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Building a Better America, Draft 4, 12/4/89 [OA 01164] [2]
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Building a Better America, Draft 4, 12/4/89 [OA 01164] [2]
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Records of the White House Office of Speechwriting (George H. W. Bush Administration)
Building a Better America Files
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Originally Processed With FOIA(s):
FOIA Number:
S
FOIA
MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
Library Staff.
Record Group/Collection:
George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
Collection/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting, White House Office of
Series:
Building a Better America Files
Subseries:
OA/ID Number:
25996
Folder ID Number:
25996-002
Folder Title:
Building a Better America, Draft 4, 12/4/89 [2]
Stack:
Row:
Section:
Shelf:
Position:
G
18
29
3
6
Grant
Draft Four
December 4, 1989
BUILDING A BETTER AMERICA
ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION
KEEPING THE ECONOMY STRONG
Maintaining the current expansion with low inflation is the
key to improving standards of living, increasing job
opportunities for all Americans, and increasing investment in
productive capacity. Economic performance during this expansion
has been exceptionally good with extraordinary job growth. The
policies of the Bush Administration are designed to preserve this
strong record.
Record peacetime expansion: The current expansion reached 84
months in November. This is the second longest economic
expansion in U.S. history and the longest peacetime
expansion.
Job creation: Over 20 million new jobs have been created
during this expansion, and this year the unemployment rate
has reached levels not seen in over 15 years. The benefits
of robust economic growth have been shared by all
demographic groups as indicated by historically low
unemployment rates for women and minorities. During this
decade, America has created more new jobs than Japan and the
nations of Western Europe combined. A higher percentage of
As an addition to the "Keeping the Economy Strong" section, you may
wish to include the following paragraph:
New Business Incorporations: During the first nine months of
1989, 520,108 new corporations were formed. Ninety-eight
percent of these new corporations are small businesses. At
the same time, business failures numbered just 37,380 -- a
decline of 15.9 percent from the first nine months of 1988.
wents
SBA
P.3/3
NOV 27 '89 17:02 SBA CENTRAL 4 WASHINGTON, DC
2
American adults is at work than at any other time in our
history.
Record income: Real per capita disposable personal income --
personal income after taxes and inflation -- has risen 20
percent during this expansion.
Higher national saving and investment: Partly due to the
discipline of the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings process, the Federal
deficit has declined from 6.3 percent of GNP in fiscal year
1983 to 3.0 percent in FY 1989. The personal saving rate
averaged 5.4 percent over the first three quarters of 1989,
well above its recent low of 3.2 percent in 1987.
0
New Business Incorporaterns: want G
Improved International Trade Position: The international
trade position of the United States has improved
substantially. U.S. exports are at an all-time high and the
trade deficit (as measured by exports minus imports) has
been cut in half from its level in 1987.
Inflation under control: Consumer price inflation has
remained under 5 percent in each of the seven years from
1982 to 1988, and the recent slowing in economic growth to a
sustainable rate will lessen price pressures in the near
future. In the last twelve months, the CPI has increased
3
only 4.5 percent and, in the last three months, the index
has risen at an annual rate of only 2.6 percent.
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
Implementing fiscal restraint: Throughout the year, the
Administration negotiated with Congress to pass a fiscally
responsible budget agreement that met the requirements of
the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings law. As a result of the
negotiations, a series of appropriations bills and a budget
reconciliation bill were finally enacted which meet the
deficit reduction targets with no new taxes.
Addressing the international debt problem: The
Administration has taken the lead in encouraging commercial
banks to reduce the debt and debt service burdens of
developing countries. Recently, three countries -- Mexico,
the Philippines, and Costa Rica -- have reached final
agreements or agreements in principle with commercial banks
under the Administration's debt plan. The differences in
these agreements appropriately reflect differing
circumstances in the three countries and illustrate the
flexibility of the Administration's approach.
Minimum wage agreement: The Administration and
Congressional leaders reached agreement on a plan, now
4
signed into law, to raise the minimum wage to $4.25 per hour
and to permit businesses to pay a training wage to young,
entry-level workers. The higher minimum wage will help the
working poor while preserving jobs and the training wage
will allow businesses to hire inexperienced workers and give
them the start they need in a working career.
Disaster assistance: The Administration and Congress have
worked together to provide necessary supplemental funding to
assist victims of Hurricane Hugo and the California
earthquake. This funding is helping to provide those who
lost their homes with temporary shelter, is assisting
uninsured, needy families and business owners rebuild their
homes and business establishments, and is helping
governments in the affected areas rebuild highways and other
public facilities. Federal funding to rebuild
transportation systems will exceed $1 billion.
Savings and Loan reform: The President signed the Financial
Institution Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 on
August 9. This legislation came to grips with the serious
fiscal problems facing our savings and loan industry, and
has safeguarded and stabilized America's financial system.
The Act assures that the long developing problems in our
savings industry will never happen again. It significantly
reforms the regulation of the thrift industry and separates
5
the chartering of the institutions from the insurance of
deposits. It establishes strict new guidelines to assure
the solvency of thrift institutions in the future, including
new capital requirements, and sets stiff penalties for
wrongdoing by the officers of insured institutions.
Further, the act provides $50 billion to finance the
restructuring of insolvent institutions.
International Trade: The Administration is forcefully
promoting the opening of world markets through bilateral
negotiations and the Uruguay Round of multilateral
negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade. It successfully broke a stalemate in the Uruguay
Round's mid-term review and put in place a framework, agreed
to by the 96 member nations, to correct and prevent trade
distortions in agriculture. It is engaged in bilateral
trade talks with Japan to identify and eliminate structural
factors that may impede efficient patterns of world trade.
The approaches being pursued in these discussions will
provide long-term benefits for both countries. The
Administration has also created a high level interagency
group to assure that U.S. trade and investment interests are
addressed as the European Community works to create a single
market in 1992. To further meet the global economic
challenges of the 1990's, the President named Vice President
Quayle chairman of a newly established Council on
6
Competitiveness. Under the leadership of the Vice
President, the council has developed a strategy for reform
of the existing maze of product liability laws in order to
maintain Americna competitiveness.
O
Steel imports: The President initiated and the
Administration successfully implemented a two-and-a-half
year Steel Trade Liberalization Program. The program is
designed to phase out, in a responsible and orderly manner,
the Voluntary Restraint Arrangements (VRAs) that currently
limit steel imports into the U.S. and to negotiate an
international consensus to address trade-distorting
practices.
Agricultural initiatives: The Administration has placed its
comprehensive agricultural proposals before the Uraguay
Round of multilateral trade negotiations. These proposals
would harmonize domestic agricultural programs of producing
countries and reduce distortions to patterns of
international production and trade. In addition, the
Administration has formed a task force to develop a farm
bill for 1990.
National Energy Strategy: The President directed the
Secretary of Energy to develop a comprehensive national
energy strategy for the nation. The strategy will help the
layout short, mid and long. term
op trons to
7
nation meet our energy security and environmental
responsibilities and, at the same time, ensure that markets
will provide a sensible mix of energy sources and energy
conservation measures to protect America's economic
competitiveness. meert A
Women and Minority Business Ownership: went F
11/28/89 12:55
= 202 586 7644 ENERGY DEP SEC
03
energy
msent A
In the meantime, the Administration has moved to
enhance energy security and conserve our natural
resources by accelerating the filling of the Strategic
Petroleum Reserve to 750 million barrels, increasing
automobile fuel efficiency standards, and requiring new
appliances built after 1992 to use 25 percent less
energy than today's models."
упить
and Minority
o Women Business Ownership: The President has called for the
promotion of women's business ownership through a series of
procurement and credit conferences conducted by the Small Business
Administration. The SBA has also implemented a new small loan
program beneficial to women entrepreneurs. Administrator
Engeleiter will chair the National Women's Business Council to
advise the President and the Congress on issues related to women's
business ownership.
o
Minority Business Ownership: The President announced the
formation of the Minority Business Development Commission headed
mont
by Joshua Smith, to advise the Administration on ways to promote
SBA
the growth of minority business ownership, The Small Business
Administration has also implemented new regulations to strengthen
the Minority Small Business and Capital Ownership Development
program and further promote minority business development.
8
SEIZING INTERNATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEACE
In his Inaugural Address, the President said, "The day of
the dictator is over. The totalitarian era is passing, its old
ideas blown away like leaves from an ancient lifeless tree."
Indeed, this year has seen dramatic and promising changes. From
the Third World to the Communist World, the resurgence of the
ideals of political and economic freedom has shaken Marxist and
other authoritarian regimes to their foundations. The President
is determined to continue moving on a broad front to seize this
unique opportunity to strengthen world peace and the cause of
freedom.
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
O
A Resurgence of Democracy: Maintaining America's leadership
role in the world, the President developed a strategy to
encourage and help sustain the historic processes taking
place, especially in Eastern Europe. Early in his
Administration, the President expressed his hope for the
success of perestroika in the Soviet Union. In April, he
spoke in Hamtramck, Michigan, calling for self-determination
in Eastern Europe and an end to the division of the
continent. In May, President Bush called for the Berlin
Wall to come down, and he set forth his vision of a Europe
"whole and free" during his visit to Mainz, Germany. In the
9
Western Hemisphere, the President strongly supported the
extension of democracy especially in Nicaragua and Panama
where the United States has worked with the O.A.S. to
encourage free and fair elections -- and to condemn efforts
to thwart the express will of the people. In October, the
President underscored the U.S. commitment to hemispheric
democracy by attending the 100th anniversary celebration of
Costa Rican democracy.
Western Europe: The President proposed new mechanisms for
U.S. consultation and cooperation with the EC Commission and
member states as the European Community works toward
creating a single market in 1992. Seeing the resurgence of
Western Europe as a triumph of democratic values and
principles, the President has welcomed its success,
confident that a mature U.S.-E.C. partnership will serve our
mutual interests and serve as a beacon for the East.
NATO Summit: At the successful NATO Summit in May, the
President's vision of Europe as well as agreement on a new
conventional arms reduction initiative helped build Alliance
unity and confidence and define the Alliance's future
agenda.
Eastern Europe: As Poland and Hungary have taken
unprecedented steps toward pluralism, democracy, and market
10
economic policies, the United States has encouraged each
step and signaled its strong. support. The President has also
encouraged more recent movement towards change in East
Germany, Bulgaria, and Czechoslovakia. The President's
strong support for political pluralism and economic reform
in Hungary and Poland was highlighted by his visits to those
nations, and by the international leadership he exercised in
mobilizing major international backing for these reforms.
The President offered a major U.S. package of economic
assistance and trade and investment incentives to assist in
the economic restructuring of Poland and Hungary. All
elements of the President's package were adopted by Congress
and become the framework for the "Support for East European
Democracy Act."
Poland: Following up on the program he announced on April 17
in Hamtramck, Michigan, the President called upon Congress
to declare Poland a beneficiary country under the U.S.
Generalized System of Preferences and to authorize the
Overseas Private Investment Corporation to operate in
Poland. The U.S. proposed a business and economic agreement
that will promote trade, investment and other contacts
between the private sectors of both countries. The
President also asked Congress to approve a $200 million
grant for stabilization purposes, which would be the U.S.
contribution to the $1 billion in Western assistance the
11
Poles have requested. In November, he sent a Presidential
Mission of experts to Warsaw, headed by Agriculture
Secretary Yeutter, to discuss with the Polish Government its
economic plans and evaluate its needs. This mission also
includes Secretaries Dole and Mosbacher, and Michael Boskin,
Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors, along with
business and labor leaders. It will make recommendations to
the President based on their findings and deliberations with
experts from the twenty-four nation "Group for Economic
Assistance to Poland and Hungary" as to the most effective
use of the $1 billion stabilization fund. The President has
also asked Congress to provide a $100 million Enterprise
Fund to help capitalize and invigorate the Polish private
sector and has encouraged the World Bank to move ahead with
new loans to help Polish agriculture and industry. The
administra tion signed a cultural agreement with Polond
which will result in the opening of a U.S. cultural centerni
Hungary: The President also asked Congress to authorize a
$25 million Enterprise Fund as a source of new capital to
invigorate the Hungarian private sector. The President
informed Congress that Hungary is now receiving Most-
Favored-Nation tariff treatment for the maximum period
allowable under the law. The President also declared
Hungary a beneficiary country under our Generalized System
of Preferences which will allow duty free entry of Hungarian
products into the U.S. market. He also called for
legislation to allow OPIC to operate in Hungary, and for
Warsow.
12
greater scientific, technical, educational, and cultural
exchanges between the U.S. and Hungary. The U.S. will
negotiate a comprehensive business and economic agreement
with Hungary to improve the business environment there while
the President will seek to establish an International
Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe in
Budapest. Finally, he announced that the Peace Corps would
operate in Hungary to enhance English language training --
the first time in a European country.
The Economic Summit in Paris: Immediately after the
President's historic visit to Poland and Hungary, he
proposed to the other world leaders gathered at the Paris
Economic Summit that the industrial democracies join
together to assist economic and political reform in Hungary
and Poland. This led to creation of the "Group for Economic
Assistance to Poland and Hungary." The industrial
democracies also demonstrated their unity, by dealing with a
variety of issues on the international economic agenda, as
well as the problem of drugs and the environment.
"Beyond Containment": Seeing an historic process of change
in the Soviet Union, the President has declared his
?
intention to move beyond the successful policy of
containment of Soviet power to a new policy whose goal is
13
integrating the Soviet Union into the world community as a
constructive partner. Positive changes so far in Soviet
policies -- in human rights, economic reforms, and
settlement of some international conflicts -- need to be
encouraged and broadened. The United States will be ready
to respond to such further developments. Already:
-- The US-Soviet dialogue on conflicts in regions of the
Third World has resumed intensively, and discussions
have begun on a new range of global problems that
require global cooperation, such as terrorism, the
environment, and narcotics.
-- In arms control, the President has accelerated the pace
of negotiations, with a new American initiative on
reducing conventional forces in Europe, endorsed by the
NATO Summit. At the Wyoming Ministerial, the U.S. and
U.S.S.R. resolved major disagreements about the
verification protocals to the Threshold Test Ban and
Peaceful Nuclear Explosions Treaties, opening the way
to completion of the treaties in 1990. The President
also proposed an "Open Skies" initiative to improve the
openness of military activities in NATO and Warsaw pact
countries; it will be the subject of a Canadian-
sponsored international conference early in 1990.
Finally, in his speech to the U.N. General Assembly,
the President proposed a new initiative to further a
ban on chemical weapons, challenging the Soviets to
14
early destruction of the majority of the stocks of
these weapons even while a multilateral treaty is being
negotiated.
China: On his visit to China in February, the President
emphasized the long-term strategic importance of the U.S.-
China relationship and his support for the process of
reform. In response to the subsequent tragic suppression of
the democratic movement in China, the President ordered the
suspension of all government-to-government sales and
commercial exports of weapons, suspension of visits between
US and Chinese military leaders, and review of other aspects
of US-PRC bilateral relations. The President also acted
swiftly to ensure that no Chinese nationals in the U.S.
would be deported against their will, action that has since
been extended and broadened. The President's policy makes
clear that repression cannot be condoned. But it also seeks
to preserve the basic elements of a strategically important
relationship that has, itself, played a major part in
China's recent policy of reform and openness -- and can do
so again in the future.
