[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 37 (Monday, September 14, 1998)]
[Pages 1755-1756]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7119--Minority Enterprise Development Week, 1998

September 10, 1998

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    America's free enterprise system has always been a path to inclusion 
and empowerment. Under this system, generations of Americans have built 
good lives for themselves and their families--rising as high as their 
skills, effort, and determination can take them. But for minority 
entrepreneurs, the path has not always been free of obstacles. Sometimes 
held back by economic, social,

[[Page 1756]]

and educational disadvantages, too often denied opportunities because of 
racial and ethnic prejudice, many minority men and women have had to 
struggle for equal access to the capital, tools, training, and services 
they need to build and maintain successful businesses.
    My Administration remains committed to providing opportunities for 
all entrepreneurs, and we are determined to ensure the full inclusion of 
minority business enterprises in the economic mainstream of our Nation. 
The Minority Business Development Agency at the Department of Commerce 
continues to promote minority business growth and to create new 
initiatives to ensure that minority business men and women have access 
to the capital, information, and training they need to compete in 
today's domestic and global markets. Last year, the Small Business 
Administration (SBA) made a record $2.6 billion in loans to more than 
10,000 minority-owned businesses; over the last 4 years, loans to 
minority borrowers have nearly tripled. And earlier this year, the SBA 
entered into partnership agreements with three leading minority business 
organizations as part of a 3-year outreach initiative. This initiative 
is designed to increase dramatically the SBA's financial, technical, and 
procurement assistance for minority entrepreneurs. These efforts will 
help to ensure that America's growing number of minority entrepreneurs 
are equipped to succeed.
    Strong and successful minority enterprises benefit us all. The goods 
and services produced by minority-owned firms create jobs, spark 
community reinvestment and neighborhood pride, and increase America's 
productivity. With their imagination, innovative spirit, and willingness 
to take risks, minority entrepreneurs have made important contributions 
to the remarkable growth of our economy during the past 5 years. Since 
the beginning of my Administration, we have created more than 16 million 
new jobs and unemployment has reached its lowest level in 30 years. But 
to sustain and build on this success, we must utilize the energy and 
creativity of every American.
    As we observe Minority Enterprise Development Week, we recognize and 
honor the extraordinary contributions that minority entrepreneurs make 
to our Nation's strength and prosperity, and we reaffirm our 
determination to help them make the most of today's dynamic economy.
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the 
Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 
20 through September 26, 1998, as Minority Enterprise Development Week, 
and I call upon all Americans to join together with minority business 
entrepreneurs across the country in appropriate observances.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this Tenth day of 
September, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-eight, 
and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred 
and twenty-third.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., September 14, 
1998]

Note: This proclamation will be published in the Federal Register on 
September 15.