“THE BRADY BILL HAS FINALLY BECOME LAW” Once the Brady Bill had made its arduous trek through Congress, it only needed to travel to White House to be signed into law by President Clinton. After the Senate passed the Conference Committee’s report on the Brady Bill, President Clinton called Senator George Mitchell and Speaker of the House Tom Foley to discuss the timetable for the Brady Bill’s signing and celebrating its passage. Image Read the transcript of President Clinton’s call with Speaker Foley and Senator Mitchell following the passage of the Brady Bill. Arranging the signing ceremony for the Brady Bill was no small task for staffers in the Clinton Administration. Important guests including the Bradys and members of Congress wished to attend the ceremony alongside law enforcement officials, mayors, and many of those who had lobbied for the bill over the last year. With less than a week to plan the event and hundreds of invitations to consider, the White House staff had their work cut out for them. Image In this folder of archived documents from the White House Public Liaison Office, you can see long lists of individuals invited to the signing ceremony. The signing ceremony began at 1 PM on November 30th, 1993, in the East Room of the White House. There, the ceremony opened with remarks from Vice President, Al Gore, Attorney General of the United States, Janet Reno, the Brady's, and a young woman named Melanie Musick who had lost her husband to gun violence in 1990. When James Brady took the stage, he spoke about the challenges that he and his wife Sarah had faced in lobbying for the Brady Bill and said that “after nearly seven years” their hard work was coming to fruition. In his closing words, James Brady said “Thank you President Clinton, for your commitment to seeing this day realized. What we are witnessing today is more than a bill signing, it is the end of unchecked madness and the commencement of a heartfelt crusade for a safer and saner country”. Image Read the full remarks from the signing ceremony. (pg. 43) During President Clinton’s remarks, he stated, “Everything that has been—that should be said about this has already been said by people whose lives are more profoundly imbued with this issue than mine.” After thanking those in attendance, President Clinton signed the Brady Bill into law at 1:32PM. Watch the full signing ceremony in the White House’s East Room [Back To Home] [Next Chapter]