[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 11 (Monday, March 20, 2000)]
[Page 572]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Teleconference Remarks With Mayors on the Gun Safety Agreement With 
Smith & Wesson

March 17, 2000

    The President. Hello.
    Participant. Hello, Mr. President.
    Participant. Hello, Mr. President.
    The President. Thank you all for joining us. I'd like to start by 
asking everyone here on the phone to say their names and the city and 
the State they represent.
    We have with us here in the Oval Office, Attorney General Spitzer of 
New York, Attorney General Blumenthal of Connecticut, Mayor Penelas of 
Miami, and Mayor Bill Campbell of Atlanta was here; he just walked out. 
So we're all here. But why don't we--everybody else who is on the phone 
say something about it, who you are?

[At this point, the teleconference participants introduced themselves.]

    The President. We're delighted to have you on the phone call, and I 
want to say on behalf of not only the White House but Attorney General 
Reno and Deputy Attorney General Holder, Secretary Summers, and Deputy 
Secretary Eizenstat and Secretary Cuomo, we very much appreciate what 
you've done, and we congratulate you. I think that this agreement will 
fundamentally change the way the gun industry does business, and all of 
you will have the satisfaction of knowing that your leadership and 
involvement have helped to make all American communities safer. We 
couldn't be here without you, and I thank you.
    Now, we've got to build on what we've accomplished today and 
continue to reduce gun violence. The long roster of leaders with us here 
today is proof that the whole Nation supports what we're doing, and we 
just need you to go out there and keep working with responsible mentors 
of the gun industry to keep this momentum going. And I hope we can get 
some other manufacturers to join us.
    I wonder if anybody who is here wants to say anything and anybody on 
the phone would like to say anything now.

[At this point, participants in the teleconference made brief remarks.]

    The President. Thank you very much. If I could just echo two of the 
points that were made. First of all, I agree with the last point Mayor 
Penelas made. This proves, this agreement, that nobody was in it for the 
money. Everybody said all along, the States, the municipalities, and the 
Federal Government, nobody wanted any money damages; we just wanted a 
change in the way America lives to make it a safer place.
    The second thing I'd like to say, to echo what Mayor Archer and 
Attorney General Spitzer said is, Smith & Wesson stuck their neck out 
here, and I think that all of us, including the Federal Government, in 
our procurement policies, if we really are serious about making America 
safer, ought to send a clear signal that we appreciate what they did. I 
think that that will accelerate the day in which the other manufacturers 
will follow suit.
    I thank you all very much. This is a happy day, and I'm glad to talk 
to you all, and thanks for joining the phone call, and thanks for 
agreeing with the settlement.
    Thank you all. Goodbye.

Note: The teleconference began at 2:37 p.m. The President spoke from the 
Oval Office at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to Mayor 
Alexander Penelas of Metro-Dade, FL; Mayor Dennis W. Archer of Detroit, 
MI; Eliot Spitzer, attorney general, New York State; and Richard 
Blumenthal, attorney general, State of Connecticut. The transcript 
released by the Office of the Press Secretary also included the remarks 
of the participating city officials.