New Law To Pay For College For Slain Feds’ Children Bill Pushed By Widow Of U.S. Marshal William Degan, Who Was Killed At Ruby Ridge
After three years of lobbying by the widow of a slain U.S. marshal, President Clinton Thursday signed legislation that requires the government to pay for the college education of spouses and children of federal agents killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty.
After signing the bill the president headed for upstate New York to prepare for Sunday’s debate with Bob Dole.
It’s the culmination of a lot of hard work,” Karen Degan said Thursday, standing on the White House lawn after a formal bill-signing ceremony in the Rose Garden. “This is the one thing we always agreed would be a wonderful tribute, a very fitting memorial.”
Degan’s husband, U.S. Marshal William F. Degan, was killed during the 1992 siege of Randy Weaver’s North Idaho cabin.
During the standoff on Ruby Ridge, the white separatist’s wife was killed by an FBI sniper. Weaver’s son was killed in the initial gunfight.
Ultimately, Weaver was given $100,000 in a settlement with the federal government, and his three daughters were given $1 million apiece.
The sums enraged law enforcement supporters, who noted that Karen Degan, a widow from Quincy, Mass., had to struggle to put her sons through college at the same time.
Degan’s oldest son, William Jr., graduated from Boston College this year. She has a younger son, Brian, who is a high school senior this year and will benefit from the new law.
The legislation was effectively written by a Boston lawyer, Thomas Kiley, who helped Degan plead her case in Washington. After three years of logjams, it was rushed through the Congress this year, and signed by Clinton Thursday along with other crime bills.
As he headed to Chautauqua, N.Y., later Thursday, Clinton was said to be “slightly apprehensive” about Sunday night’s televised debate.
He was accompanied by a coterie of aides and settled in at the Athenaeum Hotel, a 105-year-old mansion on the grounds of the Chautauqua Institution, for three days of cramming for his clash with Dole in Hartford, Conn.
Campaign spokesman Joe Lockhart told reporters that Clinton, who is famed for his speaking skills, was “slightly apprehensive at this point” because Dole has been prepping for the debate while Clinton was trying to end the violence between Israelis and Palestinians that erupted last week.
White House press secretary Mike McCurry also tried to lower expectations for what most experts believe will be a stellar presidential performance, saying Clinton “feels like he has not had the time he had allotted and planned to prepare for the debates.”
Aides said Clinton’s preparations for his showdown with Dole would include a series of mock debates in which former Senate Democratic leader George Mitchell will impersonate the Republican challenger.