[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 33 (Monday, August 21, 2000)]
[Pages 1863-1864]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

August 12, 2000

    Good morning. These are good times for America, with the strongest 
economy we've ever had. And all across our country, Americans of every 
age and background are working together to strengthen the fabric of our 
communities.
    Today I want to talk about some remarkable progress our society has 
made in the last 8 years: Crime is at a 25-year low; the welfare rolls, 
the smallest in 30 years; and a new report from the Centers for Disease 
Control shows that teen birth rates have fallen for the eighth year in a 
row, and now we have the lowest teen birth rate in 60 years. This is a 
remarkable achievement.
    Consider this. If the teen birth rate had stayed at the same as its 
peak in 1991, teen mothers would have given birth to another 120,000 
babies this year. That drop is wonderful news and further proof that 
together we can make real progress on social problems people once said 
were beyond our reach. This is a tribute to community and religious 
groups, to teachers and families, and of course, to our teenagers 
themselves.
    From the start of our administration, we've endeavored to restore 
the sense that responsibility and opportunity are the foundations of a 
strong American community. Five years ago we called upon parents and 
community leaders to launch a national campaign to prevent teen 
pregnancy. The next year we worked across party lines to enact landmark 
welfare reform, which requires unmarried minor parents to stay in school 
and live under adult supervision. We also demanded that fathers live up 
to their obligations and have doubled child support collections. We've 
increased counseling, promoted abstinence, and paired children with 
mentors, documenting our achievements in a report to Congress this week.
    Despite this progress, we know that too many of America's children 
still are having children. As friends and neighbors, we need to reach 
out and help these young people learn and grow.
    Today I'm taking action to promote one innovative approach we all 
know will work. It's called, second-chance homes, an idea that Vice 
President Gore and I have long supported and which was championed early 
on by Senators Moynihan, Kent Conrad, and Joe Lieberman.
    These homes provide teenage moms and their babies with an 
environment that is safe, supportive, and supervised. The teens get the 
help they need to finish school. They learn how to care for their 
children and manage a budget. Some homes also work with teen fathers.
    Experts say mothers in these homes are less likely to have another 
baby or go on welfare and more likely to get an education and find a 
job. I read of one young Massachusetts woman who got pregnant at 14 and 
soon was estranged from her family with no place to live. With the help 
of a second-chance home, she got back on her feet, trained at a 
community college, and has left welfare to become a proud working 
mother.
    Second-chance homes are a good idea that enjoy bipartisan support. 
I've asked Congress already to provide $25 million to start more of them 
across the country. Now let's take bipartisan action to give mothers and 
babies hope for a better future.
    But many families shouldn't have to wait for Congress to act. That's 
why today I'm directing the Secretaries of Health and Human Services and 
Housing and Urban Development to work together to help more communities 
across America open second-chance homes.
    First, we'll make it easier for communities and faith-based groups 
to acquire vacant or foreclosed property to create these homes for teen 
mothers.
    Second, we'll provide communities a blueprint for how to create 
second-chance homes, and a roadmap of Federal and State resources they 
can tap to get one up and running.

[[Page 1864]]

    We extend this helping hand to these families because it's the right 
thing to do and because, over time, it will help the teen birth rate go 
down even more. With these steps, we'll do still more to make welfare 
what it was meant to be, a second chance, not a way of life. Working 
together in a spirit of progress and respect, we can help everyone to 
make the most of their own lives.
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 12:22 p.m. on August 11 in the Map 
Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on August 12. The 
transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
August 11 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast.