An Opportunity Agenda for President Bush.

News Desks/Assignment Editors/Political Writers

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 18, 2001

National Urban League President Hugh B. Price Lays Out Plan For

Keeping African Americans on a Strong Economic Track

In a press conference held today in Washington, DC, National Urban League President Hugh B. Price laid out the League's "Opportunity Agenda", an ambitious plan President-elect George W. Bush should follow upon assuming office in order to close the opportunity gaps that exist between African Americans and white Americans--gaps that hinder African Americans' progress towards achieving economic self -sufficiency.

Following are highlights of the plan, which covers the areas of education, employment, poverty, technology, homeownership, entrepreneurship, criminal justice, and the elections process:

1. The Academic Achievement Gap--Launch a campaign to slash in

half the number of black, Latino and Native American

fourth-graders who score below basic in reading by 2004.

Overhaul the public school system to create smaller classes,

better-trained teachers, increased teacher, principal and

parent accountability, and better facilities backed by

increased funding.

2. The Employment Gap--Attack black unemployment by championing

fiscal and monetary policies that avert recession and promote

continued job growth. Vigorously support direct investments

and tax incentives that spur economic revitalization and job

growth in struggling inner city and rural communities. Seek

Congressional approval of aggressive tax incentives that

stimulate commercial revitalization, new business development

and employment growth in those communities. Prevent

discrimination in access to federally financed job training

and ensure that African Americans are steered to high quality

training programs that channel them into good jobs paying

livable wages. Invest more heavily in high quality training

under the Workforce Investment Act. Create an Opportunity

Corps, run by military alumni, that instills confidence and

fortifies skills, while teaching how to function successfully

in the workplace.

3. Poverty Gap--Increase the minimum wage to at least $6.15 per

hour. Liberalize the Earned Income Tax Credit so that low-wage

workers have more disposable income. Give poor families with

more than two children a tax credit for each child in much the

same way wealthy families can claim unlimited deductions

for mortgage interests regardless of the cost of their home.

4. The Digital Divide/Technology Gap--Accelerate the E-rate

Initiative to wire schools and libraries in low-income

communities. Accelerate the creation of community technology

centers in public housing developments and community-based

groups.

5. Home Ownership Gap--Develop home ownership initiatives aimed

at accelerating homeownership in the black community and

eradicating the 27-point homeownership gap that exists between

blacks and whites. Create a homestead tax incentive for

first-time homebuyers to purchase homes in low-income and

working class communities where they've lived for at least ten

years. Work in partnership with the Urban League and other

community-based organizations to educate poor families about

the basic economics of homeownership, credit worthiness and

investment, via the continued and extended support of programs

like HUD's Housing and Economic Development Initiative. Use

FHA surpluses to provide down payments for families that have

steady incomes but lack savings. Increase funding for

construction of in-fill housing in inner-city neighborhoods

for subsequent sale to local resident. Vigorously enforce

anti-discrimination laws and prosecute unwarranted below-prime

lending.

6. Entrepreneurship Gap--Use federal legislation and leverage to

promote the creation and expansion of minority firms. Develop

aggressive supplier diversity programs to ensure that minority

firms secure a fair share of these contracts and pair them

with prime contractors. Work with minority business groups to

devise a new methodology that makes certain minority firms

aren't frozen out. Aggressively invoke regulatory authority 

over industries like transportation and telecommunications to

ensure that minority firms share appropriately in the

contracting, franchising and other entrepreneurship

opportunities created in these growth industries that the

federal government oversees.

7. Criminal Justice Gap--Instruct the Attorney General to rectify

blatant patterns of racism at every level of the criminal

justice system. Maintain pressure begun under President

Clinton to combat racial profiling, brutality and abuse by

federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. Overhaul

badly misdirected drug policies that have resulted in the

needless incarceration of massive numbers of minor,

non-violent drug offenders. Overhaul federal and state laws

that result in unnecessary incarceration of nonviolent

offenders.

8. Make Elections State-of-the-Art--Direct the Attorney General

to conduct a thorough and vigorous investigation of the local

election processes that combined to suppress the black vote

and resulted in the post-election debacle in Florida, and

other parts of the nation. If findings show that deliberate

violations of the Voting Rights Act occurred, transgressors

must be punished. Appoint an emergency task force to spearhead

the long-overdue modernization of America's election system in

time for the mid-term contests in 2002. Create one uniform and

contemporary state-of-the-art system that is easily accessible

and comprehensible for the entire nation.

"The U.S. President and national leaders held in highest esteem by African-Americans over the years have been those who have done the most - when we least expected it - to propel our people toward the American dream," Price said.

For a full of copy of Price's remarks and the full text of the National Urban League Opportunity Agenda, call the National Urban League at 212-558-5319. The document is also available on the League's Web site at www.nul.org, by clicking on the Products, Speeches and Publications icon on the home page.

The Urban League is the nation's oldest and largest community-based movement devoted to empowering African Americans to enter the economic and social mainstream. The National Urban League, headquartered in New York City, spearheads the nonprofit, nonpartisan movement, while Urban League affiliates operate in more than 100 cities in 34 states and the District of Columbia.