Asian Initives
Latin America: The President has established a close,
working relationship with Latin American neighbors to foster
a new partnership on hemisphere problems like democracy,
debt, and drugs. Relations with Mexico are closer than at
15
Panoma:
any time in recent memory The U.S. has also worked with
the Organization of American States to develop a hemispheric
consensus that Manuel Noriega should leave power and permit
msert#
G El Salvador : msert #
3
restoration of democratic rule
In early February, Vice
President Quayle traveled to El Salvador to support free and
fair elections and to deliver a warning to the Salvadoran
military over human rights violations. In late June, the
Vice President again visited El Salvador, as well as Costa
Rica, Guatemala, and Honduras, advancing the
Administration's policy on Panama and Nicaragua. He
succeeded in having Costa Rican President Oscar Arias join
in pressuring the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua to hold
fair elections there. In October, the President attended a
meeting of hemispheric leaders in San Jose, Costa Rica,
where he stressed the importance of democracy to ths
Hemisphere and confirmed Nicaragua's isolation.
Bipartisan Accord on Central America: On March 24, the
President and Congress agreed on a bipartisan plan for peace
and democracy in Central America:
-- Regional peace: The President and Congress agreed that
the region's democracies deserve our support, that
Nicaragua's subversion of its neighbors must end, and
that Soviet and Cuban support for violence and
subversion in the hemisphere must also end.
Dec 4, 1989
Family
El Salvador: The President remains committed to supporting
the democratically elected government of El Salvador. In
insisted that
take
Malta, the President request the Soviets to do more to
effective action
insert #3
stop Nicaragua and Cuba from sending arms to the Marxist
The United states regards the preservation f fundaments 1 human rights
FMLN guerrillas. A part of its effort to help build
as an
integral
democratic institutions in El Salvador the U.S. will
continue to stand for human right and will work with the
government to bring human rights violators to justice.
Pacilli approved
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Insert # 4
-- Panama: The U.S. has worked with the Organization of
American States to develop a hemispheric consensus that
Manuel Noreiga should leave power and permit restoration of
democratic rule. r On November 30, the President denied
Panamanian flag vessels access to U.S. ports after January
31, 1990. This measure will deprive Noreiga's illegal
regime of tens of millions of dollars in revenue.
approved by
Dave Paulli
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16
--
Humanitarian aid: Congress agreed to support the
Administration's request for continued humanitarian
assistance for the Nicaraguan Resistance at current
levels through the elections in Nicaragua scheduled for
February, 1990.
--
Democracy: The Marxist Sandinistas are being put to the
test to permit a real democratic electoral contest for
political power, fulfilling the promises of democratic
pluralism that they have made and broken so often
before. Aid to the Nicaraguan opposition to help bring
about a free and fair election was approved with
bipartisan Congressional support. On November 14, a
Presidential Commission on Election Monitoring in
Nicaragua was formed, including Senators and
Representatives from both sides of the aisle.
Middle East: The Administration is promoting progress
toward peace in the Middle East by supporting the Government
of Israel's May 14 initiative calling for Palestinian
elections in the occupied territories. A five point
framework advanced by the United States is central to these
efforts. These elections can be a step toward a
comprehensive peace settlement that assures Israel's
security and the legitimate political rights of the
Palestinians. The Administration also is actively
11-27-89 05:19 PM FROM DOT S-1
P01
Transportation - 20 be added to
end of page 6
Insert
National Transportation Policy: Under the direction of the
President, the Department of Transportation is developing a
National Transportation Policy to guide the long-term
allocation of public and private resources so that
transportation systems - highway, aviation, transit, rail and
maritime - enhance national economic growth and global
competitiveness, national security and the environment and
personal mobility. The Department of Transportation has held
nearly 100 sessions with the public and interested groups to
Policy. solicit recommendations and generate new ideas for the
8
Educational Excellence: The President submitted to Congress
a comprehensive set of education initiatives, The
Educational Excellence Act of 1989. The Act includes
proposals for merit and magnet schools, alternative
certification of teachers, excellence awards for teachers,
emergency grants to help urban schools to fight drugs,
increased funding for endowments at Historically Black
Colleges, and a National Science Scholars program.
National Drug Control Strategy: In his first Address to the
Nation, the President unveiled a comprehensive, coordinated
strategy for fighting illegal drug use. The President has
five priority areas: the criminal justice system; drug
treatment; education, community action, and the workplace;
international initiatives; and interdiction efforts.
NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION Policy: Insert D
Combatting Violent Crime: President Bush transmitted to
Congress The Comprehensive Violent Crime Control Act of 1989
proposing measures to augment enforcement and prosecution,
strengthen current law, restrict certain semi-automatic
weapons, and expand prison capacity.
Clean Air Act revisions: On July 21, President Bush
transmitted to the Congress the first proposed revisions to
the Clean Air Act since 1977. His legislation is designed
to harness the power of the marketplace to drastically
9
reduce three major threats to the nation's environment: acid
rain, urban air pollution, and toxic air emissions.
Natural Gas Deregulation: On July 26, the President signed
into law the Wellhead Decontrol Act of 1989, which ends all
remaining price controls on natural gas. This will phase
out all federal price controls on natural gas by January 1,
1993 marking the first time since 1954 that energy markets
will be completely deregulated.
Clean water and coastlines: On March 10, the Department of
Justice and the EPA implemented a medical waste tracking
program to track medical wastes to ensure proper disposal
and prevent ocean pollution -- the first step in a
comprehensive program to help keep our beaches clean. The
President is committed to end ocean dumping of sewage sludge
by 1991.
Hazardous waste: The President announced that he will seek
new legislation to ban all exports of hazardous waste unless
an agreement exists with the receiving country to provide
for its safe handling.
Global Climate Issues: The U.S. is chairing one of the
three working groups of the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC). From this leadership position, the
11
WORKING FOR A KINDER, GENTLER AMERICA
Affordable Housing: The President unveiled HOPE, a
comprehensive agenda of Homeownership and Opportunity for
People Everywhere. Major elements include provisions to
help first-time home buyers, low-income housing residents,
and the homeless, and to create up to fifty enterprise zones
over the next four years. The President signed legislation
that substantially increases funding under the McKinney
Homeless Assistance Act. Secretary Kemp has been charged
with finding new ways to put more FHA foreclosures into the
hands of non-profit groups that serve the homeless.
The Homeless: The President requested full funding of the
McKinney Homeless Assistance Act in FY 1990 and proposed an
additional $50 million to encourage public-private
partnerships to reduce homelessness. The President recently
signed legislation that substantially increases funding for
the McKinney Act.
Child Care: The President transmitted to the Congress a
child care proposal, the Working Family Child Care
Assistance Act of 1989 which provides a new refundable child
care tax credit of up to $1000 per child under age four, for
low income working families. This legislation will also
make the existing Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit
12
refundable, and does not discriminate against religious or
family-based child care or a parent who chooses not to work
outside the home.
Head Start: The President also challenged Congress to
increase Head Start in FY 1990 to enable more four-year-olds
to participate in the program. As a result, Congress
appropriated $170 million which will provide for 37,500 more
four-year-olds to participate.
Experimental AIDS Drugs: Through the promotion of wider
availability of experimental and therapeutic drugs such as
AZT, the President has demonstrated his commitment to the
eradication of the HIV virus and AIDS.
Adoption: In September, the President sent two legislative
proposals to Congress designed to encourage adoption of
special needs children, through tax incentives and expense
reimbursements for adoptive parents. In addition, the
President has directed all Federal agencies to develop plans
for supporting and promoting adoption of special needs
children.
National Service: The President is spearheading a movement
to call on all individuals and institutions in America to
engage in community service. He announced the formation of
13
a foundation known as "The Points of Light Initiative" to:
cause all Americans to claim social problems as their own;
identify, enlarge and multiply successful community service
initiatives; and discover, encourage, and develop new
community leaders.
Civil Rights: The President has signed legislation
reauthorizing the Commission on Civil Rights through FY
1991. The Administration has endorsed the Hate Crimes Bill,
which provides for the collection of data about crimes
motivated by race, religion, or ethnicity. The Civil Rights
Division of the Department of Justice has vigorously pursued
the enforcement of the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988
which became effective in March.
Disabled Americans: The President is committed to
legislation that would extend civil rights protections to
disabled Americans. This legislation, called the Americans
with Disabilities Act, would represent the most significant
expansion of federal civil rights laws in the past two
decades. With the support of the Administration, a version
of the Act passed the Senate on September 7, and has been
under consideration in the House since then.
Whistleblower Protection: On April 10, the President signed
S. 20, the "Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989. " This law
14
will strengthen the protections and procedural rights
available to those federal employees who report misdeeds and
mismanagement.
Medicaid: To address the all-too-high infant mortality rate,
the Administration forwarded to Congress legislation to
improve federal Medicaid assistance to pregnant women,
infants, and children. Congress raised the mandatory
Medicaid eligibility to 133% of the poverty level consistent
with what President Bush suggested.
Campaign Finance Reform: The President introduced
comprehensive campaign finance legislation designed to
lessen the power of special economic interests and restore
real competition to American Congressional elections.
Ethics: Numerous ethics reforms proposed in President Bush's
ethics legislation were enacted by Congress in the
"Government Ethics Reform Act of 1989" shortly before it
adjourned. Key reforms include the extension of post-
employment "revolving door" restrictions to the Legislative
Branch, a ban on receipt of honoraria by all Federal
employees (except Senators and employees of the Senate), and
tax deferral for Federal employees required to sell assets
to avoid conflicts of interest. President Bush also issued
15
an ethics Executive Order in April setting forth strict
principles for the conduct of Executive Branch employees.
O
Welfare Reform: The Administration issued final rules on
October 13 to implement the Job Opportunities and Basic
Skills Training programs of the Family Support Act of 1988,
as the next step in welfare reform. The Administration is
proposing to spend $3.6 billion over the next five years to
implement the JOBS program. The Act will help reduce the
number of individuals who need welfare.
###
"African Initiatives
The Administration has worked with Congress to achieve a
bipartisan policy supporting the goal of dismantling apartheid
and establishing a non-racial democratic society in South
Africa. It has also played a significant role in supporting
the free and fair elections in Namibia, which have opened the
door to independence and democracy in that country.
#
insert C
USIA
AFRICOM Initiatives: duesnt C
17
supporting the efforts of the Arab League and others to end
the internecine warfare and to bring peace in Lebanon.
move to P. 14
O
Asian initiatives:
-- Japan: The U.S. relationship with Japan has grown
stronger under the Bush Administration. In security
matters, Japan's contribution to the maintenance of
U.S. forces stationed there increased by 12 percent, to
$2.8 billion per year, making it the most generous host
nation support program enjoyed by the U.S. anywhere in
the world. A major project also moved forward to co-
develop an advanced fighter, based on the F-16,
increasing the security of both Japan and the U.S. $2.5
billion in contracts for American companies and the
first significant technology flow-back from Japan. As
part of an emerging global partnership with the U.S.,
Japan will provide significant financial contributions
to Poland in development assistance. On trade matters,
the Structural Impediments Initiative talks have begun
to clarify the long term sources of U.S.-Japan trade
friction. In addition, the Administration began talks
aimed at opening markets for U.S. satellites, super-
computers, and forest products.
-- Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference: The
Administration succeeded in launching -- through joing
leadership with Japan, Korea, Australia and the ASEAN
18
states -- the first conference on Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation in Canberra, Australia, in November. This
was the first region-wide ministerial meeting to
address collective responses to the great economic
changes underway in the world. The APEC group will
seek to present a united position in the Uruguay Round
of GATT negotiations, establish working groups to study
infrastructural needs of great importance to U.S.
service industries in the region, and improve data
sharing. Although modest at the outset -- by design --
these accomplishments are a solid beginning to
fundamental trade liberalization in Asia and the
Pacific.
--
Cambodia: In September 1989, the U.S. insistence on
the right of self-determination for the Cambodian
people occupied by Vietnamese forces since 1978, was
rewarded by the withdrawal of Vietnamese main-force
military units. The United States will continue to
press for a comprehensive solution based on the
Cambodian people's right to choose its own government
in free and fair elections. Internationally-supervised
elections, under an interim government led by Prince
Sihanouk, hold the best prospect for denying dominance
to either the murderous Khmer Rouge or the Hun Sen
regime that was installed by the Vietnamese army.
19
Vice President Quayle, in two separate trips to the Pacific
rim countries and Asian nations, has played a key role in
the formulation of policy. In his spring trip to Australia,
Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand, he worked to coordinate
U.S. policy on Cambodia with that of our allies after the
pullout of Vietnamese forces, and promoted U.S. trade
interests. This fall, in a trip to South Korea, Japan, the
Philippines, and Malaysia, the Vice President began delicate
base negotiations with the Philippines government. He also
restated U.S. commitment to Korea; signed an agreement on
space cooperation with Japan; and advanced U.S. Cambodian
policy in the region.
A Strong Defense: The President proposed to Congress and it
adopted an integrated package on strategic modernization
that modernizes the entire strategic triad. Although
Congress made some reductions in amounts requested, its
actions generally support the President's objectives.
-- The President proposed to Congress a two-missile plan
to maintain a strong, modernized strategic deterrent.
The bipartisan consensus to deploy the rail-mobile
Peacekeeper and the road-mobile Small ICBM will also
give the U.S. momentum in strategic arms control
negotiations.
-- The modernization plan capitalizes on the revolutionary
potential of the B-2, and modernizes the third leg of
20
the triad, our strategic submarine force. These
programs are all essential to our arms control
positions.
-- The President requested funding for the Strategic
Defense Initiative to support an informed development
and deployment decision within the next four years.
-- The President also directed a Defense Management Review
to develop a plan to implement fully the Packard
Commission's blueprint to strengthen and streamline the
defense acquisition system and to manage defense
resources more effectively. The Review has been
completed and its recommendations now being implemented
promise to save billions of dollars annually.
Air Transportation Security: The Administration has taken
several measures to enhance security and efficiency in the
air transportation system. These efforts include:
-- New requirements for installation of explosive
detection devices in high-risk airports.
-- Intense international negotiations to enhance security
abroad.
-- Establishment of the President's Commission on Aviation
Security and Terrorism.
-- A proposed 17% increase in the budget for the Federal
Aviation Administration.
21
INVESTING IN OUR FUTURE
Record economic growth has provided Americans with the
opportunity to invest in a brighter future. But, because the
Nation's available resources are limited, the President's
programs are designed to focus our efforts on those initiatives
most likely to continue to create growth in the years ahead.
EDUCATION
The President pledged to provide national leadership in
education reform. His actions to improve education are guided by
four principles: encouraging excellence; targeting need;
promoting flexibility and choice; and ensuring accountability.
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
President Bush convened "The President's Education Summit
with Governors" on September 27 and 28 in Charlottesville,
Virginia. This event marked only the third time in our
Nation's history that a President has called on the
Governors to address a single issue of national importance.
The Summit brought together the President, his Cabinet and
the Governors in working groups and plenary sessions to
focus on issues of choice and restructuring, teaching, the
learning environment, governance, a competitive workforce
and life-long learning, and postsecondary education.
22
-- The President and the Governors issued a Joint
Statement -- a "Jeffersonian compact" -- committing to
four objectives for education reform in America:
estblish national education goals; increase flexibility
in the use of Federal funds; implement state-by-state
restructuring of the education system in exchange for
enhanced accountability for results; and measure
progress. A commitment was made to develop national
goals and initiatives increase flexibility and
accountability by early 1990.
On June 5, the President announced his intention to form the
President's Education Policy Advisory Committee. Chaired by
Paul O'Neill, Chief Executive Officer of Alcoa, the
committee's membership includes representatives from
education, business, labor and the media. The committee,
which met for the first time in November, will advise the
President directly on issues related to education policy.
