John Kerry: “today I am joining colleagues on both sides of the aisle to introduce the American Community Renewal and New Markets…”

“today I am joining colleagues on both sides of the aisle to introduce the American Community Renewal and New Markets Empowerment Act. Demonstrating that Congress can constructively work together and find common ground, we--Senators Lieberman, Torricelli, Kohl, Santorum, Abraham, and Hutchinson--unveiled a plan that creates economic incentives to help close America's wealth gap. Among many important initiatives, our plan includes my new markets legislation that I introduced last September, S. 1594, the Community Development and Venture Capital Act, and full funding for Round II of Empowerment Zones. This plan builds on the President's and Speaker's agreement by securing full, mandatory funding for Massachusett's Empowerment Zone. So far, the money has dribbled in--only $6.6 million of the $100 million authorized over ten years--and made it impossible for the city to implement a plan for economic self-sufficiency. Some 80 public and private entities, from universities to technology companies to banks to local government, showed incredible community spirit and committed to matching the EZ money, eight to one. Let me say it another way--these groups agreed to match the $100 million in Federal Empowerment Zone money with $800 million. Yet, regrettably, in spite of this incredible alliance, the city of Boston has not been able to tap into that leveraged money and implement the strategic plan because Congress hasn't held its part of the bargain.”