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is now available 24 hours a day, 7 days a Thanks for listening. week. If you have information about who is responsible for these churches fires, please NOTE: The President spoke at 10:06 a.m. from call it. It’s 1–888–ATF–FIRE. That’s 1–888– the Oval Office at the White House. ATF–F-I-R-E. In the end, we must all face up to the re- Remarks in a Roundtable sponsibility to end this violence. We must say Discussion on Juvenile Crime to those who would feed their neighbors in Las Vegas, Nevada what Martin Luther King called ‘‘the stale bread of hatred and spoiled meat of racism:’’ June 9, 1996 That is not America; that is not our way. We The President. Thank you very much. must come together, black and white alike, to smother the fires of hatred that fuel this [At this point, moderator Kirby Burgess, di- violence. rector, Youth and Family Services Center, I am pleased that the National Council of welcomed the President and introduced Churches of Christ, one of the largest inter- roundtable participants. Gov. Bob Miller faith groups in the country, has spoken out then reviewed steps taken in Nevada to deal against these crimes and is mobilizing to as- with juvenile crime. Next, Clark County sist in the rebuilding of damaged churches. Undersheriff Richard Wingett described the I encourage communities everywhere where juvenile violent crime problem in Las Vegas. churches have been burned to roll up their Mr. Burgess introduced Shane Quick, An- sleeves and help the folks there to rebuild thony Covarrubias, and Stanley Johnson, their churches. teenagers who are enrolled in alternative sen- Religious freedom is one of the founding tencing programs. Mr. Quick told how he principles of our democracy, and the black was helped by a residential drug treatment church has historically been the center of program, concluding by saying he was nerv- worship, self-help, and community life for ous.] millions of families in our country. That’s why The President. You’re doing great. You’re it was so hard for Reverend Terrence Mackey doing great. to break the news to his daughter last June Mr. Burgess. He’s an honest young man, when they woke to find an ash-scarred field Mr. President. in the spot where only the day before stood their church home, Mount Zion AME [Next, Mr. Covarrubias described his success Church in Greeleyville, South Carolina. Rev- in being rehabilitated through the Freedom erend Mackey reassured his daughter with Program, an intensive supervision program.] these words: He told her, ‘‘They didn’t burn The President. How does it work, this down the church. They burned down the Freedom Program? building in which we hold church. The Mr. Covarrubias said he is under house ar- church is still inside all of us.’’ On June 15th, [ rest and must check in with the program Reverend Mackey, his daughter, and his con- twice a day. He earns privileges for good be- gregation will march from the site of the old havior. church to a brand new building. And all ] Americans will march with them in spirit. The President. Why do you think it’s We must all do our part to end this rash helped you? of violence. America is a great country be- Mr. Covarrubias. Because now I’m going cause for more than 200 years we have to counseling. I’m getting along with my par- strived to honor the religious convictions, the ents. It’s keeping me out of trouble, keeping freedom, the extraordinary religious diversity me off the streets. of our people. The only way we can succeed The President. Is that your mother out in the 21st century is if we unleash the full there? power of those convictions and that diversity Mr. Covarrubias. Yes. and refuse to let anything divide or defeat The President. Give her a hand, and your us. family there. [Applause]

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Mr. Burgess. Tony, what I’d like for you [Participant Joy Gladwin said her son is in guys to do is speak up because the press is the same program as Mr. Johnson. Parents here and all the audience is here and these meet in support groups. Ms. Gladwin said microphones are a little—— New Directions results in better grades from The President. What’s the difference in the students and presents children to the the program Tony’s in and the one Shane’s community in a positive way.] in? Shane, what’s your program called? The President. Do you work with Stan? [Mr. Quick said now that he has completed Ms. Gladwin. No, I’m just a friend. the residential treatment, called West Care, The President. And how did you find this he is required to report to a probation officer program? How did you get involved with it? once a week.] [Ms. Gladwin told why her son was enrolled The President. Mr. Wingett, do you know in the program.] how many—do either of you know, maybe Kirby knows it—how many young people The President. Stan, do you like doing does your probation officer work with? Do this program every day? Do you think these you know? Do you know how many people? folks are helping you? Mr. Burgess. Yes, sir, I do, Mr. President. Mr. Johnson. Yes. The President. How many? The President. Do you think it’s going to help you stay in school? [Mr. Burgess said the average caseload for community supervision is 60 to 80 children.] Mr. Johnson. Yes. The President. Do you have a feeling— The President. So you check in once a do you think they really care about you? week. And you check in twice a day. You Mr. Johnson. Mm-hmm. [Laughter] have to do random drug tests? Ms. Gladwin. Mr. Garcia does care very, Mr. Quick. No. I did. I did do random very much for all of these kids. drug tests. The President. Is Mr. Garcia here? The President. For how long? Ms. Gladwin. Yeah, he is. Mr. Quick. Three months. The President. Okay. The President. Where is he? Stand up there, Mr. Garcia. [Applause] [Mr. Burgess noted that Mr. Covarrubias has Ms. Gladwin. He’s really been a large to return to his neighborhood, where