On April 5, the President submitted to Congress a
comprehensive set of education initiatives, The Educational
Excellence Act of 1989. The Act proposes:
-- The Presidential Merit Schools program -- to reward
schools that are making substantial progress in raising
students' educational achievement, creating a safe and
23
drug-free school environment, and reducing the drop-out
rate.
--
A new Magnet Schools of Excellence program -- to
support the establishment, expansion or enhancement of
magnet schools, increasing parental choice and
improving quality education.
-- The Alternative Certification of Teachers and
Principals program -- to assist States interested in
broadening the pool of talent from which to recruit
teachers and principals.
--
President's Awards for Excellence in Education -- to
recognize public and private school teachers in every
state who meet the highest standards of excellence.
--
Drug-free Schools Urban Emergency Grants -- to provide
special assistance to selected urban school districts
that are disproportionately affected by drug
trafficking and abuse.
--
A National Science Scholars program -- to provide
college scholarships to high school seniors who have
excelled in the sciences and mathematics.
-- Additional Funding Authorization for Endowment Matching
Grants at Historically Black Colleges and Universities
-- to strengthen HBCUs by building endowments, an
especially effective way to create financial strength
and long-term security.
24
On April 24, the President issued a new Executive Order on
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
Highlights of the order include:
-- Establishing the President's Board of Advisors on
Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the
Department of Education.
--
Directing Federal agencies to increase opportunities
for HBCU involvement in Federal programs and directing
the Secretary of Education to develop an Annual Federal
Plan for Assistance.
--
Calling for the White House Office of National Service,
along with other Federal offices to work to encourage
private sector support of HBCUs.
NATIVE Cunericon Iniative: The admistro Departments of Education and
Interior have committed to a major metiative to ensure
NATIVE american students receive a quality education.
Job training: The Administration has sent to the Congress a
proposal to improve the Job Training Partnership Act by
targeting its resources on the poor and at risk youth and
adults who most need job training to get jobs and become
economically self sufficient.
FIGHTING DRUG ABUSE
A new assault in the war on drugs began with the
announcement of the President's National Drug Control Strategy.
The President set major new priorities in five principal areas:
the criminal justice system; drug treatment; education, community
His Danic Initiative : The President has directed the Secutory
of Education to form am Hispanic a Task Force on Hispone
Education to asses how well federal education programs serve
His pances and recomment Ways town honce the
federal rale
25
action, and the workplace; international initiatives; and
interdiction efforts. Throughout, the strategy emphasizes the
principle of user accountability.
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
In his first televised Address to the Nation, the President
unveiled the National Drug Strategy in September, describing
a coordinated and comprehensive plan of attack under the
leadership of the Director of National Drug Control Policy,
William Bennett.
The National Drug Control Strategy recommends the largest
dollar increase in the history of the drug war -- nearly
$2.2 billion, 39 percent above the FY 1989 level. Elements
of the Strategy include:
-- Expanding the criminal justice system by providing
funds for more police, jails, prosecutors, and courts;
exploring alternatives for incarceration such as boot
camps to free up jail and prison space; and requiring
drug testing of prisoners, parolees, and arrestees.
-- Improving drug treatment by holding Federally-funded
treatment programs accountable for their effectiveness
through performance criteria; requiring drug testing in
treatment programs receiving Federal funds; exploring
the expanded use of "civil commitment," whereby addicts
are sent by the courts to residential treatment
stet
"Fighting the Drug War: Recognizing the threat of drug
production and trafficking to national security and
State
international stability, the President has engaged our
foreign policy in the international war against
drugs. He approved an Andean strategy involving a
meet
$2.2 billion five-year program to help the Andean
nations attack production, processing and trafficking
in drugs, called for increased cooperation and
coordination of anti-drug programs with our allies,
the Soviets and international bodies, and raised drugs
as a priority in US foreign policy." "
26
facilities; and improving drug treatment services for
pregnant women.
-- Promoting education, community action, and the
workplace through emphasizing community-level
prevention of drug use; requiring schools and colleges
to implement firm drug-free policies as a condition of
receiving Federal funds; working for safe and drug-free
public housing; promoting drug-free workplace policies
in the private sector and implementing drug-free
workplace policies within the Federal government; and
by recommending testing for job applicants and
employees in safety and sensitive positions.
-- Increasing emphasis on international initiatives, such
as dismantling drug trafficking organizations,
targeting international efforts closer to production
and trafficking sources; and reducing trafficking
profits by focusing increased efforts on money
meent e
laundering. The President responded to the drug-
related crime and devastation in Columbia by providing
check
technical assistance, weapons and other materials
language
-- Taking a fresh approach to interdiction efforts by
creating interagency and interdisciplinary teams to
analyze and target smuggling patterns, methods, and
routes; targeting key individuals and high-value
shipments; and enhancing the border interdiction
27
systems, operations, and activities of the U.S. Coast
Guard, Customs Service and the Department of Defense.
spoce
COMBATTING VIOLENT CRIME
The President is working to strengthen the nation's criminal
justice system and the Federal, state, and local law enforcement
partnership.
Four principles underlie the goals of our criminal justice
system and the means for accomplishing them: First, to protect
citizens and their property; to hold those who commit violent
crimes accountable for their actions; to have as the objective of
our criminal justice system the swift and certain apprehension,
prosecution and incarceration of those who break the law; and
finally, to ensure a sustained, cooperative effort by Federal,
state and local law enforcement authorities.
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
O
On June 15, President Bush sent to Congress The
Comprehensive Violent Crime Control Act of 1989 to combat
violent crime. The President's initiative includes:
-- Strengthening Current Laws: The President is calling
on Congress to double the mandatory minimum penalties
-- from five years to ten years in Federal prison --
for the use of semi-automatic weapons in violent
or drug-related crimes.
28
In addition, the Attorney General has been
directed to advise federal prosecutors to end plea
bargaining with persons accused of violent firearms
offenses.
President Bush called on Congress to enact the
legislation necessary to implement the death penalty
for the most serious Federal crimes, and urged state
Governors to match these Federal initiatives -- new
mandatory sentencing, tougher rules on plea bargaining,
and implementing the death penalty -- in the States.
--
Controlling Certain Semi-Automatic Weapons: In July,
the Administration took action to ban permanently the
importation of those semi-automatic weapons which fail
to meet the criteria specified in the Gun Control Act
of 1968. The President also called for the closing of
loopholes which allow access to such guns by certain
classes of criminals, and he proposed prohibiting the
importation, and manufacture, of gun magazines of more
than 15 rounds.
--
Augmenting Enforcement: The President has directed the
Attorney General and the Treasury Secretary, working
together with state and local authorities, to launch a
comprehensive, coordinated offensive against America's
most violent criminals.
President Bush requested funding for the hiring of
825 new Federal agents and staff -- 375 at the Bureau
29
of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; 300 at the FBI; and
150 Deputy U.S. Marshals. This offensive, which also
counts on the cooperation of state and local
enforcement authorities, will target violent criminals
and repeat offenders.
-- Enhancing Prosecution: The President proposed
increased funds for the U.S. Attorneys Offices to
support 1,600 new prosecutors and staff, and increased
funds for the Justice Department Criminal Division to
support 168 new positions, to handle drug cases,
weapons offenses, and other priority matters.
--
Expanding Prison Capacity: The President proposed an
additional $1 billion for Federal prison construction,
bringing the total FY 1990 budget to over $1.5 billion.
This will add 24,000 new Federal prison beds to the
current 31,000 beds, an increase of nearly 80%.
Each of the above proposals for increased funding
to fight violent crime was incorporated into the
appropriations bills for drug-related activities passed
by Congress at the close of the 1st Session and signed
by the President on November 21.
Anti-Drug Treaty: The Vienna Convention on Illicit
Drugs and Psychotropic Substances was strongly endorsed
by the President and forwarded to the Congress for
ratification. This is the most significant and far-
reaching treaty on international cooperation on drug
30
trafficking, chemical precursor control, and money
laundering ever to be signed.
THE ENVIRONMENT
President Bush, a life-long environmentalist, has taken
has given
strong action to protect the environment. He believes that
environmental protection, conservation, and wise management of
ural
our national resources must have a high priority on our national
agenda.
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
Clean Air legislation: On June 12, the President announced
proposals that will take advantage of the power of the
marketplace to reduce emissions which cause acid rain, urban
SMOG
ozone and toxic air pollution. The proposals, the first
major overhaul of the Clean Air Act to be proposed by an
Administration in over a decade, call for a 10 million ton
reduction in SO2 emissions by the year 2000, a 2 million ton
reduction in NOx from projected levels, a 40 percent
reduction in emission of volatile organic compounds, and a
reduction of 75 to 90 percent in air toxic emissions.
the potential fac
These reductions will also help curb any increase in global
warming resulting from fossil fuel combustion. The
Chmate change.
proposal also calls for the use of alternative fuels in one
31
million vehicles by 1997. Alternative fuels, while reducing
emissions that cause smoot
ozone precursors, will also reduce the toxic aromatics which
come from conventional gasoline. The President submitted a
comprehensive Clean Air bill to the Congress on July 21
embodying the proposals announced on June 12. Earlier in
the year, the statuatory level corporable average fuel
economy parenthetical standard was reinstated to 27.5 in
gallons for for 1990 model years cars.
Natural Gas Decontrol: On July 26, the President signed into
will
law the Wellhead Decontrol Act of 1989, which ends all
remaining price controls on natural gas, a clem-burning,
domestically abundant fuel by 1993.
Clean Coal Technologies: The President proposed $710 million
in FY 1990 for the Clean Coal Technology program.
Clean water and coastlines: On March 10, the Department of
Justice and the EPA implemented a medical waste tracking
program to track medical wastes to ensure proper disposal
and prevent ocean pollution -- the first step in a
comprehensive program to help keep our beaches clean.
Ocean dumping: To meet the President's commitment to end
ocean dumping, the EPA negotiated agreements with the states
to stop dumping of sewage sludge by the end of 1991. This
4.
In the reference to Natural Gas Decontrol on page 26 of
the full report, substitute: On July 26, the President
signed into law the Wellhead Decontrol Act of 1989,
which will end all remaining controls on natural gas, a
clean-burning, domestically abundant fuel, by 1993.
5.
In the reference to the Clean Air legislation on page
26 of the full report, change the reference to "any
increase in global warming" to reflect current
Administration policy. After "These reductions will
also help curb, insert "the potential for global
climate change."
every
6.
Page 29, substitute the following for the first
paragraph beginning "Also, Secretary of Energy "
Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Five
Year Plan.
On August 31, 1989, Secretary Watkins published the
the Energy Department
15
clean-up 5 year
Department's first cleanup plan which uniquely
site-
identifies site-by-site and prioritizes all
specific
Departmental environmental restoration and waste
plan
management initiatives. The plan was developed in
coordination with numerous federal and state
regulators, the National Academy of Sciences,
environmental groups and others in an effort to assure
a broad range of ideas to deal with waste management
issues.
difo?
Concurrently, the Secretary published a five year
Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Research
and Development Plan which will exclusively focus its
attention on addressing the contamination problems the
Energy Department faces at its facilities. The
clumpints one
Research and Development Plan will be the major effort
to reduce outyear costs of cleanup of DOE facilities
and should have major implications for private
technology transfer.
meet
33
Oil Spill Legislation: On May 11, the Administration
transmitted to Congress comprehensive oil pollution
liability and compensation legislation that broadens and
strengthens our existing patchwork of laws. The bill
provides swift and assured compensation for cleanup costs
and damages through a liability system based on strict
financial responsibility requirements for shipowners backed
up by an oil-industry financed fund. The Interior Depos meat
also initiated a $ bmillion, 3-year prgeet with the american
Detroleumtustitute to conduct research and deve opment on oel
spill cleanup technology.
Offshore Oil Drilling: The President postponed lease sales
and offshore oil and gas development in environmentally
sensitive areas off the coasts of California and Florida.
The President set up a task force to examine the issues and
report back to him in January of 1990.
Department of Energy Facilities Cleanup: The Administration
has substantially increased spending for waste cleanup at
Department of Energy facilities.
me
[Also, Secretary of Energy Watkins has put forth a plan of
want Dd.
action to identify cleanup projects while meeting the
Nation's security needs; and ensuring compliance with
environmental safety and health laws. 11
Superfund: The President's budget proposed $175 billion to
pursue an aggressive cleanup schedule of toxic waste sites;
32
initiative also resulted in civil judicial or administrative
penalty actions against 61 cities in 1989.
Cleaning up hazardous wastes: On March 10, The President
announced he will be seeking new legislation to amend the
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act in order to give the
United States Government authority to ban all exports of
hazardous waste unless an agreement exists with the
receiving country providing for the safe handling and
management of those wastes.
Alaskan oil spill: The President sent a Cabinet-level team
to assess the Alaskan oil spill, and a joint federal-state
resource recovery team was convened.
The National
Transportation Safety Board is investigating the accident.
Exxon has accepted the responsibility of paying for the
cleanup, and for employing local civilian personnel
necessary to control further damage.
The Departments of Transportation and Interior, as well
as the EPA, are coordinating the long-range planning to
restore the environment of Prince William Sound, and the
President has ordered a review of existing contingency plans
The admenistration has also called
for accidents such as this. for Exxon to pay the full cost of environmental
damages resulting from the spill.
The President also proposed, and the Paris Summit
leaders accepted, a call for increased international efforts
on oil spill prevention and clean-up.
Vice President Quayle twice visited the cleonup site
and met with local officials and affected businessmen
34
the Administration opposed Congressional efforts to cut the
Superfund budget to $1.5 billion. On June 14, EPA
Administrator Reilly, following the President's direction,
concluded a Management Review of the Superfund Program. To
implement reforms, E.P.A. is adding five hundred people to
take aggressive enforcement action and ensure that sites are
cleaned up.
In august, the Department of
Strategic Petroleum Reserve:
Energy metrated as tudy of ways to
increase strategic petroleum stocks
to protect the country in the event of and
oil disruption.
Global Climate Issues: Through its chairmanship of the
Response Strategies Working Group of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the U.S. has called for
initial discussions leading toward a framework convention on
?
global climate change. Also, the President increased global
environmental research for FY 1990 by 21 percent, to over
$628 million. The President endorsed NASA's Mission to
Planet Earth as a key element in this research effort to
ensure that critical global data sets are established.
Stratospheric Ozone Depletion: The President called for a
worldwide phaseout of ozone-depleting CFCs and halons by the
year 2000 if safe substitutes are available. In addition,
the U.S. has instituted a unilateral
on CFC
production to further discourage CFC emissions. The
President's Clean Air initiative also will play a
significant role in controlling greenhouse gas emissions.
"The President has begun revitalizing his Council on
Environmental Quality in the Executive Office of the President.
The Administration proposed doubling CEQ's budget in order for it
to adequately serve its environmental advisory function within
the White House."
inserte
CEQ
35
Wetlands, National Parks, and Reforestation: The President
is also committed to a national goal of "no net loss" of
wetlands and an interagency task force has been convened to
develop recommendations to achieve that goal.
A
He included $206 million in new money in the FY 1990
budget to expand and improve America's parks and wildlife
refuges, preserving them for generations to come. Congress
accepted this proposal.
Finally, the President supports increased lending by
the development banks for reforestation programs and the
implementation of the Tropical Forest Action Plan. He also
endorsed the call by the Paris Economic Summit for an end to
The Department of agrentture has initiatd
world deforestation. anumber of reforesta tion Programs both
domestically and abroad and the President has focussed mational
attention on the importance of trees in his speeches and edect
appearancesaraued the country.
