White House Community Empowerment Conference
                                              Release No. 0115.97

Remarks

                              of 
                     Secretary Dan Glickman
         White House Community Empowerment Conference 
                  Detroit, MI--APRIL 15, 1997

INTRODUCTION
Thank you, Mayor Archer for those words of wisdom and for your introduction.
Detroit is a wonderful city, I have family here, and I always enjoy my stay
and the chance to see the positive changes underway. Detroit is a shining
example of the promise of community empowerment.

So are all of you who've come from Empowerment Zones across the country. Thank
you for making this noble experiment such a success. We still have a lot of
work ahead of us, but it's the kind of work that makes you feel good about
America and our future. 

I spent part of my weekend like I suspect many of you did -- glued to my TV
watching history in the making in Augusta, Georgia. As Tiger Woods shattered
record after record, all America seemed to cheer him on. The closer he got to
the 18th hole and that green jacket, the harder it was not to feel patriotic
about it. Through raw skill, a good nature, unwavering determination and a
refusal to be bound by the past, Tiger Woods reminded us all what makes
America great.

These same ideals, championed by all of you, are turning around some of
America's most troubled communities. It's impossible to travel to Detroit or
down to the Mississippi Delta and not feel the energy. People are coming
together, and taking charge of their own destinies. This Administration is
proud to be standing right here with you offering a helping hand. 

Together, we've seen job numbers jump up, middle-class populations rise up,
and people stop giving up. Together, we'll pry open the door to their American
dream.  

RURAL NEEDS
You know, as I was heading out here, someone asked,  why's the Secretary of
Agriculture going to Detroit?'

First and foremost, I'm proud of the changes underway in our 3 rural
Empowerment Zones, and I want to make sure that they get the recognition
they've earned. All EZs face the same core challenge: a lack of economic
opportunity. But rural America faces some unique hurdles, mainly due to its
remoteness. 

A dispersed rural population makes it harder and more expensive for
communities and businesses to provide basic services -- from communications
networks to safe, running water. Hospitals are sometimes hundreds of miles
away ... so are large pools of customers, making banks more reluctant to lend
to rural businesses. USDA's been glad to provide those loans. They've proven a
sound investment. 

In fact, in the next week, we'll announce $2.5 million in rural business
development grants, exclusively for EZ/EC communities -- to do everything from
industrial building, to opening a new child care center, to creating a CD-rom
for marketing and recruiting. These efforts are expected to create 330 new
jobs and save 50 good-paying ones. That's good news.

RURAL EZ ACCOMPLISHMENTS 
And, it's all thanks to the home-grown strategic planning that's been at the
heart of this empowerment movement. In rural America, we know from decades of
experience that a one-size-fits-all approach to economic revitalization will
not give us the dramatic changes we need. The only way we achieve that level
of transformation is by empowering communities to call the shots for
themselves ... wherever the needs may be.

The diversity of accomplishments to date in our rural EZ/ECs underscores this
tailor-made approach:

    12 new or improved health care facilities,

    855 new or rehabilitated housing units,

    7,700 new day care slots,

    18 new loan programs,

    6 new job training centers,

    3 new youth development centers,

     and the most promising statistic of all -- 7,000 new jobs created in the
     first 18 months. 

We're just beginning to scratch the surface of our opportunities. Last year, I
visited the Mid-Delta and Rio Grande Valley empowerment zones. I hope to visit
the Kentucky Highlands soon. 

Already, we have some amazing success stories:

    The Kentucky folks used $5.6 million in federal EZ money to leverage
     $38.8 million in private capital. It's disbursed through an 11-person
     Loan Review Committee -- 8 members of which are residents of the zone.
     So far, they've invested in 11 new businesses -- creating 325 jobs with
     another 1,755 on the way.

    In the Mississippi Delta, there's a town called Itta Bena, population
     2,900. Folks there had grown so used to poverty that no one even
     remembers the last time an industry opened its doors in the midst of the
     hardwoods and cotton fields. But since the community rolled up its
     sleeves and began to strategically plan for its future, they've
     attracted 2 new industries, 96 jobs, and possibly another 100 in the
     next 2 years.

    And, in Texas' Rio Grande Valley, where so many struggling communities
     scrape by on border trade with Mexico, the  Regal Voyager' is putting
     Port Isabel on the world trade map. It's the area's first ferry --
     providing regular, year-round service to Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua,
     El Salvador, Belize and Costa Rica. This will allow Rio Grande
     businesses -- many for the first time -- to think globally, and do long-distance, long-term trade with Central America. 

You know, all too often, we hear about a town's businesses drying up and Main
Street boarding up. But thanks to your work, we're beginning to hear the
opposite story. Our challenge now is to build on this momentum and make sure
the good news isn't just today's news.

I think the foundation we've laid in the last 18 months is solid and durable.
And, it can't just be quantified in terms of jobs saved and dollars leveraged,
but communities united.

    When I was down in Texas, I attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new
     community center in the Rio Grande zone. All of the participants dipped
     our hands in paint and placed them on the wall. It was a symbol of all
     the different people -- from the Secretary of Agriculture, to private
     business folks, to residents -- who had a hand in its creation.

    When I went to Mississippi, I visited East Sunflower Elementary School
     where USDA rural development folks had donated some of their extra
     computers. I got to see the kids plug into the Internet and transcend
     the geographic boundaries that had for too long been an obstacle to
     their community. Technology took them wherever their interests went --
     from sports, to the library, to a classroom on the other side of the
     world.

FOOD RECOVERY
It's important. In the 21st century, geography shouldn't be a hindrance.
Neither should hunger. But it is. I'm sure that fact is nothing new to most of
you. Despite the best efforts of federal programs, nearly 1 in 3 American
children live in families that cope with hunger. Nowhere is this more true
than in the communities we're fighting for here today.

Beyond running the federal food assistance programs, one thing I do as
Secretary of Agriculture -- and as Dan Glickman -- is participate in food
rescue. In fact, one of my first food recovery roundtables as Secretary of
Agriculture was here in Detroit.

For those of you who don't know, food rescue is where volunteers go out and
literally rescue leftover food. We pick it up from cafeterias, restaurants,
grocery stores, you name it, and we take it to food banks and community
centers that feed people who need meals a whole lot more than a dumpster does. 

I'm proud to say that food rescue is something that our rural zones are very
involved with. Last summer, USDA's Americorps folks -- working with rural
volunteers -- rescued more than 200,000 pounds of food in and around our rural
zones. It was enough to feed thousands of people there. 

Now, these zones have agreed to include in their charters a commitment to
carry-out food rescue. It's an indisputable sign of how much heart is in their
effort. I urge everyone who's here from an urban zone to go back and make sure
that fighting hunger is part of your empowerment strategy. All you have to do
is call 1-800-GLEAN-IT. The folks who answer will put you in touch with food
rescue efforts in your area. It would make an instant difference for many
hungry families.

CONCLUSION
We have all done so much, and for that I thank each and every one of you. But
as Jonas Salk once said,  the greatest reward for doing is the opportunity to
do more.' We will have plenty of opportunities in the year ahead. 

Together, we can ensure that America passes into a new millenium as one nation
full of promise -- a nation that leaves none of its own behind. Thank you for
giving a part of your life to this effort. Together we can pull our own Tiger
Woods -- surpassing even the greatest of expectations, with a long, bright
future yet ahead.

Thank you.

                                #

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