For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
April 5, 2001
Remarks by the President to U.S. Conference of Mayors National Summit on Investment in the New American City
The Rose Garden
Listen to the President's
Remarks
3:18 P.M. EDT
THE
PRESIDENT: Brent, thank you very much for those kind words.
Mayor Morial, it's good to see you, sir. Mayor Menino, of
the great city of Boston, I'm sure you're thrilled with the Nomo
no-hitter. (Laughter.) I am pleased to see my friend, the
Mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee. We went to college together
-- Mayor Ashe, it's good to see you, sir. Tom, thank you
very much -- Tom Cochran, who's worked hard for the Mayors
Association. Mayor Archer, of the great city of Detroit, is here with
us. Pat McCrory, it's good to see the Mayor of Charlotte.
I can't
forget to say hello to my Mayor, the Mayor of Washington, D.C., Mayor
Williams. I tell you, he is a -- one of my first lunches was
with the Mayor, and I'm impressed. And I know the mayors who
know him are impressed, as well. So, Mayor, thank
you. (Applause.)
There's a
couple of potholes out back that I'd like to talk to you
about. (Laughter.) I say that because I've always
said the mayors have one of the toughest jobs in
America. After all, you are closest to the
people. You have to walk your neighborhoods and listen to
the people who you know say, well, Mr. Mayor, it's good to see you, how
about my road. But, Mayor, you're doing a great job.
There are
members of my team who are here -- Cabinet Secretary Mel
Martinez. Mel, thank you,
sir. (Applause.) Ruben Barrales, who is running
my Intergovernmental Relations Office -- thank you,
Ruben. If Ruben doesn't return your phone call, we've got an
issue. (Laughter.) He'll return them.
And
finally, John Dilulio, who is running the Faith-based office -- and,
John, I appreciate your being here, as
well. (Applause.) And Roy Bernardi -- where's
Roy? Hey, Roy, good to see
you. Thanks. Roy is the Mayor of Syracuse and
he's coming here to work in the administration. (Applause.)
I respect
your work. You all are practical folks who solve
problems. And I'm honored that you're here. And
thanks for bringing such good weather, too. I think it's the
most beautiful day we've had since I've been the President of the
United States, and the Rose Garden is a spectacular place to welcome
you. And it's my honor to do so.
Our cities
are the testing ground for the American Dream. They're places where
young people go to begin their careers. They're places where
new immigrants arrive to look for work and a better life. They're
places where people of every background seek to fulfill the promise of
our country.
When we
look at our cities, we see our highest aspirations, our incredible
diversity, our greatest achievements and our most pressing
challenges. Across America, in cities large and small, a
generation of bold and reforming mayors have restored safety to streets
and restored prosperity to our nation's downtowns. And for
that, our country is grateful.
The
continued renewal of our cities requires five commitments: better
education, broader home ownership, faster economic growth, easier
environmental cleanup, and stronger communities and
charities. All of these goals are reflected in the budget,
which the Congress is now debating.
Education
gets the biggest percentage increase of any department in the budget
that I submitted. My budget triples spending on school
reading programs in year one. We triple spending on
preschool reading programs in year one. Education reform
costs money, and this administration is willing to spend
it. But money alone does not produce reform, and that's why
my plan emphasizes results and accountability. Results matter to
children; they matter to parents; and they should matter to
mayors. And I know they do.
Parents
leave cities when they mistrust public schools. Parents stay
when they have confidence in the public school system. And a
sure way for a school to gain parents' confidence is to show them
proven results on a yearly test.
We don't
test to punish children, we test to help them. In the same
way, we don't test to punish urban schools, we test to renew them. Our
budget helps to bring high standards to every low-income school in
America. It focuses on early childhood
programs. It increases spending for Head
Start. But it also encourages and invites innovation so that
no child is left behind.
Second, my
budget promotes home ownership. We want to give as many
Americans as possible a stake in their neighborhood and a concern for
its future. Yet, the sad fact is 48 percent of Hispanic and
African American families -- only 48 percent own their own
homes. And we must do better in our country. My
administration has proposed a Renewing the Dream tax credit to
encourage investors to develop housing for low-income
families. This tax credit will help build 100,000 new homes
in low-income areas. (Applause.)
We also add
to a new initiative called the American Dream Down Payment Fund, to
help low-income people with their down payment on a home of their
own. We're putting $1 billion into the American Dream Fund
over the next five years, and our goal is to make owners of 650,000
low-income families. We'll bring the dignity and
independence of home ownership to more and more Americans.
Third, my
budget is a growth budget for small business. It is the
dynamism of the entrepreneurs, many of them immigrants, that have
powered the revival of American cities. But entrepreneurs in
urban America, like entrepreneurs all over America, are generally
unincorporated businesses. They're generally subchapter S's
or sole proprietorships and, therefore, pay taxes at the highest
marginal rate.
As you
know, I've submitted a plan that reduces all rates on all
taxpayers. And it's important for those in the United States
Senate to understand that when you drop the top rate, you encourage
growth in inner-cities by encouraging entrepreneurial spirit to
flourish. A drop of the top rate really says to the urban
enterprise, the small business person in urban America, you'll have
more money to reinvest so you can employ more
people. (Applause.)
And then
there's the issue of burdensome inheritance taxes. As Robert
Johnson, of Black Entertainment Television argues, the death tax and
double taxation weighs heavily on minorities who are only beginning to
accumulate wealth. The Senate needs to hear that
message. The Senate needs to leave enough money in the
proposed budget to not only reduce all marginal rates, but to eliminate
the death tax, so that people who build up assets are able to transfer
them from one generation to the next, regardless of a person's
race. (Applause.)
Fourth, we
must reform the laws that slow the cleanup of the nation's
brownfields. As many as 450,000 industrial sites have been
abandoned. New users have been scared away by the threat of
Superfund regulation and litigation. It is time for new
thinking. We will set high environmental standards, and we
will protect redevelopers who meet those standards from federal
liability. (Applause.)
We must cut
the red tape that clogs the brownfield cleanup revolving loan
fund. And we'll permanently extend the brownfield cleanup
tax incentive that is scheduled to expire this year. On the
brownfields of yesterday, we will build the green industries of
tomorrow. (Applause.)
And
finally, my budget aids community and faith-based groups that help our
cities take on the worst of our social problems. So I'm so
pleased that John Dilulio is here, who's spearheading this
effort. We support local efforts to fight illiteracy and
teen pregnancy and drug addiction. We promote mentoring
programs, especially for the large number of children with a parent in
prison.
This summer
I look forward to going to Philadelphia, to join Mayor John Street as
he shows the nation the compassionate work his city's faith-based and
community organizations are doing. These organizations have
a message of hope for all American cities. And my budget has
a message of hope for them. We will support the caring acts
of caring people, and not turn them away because they are inspired by
the Bible or the Koran. (Applause.)
These are
some of my priorities, and we fund them. We repay all the
available public debt in my budget. We establish a
contingency fund for future needs. And then we reduce taxes,
to accelerate our economy's slowing growth. We reduce taxes,
because we understand many in your cities are struggling to get
ahead. We must reduce taxes in order to help pay for the
high energy bills that many are now suffering. And we must
always remember that the federal surplus is not the government's
money. The federal surplus is the people's
money. (Applause.)
This is a
budget that is reasonable, balanced and sound. It's a budget
that is good for America's cities, which means it's a budget that's
good for America.
Thank you
all for coming, and God bless. (Applause.)
END 3:31 P.M. EDT
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