For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
February 19, 2001
Remarks by the President at Dedication of Oklahoma City National Memorial
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
12:50 P.M. CST
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you for your
kind words. Thank you all very much. Thank you
very much. Mr. Governor, thank you very much. The
picture was a better picture. (Laughter.)
Laura and I are honored to be
here. I want to thank the choirs for their beautiful
music. I want to thank the congressional delegation for your
hospitality. Mr. Mayor, thank you very much; it's good to
see you again, sir.
I appreciate so very much the tour of the
Memorial Center we just took. It is a really well done
place. It's powerful. And, Bob Johnson, you and
your board deserve a lot of credit.
I particularly want to thank our tour guides,
Jeannine Gist and Richard Williams and Major Ed Hill. A lot
of Americans are going to come and be better people for having walked
through this center.
I want to thank the families of the victims,
the survivors and the fine citizens of the great state of Oklahoma for
your welcome.
One of the things that we remember of that day
in 1995 is the conduct of the leaders of Oklahoma -- Oklahoma City and
of your state, particularly your governor and his great wife,
Cathy. You had just taken office, Frank -- and, yet, in the
aftermath of the awful moment you showed such character and
strength. America came to admire that, and the people of
Oklahoma will never forget it. (Applause.)
Americans found a lot to admire in Oklahoma
during those days. You suffered so much and you responded
with courage. Your loss was great and your pain was deep;
but far greater and deeper was your care for one
another. That is what lasts and that's what brings us back
to this place on this day.
Memorials do not take away the
pain. They cannot fill the emptiness. But they can make a
place in time and tell the value of what was lost. The
debris is gone and the building is no more. Now, this is a
place of peace and remembrance and life.
A mother who lost her daughter here will be
working in the new museum. She said, when I come
down here to the memorial I've always felt a very good feeling -- this
is where she was happy, and this is where she was last. The
time for mourning may pass, but the time for remembering never does.
Here, we remember one act of
malice. The Gates of Time record the very moment of
it. Yet, we also remember many acts of human kindness and
heroism and love. Some are recorded, some
not. But by 9:03 a.m. on that morning, a new and hopeless
story was already being written. The truth of Oklahoma City
is the courage and comfort you found in one another. It
began with the rescue. It continues with this
memorial. It is recorded in this museum.
Together, you endured. You chose to
live out the words of St. Paul, "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome
evil with good." (Applause.)
Because of this spirit, your memorial belongs
to all America. People from all over our country come here
every day, and will always come to look and remember and say a
prayer. Oklahoma City will always be one of those places in
our national memory where the worst and the best both came to pass.
The presence of evil always reminds us of the
need for vigilance. All of us have an obligation to confront
evil, wherever and whenever it manifests itself. We must
enforce laws and reject hatred and bigotry. And we have a
duty to watch for warning signs.
Last year the United States Secret Service
conducted a study of targeted violence in our nation's
schools. They found that most of the time, the person who
planned the violence told someone before the attack. In almost every
case, the individual displayed some behavior that caused others to be
concerned. We all have a duty to watch for and report
troubling signs.
The evil that destroys and the good that saves
are equally real. Both can be taught. Both can be
learned. All order in our society begins in the souls of
citizens. Character is often shaped or bent early in life.
In every family, and in every school, we must teach our children to
know and choose the good, to teach values that defeat violence, to
teach good kids -- kids to respect one another, to do unto others, the
meaning of love.
Our first response to evil must be justice,
yet a part of us is never satisfied by justice alone. We
must search for more -- for understanding and healing, beyond
punishment. Faith tells us that all wrongs are righted, and
all suffering redeemed. But that faith is tested, especially
for those of you with empty chairs at home. Hardest of all
is the loss of the children, of the lives taken so soon after they were
given.
I hope it helps to remember that we are never
closer to God then when we grieve. Faith is tested in
suffering. And faith is often born in suffering, for that is
when we seek the hope we most need. That is when we awaken
to the greatest hope there is, that is when we look beyond our lives to
the hour when God will wipe away every tear, and death will be
swallowed up in victory.
On this earth, tragedy may come even on a warm
spring day, but tragedy can never touch eternity. This is
where they were last; but beyond the gates of time lie a life eternal
and a love everlasting. You in Oklahoma City are victims of
tragedy and witnesses to hope. You have overcome evil, and
you have suffered with courage. And for that, your nation is
grateful.
God bless. (Applause.)
END 12:58
P.M. EST
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