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James (Terry) Edmonds' Files
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FOIA Number: 2006-0462-F
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Collection/Record Group:
Clinton Presidential Records
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Speechwriting
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Terry Edmonds
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Mayors [3]
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LiSC
LOCAL INITIATIVES SUPPORT CORPORATION
1825 K STREET, N.W.. SUITE 909. WASHINGTON, D.C. 20006
TEL: (202) 785-2908
FAX: (202) 835-8931
What Is Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)?
LISC, one of the nation's leading nonprofit corporations, helps local people rebuild
deteriorated neighborhoods across America. It provides financing and technical know-
how to nonprofit community development corporations called CDCs. These
neighborhood-based groups develop affordable housing, spur commercial investment,
create jobs and expand other services that improve the quality of life in the low-income
communities where they live and work.
What Is LISC's History?
Established by the Ford Foundation in 1979, LISC is the nation's largest community
development support organization with programs in 34 cities and regions around the
country. With LISC's help more than 1300 CDCs nationwide have built or rehabilitated
57, 000 decent, affordable homes and apartments, created 9.6 million square fect of
commercial and industrial space, and gained recognition as a driving force in community
renewal. LISC believes that CDCs are the most effective vehicle for transforming their
own communities.
How Does LISC Raise Money?
Since its inception, LISC has raised $1.4 billion in donations and investments to bolster
CDC activities. The funds have come from more than 1400 corporations and
foundations, individuals and public agencies. These dollars have enabled CDCs to
leverage more than $2.6 billion locally.
How Does LISC Distribute These Funds to CDCs?
LISC provides grants and loans to CDCs as well as equity for affordable housing
development. The 34 program areas are each served by a small LISC staff and a Local
Advisory Committee. When a new program is launched, national LISC matches the
dollars raised locally. Once established, local programs work closely with area CDCs
and recommend projects to LISC's national Board of Directors. With board approval,
national LISC than uses this money to support CDC sponsored activities such as housing
production, economic development and social services.
Z00
TREAS EXEC SEC
6220073 202 62
11:10
08/20/96
LISC - - Page 2
How Has LISC Expanded Financial Support for Low-Income Communities?
In 1987, LISC created the following two affiliates:
National Equity Fund (NEF)
NEF is the country's largest nonprofit corporate investment fund for community- based
affordable housing development. It organizes partnerships of Fortune 500 corporations
interested in investing in affordable housing. In return, NEF investors receive Low
Income Housing Tax Credits which can be applied against their federal income taxes. In
eight years, NEF has raised nearly $1 billion to create more than 20,000 homes for
individuals and families across America.
Local Initiatives Managed Assets Corporation (LIMAC)
LIMAC attracts new capital to the community development field by creating a national
secondary market for affordable housing and community development loans. It enables
an expanding group of institutional investors to support community development
efficiently and with minimal risk. As the creator of this secondary market, LIMAC has
the staff and expertise to select, underwrite and monitor loans. It pools loans, provides
credit enhancement and converts loans into securities that are then sold in large
denominations to institutional investors through private placements. By selling loans to
LIMAC, lenders are able to recycle loan funds and increase lending activity in
communities nationwide, including those not directly served by a LISC program.
In 1992, LISC created a third affiliate:
The Retail Initiative (TRI)
TRI, a nonprofit national commercial equity fund, was formed to assist CDCs in bringing
quality retail goods and services into their neighborhoods. Drawing upon LISC's
network of 34 local programs, TRI is working with CDCs to locate and assemble sites,
identify operators and development partners and attract city, state and federal subsidies.
The TRI 1994 Limited Partnership was closed on August 11, 1994 with $24 million from
10 investors, including Prudential, Home Savings, First Interstate Bank, Bank of America
and Metropolitan Life.
revised 2/24/95
6220073 202 60
01:10
96/02/90
coor
TREAS EXEC SEC
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
THE DEPA AMOUNT
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20220
1769
To: Seidmen
For ' Baw
MEMORANDUM
Move to follow.
DATE:
June 6, 1996
TO:
RAHM EMANUEL
wis
FROM:
MICHAEL BARR
SUBJECT: CLEVELAND -- NATIONAL EQUITY FUND ANNOUNCEMENT
Sylvia Mathews suggested that you would be interested in
more information on the National Equity Fund Announcement
scheduled for the weekend of the Conference of Mayors meeting in
Cleveland.
This year, NEF raised $400 million from the private sector
to help community development organizations around the country
build affordable housing and advance community development.
NEF's success is built on two Administration initiatives:
permanent extension of the low income housing tax credit in 1993,
and vigorous support for the Community Reinvestment Act.
We work closely with LISC, its parent entity, on a number of
projects. LISC would be delighted to have the Administration
take credit for making this possible.
Attachment
CC: Sylvia Mathews
900
TREAS EXEC SEC
6220073 202 6
It:11
06/20/96
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
July 19, 1995
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
ON AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
The Rotunda
National Archives
11:40 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. To the members of Congress who are
here; members of the Cabinet and the administration, my fellow Americans: In recent
weeks I have begun a conversation with the American people about our fate and our duty
to prepare our nation not only to meet the new century, but to live and lead in a world
transformed to a degree seldom seen in all of our history. Much of this change is good, but
it is not all good, and all of us are affected by it. Therefore, we must reach beyond our
fears and our divisions to a new time of great and common purpose.
Our challenge is twofold: first, to restore the American dream of opportunity and
the American value of responsibility; and second, to bring our country together amid all our
diversity into a stronger community, so that we can find common ground and move forward
as one.
More than ever these two endeavors are inseparable. I am absolutely convinced we
cannot restore economic opportunity or solve our social problems unless we find a way to
bring the American people together. To bring our people together we must openly and
honestly deal with the issues that divide us. Today I want to discuss one of those issues:
affirmative action.
It is, in a way, ironic that this issue should be divisive today, because affirmative
action began 25 years ago by a Republican president with bipartisan support. It began
simply as a means to an end of enduring national purpose -- equal opportunity for all
Americans.
So let us today trace the roots of affirmative action in our never-ending search for
equal opportunity. Let us determine what it is and what it isn't. Let us see where it's
worked and where it hasn't, and ask ourselves what we need to do now. Along the way,
let us remember always that finding common ground as we move toward the 21st century
depends fundamentally on our shared commitment to equal opportunity for all Americans.
It is a moral imperative, a constitutional mandate, and a legal necessity.
There could be no better place for this discussion than the National Archives, for
within these walls are America's bedrocks of our common ground -- the Declaration of
Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights. No paper is as lasting as the words
these documents contain. So we put them in these special cases to protect the parchment
from the elements. No building is as solid as the principles these documents embody, but
we sure tried to build one with these metal doors 11 inches thick to keep them safe, for
these documents are America's only crown jewels. But the best place of all to hold these
words and these principles is the one place in which they can never fade and never grow
old -- in the stronger chambers of our hearts.
Beyond all else, our country is a set of convictions: We hold these truths to
be self-evident that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Our whole history can be seen first as an effort to preserve these rights, and
then as an effort to make them real in the lives of all our citizens. We know that from the
beginning, there was a great gap between the plain meaning of our creed and the meaner
reality of our daily lives. Back then, only white male property owners could vote. Black
slaves were not even counted as whole people, and Native Americans were regarded as
little more than an obstacle to our great national progress. No wonder Thomas Jefferson,
reflecting on slavery, said he trembled to think God is just.
On the 200th anniversary of our great Constitution, Justice Thurgood
Marshall, the grandson of a slave, said, "The government our founders devised was
defective from the start, requiring several amendments, a civil war, and momentous social
transformation to attain the system of constitutional government and its respect for the
individual freedoms and human rights we hold as fundamental today."
Emancipation, women's suffrage, civil rights, voting rights, equal rights, the
struggle for the rights of the disabled --all these and other struggles are milestones on
America's often rocky, but fundamentally righteous journey to close the gap between the
ideals enshrined in these treasures here in the National Archives and the reality of our daily
lives.
I first came to this very spot where I'm standing today 32 years ago this
month. I was a 16-year-old delegate to the American Legion Boys Nation. Now, that
2
summer was a high-water mark for our national journey. That was the summer that
President Kennedy ordered Alabama National Guardsmen to enforce a court order to allow
two young blacks to enter the University of Alabama. As he told our nation, "Every
American ought to have the right to be treated as he would wish to be treated; as one
would wish his children to be treated."
Later that same summer, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Martin
Luther King told Americans of his dream that one day the sons of former slaves and the
sons of former slaveowners would sit down together at the table of brotherhood; that one
day his four little children would be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the
content of their character. His words captured the hearts and steeled the wills of millions
of Americans. Some of them sang with him in the hot sun that day. Millions more like me
listened and wept in the privacy of their homes.
It's hard to believe where we were just three decades ago. When I came up
here to Boys Nation and we had this mock congressional session I was one of only three or
four southerners who would even vote for the civil rights plank. That's largely because of
my family. My grandfather had a grade school education and ran a grocery store across the
street from the cemetery in Hope, Arkansas, where my parents and my grandparents are
buried. Most of his customers were black, were poor, and were working people. As a
child in that store I saw that people of different races could treat each other with respect
and dignity.
But I also saw that the black neighborhood across the street was the only
one in town where the streets weren't paved. And when I returned to that neighborhood in
the late '60s to see a woman who had cared for me as a toddler, the streets still weren't
paved. A lot of you know that I am an ardent movie-goer. As a child I never went to a
movie where I could sit next to a black American. They were always sitting upstairs.
In the 1960s, believe it or not, there were still a few courthouse squares in
my state where the rest rooms were marked "white" and "colored." I graduated from a
segregated high school seven years after President Eisenhower integrated Little Rock
Central High School. And when President Kennedy barely carried my home state in 1960,
the poll tax system was still alive and well there.
Even though my grandparents were in a minority, being poor, Southern
whites who were pro-civil rights, I think most other people knew better than to think the
way they did. And those who were smart enough to act differently, discovered a lesson
that we ought to remember today: Discrimination is not just morally wrong, it hurts
everybody.
3
In 1960, Atlanta, Georgia, in reaction to all the things that were going on all
across the South, adopted the motto, "The city too busy to hate." And however imperfectly
over the years, they tried to live by it. I am convinced that Atlanta's success -- it now is
home to more foreign corporations than any other American city, and one year from today
it will begin to host the Olympics -- that that success all began when people got too busy to
hate.
The lesson we learned was a hard one. When we allow people to pit us
against one another or spend energy denying opportunity based on our differences,
everyone is held back. But when we give all Americans a chance to develop and use their
talents, to be full partners in our common enterprise, then everybody is pushed forward.
My experiences with discrimination are rooted in the South and in the
legacy slavery left. I also lived with a working mother and a working grandmother when
women's work was far rarer and far more circumscribed than it is today. But we all know
there are millions of other stories -- those of Hispanics, Asian Americans, Native
Americans, people with disabilities, others against whom fingers have been pointed. Many
of you have your own stories, and that's why you're here today -- people who were denied
the right to develop and use their full human potential. And their progress, too, is a part of
our journey to make the reality of America consistent with the principles just behind me
here.
Thirty years ago in this city, you didn't see many people of color or women
making their way to work in the morning in business clothes, or serving in substantial
numbers in powerful positions in Congress or at the White House, or making executive
decisions every day in businesses. In fact, even the employment want ads were divided,
men on one side and women on the other.
