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Clinton pushes for job, investment help in untapped markets
July 6, 1999 EAST ST. LOUIS, Illinois (AllPolitics, July 6) -- Saying the whole country benefits when more people work, President Clinton on Tuesday urged Congress to embrace his plan for tax credits to businesses that set up shop in downtrodden communities. "It is not a handout, but it is darned sure a hand up," he told a crowd in East St. Louis.
He noted there are other reasons for companies to come to the Mississippi river town, including a new administration study claiming there is $331 billion in untapped buying power in inner city neighborhoods -- $227 million of that in East St. Louis. "If you take the money that you earn here -- as against the money you are able to spend here ... in America as a whole, there is 25 percent more money earned than spent in the inner cities. In Los Angeles, it's 35 percent. In East St. Louis it is 40 percent," the president said.
Clinton spoke to a crowd of about 1,000 in the parking lot of a Walgreen's drug store, which the White House said was the first new retail store to open in East St. Louis in 40 years. He noted his administration first made the city an empowerment zone in 1994.
"And because you have done so well, East St. Louis is designated as an empowerment zone for our second round, which means more money being spent here by the government, more tax incentives for the private sector to put businesses here and to hire the people from East St. Louis and give them good jobs," the president said. Clinton said Congress should approve his so-called "new markets" initiative because it makes it more appealing for businesses to operate "in any high unemployment, high poverty area anywhere in America," without heavy reliance on the government to turn things around. "We need help from Republicans and Democrats alike. This is not a party issue," Clinton said. "Nobody is going to put any money here if they think they're going to lose it. But it makes it more likely that people will do it. ... It is not a handout, but it is darned sure a hand up, and you are entitled to it." Clinton came to the Midwestern city at the close of a day devoted to talking up jobs and investment in Clarksdale, Mississippi. His plan, the president said, can breathe new life into the virtually forgotten town on the Mississippi Delta. Halfway through his four-day trip to the poorest areas in the United States, Clinton pushed his plan for a mix of public and private investment to economically revitalize depressed areas. The president walked past a bleak line of empty storefronts on the once-busy main street of Clarksdale during his tour, designed to highlight the untapped potential of "new markets" -- areas left behind by recent economic expansion. "I am making this tour of America for one simple reason: I want everybody in America to know that while our country has been blessed with this economic recovery, not all Americans have been blessed by it, that it hasn't reached every place," Clinton said during a round-table discussion on investment. Clinton announced a $15 million grant for the Mississippi Delta, as part of $46.5 million in community development grants. The president also is expected to present Congress next week with a five-year, $15 billion plan for investment in economically depressed areas. Included in that package are tax incentives to encourage businesses to develop in struggling areas. Private money is needed as well, Clinton said. "I want America to know that every place in the country ... is full of good people, capable of doing good work, that can be trained to do any kind of work," Clinton said. "This is not about charity," said Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo. "It's about investment." Some corporate leaders on the trip are accepting the president's challenge. Bank of America alone pledged $600 million in new loans and investments Tuesday. "There is real money to be made in these markets," said Cathy Bessant, president of Bank of America's community development division. "We think we can be even more successful when we create markets that work in inner cities." Of the business leaders and CEOs accompanying the president on his tour "there's a real understanding ... that this can be the next frontier for investment," according to Ann Lewis, counselor to the president. That support will help the administration sell its plan to Congress, Lewis said: "We think Congress especially is going to be impressed that you have private sector executives stepping up to the plate saying, 'We believe in this, we know that these are good new markets for our company, we're prepared to make the investment.'" The president's welcome in Clarksdale was overwhelmingly positive, as it was during Monday's first stop in Kentucky's Appalachia. While he strolled by the town's New Roxy Theater and the Pac Man game room, a crowd cheered and chanted, "Welcome, Bill," and, "Don't mess with Bill." Clinton will focus more on job training as his tour heads West. The president will call on Congress to spend $1 billion over four years to train disadvantaged youths, and he will announce more than $8 million in new corporate commitments for job training programs. CNN's John King and The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
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MORE STORIES:Tuesday, July 6, 1999
• Clinton pushes for job, investment help in untapped markets • Has the vice presidential campaign begun yet? • Weicker mulls independent presidential bid in 2000 • GOP tax bill to include breaks for providers of long-term care • New focus on uninsured springs from patients' rights fight • Senate a haven for senior citizens • Bush success at fund raising makes money a top issue • Is the Medicare drug coverage Clinton proposes a good deal? | ||||||||||||||||||
