that strategy, a law that bans 19 deadly assault weapons 
that pose a clear and present danger to our citizens and to our police 
officers. Just 2 years ago, a similar law was defeated by a very wide 
margin in the House. Now we're a few votes away from a dramatic strike 
against these deadly weapons and the criminals who use them.
    Congressman Steve Neal, in an act of conviction and courage, has 
joined the ranks of House Members who support our local police and fight 
for safe neighborhoods, joining forces with law enforcement and standing 
up to a lot of the misapprehension and fear and misinformation that has 
been spread by the opponents of this very sensible crime control 
measure. I want to thank Steve Neal, and the citizens across this 
country who are concerned about this terrible problem are in his debt.
    The vote to keep dangerous assault weapons out of the hands of 
criminals occurs this afternoon. Members are having to choose and make 
difficult choices between supporting the local police in their efforts 
to disarm criminals who can use these weapons to kill lots of people and 
those who are spreading fears about the reach of this law.
    Today, the American people hope and believe that common sense and 
the common good should prevail. With the help of people like Steve Neal, 
it will. I'm very grateful to him, and I wanted to give him the chance 
to say a few words this morning before we have the vote this afternoon.
    Congressman.
    Representative Steve Neal. Thank you, sir.
    The President. Thank you so much.
    Representative Neal. Thank you. Well, I would say that the President 
is right about this. It is the first responsibility of our Government to 
protect our citizens. There is a war going on on the streets of America, 
mostly in the big cities, and the police are outgunned. Now they say 
they need this legislation to help them protect us and our families 
against violent criminals. So we ought to give them this tool that they 
say they need to protect us against violence.

Caning in Singapore

    Q. Mr. President, what do you think of the caning of the American in 
Singapore?
    The President. I think it was a mistake, as I said before, not only 
because of the nature of the punishment related to the crime but because 
of the questions that were raised about whether the young man was, in 
fact, guilty and had voluntarily confessed.
    Q. What are you going to do about it, Mr. President?
    The President. Well, we're discussing that, actually, as we speak 
here, what would be an appropriate statement by our Government in the 
aftermath of this.

Assault Weapons

    Q. [Inaudible]--if the assault ban fails in Congress today, is there 
any administrative action you could take, say, through the Treasury 
Department, to ban these weapons yourself in the Executive order or 
prohibition?
    The President. I don't believe we can do that. There may be some 
things that we can do that will minimize the problem. But I don't think 
any options that are available to us will be as effective as the ban on 
these assault weapons.
    I do want to say, as I have talked to Members, there are basically 
two classes of concerns among those who wish to vote for this bill. And 
I am convinced a majority, if they could vote anonymously, would vote 
for this bill. And there are two classes of concerns among those people. 
One is, some of the administrative requirements, which we'll circulate a 
letter today that Congressman Schumer and Mr. Synar and others have 
worked on, to satisfy the people who are worried about the recordkeeping 
requirements, that all those concerns, those practical concerns can be 
fixed in the conference report. The other is the so-called camel's-nose-
inside-the-tent theory. A lot of our Members are being told by folks 
back home that they have been convinced by the opponents of this bill 
that today it's these assault weapons, which they don't own, and 
tomorrow it'll be some legitimate hunting weapon, which they do own.

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    Well, that's why the bill contains the list of over 600 specific 
weapons that are protected. So I hope that we can, in effect, just 
debunk that, can overcome that argument by the time of the vote this 
afternoon. Those are the two things I've been hearing.
    I was on the phone until about midnight last night. And I've made 
several calls again this morning working on this issue. And I believe we 
have a chance. It's very difficult, as you know; we were way, way down 
when we started and counted out right up until the 11th hour. But we may 
still have a chance to pass this because people like Steve Neal have 
been willing to come forward.

Supreme Court Nominee

    Q. Mr. President, the Wall Street Journal says that Judge Richard 
Arnold is now your favorite to become the next Supreme Court Justice. 
Should he be penalized because he's from Arkansas? Is he your favorite?
    The President. Well, first of all, I have no comment on whether I 
have a favorite or not. And secondly, he shouldn't be penalized because 
he's from Arkansas. I mean, he was first in his class at Harvard and 
Yale; he's the chief judge of the 8th Circuit; and he's been head of the 
Appellate Judges Association. So I don't think anyone would question--it 
would be difficult to find, just on terms of those raw qualifications, 
an appellate judge with equal or superior qualifications. I don't think 
any American would expect someone to be disqualified because they happen 
to come from my State.
    Q. When will we learn about your selection?
    The President. Well, there's one or two other things going on here, 
but we're working on it. We're spending a good deal of time on it. It 
won't be long.

Note: The President spoke at 9:50 a.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House.