Asbestos Ban: On July 7, EPA announced an almost total
phase-out of nearly all uses of asbestos by 1997. The ban
will prohibit importation, manufacture, and processing of
asbestos, a carcinogen linked to lung cancer and
mesothelioma (lung and chest cancer).
Council on Environmental Quality: : went e
Improved Forecasting: The Commerce Department announced that
beginning in Fiscal Year 1990, the National Weather Service
will modernize and restructure its operations to provide
improved forecasting and weather warning systems. The new
move
system will include advanced weather radar, observation
top.
automation, and a new communications system.
36
11/27/89 15:39
6202 252 0279
ADMIN OFFICE EPA
002
EPA
add ment
ADDITIONS TO "BUILDING A BETTER AMERICA"
Food safety. In order to improve the federal government's ability
to protect American consumers and the environment from potential
dangers posed by the use of pesticides, President Bush proposed a
comprehensive program to enhance food safety. The President's plan
calls for major revisions to two key laws to streamline EPA's
ability to remove potentially hazardous pesticides from the market.
The President's proposal also strengthens enforcement, cstablishes
scientifically sound threshold tolerance levels for pesticides in
or on food, and provides for national uniformity in tolerance
levels following a review of the latest scientific evidence.
36
Ban on African Elephant Ivory: On June 5, the
Administration announced ban on imports of African elephant
ivory into the United States, making importation from any
country illegal. The ban covers both commercial and non-
commercial shipments. Since announcement of the ban, world
trade in ivory has fallen sharply.
Driftnet Fishing Agreements: The Administration successfully
persuaded Japan, Taiwan, and Korea to enter into driftnet
fishing agreements to monitor driftnet practices and enforce
laws prohibiting the taking of U.S. origin salmon.
Improved Forecasting
Food Safety: went F
EXPLORING SPACE
The President has committed this nation to an aggressive
program to explore and use space in support of our national well
being. U.S. leadership in space continues to be a fundamental
objective guiding U.S. space activities.
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
During the past year, the U.S. space program has returned an
improved Space Shuttle Fleet to flight operations and
successfully completed five demanding missions. In the
space science area, a major revival of the planetary
37
exploration program has included launches of unmanned
missions to Venus and Jupiter in May and October, and the
August encounter of the planet Neptune by the Voyager 2
spacecraft.
On April 20, the President demonstrated the importance he
attaches to the U.S. space program by signing an Executive
Order estblishing the National Space council. President
Bush named Vice President Quayle Chairman of the Council
which is charged with bringing "coherence, continuity, and
commitment to our efforts to explore, study, and develop
space."
On July 20, the president announced a three-pronged program
for the manned exploration of outer space. In the 1990's
the U.S. will construct the permanently manned orbiting
space station, Freedom; for the future a return to the Moon,
this time to stay; and then travel to the planet Mars. The
National Space Council is studying resource requirements and
the feasibiliyt of international cooperation in the
President's human exploration initiative.
On November 2, the President approved a new national space
policy updating and reaffirming U.S. goals and activities in
space. Areas affected include space exploration, remote
sensing, space transportation, space debris, commercial
space activities, and Space Station Freedom.
Thepolicy was set Sorth in National Spoce Poluz
Dirtecture #1, a new Presidentiall directive
Sysem which gives space arengen policy status
in the Bush Administration.
38
WORKING FOR A KINDER, GENTLER AMERICA
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
The President is committed to bringing basic shelter and
affordable housing within reach of millions of Americans. His
HOPE initiative addresses the full range of housing concerns:
shelter for the homeless, affordable housing for low-income
families, open access to expanded job opportunities, and help for
first-time home buyers.
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
On November 10, the President unveiled HOPE, a comprehensive
agenda of Homeownership and Opportunity for People
Everywhere. Major elements include:
-- First-time home buyers: The President will ask Congress
to enact legislation allowing first-time buyers to
draw, without penalty, on IRA savings as a downpayment
for their first home.
-- Low-income housing: The President called on Congress to
renew the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit as part of a
package that also includes a reduction in the capital
gains tax. He has also called on Congress to create up
to 50 Enterprise Zones over the next four years, using
labor and capital-based incentives to create jobs and
entrepreneurial activity in our most distressed
39
communities. In the hardest-hit urban areas, he has
called for an complete elimination of the capital gains tax an certain
investments in enterprise zones.
altogether. President Bush also supports housing
vouchers that empower low-income families to choose
where they want to live; and resident ownership and
resident management of low income housing.
-- FHA reforms: The Administration has announced major
reforms to ensure that FHA is true to its primary
mission of making housing affordable for low and
moderate income families. The President has asked HUD
Secretary Jack Kemp to convene a Blue Ribbon Commission
to identify barriers to affordable housing, and to make
recommendations on how these barriers can be removed.
The President charged Secretary Kemp with finding new
ways to move FHA foreclosures into the hands of non-
profit groups to help reduce homelessness to fight
inner city poverty.
--
Homelessness: The President requested full funding of
the McKinney Homeless Assistance Act; and, on November
9, signed a bill that substantially increased funding
for housing programs under the Act. As part of the
HOPE initiative, the President will request $236
million for an initiative to reduce homelessness among
the chronically mentally ill and recovering substance
abusers through public-private partnerships.
40
CHILD CARE
The changing nature of American society heightens the need
for child care that suits both children's needs and families'
circumstances. President Bush wants to put choice in the hands
of parents so that they -- not government -- have the power to
select the best and safest environment for their children.
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
Child care: The President transmitted to Congress a child
care package, the Working Family Child Care Assistance Act
of 1989 which:
--
Provides a new refundable child care tax credit of up
to $1000 per child under age four, for low income
working families.
-- Makes the existing Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit
refundable.
--
Does not discriminate against religious- or family-
based child care, or against two-parent families in
which a parent works in the home caring for the
children.
The President has directed Secretary of Labor Dole to
examine the role played by liability insurance in employer
decisions on employer-provided child care.
41
Head Start: The President also challenged Congress to
increase funding for Head Start by $250 million in FY 1990.
This expansion will enable up to 95,000 more four-year-olds
to participate in the program -- 50,000 more than under the
proposed Congressional appropriation.
AIDS INITIATIVES
The President has made combatting AIDS a national priority.
The Administration is moving on a number of fronts to combat the
spread of AIDS.
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
AIDS Clinical Trials Information Service: The
Administration developed a toll-free information service
through which AIDS patients and their doctors can get up-to-
date information on clinical trials of AIDS therapies --
whether Federally or privately sponsored.
New Drugs Approved: The Administration approved three new
therapies for treating persons infected with HIV, which for
the first time gives doctors approved treatments to use with
HIV-infected people before they become sick with AIDS.
42
Additional Clinical Trials: The Administration initiated
clinical trials for 38 promising new therapies for HIV-
infected individuals.
Experimental Drugs: The Administration allowed an expansion
in the availability of experimental therapeutic drugs used
to treat people with AIDS and HIV infection.
Wider Use of Existing Treatment: The Administration
announced in August that AZT, the only drug currently
approved for treating persons with AIDS, has proven to help
HIV-infected persons who have not yet developed AIDS.
AIDS Prevention Guide: The Administration worked with the
National Parent Teachers Association to develop and
distribute 500,000 copies of the "AIDS Prevention Guide" for
use by parents and teachers nationwide.
ADOPTION
The President is committed to promoting adoption, especially
of special needs children.
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
Legislation: In September, the President sent two
legislative proposals to Congress designed to encourage
adoption of special needs children:
43
:
The first permits adoptive parents to deduct $3000 from
taxable income for adoption-related expenses.
-- The second reimburses Federal employees who adopt up to
$2000 for expenses.
In addition, the President has directed all Federal agencies
to develop plans for supporting and promoting adoption of
special needs children (e.g., flexible leave.)
NATIONAL SERVICE
The President's vision to help overcome the disintegration
of communities and build a better America -- not through a
federal government program, but through a nationwide community
service movement -- has three facets: First, to issue a call to
all individuals and institutions to claim society's problems as
their own; second, to identify, enlarge, and multiply what is
working; and third, to discover and encourage new leaders.
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
In a series of speeches, President Bush called on all
Americans and all American institutions, large and small, to
make community service central to their daily life and work.
The President announced the formation of a foundation called
the Points of Light Initiative, of which he will serve as
44
Honorary Chairman. Formed to identify and build upon what
is working, the Foundation will act as a magnet for the best
ideas and brightest programs in community service and then
serve as a catalyst to project these ideas into every corner
of the nation. The Administration will ask Congress for $25
million annually to support this initiative and will, in
turn, seek matching funds from the private sector. The
President has encouraged all communities nationwide to join
the movement by forming local "Points of Light Action
Groups" composed of outstanding leaders.
-- Through a Foundation initiative called the ServNet
Project, professional firms, corporations, unions,
schools, religious, civic and not-for-profit groups
will be asked to donate the services of some of their
most talented and promising people for a period of
time. Peer-to-peer working groups will be formed to
implement examples of successful initiatives and
provide training, technical assistance and other
support to enable other institutions to devise similar
initiatives.
-- Another Foundation initiative, the ServLink Project,
will help improve existing methods of matching would-be
volunteers with purposeful service opportunities.
ServLink will stimulate the development, through
private sector resources, of "technology links" like
telephone hotlines, interactive computer programs,
45
electronic bulletin boards and other mechanisms between
those who wish to serve and those needing service in
the inquirer's own community.
-- The President has named a Presidential Commission to
advise him on the legal structure of the Points of
Light Initiative Foundation and the legislation needed
to accomplish the Foundation's goals. The Commission
is scheduled to report to the President in early
December.
:
The Foundation will also discover and encourage and
develop new leaders in the field of community service
by sponsoring workshops, forums, and symposia on
community service leadership development, and by
recognizing new leaders through at least two new
Presidential Awards:
--
The National Service Youth Leadership Awards will
be given each year to individuals.
-- The President's Build A Community Awards will
honor those people and institutions who have
worked together to rebuild families or to
revitalize communities.
CIVIL RIGHTS
The Bush Administration is committed to reaching out to
minorities, and to striking down barriers to free and open
46
access. The President has made it clear that this Administration
will not tolerate discrimination, bigotry, or bias of any kind.
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
Civil rights: The Administration has taken a number of
actions to protect the civil rights of all Americans,
including several court actions in key civil rights cases.
-- The President called upon Congress to reauthorize the
Commission on Civil Rights. Following Congressional
action, the President signed legislation reauthorizing
the Commission through 1991.
-- The Administration endorsed the Hate Crimes Bill, which
provides for the collection of data about crimes
motivated by race, religion, or ethnicity.
--
On March 13, Attorney General Thornburgh announced the
filing of Federal housing discrimination lawsuits
seeking monetary damages and civil penalties under the
expanded enforcement authority of the Fair Housing
Amendments Act of 1988.
Disabled Americans: The President is committed to
legislation that would extend civil rights protections to
disabled Americans. This legislation, called the Americans
with Disabilities Act, would represent the most significant
expansion of federal civil rights laws in the past two
47
decades. A version of the Act passed the Senate on
September 7, and has been awaiting consideration in the
House since then.
-- The legislation would provide unprecedented protections
against discrimination in the area of employment,
requiring reasonable accommodation be made by employers
for disabled potential employees.
-- Most new buildings would be required to be accessible
to the disabled.
-- Stores, providers of services, restaurants, and other
public accommodations in existing buildings would be
required to serve disabled Americans to the same extent
they serve able Americans.
Whistleblower protection: On April 10, the President signed
S. 20, the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989. This law
will strengthen the protections and procedural rights
available to those federal employees who report misdeeds and
mismanagement.
-- This new law will enhance the authority of the Office
of Special Counsel, and whistleblowers will also now be
allowed to take their cases to the Merit Systems
Protection Board.
-- The statute alters the legal burdens of proof, making
it easier for employees to be vindicated when they are
48
wrongfully penalized by their supervisors for
whistleblowing activities.
WELFARE REFORM
The Administration has implemented a major new education and
job training program to help recipients of Aid to Families with
Dependent Children move off welfare and become economically self-
sufficient.
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
Welfare reform: The Administration issued final rules on
October 13 to implement the Job Opportunities and Basic
Skills Training Program (JOBS) of the Family Support Act of
1988. The rules are designed to:
--
Assist welfare recipients to become self-sufficient by
providing needed employment-related activities and
support services.
-- Provide maximum level of flexibility to AFDC parents in
obtaining the type of child care that best suits their
needs, consistent with the principle of parental choice
embodied in the Administration's legislative proposals
on child care.
49
-- The Administration is proposing to spend $3.6 billion
over the next five years implementing the JOBS Program.
The changes will pay benefits in the future by reducing
the number of individuals on welfare. It is estimated
that there will be 138,000 fewer families on the
welfare rolls over five years as a result of this
program.
Low Income Opportunity Board: To continue progress in the
area of welfare reform, the President reinstated this
welfare policy coordinating unit established under President
Reagan as the Interagency Low Income Opportunity Advisory
Board. The Board enhances interagency coordination of
Executive Branch activities designed to lift low-income
Americans up from dependency, and assists States that seek
to demonstrate more effective approaches for using Federal
dollars to serve the low-income population.
EXPANSION OF MEDICAID
The President is committed to ensuring quality health care
for disadvantaged mothers and children, the disabled, and poor,
aged Americans. To help achieve this goal, federal spending on
Medicaid will be $39.1 billion for FY 1990, an increase of $4.8
billion, or 12.2 percent over the FY 1989 level.
50
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
Expanding Medicaid: President Bush has taken concrete steps
toward improving health care for at-risk populations and
decreasing infant mortality. This year, he asked Congress
to raise mandatory Medicaid eligibility for pregnant women,
infants and children to 130 percent of the poverty level.
Congress took action to raise the elegibility to 133% --
consistent with the President's proposal. In addition, he
requested an expansion of Medicaid coverage of immunizations
for all children under age 6 who are eligible for Food
Stamps.
ETHICS
President Bush is committed to high ethical standards for
his Administration and will enforce these standards strictly,
comprehensively, and fairly. The Administration also remains
committed to an overhaul of the existing campaign finance system.
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
Ethics Law Reform: The President issued an Executive Order
creating the President's Commission on Federal Ethics Law
Reform, which submitted its recommendations on March 9.
51
Responding to the Commission's work, the President, on April
12, sent to Congress a sweeping ethics bill and
simultaneously issued an Executive Order announcing ethical
principles for the conduct of executive branch employees.
Recently, Congress, in consultation with the President,
passed an ethics reform measure which included a pay raise
for members of Congress and certain federal officers and
employees. Many of the provisions of that package mirror
the President's original proposals.
-- Strengthened post-employment restrictions -- applicable
for the first time to the Congress -- that protect
against individuals abusing the revolving door for
private gain.
-- A ban on receipt of honoraria by all Federal employees
for speeches and articles, and a cap on outside earned
income for higher salaried non-career employees in all
three branches. (As enacted, neither these limits nor
the concomitant salary increase applies to Senators or
Senate employees.) Full-time non-career Presidential
appointees in the Executive Branch are prohibited from
receiving any outside earned income.
-- Deferral of tax liability when individuals are required
by the Office of Government Ethics to divest assets in
order to avoid conflicts of interest. The President's
Commission on Federal Ethics Law Reform endorsed this
52
reform and identified divestiture as "the single most
important device" to eliminate conflicts of interest.
--
Establishment of consistent financial disclosure rules
across the three branches of government.
--
Creation of uniform conflict-of-interest rules for
high-level House and Senate staff that prohibit contact
with Executive Branch agencies about matters in which
staff members have personal financial interests.