there benefit to these kids. He knows when to push is continuing gang activity, and asked how them and when not to, and it helps tremen- he will behave differently now that he is in dously. a supervision program. Mr. Covarrubias said he will not hang around with his friends as [Mr. Burgess noted that many of the children much as he used to, and he will walk away are from single-parent homes and asked Ms. from them if they ask him to commit crimes.] Gladwin how the program helps her take charge of her home. She replied that she is Mr. Burgess. Mr. President, Stanley John- comforted knowing someone else is helping son, who is to your left, is 13 years old— her raise her family and knowing her son is [laughter]—he is involved—— not involved in gangs.] The President. You did pretty good today. The President. How much of the prob- [Mr. Burgess described New Directions, the lems that young people have—I mean that program in which Mr. Johnson is enrolled. they’re so much greater today than they have It has 24-hour supervision. Mr. Johnson told been in previous generations. How much of how his probation officer, Mr. Garcia, helps it do you think is due to the fact that children with school assignments. Mr. Burgess then are alone so much more than they used to asked Mr. Johnson to describe how his moth- be? er is involved in the program.] Ms. Gladwin. A lot. Unfortunately, Mr. Johnson. What? there’s a lot more single parents. And it’s very The President. About your mother. difficult for us.

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Gov. Miller. We have the highest per- you try to get parents as well as the young centage of single mothers in the United people involved in community restitution and States here in Nevada, Mr. President. rehabilitation efforts. The President. You know, a phenomenal But the main thing I want to say, to get percentage of single parents are spending back to answering your question is, our coun- more than 20 percent of their income on try has got to make a commitment to under- child care when their children are very stand that when—normally when we see a young. And then when they don’t need lit- serious crime, that’s the end of years of dif- eral, physical child care anymore it becomes ficulties that a lot of people have; and that almost impossible for them to do anything. we simply cannot jail our way out of Ameri- That’s one of the reasons that these programs ca’s crime problem. We are going to have are so important. to invest some more money in prevention. Ms. Gladwin. Yes, they are. The question And I say that as somebody who started out I have to ask is why isn’t there more pro- in law enforcement as attorney general over grams like the New Directions? 20 years ago—almost 20 years ago. And when The President. Well, maybe I can talk a I was Governor I built a lot of prison cells, little about that. and I passed a lot of laws toughening pen- First, let me say what the good news is. alties. And, you know, we had a very tough The bad news is that the country has figured approach. But these young people—some- out how to reduce the crime rate, but the body has got to do something to give them crime rate among children under 18 is still a chance to live an organized, positive life. going up. For 3 years in the country as a And when we wrote the crime bill—it’s whole, the crime rate has gone down now. very interesting, we passed the crime bill in And that’s good, but juvenile crime still con- 1994. I’m proud of the fact that it’s putting tinues to rise. 100,000 more police officers on the street. Now, there are, however, some things that But I said then and I say again, I’m sure you seem to be working. Every one of them would corroborate this, a lot of these police seems to be related to giving young people officers—and a lot of the good they’re doing an organized, positive way to spend their is they’re stopping crime from happening in time. And I could give you just a lot of exam- the first place, not just catching criminals ples. We’ve worked hard, for example, to more quickly. And we have—all I can tell help communities that wanted to set up a you is we need to build more support nation- curfew set up curfews. But the ones—the ally and in every State legislature in the coun- curfew programs that really work are ones try and every local government in the country where the kids also have something to do. for these kind of programs, because the social I was in New Orleans last week and they’ve and economic realities in which a lot of these got a curfew center there so that if a young young folks are growing up in put them person violates the curfew, they don’t put under a lot of pressure that people our age them in jail, fine them, or just drop them didn’t face when we were their age. It’s just back off at home and let them go out and a plain truth. And we have to find an orga- get in trouble again. They take them to the nized, disciplined, caring environment that curfew center, and they try to come up with we—we need to help their parents and sup- a plan to help the kids with their lives. port them. There’s so many—so many single Long Beach, California, has a school uni- parents out there doing the best they can. form policy because they had such a gang And I was sitting there—I was looking at problem there. And the kids designed their Shane and Tony and Stan and thinking, you own uniform school by school. But it’s re- know, one way or the other these three kids duced violence and other kinds of problems are our future. They’re our future, and we’ve there. got to take responsibility at least to give them There are different ways that are dealing the best chance they can to make a good fu- with this. A lot of schools are trying to stay ture for themselves and for the rest of us. open later, and a lot of places are trying to And I want to thank you, Kirby, for spending develop programs like you’ve got here, where your life on this.

