    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 37 (Monday, September 20, 1999)]
    [Page 1758]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Statement on the Announcement of the Gates Millennium Scholarships

    September 16, 1999

        I applaud the leadership and foresight shown by the Bill and Melinda
    Gates Foundation today with its $1 billion pledge to provide full
    college scholarships for minority students in the fields of education,
    math, science, and engineering. These landmark scholarships will help
    address important needs: the need to encourage young people to become
    teachers, the need to ensure that our children are well-prepared in math
    and science, and the need to open the doors of higher learning to all
    students. The Gates Millennium Scholarships remind us what vital role
    philanthropies can play in American life and how urgent it is for all of
    us to invest now in our Nation's young people.