--
Development of a single Executive-Branch-wide set of
standards of conduct regulations.
Campaign Finance Reform: The President's comprehensive
campaign finance reform proposal is designed to lessen the
power of monied special interests and enhance the role of
individuals and the political parties in elections. It also
seeks to undue restore real competition to American
Congressional elections. Below are proposal highlights:
--
Eliminating political action committees (PACs) funded
by corporations, unions, or trade associations, and
prohibiting such entities from paying for the overhead
or administrative costs of any independent PAC.
--
Strengthening political parties by increasing the
support they are permitted to provide congressional
candidates. Heightened party involvemment would
enhance our political system, further neutralize the
power and influence of monied special interests and
53
permit candidates to spend less time on fundraising and
more time addressing the issues.
-- Addressing the problem of the "permanent Congress" by
reforms designed to reduce the unfair advantages of
incumbency. Specifically, the proposals would
drastically reduce Congressional mailings under the
frank, ban the rollover of campaign funds from one
election cycle to the next, and legislate fair neutral
criteria for the redistricting of Congressional and
legislative lines that will follow the 1990 census.
-- Requiring full disclosure all soft money spent by the
political parties and all labor unions, corporations,
and trade associations to influence a federal election.
###
Dooling of Blessey
Grant
Draft Four
December 4, 1989
BUILDING A BETTER AMERICA
ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION
KEEPING THE ECONOMY STRONG
Maintaining the current expansion with low inflation is the
key to improving standards of living, increasing job
opportunities for all Americans, and increasing investment in
productive capacity. Economic performance during this expansion
has been exceptionally good with extraordinary job growth. The
policies of the Bush Administration are designed to preserve this
strong record.
Record Peacetime Expansion: The current expansion reached 84
months in November. This is the second longest economic
expansion in U.S. history and the longest peacetime
expansion.
Job Creation: Over 20.7 million new jobs have been created
during this expansion, and this year the unemployment rate
has reached levels not seen in over 16 years. The benefits
of robust economic growth have been shared by all
demographic groups as indicated by historically low
unemployment rates for women and minorities. During this
decade, America has created more new jobs than Japan and the
nations of Western Europe combined. A higher percentage of
2
American adults is at work than at any other time in our
history.
Record Income: Real per capita disposable personal income --
personal income after taxes and inflation -- has risen 20
percent during this expansion.
Higher National Saving and Investment: Partly due to the
discipline of the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings process, the Federal
deficit has declined from 6.3 percent of GNP in fiscal year
not
185
1983 to 3.0 percent in FY 1989. The personal saving rate
till when WAS 5,490
3
averaged 5.4 percent over the first three quarters of 1989,
well above its recent low of 3.2 percent in 1987.
0
New Business Incorporations: During the first nine months
of 1989, 520,108 new corporations were formed. Ninety-eight
percent of these new corporations are small businesses. At
the same time, business failures numbered just 37,820 -- a
decline of 15.6 percent from the first nine months of 1988.
foilures.
ox
Improved International Trade Position: The international
trade position of the United States has improved
substantially. U.S. exports are at an all-time high and the
trade deficit (as measured by exports minus imports) has
been cut by 30 percent from its level in 1987.
3
Inflation Under Control: Consumer price inflation has
remained under 5 percent in each of the seven years from
1982 to 1988, and the recent slowing in economic growth to a
sustainable rate will lessen price pressures in the near
future. In the last twelve months, the CPI has increased
only 4.5 percent and, in the last three months, the index
has risen at an annual rate of only 2.6 percent.
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
Implementing fiscal restraint: Throughout the year, the
+
Administration negotiated with Congress to pass a fiscally
responsible budget agreement that met the requirements of
the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings law. As a result of the
negotiations, a series of appropriations bills and a budget
reconciliation bill were finally enacted which meet the
deficit reduction targets with no new taxes.
4,
1
Enhanced Rescission Authority: On August the President
endorsed the Legislative Line-Item Act of 1989 (S.1553),
providing the President with the enhanced rescission
authority. Such authority will help the President reduce
the federal deficit by allowing him to eliminate wasteful
and unnecessary spending in appropriations bills.
4
Addressing the International Debt Problem: The
Administration has taken the lead in encouraging commercial
banks to reduce the debt and debt service burdens of
developing countries. Recently, three countries -- Mexico,
the Philippines, and Costa Rica -- have reached agreements
with commercial banks under the Administration's debt plan.
The differences in these agreements appropriately reflect
differing circumstances in each country and illustrate the
flexibility of the Administration's approach.
Minimum Wage Agreement: The Administration and
Congressional leaders reached agreement on a plan, now
signed into law by the President, to increase the basic
minimum wage to $4.25 per hour by 1991 and will create an
&
historic training wage Insisted upon by the
Administration the training wage will save thousands of
+
job for the working poor and younger, less experienced
workers.
Disaster Assistance: The Administration and Congress have
worked together to provide necessary supplemental funding to
assist victims of Hurricane Hugo and the California
earthquake. This funding is helping to provide those who
lost their homes with temporary shelter, is assisting
uninsured, needy families and business owners rebuild their
homes and business establishments, and is helping
5
governments in the affected areas rebuild highways and other
public facilities.
Savings and Loan Reform: The President signed the Financial
Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 on
August 9. This legislation came to grips with the serious
financial problems of the savings and loan industry, and has
helped safeguard and stabilize America's system of thrift
institutions. The Act assures that the long developing
problems in our thrift industry will never happen again. It
significantly reforms the regulation of the thrift industry
and separates the chartering of the institutions from the
insurance of deposits. It establishes strict new standards
including new capital requirements to assure the solvency of
thrift institutions in the future, and sets stiff penalties
for wrongdoing by the officers of insured institutions.
Further, the act provides $50 billion to finance the
resolution of insolvent thrift institutions.
International Trade: The Administration is forcefully
promoting the opening of world markets through the Uruguay
Round of multilateral negotiations under the General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and bilateral negotiations.
It successfully broke a stalemate in the Uruguay Round's
mid-term review and put in place a framework for
negotiations, agreed to by the 96 member nations, to open
6
markets and create rules for fair play in international
trade in goods and services. It is engaged in bilateral
talks with Japan to identify and eliminate structural
factors that may impede balance of payments adjustment and
efficient patterns of world trade. The approaches being
pursued in these discussions will provide long-term benefits
for both countries. The Administration has also created a
high level interagency group to assure that U.S. trade and
investment interests are addressed as the European Community
works to create a single market in 1992.
Steel Imports: The President initiated, and the
Administration successfully implemented, a two-and-a-half
year Steel Trade Liberalization Program. The program is
designed to phase out, in a responsible and orderly manner,
the Voluntary Restraint Arrangements (VRAs) that currently
limit steel imports into the U.S. and to negotiate an
international consensus to eliminate subsidies and other
trade-distorting practices.
Agricultural Initiatives: The Administration has placed its
comprehensive agricultural proposals before the Uruguay
Round of multilateral trade negotiations. These proposals
would harmonize domestic agricultural programs of producing
countries and reduce distortions to patterns of
international production and trade. In addition, the
7
Administration has formed a task force to develop a farm
bill for 1990.
International Competitiveness: To further meet the global
economic challenges of the 1990's, the President named Vice
President Quayle chairman of a newly established Council on
Competitiveness. Under the leadership of the Vice
President, the council has developed a strategy for reform
of the existing maze of product liability laws in order to
maintain American competitiveness.
National Energy Strategy: The President directed the
Secretary of Energy to develop a comprehensive national
energy strategy for the nation. The strategy will lay out
short, mid and long-term options to help the nation meet our
energy security and environmental responsibilities and, at
the same time, ensure that markets will provide a sensible
mix of energy sources to protect America's economic
competitiveness. In the meantime, the Administration has
moved to enhance energy security and conserve our natural
resources by accelerating the filling of the Strategic
Petroleum Reserve to 750 million barrels.
Women and Minority Business Ownership: The President has
called for the promotion of women's business ownership
through a series of procurement and credit conferences
8
conducted by the Small Business Administration. The SBA has
also implemented a new small loan program beneficial to
women entrepreneurs. To advise the Administration on ways
to promote the growth of minority business ownership, the
President announced the formation of the Minority Business
Development Commission. The S.B.A. has also implemented new
regulations to strengthen the Minority Small Business and
Capital Ownership Development program and further promote
minority business development. In addition, President Bush
has called for the reinvigoration of the Minority Business
Development Agency in the Department of Commerce.
SEIZING INTERNATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEACE
In his Inaugural Address, the President heralded the
historic new era of freedom that was dawning: "The day of the
dictator is over. The totalitarian era is passing, its old ideas
blown away like leaves from an ancient lifeless tree. " Four
decades of strength and solidarity among the Western democracies,
reinforced by the new vigor of American leadership in the 1980's,
had borne fruit. From the Third World to the Communist World --
including Europe -- the resurgence of the ideals of political and
economic freedom has shaken Marxist-Leninist and other doctoral
regimes to their foundations leading to dramatic and promising
changes. The President has seized the initiative and seized the
9
opportunity, taking the lead in Western efforts to join with the
Soviet Union to build a new structure of peace and freedom.
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
A Resurgence of Democracy: Maintaining America's leadership
role in the world, the President developed a strategy to
encourage and help sustain the historic processes taking
place, especially in Eastern Europe. Early in his
Administration, the President expressed his hope for the
success of perestroika in the Soviet Union. In April, he
spoke in Hamtramck, Michigan, calling for self-determination
in Eastern Europe and an end to the division of the
continent. In May, President Bush called for the Berlin
Wall to come down, and he set forth his vision of a Europe
"whole and free" during his visit to Mainz, Germany. In the
Western Hemisphere, the President strongly supported the
extension of democracy, especially in Nicaragua and Panama
where the United States has worked with the Organization of
American States to encourage free and fair elections -- and
to condemn efforts to thwart the express will of the people.
In October, the President underscored the U.S. commitment to
hemispheric democracy by attending the 100th anniversary
celebration of Costa Rican democracy.
10
Western Europe: The President proposed new mechanisms for
U.S. consultation and cooperation with the EC Commission and
member states as the European Community works toward
creating a single market in 1992. Seeing the resurgence of
Western Europe as a triumph of democratic values and
principles, the President has welcomed its success,
confident that a mature U.S.-E.C. partnership will serve our
mutual interests and serve as a beacon for the East.
NATO Summit: At the successful NATO Summit in May, the
President's vision of Europe as well as agreement on a new
conventional arms reduction initiative helped build Alliance
unity and confidence and define the Alliance's future
agenda.
Eastern Europe: As Poland and Hungary have taken
unprecedented steps toward pluralism, democracy, and market
economic policies, the United States has encouraged each
step and signaled its strong support. The President has also
encouraged more recent movement towards change in East
Germany, Bulgaria, and Czechoslovakia. The President's
strong support for political pluralism and economic reform
in Hungary and Poland was highlighted by his July visit to
those nations, and by the international leadership he has
exercised in mobilizing major international backing for
these reforms. The President proposed a major U.S. package
11
of economic assistance and trade and investment incentives
to assist in the economic restructuring of Poland and
Hungary. The President also offered technical assistance to
the
both countries to address problems of pollution. All
t
elements of the President's package were adopted by Congress
have
and become the framework for the "Support for East European
Democracy Act" that he signed into law in November.
Poland: Following up on the program he announced on April 17
in Hamtramck, Michigan, the President called upon Congress
to declare Poland a beneficiary country under the U.S.
Generalized System of Preferences and to authorize the
Overseas Private Investment Corporation to operate in
Poland. The U.S. proposed a business and economic agreement
that will promote trade, investment and other contacts
between the private sectors of both countries. Congress has
also provided for a $240 million Enterprise Fund to help
capitalize and invigorate the Polish private sector, plus
$125 million in emergency food aid and additional funds for
environmental labor and other reform projects. The U.S.
x
has also encouraged the World Bank to move ahead with new
loans to help Polish agriculture and industry. The
Administration signed a cultural agreement with Poland which
will result in the opening of a U.S. cultural center in
Warsaw. It also launched a telecommunications
infrastructure development there. The President also asked
12
for and Congress approved a $200 million grant which would
(didn't more Congress thon +
be the U.S. contribution to the $1 billion in Western
stabilization fund the Poles have requested. In November,
the
he sent a Presidential Mission of experts to Warsaw, headed
by Agriculture Secretary Yeutter, to discuss with the Polish
Government its economic plans and to evaluate them. The
Mission also included Secretaries Dole and Mosbacher, and
Michael Boskin, Chairman of the Council of Economic
Advisers, along with 20 prominent business, labor, and
academic leaders. It is making recommendations to the
President as to the most effective use of the nearly $1
billion in U.S. assistance already authorized by Congress.
The Mission's findings and will also be shared with the
twenty-four nation "Group for Economic Assistance to Poland
and Hungary."
Hungary: The President also asked Congress to authorize an
Enterprise Fund as a source of new capital to invigorate the
Hungarian private sector. The President informed Congress
that Hungary is now receiving Most-Favored-Nation tariff
treatment for the maximum period allowable under the law.
The President also declared Hungary a beneficiary country
under our Generalized System of Preferences which will allow
duty free entry of Hungarian products into the U.S. market.
He also proposed and Congress passed legislation to allow
OPIC to operate in Hungary, and for greater scientific,
13
technical, educational, and cultural exchanges between the
U.S. and Hungary. The U.S. will negotiate a comprehensive
business and economic agreement with Hungary to improve the
business environment and will establish an International
Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe in
Budapest. Finally, he announced that the Peace Corps would
operate in Hungary to enhance English language training --
the first time in a European country. Finally, the U.S.
subsequently concluded a new science and technology
agreement with hungary in which both sides will contribute
+
funds to encourage joint research endeavors in basic and
applied sciences.
The Economic Summit in Paris: Immediately after the
President's historic visit to Poland and Hungary, he
proposed to the other world leaders gathered at the Paris
Economic Summit that the industrial democracies join
together to assist economic and political reform in Hungary
the
and Poland. This led to creation of the "Group for Economic
+
Assistance to Poland and Hungary" which has raised several
billion dollars in financial assistance for these two
countries an is working to assure effective and
coordination. The industrial democracies also demonstrated
their unity, by dealing with a variety of other issues on
the international economic agenda, as well as the problem of
drugs and the environment.
14
"Beyond Containment": Seeing an historic process of change
in the Soviet Union, the President has declared his
intention to move beyond the successful policy of
containment of Soviet power to a new policy whose goal is
integrating the Soviet Union into the world community as a
constructive partner. Positive changes so far in Soviet
policies -- in human rights, economic reforms, and
settlement of some international conflicts -- are being
encouraged and broadened. As demonstrated at Malta, the
United States is ready to respond to such further
developments. Already:
-- The U.S.-Soviet dialogue on conflicts in regions of the
Third World has resumed intensively, and discussions
have begun on a new range of global problems that
require global cooperation, such as terrorism, the
environment, and narcotics.
--
In arms control, the President has accelerated the pace
of negotiations, with a new American initiative on
reducing conventional forces in Europe, endorsed by the
NATO Summit. At the Wyoming Ministerial, the U.S. and
U.S.S.R. resolved major disagreements about the
verification protocols to the Threshold Test Ban and
Peaceful Nuclear Explosions Treaties, opening the way
to completion of the treaties in 1990. The President
also proposed an "Open Skies" initiative to improve the
15
openness of military activities in NATO and Warsaw pact
countries; it will be the subject of a Canadian-
sponsored international conference early in 1990.
