[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 49 (Monday, December 9, 1996)]
[Pages 2454-2455]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Teleconference Remarks on the Interagency Task Force Initiative for St. 
Petersburg, Florida

December 3, 1996

    The President. Hello.
    Mayor David Fischer. Hello.
    The President. Mr. Mayor.
    Mayor Fischer. This is Mayor Fischer here, Mr. President.
    The President. Hello, Mayor. It's nice to hear your voice. I'm here 
with the Vice President and Secretary Cisneros and Senator Bob Graham. 
And I think Congressman Young and Congressman Bilirakis are on the 
phone. And I know you've got some community leaders there. And I 
appreciate everyone being a part of this conference call today.

[[Page 2455]]

    When we met in October, I was very impressed by your willingness and 
determination to address the longstanding problems in your city, and I 
sent Secretary Cisneros and an interagency task force to St. Petersburg. 
And as you know, they and your community leaders have agreed that more 
Federal involvement is necessary. And we've had some recommendations for 
action that involve a real partnership among Federal agencies, city 
officials, community leaders. And with that in mind, I have directed the 
Federal agencies, through their representatives here at the White 
House--and they're all gathered here--to begin with the proposed 
initiatives in the November 25th memo that Secretary Cisneros sent me.
    A Federal coordinator who will report to the community empowerment 
board, which is chaired by the Vice President, will be appointed to work 
on the ground with you in St. Petersburg. And I'd also like to see the 
necessary steps taken to put together a local advisory board with broad-
based membership as outlined in the memo.
    I think that this is going to be a difficult period for you, but I 
am very impressed by the work you've done, Mr. Mayor, and those who are 
supporting you. And I am confident that you can work through this. We 
want to be a good partner to you.
    I want to thank all the Florida officials who have supported this. 
Governor Chiles is not on the phone today, but he talked to me about 
this extensively--he and the Lt. Governor did--when I was with them. And 
Senator Graham is here with me, and we had a long talk about it the last 
time I was in Florida. And I thank Congressman Young and Congressman 
Bilirakis for being on the phone. But most of all, we're proud to assist 
you. We know this is your challenge and your future, but we think we've 
got a good plan, and we want to be a good partner.
    And I'd like to ask the Vice President just to say a word, and then 
perhaps the others who are here will be able to speak as well.

[At this point, the Vice President, Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development Henry Cisneros, Senator Bob Graham, Representative C.W. Bill 
Young, Representative Michael Bilirakis, and Mayor David J. Fischer made 
brief remarks on the St. Petersburg empowerment zone initiative.]

    The President. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I know you've got some other 
community leaders there, and let me just say to all of them, we're 
pulling for you. We appreciate what you're going through. We want to be 
here to support you. We know that you can realize your vision of how you 
want your community to work, how you want people to feel who are living 
there, and we're determined to stay with you all the way through.
    Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor, again, for contacting me, for coming 
to see me, and for making me aware of the situation. We're going to keep 
going, and we'll be there with you every step of the way.
    Mayor Fischer. Well, thank you very much. We appreciate you calling 
us this morning, and your response has been overwhelming.
    Thank you.
    The President. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Goodbye.

Note: The President spoke at 9:50 a.m. from the Oval Office at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Gov. Lawton Chiles and Lt. Gov. 
Buddy MacKay of Florida.