Memorandum Establishing the President's Community Enterprise Board

Memorandum for the Vice President, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Attorney General, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Education, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Director of National Drug Control Policy, the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget

The Vice President and I strongly believe that the best way to serve distressed communities in urban and rural America is through a comprehensive, coordinated, and integrated approach that combines bottom-up initiatives and private sector innovations with responsive Federal-State support. Today, I direct the Federal agencies to work cooperatively to implement this approach in a way that reflects the principles of the Vice President's National Performance Review—i.e., meeting the needs of local communities through a performance-measured, customer-driven philosophy and a cross-agency approach. I also hereby establish the President's Community Enterprise Board ("Board") to advise and assist me in coordinating across agencies the various Federal programs available (or potentially available) to distressed communities and in developing further policies related to the successful implementation of our community empowerment efforts.

The Vice President has agreed to chair this Board, and the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy have agreed to serve as Vice-Chairs of the Board. I request the following Administration officials to serve on this Board: the Secretary of the Treasury, the Attorney General, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Education, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Director of National Drug Control Policy, the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers.

The first task of the Board is to assist in the successful implementation of the Administration's empowerment zone legislation, Subchapter C of Title XIII of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, Public Law 103- 66, "Empowerment Zones, Enterprise Communities, and Rural Development Investment Areas." This Act authorizes the Secretaries of HUD and Agriculture to designate certain localities as empowerment zones and enterprise communities, thus enabling them to receive certain Federal funds and other benefits from the Federal Government.

Other programs, old and new, are similarly beneficial to local communities. These programs, however, form an overly complex, categorical, unworkable, and ineffective response to the needs of distressed communities. I hereby direct the Board to review these programs in order to ascertain how we can make the entire Federal effort more responsive to the needs of distressed communities. In addition, with respect to the empowerment zones and enterprise communities, I direct the Secretary of the Treasury, the Attorney General, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Education, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Director of National Drug Control Policy, and the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to (1) identify, within 15 days of this directive, existing programs that further the goals and objectives set forth in this memorandum and the Act and (2) make available, to the extent permitted by law, funds from those programs for use in implementing the strategic plans of the designated empowerment zones and community enterprises.

In order to advise and assist me regarding issues that relate to community development and empowerment, I request that each Board member—

(a) Provide me with recommendations, consistent with Section 13301 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 ("OBRA" or "the Act"), on the criteria to be used for selection and designation of empowerment zones and enterprise communities, as set forth in Section 13301 of the Act;

(b) Identify additional legislative mandates that further the goals and objectives set forth in this memorandum and the Act and, where appropriate, develop for my consideration recommendations for further action;

(c) Identify legislative mandates that may be impeding State, local, and tribal governments from meeting the goals and objectives set forth in this memorandum and the Act, and, where appropriate, develop for my consideration recommendations for further action; and

(d) Consult with the Board regarding exemptions from regulatory mandates for which the member agency has jurisdiction and inform his or her decisions regarding any such exemptions with the recommendations of the Board.

In addition, I direct each of the agencies to cooperate fully with the Chair, the Vice-Chairs, and the Secretaries of HUD and Agriculture in assisting designated zones and enterprise communities in successfully implementing their strategic plans under Section 13301 of the Act. This interagency effort shall, among other things, coordinate Federal assistance and support within each empowerment zone and enterprise community.

In order to meet the goals and objectives set forth above, I also request the Secretary of HUD and the Secretary of Agriculture to consult with the Board regarding (1) the designation, under Section 13301 of the Act, of empowerment zones and enterprise communities and (2) possible revocation of designations, as set forth in Section 13301 of the Act.

Finally, I direct the Secretaries of HUD, Agriculture, and HHS (in consultation with the Board) to take, by November 1, 1993, the appropriate regulatory measures to ensure that the use of all Title XX grants awarded under the Act meets the criteria of Section 13761 of the Act, including, specifically, that portion of Subsection C that requires, among other things, localities to use Title XX grants (1) in accordance with the strategic plans approved by the Secretaries of HUD and Agriculture, (2) for activities that directly benefit the residents within the designated empowerment zones and enterprise communities, and (3) to promote economic independence for low-income families and individuals.

With the Board members' commitment to achieving community empowerment and to providing our local communities with a single Federal forum, we will be able to assist distressed communities and American families all across urban and rural America in obtaining economic self-sufficiency.

WILLIAM J. CLINTON