Bill Clinton: “I don't know that the Attorney General and the Congress want a law--at least I don't think a majority of the Congress…”

“I don't know that the Attorney General and the Congress want a law--at least I don't think a majority of the Congress wants a law to limit what can be on television. But there is some evidence that the accumulated exposure to random violence over years and years and years by a generation of young people who watch far more television than their predecessors did has some effect on people's willingness to then go out and recreate what they've been exposed to on television. Now, I'm not against all violence in movies and TV. I thought--for example, I thought that movie ``Boyz N' the Hood'' was a great movie, because--it was a very violent movie, but it showed you the real--it was a true movie. I mean, it showed you what the horrible consequences to life and to family was of that kind of behavior. But I think what bothers people about television is not so much this or that or the other program but the overall impact of watching several hours a day every day and just one violent scene after another coming at you. If you start doing that when you're about 5 years old, by the time you're 15, 16, or 17, there may be a whole lot of messages in your mind that may make you more prone to be violent, again, if you don't have an off-setting influence from the family, the school, the church, the community, some other place. That is the concern. It is not that there are bad people doing the television or that one program or two, in and of themselves, can make a difference. The question is whether the overall impact of it makes young people more likely to be violent. Public Trust in Government [A participant cited the frustration and anger young people felt toward Government bureaucracy and asked if the administration would keep its promises and make a difference.]”