    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book I)]
    [March 28, 1996]
    [Pages 521-522]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Memorandum on the ``One Strike and You're Out'' Guidelines
    March 28, 1996

    Memorandum for the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

    Subject: One Strike and You're Out Guidelines

        Since 1993, my Administration has undertaken comprehensive efforts
    to improve the safety and quality of life in our Nation's public
    housing. Operation Safe Home, the Public Housing Drug Elimination
    Program, and steps to keep out weapons have been important parts of this
    overall safety effort. The Department of Housing and Urban Development
    (HUD) has enabled cities to demolish dozens of blighted, high-rise
    projects and replace them with safer developments. The Department is
    also changing the social dynamic in public housing by instilling
    positive incentives for personal responsibility and family self-
    sufficiency. In all of these initiatives, HUD has worked closely with
    the Congress and with public housing managers and residents, elected
    officials, and Federal and local law enforcement agencies.
        Today, the majority of the Nation's approximately 3,400 public
    housing authorities provide safe, attractive, quality homes. But there
    remains too much public housing in this country that is ravaged by
    drugs, crime, and violence.
        It is imperative that we protect the ability of all individuals to
    live in safety and free from fear, intimidation, and abuse. It is also
    imperative that our precious public housing resources be made available
    only to responsible, law-abiding individuals. We must have zero
    tolerance for those who threaten the safety and well-being of decent
    families and innocent children who live in public housing.
        That is why, in my State of the Union Address, I expressed my strong
    support for a clear and straightforward rule for those who endanger
    public housing communities by dealing drugs or engaging in other
    criminal activity: One Strike and You're Out of public housing.
        At my request, HUD has now developed, in consultation with the
    Department of Justice, new national Guidelines on One Strike and

    [[Page 522]]

    You're Out. These new Guidelines set forth how each public housing
    authority should use applicant screening and tenant eviction procedures
    to keep out drug dealers and other criminals who threaten the safety and
    the well-being of residents. These Guidelines are meant to ensure that
    One Strike and You're Out is effective and that it is fair.
        You have advised me that HUD intends to amend its public housing
    performance evaluation regulations so that the overall ``grade'' HUD
    gives annually to each local housing authority will be based, in part,
    on how effectively it has implemented the type of applicant screening
    and tenant eviction policies set forth in the new Guidelines. I
    understand that this ``grade'' can affect both the amount of Federal
    funding a public housing authority receives and the degree of Federal
    oversight to which a public housing authority will be subject.
        I hereby direct you to disseminate these important new Guidelines on
    One Strike and You're Out to each of this Nation's public housing
    authorities. I also direct you to ensure that these Guidelines are made
    available to public housing residents, Federal and local law enforcement
    agencies, community leaders, and appropriate elected officials.
        One Strike and You're Out is one component of comprehensive
    initiatives already underway to improve safety and quality of life in
    public housing. We will continue to work with the Congress, and with
    public housing authorities, residents, local officials, and law
    enforcement agencies, to rid our public housing of drugs, violence, and
    crime.

                                                          William J. Clinton