It was extraordinary then to see women or people of color as television
news anchors, or, believe it or not, even in college sports. There were far fewer women in
minorities as job supervisors, or firefighters, or police officers, or doctors, or lawyers, or
college professors, or in many other jobs that offer stability and honor and integrity to
family life.
A lot has changed, and it did not happen as some sort of random
evolutionary drift. It took hard work and sacrifices and countless acts of courage and
conscience by millions of Americans. It took the political courage and statesmanship of
Democrats and Republicans alike, the vigilance and compassion of courts and advocates in
and out of government committed to the Constitution and to equal protection and to equal
opportunity. It took the leadership of people in business who knew that in the end we
would all be better. It took the leadership of people in labor unions who knew that
working people had to be reconciled.
4
Some people, like Congressman Lewis there, put their lives on the line.
Other people lost their lives. And millions of Americans changed their own lives and put
hate behind them. As a result, today all our lives are better. Women have become a major
force in business and political life, and far more able to contribute to their families incomes.
A true and growing black middle class has emerged. Higher education has literally been
revolutionized, with women and racial and ethnic minorities attending once overwhelmingly
white and sometimes all male schools.
In communities across our nation police departments now better reflect the
make-up of those whom they protect. A generation of professionals now serve as role
models for young women and minority youth. Hispanics and newer immigrant populations
are succeeding in making America stronger.
For an example of where the best of our future lies just think about our
space program and the stunning hook-up with the Russian space station this month. Let's
remember that that program, the world's finest, began with heroes like Alan Shepard and
Senator John Glenn, but today it's had American heroes like Sally Ride, Ellen Ochoa,
Leroy Child, Guy Bluford and other outstanding, completely qualified women and
minorities.
How did this happen? Fundamentally, because we opened our hearts and
minds and changed our ways. But not without pressure -- the pressure of court decisions,
legislation, executive action, and the power of examples in the public and private sector.
Along the way we learned that laws alone do not change society; that old habits and
thinking patterns are deeply ingrained and die hard; that more is required to really open the
doors of opportunity. Our search to find ways to move more quickly to equal opportunity
led to the development of what we now call affirmative action.
The purpose of affirmative action is to give our nation a way to finally
address the systemic exclusion of individuals of talent on the basis of their gender or race
from opportunities to develop, perform, achieve and contribute. Affirmative action is an
effort to develop a systematic approach to open the doors of education, employment and
business development opportunities to qualified individuals who happen to be members of
groups that have experienced longstanding and persistent discrimination.
It is a policy that grew out of many years of trying to navigate between two
unacceptable pasts. One was to say simply that we declared discrimination illegal and
that's enough. We saw that that way still relegated blacks with college degrees to jobs as
railroad porters, and kept women with degrees under a glass ceiling with a lower paycheck.
The other path was simply to try to impose change by leveling draconian
penalties on employers who didn't meet certain imposed, ultimately arbitrary, and
sometimes unachievable quotas. That, too, was rejected out of a sense of fairness.
5
So a middle ground was developed that would change an inequitable
status quo gradually, but firmly, by building the pool of qualified applicants for college, for
contracts, for jobs, and giving more people the chance to learn, work and earn. When
affirmative action is done right, it is flexible, it is fair, and it works.
I know some people are honestly concerned about the times affirmative
action doesn't work, when it's done in the wrong way. And I know there are times when
some employers don't use it in the right way. They may cut corners and treat a flexible
goal as a quota. They may give opportunities to people who are unqualified instead of
those who deserve it. They may, in so doing, allow a different kind of discrimination.
When this happens, it is also wrong. But it isn't affirmative action, and it is not legal.
So when our administration finds cases of that sort, we will enforce the law
aggressively. The Justice Department files hundreds of cases every year, attacking
discrimination in employment, including suits on behalf of white males. Most of these
suits, however, affect women and minorities for a simple reason -- because the vast
majority of discrimination in America is still discrimination against them. But the law does
require fairness for everyone and we are determined to see that that is exactly what the law
delivers. (Applause.)
Let me be clear about what affirmative action must not mean and what I
won't allow it to be. It does not mean -- and I don't favor -- the unjustified preference of
the unqualified over the qualified of any race or gender. It doesn't mean -- and I don't
favor -- numerical quotas. It doesn't mean -- and don't favor -- rejection or selection of
any employee or student solely on the basis of race or gender without regard to merit.
Like many business executives and public servants, I owe it to you to say
that my views on this subject are, more than anything else, the product of my personal
experience. I have had experience with affirmative action, nearly 20 years of it now, and I
know it works.
When I was Attorney General of my home state, I hired a record number of
women and African American lawyers -- every one clearly qualified and exceptionally
hardworking. As Governor, I appointed more women to my Cabinet and state boards than
any other governor in the state's history, and more African Americans than all the
governors in the state
's history combined. And no one ever questioned their
qualifications or performance. And our state was better and stronger because of their
service.
As President, I am proud to have the most diverse administration in history
in my Cabinet, my agencies and my staff. And I must say, I have been surprised at the
criticism I have received from some quarters in my determination to achieve this.
In the last two and a half years, the most outstanding example of affirmative
6
action in the United States, the Pentagon, has opened 260,000 positions for women who
serve in our Armed Forces. I have appointed more women and minorities to the federal
bench than any other president, more than the last two combined. And yet, far more of our
judicial appointments have received the highest rating from the American Bar Association
than any other administration since those ratings have been given.
In our administration many government agencies are doing more business
with qualified firms run by minorities and women. The Small Business Administration has
reduced its budget by 40 percent, doubled its loan outputs, dramatically increased the
number of loans to women and minority small business people, without reducing the
number of loans to white businessowners who happen to be male, and without changing the
loan standards for a single, solitary application. Quality and diversity can go hand in hand,
and they must. (Applause.)
Let me say that affirmative action has also done more than just open the
doors of opportunity to individual Americans. Most economists who study it agree that
affirmative action has also been an important part of closing gaps in economic opportunity
in our society, thereby strengthening the entire economy.
A group of distinguished business leaders told me just a couple of days ago
that their companies are stronger and their profits are larger because of the diversity and the
excellence of their work forces achieved through intelligent and fair affirmative action
programs. And they said we have gone far beyond anything the government might require
us to do because managing diversity and individual opportunity and being fair to everybody
is the key to our future economic success in the global marketplace.
Now, there are those who say, my fellow Americans, that even good
affirmative action programs are no longer needed; that it should be enough to resort to the
courts or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in cases of actual, provable,
individual discrimination because there is no longer any systematic discrimination in our
society. In deciding how to answer that let us consider the facts.
The unemployment rate for African Americans remains about twice that of
whites. The Hispanic rate is still much higher. Women have narrowed the earnings gap,
but still make only 72 percent as much as men do for comparable jobs. The average
income for an Hispanic woman with a college degree is still less than the average income
of a white man with a high school diploma.
According to the recently completed Glass Ceiling Report, sponsored by
Republican members of Congress, in the nation's largest companies only six-tenths of one
percent of senior management positions are held by African Americans, four-tenths of a
percent by Hispanic Americans, three-tenths of a percent by Asian Americans; women hold
between three and five percent of these positions. White males make up 43 percent of our
work force, but hold 95 percent of these jobs.
7
Just last week, the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank reported that black home
loan applicants are more than twice as likely to be denied credit as whites with the same
qualifications; and that Hispanic applicants are more than one and a half times as likely to
be denied loans as whites with the same qualifications.
Last year alone the federal government received more than 90,000
complaints of employment discrimination based on race, ethnicity or gender. Less than
three percent were for reverse discrimination.
Evidence abounds in other ways of the persistence of the kind of bigotry
that can affect the way we think even if we're not conscious of it, in hiring and promotion
and business and educational decisions.
Crimes and violence based on hate against Asians, Hispanics, African
Americans and other minorities are still with us. And, I'm sorry to say, that the worst and
most recent evidence of this involves a recent report of federal law enforcement officials in
Tennessee attending an event literally overflowing with racism -- a sickening reminder of
just how pervasive these kinds of attitudes still are.
By the way, I want to tell you that I am committed to finding the truth
about what happened there and to taking appropriate action. And I want to say that if
anybody who works in federal law enforcement thinks that that kind of behavior is
acceptable, they ought to think about working someplace else. (Applause.).
Now, let's get to the other side of the argument. If affirmative action has
worked and if there is evidence that discrimination still exists on a wide scale in ways that
are conscious and unconscious, then why should we get rid of it as many people are
urging? Some question the effectiveness or the fairness of particular affirmative action
programs. I say to all of you, those are fair questions, and they prompted the review of our
affirmative action programs, about which I will talk in a few moments.
Some question the fundamental purpose of the effort. There are people who
honestly believe that affirmative action always amounts to group preferences over
individual merit; that affirmative action always leads to reverse discrimination; that
ultimately, therefore, it demeans those who benefit from it and discriminates against those
who are not helped by it.
I just have to tell you that all of you have to decide how you feel about that,
and all of our fellow countrymen and women have to decide as well. But I believe if there
are no quotas, if we give no opportunities to unqualified people, if we have no reverse
discrimination, and if, when the problem ends -- the program ends, that criticism is wrong.
That's what I believe. But we should have this debate and everyone should ask the
question. (Applause.)
8
Now let's deal with what I really think is behind SO much of this debate
today. There are a lot of people who oppose affirmative action today who supported it for
a very long time. I believe they are responding to the sea change in the experiences that
most Americans have in the world in which we live.
If you say now you're against affirmative action because the government is
using its power or the private sector is using its power to help minorities at the expense of
the majority, that gives you a way of explaining away the economic distress that a majority
of Americans honestly feel. It gives you a way of turning their resentment against the
minorities or against a particular government program, instead of having an honest debate
about how we all got into the fix we're in and what we're all going to do together to get
out of it.
That explanation, the affirmative action explanation for the fix we're in is
just wrong. It is just wrong. Affirmative action did not cause the great economic problems
of the American middle class. (Applause.) And because most minorities or women are
either members of that middle class or people who are poor who are struggling to get into
it, we must also admit that affirmative action alone won't solve the problems of minorities
and women who seek to be a part of the American Dream. To do that, we have to have an
economic strategy that reverses the decline in wages and the growth of poverty among
working people. Without that, women, minorities, and white males will all be in trouble in
the future.
But it is wrong to use the anxieties of the middle class to divert the
American people from the real causes of their economic distress the sweeping historic
changes taking all the globe in its path, and the specific policies or lack of them in our own
country which have aggravated those challenges. It is simply wrong to play politics with
the issue of affirmative action and divide our country at a time when, if we're really going
to change things, we have to be united. (Applause.)
I must say, I think it is ironic that some of those -- not all, but some of
those who call for an end to affirmative action also advocate policies which will make the
real economic problems of the anxious middle class even worse. They talk about
opportunity and being for equal opportunity for everyone, and then they reduce investment
in equal opportunity on an evenhanded basis. For example, if the real goal is economic
opportunity for all Americans, why in the world would we reduce our investment in
education from Head Start to affordable college loans? Why don't we make college loans
available to every American instead? (Applause.)
