Here is a press release from the White House.   President Clinton's Remarks On Waco With Q/A  To: National Desk  Contact: White House Office of the Press Secretary, 202-456-2100     WASHINGTON, April 20 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Following are remarks by President Clinton in a question and answer session with the press (Part 2 of 2):       Go ahead, Sarah.       Q  There are two questions I want to ask you.  The first is, I think that they knew very well that the children did not have gas masks while the adults did, so the children had no chance because this gas was very -- she said it was not lethal, but it was very dangerous to the children and they could not have survived without gas masks.  And on February 28th -- let's go back -- didn't those people have a right to practice their religion?       THE PRESIDENT:  They were not just practicing their religion, they were -- the Treasury Department believed that they had violated federal laws, any number of them.       Q  What federal laws --       THE PRESIDENT:  Let me go back and answer -- I can't answer the question about the gas masks, except to tell you that the whole purpose of using the tear gas was that it had been tested; they were convinced that it wouldn't kill either a child or an adult but it would force anybody that breathed it to run outside.  And one of the things that I've heard -- I don't want to get into the details of this because I don't know -- but one of the things that they were speculating about today was that the wind was blowing so fast that the windows might have been opened and some of the gas might have escaped and that may be why it didn't have the desired effect.       They also knew, Sarah, that there was an underground compound -- a bus buried underground where the children could be sent.  And they were -- I think they were hoping very much that if the children were not released immediately outside that the humane thing would be done and that the children would be sent someplace where they could be protected.       In terms of the gas masks themselves, I learned yesterday -- I did not ask this fact question before -- that the gas was supposed to stay active in the compound longer than the gas masks themselves were to work.  So that it was thought that even if they all had gas masks, that eventually the gas would force them out in a nonviolent, nonshooting circumstance.       MS. MYERS:  Last question.       Q  Mr. President, why are you still saying that --       Q  Could you tell us whether or not you ever asked Janet Reno about the possibility of a mass suicide?  And when you learned about the actual fire and explosion what went through your mind during those horrendous moments?       THE PRESIDENT:  What I asked Janet Reno is if they had considered all the worse things that could happen.  And she said -- and, of course, the whole issue of suicide had been raised in the public -- he had -- that had been debated anyway.  And she said that the people who were most knowledgeable  about these kinds of issues concluded that there was no greater risk of that now than there would be tomorrow or the next day or the day after that or at anytime in the future.  That was the judgment they made.  Whether they were right or wrong, of course, we will never know.       What happened when I saw the fire, when I saw the building burning?  I was sick.  I felt terrible.  And my immediate concern was whether the children had gotten out and whether they were escaping or whether they were inside, trying to burn themselves up. That's the first thing I wanted to know.       Thank you.       Q  Mr. President, why are you still saying it was a Janet Reno decision?  Isn't it, in the end, your decision?       THE PRESIDENT:  Well, what I'm saying is that I didn't have a four- or five-hour, detailed briefing from the FBI.  I didn't go over every strategic part of it.  It is a decision for which I take responsibility.  I'm the President of the United States and I signed off on the general decision and giving her the authority to make the last call.  When I talked to her on Sunday, some time had elapsed.  She might have made a decision to change her mind.  I said, if you decide to go forward with this tomorrow, I will support you. And I do support her.       She is not ultimately responsible to the American people; I am.  But I think she has conducted her duties in an appropriate fashion and she has dealt with this situation I think as well as she could have.       Thank you.  (Applause.)