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Mr. Burgess. Thank you, Mr. President. Their parents were of a generation where The President. Thank you for doing it. people had relatively fewer children, and Another point. I just want to make one there weren’t so many people in their child- more point and then I’d like to go back and bearing years. let anybody else talk who wants to talk. For I don’t want to use this—this will sound it is amazing to me how much some of these wrong, but these kids have, in a way, by going community programs can do on a modest through this, have given us a chance to figure budget. We’re not talking about spending a out for future generations how to rescue fortune here. A lot of these community-based young people and support mothers like Joy. programs are so much less expensive than And we better take advantage of them and a lot of the more expensive things that hap- we better do it now, because if we wait an- pen later on. other 5 or 6 years, the dimensions of the If the program Shane was in works, and problem will be roughly 2 to 3 times greater he never develops a serious drug habit, then than they are now. And it will be unmanage- it’s a lot less expensive than treating some- able. body for a serious drug problem later on. So I still—my own view is the right thing That’s just one example, you know. Whatever for the National Government to do is to pro- it costs for Tony to have somebody to check vide the resources and the legal and other in twice a day with, gives him a chance to support necessary to let communities pick graduate from high school, maybe go on to those programs that are most likely to work college, get a good job, have a good, success- best for them, because not every program ful life—whatever it costs will be a pittance works the same in every place. And the truth of what we would all pay if his life took a is that every one of these programs, you’ve different turn. got to have some caring adult and some sys- And the same thing is true for every young tem that works, somebody who can stand up person. So I want to say that I was so im- like this gentleman down here and get a pressed when I read about these programs, round of applause because the kids relate to and I have been almost obsessed with this him or her, as the case may be. juvenile crime problem, not only because it So I don’t think that we should be pre- makes our people feel less safe but because scribing what works. What we have tried to of what’s happening to all these kids we’re do in our administration is go around and losing. And I just also want to say one other find things that are working, and if people thing, to urge you to support the Governor are having some trouble spreading it, like the and you’ve got your county commissioner uniform policy, the curfews, or whatever, we and the mayor here, the two Senators are try to help them do that. And otherwise, we here—just now coming into our schools try to provide what money we could pass in there is another baby boom generation. A lot the Congress to let the communities decide of people don’t know this and haven’t fo- what works best. And that’s what I think we cused on this yet. should do. I’m the oldest of the children born right Senator Harry Reid. Mr. President. after World War II, and we’re the biggest— The President. Senator Reid. the people of my age and down, about 15 Senator Reid said the President’s leadership or 16 years younger than me, are the biggest [ protected the Federal programs being made group of Americans ever born into this coun- use of in Nevada, such as the drug-free try. There is now a group just now starting schools and school-to-work efforts. into grade school that, when they get in their ] school years, will be slightly bigger than we The President. Well, to be explicit, when are as a generation. And if we don’t turn this we fought the crime bill in 1994, there were juvenile crime problem around by the time people who basically said, all Washington they’re 13 to 16, you cannot imagine what should do is pass penalties and build prisons; we’re going to be grappling with. These that we shouldn’t put the police out there. young people are actually in a group of We shouldn’t ban assault weapons. We Americans that aren’t particularly numerous. shouldn’t have a waiting period for handguns.

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And that it was a waste of money to give the biggest difference to the largest number funds to communities for these prevention of young people your age? programs. You remember the debate very [Mr. Quick said the individual teenager must well. be willing to change.] And the most important thing I want to focus on today, I mean, I think the evidence The President. So that’s why you made is clear now on what we did on the others— the other suggestion you did, that at least that we were right. But the most important if you got all the kids together, they would thing is we didn’t win the whole fight on the know what was there for them if they were prevention programs, as you know, although inclined to ask for help. both of you tried to help me. But when you What about you, Tony? see programs like this, you just have to say Mr. Covarrubias. I can’t really think of that every one of these—every young person nothing. in the country—every person like Stanley The President. You think the program has Johnson in the country ought to be in one been a good thing for you? of these programs who needs it. And until Mr. Covarrubias. Yeah. that happens, it shouldn’t be a—that ought The President. Are there a lot of young to be a test. people your age that need programs like this But maybe we’ll turn it around now, thanks and aren’t in them that you know of? to all of you. Mr. Covarrubias. Not that I can think of right now, but yeah. [Mr. Burgess asked roundtable participants The President. You think there are or for their suggestions on how prevention serv- there aren’t? You think you’re reaching most ices for teenagers can be improved. Mr. of the people? Quick suggested social events for teens where What about you? speakers would talk about the dangers of You have done well. Let’s give the young drugs and gangs.] men a hand. Let’s give them a hand. They have done