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120356294
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Suggested Statement on Gingrich Meeting with District Residents
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Suggested Statement on Gingrich Meeting with District Residents
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Records of the Office of the Public Liaison (Clinton Administration)
Alexis Herman's Files
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FOIA Number: 2012-0741-F
FOIA
MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the William J. Clinton
Presidential Library Staff.
Collection/Record Group:
Clinton Presidential Records
Subgroup/Office of Origin:
Public Liaison
Series/Staff Member:
Alexis Herman/Ruby Moy
Subseries:
OA/ID Number:
5903
FolderID:
Folder Title:
Suggested Statement on Gingrich Meeting with District Residents
Stack:
Row:
Section:
Shelf:
Position:
S
30
1
2
3
08/02/95
11:16
001
OFFICE OF CONGRESSWOMAN ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON
1424 LONGWORTH HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20515
PHONE: (202) 225-8050
FAX: (202) 225-3002
FACSIMILE TRANSMISSION
AUG -2 2 1995
DATE:
812
TIME:
# OF PAGES:
8
(Including Cover Sheet)
TO:
alexis Herman
ORGANIZATION:
The white House
FAX NUMBER:
456-2604
FROM:
J
COMMENTS:
This communication is confidential and intended only for the addressee. Any distribution or duplication of
this communication is strictly prohibited. If you receive this transmission in error or in poor condition,
please call the sender immediately. Thank you for your cooperation.
08/02/95
11:17
002
SUGGESTED PRESIDENT'S STATEMENT ON
GINGRICH MEETING WITH DISTRICT RESIDENTS
August 2, 1995
I am very pleased and encouraged by the interest that Speaker Gingrich is showing
in helping our nation's capital. As the Speaker knows, the federal agencies of our
Administration have been working with the departments of the D.C. City Covernment, as
well, to assist the District.
The Speaker has said that be seeks bipartisanship where possible. We worked
together on creating a Financial Authority that respects home rule and that is now in
place. There could be no better basis for bipartisan cooperation between the new
Republican Majority and our Administration than working together to help the District
solve the problems of the nation's capital. Our joint efforts to help the District are
especially important now, considering the deep financial problems the city is suffering. As
long as Speaker Gingrich continues to work jointly with D.C. officials and residents and to
respect home rule, as he is doing now, he will find a willing partner in our Administration.
I look forward to working more closely with the Speaker and the Congress on the
revitalization of our nation's capital.
08/02/95
11:18
003
ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON
DISTRICT OP COLUMBIA
COMMITTEE ON
GOVERNMENT REFORM AND
COMMITTEE ON
OVERSIGHT
TRANSPORTATION AND
INFRASTRUCTURE
SUBCOMMITTEE
RANKING MINORITY MEMBER,
EUBCOMMITTEED
DISTRICT of COLUMBIA
PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Congress of the United States
WATER RESOURCES AND
ENVIRONMENT
House of Representatives
Washington, B.O. 20515
June 29, 1995
William Jefferson Clinton
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President,
May I express my appreciation for the tremendous help the District of Columbia
has received from you personally as well as from your administration. We especially
appreciate your help in achieving a Financial Authority that does not violate home rule
and that is composed exclusively of D.C. residents.
I want to thank you as well for the Task Force of federal agencies that is making
contributions to the revitalization of the District. 1 write now to suggest that we build on
your efforts in light of the substantial help you have given and have indicated that you
wanted to continue to give the capital city. Specifically, 1 would like to point up an
opportunity for a bipartisan partnership between your administration and the Republican
leadership. I believe that the renewal of the nation's capital provides this opportunity, is in
keeping with the approach you took in New Hampshire with Speaker Gingrich, and is
consistent with your view that bipartisan cooperation with the Republican majority, where
possible, is appropriate. Recent actions of the Republican leadership, 1 believe, may
indicate that they, too, would be open to a bipartisan relationship on the District.
Speaker Newt Gingrich has moved in a most visible and aggressive fashion to help
D.C. He has appointed task forces that are currently working on education, crime, taxes,
welfare reform, and housing. His education task force has been having collaborative
discussions with school officials and residents, and a bold new program funded from federal
and private sources, is likely. Significantly, Mr. Gingrich also has promised some federal
tax relief for District residents and businesses.
Several federal agencies are working effectively as well, but not with the focused
coordination and energy that is most compatible with the conversations you and I have
had. Among the most important and visible is action that has been taken by the Federal
Highway Administration, under the leadership of Transportation Secretary Federico Pena
and FHWA director Rodney Slater. They have moved energetically to release federal
815 15TH GTREET. N.W., SUITE 100
1424 LONGWORTH HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING
2041 MANTIN L. KING AVENUE, 6.E.
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-2201
WASHINGTON D.C. 20515-5101
SUITE 300
(202) 783-5085
(202) 226-8060
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20020-5734
(202) 783-5211 (FAX)
(202) 228-3002 (FAX)
(202) 678-8900
(202) 220-7029 (TDD)
(202) 078-8844 (FAX)
Recycled Paper
08/02/95
11:18
004
President Clinton
June 28, 1995
Page Two
funds and to help write legislation that waives the local matching share, and thus are
keeping the District's street repair operation going and providing desperately needed
construction jobs as well. Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary has donated surplus security
equipment that will be a tremendous help in keeping guns out of our schools. Today, you
are announcing that the District is one of 21 jurisdictions receiving COPS MORE crime
funds and, in an especially significant action, you are waiving the local matching share.
The efforts of several other agencies have been important as well, but not always
commensurate with the District's extremely fragile financial situation. Moreover, among
D.C. residents, there is little knowledge of administration efforts, and even less visibility.
Agency response is uneven and not always at the level you clearly intend.
I know that you have sincerely sought bipartisan opportunities since the
Republicans took control of the Congress. I believe that reviving the capital of the United
States presents an especially good opportunity for bipartisan cooperation between your
administration and the Republican House leadership, especially since you both share
responsibility for the well being of the nation's capital.
Two approaches seem appropriate. First, inasmuch as some agencies are already
helping the District, I suggest that you announce an Interagency Committee on District of
Columbia Renewal to give greater importance and visibility to your efforts and to signal
that you regard the revitalization of the nation's capital as an important mission. Second, 1
believe that the appointment of the First Lady as the Chair of the Committee would assign
special significance and give the kind of visibility for your administration that the
Republican leadership has already established for their effort. The First Lady and Speaker
Gingrich both have well-known concerns for children. This priority could lay the
groundwork for a larger, bipartisan partnership, and the Interagency Committee on
District of Columbia Renewal could then be broadened to include more agencies and to
offer greater coordination and output.
Although 1 have not mentioned these ideas to Newt Gingrich, I believe that the
Speaker might welcome such a bipartisan effort. Several months ago, during a Washington
Post interview with Sally Quinn, he discussed how the First Lady was in a unique position
to make contributions to the District. 1 believe a special effort here would have meaning
not only for D.C. residents, but for hard-pressed urban areas across the country, which
have come upon very hard times. The effort would not take a great deal of the First
Lady's time and energy. However, it would gct the administration out front on the
District and on urban issues, would get you the credit you deserve for your efforts during
this critical time, and would be a good match for Mr. Gingrich's energetic activities in the
District.
08/02/95
11:19
005
President Clinton
June 28, 1995
Page Three
Please let me hear from you.
Best personal regards.
Sincerely,
Eleaner
Elcanor Holmes Norton
cc: Mrs. Hillary Rodham Clinton
Mr. Leon Panetta
EHN/gmh