THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

                PRESIDENT CLINTON AND VICE PRESIDENT GORE 
                     HIGHLIGHT AN EMPOWERMENT AGENDA 
                     FOR TAPPING AMERICA'S POTENTIAL 

                              May 25,1999 

Today, the President and Vice President are visiting a successful Empowerment Zone, the Rio Grande Valley, Texas, site of this year's White House Community Empowerment Conference. More than 500 participants from Empowerment Zones across the country are expected to gather in Edinburg, Texas which sits right on the border with Mexico. The conference will provide a forum for community members to share valuable lessons and participate in a series of seminars. Seminars will focus on topics ranging from stimulating private sector investment to fostering safer, healthier neighborhoods. Seminars will help EZ/EC residents and community boards to implement their strategic plans and further their revitalization efforts.

THE PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT CONTINUE TO SHOW LEADERSHIP BY BUILDING ON THEIR SIX-YEAR RECORD OF PROMOTING GROWTH AND OPPORTUNITY IN AMERICA'S COMMUNITIES. Since 1993, President Clinton and Vice President Gore have been committed to tapping the potential of America's urban and rural communities. They have a demonstrated record of creating new initiatives and expanding existing initiatives to promote community and economic development. The Clinton-Gore Administration has worked with the private sector, states, and localities to help revitalize America's communities by bringing capital, jobs, and opportunity to distressed areas and cleaning up the urban environment. President Clinton and Vice President Gore have created or expanded the following initiatives over the last six years:

Helping to Bring Private Enterprise and Capital to Distressed Areas. The Clinton-Gore Administration has re-newed the commitment of the Federal government to help bring private enterprise into underserved communities and improve access to capital for low-income households, minorities, and traditionally underserved borrowers.

• 135 Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities. The Clinton Administration has announced 105 EZs and ECs across the country. This effort was proposed by President Clinton and passed by Congress in 1993. The EZ/EC effort has generated more than $2 billion of new private sector investment in community development activities. The President has also signed into law a second round of Ezs -- 15 new urban and 5 new rural zones -- which will include tax incentives, small business expensing, and private activity bonds. In FY 1999, President Clinton and Congress provided first-year funding of $55 million for the new EZs, and $5 million in first-year funding for 20 new rural Enterprise Communities announced in January.
• Empowerment Zones and Job Training. Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities are engaged in more than 550 job training programs with 42,000 Zone residents having received job training. Nearly 30,000 Zone residents have been placed in jobs as a result of these job-training programs. Zone residents have attended approximately 270 job fairs resulting in 16,000 job placements. As a result of the Empowerment and Enterprise Zone initiative, access to cheap sources of capital -- the lifeblood of commerce --has greatly improved. Over 4,300 businesses have been served by the EZ/EC capital access/credit access programs and 4,500 businesses have received technical assistance from the EZ/EC programs.
• Strengthened and Simplified the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). In April 1995, the Clinton Administration reformed the CRA regulations to emphasize performance. According to the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), the private sector has pledged more than $1 trillion going forward in loans to distressed communities and more than 95 percent of these financial commitments have been made since 1992. Banks made $18.6 billion in community development loans in 1997 alone. Lending to minority and low-income borrowers is also on the rise.
• Created the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI). Proposed and signed into law by the President in 1994, the CDFI Fund, through grants, loans, and equity investments, is helping to create a network of community development financial institutions in distressed areas across the United States. The CDFI fund was established in 1994. In FY99, funding was increased 19 percent to $95 million from $80 million.
• The Economic Development Initiative and Section 108 Loan Guarantee. EDI grants are used to infuse capital into community development projects, enhancing the debt financing provided by the Section 108 loan guarantee program. Together, the programs support critical economic development in distressed communities. Estimated jobs supported by EDI and the Section 108 loan guarantee have grown by 300,000 from 1994 to 1998. During this time period EDI and the Section 108 loan guarantee program have funded $3.5 billion for more than 650 separate project commitments.