THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

           SOUTHWEST BORDER ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE 
                             May 25, 1999 

The Challenge

Today, the President and Vice President launched a Southwest Border Economic Development Initiative to address the unique shared challenges facing the communities along the Mexican border by strengthening community efforts to generate sustained development and lasting prosperity.

Increased interaction with our Mexican neighbors along the border is generating economic development opportunities and challenges that put a heightened premium on federal coordination and cooperation with state and local organization as well as binational cooperation. Coordination is critical among the new institutions created to address environmental, worker dislocation, and economic development challenges:

• The Border Economic Cooperation Commission coordinates border environmental projects.
• The North American Development Bank (NADBank) finances environmental and other projects.
• The Community Adjustment Investment Program catalyzes investment and job creation in local communities.
• The NAFTA Trade Adjustment Assistance program funds worker retraining and reemployment activities.
• The Southwest Border Regional Partnership was created to build a sustainable economy in a sustainable environment in response to Vice President Gore's challenge to the Empowerment Zones to better link community and regional revitalization efforts.

The region's unique challenges reflect economic disparities along our 2000-mile border with Mexico.

• Border communities' demographic challenges are distinct from those elsewhere in the nation. Their population is growing twice as fast and is much younger than in the rest of the country,
• Three times as many people living along the border speak a foreign language in the home compared to the rest of the country.
• Economic development needs along the Southwest Border are great: per capita personal income is 12 percent below the national average, and the region's poverty rate is one third greater. Unemployment is high and one quarter of adults have less than a high school graduate's education.

Interagency Task Force on the Economic Development of the Southwest Border

President Clinton is taking executive action to establish an Interagency Task Force on the Economic Development of the Southwest Border. The mission is to coordinate and better leverage federal economic development and other services for the Southwest Border in close concert with locally led efforts. The goal is to raise the living standards and overall economic profile of the Southwest Border on a sustained basis.

• The Task Force will report to the Vice President. The Task Force will enhance coordination among the related economic development institutions, binational efforts such as Border XXI, Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities, and other federal economic development programs and integrate these federal programs with locally led efforts.
• The Task Force will seek to mobilize a more integrated, rapid response by federal agencies to community economic development strategies by analyzing existing programs and policies of member agencies; consulting and coordinating activities with state and local authorities, community leaders, Members of Congress, and other stakeholders; developing short- and long-term options for promoting sustainable economic development; and integrating Administration initiatives and programs into concrete, effective actions.
• With overall coordination by the National Economic Council, Task Force members will include the federal agencies that supply economic development programs and services to the region, including the Departments of Treasury, Agriculture, Labor, State, Education, Defense, Housing and Urban Development, Commerce, Interior, Health and Human Services, Transportation, and Energy, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency, Small Business Administration, Office of Management and Budget, Office of National Drug Control Policy and General Services Administration.
• Websites and other means will be developed to disseminate information about the Task Force's activities and establish continuous communication with the communities and policy makers in Southwest Border communities.
• The Task Force will monitor the progress of each community strategic plan and present annual progress reports to the Vice President from the lead agencies and agency teams.

Rapid Response Pilots

As part of its initial implementation efforts, the Task Force will establish demonstration projects aimed at creating an integrated, rapid response capability targeted to the priority needs identified by pilot communities in their economic development plans.

• For each pilot community, a community team and a federal team will be created in parallel to coordinate and expedite the federal response. The Community Rapid Response Team will develop strategic plans and priorities and interact with the federal, state and local authorities. The corresponding Federal Rapid Response Team will organize the delivery of federal services in a manner that matches community priorities.