Bill Clinton: “Sounds like a good lineup to me. I want to thank you all for joining me today. As you know, I have a new proposal we're…”

“Sounds like a good lineup to me. I want to thank you all for joining me today. As you know, I have a new proposal we're going to be discussing this morning that I believe is a fundamental departure from traditional programs offered by Democratic administrations and fundamentally different from the previous enterprise zone proposals offered by recent Republican administrations. All of you represent areas of the country that, while unique, are each joined together by a common need. The economic potential of your areas, like other urban and rural communities, is still stifled because you lack the investment capital you need and a comprehensive strategy for jobs and growth. What we want to do is to help you to revive your communities economically. And our proposals for empowerment zones and enterprise neighborhoods we believe is the right way to begin. Federal aid to these areas is certainly not new, but in the past it hasn't always worked. There has often been no coordinated strategy for using the Federal money. Your growth has been restrained by a maze of Federal regulations and the need to appeal to an array of Federal Agencies. And these factors have contributed to an unwillingness on the part of too many companies to invest in your areas. We're trying to change all of that. We begin with a challenge: Under our program not a single dollar will go out without a coordinated strategy developed at the grassroots level. Yet your communities enjoy immense and committed talent at that level. Our plan proposes a partnership between local organizations so that they can coordinate the use of Federal, State, and local resources. I know that your areas need investment capital, both public and private. Our proposal provides targeted investment incentives to draw investment dollars into distressed urban and rural communities. Your areas deal with a confusing maze of Agencies and regulations. This proposal features a single point of contact so that the Federal Government contributes to rather than stifles the rebirth of your communities. We're going to streamline regulations, rules, and paperwork so that we reward initiative at the local level. These are innovations and new approaches. They're going to result in new economic growth, opportunity, and hope in areas long denied their piece of the American dream. And just as your local communities will have a chance to participate in the planning of their economic revival, we also want to offer you a chance now to discuss the economic challenges you face, to discuss this new effort to participate in the revival of your communities. I just want to emphasize two or three things here. First of all, we do propose to do something that I discussed with the Mayors a few months ago, or several weeks ago, and that is to focus the limited money we have to spend here in terms of tax incentives and investments on, first of all, 10 empowerment zones that will get an enormous amount of concentrated effort to see if it works, a wage credit, credits for equipment, credits for rehabilitating existing housing. With a bottom-up community-based strategy and with a lot of waiver authority, we're going to set up an enterprise board that will provide communities the opportunity to come and get waivers from all these Federal rules and regulations. I think that's very important. In addition to that, we're going to have 100 more enterprise communities that will be targets for our other community investments, like the Federal funds we're going to spend on setting up community policing to make the streets safer, the initiative we're going to have in community development banks, and any number of other initiatives we're going to have coming out of this Government. Those 100 communities will be target areas for getting first crack at them. So I think that this is the sort of thing that will really support what a lot of you have been doing for a long time, cutting out a lot of the Federal rules and regulations, letting you consolidate the funds that you're getting from these different Government Agencies, and getting you the chance to develop a plan to develop your communities. I know it's consistent with what I always thought ought to be done when I was a Governor, and I think it will meet with a lot of support out in the country among Republicans and Democrats. And I hope we'll get that kind of bipartisan support here in the Congress. I think there's a good chance that we will. Well, I've already said a little more than I meant to. I'd like to now go to our cities and hear from them one at a time, and of course, the State of Kentucky, too. But let's begin with Los Angeles. Mayor Bradley? [At this point, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley stated his support for the program. Brenda Shockley of Community Build and Tony Salazar of Rebuild L.A. then discussed what empowerment zones would do to assist their organizations.]”