    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 17 (Monday, April 29, 1996)]
    [Pages 717-719]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks on Signing the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of
    1996

    April 24, 1996

        Thank you very much, Mary Jo White, for the work you do every day.
    Thank you, Attorney General Reno. Thank you, Mr. Vice President. To
    Senator Dole and Chairman Hatch and Chairman Hyde, the other Members of
    Congress who are here; Governor Keating and the Attorneys General who
    are here and the others in law enforcement; to the members of the
    administration, and especially to the victims' families who are here.
        I thank the families for coming today. I thank their advocates for
    coming. But I think we should all acknowledge that the importance of
    this event is embodied in no small measure by the fact that the families
    were willing to come here, knowing that it would in some measure force
    them to relive the pain that they have endured because of acts of
    terror. It took a lot of courage for them to endure that pain. So while
    this is a good day for America, we can't really say it is a happy day.
    Not all good days can be happy days, but every American is in debt to
    these families for standing up for the need for the changes that we have
    experienced. And I ask the rest of us to acknowledge that. And we thank
    you.
        I also would point out that Presidents can advocate and the
    executive branch can enforce the laws, but this would not have happened
    but for the remarkable convergence of Republicans and Democrats in the
    Congress. The Vice President introduced those who were especially active
    in the leadership who are over here to my left who will come up in a
    moment when we sign the bill. But there are so many more Members of
    Congress here, for the benefit of all of you, I would like to ask every
    Member who is here and who worked so hard on this legislation to please
    stand and be recognized. Would the Members of Congress please stand?
    [Applause] Thank you very much.

    [[Page 718]]

        This is a good day because our police officers are now going to be
    better prepared to stop terrorists, our prosecutors better prepared to
    punish them, our people being better protected from their designs. This
    legislation is more important today because of the very forces which
    have unlocked so much potential for progress: the new technologies, the
    instant communications, the open borders. These things have done so much
    good. But they have also made it easier for the organized forces of
    hatred and division to endanger the lives of innocent people. We have
    seen terrorism take its horrible toll all around the world, from Tokyo
    to London to Jerusalem and, of course, in our own country.
        When a terrorist car bomb took the lives of 241 American Marines in
    Beirut, we felt the shock waves here at home. When savage killers took
    the life of Leon Klinghoffer, countless Americans wept for him and for
    his family. When Pan Am 103 went down over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing
    270 people including 189 Americans, we saw again that there are no
    borders or bounds on the forces of hatred. When the bomb exploded at the
    World Trade Center, as Mary Jo said, by the grace of God killing only 6
    but injuring over 1,000 people, we knew again that we had no place to
    hide. And of course, 5 days ago we marked the first anniversary of the
    most terrible terrorist attack upon these shores in our history,
    reminding us that even the very young and the most innocent are not
    immune.
        We also have to remember as we remember those who were lost that, as
    painful as that loss is, their deaths and their destructions are not the
    terrorists' only goals, for each and every act of terrorism is also a
    means to another end, the unbelievable idea that it is all right to kill
    an innocent person to achieve a political goal, to stop us from living
    our lives in the light of liberty, to force us to cower in the dark grip
    of fear, to terrify us as targets into submission.
        So let us honor those who lost their lives by resolving to hold fast
    against the forces of violence and division, by never allowing them to
    shake our resolve or break our spirit, to frighten us into sacrificing
    our sacred freedoms or surrendering a drop of precious American liberty.
    Rather we must guard against them, speak against them, and fight against
    them.
        Fighting terrorism is and will for a long time to come be one of the
    top security priorities of the United States. On our own and with our
    allies, we have implemented strong sanctions against states that harbor
    terrorists and encourage them. We have intensified partnerships with
    other countries to stand together against terrorists around the world.
    We have increased our investment, our personnel, and our training for
    law enforcement efforts here at home.
        I sent Congress antiterrorism legislation over a year ago, and after
    the Oklahoma City bombing I asked for additional measures. I applaud the
    great majority of Congress who stood up for the safety of the American
    people, worked through the policy debates, and made sure that in the end
    politics faltered and common sense prevailed. Democrats and Republicans,
    Republicans and Democrats, people who love their country as patriots
    came together, worked together, and got the job done.
        The antiterrorism bill is grounded in common sense and steeled with
    force. Because of this bill, law enforcement will be better prepared
    than ever to stop terrorists before they strike and to bring them to
    justice when they do. From now on we can quickly expel foreigners who
    dare to come to America and support terrorist activities. From now on
    American prosecutors can wield new tools and expanded penalties against
    those who terrorize Americans at home or abroad. From now on we can stop
    terrorists from raising money in the United States to pay for their
    horrible crimes.
        From now on criminals sentenced to death for their vicious crimes
    will no longer be able to use endless appeals to delay their sentences,
    and families of victims will no longer have to endure years of anguish
    and suffering.
        We have new laws and better controls against chemical and biological
    weapons. We have agreed to put chemical markers in plastic explosives
    that will help us to detect explosives like those used to bring down Pan
    Am 103. We will be able to require chemical taggants in some other
    explosive materials as well. They will make it easier for police to

    [[Page 719]]

    trace bombs to the criminals who made them and bring those criminals to
    justice.
        This legislation is a strong step forward for our security, but we
    mustn't stop there. I am directing the Secretary of the Treasury to
    complete the study of taggants required by Congress and propose
    appropriate regulations as quickly as possible. We must also address the
    problem of black and smokeless powders, routinely used to make illegal
    smokeless devices like pipe bombs. I'm directing Secretary Rubin to
    consult with industry representatives and the law enforcement community
    to report back with appropriate recommendations.
        Finally, I believe we have to take additional steps. I believe we
    must do more to help police keep terrorists who are suspected terrorists
    under surveillance. I believe we should give law enforcement more time
    to investigate and prosecute terrorists who use machine guns, sawed-off
    shotguns, and explosive devices. I agree with police officers that
    instead of creating a commission to study them, in the end we must ban
    cop-killer bullets.
        Nonetheless, make no mistake about it: This bill strikes a mighty
    blow against terrorism, and it is fitting that this bill becomes law
    during National Crime Victims' Rights Week, because it stands up for
    victims in so many important ways. There are a lot of victims' advocates
    and victims here, and I thank them for their presence today. This bill
    recognizes that victims have a compelling interest in the trials of
    those accused of committing crimes against them and requires closed-
    circuit television coverage when Federal trials are moved far away, a
    provision we owe to the vigilance of the Members of Congress from
    Oklahoma. And we thank you for it.
        I'd like to close with a word to all of the family members of
    Americans slain by terrorists and to the survivors of terrorism, to the
    children who lost their parents in Pan Am 103 and parents who lost their
    children in Israel, to all of you from Oklahoma City, to Andrew Kerr on
    my staff of the National Security Council whose father was murdered in
    Beirut, to each and every one of you with us today and those who are
    watching all across this great land of ours. Your endurance and your
    courage is a lesson to us all. Your vigilance has sharpened our
    vigilance.
        And so I sign my name to this bill in your names. We renew our fight
    against those who seek to terrorize us in your names. We send a loud,
    clear message today all over the world in your names. America will never
    surrender to terror. America will never tolerate terrorism. America will
    never abide terrorists. Wherever they come from, wherever they go, we
    will go after them. We will not rest until we have brought them all to
    justice and secured a future for our people, safe from the harm they
    would do--in your names.
        Thank you. God bless you, and God bless America.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:50 p.m. on the South Lawn at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Mary Joe White, New York U.S.
    Attorney, whose office prosecuted the World Trade Center bombing. S.
    735, approved April 24, was assigned Public Law No. 104-132.