THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

        President Clinton Takes Action to Increase Opportunities
            For Hispanic Americans in the Federal Workforce

                            October 12, 2000

Today, President Clinton signed a new Executive Order to increase efforts to employ Hispanic Americans in the federal government. Building on the President's commitment to creating an Administration that reflects America's diversity and increasing prosperity for all Americans, this Order will improve government recruitment and career development of Hispanic Americans -- a group historically under-represented in the federal workforce.

TAKING ACTION TO IMPROVE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT RECRUITMENT OF HISPANIC AMERICANS. The Hispanic Employment in the Federal Government Executive Order, signed today by President Clinton, will improve efforts to increase federal employment of Hispanic Americans and build on the President's work to create a diverse Administration that looks like America. Specifically, through this Executive Order, the President will:

• Direct all Administration departments and agencies to establish and maintain programs for the recruitment and career development of Hispanic Americans in federal employment.
• Direct all Administration departments and agencies to eliminate systemic barriers to recruitment of Hispanic Americans and incorporate objectives of this Executive Order into their agency's Government Performance and Results Act planning.
• Establish an Interagency Task Force, chaired by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, to assess overall Executive Branch progress in complying with the requirements of the Order, provide advice on ways to increase Hispanic community involvement, assess best practices in strategic human resources management planning and report findings and recommendations annually to the President.
• Direct the Office of Personnel Management to provide policy guidance to address Hispanic American under-representation in the federal government and lead the effort to promote diversity in the federal workforce.

WORKING TO ENSURE THAT ALL AMERICANS SHARE IN OUR NATION'S PROSPERITY. President Clinton is committed to ensuring that all Americans participate in our nation's unprecedented prosperity, including benefiting from federal employment opportunities. Studies published by the Office of Personnel Management, the General Accounting Office and the Merit Systems Protection Board document that Hispanic Americans are under-represented in the federal government. Hispanic Americans represent 6.4 percent of the federal workforce and only 2.7 percent of the Senior Executive Service, despite the fact that they represent 11.4 percent of the U.S. labor force. To correct this historic under-representation, President Clinton is taking action to ensure that opportunities within the federal workforce are available to all Americans, including Hispanic Americans.

CREATING AN ADMINISTRATION THAT LOOKS LIKE AMERICA. President Clinton has appointed the most diverse Cabinet and Administration, with the most Hispanic American appointments and judicial nominees, in history:

• Hispanic Americans make up seven percent of Senate confirmed appointments, including Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson and Small Business Administrator Aida Alvarez.
• Nine percent of Presidential appointments, including boards and commissions, are held by Hispanic Americans, including Assistant to the President and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Maria Echaveste; Assistant to the President and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Mickey Ibarra; Secretary of the Army Luis Caldera; Equal Employment Opportunity Commissioner Ida Castro; Office of Personnel Management Deputy Director John U. Sepulveda; Federal Communications Commissioner Gloria Tristani; and Selective Service Systems Director Gil Coronado.
• Six percent of all President Clinton's judicial appointments are Hispanic Americans, including the Honorable Richard Paez, Judge, Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals; the Honorable Jose Cabranes, Judge, Second Circuit U.S. Circuit Court; the Honorable Julio Fuentes, Judge, Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals; the Honorable Carlos Moreno, Judge, Central District of California, U.S. District Court; and the Honorable Hilda Tagle, Judge, Southern District of Texas, U.S. District Court. President Clinton has appointed as many Hispanic-Americans to the federal judiciary (23 total) as Presidents Bush and Reagan combined, and has appointed more Hispanic-Americans to the federal appeals courts than Presidents Bush, Reagan, and Carter combined.

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