[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book I)]
[April 11, 1994]
[Pages 662-664]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks in a Telephone Conversation on Public Housing
April 11, 1994

    Secretary Henry Cisneros. Mr. President, this is Henry Cisneros in 
Chicago.
    The President. Hello, Henry, how are you?
    Secretary Cisneros. Good, sir. I'm here with Senator Carol Moseley-
Braun and Congressman Bobby Rush and Vince Lane of the housing 
authority, who's a good friend of yours, and about 200 folks at 
Progressive Community Church. And we are gathered together to talk about 
how to deal with the violence that's plagued the Chicago Housing 
Authority, Robert Taylor, Stateway, and other developments, over the 
last couple of days.
    We're sitting at a table with about 20 guns that were picked up last 
night in police actions, a very violent weekend that resulted in about 
15 shootings and 5 deaths. One 16-year-old was killed last night at 
Washington Park Homes, here in the area. We're looking at about 20 or so 
rifles, pistols, automatic weapons that were picked up in police action 
last night. So this is a very serious circumstance, and the group is 
very appreciative for your call, sir.
    The President. Well, I'm very concerned that--all the efforts that 
have been made there over the last several years, and I'm glad Senator 
Moseley-Braun's there; I'm glad Bobby Rush is there; I know you're in 
his district. And I know Vince Lane remembers the trip that we took into 
Robert Taylor Homes back in 1991, before I even started running for 
President. And I'm so worried that all the progress that's been made 
will be undermined by the court decision. I wonder if some of this 
violence has not been almost aggravated by the decision. And I'm hoping 
that you'll be able to find a constitutional solution to this working 
with the Attorney General.
    I know that this bike team effort last night did net a significant 
amount of guns and other things, and I'm encouraged by what you say. I 
want to encourage all the citizens who are there that we're going to do 
everything we can to support them and enable them to have control over 
their lives and not allow criminals to find shelter in the very public 
housing communities that they're terrorizing. I think it's very 
important. I just want to say, you tell me what you think we have to do, 
and I'll do it. I've seen what can be done there when people can take 
control of their own destinies. And I think

[[Page 663]]

we owe it to them to do everything we can to give them their homes back.
    Secretary Cisneros. Mr. President, we're looking at a strategy that 
is essentially four elements. And I'll prepare a report for you with the 
Attorney General and have something on your desk, hopefully, by tomorrow 
or the next day. But obviously the first piece is to focus on the sweeps 
and the legality of what can be done to get the sweeps constitutional; 
secondly, to focus on other security measures, other measures we can 
take, such as Operation Safe Home and other things we can do; thirdly, 
to focus on such things as recreational programs this summer, 
recreational activity, midnight basketball, ballparks, antigang things, 
youth mentorship--critically important, and the community recognizes 
that's so; and then finally to focus on the long-term-vision remake of 
public housing in Chicago. And we've got some ideas about that. And I'll 
get it all to you in writing. But I just wanted to give you kind of the 
strategy.
    I'm going to ask Senator Moseley-Braun to say a word, if I may, Mr. 
President.
    Senator Carol Moseley-Braun. Good morning, Mr. President.
    The President. Good morning, Senator.

[Senator Moseley-Braun suggested that the public housing problem be 
addressed by investing money in securing buildings, providing security 
forces, and creating jobs and opportunity.]

    The President. Thank you. You know, there's some money in the--some 
significant money, especially in the House version of the crime bill, 
that would provide for some jobs for young people in high crime areas.
    Senator Moseley-Braun. Right.
    The President. And that's one of the things that we tried to do in 
rewriting it over on the House side, was to get some money in there so 
that we could determine the impact on the crime rate of providing jobs 
for people. I think--of course, I know you agree with me, what we're 
going to find is if we can go into some of these neighborhoods and put 
people to work, the crime rate will go way down.

[Senator Moseley-Braun voiced support for the legislation and reiterated 
the need for initiatives to reverse the history of neglect.]

    The President. Thank you.
    Senator Moseley-Braun. Thank you again, sir.
    The President. Thank you so much.
    Representative Bobby Rush. Mr. President?
    The President. Yes.
    Representative Bobby Rush. Bobby Rush. How are you doing?
    The President. Hi, Bobby. Nice to hear your voice, Congressman.

[Representative Rush thanked the President and called on Congress to 
assist in finding resources to improve public housing. He then 
introduced a community leader who listed problems facing residents of 
public housing and encouraged the President to take a stand.]

    The President. Thank you very much. Thank you for what you said.
    Secretary Cisneros. Mr. President, thank you very much.
    The President. I want to thank the gentleman for his remarks. As I 
said, I once came to Chicago and visited the projects with Vince Lane 
shortly before I declared for President. And I would like to come again. 
And I do care a lot about what's going on there. And I'm encouraged by 
this meeting. And I want to thank Secretary Cisneros for so promptly 
responding to my request and going over there and spending the night and 
getting in closer touch with the situation. I feel better about it. And 
I hope we can do some things to help. I believe we can.
    Secretary Cisneros. Mr. President, thank you for calling. I'm going 
to sign off with Vince Lane saying a couple of words to you, and we'll 
close out. We appreciate your time very much. We know there's things 
swirling in the world and you've got a busy schedule, so we deeply 
appreciate your call.
    The President. Thanks.
    Mr. Vince Lane. Mr. President?
    The President. Yes. Hi, Vince.
    Mr. Lane. How are you?
    The President. Great.

[Mr. Lane, Chicago Housing Authority chairman, thanked the President for 
his leadership in sending Secretary Cisneros and involving Attorney 
General Reno to address the problems in Chicago public housing.]

    The President. Well, thank you, Vince, and thanks for blazing away 
for us and making people believe that we could actually do something to 
improve life in public housing. You showed me that it could be done 
years ago, and I'm

[[Page 664]]

convinced that maybe we can use this court decision as a spur to even do 
a better job, a more comprehensive job. We're going to do everything we 
possibly can.
    Mr. Lane. God bless you.
    The President. Thanks. It's nice to hear your voice.
    Goodbye, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you.

Note: The telephone conversation began at 10:27 a.m. The President spoke 
from the Oval Office at the White House.