THE WHITE HOUSE

                     Office of the Press Secretary
                           (Cologne, Germany)
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For Immediate Release                                      June 19, 1999

STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY

The President's Trip to America's New Markets

From July 5 through July 8, as part of his New Markets Initiative, President Clinton will lead a bipartisan delegation of CEO's and Members of Congress to untapped markets throughout America, touring economically distressed communities, highlighting new opportunities, and identifying the economic potential for investment in these underserved markets.

The President will begin his trip in the Kentucky Highlands, to discuss the lack of investment in Appalachia and the new market opportunities in these rural areas. On Tuesday, July 6, the President will travel to Clarksdale, Mississippi - a rural community in the Mississippi Delta - to focus attention on rural new markets. Following his trip to Mississippi, the President will visit East St. Louis, an empowerment zone community, to call attention to the economic problems in former industrial centers and new market opportunities in urban enterprise zone communities.

On Wednesday, July 7, the President will travel to Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. The President will discuss the lack of private sector investment in Native American communities and the economic potential of this underserved market. Pine Ridge is the first Enterprise Zone on a reservation. Following South Dakota, the President will travel to South Phoenix, Arizona, an Enterprise Community with a large Hispanic population, to call attention to the need for access to capital in Hispanic communities.

On Thursday, July 8, the President will travel to the Watts neighborhood in Los Angeles, a community on its way to economic revitalization after being devastated by riots. The President will discuss the need to provide job training to disadvantaged youth, and the new market potential in tapping a new, productive workforce. The President will end his trip at a CEO Conference in Anaheim, California, to encourage private sector workforce investments in disadvantaged youth.

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