[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 25 (Monday, June 22, 1998)]
[Pages 1143-1145]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on the 21st Century Community Learning Center Initiative and an 
Exchange With Reporters

June 17, 1998

    The President. Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, Hillary 
and I are delighted to have all of you here in the Rose Garden today for 
a subject that we care a great deal about. I thank especially Senator 
Jeffords for his leadership, Congressman Boswell, all the Members of 
Congress who are here. I thank Secretary Riley and the Attorney General 
for their consistent and dedicated efforts for our children and to 
improve the lives of our children. And Chief Frazier and Gloria Nava 
did, I thought, a marvelous job.
    Let me say, as Hillary and Gloria made clear, for millions of 
Americans, ``Home Alone'' is not a funny movie; it is a serious risk 
that children and parents undertake every day all across this country. 
On any given school day in America, there will be as many as 15 million 
children left to fend for themselves, idle in front of the television 
sets or out on the streets and exposed to gangs and guns and drugs.
    Incidents of violent crime by juveniles more than double in the hour 
after school lets out, and interestingly enough, our children are also 
at greatest risk of becoming victims of crime in the hours immediately 
after school. But in communities where children have something positive 
to do, youth crime is dropping and academic performance is on the rise.
    The Justice Department and the Department of Education are today 
releasing a report to every school district in the country and to the 
public at large which shows just how much of a difference these after-
school programs are making. In Chicago, for example, a program with 
which Hillary and I are familiar, the Lighthouse program is now reaching 
more than 110,000 children and nearly 250 schools around the city with 
intensive after-school instruction in reading and

[[Page 1144]]

math. This remarkable program also provides children with three meals a 
day in the school. And I'm very proud that the Department of 
Agriculture, with its support, helps to make this possible. Since that 
program began, not surprisingly, gang activity is down, and reading and 
math scores are up.
    We have to do everything we can to give every community in this 
country the tools to follow that lead. Today we are announcing $40 
million in competitive grants that will help more than 300 schools to 
start after-school programs of their own. As all of you know, they're 
part of the 21st Century Community Learning Center Initiative, which was 
sponsored in 1993 in my first year in office by Senator Jeffords.
    These grants will give now thousands more children a safe place to 
go before and after school and good things to do. San Francisco, for 
example, will use the grant specifically to target kids most at risk of 
joining gangs or using drugs. Baltimore County, which already has, as 
you heard, successful after-school programs, will focus on helping more 
children to improve their academic performance.
    But I think it's important to note two things. One is--not 
withstanding the wind <SUP>1</SUP>--[laughter]--this is a universally 
successful strategy. This is not complicated. This is something simple 
that has broad support, that saves lives, and improves learning. The 
second thing is, out there in America everybody has figured this out, so 
that for every grant we will be able to give, there were 20 schools that 
applied that aren't getting help today. So we have to do more.
    <SUP>1</SUP> At this point, a gust of wind rustled the trees in the 
Rose Garden.
    In January, as part of my efforts to give quality affordable child 
care to all the families in this country who need it, I proposed the 
largest after-school commitment in America's history, $200 million a 
year over the next 5 years to expand the 21st Century Community Learning 
Center program, to reach a half a million children. Now, these programs 
have broad bipartisan support, and I very much hope that Congress soon 
will act to fund this request fully. Remember, there were 20 schools 
that had good programs that wanted this money for every one school on 
that map. We can do better, and we must.
    Let me also say again to Senator Jeffords, this is the kind of 
bipartisan support that works for our country. Whenever we put the 
progress of the American people and the future of our children ahead of 
partisan politics in Washington, America wins. And that's what we need 
to do.

Tobacco Legislation

    Before we close, I just have to mention--make a couple of other 
points. In that spirit, I have been working for 6 months to craft a 
comprehensive, bipartisan bill to protect our children from the dangers 
of tobacco, the biggest public health problem for children in America 
today. As we speak, the Republican caucus in the Senate is meeting 
behind closed doors to discuss, perhaps even to decide, the fate of the 
tobacco bill. I urge them not to turn this meeting, literally, into a 
smoke-filled room--to protect the children and not the tobacco lobby.
    We have worked very, very hard to make this legislation fair and 
bipartisan. We have met the majority in the Senate more than halfway. 
They said they wanted a tax cut to be part of the tobacco bill since we 
were raising the price of cigarettes to discourage children from buying 
them. We said, all right. They said they wanted some money in this bill 
to fight drugs as well as to discourage children from using tobacco. We 
said, fine.
    Now, if there is a move to kill or gut this legislation, there can 
be no possible explanation other than the intense pressure and the 
awesome influence fueled by years of huge contributions of big tobacco. 
So I again call upon the Senate majority, and indeed all those in the 
Senate, to pass this tobacco bill. Let's get it over to the House, let 
them have a chance to pass a bill, and let's do something that will give 
this country a chance to have a lasting public health legacy in a 
bipartisan way.
    Thank you very much.
    Q. Mr. President, what will you do if the Senate decides to pull the 
tobacco bill, sir? What are your alternatives?

[[Page 1145]]

Japanese Economy

    Q. Mr. President, about Japan, how far are you willing to go to 
support the yen?
    The President. Let me--you all don't even need to sit back down. I'm 
going to answer this one question; then we'll visit.
    The question was about the support of the United States for the 
Japanese yen. Let me say, I talked to Prime Minister Hashimoto last 
night, oh, for 20 or 30 minutes at about 11:30, our time. Japan is very 
important to the world, especially to the United States and to the 
efforts we're making to support an economic recovery in Asia, which is 
very important to keeping our own economic progress going. It is 
important that they take some critical steps, and as they do them, we 
will support them.
    I was very encouraged by the Prime Minister's statement that he 
intends to pursue aggressive reform of their banking institutions and 
intends to do the things that are necessary to get the economy going 
again. And therefore, I thought it was important that we support them.
    In terms of the details of our support, they are contained in 
Secretary Rubin's statement today, and I couldn't do a bit better than 
he has done. But we're doing the right thing, and I think the Prime 
Minister of Japan has done the right thing. And we've got a chance to 
turn that situation in Asia around before it gets any worse. And America 
needs a strong, growing, stable economy in Asia. And I am encouraged by 
what the Prime Minister said last night and heartened, and we're glad to 
help, and we hope we will be of some help today.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 11:30 a.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Baltimore Police Commissioner 
Thomas C. Frazier; Tech. Sgt. Gloria I. Nava, Texas Air National Guard, 
a parent from San Antonio, TX, whose daughter attends an after-school 
program; and Prime Minister of Ryutaro Hashimoto of Japan.