If the real goal is empowering all middle class Americans and empowering
poor people to work their way into the middle class without regard to race or gender, why
in the world would the people who advocate that turn around and raise taxes on our poorest
working families, or reduce the money available for education and training when they lose
9
their jobs or they're living on poverty wages, or increase the cost of housing for
lower-income, working people with children?
Why would we do that? If we're going to empower America, we have to
do more than talk about it, we have to do it. And we surely have learned that we cannot
empower all Americans by a simple strategy of taking opportunity away from some
Americans. (Applause.)
So to those who use this as a political strategy to divide us, we must say,
no. We must say, no. (Applause.) But to those who raise legitimate questions about the
way affirmative action works, or who raise the larger question about the genuine problems
and anxieties of all the American people and their sense of being left behind and treated
unfairly, we must say, yes, you are entitled to answers to your questions. We must say yes
to that.
Now, that's why I ordered this review of all of our affirmative action
programs; a review to look at the facts, not the politics of affirmative action. This review
concluded that affirmative action remains a useful tool for widening economic and
educational opportunity. The model used by the military, the Army in particular -- and I'm
delighted to have the Commanding General of the Army here today because he set such a
fine example -- has been especially successful because it emphasizes education and training,
ensuring that it has a wide pool of qualified candidates for every level of promotion. That
approach has given us the most racially diverse and best-qualified military in our history.
There are more opportunities for women and minorities there than ever before. And now
there are over 50 generals and admirals who are Hispanic, Asian or African Americans.
We found that the Education Department targeted on -- had programs
targeted on under-represented minorities that do a great deal of good with the tiniest of
investments. We found that these programs comprised 40 cents of every $1,000 in the
Education Department's budget.
Now, college presidents will tell you that the education their schools offer
actually benefit from diversity; colleges where young people get the education and make
the personal and professional contacts that will shape their lives. If their colleges look like
the world they're going to live and work in, and they learn from all different kinds of
people thing that they can't learn in books, our systems of higher education are stronger.
Still, I believe every child needs the chance to go to college. Every child.
That means every child has to have a chance to get affordable and repayable college loans,
Pell Grants for poor kids and a chance to do things like join AmeriCorps and work their
way through school. Every child is entitled to that. That is not an argument against
affirmative action, it's an argument for more opportunity for more Americans until
everyone is reached. (Applause.)
10
As I said a moment ago, the review found that the Small Business
Administration last year increased loans to minorities by over two-thirds, loans to women
by over 80 percent, did not decrease loans to white men, and not a single loan went to a
unqualified person. People who never had a chance before to be part of the American
system of free enterprise now have it. No one was hurt in the process. That made America
stronger.
This review also found that the executive order on employment practices of
large federal contractors also has helped to bring more fairness and inclusion into the work
force.
Since President Nixon was here in my job, America has used goals and
timetables to preserve opportunity and to prevent discrimination, to urge businesses to set
higher expectations for themselves and to realize those expectations. But we did not and
we will not use rigid quotas to mandate outcomes.
We also looked at the way we award procurement contracts under the
programs known as set-asides. There's no question that these programs have helped to
build up firms owned by minorities and women, who historically had been excluded from
the old-boy networks in these areas. It has helped a new generation of entrepreneurs to
flourish, opening new paths to self-reliance and an economic growth in which all of us
ultimately share. Because of the set-asides, businesses ready to compete have had a chance
to compete, a chance they would not have otherwise had.
But as with any government program, set-asides can be misapplied, misused,
even intentionally abused. There are critics who exploit that fact as an excuse to abolish all
these programs, regardless of their effects. I believe they are wrong, but I also believe,
based on our factual review, we clearly need some reform. So first, we should crack down
on those who take advantage of everyone else through fraud and abuse. We must crack
down on fronts and pass-throughs, people who pretend to be eligible for these programs
and aren't. That is wrong. (Applause.)
We also, in offering new businesses a leg up, must make sure that the
set-asides go to businesses that need them most. We must really look and make sure that
our standard for eligibility is fair and defensible. We have to tighten the requirement to
move businesses out of programs once they've had a fair opportunity to compete. The
graduation requirement must mean something -- it must mean graduation. There should be
no permanent set-aside for any company.
Second, we must, and we will, comply with the Supreme Court's Adarand
decision of last month. Now, in particular, that means focusing set-aside programs on
particular regions and business sectors where the problems of discrimination or exclusion
are provable and are clearly requiring affirmative action. I have directed the Attorney
11
General and the agencies to move forward with compliance with Adarand expeditiously.
But I also want to emphasize that the Adarand decision did not dismantle
affirmative action and did not dismantle set-asides. In fact, while setting stricter standards
to mandate reform of affirmative action, it actually reaffirmed the need for affirmative
action and reaffirmed the continuing existence of systematic discrimination in the United
States. (Applause.)
What the Supreme Court ordered the federal government to do was to meet
the same more rigorous standard for affirmative action programs that state and local
governments were ordered to meet several years ago. And the best set-aside programs
under that standard have been challenged and have survived.
Third, beyond discrimination we need to do more to help disadvantaged
people and distressed communities, no matter what their race or gender. There are places
in our country where the free enterprise system simply doesn't reach. It simply isn't
working to provide jobs and opportunity. Disproportionately, these areas in urban and rural
America are highly populated by racial minorities, but not entirely. To make this initiative
work, I believe the government must become a better partner for people in places in urban
and rural America that are caught in a cycle of poverty. And I believe we have to find
ways to get the private sector to assume their rightful role as a driver of economic growth.
It has always amazed me that we have given incentives to our business
people to help to develop poor economies in other parts of the world, our neighbors in the
Caribbean, our neighbors in other parts of the world -- I have supported this when not
subject to their own abuses -- but we ignore the biggest source of economic growth
available to the American economy, the poor economies isolated within the United States of
America. (Applause.)
There are those who say, well, even if we made the jobs available people
wouldn't work. They haven't tried. Most of the people in disadvantaged communities
work today, and most of them who don't work have a very strong desire to do so. In
central Harlem, 14 people apply for every single minimum-wage job opening. Think how
many more would apply if there were good jobs with a good future. Our job has to
connect disadvantaged people and disadvantaged communities to economic opportunity so
that everybody who wants to work can do so.
We've been working at this through our empowerment zones and
community develop banks, through the initiatives of Secretary Cisneros of the Housing and
Urban Development Department and many other things that we have tried to do to put
capital where it is needed. And now I have asked Vice President Gore to develop a
proposal to use our contracting to support businesses that locate themselves in these
distressed areas or hire a large percentage of their workers from these areas -- not to
supplement what we're doing in affirmative action, not to substitute for it, but to
12
supplement it, to go beyond it, to do something that will help to deal with the economic
crisis of America. We want to make our procurement system more responsive to people in
these areas who need help.
My fellow Americans, affirmative action has to be made consistent with our
highest ideals of personal responsibility and merit, and our urgent need to find common
ground, and to prepare all Americans to compete in the global economy of the next century.
Today, I am directing all our agencies to comply with the Supreme Court's
Adarand decision, and also to apply the four standards of fairness to all our affirmative
action programs that I have already articulated: No quotas in theory or practice; no illegal
discrimination of any kind, including reverse discrimination; no preference for people who
are not qualified for any job or other opportunity; and as soon as a program has succeeded,
it must be retired. Any program that doesn't meet these four principles must be eliminated
or reformed to meet them.
But let me be clear: Affirmative action has been good for America.
(Applause.)
Affirmative action has not always been perfect, and affirmative action
should not go on forever. It should be changed now to take care of those things that are
wrong, and it should be retired when its job is done. I am resolved that that day will come.
But the evidence suggests, indeed, screams that that day has not come.
The job of ending discrimination in this country is not over. That should
not be surprising. We had slavery for centuries before the passage of the 13th, 14th and
15th Amendments. We waited another hundred years for the civil rights legislation.
Women have had the vote less than a hundred years. We have always had difficulty with
these things, as most societies do. But we are making more progress than may people.
Based on the evidence, the job is not done. So here is what I think we
should do. We should reaffirm the principle of affirmative action and fix the practices. We
should have a simple slogan: Mend it, but don't end it. (Applause.)
Let me ask all Americans, whether they agree or disagree with what I have
said today, to see this issue in the larger context of our times. President Lincoln said, we
cannot escape our history. We cannot escape our future, either. And that future must be
one in which every American has the chance to live up to his or her God-given capacities.
The new technology, the instant communications, the explosion of global
commerce have created enormous opportunities and enormous anxieties for Americans. In
the last two and a half years, we have seen seven million new jobs, more millionaires and
new businesses than ever before, high corporate profits, and a booming stock market. Yet,
most Americans are working harder for the same or lower pay. And they feel more
13
insecurity about their jobs, their retirement, their health care, and their children's education.
Too many of our children are clearly exposed to poverty and welfare, violence and drugs.
These are the great challenges for our whole country on the homefront at
the dawn of the 21st century. We've got to find the wisdom and the will to create
family-wage jobs for all the people who want to work; to open the door of college to all
Americans; to strengthen families and reduce the awful problems to which our children are
exposed; to move poor Americans from welfare to work.
This is the work of our administration -- to give the people the tools they
need to make the most of their own lives, to give families and communities the tools they
need to solve their own problems. But let us not forget affirmative action didn't cause
these problems. It won't solve them. And getting rid of affirmative action certainly won't
solve them.
If properly done, affirmative action can help us come together, go forward
and grow together. It is in our moral, legal and practical interest to see that every person
can make the most of his life. In the fight for the future, we need all hands on deck and
some of those hands still need a helping hand.
In our national community we're all different, we're all the same. We want
liberty and freedom. We want the embrace of family and community. We want to make
the most of our own lives and we're determined to give our children a better one. Today
there are voices of division who would say forget all that. Don't you dare. Remember
we're still closing the gap between our founders ideals and our reality. But every step
along the way has made us richer, stronger and better. And the best is yet to come.
Thank you very. And God bless you.
END
12:28 P.M. EDT
14
ROUTING SLIP
DATE: 5/24/96
6/22
FROM:
Stephanie Streett and Anne Walley
Teny
Deputy Assistants to the President and Directors of Scheduling
SUBJECT: U.S. Conference of Mayors Summer meeting
Don Baer
Mack McLarty
Peg Cusack
Leon Panetta
Rahm Emanuel
Jack Quinn
Jack Gibbons
Carol Rasco
Laura Graham
Paige Reffe
Marcia Hale
Patti Solis
Alexis Herman
Doug Sosnik
Nancy Hernreich
G. Stephanopoulos
Kitty Higgins
Todd Stem
John Hilley
Ann Stock
Harold Ickes
Kim Tilley
Jennifer Jose
Jodie Torkelson
Ron Klain
Laura Tyson
Anthony Lake
Melanne Verveer
Evelyn Lieberman
Michael Waldman
Bruce Lindsey
Maggie Williams
Mike McCurry
FILE: accept for 6/22
COMMENTS:
Jonathan wriss 6-9034
re: he: UP UP
Talk w/marcia Hule
ROUTING SLIP
DATE: 3/25/96
FROM:
Stephanie Streett and Anne Walley
Deputy Assistants to the President and Directors of Scheduling
SUBJECT: us Conference of Mayors Summer Meeting
Don Baer
Mack McLarty
Peg Cusack
Leon Panetta
Rahm Emanuel
Jack Quinn
Jack Gibbons
Carol Rasco
Laura Graham
Paige Reffe
Marcia Hale
Patti Solis
Alexis Herman
Doug Sosnik
Nancy Hernreich
G. Stephanopoulos
Kitty Higgins
Todd Stern
John Hilley
Ann Stock
Harold Ickes
Kim Tilley
Jennifer Jose
Jodie Torkelson
Ron Klain
Laura Tyson
Anthony Lake
Melanne Verveer
Evelyn Lieberman
Michael Waldman
Bruce Lindsey
Maggie Williams
Mike McCurry
FILE: fending
COMMENTS: Per SS and AW on 3/25/96
SCHEDULE PROPOSAL
TODAYS DATE 03/19/96
ACCEPT
REGRET
PENDING
TO:
Stephanie Streett & Anne Walley
Deputy Assistants to the President &
Directors of Scheduling
FROM:
Marcia Hale
Assistant to the President for
Intergovernmental Affairs
REQUEST:
For the President to address the Summer 1996 meeting of the U.S.
