Remarks to the Community in West Memphis, Arkansas

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Dec 20, 1999

In August I was here in Helena, and we had kind of a listening session, and in September Secretary Slater had another meeting like that here in West Memphis. In October we invited a delegation from here to meet with senior officials in the White House, and today we want to respond to that.

First of all, to try to address the unacceptably high rates of poverty that still plague the region, I intend to propose in next year's budget more than $110 million to create and fund a new Delta regional authority, as recommended by Senator Lincoln and Representative Berry. This will fund their legislation. It will provide funds for economic development and assistance from Federal agencies to help improve the quality of life. It already has a number of bipartisan cosponsors from throughout the Delta, and I want to work with the Congress, and particularly with all the Members from this region, to ensure that we get quick enactment of this legislation. This should not be a partisan issue. This is about economics.

Second, we're going to help rural communities again access the myriad of Federal programs that already exist. Today I am signing a memorandum directing 14 Federal agencies to provide comprehensive technical assistance to the region in a pilot program we're calling the circuit rider project. You know, preachers and judges used to ride circuits and go from town to town. That's what the Agricultural Extension Service did for decades, seeing people one-on-one.

It is almost impossible for a little town to be able to afford--to find out what kinds of grants they could be eligible for in every conceivable Federal agency, much less how to apply for them and get them. So we want to organize that effort and bring them to you.

I'd like to thank Wilbur Peer and the others at the Agriculture Department who have been involved in our rural economic development issues. I want to thank all the departments for agreeing to do this. We're going to get out there, be aggressive, and try to bring the benefits of the Federal Government that's already being paid for to the people who are paying but not getting, and the circuit rider project will work, I think.

Third, we're announcing the creation of a $16 million fund to provide resources to develop and improve rural health infrastructure in the seven counties served by the Arkansas Health Education Center, including Crittenden County--funds used to make loans to hospitals, clinics, and health providers to help close the health care gaps that are also a problem here and a problem in attracting new investment.

Fourth, we're announcing an award of $1.2 million from the Economic Development Administration to the Blytheville-Gosnell Regional Airport Authority to create a 35,000 square foot mail sort facility out of one of the former hangars at Eaker Air Force Base. This will help create more than 350 new jobs. It will create more than 350 new jobs and protect some that are already there.

Finally, we're expanding trade opportunities in the region by opening a Commerce Department rural export office at Mid-South Community College to help east Arkansas businesses take advantage of export opportunities through E-commerce. This is no idle thing. I was out in Los Angeles the other day, and I went to a training facility where a young man was in a program buying and selling things in South America, in Russia, and you wouldn't believe where else. In this poor inner-city neighborhood, he was making a living. He established a business identifying people in other countries that needed to buy things and identifying people in third countries who had them, and putting them together.