Bush dedicates museum devoted to Oklahoma bombing

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Feb 20, 2001 by Sonya Ross Associated Press

With sympathetic nods and a simple "God bless," President Bush on Monday recalled the horror of the Oklahoma City bombing by touring a new museum devoted to the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil.

The president and his wife, Laura, were on hand for the opening of the Oklahoma City National Memorial Center, located near the site where a powerful truck bomb sliced into the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, killing 168 people, 19 of them children. At the tour's end, the Bushes signed white tiles to be added to a guest registry on one wall. Bush signed his name and "God bless," while the first lady wrote "With love" and her name.

"Very touching," Bush told reporters.

The Bushes stopped first at a wall showing a montage of pictures from ordinary days at the building before the blast. Then, as a recording of a children's choir singing Let There Be Peace on Earth played softly, the Bushes stood grim-faced before a gallery of photos and mementoes of the dead.

"This is my daughter here," said tour guide Geannine Gist, pointing to a picture of victim Karen Carr, displayed with one of Carr's business cards and a snapshot of her car with a sign, "Please honk, it's my birthday."

"That was really a hard job, to pick out something that represented somebody's life," Gist told the first couple, who nodded sympathetically.

Bush walked past pictures of Secret Service agents who died. "We knew some of the agents here," Bush said, noting Alan G. Whicher, who had served on the elder President Bush's detail.

Besides Gist, the Bushes were guided by Oklahoma City Police Maj. Ed Hill, a rescuer, and bombing survivor Richard Williams, a General Services Administration employee.

The center depicts the frenzied panic after the bomb exploded at 9:02 a.m. April 19, 1995, a short distance from the building's day care center. Visitors can hear a tape recording of the blast, and see personal effects of the victims: car keys, watches, a brown leather briefcase, the pink-and-white sneaker of a 4-year-old girl, as well as window blinds, file cabinets and concrete mangled by the blast.

Congress approved $5 million to create the museum. It will be maintained through endowments, membership dues and admission fees.

The visit set a somber start to a week that Bush otherwise is devoting to some of his top priorities, education and taxes.

Bush scheduled visits this week to Ohio, Missouri and Tennessee to lay the groundwork for budget and tax-cutting proposals he will present to Congress on Feb. 27.

Republican lawmakers warned last week that Bush's $1.6 trillion tax-cut plan was in trouble. Polls show that Americans favor tax cuts, but do not want the reductions to come at the expense of popular government actions, such as school dollars and reducing the debt.

Democrats are arguing that Bush's tax cut plan would increase the debt and threaten government programs. Bush's goal is to show Americans that it is possible to have both a steep tax cut and increased funding for education.

He also will spend time promoting his education ideas. Bush wants to mandate annual testing to better track student performance in third through eighth grades. He also wants to pull federal funding for public schools that fail to meet certain academic performance standards after three consecutive years, allowing those schools' students to take up a share of federal dollars for use toward an alternative school.

On Tuesday, Bush will go to Columbus, Ohio, for a round-table discussion about his education plan at a school that serves many homeless children.