Conference of Mayors
PURPOSE:
This is a good opportunity for the President to speak to many mayors
bout how recent actions by Congress will affect the relationship between
federal and local governments.
PREVIOUS
PARTICIPATION: The President addressed this group during their 1995 Annual Winter
Meeting.
BACKGROUND:
Possible Dates/Times for address.
1) The President has historically spoken at the Luncheon on Monday at
12:30 however, there are two other possibilities to be examined.
2) Speech on Sunday at 9:00 AM at Plenary Session. Immediately
after this session, the participants are walking to Jacobs Field for the
Indians/Yankees game. USCM suggests the President consider doing
the speech then attending the game. This will ensure a big attendance
at the speech, good exposure at the game and guaranteed media
coverage for both.
3) Speech on Tuesday at 9:00 AM at the closing Plenary Session. This
is the session where Mayor Daley will be sworn in as President of the
USCM. This also has it advantages.
NOTE: The USCM does not have a preference as to which of the three
possibilities is chosen.
DATE & TIME:
June 21-25, 1996 DRAFT SCHEDULE ATTACHED
LOCATION:
The Rennaissance Cleveland Hotel, Cleveland, Ohio
DURATION:
1 Hour
BRIEFING TIME: 5 minutes before speech
PARTICIPANTS:
The President, members of the U.S. Conference of Mayors
1
MEDIA
COVERAGE:
Open Press
REMARKS:
Provided by speechwriters
VPOTUS
ATTENDENCE:
No
RECOMMENDED
BY:
Marcia Hale
CONTACT:
Megan Williams (66581)
1996 ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF MAYORS
June 21-25, 1996
Cleveland, Ohio
PRELIMINARY PROGRAM OUTLINE
DRAFT DRAFT
FRIDAY. JUNE 21
10:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Registration
Special Workshops & Task Forces
6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Welcome Reception (Renaissance Cleveland Hotel)
SATURDAY. JUNE 22
7:00 - 5:00 p.m..
Registration
7:30 . 9:00 a.m.
Membership Standing Committee
9:00 - 10:00 a.m.
Orientation for New Mayors, New Members
and Executive Assistants
STANDING COMMITTEES
10:00 - 11:30 a.m.
Urban Economic Policy
Community Development and Housing
Criminal and Social Justice
Energy and Environment
11:30 - 1:00 p.m.
Luncheon
STANDING COMMITTEES
1:00 - 2:30 p.m.
Health and Human Services
Jobs, Education and the Workforce
Transportation and Communications
2:30 - 4:00 p.m.
Arts, Culture and Recreation
International A ffair
SATURDAY. JUNE 22 (Continued)
ROCK AND ROLL WITH CLEVELAND
Once a dream and now a reality, the Rook and Roll Hall of Fame is one of
Cleveland's newest venues. Join us for an evening which will rival the grand
opening as you tour this interactive showplace which captures the sights, sounds
and memories of the music that changed the world.
USCM Executive Committee/Advisory Board
Dinner (Invitation only)
SUNDAY. JUNE 23
7:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Registration
7:30 - 9:00 a.m.
Women Mayors
Speech here
9:00 - 12:00 noon
Luncheen walk to stadium - hotdogs, etc in lunch tent for
Plenary Session/Workshops (possibility)
12:00 - 2:00 p.m.
cleveland Indians
S
2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Workshops and City Tours
New York Yankees
Social Event
MONDAY. JUNE 24
7:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Registration
9:00 - 11:30 a.m.
Business Session
2
11:30 - 12:30 p.m.
Reception
The classest and we have
12:30 - 2:00 p.m.
Luncheon city Livability Award
2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Workshops and City Tours
Social Event
TUESDAY. JUNE 25
3
9:00 - 12:00 noon
Closing Plenary Session
mayor Daley Takes gavel usem as President
g
06/20/1996 15:23
12707137 P.01
FACSIMILE COVER SHEET
ATTENTION: Terry Edmonds
COMPANY: White House
FROM: Kevin Donahue
DATE: 6/20/96
TIME: 3:25
COVER PLUS:
14
MESSAGE: The information you requested regarding Cleveland, ect.
is attached. Please call if you need more information.
DIX&EATON
1111 GATEERIA AND Towin AI PRIEVIEW 1301 1 "III STREET. 1300
CITYLAND. Own 44114 (1216) 241-0408 144. 12161 241 1070
06/20/1996 15:23
12707137 P.02
Turned
Tables
Mayor Mike White gives
Cleveland's future a
whole new spin
by Bruce Schoenfeld
C
leveland's mayor sat silently
at the head table of a journalists' forum, listening with thinly veiled
disgust to a political ally. A Democratic politician had been asked if
the alcohol and cigarette tax created to fund stadium improvements
and save the National Football League's Browns could be extended to
surrounding counties. That politician talked his way up one side of the
issue and down the other, making points with tortured logic, sending
the journalists to their notebooks to recall the original question.
When he finished, Mayor Michael
expect us to be perfect, and they don't
R. White jackknifed his body like a
expect to agree with us all the time,"
diver, leaning forward with typical ur-
he said. "All they want is for us to be
gency to address the room. His re-
honest with them."
marks on the topic lasted six words.
His success at speaking plainly to
"I'm a realist," White said. "It
Cleveland's voters is indisputable.
wouldn't pass."
Since White's election as the city's sec-
Walking briskly back to his office,
ond African-American mayor in 1989,
White needed half a block to explain
when he bolted to victory from 7%
the Trumanesque doctrine that has
name recognition, the city has cele-
made him possibly the most popular
brated a rebirth. White convinced the
politician in America. "Voters don't
moneymen to make the Rock and Roll
PROFILES CERDITAVY 1006
06/20/1996 15:24
12707137 P.03
########
BIT
#:##
Mayor White at the
Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame and Museum.
06/20/1996 15:25
12707137 P.04
buildings on the lakefront. "You have
a city of all old and poor people," he
says. "It won't work."
White is a Democrat who defies
categorization. He has sold city lots for
$100 to anyone who would build
houses on them, privatized municipal
services and found a way to get 125 po-
lice officers out from behind desks and
on the streets. When he ran for reelec-
tion in 1993, Clevelanders rewarded
him with 86% of the votes. White
didn't lose one of the city's 731 pre-
cincts and, as far as anyone can deter-
mine, held the majority in every
conceivable demographic subset. "It's
an extraordinary achievement, espe-
cially given the vituperative nature of
Cleveland's politics," says political con-
sultant David Axelrod, who had
worked with White previously but was
not involved in the '93 election. "To get
that much of the vote is beyond belief."
White, 44, first attracted statewide
notice in 1972 at Ohio State, where he
won the presidency of a student body
that was 5% black A former city coun-
cilman and state legislator, he claims to
have no political ambition beyond his
current job, which he has coveted since
Hall of Fame and Museum a reality.
And, with a county commissioner as a
Mayor White convinced the money
close ally, he pushed through public
funding for the Gateway Center, which
anyone who thinks Cleveland is going
growing up in a working-class home
put a new Major League ballpark in the
in the wrong direction," says Carole F.
on Cleveland's East Side. "I'm at the
center of the city, brought the Cava-
Hoover, the president of the Greater
pinnacle of my political career," he
liers' basketball team home from a
Cleveland Growth Association.
says. He sounds less like a politician
suburb, and spawned a booming night
Tellingly, the progress hasn't all in-
than a professor when he explains why
life. Less visibly, he lured development
volved big business, and it hasn't all
America's cities have declined over the
into downtown during 8 time of eco-
happened downtown. While other
past three decades. He blames inter-
nomic downsizing. During his tenure,
cities, still smarting from the loss of
state highways, not only for cutting
commercial space downtown has ex-
federal funds in the 1980s, are cutting
through established neighborhoods,
panded by 3 million square feet.
services to balance budgets. White has
which is the conventional wisdom, but
The struggle to keep Baltimore from
somehow juggled corporate incen-
for luring corporate growth away from
stealing the Browns, who have played
tives with revitalization of some of
the city and into the greenbelt. Anyone
in Municipal Stadium since the 1940s
America's most blighted neighbor-
wanting to use the abandoned land
and contribute some $47 million an-
hoods. Hough, the scene of race riots
downtown had to first demolish the
nually to the city's economy, vaulted
in the '60s, now boasts upper-middle-
existing industrial detritus, which
him onto the national stage, showing
class housing amid the squalor, thanks
made the cost prohibitive.
outsiders a tenacity and sense of pur-
to a variety of public and private pro-
White had campaigned on the
pose that Clevelanders have seen all
grams. That's as important to Cleve-
promise to undo that damage. So he
along. "You'll be hard-pressed to find
land, White believes, as shiny, new
swapped below-market loans and
44
PROFILES
FEBRUARY 1996
06/20/1996 15:26
12707137
P.05
cheap land deals for commercial de-
Sitting at a meeting of power utili-
members at any hour to discuss a pro-
velopment. "A mayor lends credibility
ties in City Hall's refurbished Red
ject and admits he has no idea what he
to an idea when you know he'll do
Room, White is the most intense per-
would do for a living if he wasn't the
what he says he'll do," says John
son at the table. Hc's nattily dressed, as
mayor. "I am not addicted," he once
Graham, the Cavaliers' CEO, from his
always, in suspenders, patterned tie,
told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "I'd
downtown office overlooking the
dark green suit. Everything he does is
say work and I are going steady. It's a
Cuyahoga River, which no chronicler
rigorous. He scratches at his beard
hot-blooded thing."
of Cleveland's rebirth can avoid not-
with urgency, asks questions in ma-
That ethic may be what is needed to
ing once actually caught fire (in
chine-gun bursts, peering through
turn a city around, and White expects
1969). It's not the view that has
round-rimmed glasses with heavy-
the same level of commitment from
Graham crowing, but the state-of-
lidded eyes. Later, Mike Konicek of
his aides. In 1993, when a late-Decem-
the-art arena that has invigorated his
Cleveland Power says, "I think this guy
ber snowstorm socked Cleveland, the
franchise along with his city. "It's okay
has infinite capabilities. I've never
mayor and his staff, including employ-
to appeal to people to do business for
worked with anyone who knows more
ees with young children, spent two
morality, but it's got to make business
details, and not just knows them but
days in a civic forced march, helping
sense, too," White says.
understands why they're important.
the infirm down staircases and deliver-
With the Gateway project secure,
He really listens."
ing food to shelters as Christmas came
White turned to the neighborhoods.