Finally, in his speech to the U.N. General Assembly,
the President proposed a new initiative to further a
ban on chemical weapons, challenging the Soviets to
early destruction of the majority of the stocks of
these weapons even while a multilateral treaty is being
negotiated. In science and technology, the
Administration concluded a new basic sciences agreement
with the Soviet Union which will bring together
researchers of both nations to cooperate in areas as
diverse as physics, life sciences, and science policy.
Malta:
The President and Chairman Gorbachev exchanged
views on a variety of issues during their meetings in Malta,
including the remarkable events leading to peaceful and
democratic change in Eastern and Central Europe.
The President noted his strong support for perestroika
and suggested that the two leaders work to give major new
impetus to the U.S.-Soviet relationship. The President
conveyed his strong personal commitment to this goal. Among
the ideas that the President proposed were:
Targeting the 1990 Summit for completion of a trade
which would head to
agreement granting Most Favored Nation status to the
Soviet Union, so that the President can grant a
Adhe Grand mode Pres. funn F
16
Jackson-Vanik waiver at that time. To reach that goal,
+
the President proposed beginning negotiations on a
trade agreement now and urged the Supreme Soviet to
complete action on its emigration legislation early
next year.
2
Supporting observer status for the Soviet Union is GATT
after the Uruguay Round is completed next year. The
President urged the Soviet Union to use the intervening
time to move toward market prices at the wholesale
level so its economy will become more compatible with
the GATT system.
3
Expanding U.S.-Soviet technical economic cooperation.
The President presented a paper proposing specific
economic projects, covering topics such as finance,
agriculture, statistics, small business development,
budgetary and tax policy, a stock exchange, and anti-
monopoly policy.
Human Rights
Resolving all divided family issues by the time of the
1990 Summit. In this regard, the President handed over a
list of people wishing to emigrate.
Arms Control
Speeding achievement of a chemical weapons ban by
offering to end U.S. production of binary weapons when
the multilateral convention on chemical weapons enters
17
into force, in return for Soviet acceptance of the
terms of our UN proposal to ban chemical weapons.
2
Proposing to sign an agreement at the 1990 Summit to
destroy U.S. and Soviet chemical weapons down to 20
percent of the current U.S. level.
Suggesting joint U.S. -Soviet support for a CFE Summit
to sign a CFE treaty in 1990.
4
Accelerating the START process in order to resolve all
substantive issues and to conclude a treaty, if
possible, by the 1990 Summit.
Environment
Hosting a conference next fall to negotiate a framework
treaty on global climate change, after the working groups of
the UN-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
submit their final report.
Student Exchanges
Increasing significantly university exchanges so that
an additional 1,000 American and 1,000 Soviet college
students are studying in each other's country by the
beginning of the 1991 school year.
China: On his visit to China in February, the President
emphasized the long-term strategic importance of the U.S.- -
China relationship and his support for the process of
reform. In response to the tragic suppression of the
democratic movement in China in June, the President ordered
18
the suspension of all government-to-government sales and
commercial exports of weapons, suspension of visits between
U.S. and Chinese military leaders, and review of other
aspects of U.S. PRC PRCobilateral relations. The President also
X
acted swiftly to ensure that no Chinese students or
nationals in the U.S. would be forced to return to China
against their will, action that has since been extended and
broadened. The President's policy makes clear that
repression cannot be condoned. But it also seeks to
preserve the basic elements of a strategically important
relationship that has, itself, played a major part in
China's recent policy of reform and openness -- and can do
so again in the future.
Asian Initiatives:
Japan: The U.S. relationship with Japan has grown
whe
stronger under the Bush Administration. In security
matters, Japan's contribution to the maintenance of
U.S. forces stationed there increased by 12 percent, to
$2.8 billion per year, making it the most generous host
nation support program enjoyed by the U.S. anywhere in
the world. A major project also moved forward to co-
develop an advanced fighter, based on the F-16,
increasing the security of both Japan and the U.S.
American companies will receive $2.5 billion in
contracts for American companies and the first
19
significant technology flow-back from Japan. As part
of an emerging global partnership with the U.S., Japan
to Poland
will provide significant development assistance. On
trade matters, the Structural Impediments Initiative
talks have begun to clarify the long term sources of
U.S.-Japan trade friction. In addition, the
Administration began talks aimed at opening markets for
U.S. satellites, super-computers, and forest products.
-0
AND
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference: The
x
Administration succeeded in launching -- through joint
leadership with Japan, Korea, Australia and the ASEAN
states -- the first conference on Asia Pacific Economic
(APEC)
+
Cooperation in Canberra, Australia, in November. This
was the first region-wide ministerial meeting to
address collective responses to the great economic
changes underway in the world. The APEC group will
seek to present a united position in the Uruguay Round
of GATT negotiations, establish working groups to study
infrastructural needs of great importance to U.S.
service industries in the region, and improve data
sharing. Although modest at the outset -- by design --
these accomplishments are a solid beginning to
fundamental trade liberalization in Asia and the
Pacific.
no bold
20
--
Cambodia: In September 1989, the U.S. insistence on
&
the right of self-determination for the people of
Cambodia occupied by Vietnamese forces since 1978, was
rewarded by the withdrawal of Vietnamese main-force
military units. The United States will continue to
press for a comprehensive solution based on the
Cambodian people's right to choose its own government
in free and fair elections. Internationally-supervised
elections, under an interim government led by Prince
Sihanouk, hold the best prospect for denying dominance
to either the murderous Khmer Rouge or the Hun Sen
space
regime that was installed by the Vietnamese army.
heading?
Vice President Quayle, in two separate trips to the Pacific
rim countries and Asian nations, has played a key role in
the formulation of policy. In his spring trip to Australia,
Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand, he worked to coordinate
U.S. policy on Cambodia with that of our allies in
anticipation of the pullout of Vietnamese forces, and
+
promoted U.S. trade interests. This fall, in a trip to
South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, and Malaysia, the Vice
President began delicate base negotiations with the
Philippines government. He also restated U.S. commitment to
Korea; signed an agreement on space cooperation with Japan;
and advanced U.S. Cambodian policy in the region.
21
Latin America: The President has established a close,
working relationship with Latin American neighbors to foster
a new partnership on hemispheric issues like democracy,
debt, and drugs. Relations with Mexico are closer than at
any time in recent memory. The Administration is currently
negotiating a new agreement with Mexico to expand trade and
investment opportunities. In October, the President
attended a meeting of hemispheric leaders in San Jose, Costa
Rica, where he stressed the importance of democracy to the
Hemisphere and confirmed Nicaragua's isolation.
-- Panama: The U.S. has also worked with the Organization
of American States to develop a hemispheric consensus
that Manuel Noriega should leave power and permit
restoration of democratic rule. On November 30, the
President denied Panamanian flag vessels access to U.S.
ports after January 31, 1990. This measure will
deprive Noreiga's illegal regime of tens of millions of
+
dollars in revenue.
-- El Salvador: The President remains committed to
supporting the democratically elected government of El
Salvador against extremists of both right and left. In
Malta, the President insisted that the Soviets take
more effective action to stop Nicaragua and Cuba from
spellant?
sending arms to the Marxist FMLN guerrillas. The
United States regards the preservation of fundamental
human rights as an integral part of its effort to help
22
build democratic institutions in El Salvador and will
work with the government to bring human rights
violators to justice.
In early February, Vice President Quayle traveled
to El Salvador to support free and fair elections and
to deliver a warning to the Salvadoran military over
human rights violations. In late June, the Vice
President again visited El Salvador, as well as Costa
Rica, Guatemala, and Honduras, advancing the
Administration's policy on Panama and Nicaragua. Costa
Rican President Oscar Arias joined in pressuring the
Sandanista yi regime in Nicaragua to hold fair elections
there.
frue and ?
+
Bipartisan Accord on Central America: On March 24, the
President and Congress agreed on a bipartisan plan for peace
and democracy in Central America:
-- Regional peace: The President and Congress agreed that
the region's democracies deserve our support, that
Nicaragua's subversion of its neighbors must end, and
that Soviet and Cuban support for violence and
subversion in the hemisphere must also end.
-- Humanitarian aid: Congress agreed to support the
Administration's request for continued humanitarian
assistance for the Nicaraguan Resistance at current
23
levels through the elections in Nicaragua scheduled for
February, 1990.
--
Democracy: The Marxist Sandinistas are being put to the
test to permit a real democratic electoral contest for
political power, fulfilling the promises of democratic
pluralism that they have made and broken so often
before. Aid to the Nicaraguan opposition to help bring
about a free and fair election was approved with
bipartisan Congressional support. On November 14, a
Presidential Commission on Election Monitoring in
Nicaragua was formed, including Senators and
Representatives from both sides of the aisle.
Middle East: The Administration is promoting progress
toward peace in the Middle East by supporting the Government
of Israel's May 14 initiative calling for Palestinian
elections in the occupied territories. A five-point
framework advanced by the United States is central to these
efforts. These elections can be a step toward a
comprehensive peace settlement that assures Israel's
security and the legitimate political rights of the
Palestinians. The President also is actively supporting the
efforts of the Arab League and others to promote internal
reconciliation, end the internecine warfare, and bring peace
to a united Lebanon that is free of all foreign forces.
24
Canada: The Administration began an immediate reduction of
tariffs as a first step in a multi-year phase out of trade
barriers -- the result of the U.S.-Canadian Free Trade
Agreement that took effect January 1, 1989.
African Initiatives: A balanced approach of pressure and
incentives may well be achieving progress toward the goal of
dismantling apartheid and establishing a non-racial
democratic society in South Africa. The Administration has
also played a significant role in supporting the free and
fair elections in Namibia, which have opened the door to
independence and democracy in that country and in promoting
diplomatic solutions to regional conflicts in Angola,
Mozambique and elsewhere. Our debt forgiveness initiatives
of about $800 million in debt and associated interest
payments provides important assistance to African countries
implementing market-oriented reforms.
A Strong Defense: Congress adopted an integrated package
proposed by the President on strategic modernization that
modernizes the entire strategic triad. Although Congress
made some reductions in amounts requested, its actions
generally support the President's objectives.
-- The President proposed to Congress a two-missile plan
to maintain a strong, modernized strategic deterrent.
The bipartisan consensus to deploy the rail-mobile
25
Peacekeeper and the road-mobile Small ICBM will also
give the U.S. momentum in strategic arms control
negotiations.
--
The modernization plan capitalizes on the revolutionary
potential of the B-2, and also modernizes our strategic
submarine force. These programs are 11 essential to
our arms control positions.
-- The President requested funding for the Strategic
Defense Initiative to support an informed development
and deployment decision within the next four years.
-- The President also directed a Defense Management Review
to develop a plan to implement fully the Packard
Commission's blueprint to strengthen and streamline the
defense acquisition system and to manage defense
resources more effectively. The Review has been
completed and its recommendations now being implemented
promise to save billions of dollars annually.
Air Transportation Security: The Administration has taken
several measures to enhance security and efficiency in the
air transportation system. These efforts include:
-- New requirements for installation of explosive
detection devices in high-risk airports.
-- Intense international negotiations to enhance security
abroad.
26
:
Establishment of the President's Commission on Aviation
Security and Terrorism.
--
A proposed 17% increase in the budget for the Federal
Aviation Administration.
INVESTING IN OUR FUTURE
Record economic growth has provided Americans with the
opportunity to invest in a brighter future. The President's
programs are designed to focus our efforts on those initiatives
most likely to continue to create growth in the years ahead.
EDUCATION
The President pledged to provide national leadership in
education reform and mobilize society to achieve literacy for all
Americans. His actions to improve education are guided by four
principles: encouraging excellence; targeting federal assistance
to those most in need; promoting flexibility and choice; and
ensuring accountability.
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
President Bush convened "The President's Education Summit
with Governors" on September 27 and 28 in Charlottesville,
Virginia. This event marked only the third time in our
history that a President has convened the Nation's Governors
27
to address a single issue of national importance. The
Summit brought together the President, his Cabinet and the
Governors in working groups and plenary sessions to focus on
issues of choice and restructuring, teaching, the learning
environment, governance, a competitive workforce and life-
long learning, and postsecondary education.
-- The President and the Governors issued a Joint
Statement -- a "Jeffersonian compact" -- committing to
four objectives for education reform in America:
establishing national education goals; increasing
flexibility in the use of Federal funds in exchange for
enhanced accountability; implement inj state-by-state
restructuring of the education system; and measuring
performance. A commitment was made to develop national
goals and initiatives to increase flexibility and
accountability by early 1990.
On June 5, the President announced his intention to create
the President's Education Policy Advisory Committee.
Chaired by Paul O'Neill, Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of Alcoa, the committee's membership includes
representatives from education, business, labor and the
media. The committee, which met for the first time in
November, advises the President on issues related to
education policy.
28
On April 5, the President submitted to Congress a
comprehensive set of education initiatives, The Educational
Excellence Act of 1989. The Act proposes:
-- The Presidential Merit Schools program -- to reward
schools that are making substantial progress in raising
students' educational achievement, creating a safe and
drug-free school environment, and reducing the drop-out
rate.
--
A new Magnet Schools of Excellence program -- to
support the establishment, expansion or enhancement of
magnet schools, focusing on disciplines important to
the Nation's economic competitiveness such as math and
science, increasing parental choice and improving
quality education.
-- The Alternative Certification of Teachers and
Principals program -- to assist States interested in
broadening the pool of talent from which to recruit
teachers and principals.
--
President's Awards for Excellence in Education -- to
recognize public and private school teachers in every
state who meet the highest standards of excellence.
--
Drug-free Schools Urban Emergency Grants -- to provide
special assistance to selected urban school districts
that are disproportionately affected by drug
trafficking and abuse.
29
-- A National Science Scholars program -- to provide
college scholarships to high school seniors who have
excelled in the sciences and mathematics.
-- Additional Funding Authorization for Endowment Matching
Grants at Historically Black Colleges and Universities
(HBCUs) -- to strengthen HBCUs by building endowments,
an especially effective way to create financial
strength and long-term security.
On April 24, the President issued a new Executive Order on
Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Highlights of
the order include:
-- Establishing the President's Board of Advisors on
Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the
Department of Education.
-- Directing Federal agencies to increase opportunities
for HBCU involvement in Federal programs and directing
the Secretary of Education to develop an Annual Federal
Plan for Assistance.
-- Calling for the White House Office of National Service,
along with other Federal offices to work to encourage
private sector support of HBCUs.
National American Initiative: The Departments of Education
and Interior have committed to a major initiative to ensure
Native American students receive a quality education.
30
Hispanic Initiative: The President has directed the
Secretary of Education to form a Task Force on Hispanic
Education to assess how well federal education programs
serve Hispanics and recommend ways to enhance the federal
role.
f
Job Training Partnership Act Amendments:
As part os an
+
overall effort to prepare those least skilled and most
disadvantaged young Americans for the workforce of the
future, the Administration has proposed amendments to the
Job Training Partnership Act. The revisions to this
nation's most successful job training program would provide
a total support system for our at-risk youth -- job training
plus remedial education, basic skills training, literacy,
counseling and financial assistance.
Research and Development: The President promised to
strengthen Federal Science and Technology Policy and
Oversight to ensure that national security and economic
programs are based on sound scientific and technological
principles. Seven major areas have been targeted as
critically important to the Nation's economic health: the
physical sciences and engineering, life sciences and medical
issues, education, information policy, international R&D
31
affairs, industrial technology, and industrial
competitiveness.
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
The President has restructured the Office of Science and
Technology Policy (OSTP) which will work with the Office of
Management and Budget in analyzing and preparing federal R&D
will P
budgets and to ply a central role in developing and
+
coordinating Federal science and technology strategies.
