[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 14 (Monday, April 9, 2001)]
[Pages 578-580]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the U.S. Conference of Mayors National Summit on Investment 
in the New American City

April 5, 2001

    Brent, thank you very much for those kind words. Mayor Morial, it's 
good to see you, sir. Mayor Menino of the great city of Boston, I'm sure 
you're thrilled with the Nomo no-hitter. [Laughter] I am pleased to see 
my friend, the mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee; we went to college 
together. Mayor Ashe, it's good to see you, sir. Tom, thank you very 
much--Tom Cochran, who's worked hard for the mayors association. Mayor 
Archer of the great city of Detroit is here with us. Pat McCrory, it's 
good to see the mayor of Charlotte.
    I can't forget to say hello to my Mayor, the Mayor of Washington, 
DC, Mayor Williams. I tell you, he is a--one of my first lunches was 
with the Mayor, and I'm impressed. And I know the mayors who know him 
are impressed, as well. So Mayor, thank you. There's a couple of 
potholes out back that I'd like to talk to you about. [Laughter] I say 
that because I've always said the mayors have one of the toughest jobs 
in America. After all, you are closest to the people. You have to walk 
your neighborhoods and listen to the people who you know say, ``Well, 
Mr. Mayor, it's good to see you; how about my road?'' [Laughter] But 
Mayor, you're doing a great job.
    I've got members of my team who are here. Cabinet Secretary Mel 
Martinez. Mel, thank you, sir. Ruben Barrales, who is running my 
Intergovernmental Relations Office. Thank you, Ruben. If Ruben doesn't 
return your phone call, we've got an issue. [Laughter] He'll return 
them. And finally, John DiIulio, who is running the Faith-Based Office. 
And John, I appreciate your being here, as well. And Roy Bernardi--
where's Roy? Hey, Roy, good to see you. Thanks. Roy is the mayor of 
Syracuse, and he's coming here to work in the administration.
    I respect your work. You all are practical folks who solve problems, 
and I'm honored that you're here. And thanks for bringing such good 
weather, too. I think it's the most beautiful day we've had since I've 
been the President of the United States, and the Rose Garden is a 
spectacular place to welcome you. And it's my honor to do so.
    Our cities are the testing ground for the American Dream. They're 
places where young people go to begin their careers. They're places 
where new immigrants arrive to look for work and a better life. They're 
places where people of every background seek to fulfill the promise of 
our country.
    When we look at our cities, we see our highest aspirations, our 
incredible diversity, our greatest achievements, and our most pressing 
challenges. Across America, in cities large and small, a generation of 
bold and reforming mayors have restored safety to