White's consummate skill is getting
and went. "He has great expectations
"Mayors have limited resources to
all of Cleveland to feel that way.
and little patience, and that's a difficult
make something catalytic happen,"
"He makes the majority of his con-
combination," says Hoover. He can be
says Peter Rubin, the developer of a
stituent groups feel they have a place at
brutal - political enemies and even
50,000-square-foot shopping mall in
the table," says Bob Bergman, director
friends call him "Mike the Knife" -
Brooklyn Centre, a lower-income area
of the Cleveland Museum of Art. "It's
and unsparingly blunt. "He is not the
that had been underserviced by retail
not that everybody wins, but every-
guy you want to get into a high-profile
outlets. "What Mike White did was
body gets to play." He loves to con-
dispute with," says Axelrod.
use those resources as they haven't
struct task forces that mirror the city:
"A lot of politicians think I'm a fa-
been used before." Not satisfied with
blacks and whites, sure, but also East
natic," White admits, eating a tuna
storefront renovation and window in-
and West Siders, young and old, rich
sandwich in his car for a four o'clock
sulation, White put together sweet-
and poor. The Cleveland Empower-
lunch. "But I don't have to play the
heart deals with banks for new homes
ment Zones Citizens Advisory Council
game the way it traditionally has been
men to make the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a reality.
and stores, but made them condition-
includes Dr. Jerry Sue Thornton, presi-
played because I'm not going any-
al upon inclusion of other revenue
dent of Cuyahoga Community Col-
where." He dislikes politics because it
sources. "He gave us the phone num-
lege, as well as Bernice Craig, a retired
impedes the risk-taking needed to ef-
bers and said, 'Call these people, make
factory worker representing the North
fect change, which America's cities
it happen." says Rubin.
Boulevard Street Club. "What he tries
must do: "You tell me what enterprise
It helped that Cleveland was in bad
to do is keep people connected until
is the same today as it was 50 years
shape. "It's easicr to get people togeth-
the process takes on its own momen-
ago," he says. "The only one I can think
er when there's a common need for
tum," says Bissett. "There's a broad
of is big-city government."
change," says Barbara Bissett, the pres-
cross-section of the population that
He remains a politician so he can
ident of a multimillion-dollar steel
really believes in him. And success
run the city. Democrats see him as a
distributor. But White seemed to pull
breeds success."
governor or U.S. senator, but he insists
the city forward with the force of his
White has immersed himself in his
that his vision doesn't range beyond
personality, making change happen
role as the city's caretaker. Driving late
Cleveland, and that there is much
merely because he said it would. "I
at night in one neighborhood or an-
more work to be done. "I've been try-
have never seen an individual have
other, he'll stop the car if he sees
ing to get this job for 28 years," White
such a profound impact on the self-
youths congregated to ask why they
says. "Why would I leave it so soon?"
image of a city," says Axelrod. "It's a
aren't at home. He arrives at work at
miraculous turnaround, and it's a
7 a.m., even on Saturdays, and often
Bruce Schoenfeld is a journalist based
function of him, not anything else."
stays until midnight. He will page staff
in Boulder, Colo.
FEBRUARY 1996 PROPILES
45
06/20/1996 15:27
12707137 P.06
FROM:
DIX & EATON INC.
Gary Wells, Kevin Donahue
1301 East 9th Street, Suite 1300
Cleveland, Ohio 44114
216/241-0405
FOR:
THE NEW CLEVELAND CAMPAIGN
1801 East 9th Street, Suite 1020
Cleveland, Ohio 44114
216/574-8940
EDITORIAL BACKGROUNDER
Now Two Hundred Years Old. Cleveland Emerges As "New American City"
EXPERTS CITE CLEVELAND AS THE MODEL FOR URBAN RENAISSANCE
Cleveland, Ohio, proves that reincamation -- at least, for America's cities -- is possible.
Once the birthplace of great industries and a magnet for people of hope from all over the
world, Cleveland plunged to its nadir in 1978 when it became the first American city to default
on its loans since the Depression. While the city had been losing population and businesses for
years, this event -- trumpeted nationwide -- seemed to be Cleveland's death rattle.
Many Clevelanders now say default was the best thing that ever happened, as it
galvanized elected, civic, and business leaders to take action. In particular, new structures
developed which focused private-sector energy and dollars on the city's turnaround and forged
strong alliances with elected and civic leaders.
Cleveland's now-famous public-private partnership was the subject of a May 1996
Harvard Business School case study called "Leadership in Action: The Cleveland Turnaround,"
in which James E. Austin, Harvard's Richard P. Chapman Professor of Business Administration,
aptly summarized Cleveland's achievements:
1
06/20/1996 15:27
12707137 P.07
The transformation of Cleveland from the depths of industrial "rustbelt" depression 10
restored economic growth, revitalized urban development, enhanced public management
and civic consciousness is one of the country's great community turnarounds. Many
problems and challenges remain, but Cleveland is heralded by many as the Best Practice
leader in urban renaissance.
Clearly, Cleveland has not only reversed its long spiral into decay, but has built a
foundation to withstand the new realities for urban America, including diminished federal and
state funding. This "New American City" is imbued with the spirit of urban problem-solving,
supported by a strong public-private partnership which has developed unique solutions to
problems all cities face. Now, this partnership is forging strategies to continue the revitalization
of Greater Cleveland, guiding everything from economic growth to neighborhood development.
Long-Term Urban Plan Yields Success
In the aftermath of default, Cleveland's budding public-private partnership emerged with
a plan to restore economic vitality and spent the next two decades rebuilding downtown and the
neighborhoods, capturing tourism, reviving manufacturing, and spurring new business and high-
growth industries.
Now, Cleveland's once-desolate downtown glitters with new museums, sports and
entertainment centers, apartments, hotels, and office buildings, with nearly every significant
project conceived and funded by a collaboration of the public and private sectors. Since 1990,
more than $3.5 billion has been invested in downtown development alone and an impressive $9.2
billion overall in development projects throughout Greater Cleveland. Neighborhoods
throughout the city are sprouting new housing and businesses. Tourism is now a major industry,
and other sectors of the economy are flourishing too. And with it, Greater Cleveland's
population has begun to register real growth during the 1990s.
This year, Cleveland's Bicentennial celebration will showcase the effectiveness of the
city's public-private partnership, as the Cleveland Bicentennial Commission -- another public-
private collaboration -- oversees the completion of eight major capital development projects
which will serve as "legacies" to further enrich the city's many assets.
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Creating An Environment That Stimulates Economic Growth
The eight-county Greater Cleveland economy is growing by strengthening its traditional
economic base and diversifying into new high-growth industries.
One of the strongest forces behind this impetus has been Cleveland Tomorrow, an
economic development organization of the chief executive officers of the area's largest
businesses, which came together after default to rebuild the area's vitality. Part of its strategy
was to create affiliate organizations focused on different initiatives: The Cleveland Advanced
Manufacturing Program (CAMP) aims to strengthen the manufacturing sector and operates one
of only six national technology transfer centers sponsored by the U.S. Department of Commerce;
Primus Venture Partners provided the area's first locally focused source of venture capital; and
Enterprise Development Initiative (EDI) offers consulting services and support -- such as
business incubators -- to new ventures. These efforts and others have helped create an
environment which nurtures economic growth.
Greater Cleveland is now headquarters to 96 large corporations, both publicly and
privately held, with revenues of $100 million or more. Fourteen are Fortune 500 companies.
Service sector jobs comprise approximately 32 percent of Cleveland-area employment. The
area's manufacturing sector has steadied at nearly 21 percent of area employment, and
productivity has climbed sharply.
From 1990 through 1995, the rate of new job creation in the City of Cleveland doubled
compared with a similar period in the 1980s, from 5,350 to 10,333 new jobs. And throughout
Greater Cleveland, 208 business expansions and relocations were undertaken in 1995, creating
6,520 jobs and adding more than $974 million in new investment to the community.
As evidence of Greater Cleveland's robust economy, Site Selection magazine's 1995
rankings list Cleveland-Lorain as one of the country's top five metropolitan areas for new
business investment and expansions - for the third time in a row. The rankings also place the
area seventh in the nation for new manufacturing facilities.
Reaching For The World
International trade is one of the fastest-growing segments of the Cleveland economy. In
1994, approximately 2,300 Cleveland-area firms were involved in international trade, a 44
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percent increase since 1991. Overall, Ohio ranks third in the nation, behind only California and
Texas, in exporting manufactured goods.
This explosion of international trade can be seen in the volume of goods handled at the
Port of Cleveland, where international cargo handling doubled from 435,000 tons in 1992 to
870,000 tons in 1995.
Cleveland also had a record year for airline service in 1995, with an unprecedented 11.1
million passengers traveling through Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
Nurturing Small Businesses
Small businesses flourish in Greater Cleveland, with around 7,000 start-ups annually.
Entrepreneurs are greatly assisted by the Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE), the small-
business organization of the Greater Cleveland Growth Association, the nation's largest chamber
of commerce. COSE assists its 15,500 members with management consulting, government
advocacy, and tremendous cost savings through group purchasing. In fact, a national survey by
A. Foster Higgins & Co. showed that COSE businesses spent $592 less per employee on health
benefits in 1994 than their counterparts across the country. Overall, COSE's group purchasing
saved Cleveland small businesses over $81 million in 1994.
Expanding Cleveland's Biotechnology Hub
Cleveland's fast-growing health care industry is a top-five regional employer, with a
human resource pool of more than 100,000 employees trained in health care and related fields.
The area is home to more than 100 biotechnology and medical products companies, as well as
more than 300 research and development centers, many dedicated to biomedical research and
product development. Among these, Case Western Reserve University and its research partner,
University Hospitals of Cleveland, receive more than $104 million in federal research funds,
forming one of the nation's largest biomedical research centers. The Cleveland Clinic
Foundation adds another $52.7 million in biomedical research dollars from government and
foundation sources.
Greater Cleveland also has a business incubator specifically enjoined to grow
biotechnology companies. The Edison oTechnology Center, an excellent example of
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government-industry partnership, offers consultation, research, and supplier connections for
start-up companies.
Northeast Ohio: "Polymer Valley"
Just last year, Ohio topped California as the nation's leading polymer state, with
shipments of nearly $15 billion and employment surpassing 100,000. Plastics -- the largest
segment of the polymer industry -- is the state's fastest-growing industry and second-largest
employer. Of the state's 1,100 plastic processors, 56 percent are located in Northeast Ohio. All
told, the area is home to 1,500 polymer-related firms which employ more than 35,000 people.
The area now leads the world in both basic and applied polymer research. Recently, U.S.
News & World Report's "America's Best Graduate Schools" ranked polymer science programs at
Case Western Reserve University and the University of Akron among the top five in the nation.
These scientific studies are harnessed to the needs of area businesses through the Edison Polymer
Innovation Corporation, a consortium among government, academia, and industry that funds and
directs research projects and offers local polymer companies sophisticated applications for
product development.
A New International Phenomenon: Visit Cleveland
In the 1980s, Cleveland's public-private partners targeted tourism as an industry that
could diversify Cleveland's economy and bring dollars into the city. Few people found it
credible then that travelers or conventioneers might choose Cleveland as a destination.