The President has revitalized and upgraded the Federal
Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering, and
Technology (FCCSET) to coordinate and integrate R&D planning
among agencies government-wide.
f
The President has established a Council od Advisors on
+
Science and Technology (PCAST), composed of twelve
distinguished scientists, mathematicians, and engineers from
the private sector, to advise him on science and technology.
FIGHTING DRUG ABUSE
A new assault in the war on drugs began with the
announcement of the President's National Drug Control Strategy.
The President set major new priorities in five principle areas:
32
the criminal justice system; drug treatment; education, community
action, and the workplace; international initiatives; and
interdiction efforts. Throughout, the strategy emphasizes the
principle of user accountability.
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
In his first televised Address to the Nation, the President
unveiled the National Drug Strategy in September, describing
a coordinated and comprehensive plan of attack under the
leadership of the Director of National Drug Control Policy,
William Bennett.
The National Drug Control Strategy recommends the largest
dollar increase in the history of the drug war -- nearly
$2.2 billion, 39 percent above the FY 1989 level. Elements
of the Strategy include:
-- Expanding the criminal justice system by providing
funds for more agents, jails, prosecutors, and courts;
and requiring drug testing of prisoners, parolees, and
arrestees.
-- Improving drug treatment by holding Federally-funded
treatment programs accountable for their effectiveness
through performance criteria; requiring drug testing in
treatment programs receiving Federal funds; exploring
the expanded use of "civil commitment," whereby addicts
33
are sent by the courts to residential treatment
facilities; and improving drug treatment services for
pregnant women.
-- Promoting education, community action, and the
workplace through emphasizing community-level
prevention of drug use; requiring schools and colleges
to implement firm drug-free policies as a condition of
receiving Federal funds; working for safe and drug-free
public housing; promoting drug-free workplace policies
in the private sector and implementing drug-free
workplace policies within the Federal government; and
by recommending testing for job applicants and
employees in safety and sensitive positions.
-- Increasing emphasis on international initiatives, such
as dismantling drug trafficking organizations,
targeting international efforts closer to production
and trafficking sources; and reducing trafficking
profits by focusing increased efforts on money
laundering. The Treasury Department has mediated the
Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FINCEN), a multi-
source money laundering intelligence, analysis and
targeting bureau. The President has engaged our
foreign policy in the international war against drugs.
He approved an Andean strategy involving a $2.2 billion
five-year program to help the Andean nations attack
production, processing and trafficking in drugs and to
34
provide trade benefits support of their efforts in the
war on drugs called for increased cooperation and
coordination of anti-drug programs with our allies, the
sentence
Soviets and international bodies, and raised drugs as a
priority in U.S. foreign policy.
-- Taking a fresh approach to interdiction efforts by
creating interagency and interdisciplinary teams to
analyze and target smuggling patterns, methods, and
routes; targeting key individuals and high-value
shipments; and enhancing the border interdiction
systems, operations, and activities of the U.S. Coast
Guard, Customs Service and the Department of Defense.
Anti-Drug Treaty: The Vienna Convention on Illicit Drugs
and Psychotropic Substances was strongly endorsed by the
President and forwarded to Congress for ratification. This
is the most significant and far-reaching treaty on
international cooperation on drug trafficking, chemical
precursor control, and money laundering ever to be signed.
COMBATTING VIOLENT CRIME
The President is working to strengthen the nation's criminal
justice system and the Federal, state, and local law enforcement
partnership.
35
Four principles underlie the goals of our criminal justice
system and the means for accomplishing them: First, to protect
citizens and their property; to hold those who commit violent
crimes accountable for their actions; to have as the objective of
our criminal justice system the swift and certain apprehension,
prosecution and incarceration of those who break the law; and
finally, to ensure a sustained, cooperative effort by Federal,
state and local law enforcement authorities.
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
On June 15, President Bush sent to Congress The
Comprehensive Violent Crime Control Act of 1989 to combat
violent crime. The President's initiative includes:
-- Strengthening Current Laws: The President is calling
on Congress to double the mandatory minimum penalties
from five years to ten years in Federal prison
for the
use of semi-automatic weapons in violent or drug-related
crimes.
In addition, the Attorney General has advised federal
prosecutors to end plea bargaining with persons accused of
violent firearms offenses.
President Bush called on Congress to enact the
legislation necessary to implement the death penalty for the
most serious Federal crimes, and urged state Governors to
match these Federal initiatives -- new mandatory sentencing,
36
tougher rules on plea bargaining, and implementing the death
penalty -- in the States.
Controlling Certain Semi-Automatic Weapons: In July,
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms took action to
ban permanently the importation of those semi-automatic
weapons which fail to meet the criteria specified in the Gun
Control Act of 1968. The President also called for enhanced
penalties and the closing of loopholes related to the sale
and transfer of such guns by certain classes of criminals,
and he proposed prohibiting the importation, and
manufacture, of gun magazines of more than 15 rounds.
-- Augmenting Enforcement: The President has directed the
Attorney General and the Treasury Secretary, working
together with state and local authorities, to launch a
comprehensive, coordinated offensive against America's
most violent criminals.
President Bush requested funding for the hiring of
825 new Federal agents and staff -- 375 at the Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; 300 at the FBI; and
150 Deputy U.S. Marshals. This interagency effort,
which also counts on the cooperation of state and local
enforcement authorities, will target violent criminals
and repeat offenders.
-- Enhancing Prosecution: The President proposed
increased funds for the U.S. Attorney's 300 Offices to
Y
support 1,600 new prosecutors and staff and increased
37
1990 funds for the Justice Department Criminal Division
to support 168 new positions, to handle drug cases,
weapons offenses, and other priority matters.
-- Expanding Prison Capacity: The President proposed an
additional $1 billion for Federal prison construction,
bringing the total FY 1990 budget to over $1.5 billion.
This will add 24,000 new Federal prison beds to the
32,000 beds currently available.
Each of the above proposals for increased funding
to fight violent crime was addressed into the
appropriations bills for drug-related activities passed
by Congress at the close of the 1st Session and signed
by the President on November 21.
THE ENVIRONMENT
President Bush, a life-long environmentalist, has taken
strong action to protect the environment. He has placed
environmental protection, conservation, and wise management of
our natural resources as high priorities on our national agenda.
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
O
Clean Air Legislation: On June 12, the President announced
proposals that will take advantage of the power of the
marketplace to reduce emissions which cause acid rain, urban
38
smog and toxic air pollution. The proposals, the first
major overhaul of the Clean Air Act to be proposed by an
Administration in over a decade, call for a 10 million ton
reduction in SO2 emissions by the year 2000, a 2 million ton
reduction in NOx from projected levels, a 40 percent
reduction in emission of volatile organic compounds, and a
reduction of 75 to 90 percent in air toxic emissions. The
proposal also calls for the use of alternative fuels in one
million vehicles by 1997. Alternative fuels, while reducing
emissions that cause smog, will also reduce the toxic
aromatics which come from conventional gasoline. The
President submitted a comprehensive Clean Air bill to the
Congress on July 21 embodying the proposals announced on
June 12.
Boskin
in
Natural Gas Decontrol: On July 26, the President signed into
long.
law the Wellhead Decontrol Act of 1989, which will end all
remaining price controls on natural gas, a clean-burning,
domestically abundant fuel by, 1993
t
Clean Coal Technologies: The President proposed $710 million
in FY 1990 for the Clean Coal Technology program.
Clean Water and Coastlines: On March 10, EPA implemented a
medical waste tracking program to track medical wastes to
ensure proper disposal and prevent ocean pollution -- a
39
major step forward in a comprehensive program to help keep
our beaches clean.
Ocean Dumping: To meet the President's commitment to end
ocean dumping, the EPA negotiated agreements with the states
to stop dumping of sewage sludge by the end of 1991. This
initiative also resulted in civil judicial or administrative
penalty actions against 61 cities in 1989.
Cleaningup 10% of Hazardous Wastes: On March 10, The President
UN
announced he will be seeking legislation to amend the
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act in order to give the
United States Government authority to ban all exports of
hazardous waste unless an agreement exists with the
receiving country providing for the safe handling and
management of those wastes.
Alaskan Oil Spill: The President sent a Cabinet-level team
to assess the Alaskan oil spill, and a joint federal-state
resource recovery team was convened. Vice President Quayle
twice visited the cleanup site and met with local officials
and affected businessmen. The National Transportation
Safety Board is investigating the accident. Exxon has
accepted the responsibility of paying for the cleanup, and
for employing local civilian personnel necessary to control
further damage. The Department of Transportation is heading
40
the Administration's cleanup efforts while the EPA, is
coordinating the Departments of Agriculture and Interior and
the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration on long-
range planning to restore the environment of Prince William
Sound, and the President has ordered a review of existing
contingency plans for accidents such as this. The
Administration has also called for Exxon to pay the full
cost of environmental damages resulting from the spill.
The President also proposed, and the Paris Summit leaders
accepted, a call for increased international efforts on oil
spill prevention and clean-up.
Oil Spill Legislation: On May 11, the Administration
transmitted to Congress comprehensive oil pollution
liability and compensation legislation that broadens and
strengthens our existing patchwork of laws. The bill
provides swift and assured compensation for cleanup costs
and damages through a liability system based on strict
financial responsibility requirements for shipowners backed
up by an oil-industry financed fund. The Interior
Department also initiated a $6 million, 3-year project with
the American Petroleum Institute to conduct research and
development on all spill cleanup technology.
Offshore Oil Drilling: The President postponed lease sales
and offshore oil and gas development in environmentally
41
sensitive areas off the coasts of California and Florida.
The President set up a task force to examine the issues and
report back to him in January of 1990.
+
Department of Energy Facilities Cleanup: Spending has been
increased by $500 million for waste cleanup at Department of
Energy facilities. On August 31, the Energy Department
published an aggressive, five-year cleanup plan which
identifies site-by-site Departmental environmental
restoration and waste management initiatives. In addition,
the Department published a five year Environmental
+
Restoration and Waste Management Research and Development
Plan which will exclusively focus its attention on
addressing the contamination problems the Energy Department
faces at its facilities. The Research and Development Plan
will be the major effort to reduce outyear costs of cleanup
of DOE facilities and should have major implications for
private technology transfer.
Superfund: The President's budget proposed $175 billion to
X
pursue an aggressive cleanup schedule of toxic waste sites;
the Administration opposed Congressional efforts to cut the
Superfund budget to $1.5 billion. On June 14, EPA
Administrator Reilly, following the President's direction,
concluded a Management Review of the Superfund Program. To
implement reforms, E.P.A. is adding five hundred people to
42
take aggressive enforcement action and ensure that sites are
cleaned up.
Strategic Petroleum Reserve: In August, the Department of
Energy initiated a study of ways to increase strategic
petroleum stocks to protect the country in the event of an
oil disruption.
Global Climate Issues: The President has accelerated the
Administration's activities on global change. Following the
conclusion of the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change sponsored by the United Nations, which the
Administration strongly supports and is participating in,
the President has offered to host a conference next fall to
negotiate a framework treaty on global change.
The President enhanced the Nation's international
leadership in this field by developing an integrated
scientific approach, summarized in the report Our Changing
Planet, a research Plan for Global Change, and by
increasing research efforts to better understand global
change. Also, the President increased global environmental
research for FY 1990 by 28 percent, to over $663 million.
The President endorsed NASA's Mission to Planet Earth as a
key element in this research effort to ensure that critical
global data sets are established. The President has
announced a White House International Environmental Research
43
Conference for the spring of 1990 to be attended by national
delegations of science, environment, and economic ministers.
The President also endorsed NASA's Mission to Planet Earth,
which will provide critical global data sets to support
global change research efforts.
Stratospheric Ozone Depletion: The President called for a
worldwide phaseout of ozone-depleting CFCs and halons by the
year 2000. if safe substitutes are available. In addition,
the U.S. has imposed fees on CFC production to reduce CFC
emissions. The President's Clean Air initiative would also
reduce pollution, cap emissions and create a powerful
incentive for conservation thereby reducing greenhouse gas
emissions.
Wetlands, National Parks, and Reforestation: The President
is also committed to a national goal of "no net loss" of
wetlands and is directing his executive branch agencies,
through an interagency task force, to make recommendations
to achieve that goal. He has also proposed a major increase
in funding to expand and improve parks, wildlife refuges,
forests, and recreational land. He included $206 million in
new money in the FY 1990 budget which was accepted by
Congress, to expand and improve America's parks and wildlife
refuges, preserving them for generations to come. Finally,
the President supports increased lending by the development
44
banks for reforestation programs. He also endorsed the call
by the Paris Economic Summit for an end to world
deforestation worldwide. The Department of Agriculture has
R.D
initiated a number of reforestation programs both
drug
domestically and abroad and the President has focused
national attention on the importance of trees in his
speeches and appearances around the country.
Asbestos Ban: On July 7, EPA announced an almost total
phase-out of nearly all uses of asbestos by 1997. The ban
will prohibit importation, manufacture, and processing of
asbestos, a carcinogen linked to lung cancer and
mesothelioma (lung and chest cancer).
Council on Environmental Quality: The President has begun
revitalizing his Council on Environmental Quality in the
Executive Office of the President. The Administration
proposed doubling CEQ's budget in order for it to adequately
serve its environmental advisory function within the White
House.
Ban on African Elephant Ivory: On June 5, the
Administration announced a ban on imports of African
elephant ivory into the United States, making importation
from any country illegal. The ban covers both commercial
45
and non-commercial shipments. Since announcement of the
ban, world trade in ivory has fallen sharply.
Driftnet Fishing Agreements: The Administration successfully
persuaded Japan, Taiwan, and Korea to enter into driftnet
fishing agreements to monitor driftnet practices, and
enforce laws prohibiting the taking of U.S. origin salmon.
Improved Forecasting: The Commerce Department announced that
beginning in Fiscal Year 1990, the National Weather Service
will modernize and restructure its operations to provide
improved forecasting and weather warning systems. The new
system will include advanced weather radar, observation
automation, and a new communications system.
Food Safety: In order to improve the federal government's
ability to protect American consumers and the environment
from potential dangers posed by the use of pesticides,
President Bush proposed a comprehensive program to enhance
food safety. The President's plan calls for major revisions
to two key laws to streamline EPA's ability to remove
potentially hazardous pesticides from the market. The
President's proposal also strengthens enforcement,
establishes scientifically sound threshold tolerance levels
for pesticides in or on food, and provides for national
46
uniformity in tolerance levels following a review of the
latest scientific evidence.
National Energy Strategy: The President directed the
Secretary of Energy to develop a comprehensive national
energy strategy for the Nation. The strategy will lay out
short, mid- and long-term options to help the Nation meet
its energy, security, and environmental responsibilities
and, at the same time, ensure that markets will provide a
sensible mix of energy sources to protect America's economic
competitiveness.
National Transportation Policy: The Department of
Transportation is developing a National Transportation
Policy to facilitate the allocation of public and private
resources so that transportation systems -- highway,
aviation, mass transit, rail and maritime -- enhance
national economic growth, global competitiveness, national
security, and environmental quality, and personal mobility.
EXPLORING SPACE
The President has committed this nation to an aggressive
program to explore and use space in support of our national wel
47
being. U.S. leadership in space continues to be a fundamental
objective guiding U.S. space activities.
