    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
    [July 7, 1999]
    [Page 1149]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Exchange With Reporters at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
    July 7, 1999

        Q. Mr. President, what did you learn from the Igloo neighborhood
    this morning?
        The President. Well, the woman who was speaking with me, Geraldine--some of you had to leave before she
    talked--there are 11 people living in her house and 17 members of her
    family living in the trailer next door connected to her house; 28 people
    there with five bedrooms between them.
        And she talked about how hard it was
    with no jobs to make ends meet and how she had to buy all the children's
    school clothes on installment, on layaway. And what she did was she had
    to find money for the children who were on the cross-country team--just
    to be able to do the most basic things in life.
        And she said, yes, they did need new
    housing, but the most important thing they needed was a way to make a
    living. Keep in mind--this is unbelievable--this country has had an
    unemployment rate of under 5 percent for 2 years; the unemployment rate
    here is almost 75 percent. We have to find a way not only to fix this,
    the very difficult housing circumstances, but to get them jobs.
        We'll talk more about it.

    Note: The exchange began at approximately 10:30 a.m. at a new housing
    complex on the reservation. In his remarks, the President referred to
    Geraldine Blue Bird, resident, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. A tape was
    not available for verification of the content of this exchange.