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PRESIDENT CLINTON ADDRESSES
THE CHURCH OF GOD IN CHRIST BISHOPS CONFERENCE
Highlights Historic Progress for African Americans, Addresses
Challenges Ahead
September 20, 2000
Today, President Clinton will address the Church of God in Christ
Bishops Conference, one of the largest and most influential African
American religious denominations, with an estimated membership of eight
million. At the conference, the President will highlight the progress
made during the Clinton-Gore Administration in increasing opportunity
and prosperity in the African American community. The President will
also discuss the challenges that still face our nation -- including
expanding civil rights enforcement to ensure equal opportunity for all,
enacting hate crimes legislation and improving education for our
children -- and call on Congress to continue the progress for African
Americans and take action on these important priorities.
HIGHLIGHTING EIGHT YEARS OF PROGRESS FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS. Over the
last 8 years, the President and Vice President have worked to turn the
nation around, bring it together, and ensure that all Americans share in
the nation's prosperity. These accomplishments include:
BUILDING ONE AMERICA -- Appointing An Administration that Looks Like
America. President Clinton has appointed the most diverse Cabinet and
Administration in history, with twice as many African American
appointees as any previous administration. African Americans make up
12% of the Clinton Cabinet, 14% of Administration appointees, and 17% of
Federal bench nominations. The President has appointed more African
Americans to federal judgeships (62 total) than were appointed during
the last sixteen years combined (57 total).
Working to End Racial Profiling. To help determine where and when
racial profiling occurs, the President directed Cabinet agencies to
collect data on the race, ethnicity, and gender of individuals subject
to certain stops by federal law enforcement. The President has also
supported increased resources for police integrity and ethics training
and to improve the diversity of local police forces.
One America Initiative. President Clinton has led the nation in an
effort to become One America: a place where we respect others'
differences and embrace the common values that unite us. The President
has been actively involved in outreach efforts to engage Americans in
this historic effort, and followed up on the work of the Initiative on
Race by appointing Robert B. (Ben) Johnson as Assistant to the President
and Director of the new White House Office on the President's Initiative
for One America.
INVESTING IN EDUCATION -- Progress for African American Students.
Reading and Math test scores of African American students are up in
virtually all categories. Three times as many African American students
took AP exams in 1999 as did in 1988, and the percentage of African
American high school graduates enrolling in college increased from 48%
in 1992 to 59% in 1997 -- the highest number ever.
Opening the Doors of College to All Americans. President Clinton
proposed and passed the HOPE Scholarships and Lifetime Learning tax
credits, which in 1999 benefited an estimated 10 million American
families paying for college. The HOPE Scholarship provides a tax credit
of up to $1,500 for the first two years of college. The Lifetime
Learning tax credit provides a 20 percent tax credit on the first $5,000
of tuition and fees for students beyond the first two years of college.
Proposing the Largest Head Start Expansion in History. Since 1993,
the Clinton-Gore Administration has increased funding for Head Start by
90%. The President's FY 2001 budget increases funding for Head Start by
another $1 billion -- the largest increase ever proposed for the program
to provide Head Start and Early Head Start to approximately 950,000
children. This funding will bring within reach the President's goal of
serving one million children in 2002 and builds the foundation for the
long-term goal of universal pre-school. In 1998, 36% of the children
enrolled in Head Start were African American.
Turning Around Failing Schools. 11 million low-income students now
benefit from Title I- Aid to Disadvantaged Students, and all our
children are benefiting from higher expectations and a challenging
curriculum geared to higher standards. In the 1996-97 school year, 28%
of the children benefiting from the Title I program were African
American.
Preparing at-risk Students for College Success. The President and
Vice President created and expanded GEAR-UP, a mentoring initiative, to
help over 750,000 low-income middle school children finish school and
prepare for college.
EXPANDING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES. -- Historic Economic Gains. The
unemployment rate and poverty rate for African Americans are both at the
lowest levels on record, with an average unemployment rate of 7.7% in
2000 (down from 14.2% in 1992) and a poverty rate of 26.1% in 1998 (down
from 33.1% in 1993). Median household income for African American
families is up 15.1% (or $3,317) since 1993, and the poverty rate for
African American children is at the lowest level on record.
Tax Cuts For Working Families. President Clinton and Vice President
Gore's 1993 Economic Plan provided tax cuts to 15 million hard-pressed
working families by expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The
average family with two children who received the EITC received a tax
cut of $1,026. In 1997, the EITC lifted 1.1 million African Americans
out of poverty. This year the President and Vice President have
proposed expanding the EITC to provide tax relief to 6.4 million
additional working families.
Increased Minimum Wage. The President raised the minimum wage to
$5.15 an hour -- directly benefiting 1.3 million African American
workers. President Clinton and Vice President Gore have called for
passage of an additional $1.00 an hour increase.