Reality has surpassed all initial hopes. In 1995, nearly 7 million visitors came to
Cleveland -- an increase of 17 percent over 1994, when visitors generated $3.9 billion in
spending and supported a total of 91,500 jobs. In 1995, the Convention & Visitors Bureau of
Greater Cleveland received more than 152,000 inquiries about the region, a 126 percent increase
over 1994. And in only the first three months of 1996, the Bureau received 171,000 inquiries.
In addition, more than 330,000 convention delegates converged upon Cleveland in 1995,
staying an average of two days and spending about $178 per day. Many thousands more will
visit this year, as 315 organizations have booked their 1996 conventions in Cleveland, an
increase of 10 percent over 1995. More tourists also are expected for 1996, in part because of the
series of programs and events to celebrate Cleveland's Bicentennial.
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Even before these events were announced, worldwide attention has been riveted upon
Cleveland since the Cleveland Indians' spectacular American League Championship season in
1995, as well as the 1995 opening of the $90 million Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum,
built with a powerful combination of public-private funds and involvement. The Rock Hall drew
visitors -- including 2,200 media representatives -- from all over the world, has surpassed all
initial attendance estimates, and anticipates more than 900,000 visitors by its first anniversary.
Tourists and convention delegates also flock to a major entertainment district called the
Flats which has developed along the banks of the Cuyahoga River, near the original site of the
city's founding. Once an industrial area dominated by warehouses, small factories, and maritime
operations, the Flats is now crowded with more than 50 restaurants, nightclubs, and bars, as well
as a 2,000-seat open-air amphitheater, a riverfront boardwalk, and riverboat cruises. The Flats
area employs more than 3,000 people, generates revenues of $100 million and crowds of more
than 7 million each year, and is the second-largest tourist draw in Ohio.
Cleveland's long-established amenities continue to attract visitors, as well. To the east of
downtown is University Circle, a one-square-mile area with a concentration of cultural,
educational, and medical institutions unmatched anywhere in the world. The Circle is home to
the internationally acclaimed Cleveland Museum of Art and Cleveland Orchestra; the Cleveland
Botanical Garden; the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum; the Cleveland Museum of Natural
History; The Health Museum; the Cleveland Children's Museum; the Cleveland Play House, the
nation's oldest regional theater; and Karamu House, the country's first multicultural center for
performing arts and music.
Greater Cleveland also has the most lake shore of any metropolitan area in the world; its
Lakefront State Park, with 575 acres of shoreline, is one of the most visited state parks in the
country. Encircling the city is the 100-mile-long "Emerald Necklace," one of the nation's largest
metropolitan parks. And Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, one of the nation's largest, has opened a
major RainForest exhibit, the most comprehensive display of its kind in the world.
In addition to these attractions, Cleveland is hosting a number of events guaranteed to
bring even more visitors to town, including the 1996 International Triathlon, the 1997 Major
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League Baseball All-Star Game, the 1997 National Basketball Association All-Star Weekend,
and the 1998 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Wrestling Championships.
Downtown Cleveland: Attractive For Work, Recreation, And Living
Fifteen years ago, downtown Cleveland emptied at night. Now, as a result of major
developments initiated by Cleveland's public-private partnership and smaller projects which
continue to spring up in their wake, downtown Cleveland bustles day and night.
One of the major catalysts of downtown activity is Jacobs Field and Gund Arena, the
$425 million sports complex funded with a two-thirds/one-third combination of public and
private monies. Cleveland's largest development ever, the complex opened in 1994 and draws
nearly 6 million people each year. During baseball season, more than 40,000 fans throng to
Jacobs Field for each of the Cleveland Indians' 81 home games. This past winter, the Cleveland
Indians made baseball history by being the first team to sell out its entire season within days.
And with their move to Gund Arena, the Cleveland Cavaliers became the nation's only
professional sports team to return downtown after leaving for the suburbs.
Eight blocks away, Playhouse Square Center -- the nation's fourth-largest performing arts
district -- draws more than 1 million people downtown each year and spins off over $60 million
in revenue to the local economy. Playhouse Square comprises four elegant Vaudeville palaces;
once in ruins, they were the focus of the world's largest theater restoration project, driven by
a combination of public and private funds. The Center offers more than 700 shows each year,
many produced by Playhouse Square Foundation or its five constituent companies: Ohio
Ballet, Cleveland Ballet, Great Lakes Theater Festival, Cleveland OpeΓa, and DanceCleveland.
Playhouse Square Foundation is also sparking development outside the theater walls as
the major partner in the nearby 14-story Wyndham Cleveland Hotel at Playhouse Square.
Added to other new downtown hotels developed by Ritz-Carlton, Radisson, and Marriott, the
newly opened Wyndham brings the number of downtown hotel rooms to 2,800.
A flurry of development is at work in downtown's Historic Warehouse District as well,
where landmark brick warehouses are being converted into attractive condominium and
apartment complexes. The latest to open was the Perry Payne building -- listed on the National
Register of Historic Places -- adding 93 apartments in March 1996. Later this year, Crittenden
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Court -- the city's first new apartment construction since the 1980s -- will add another 208 units,
bringing the Warehouse District's number of housing units to more than 1,000.
Downtown Cleveland will also be enhanced by major legacy projects launched by the
Cleveland Bicentennial Commission and now approaching completion. These include the Great
Lakes Science Center, among the largest interactive science museums in the country, and
Voinovich Bicentennial Park -- both next to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum at
North Coast Harbor -- as well as the RTA Waterfront Line, an extended transit line running from
Tower City's retail, business, and dining center on Cleveland's Public Square through the Flats
to the North Coast Harbor attractions. Other downtown legacy projects include Settlers Landing
Park, established at the site of Moses Cleaveland's landing on the Cuyahoga River; Star Plaza, a
new park at Playhouse Square; and City of Bridges, a dramatic, permanent lighting of bridges
along the Cuyahoga River in the Flats.
City Neighborhoods Spring To Life
One of the grander visions of this anniversary year is Bicentennial Village, an ambitious
revitalization project in the Fairfax neighborhood made possible through extensive collaboration
among Cleveland's people, corporations, and organizations. It features construction of 33 homes
sold at market rates and more made available through Habitat for Humanity; the repair and
rehabilitation of 200 existing homes; and storefront renovations, commercial expansions,
landscaping, and public improvements. Bicentennial Village is intended as a model for
neighborhood revitalization, both in Cleveland and beyond.
While Bicentennial Village is unique in that no other city has initiated such a major
neighborhood improvement project as part of its anniversary celebration, the collaboration which
realized this project has been rebuilding Cleveland neighborhoods for years. Under a renewed
focus on the neighborhoods initiated by Mayor Michael R. White, more than 2,000 homes have
been built since 1990 -- nearly six times the number built during the 1980s and more than in any
similar period since the Korean War.
Cleveland's financial institutions have provided tremendous support to this initiative.
Since 1991, eight local financial institutions plus the Fannie Mae Corporation, the nation's
largest source of mortgage funds, have committed more than $1.6 billion in formal reinvestment
8
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agreements toward neighborhood revitalization -- believed to be a national record. In fact, Shore
Bank -- a nationally recognized model of innovative lending practices to spur neighborhood
development -- chose Cleveland for its first urban expansion largely based on Cleveland's
culture of public-private partnership. Shore Bank has added its resources to help drive
neighborhood revitalization in a target area on Cleveland's east side as well as spur small-
business development throughout the region.
Cleveland's housing efforts receive backing from a variety of other sources, too. These
include the Enterprise Foundation, a national nonprofit organization that supports community-
based development, which has invested $77 million in Cleveland housing over the past decade
and, along with other national organizations, chose Cleveland in 1995 as a showcase city for
neighborhood revitalization. Backing also comes from Neighborhood Progress, Inc. (NPI), a
local organization which works with corporate and foundation funding partners to invest in and
professionalize community-based development organizations, and increase the pace and scope of
physical development. Over the past five years, NPI has raised $22 million and supported $122
million overall in neighborhood investment. And a new partnership between NPI, the Enterprise
Foundation, and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation is expected to pump at least $175
million into Cleveland's neighborhoods over the next three years.
Cleveland's neighborhood revitalization efforts include commercial development as well.
In the last 15 years, eight shopping centers and four strip centers have been built in city
neighborhoods, helping to provide residents easier access to goods and services and bolster inner
city economies. The newest is Church Square, a 23-store, $13 million shopping center in one of
Cleveland's poorest neighborhoods, built with the help of a $2.5 million federal grant. The
shopping center opened in 1994 with 100 percent occupancy, and several retail chains report that
Church Square stores are among their highest-grossing stores in the region. And on the 11-acre
site next door, construction has recently begun on Beacon Place at Church Square, a $13 million
development of 92 market-rate homes.
One of Cleveland's greatest opportunities to revitalize inner city neighborhoods lies in
the city's Empowerment Zone, a six-square-mile area comprising one commercial and three
residential neighborhoods. Cleveland is one of only eight cities to receive this designation,
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which provides more than $90 million in federal grants. By combining these grants with $87
million in Department of Housing and Urban Development loans, Cleveland expects to generate
$177 million of investment for businesses, housing, labor development, and social services.
Cleveland: A Model Of The New American City
Since the ignominy of default, Cleveland has developed a network of organizations and a
culture dedicated to urban problem-solving. As proof of the city's new ethos, Cleveland has won
an unprecedented five "All-America City" awards for its ability to address problems through
collaborative, citizen-based initiatives. As the city's comeback has been hailed by urban analysts
and has made newspaper headlines around the country, dozens of teams from other cities --
including Phoenix, Detroit, Tampa, Philadelphia, Jacksonville, and Dallas -- have visited to learn
from Cleveland's example.
And it isn't only outside observers -- but Clevelanders themselves -- applauding the
change. Biannual surveys by the Citizens League of Greater Cleveland demonstrate a high level
of satisfaction among Cleveland residents. Large majorities believe the quality of life in Greater
Cleveland has risen in the past five years and that the city's image has soared, and they have
declared their optimism for the future.
By maintaining its spirit of can-do collaboration, the Greater Cleveland community
continues to transform itself into a model of the New American City. While not perfect and
never able to rest on its laurels, Greater Cleveland and its many partners show that a community
can do what many have considered impossible: restore vitality and civic pride, and create new
beauty alongside the old, in our historic cities.
10
TERRY,
Enjoyed talked with you today. Several folks have called us about including the below reference
(in some form) in the speech somewhere. On the Round II/Brownfields legislation, the name of
the bill to be introduced will be "The Community Empowerment Act." Please let me know if you
need any other info on empowerment or have any questions; be happy to help.
--Jonathan Weiss
(456-9034)
To be included if possible:
"I'd like to recognize Mayor Lanier of Houston for having just been appointed to
chair the Rebuild America Coalition, an important program of the U.S. Conference of
Mayors focusing on issues related to our nation's infrastructure."
Terry
Edmads
dorn
192
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
June 20, 1996
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
TO THE WOMEN'S LEGAL DEFENSE FUND
The Washington Hilton
Washington, DC
12:55 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. If I had any sense, I would quit while I'm
ahead. (Laughter.)