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streets and restored prosperity to our Nation's downtowns, and for that, 
our country is grateful.
    The continued renewal of our cities requires five commitments: 
better education, broader homeownership, faster economic growth, easier 
environmental cleanup, and stronger communities and charities. All of 
these goals are reflected in the budget, which the Congress is now 
debating.
    Education gets the biggest percentage increase of any Department in 
the budget that I submitted. My budget triples spending on school 
reading programs in year one. We triple spending on preschool reading 
programs in year one. Education reform costs money, and this 
administration is willing to spend it. But money alone does not produce 
reform, and that's why my plan emphasizes results and accountability. 
Results matter to children; they matter to parents; and they should 
matter to mayors. And I know they do.
    Parents leave cities when they mistrust public schools. Parents stay 
when they have confidence in the public school system. And a sure way 
for a school to gain parents' confidence is to show them proven results 
on a yearly test. We don't test to punish children; we test to help 
them. In the same way, we don't test to punish urban schools, we test to 
renew them. Our budget helps to bring high standards to every low income 
school in America. It focuses on early childhood programs. It increases 
spending for Head Start, but it also encourages and invites innovation 
so that no child is left behind.
    Second, my budget promotes homeownership. We want to give as many 
Americans as possible a stake in their neighborhood and a concern for 
its future. Yet, the sad fact is 48 percent of Hispanic- and African-
American families--only 48 percent own their own homes. And we must do 
better in our country. My administration has proposed a renewing-the-
dream tax credit to encourage investors to develop housing for low 
income families. This tax credit will help build 100,000 new homes in 
low income areas.
    We also add to a new initiative called the American Dream 
downpayment fund, to help low income people with their downpayment on a 
home of their own. We're putting $1 billion into the American Dream fund 
over the next 5 years, and our goal is to make owners of 650,000 low 
income families. We'll bring the dignity and independence of 
homeownership to more and more Americans.
    Third, my budget is a growth budget for small business. It is the 
dynamism of the entrepreneurs, many of them immigrants, that have 
powered the revival of American cities. But entrepreneurs in urban 
America, like entrepreneurs all over America, are generally 
unincorporated businesses. They're generally Subchapter S's or sole 
proprietorships and, therefore, pay taxes at the highest marginal rate.
    As you know, I've submitted a plan that reduces all rates on all 
taxpayers. And it's important for those in the United States Senate to 
understand that when you drop the top rate, you encourage growth in 
inner cities by encouraging entrepreneurial spirit to flourish. A drop 
of the top rate really says to the urban enterprise, the small-business 
person in urban America, you'll have more money to reinvest so you can 
employ more people.
    And then there's the issue of burdensome inheritance taxes. As 
Robert Johnson of Black Entertainment Television argues, the death tax 
and double taxation weighs heavily on minorities who are only beginning 
to accumulate wealth. The Senate needs to hear that message. The Senate 
needs to leave enough money in the proposed budget to not only reduce 
all marginal rates but to eliminate the death tax, so that people who 
build up assets are able to transfer them from one generation to the 
next, regardless of a person's race.
    Fourth, we must reform the laws that slow the cleanup of the 
Nation's brownfields. As many as 450,000 industrial sites have been 
abandoned. New users have been scared away by the threat of Superfund 
regulation and litigation. It is time for new thinking. We will set high 
environmental standards, and we will protect redevelopers who meet those 
standards from Federal liability. We must cut the redtape that clogs the 
brownfield cleanup revolving loan fund. And we'll permanently extend the 
brownfield cleanup tax incentive that is scheduled to expire this year. 
On the brownfields of yesterday, we will build the green industries of 
tomorrow.

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    And finally, my budget aids community and faith-based groups that 
help our cities take on the worst of our social problems. So I'm so 
pleased that John DiIulio is here, who's spearheading this effort. We 
support local efforts to fight illiteracy and teen pregnancy and drug 
addiction. We promote mentoring programs, especially for the large 
number of children with a parent in prison.
    This summer I look forward to going to Philadelphia to join Mayor 
John Street as he shows the Nation the compassionate work his city's 
faith-based and community organizations are doing. These organizations 
have a message of hope for all American cities, and my budget has a 
message of hope for them. We will support the caring acts of caring 
people and not turn them away because they are inspired by the Bible or 
the Koran.
    These are some of my priorities, and we fund them. We repay all the 
available public debt in my budget. We establish a contingency fund for 
future needs, and then we reduce taxes to accelerate our economy's 
slowing growth. We reduce taxes, because we understand many in your 
cities are struggling to get ahead. We must reduce taxes in order to 
help pay for the high energy bills that many are now suffering. And we 
must always remember that the Federal surplus is not the Government's 
money. The Federal surplus is the people's money.
    This is a budget that is reasonable, balanced, and sound. It's a 
budget that is good for America's cities, which means it's a budget 
that's good for America.
    Thank you all for coming, and God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 3:18 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Mayor H. Brent Coles of Boise, ID, 
president, Mayor Marc H. Morial of New Orleans, LA, vice president, 
Mayor Thomas M. Menino of Boston, MA, advisory board chair, and J. 
Thomas Cochran, executive director, U.S. Conference of Mayors; Mayor 
Victor H. Ashe of Knoxville, TN; Mayor Dennis W. Archer of Detroit, MI; 
Mayor Patrick McCrory of Charlotte, NC; Mayor Anthony A. Williams of 
Washington, DC; Hideo Nomo, pitcher, Boston Red Sox; and Robert L. 
Johnson, chairman and chief executive officer, BET Holdings, Inc.