Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc
From: [d--el--s] at [fits.cv.nrao.edu] (Don Wells)
Subject: Clinton and the BATF
Date: Mon, 22 Mar 1993 20:10:36 GMT

The BATF fiasco in Waco has stimulated a lot of discussion in t.p.m.
about the tactics used by BATF. Suggestions have been made that BATF
should lose some if not all of its mandate as an agency of the Federal
government. Clinton's attitudes about BATF will be important in the
months to come when BATF's tactics, and maybe also its mandate, will
be reviewed.  Clinton talked a little bit about BATF in a speech which
he made at the Treasury Department Thursday March 18, four days ago; I
append the relevant text as an indication of Clinton's attitudes.

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                           THE WHITE HOUSE
                    Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release                             March 18, 1993     
                       REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
               TO EMPLOYEES OF THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT
         The Cash Room Treasury Department 11:48 A.M. EST
	     THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  (Applause.)  Thank 
you very much.  Secretary Bentsen and ladies and gentlemen, thank you 
for that wonderful reception...
	     
	     ...In all the employees of the Treasury Department I have 
seen I've noticed a rare commitment to serve this nation 
conscientiously.  And I must say, with the recent tragedies freshly 
in our minds, I think that we should all once again honor the plaque 
on the 4th floor of this building that notes more than 160 Treasury 
agents who have been killed in the line of duty in our nation's 
history.  From the Secret Service agents who protect our Presidents 
and who have a particular chore in me because I like to get out and 
see the people who put me in this job -- to the customs agents who 
wage war on drugs, to the agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco 
and Firearms, many of the employees of this department risk their 
lives to protect the lives of the rest of us.
	     
	     My prayers and I'm sure yours are still with the 
families of all four of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents who 
were killed in Waco -- Todd McKeehan and Conway Le Bleu of New 
Orleans; Steve Willis of Houston, and Robert Williams from my 
hometown of Little Rock.  Three of those four were assigned to my 
security during the course of the primary or general election.  My 
gratitude is also with the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents who 
helped to evacuate the World Trade Center in New York in the 
aftermath of the explosion; and later, who helped to find the 
identification number of the van that led to the arrest of the first 
suspect in the bombing.  I know that all of you join with me in 
praying for a peaceful and sure and quick conclusion to the events in 
Waco. ...

	     Thank you very much.  (Applause.) END12:07 P.M. EST
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--

Donald C. Wells             Associate Scientist        [d--el--s] at [nrao.edu]
National Radio Astronomy Observatory                   +1-804-296-0277
520 Edgemont Road                                 Fax= +1-804-296-0278
Charlottesville, Virginia 22903-2475 USA            78:31.1W, 38:02.2N