Thank you for that wonderful, warm welcome. I thank those here at the head table for
their work -- Ellen Malcolm and Pauline Schneider. John Bryan, thanks for sitting up here with
me and upholding gender equality. (Laughter.) I appreciate that. And thank you for proving
as, I believe, one of America's truly outstanding chief executive officers, that it is possible to
do well and to do good in one's life. Thank you for what you have done. Thank you.
(Applause.)
And thank you, Judy Lichtman. You know, she was saying all that about constancy and
always being there. And the truth is, I just could never bear to disappoint her. (Laughter.)
You are a remarkable national treasure for what you have done here, and we are very grateful
to you. Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you. (Applause.)
You were kind enough to mention the women who hold prominent positions in our
administration and who fill judgeships of this country, and the U.S. attorneys positions and
others. There are two who came with me today who have a lot to do with the work we do on
women's issues, and I would like to acknowledge them in particular -- Alexis Herman and Betsy
Myers. I thank them for what they have done in -- (applause).
I note with some satisfaction and pride that in the last two years you had the Vice
President speak here. And then you had Hillary speak here. And I'm glad you finally got
around to me. (Laughter.) I appreciate being given the chance to come. (Laughter.)
I also appreciate, and I know Congresswoman Jane Harman, who's here with me,
appreciates what you said about the Congress and the budget. John heard me say this yesterday,
but about 10 days ago or so I was at one of these fundraisers, you know, that you do a lot of
appreciates what you said about the Congress and the budget. John heard me say this yesterday,
but about 10 days ago or so I was at one of these fundraisers, you know, that you do a lot of
at this time of year, there was a gentlemen there at the fundraiser who had brought his son. His
son was his companion at the fundraiser. And this young man was 10 years old. I asked him
after this interchange how old he was because it was so amazing. This young man comes up
to me, shakes my hand, says, you know, Mr. President, he said, I imagine it's difficult for you
to hear a funny joke that you can actually retell in public, isn't it? (Laughter.) A 10 year old
boy. And I said, well, now that you mention it, it kind of is. (Laughter.) When I was a
governor, I used to keep people laughing all the time. Then they told me it wasn't presidential.
And he said, well, I heard one that I think you can use. I think it's appropriate.
(Laughter.) I said, alright, what is it?
He said, well you should tell people that you're being President with this Congress is sort
of like a man standing in a cemetery. There are a lot of people under you, but nobody's
listening. (Laughter and applause.) In case you'd like to meet that young man, he's now the
youngest member of the White House speechwriting staff -- (laughter) -- and intending to
support his parents in their old age.
I am very honored to be here, especially on your 25th anniversary, to thank you more
than anything else for the work that you have done for opportunities for women, for stronger
families, and a brighter future for America. As many of you have heard me say so many times,
I am convinced that we are moving into an age of enormous possibility for our people as we
move from the Industrial Age to the Information Age, as we leave the Cold War behind for a
new global society that is full of its own problems but still provides people more opportunities
to live out their dreams in different ways than any previous period in human history.
I ran for President because I wanted to move our country into the 21st century, meeting
the challenges of this new era, protecting our values and guaranteeing that every American who
would be responsible should have the chance to pursue opportunities; that would give every
person -- without regard to their race, their gender, their background -- the chance to live out
their dreams, because I wanted to see this country coming together instead of being divided.
And I was very tired, and I'm even more tired today, of seeing the political process used to take
this incredible kaleidoscopic, diverse society to divide the American people when we ought to
be working for ways to unite the American people. (Applause.)
And because I felt very strongly that our country at the end of the Cold War could not
revert to its historic impulse, to withdraw into our borders -- that this is a time when we have
to stay involved in the world, when only America can be the world's greatest source of
inspiration for peace and freedom and for prosperity.
So those were the things that I wanted to do when I ran for this job, that I was
determined to do when I got this job. And you have helped in that mission. You know,
preserving the basic values of America and making us live up to them -- that's really what the
2
001
06/20/96 14:37
202 647 5837
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE
OFFICE OF THE WHITE HOUSE LIAISON
ROOM 6311
PHONE: (202)-647-4820
FAX: (202) - 647-5837
DATE:
TO: TeRRy EDMONDS
FAX NUMBER: 456-5709
FROM:
ERTHARIN COUSIN, DIRECTOR
TOTAL PAGES: (Including Cover Sheet): 12
COMMENTS:
Terrybored attached dicumest is an
DRAFT!! 68 the However
of the relevant covered in the recent
the documents provides a Succent asswien
InterNational Istanbil . Conferences on City in
002
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14:37
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OUTGOING TELEGRAM
INITIAL HERE
6.3
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
APPR
DRAFT
CLEAR 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
UNCLASSIFIED
IO/D:DTYLER
UNCLEARED DRAFT
06/19/96 647-2165 SEDA 2196
IO: MLKIMBLE
IO/D:WMANGER
IO/D: RBRESLER
HUD/PD&R:MSTEGMAN
AID/G:DHALES
EPA: DMAGRAW
HHS: DHOHMAN
USUN/ECOSOC: VMARRERO
IO/D, AID
ROUTINE
ALOEC, BEIJING, NEW DELHI, MANILA, DHAKA, SANTIAGO,
JAKARTA, NAIROBI, BUCHAREST, BRASILIA, DAKAR, ISTANBUL, KAMPALA, +
NAIROBI FOR PERMREP ALATIMER
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AORC, EAID, UNCHS, UNCED, OECD
SUBJECT: HABITAT II FINAL REPORT
REF: A) ISTANBUL 1328 (NOTAL) B) STATE 87691
Summary
1. This cable reports on The Second UN Conference on
Human Settlements (Habitat II) which was held in Istanbul
from June 3-14, 1996. It is provided for posts'
information. Department thanks all posts which made
demarches in the months leading up to the Conference, and
especially Embassy Ankara and Consulate General Istanbul
for their excellent support to the U.S. delegation before
and during the event.
2. Conference opening remarks were delivered by UN
Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Turkey's
President Suleyman Demirel, and Conference
Secretary-General Wally N'Dow. The U.S. opening
statement, focusing on our themes of sustainability,
UNCLASSIFIED
003
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UNCLASSIFIED
2
enablement, and partnership and delivered by HUD Assistant
Secretary Michael Stegman, was well received. At the
closing high-level segment, the U.S. was represented by
HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros. He characterized Habitat II
as a process that would ultimately forge an international
framework for building healthy, sustainable, and livable
urban communities for the next century and beyond.
3. Attendance was estimated at 10-12,000 for the two-week
event, including over 700 accredited nongovernmental
organizations. About 500 mayors and local officials were
allowed to participate in a UN conference for the first
time. The Conference produced a 185-paragraph final
document, "The Habitat Agenda," and a four-page Istanbul
Declaration.
4. The Conference ended at 3:30 am Saturday, June 15.
Negotiations on the Conference's final document, "The
Habitat Agenda," continued until well after midnight on
the final day over issues not central to the main themes
of the event. These involved contentious language on
human rights, reproductive health, and references to
"foreign occupation" and unilateral imposition of
sanctions in violation of international law. Compromises
were reached only after the U.S. delegation threatened to
vote against the entire "Habitat Agenda" unless offending
language was changed.
5. Apart from a difficult denouement, however, Habitat II
did further its twin goals of "adequate shelter for all"
and "sustainable human settlements development." The U.S.
delegation made significant progress in achieving
international agreement on reducing lead pollution,
improving shelter access to the disabled, and promoting
environmental justice for vulnerable groups. Health,
education and population issues were resolved to our
satisfaction, We achieved a successful compromise on the
"right to adequate housing" issue early in the
Conference. End Summary.
Conference Organization
6. Two main Committees were established as planned.
Shafqat Kakakhel (Pakistan) chaired Committee I (The
Habitat Agenda), and Martti Lujanen (Finland) chaired
Committee II (Partners Forum). Committee I met in two
UNCLASSIFIED
004
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3
Working Groups. Working Group I negotiated "The Habitat
Agenda" from the beginning through Part IV, Section D.
Working Group II handled Part IV, Sections E and F, which
were largely unnegotiated coming into the Conference. An
informal group dealt with the "Istanbul Declaration."
Other informal groups were set up for specific issues.
Committee I: Negotiations on "The Habitat Agenda"
7. "The Habitat Agenda" is Habitat II's final document.
Of all the recent UN mega-conferences, this one had the
largest portion of its final document in brackets coming
into the Conference. As a result, government delegations
had to spend a significant amount of time at the
Conference negotiating text, a process which was
complicated by many factors. The Conference leadership
did not have a clear plan for finishing "Habitat Agenda"
negotiations within two weeks, and there was no real
driver of the process. Despite US del efforts, the bureau
mechanism, where key regional groups consult daily with
the chairs, was not organized until the second week due to
lack of G-77 cooperation. The absence of goal-oriented
planning by the Conference Secretariat in general made it
difficult to move the process along. In this context,
consensus was difficult to achieve on most topics, and it
took great effort on the part of the US del to bring
issues to closure.
8. It proved difficult even to achieve agreement where
consensus language was available from prior conferences.
Several G-77 members and other delegations revisited the
major issues of this decade's conference cycle--
environment, human rights, population and reproductive
health, women's rights, etc. In addition, the G-77 viewed
this Conference as its last chance after Rio to push for
increased development assistance, a need perceived by the
G-77 in order successfully to implement the Conference's
recommendations.
Committee II: (Partners Forum)
9. Each of the "partners" (local authorities, the
private sector, academics, professionals, foundations,
labor unions, and parliamentarians) had the opportunity to
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4
make presentations to national delegations and other
entities under this aspect of the Conference. After an
uncertain start, agreement was reached on how to reflect
the outcome of Committee II. The chair's summary text of
the proceedings will be appended to the final report of
the Conference rather than attached to the Habitat Agenda
as first suggested by Conference Secretary-General Wally
N'Dow. Habitat II was the first UN conference to formally
include nongovernmental organizations and local
authorities in its deliberations.
10. Mayors and other local authorities emphasized the
importance of decentralization of responsibility and
adequate funding for local governments. Some participants
recommended creating a charter similar to the one issued
by the European Commission. In another session, the
"World Business Forum" called for the creation of a Task
Force to track the progress of partnership initiatives, a
major theme of Habitat.
11. Some controversy developed when the "Foundations
Forum" presented a document entitled "the Istanbul
Declaration". The Chairman of Committee II suggested that
the "Foundations Forum" change the declaration's name to
avoid confusing the document with the Habitat II Istanbul
Declaration draft text negotiated by government
delegations in Committee I. A compromise was reached to
place the Foundations Forum's declaration in the annex of
Committee II's final report with a complete description of
the document's contents.
12. The "Global Forum of Parliamentarians" discussed the
necessity of legal instruments to regulate human
settlements and promote broad community involvement. The
"Forum of National Academies of Science and Engineering"
underscored the pivotal role and responsibility of science
in achieving long- term sustainability of human
settlements. On a different tack, the "Forum of
Professionals and Researchers" described their commitment
to the emergence of a "social city" through controlled
development.
13. Committee II produced a report reflecting the
diversity of views exchanged during its proceedings.
Overall, the Committee II format provided a useful venue
for promoting dialog between government delegations and
the various presenters, as well as between presenters and
other partners in the audience.