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
On April 20, the President demonstrated the importance he
attaches to the U.S. space program by signing an Executive
Order establishing the National Space Council. President
Bush named Vice President Quayle Chairman of the Council
which is charged with bringing "coherence, continuity, and
commitment to our efforts to explore, study, and develop
space. "
On July 20, the President announced a three-pronged program
for the manned exploration of the solar system. In the
1990's the U.S. will construct the permanently manned
orbiting space station, Freedom; for the future, a return to
the Moon, this time to stay; and, then, travel to the planet
Mars. The National Space Council is studying resource
requirements and the feasibility of international
cooperation in the President's Human Exploration Initiative.
On November 2, the President approved a new national space
policy updating and reaffirming U.S. goals and activities in
space. The policy was set forth in the National Space
Policy Directive #1, a new Presidential directive system
48
which gives space a unique policy status in the Bush
Administration. Areas affected include space exploration,
remote sensing, space transportation, space debris,
commercial space activities, and Space Station Freedom.
During the past year, the U.S. space program has returned an
improved Space Shuttle Fleet to flight operations and
successfully completed five demanding missions. In the
space science area, a major revival of the planetary
exploration program has included launches of unmanned
missions to Venus and Jupiter in May and October, and the
August encounter of the planet Neptune by the Voyager 2
spacecraft.
WORKING FOR A KINDER, GENTLER AMERICA
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
The President is committed to bringing basic shelter and
affordable housing within reach of millions of Americans. His
HOPE initiative addresses the full range of housing concerns:
shelter for the homeless, affordable housing and homeownership
for low-income families, open access to expanded job
opportunities, and help for first-time home buyers.
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
49
O
On November 10, the President unveiled HOPE, a comprehensive
agenda of Homeownership and Opportunity for People
Everywhere. Major elements include:
--
First-time Home Buyers: The President will ask Congress
to enact legislation allowing first-time buyers to
draw, without penalty, on IRA savings as a downpayment
for their first home. The President has asked HUD
Secretary Jack Kemp to convene a Blue Ribbon Commission
to identify barriers to affordable housing, and to make
recommendations on how these barriers can be removed.
--
Low-income Housing: The President called on Congress to
renew the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit as part of a
package that also includes a reduction in the capital
gains tax.
-- Job Creation: He has also called on Congress to create
up to 50 Enterprise Zones over the next four years,
using labor and capital-based incentives to create jobs
and entrepreneurial activity in our most distressed
communities. In the hardest-hit urban areas, he has
called for a complete elimination of the capital gains
tax on certain investments in enterprise zones.
President Bush also supports housing vouchers that
empower low-income families to choose where they want
to live; and resident ownership and resident management
cut OMB,3120 by Hall
of low income housing.
50
FHA Reforms: The Administration has announced major
reforms to ensure that FHA is true to its primary
mission of making housing affordable for low and
moderate income families. In record time, Congress
responded to the Administration's reform initiative and
passed legislation incorporating most of the
Administration's proposals. The President charged
Secretary Kemp with finding new ways to move FHA
foreclosures into the hands of non-profit groups to
help reduce homelessness to fight inner city poverty.
-- Homelessness: The President requested full funding of
the McKinney Homeless Assistance Act; and, on November
9, signed a bill that substantially increased funding
for programs under the Act. As part of the HOPE
initiative, the President will request $236 million for
an initiative to reduce homelessness among the
chronically mentally ill and recovering substance
abusers through public-private partnerships.
CHILD CARE
The changing nature of American society heightens the need
for child care that suits both children's needs and families'
circumstances. President Bush wants to put choice in the hands
of parents so that they -- not government -- have the power to
select the best and safest environment for their children.
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ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
Child Care: The President transmitted to Congress a child
care package, the Working Family Child Care Assistance Act
of 1989 which:
:
Provides a new refundable child care tax credit of up
to $1000 per child under age four, for low and moderate
income working families.
--
Makes the existing Dependent Care Tax Credit
refundable.
--
Does not discriminate against religious- or family-
based child care, or against two-parent families in
which a parent works in the home and cares for the
children.
The President has directed Secretary of Labor Dole to
examine the role played by liability insurance in employer
decisions on employer-provided child care.
Head Start: The President also challenged Congress to
increase funding for Head Start by $250 million in FY 1990.
This expansion would have enabled up to 95,000 more four-
year-olds to participate in the program. Congressional
action provided only $151 million of that request which will
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allow the Program to serve up to 37,500 more eligible 4-
years-olds.
AIDS INITIATIVES
The President has made combatting AIDS a national priority.
The Administration is moving on a number of fronts to combat the
spread of AIDS.
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
AIDS Clinical Trials Information Service: The
Administration developed a toll-free information service
through which AIDS patients and their doctors can get up-to-
date information on clinical trials of AIDS therapies --
whether Federally or privately sponsored.
New Drugs Approved: The Administration approved three new
therapies for treating persons infected with HIV, which for
the first time gives doctors approved treatments to use with
HIV-infected people before they become sick with AIDS.
Additional Clinical Trials: The Administration initiated
clinical trials for promising new therapies for HIV-infected
individuals.
53
Experimental Drugs: The Administration allowed an expansion
in the availability of experimental therapeutic drugs used
to treat people with AIDS and HIV infection.
Wider Use of Existing Treatment: The Administration
announced in August that AZT, the only drug currently
approved for treating persons with AIDS, has proven to help
HIV-infected persons who have not yet developed AIDS.
AIDS Prevention Guide: The Administration worked with the
National Parent Teachers Association to develop and
distribute 500,000 copies of the "AIDS Prevention Guide" for
use by parents and teachers nationwide.
Waivers for Medical Treatment: The Administration adopted
an immigration policy which would grant waivers to
foreigners, with AIDS, who wish to enter the US in order to
obtain medical treatment or to participate in activity which
advances efforts to find a cure.
ADOPTION
The President is committed to promoting adoption, especially
of special needs children.
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
54
Legislation: In September, the President sent two
legislative proposals to Congress designed to encourage
adoption of special needs children:
-- The first would permit adoptive parents to deduct $3000
from taxable income for adoption-related expenses.
-- The second would reimburse up to $2000 for expenses
Federal employees who adopt. up to $2000 for expenses
In addition, the President has directed all Federal agencies
to develop plans for supporting and promoting adoption of
special needs children (e.g., flexible leave.)
NATIONAL SERVICE
The President's vision to help overcome the disintegration
of communities and build a better America -- not through a
federal government program, but through a nationwide community
service movement -- has three elements: First, to call all
individuals and institutions to take steps to address society's
problems; second, to identify, enlarge, and multiply what is
working; and third, to discover and encourage new leaders.
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
In a series of speeches, President Bush called on all
Americans and all American institutions, large and small, to
55
make community service central to their daily life and work.
The President announced the formation of a foundation called
the Points of Light Initiative, of which he will serve as
Honorary Chairman. Formed to identify and build upon what
is working, the Foundation will act as a magnet for the best
ideas and brightest programs in community service and then
serve as a catalyst to project these ideas into every corner
of the nation. The Administration will ask Congress for $25
million annually to support this initiative and will, in
turn, seek matching funds from the private sector. The
President has encouraged all communities nationwide to join
the movement by forming local "Points of Light Action
Groups" composed of outstanding leaders.
-- Through a Foundation initiative called the ServNet
Project, professional firms, corporations, unions,
schools, religious, civic and not-for-profit groups
will be asked to donate the services of some of their
most talented and promising people for a period of
time. Peer-to-peer working groups will be formed to
implement examples of successful initiatives and
provide training, technical assistance and other
support to enable other institutions to devise similar
initiatives.
-- Another Foundation initiative, the ServLink Project,
will help improve existing methods of matching would-be
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volunteers with purposeful service opportunities.
ServLink will stimulate the development, through
private sector resources, of "technology links" like
telephone hotlines, interactive computer programs,
electronic bulletin boards and other mechanisms between
those who wish to serve and those needing service in
the inquirer's own community.
--
The President has named a Presidential Commission to
advise him on the legal structure of the Points of
Light Initiative Foundation and the legislation needed
to accomplish the Foundation's goals. The Commission
is scheduled to report to the President in early
December.
--
The Foundation will also discover, encourage and
develop new community service leaders by sponsoring
workshops, forums, and symposia on community service
leadership development, and by recognizing new leaders
and exemplary initiatives through at least three new
Presidential forms of recognition:
--
The National Service Youth Leadership Awards will
be given each year to individuals.
--
The "Daily Points of Light Program" which each day
recognizes individuals or initiative who are
making a positive difference in the lives of their
communities.
that
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-- The President's Build A Community Awards will
honor those people and institutions who have
worked together to rebuild families or to
revitalize communities.
CIVIL RIGHTS
The Bush Administration is committed to reaching out to
minorities, and to striking down barriers to free and open
access. The President has made it clear that this Administration
will not tolerate discrimination, bigotry, or bias of any kind.
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
Civil Rights: The Administration has taken a number of
actions to protect the civil rights of all Americans,
including several court actions in key civil rights cases.
I
The President called upon Congress to reauthorize the
Commission on Civil Rights. Following Congressional
action, the President signed legislation reauthorizing
the Commission through FY 1991.
-- The Administration endorsed the Hate Crimes Bill, which
provides for the collection of data about crimes
motivated by racial, religious, or ethnic animosity.
I
On March 13, Attorney General Thornburgh announced the
filing of Federal housing discrimination lawsuits
58
seeking monetary damages and civil penalties under the
expanded enforcement authority of the Fair Housing
Amendments Act of 1988.
Disabled Americans: The President is committed to
legislation that would extend civil rights protections to
disabled Americans. This legislation, called the Americans
with Disabilities Act, would represent the most significant
expansion of federal civil rights laws in the past two
decades. A version of the Act passed the Senate on
September 7, and has been awaiting consideration in the
House since then. As passed by the Senate:
-- The legislation would provide new protections against
discrimination in the area of employment, requiring
reasonable accommodation be made by employers for
disabled employees and job applicants to unless undue
burdens are imposed.
--
Most new buildings would be required to be accessible
to the disabled.
--
In most cases, stores, providers of services,
restaurants, and other establishments in existing
buildings would be required to permit access and
cut Damus, by
provide services to disabled Americans and remove
barriers where that is readily achievable.
OMB 5044
--
New public buses would have to be accessible to persons
with mobility impairment.
59
--
telephone companies would be required to provide
equivalent telephone service for those with speech and
hearing impairments.
Whistleblower Protection: On April 10, the President signed
S. 20, the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989. This law
will strengthen the protections and procedural rights
available to those federal employees who report misdeeds and
mismanagement.
-- This new law will enhance the authority of the Office
of Special Counsel, and whistleblowers will also now be
allowed to take their cases to the Merit Systems
Protection Board.
-- The statute alters the legal burdens of proof, making
it easier for employees to be vindicated when they are
wrongfully penalized by their supervisors for
whistleblowing activities.
WELFARE REFORM
The Administration has implemented a major new education and
job training program to help recipients of Aid to Families with
Dependent Children move off welfare and become economically self-
sufficient.
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
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Welfare Reform: The Administration issued final rules on
October 13 to implement the Job Opportunities and Basic
Skills Training Program (JOBS) of the Family Support Act of
1988. The rules are designed to:
--
Assist welfare recipients to become self-sufficient by
providing needed employment-related activities and
support services.
:
Provide maximum level of flexibility to AFDC parents in
obtaining the type of child care that best suits their
needs, consistent with the principle of parental choice
embodied in the Administration's legislative proposals
on child care.
--
The Administration is proposing to spend over three-
and-a-half billion dollars over the next five years
implementing the JOBS Program. The changes will pay
benefits in the future by reducing the number of
individuals on welfare. It is estimated that there
will be 138,000 fewer families on the welfare rolls
over five years as a result of this program.
Low Income Opportunity Board: To continue progress in the
area of welfare reform, the President reinstated this
welfare policy coordinating unit established under President
Reagan as the Interagency Low Income Opportunity Advisory
Board. The Board enhances interagency coordination of
61
Executive Branch activities designed to lift low-income
Americans up from dependency, and assists States that seek
to demonstrate more effective approaches for using Federal
dollars to serve the low-income population.
EXPANSION OF MEDICAID
The President is committed to ensuring quality health care
for disadvantaged mothers and children, the disabled, and poor,
aged Americans. To help achieve this goal, federal spending on
Medicaid will be $39.1 billion for FY 1990, an increase of $4.3
billion, or 12.3 percent over the FY 1989 level.
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
Expanding Medicaid: President Bush has taken concrete steps
toward improving health care for at-risk populations and
X
toward decreasing infant mortality. This year, he asked Congress
to raise mandatory Medicaid eligibility for pregnant women,
infants and children to 130 percent of the poverty level.
Congress took action to raise the eligibility to 133% --
consistent with the President's proposal. In addition, he
requested an expansion of Medicaid coverage of immunizations
for all children under age 6 who are eligible for Food
Stamps.
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ETHICS
President Bush is committed to high ethical standards for
his Administration and will enforce these standards strictly,
comprehensively, and fairly. The Administration also remains
committed to an overhaul of the existing campaign finance system.
ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION:
O
Ethics Law Reform: The President issued an Executive Order
creating the President's Commission on Federal Ethics Law
Reform, which submitted its recommendations on March 9.
Responding to the Commission's work, the President, on April
12, sent to Congress a sweeping ethics bill and
simultaneously issued an Executive Order announcing ethical
principles for the conduct of executive branch employees.
Recently, Congress, in consultation with the President,
enacted the Ethics Reform Act of 1989, which carriers out
many of the President's original proposals and also includes
a pay raise for members of Congress, federal judges, and
certain other federal officers and employees. Together, the
measures in the Act and the President's ethics Executive
Order include:
-- Strengthened post-employment restrictions -- applicable
for the first time to Congress -- that protect against
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individuals abusing the revolving door for private
gain.
-- A ban on receipt of honoraria by all Federal employees
for speeches and articles, and a cap on outside earned
income for higher salaried non-career employees in all
three branches. (As enacted, neither these limits nor
the concomitant salary increase applies to Senators or
Senate employees.) Full-time non-career Presidential
appointees in the Executive Branch are prohibited from
receiving any outside earned income.
-- Deferral of tax liability when individuals are required
by the Office of Government Ethics to divest assets in
order to avoid conflicts of interest. The President's
Commission on Federal Ethics Law Reform endorsed this
reform and identified divestiture as "the single most
important device" to eliminate conflicts of interest.
-- Establishment of consistent financial disclosure rules
across the three branches of government.
-- Creation of uniform conflict-of-interest rules for
high-level House and Senate staff that prohibit contact
with Executive Branch agencies about matters in which
staff members have personal financial interests.
-- Development of a single Executive-Branch-wide set of
standards of conduct regulations.
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Campaign Finance Reform: The President's comprehensive
campaign finance reform proposal is designed to lessen the
power of monied special interests and enhance the role of
individuals and the political parties in elections. It also
seeks to restore real competition to American Congressional
elections. Below are proposal highlights:
-- Eliminating political action committees (PACS) funded
by corporations, unions, or trade associations, and
prohibiting such entities from paying for the overhead
or administrative costs of any independent PAC.
-- Strengthening political parties by increasing the
support they are permitted to provide congressional
candidates. Heightened party involvement would enhance
our political system, and further neutralize the power
and influence of monied special interests.
-- Addressing the problem of the "permanent Congress" by
reforms designed to reduce the unfair advantages of
incumbency. Specifically, the proposals would
drastically reduce Congressional mailings under the
frank, ban the rollover of campaign funds from one
election cycle to the next, and legislate fair neutral
criteria for the redistricting of Congressional and
legislative lines that will follow the 1990 census.
-- Requiring full disclosure of all "soft money" spent by
the political parties and all labor unions,
65
corporations, and trade associations to influence a
federal election.
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