[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
[December 10, 1999]
[Pages 2266-2268]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Memorandum on the Arkansas Delta Circuit Rider Pilot Project
December 10, 1999

Memorandum for the Secretary of Agriculture, the Attorney General, the 
Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of 
Education, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary 
of the Interior, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of 
Transportation, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Administrator of 
the Environmental Protection Agency, the Administrator of the Small 
Business Administration

Subject: Arkansas Delta Circuit Rider Pilot Project

    The Delta region of the United States is rich in historical, 
archeological, geological, natural, and cultural assets. The Delta 
region also has tremendous human capital in the people who live there 
and hold strong hopes for the future. The Delta's human, natural, and 
cultural resources have the potential to contribute significantly to the 
region's future.
    Despite great progress in a wide range of economic and social areas, 
the Delta region, particularly the Delta communities of Arkansas, still 
often lag behind the rest of the country. Substandard housing, 
inadequate transportation systems, limited access to capital, low 
educational levels, and lack of adequate health care have hindered 
progress and caused hardship. While nationwide unemployment levels have 
fallen during my Administration, the Arkansas Delta communities still 
suffer from disproportionately high unemployment. Furthermore, in the 
Delta counties of Arkansas, only 55 percent of the adult population has 
a high school diploma.
    While Governor of Arkansas, I chaired the Lower Mississippi Delta 
Development Commission. In 1990, the Commission submitted an action plan 
to address the economic development needs of the region. This action 
plan has served as a guidepost during my Administration for creating 
further opportunities for investment in the region.
    During my Administration, we have continued to provide resources to 
the entire Delta region and to the Delta communities of Arkansas to 
promote job creation, improve transportation and housing, and address 
environmental needs. In 1998, the Department of Transportation organized 
a meeting with local Delta leaders at

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which ten Federal agencies pledged to work together to coordinate a 
Government-wide review and assessment of the Delta; their review 
resulted in the recent publication of The Mississippi Delta: Beyond 2000 
(Interim Report). My Administration has designated two rural Enterprise 
Zones (EZ) and seven Enterprise Communities (EC) in the Delta, including 
two ECs in Arkansas that receive assistance from the Department of 
Agriculture (USDA)--one in Mississippi County and one in East Central 
Arkansas. As part of the EZ/EC program, these communities have engaged 
in extensive community planning and have gained a number of tax 
incentives to promote investment opportunities. The USDA provides 
significant resources to the Delta in grants and loans through its rural 
housing and business programs. The Department of Commerce has provided 
over $100 million to the Delta from 1993 to mid-1999. Approximately 1100 
low-income Arkansas homes were weatherized last year through Department 
of Energy funding. The Department of the Interior is assisting in the 
development of the Arkansas Delta Heritage Trail, a new quasi-State park 
composed of a 78-mile rail corridor that traverses some of the richest 
natural and cultural resources of the State. The Department of 
Transportation has provided approximately $140 million to complete 
highway reconstruction, surfacing, widening, and other projects in Delta 
counties. However, Federal funding alone is not sufficient to revitalize 
the Delta region. As part of my July 1999 ``New Markets'' trip to 
Clarksdale, Mississippi, I announced nearly $15 million in new private 
investments in the Enterprise Corporation for the Delta, a nonprofit 
organization that uses Federal grants to leverage private investment in 
business.
    Other Federal efforts seek to empower the Delta communities by 
providing information and assistance directly in the communities where 
they are needed. The USDA and the Environmental Protection Agency 
provide significant on-the-ground technical assistance to rural 
communities nationwide through circuit rider programs for both drinking 
water and wastewater. The Small Business Administration (SBA) also 
regularly engages in active outreach activities in the Arkansas Delta 
Region, where SBA staff meet with small business entrepreneurs in the 
field. These programs have been very successful in assisting communities 
and individuals, but have been limited in the number of agencies that 
participate and the topics that are covered.
    To build on the success of these circuit rider programs and to 
address the great need expressed by Delta communities for technical 
assistance, I am expanding my Administration's efforts in Arkansas' 
Delta communities by creating a pilot Arkansas Delta Circuit Rider 
program to provide, for the first time, a concentrated, coordinated 
effort by 14 Federal agencies to address needs in areas such as housing, 
economic development, transportation, environment, tourism, cultural 
resources, infrastructure technology, education, and health care. The 
Arkansas Delta Circuit Rider program will bring the expertise and 
resources of the Federal Government directly to communities that need 
assistance by providing a more integrated Federal response across 
several agencies and reaching out to the communities to search for 
solutions. Accordingly, I direct each of you to work with the USDA as 
lead agency in the development of a pilot program to be based on a 
circuit rider concept with the goals of helping Delta communities (1) 
systematically identify needs and priorities in economic and community 
development; (2) draft strategic plans to leverage both private and 
public resources for such development; and (3) implement their plans. 
This initiative should forge a coalition of Federal, State, local, 
private business, nonprofit, and other interested parties in meeting the 
unique needs of each community. The investment of resources by each 
agency will vary depending on the specific needs of each community but 
should include providing information; conducting traveling seminars; 
deploying staff; and staffing regional offices.
    I further direct you to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding 
(MOU) no later than March 1, 2000, with the specifics of the pilot 
program, including an implementation framework and schedule; mechanisms 
to assemble the Circuit Rider team after receiving a community's request 
for assistance; and details of the types of assistance to be provided. 
This MOU should establish the Arkansas Delta communities Circuit Rider 
pilot program for a minimum period of 5 years in order to assist 
communities in addressing both long-term and short-term needs.
    As we look to the new millennium, we should make every effort to 
ensure that no areas of this country are left behind. This pilot 
project, taken together and in full coordination with the

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other resources devoted to community and economic development, will help 
to build capacity in the communities of the Arkansas Delta and will 
empower the area's residents to achieve their full potential.

                                                      William J. Clinton