Bill Clinton: “Thank you very much, Epatha; welcome back to the White House. She was here back in February, again trying to help…”

“Thank you very much, Epatha; welcome back to the White House. She was here back in February, again trying to help children, when we unveiled the PSA to help our children get the health care they need. So she is becoming the Federal Government's number one volunteer for America's children, and we're grateful for her. I think she knows that if she and the rest of us could do enough for our children in a preventive and preparatory way, we'd put a lot of police officers and actors playing police officers out of work--[laughter]--because we wouldn't have nearly as much trouble. I thank you so much. Attorney General Reno and Secretary Shalala, thank you both for your commitment to helping our children and to unifying our Government's resources, not having a lot of little, indistinct programs that are separate, one from another. I want to thank all of those who are here supporting this campaign. Thank you, Dr. Roz Weinman, from NBC. Thank you for everything you've done. I want to thank the ADL national director, Abraham Foxman, the Human Rights Committee's executive director, Elizabeth Birch, the people from La Raza, and all the other groups that have supported this endeavor. I'd also like to acknowledge the young people behind me. They're from Eastern High School in Washington, DC, and they are actively and personally working to prevent youth violence. They are the symbols of the people we are trying to empower with this public service campaign, and we ought to give them a hand. [Applause] Six months ago next week we will observe the half-year anniversary of the tragedy at Littleton, Colorado. As awful as it was, we all know it was not an isolated event. We have seen since and we saw before, in a string of violent incidents at school and in the fact that 13 young people lose their lives every single day to gunshots in ones and twos, that our children--notwithstanding the fact that we have the lowest crime rate in 26 years and a dramatic drop in the murder rate--are still subject to a nation that is too dangerous and can be made safer. That is why we have asked every sector of our society to get involved in the search for solutions to youth violence, to hatred, to the absence of control, to environmental and cultural factors that need to be dealt with. We've asked people to help at home and school, in Hollywood and in the heartland, in our State capitals and in the Nation's Capital. In August we helped launch the national campaign against youth violence, to pull together commitments from people and organizations from all different walks of life. Although this new campaign is not even 2 months old, it has already made a remarkable start. Over the coming months, it will roll out a major media campaign, begin supporting antiviolence concerts and townhall meetings, in-school and after-school programs, and sponsor a city-by-city effort to shine a spotlight on the local initiatives that are producing the most promising results. The executive director of this national campaign, Jeff Bleich, is here with us today. I introduced him when we named him, but I want to thank you again for your great work. Today we are pleased and grateful that NBC is making its own commitment to protect our children from youth violence. As part of it's ``The More You Know'' campaign, NBC has created a series of ads that speak to parents and children about how families can help to stop violence and hate before they start. I would like to now stop and show one of these ads, which features Epatha and her ``Law & Order'' colleague, Angie Harmon. So could we show the ad? [At this point, the public service announcement was shown.]”