Dan Coats: “Mr. President, in summary, let me state that what we are attempting to accomplish here is a third alternative. We…”

“Mr. President, in summary, let me state that what we are attempting to accomplish here is a third alternative. We believe that the well-intentioned, well-motivated programs of the past, at great cost to the taxpayers, have failed to successfully address some of the most difficult social problems facing our Nation, and particularly problems facing low-income urban communities where in many situations nothing but crime and drugs are the prevalent activities of those organizations. By the same token, the argument that no Federal policy is the best policy to address these problems is something that we as a group cannot accept. We think this third alternative, providing REAL Life meaningful solutions to the areas of community renewal, economic empowerment and educational opportunities for low-income families offers real hope. It does so not through Government organizations, Government structures or even significant Government funding. It does so by encouraging those community volunteer, nonprofit, often faith-based organizations that already exist and should exist in greater numbers to take a much greater role in addressing these problems.”