TERROR IN OKLAHOMA CITY : Clinton in Mourning

“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.”

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“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.”

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“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.”

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“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.”

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“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.”

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“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.”

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“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.’ ”

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My fellow Americans, . . . wounds take a long time to heal, but we must begin. Those who are lost now belong to God. Some say we will be with them, but until that happens, their legacy must be our lives.”