George H.W. Bush: “May 6, 1992 Well, I'm very pleased to be here in Los Angeles and thankful to see that calm has returned to the city…”

“May 6, 1992 Well, I'm very pleased to be here in Los Angeles and thankful to see that calm has returned to the city; glad to receive that report just now from the Mayor, members of the city council, and from the Governor. As I think back today to what I said last Friday, I do think of the oath that I took when I entered the office, the Constitution's charge to every President to ``insure domestic Tranquility.'' This I know: We can never condone violence, because without peace there certainly can be no hope. We cannot begin to move forward, could not begin to rebuild until the violence had stopped and the order restored. We've met the first mission, and I salute those who have participated in it. And now, the good people of south central L.A. are free to come out from behind those closed doors to begin the difficult but extremely important process of rebuilding the city. Tomorrow I'll be meeting with community leaders, with some citizens, to see and speak with the people who have firsthand knowledge of last week's tragic events. I will assure them, as I can assure all the citizens of Los Angeles: The Federal Government is committed to help this city, help this city rebuild. Let me focus just for a moment on the actions that we're taking at the Federal level to help.…”