April 19 (UPI) — Former president Bill Clinton told people during a speech Saturday the country could use the “Oklahoma Standard,” while commemorating the 30th anniversary of the deadly bombing in that state’s capital.
“Every year, we get together and reaffirm your model of how, despite all of our differences, and in case you haven’t noticed, we’ve got a few. In spite of all of them, we can still find a way to move forward together with the Oklahoma Standard. Service, honor, kindness,” Clinton said during the speech Saturday at the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum, which was live streamed.
Clinton was the president in 1995 when a bomb inside a truck detonated at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, killing 168 people including 19 children, and injuring 684 others.
The 78-year-old highlighted the current political divide in the United States when invoking the Oklahoma Standard, a statewide initiative that promotes a “culture of caring citizens by encouraging Acts of Service, Honor, and Kindness.”
“I wish every American would get a copy of the Oklahoma Standard in the mail or on their cellphones tomorrow. I bet you it would have a terrific impact. Don’t give up. We need you now more,” Clinton said on Saturday.
Anti-government extremist Timothy McVeigh parked a rental truck filled with ammonium-nitrate fertilizer and diesel outside the federal building on the morning of April 19, 1995. The truck exploded shortly after 9 a.m.
McVeigh was arrested that day on an unrelated driving matter but later charged and convicted in relation to the incident, along with accomplice Terry Nichols.
Nichols received life in prison while McVeigh was executed in June of 2011 on federal charges, the first federal execution at that point since 1963.
Clinton traveled to Oklahoma City in the aftermath to grieve with family members. He delivered a speech on April 23, 1995, at the Oklahoma State Fair Arena and has returned for previous anniversaries.
Clinton has called the domestic terror incident one of the most difficult days of his presidency.