IMPROVING OUR NATION'S HEALTH. -- Extended Health Care to Millions of
Children with the State Children's Health Insurance Program. President
Clinton, with bipartisan Congressional support, provided $24 billion to
health care coverage to up to five million uninsured children. African
American children make up 25% of all uninsured children -- more than
twice their percentage of the overall population. This year, the budget
includes several proposals to accelerate enrollment of children in
SCHIP.
Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities by 2010. President
Clinton's initiative will help eliminate racial disparities in six key
health areas: infant mortality, diabetes, cancer screening and
management, heart disease, AIDS and immunizations. The President and
Vice President won a 200% increase for this initiative in FY 2000, and
this year they have proposed $35 million to continue the effort.
MAKING OUR COMMUNITIES SAFER. -- Funding 50,000 More Community Police
Officers. In 1999, ahead of schedule and under budget, the Clinton-Gore
Administration met its commitment to fund 100,000 police officers for
our communities, with special grants to increase community policing in
high-crime and underserved neighborhoods. In fall 1999, the President
won funding for the first installment toward his goal to hire up to
50,000 more officers by 2005. This year, the Clinton-Gore budget
includes over $1 billion to hire more officers and new community
prosecutors, give police the tools and technology they need to fight
crime, and fund community-wide crime fighting efforts.
More than Half a Million Felons, Fugitives and Domestic Abusers
Denied Guns. Since the President signed the Brady Bill into law, more
than 536,000 felons, fugitives and domestic abusers have been prevented
from purchasing guns through Brady background checks. Since 1993,
violent crime has fallen by 7% and gun violence has declined by 35%.
President Clinton and Vice President Gore have repeatedly called on
Congress to build on the success of the Brady Law by quickly passing a
set of common-sense gun safety measures designed to keep guns out of the
wrong hands and save lives.
Reducing Illegal Drug Use. In 1998, the White House Office of Drug
Control Policy launched the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign.
Last year, that campaign reached 95% of America's youth 8.3 times a week
through advertising in eleven languages to youth and adults of various
ethnic groups. Illicit drug use among young people age 12-17 declined
from 1997 to 1999, and the average age of first-time use went up. Since
1997, overall youth drug use is down by more than 20 percent, and youth
marijuana use has declined by over 25%.
ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGES AHEAD. While we have made great progress in
bringing the nation together and building a better future for all
Americans, more remains to be done. The President will call on Congress
to continue the progress of the last 8 years for African Americans by:
Expanding Civil Rights Enforcement. Because discrimination continues
to be a fact of life in America, the Clinton-Gore Administration has
worked to vigorously enforce the nation's civil rights laws and to make
sure that civil rights enforcement budgets keep pace with the increasing
responsibility. This year, the President proposed a 13 percent increase
in civil rights enforcement, bringing the federal commitment to more
than $1 billion per year. These funds will help the Justice Department
expand investigations and prosecutions of criminal civil rights cases,
including hate crimes, police misconduct cases and housing and lending
cases. In addition, the EEOC will be able to continue reducing its
backlog of fair employment cases, HUD will be able to reduce housing
discrimination and the Departments of Education, Agriculture and Labor
will be able to improve and expand civil rights compliance and
enforcement programs. The House has under-funded the President's
request by $133 million, and the Senate by $105 million. At these
funding levels, the EEOC would be unable to pursue 3500 discrimination
cases, and fewer federal civil rights cases would be pursued. The
President will call on Congress to meet the nation's commitment to civil
rights enforcement and fund these important programs.
Passing Hate Crimes Legislation. President Clinton called for
strengthening Hate Crimes laws in his 1999 and 2000 State of the Union
Addresses. Now, the House and Senate have finally approved strong Hate
Crimes Legislation that would enhance the Federal government's ability
to prosecute violent crimes motivated by race, color, religion, or
national origin and would authorize Federal prosecution of crimes
motivated by sexual orientation, gender, or disability. The President
will call on conferees to stop delay and take action on hate crimes
legislation.
Investing in Education. The Clinton-Gore education strategy of
investing more in our schools while demanding more from them has
resulted in impressive gains for African Americans. African American
students are taking tougher classes, scoring higher on standardized
reading and math tests and going to college at the highest rates ever.
Last year, for the first time, the African American high school
graduation rate matched the rate for whites. This year, the president
has proposed key investments to continue this progress, including
expanding after-school opportunities for 2.5 million children, preparing
1.4 million at-risk youth for college success, providing funding to
modernize 6,000 schools and repair 25,000 more over five years, reducing
class size, improving teacher quality and turning around failing schools
with a $250 million accountability fund. With just days away from the
end of the fiscal year, Congress has yet to provide the funds our
children need for these priorities. The President will call on Congress
to do the right thing and give our kids the quality schools they
deserve.