well. [Applause] Mr. Burgess. Any final comments, Mr. President? [Mr. Burgess thanked the President for his The President. Well, let’s see if any- participation and invited him to visit again.] body—Tony? The President. Thank you. I would like Mr. Covarrubias. No, I don’t. to, before I go, I would like to just very brief- The President. Stanley? [Laughter] ly thank Dr. Harter and the staff here at You’re doing great. Let me ask you some- UNLV for letting us all come on a difficult thing. I want to ask you guys something— day. And I want to thank Senator Reid and just one thing. If we weren’t here in this big Senator Bryan for their support for these crowd of people, if we were just sitting alone programs in Washington. And I want to in a room so you didn’t have to worry about thank all the folks here on the panel and the being on television and wearing a tie and Governor and Mr. Wingett and especially suit—don’t be nervous; you look good in it— you, Kirby. [laughter]—and you were trying to tell me But ladies and gentlemen, let me say again what one thing or two things you think I to you, I thank you for coming out today. could do or that we could do that would make If you look at these—when we leave here it possible for more young people to make now, you look at these three boys sitting up it, either to stay out of trouble or to get out here with me. And remember what I told of trouble if they get in, what do you think you. If I had told you 31⁄2 years ago when we could do to change the way things are I was inaugurated President that we would in America that would make you feel better have 3 years of declining crime but that the about it, that would make you feel better crime rate among juveniles would go up, you about your future? Is there any one thing would have a hard time believing that. We you could tell me that you think that we cannot let that be true 5 or 10 years from ought to be working on, that would make now. It will consume this country. It will

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change the whole way we live. So if you really standing up for America in the United States like what you have seen today, and you liked Senate. They do a wonderful job. seeing these young folks up here sitting with And I want to thank Governor Bob Miller. the President instead of being in trouble, and You know, he has been the best sort of friend being nervous and doing the best they can to me because he always tells me when he to do something good—if you like that, then thinks I’m wrong. [Laughter] And he’s been you need to support these programs, and you the best sort of Governor for you because need to make sure every child in this State even though he’s my friend he’s first and that needs it is in one. And you need to sup- foremost somebody who’s always fighting for port these people that are doing it, because Nevada’s interests. And every time he hears they are proof that we can turn this around, anything that might be even potentially bad but we haven’t gotten to everybody or the for Nevada, I know the first call I’m going numbers wouldn’t be what they are. And we to get is from Bob Miller. He’s made a lot have to do it. of calls in the last 31⁄2 years for you, and I This is a very urgent problem for our coun- thank him for that. try, and we can only change it in two ways. I also met someone earlier today. And I One is, like Shane said, when people decide think he’s in the crowd today. He’s supposed they are going to make a difference in their to be up here with us—State Senator Bob own lives. And secondly, when adults like you Coffin who’s running for Congress here. I take responsibility in every community. We don’t know if he’s here, but I thought I will keep trying to do our part, but remem- would—is he back there? Thank you. ber, we need you. And if you liked this today, Ladies and gentlemen, I’m glad to be back when you go out of here, make sure you’re in Nevada. I like it here. I’m glad to be back going to do something to turn this situation in Las Vegas, which as all of you know, was around. my mother’s favorite place on Earth. I’ve had Thank you, and God bless you all. a wonderful day already. I went out and vis- ited one of your juvenile justice programs, NOTE: The President spoke at 11:05 a.m. in the where young people were doing community student union ballroom at the University of Ne- service and making restitution for mistakes vada at Las Vegas. In his remarks, he referred they’ve made. And I met with some of the to Yvonne Atkinson-Gates, chairwoman, Clark young people in the program and some of County Commission; Mayor Jan Laverty Jones of the adults who were working with them and Las Vegas, NV; and Carol Harter, president, Uni- some of the parents. And I want to com- versity of Nevada at Las Vegas. pliment you for that. And I want to ask every- body in this room to support people who are out there working with these young kids, try- Remarks to the Community in Las ing to get them out of trouble, keep them Vegas out of trouble, give them something to do June 9, 1996 with their lives. We cannot—we cannot—tolerate the situ- Thank you. Thank you for being outside. ation which now exists in the United States All those people in the heat out there, thank where the crime rate is going down overall you very much. I want to thank the Green but going up among people under 18. And Valley High School band. Thank you for play- it’s because we don’t have enough adults that ing. You did a great job. I thank those who are out there helping these kids to build good were here before: thank you, Mayor Jones; lives for themselves. And you’ve got some thank you, County Commission Chair good programs here. I want you to support Yvonne Gates; thank you, Senator Titus; the people that are out there on the front thank you, Representative Perkins; and most lines in Las Vegas and Nevada working with of all thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for those kids. being here. I want to thank your fine Sen- Four years ago when I came here and ators, Harry Reid and Dick Bryan, for rep- asked you to support me, I had an idea about resenting you, standing up for you, and what I wanted our country to look like as

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