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Istanbul Declaration
14. A separate informal group was set up to work on the
text of an "Istanbul Declaration," a short statement of
purpose for participating governments. Initial progress
was slow because of G-77 unwillingness to discuss language
until negotiations on "The Habitat Agenda" had proceeded
through the first week of the Conference. During the
second week the chair of the informal group, Amb. Balkan
Kizildeli (Turkey), produced a consolidated text with
elements from Turkish, EU, and G-77 documents. This
provided the catalyst for negotiations which were
concluded on the last evening of the Conference.
15. In general, these negotiations proved difficult due
to divergent views on human rights, NGOs, reproductive
health, sustainable development, and the concept of the
family. A compromise was finally reached at the end of
the Conference through ministerial level intervention.
The resulting three-page document is an effort to satisfy
all while offending none, and reflects the main themes of
the Conference--adequate shelter for all, sustainable
human settlements development, enablement, partnership,
and the importance of effective implementation of "The
Habitat Agenda."
NGO Forum
16. Participation: The NGO community participated
actively in Habitat II, but with only about two-thirds the
number of prior UN mega-conferences. Statistics showed
8200 registered NGO members and 2400 organizations (600
Turkish, 1800 non-Turkish) at 340 booths. The Forum was a
lively place with myriads of activities.
17. Police Presence: A leading issue was strong NGO
concern about large police presence, particularly around
the NGO Forum site. NGOs were especially disturbed by
obvious plainclothes police presence inside the conference
venue itself. The issue was magnified when the unofficial
"Alternative NGO Forum," organized off-site by Turkish
human rights organizations, was closed down by Turkish
authorities. But the difficulties of the first week of the
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NGO Forum were overcome the second week with a marked
decrease in police patrolling both inside and out of the
Forum site.
18. NGO Lobbying: The Women's Caucus played a major
lobbying role, as did a number of pro-family groups
participating in the Conference. Having learned from
previous conferences, NGOs put together a global composite
document which pulled together suggested NGO language on
the Habitat Agenda. Through U.S. efforts the NGO Global
Composite was accepted as a Conference document. This was
the first time that an NGO document was considered part of
the formal negotiating materials.
19. NGOs and the US Del: The USDel was very successful in
interacting with the NGO community, based on collaboration
developed from prior UN conferences through private sector
advisor members of the delegation. As with previous
conferences, the USDel held daily briefings for the NGO
community (primarily US NGOs) at the NGO Forum site. In
addition, Secretary Cisneros spent an hour talking with
NGOs about their experiences from the conference and what
type of follow-up should be undertaken by US agencies to
further the Habitat Agenda.
Best Practices Exhibit
20. This exhibit parallel to Habitat II promoted the
exchange of best practices and successes in the shelter
sector. It featured displays and video presentations from
more than 100 government, municipal, private and
international organizations. A database of successful
approaches has been compiled and is available via the
Internet and on CD-ROM. As a dynamic tool, the database
will continue to be expanded as an ongoing effort after
the Conference is over.
21. The U.S. was represented at the exhibit by the
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), in
partnership with 25 U.S. National Excellence Award winners
from a competition conducted as part of HUD's preparations
for Habitat II.
22. In addition, twelve organizations from 10 countries
received the international Tokyo and Dubai Awards for
Excellence in Improving the Living Environment. These
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awards were presented by UN Secretary-General Boutros
Boutros-Ghali and Conference Secretary-General Wally N'Dow
on June 4 during the plenary session of the Conference.
Two U.S. organizations were honored with this award: The
City of Chattanooga, Tennessee and Banana Kelly Community
Improvement Association in the Bronx, New York. Also
receiving awards were Community Planning Process and
City-Neighborhood Partnership in Lublin, Poland and
Shelter Upgrading in Agadir, Morocco, both USAID projects.
Press
23. There was a significant amount of coverage of Habitat
II by both the American and international media. Members
of the delegation interviewed with reporters from the
Washington Post, the Washington Times, the Los Angeles
Times, the Christian Science Monitor, ABC News, CNN, Time,
Monitor Radio, CBS radio and AP, among others. The press
was interested in the "right to housing" issue, our "Best
Practices" award winners, and the experience of the
American mayors on the delegation, who included Gregory
Lashutka (Columbus), Gene Roberts (Chattanooga), and Kurt
Schmoke (Baltimore). Coverage was largely positive.
According to CNN, there were about 2800 reporters at
Habitat II, more than the number of official government
delegates.
24. Upon arrival for the high-level segment, HUD
secretary Henry Cisneros met with a small group of
reporters from the Washington Post, Washington Times, AP,
Reuter, and the Christian Science Monitor. Thereafter
approximately 50 members of the media attended his open
press briefing. He also addressed the U.S. delegation
with coverage by CNN which followed him to a number of
activities on his first day at the Conference. In
addition, the U.S. delegation participated in an Internet
documentary with over 1 million on-line users worldwide.
"The Habitat Agenda"
25. The remainder of this cable addresses key issues in
"The Habitat Agenda" which was adopted by consensus at
3:30 am, June 15.
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"Right to Adequate Housing"
26. An important and high-profile issue was how "the
right to adquate housing" would be characterized. The
U.S., many Latin American countries and some Asians saw
housing as an important component of the "right to an
adequate standard of living." The EU, however, sought a
reference to the "right to adequate housing" as a separate
right. In a round of constructive negotiations, agreement
was reached on language (para 13), which reaffirms the
commitment to realization of all human rights, in
particular the "right to adequate housing" as set out in
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). This
description of the "right to housing" as contained in the
UDHR places it squarely in the context of the "right to an
adequate standard of living." Para 44 of the text further
describes the right as an "important component of the
right to an adequate standard of living." Despite intense
press coverage, the issue was resolved early in the
Conference and thus did not threaten its success.
Sustainable Development and other issues
27. Sustainable development: We maintained the primacy of
"sustainable development" (as contrasted with "sustained
economic growth") as the overarching paradigm for
improving the quality of life. Paragraph 1 of "The
Habitat Agenda" states "There is a sense of great
opportunity and hope that a new world can be built, in
which economic development, social development and
environmental protection as interdependent and mutually
reinforcing components of sustainable development can be
realized through solidarity and cooperation within and
between countries and through effective partnerships at
all levels." Numerous other paragraphs in the document
clearly reference the primary importance of "sustainable
development" consistent with Rio Agenda 21.
28. Disabilities: The U.S. commitment to inclusion,
independence and empowerment of people with disabilities
is reflected in the "Habitat Agenda" text. Language
acknowledges that disability is a part of normal life.
Shelter and sustainable human settlements must include and
reflect the needs of persons with disabilities for them to
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be sustainable for all. Habitat II reaffirms important
disability human rights and non-discrimination commitments
articulated in the Standard Rules on Equalization of
Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities. (Habitat
Agenda paras 9, 22ter, 27jbis, 69p, 72)
29. Lead: The U.S. took a strong lead on this issue.
Text was agreed which calls for eliminating uncontrolled
exposure to lead and other heavy metals, and taking
appropriate action to manage their use safely and
effectively. The language states that effective and
affordable alternatives to the use of lead and other heavy
metals are available, and that appropriate alternatives
should be sought for those products where exposure to lead
can neither be controlled nor managed. The Conference
approved a call for the elimination of lead in gasoline as
soon as possible. During the Parliamentarians Forum, 96
delegates agreed to introduce legislation to eliminate
leaded gasoline. (Habitat Agenda paras 27(i), 95 bis bis)
30. Indigenous people: Recognition of indigenous people,
respecting their culture and ensuring equal access to
economic and social programs has been included in the
document. (Habitat Agenda paras 25k, 90quart)
31. Homelessness: Significant language was approved on
the issue of criminalization of homelessness, which will
ensure that people are not arrested because of their
status as homeless people. (Habitat Agenda para 44 bis-b)
32. Environmental justice: The USdel succeeded in
reaching agreement on environmental justice language. We
met some resistance on related language from the European
Union, but overcame it in the end. The document
recognizes that vulnerable groups are especially at risk
when they may face disproportionate environmental and
health impacts. It calls for initiatives that discourage
disproportionate siting of polluting industrial facilities
in areas inhabited by people living in poverty or members
of other vulnerable or disadvantaged groups. The text
also calls for adequate research on the extent to which
women and children are exposed to environmental hazards
and improved shelter to mitigate health and safety risks
to women, older persons, children and people with
disabilities that are associated with activities in the
home. (Habitat Agenda paras 72, 74d, 82, 94, 96)
33. Involvement of local authorities: Local authorities
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have, by committing to be partners in the implementation
process, also agreed to broaden their agenda to include
affirmative obligations to address the needs of vulnerable
groups, women and children, and a variety of related
social issues.
34. Forced Evictions: The issue of forced evictions
(paras 25(f), 44bis (b) and 75(b)) was also sensitive.
The agreed texts of the above paragraphs were patterned
after para 75 (b) which was based on a Brazilian compromise
proposal. The EU, Canada and the G-77 had sought a text
referring to "human rights and other norms as contained in
relevant international law." The U.S. (and Israel)
preferred text which replaced vague references to
international law with an admonition that human rights
should be taken into account in the context of evictions.
The Brazilian text, slightly amended, was adopted to U.S.
and NGO satisfaction.
35. Health and Education: "The Habitat Agenda" contains
a number of references to health and education, including
Principle 10 (para 22ter) and a reference to health in the
commitments section (para 27 (a) ses) Our efforts,
supported by Canada, the EU and a few developing
countries, to include language from Cairo and Beijing on
reproductive health met with only limited success. "The
Habitat Agenda" includes specific reference to family
planning in a section on population and sustainable
development (87a) and a reference to reproductive health
in a sub-paragraph on women's health. Even these
references were opposed by the Holy See, the Sustainable
Families Caucus, and several Islamic and Latin countries.
Language on primary health care and basic health care
services, including references to the International
Conference on Population and Development, will serve to
reinforce the commitment by the international community to
these important issues. (Habitat Agenda paras 22ter,
27 (a) ses, 87a, 92 bis, and 96(d)bis)
International Cooperation and Follow-Up
36. This issue was dealt with in the last two sections of
"The Habitat Agenda." They had not been fully negotiated
at PrepCom III in New York due to lack of time, and were
subject to slow and involved discussions in Istanbul.
Essentially the G-77 wanted the Conference to endorse a
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significant expansion of the UN Center for Human
Settlements (UNCHS) in Nairobi. UNCHS would be the main
player in implementing "The Habitat Agenda," with an
expanded staff, an enlarged mandate, and additional
resources. The U.S. and other Western delegations opposed
this view. We saw an important role for UNCHS in
Conference implementation, but opposed expansion and
favored a multifaceted approach, whereby many different
actors inside and outside the UN system could contribute
to implementing Habitat II's major conclusions.
37. This dichotomy of views replayed itself in
negotiations on over forty paragraphs of text involved.
In the end a significant role for UNCHS was endorsed, but
ECOSOC was given the primary role to oversee system-wide
coordination in implementing "The Habitat Agenda." We
were satisfied with this outcome. The U.S. also stated
clearly that we support the continued existence of UNCHS
and its location in Nairobi, but that its role and future
mandate cannot be prejudged until the ongoing high-level
discussions on UN reform take their course.
Caracas
Lusaka
Pretoria
Lagos
Islamabad
Cairo
Ljubljana
Buenos Aires
Lima
USUN NY
USMission Geneva
YY
UNCLASSIFIED