[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 49 (Monday, December 11, 2000)]
[Pages 2983-2984]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on the Report of the Interagency Task Force on Nonprofits and 
Government

December 5, 2000

    Today I am pleased to announce the release of a report by the 
Interagency Task Force on Nonprofits and Government identifying 
exemplary partnerships between Federal agencies and private nonprofit 
organizations, highlighting best practices, and providing 
recommendations for further Federal efforts to support and expand these 
partnerships.
    When Vice President Gore and I were elected 8 years ago, one of our 
key priorities was to shape a new model for the Federal Government, one 
that neither made Government responsible for meeting all of society's 
needs nor took a hands-off approach, leaving charitable organizations 
alone to address the challenges faced in so many communities. Instead, 
we sought a third way--a smaller Government committed to giving people 
the tools they need to make the most of their lives, while working in 
partnership with its citizens and living within its means.
    For this kind of Government to work, we must have a strong civil 
society with a thriving network of national and community-based 
nonprofit organizations that can marshal the resources of the American 
people to meet the challenges before us. We had this in mind when the 
First Lady and I hosted the first-ever White House Conference on 
Philanthropy in October 1999. There I named an interagency task force 
made up of my White House staff and representatives of 19 Federal 
agencies to examine one important facet of the Third Way: partnerships 
between the Federal Government and nonprofit organizations. I directed 
members of the task force to identify the best examples of these 
private/public partnerships and evaluate the ways in which they could be 
improved and replicated.
    In thousands of instances large and small, Government agencies are 
working with national, State, community, and faith-based nonprofit 
organizations, and in the process, are redefining the role of Government 
in the 21st century. From AmeriCorps to the Welfare to Work Partnership, 
from environmental protection to national immunization programs, 
nonprofit partnerships are improving the lives of citizens from Florida 
to Alaska, Hawaii to Maine.
    The role that nonprofit/government partnerships play cannot be 
overstated: They make Government work better, and in turn, nonprofits 
are strengthened by these relationships. As a result, they are an 
essential part of our safety net for citizens in need, and when all else 
fails, nourish and protect the youngest and most vulnerable among us. 
These partnerships help ensure that the arts and humanities flourish, 
work to protect our environment and other national treasures, and help 
foster a community where neighbors can gather and support one another. 
In these ways and many more, they strengthen and sustain our civil 
society.

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