For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
January 29, 2001
Executive Order
Establishment of White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
By the authority vested in me as President of
the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States
of America, and in order to help the Federal Government coordinate a
national effort to expand opportunities for faith-based and other
community organizations and to strengthen their capacity to better meet
social needs in America's communities, it is hereby ordered as
follows:
Section 1. Policy. Faith-based and
other community organizations are indispensable in meeting the needs of
poor Americans and distressed neighborhoods. Government
cannot be replaced by such organizations, but it can and should welcome
them as partners. The paramount goal is compassionate
results, and private and charitable community groups, including
religious ones, should have the fullest opportunity permitted by law to
compete on a level playing field, so long as they achieve valid public
purposes, such as curbing crime, conquering addiction, strengthening
families and neighborhoods, and overcoming poverty. This
delivery of social services must be results oriented and should value
the bedrock principles of pluralism, nondiscrimination, evenhandedness,
and neutrality.
Sec. 2. Establishment. There is
established a White House Office of Faith-Based and Community
Initiatives (White House OFBCI) within the Executive Office of the
President that will have lead responsibility in the executive branch to
establish policies, priorities, and objectives for the Federal
Government's comprehensive effort to enlist, equip, enable, empower,
and expand the work of faith-based and other community organizations to
the extent permitted by law.
Sec. 3. Functions. The principal
functions of the White House OFBCI are, to the extent permitted by
law:
(a) to develop, lead, and coordinate the
Administration's policy agenda affecting faith-based and other
community programs and initiatives, expand the role of such efforts in
communities, and increase their capacity through executive action,
legislation, Federal and private funding, and regulatory relief;
(b) to ensure that Administration
and Federal Government policy decisions and programs are consistent
with the President's stated goals with respect to faith-based and other
community initiatives;
(c) to help integrate the
President's policy agenda affecting faith-based and other community
organizations across the Federal Government;
(d) to coordinate public education
activities designed to mobilize public support for faith-based and
community nonprofit initiatives through volunteerism, special projects,
demonstration pilots, and public-private partnerships;
(e) to encourage private charitable
giving to support faith-based and community initiatives;
(f) to bring concerns, ideas, and
policy options to the President for assisting, strengthening, and
replicating successful faith-based and other community programs;
(g) to provide policy and legal
education to State, local, and community policymakers and public
officials seeking ways to empower faith-based and other community
organizations and to improve the opportunities, capacity, and expertise
of such groups;
(h) to develop and implement
strategic initiatives under the President's agenda to strengthen the
institutions of civil society and America's families and communities;
(i) to showcase and herald
innovative grassroots nonprofit organizations and civic initiatives;
(j) to eliminate unnecessary
legislative, regulatory, and other bureaucratic barriers that impede
effective faith-based and other community efforts to solve social
problems;
(k) to monitor implementation of
the President's agenda affecting faith-based and other community
organizations; and
(l) to ensure that the efforts of
faith-based and other community organizations meet high standards of
excellence and accountability.
Sec. 4. Administration.
(a) The
White House OFBCI may function through established or ad hoc
committees, task forces, or interagency groups.
(b) The White House OFBCI shall
have a staff to be headed by the Assistant to the President for
Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. The White House OFBCI
shall have such staff and other assistance, to the extent permitted by
law, as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this
order. The White House OFBCI operations shall begin no later
than 30 days from the date of this order.
(c) The White House OFBCI shall
coordinate with the liaison and point of contact designated by each
executive department and agency with respect to this initiative.
(d) All executive departments and
agencies (agencies) shall cooperate with the White House OFBCI and
provide such information, support, and assistance to the White House
OFBCI as it may request, to the extent permitted by law.
(e) The agencies' actions directed
by this Executive Order shall be carried out subject to the
availability of appropriations and to the extent permitted by law.
Sec. 5. Judicial
Review. This order does not create any right or benefit,
substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or equity by a party
against the United States, its agencies or instrumentalities, its
officers or employees, or any other person.
GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
January 29, 2001.
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