Here is the video clip of Bill Clinton's
Oklahoma City Bombing speech. Scroll down for the
transcript.
It follows the full text transcript of
President Bill Clinton's remarks at a memorial
service for the bombing victims at the Oklahoma State Fair
Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma — April 23, 1995.
Thank you very
much.
Governor Keating
and Mrs. Keating [Gov. Frank Keating and his
wife, Cathy], Reverend Graham [evangelist Billy
Graham], to the families of those who have been
lost and wounded, to the people of Oklahoma City
who have endured so much, and the people of this
wonderful State, to all of you who are here as
our fellow Americans.
I am honored to be
here today to represent the American people. But
I have to tell you that Hillary and I also come
as parents, as husband and wife, as people who
were your neighbors for some of the best years
of our lives.
Today our Nation
joins with you in grief. We mourn with you. We
share your hope against hope that some may still
survive. We thank all those who have worked so
heroically to save lives and to solve this
crime, those here in Oklahoma and those who are
all across this great land and many who left
their own lives to come here to work hand in
hand with you.
We pledge to do
all we can to help you heal the injured, to
rebuild this city, and to bring to justice those
who did this evil.
This terrible sin
took the lives of our American family, innocent
children in that building only because their
parents were trying to be good parents as well
as good workers, citizens in the building going
about their daily business and many there who
served the rest of us, who worked to help the
elderly and the disabled, who worked to support
our farmers and our veterans, who worked to
enforce our laws and to protect us. Let us say
clearly, they served us well, and we are
grateful. But for so many of you they were also
neighbors and friends. You saw them at church or
the PTA meetings, at the civic clubs, at the
ball park. You know them in ways that all the
rest of America could not.
And to all the
members of the families here present who have
suffered loss, though we share your grief, your
pain is unimaginable, and we know that. We
cannot undo it. That is God's work.
Our words seem
small beside the loss you have endured. But I
found a few I wanted to share today. I've
received a lot of letters in these last terrible
days. One stood out because it came from a young
widow and a mother of three whose own husband
was murdered with over 200 other Americans when
Pan Am 103 was shot down. Here is what that
woman said I should say to you today:
"The anger you
feel is valid, but you must not allow
yourselves to be consumed by it. The hurt
you feel must not be allowed to turn into
hate but instead into the search for
justice. The loss you feel must not paralyze
your own lives. Instead, you must try to pay
tribute to your loved ones by continuing to
do all the things they left undone, thus
ensuring they did not die in vain."
Wise words from one who also knows.
You have lost too
much, but you have not lost everything. And you
have certainly not lost America, for we will
stand with you for as many tomorrows as it
takes.
If ever we needed
evidence of that, I could only recall the words
of Governor and Mrs. Keating. If anybody thinks
that Americans are mostly mean and selfish, they
ought to come to Oklahoma. If anybody thinks
Americans have lost the capacity for love and
caring and courage, they ought to come to
Oklahoma.
To all my fellow
Americans beyond this hall, I say, one thing we
owe those who have sacrificed is the duty to
purge ourselves of the dark forces which gave
rise to this evil. They are forces that threaten
our common peace, our freedom, our way of life.
Let us teach our
children that the God of comfort is also the God
of righteousness. Those who trouble their own
house will inherit the wind. Justice will
prevail.
Let us let our own
children know that we will stand against the
forces of fear. When there is talk of hatred,
let us stand up and talk against it. When there
is talk of violence, let us stand up and talk
against it. In the face of death, let us honor
life. As St. Paul admonished us, let us not be
overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Yesterday Hillary
and I had the privilege of speaking with some
children of other Federal employees, children
like those who were lost here. And one little
girl said something we will never forget. She
said, we should all plant a tree in memory of
the children. So this morning before we got on
the plane to come here, at the White House, we
planted that tree in honor of the children of
Oklahoma. It was a dogwood with its wonderful
spring flower and its deep, enduring roots. It
embodies the lesson of the Psalms: that the life
of a good person is like a tree whose leaf does
not wither.
My fellow
Americans, a tree takes a long time to grow and
wounds take a long time to heal. But we must
begin. Those who are lost now belong to God.
Some day we will be with them. But until that
happens, their legacy must be our lives.
