' '
Black leaders applaud President's address
4 special to (he NNPA
Washington, D.C.- African
American leaders praised
President Bill Clinton for outlin
ing in his State of the Union
address an agenda relevant to the
needs of African Americans.
Rep. Maxine Waters, chair of
the Congressional Black Caucus,
welcomed the President's address.
, "We particularly applaud the
President's additional funding for
? civil rights enforcement. As we
.. look toward the future and what it
. holds for all Americans, we must
be diligent in our efforts to resolve
the discriminations of the past,'*
she said.
Dr. C. Del ores Tucker, a long
time civil rights leader and political
- activist, commended President
' Clinton for "remaining focused,
devoting considerable attention to
domestic issues, and ofTering a sub
stantive and progressive domestic
agenda."
Rep. John Conyers, the ranking
Democrat on the House Judiciary
Committee, said, "The President
impressed me by not allowing any
1 amount of allegations or excessive
media coverage to deter him from
carrying out the functions of his
job. His State of the Union address
, was a bold and daring challenge to
the Congress."
Rep. William L. Clay, leading
Democrat on the House Education
and Workforce Committee, said,
. "Once again the President is
. demonstrating his commitment to
* building world class public schools.
? These new initiatives will give par
ents, schools and teachers, power
- ful new tools to improve student
achievement. The President's agen
da stands in stark contrast to the
Republican Party's irresponsible
abandonment of America's public
' schools."
Rep. Cynthia McKinney
(, <
applauded the President's proposal
to provide new options for
America's seniors in obtaining
health insurance, for tackling
"another issue critical to America's
working families, that of afford
able child age," and his initiative on
education. "Clearly, the President
has a vision," the Congresswoman
said.
Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. lauded
President Clinton "for laying
before the American people a
record of achievement and a con
crcte plan of action for the future.
1 am particularly excited about the
President's initiative to raise the
minimum wage."
In his address. President
Clinton emphasized the following
points:
? "These are good times for
America. We have more than 14
million new jobs; the lowest unem
ployment in 24 years, the lowest
core inflation in 30 years, incomes
are rising and we have the highest
home ownership in history.
? "Crime has dropped for a
record five years in a row. and the
welfare rolls are at their lowest lev
els in 27 years. Our leadership in
the world is unrivaled. Ladies and
gentlemen, the state of our union
is strong.
? "In an economy that hon
ors opportunity, all Americans
must be able to reap the rewards of
prosperity. Because these times are
good, we can afford to take one
simple, sensible step to help mil
lions of workers struggling to pro
vide for their families. We should
raise the minimum wage.
? "I propose the first ever
national elTort to reduce class size
in the early grades. My balanced
budget will help to hire 100,000
new teachers who have passed the
state competency tests. Now with
these teachers, we'll actually be
able to reduce class size in the first,
second and third grades to an
average of 18 students a class
across America.
? "We still have a lot more
to do. all of us, to make welfare
reform a success, providing child
care, helping families move closer
to available jobs, challenging more
companies to join our
Welfare Work Partnership,
increasing child-support collec
tions from deadbcat parents who
have a duty to support their own
children.
K*v. Jmttim Jack ton
Kap. MM Watt
K*p. Maxinm Watmrt
Prmtidmnl Ml Clinton
Watt says he supports Clinton's goals
Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.) issued
the following statement, giving
his assessment of President
Clinton's State of the Union
Address:
President Clinton gave a
thoughtful and balanced speech
highlighting the current strength
of America's economy and out
lining the actions we should pur
sue to further improve the lives of
citizens across the country.
Although the president will sub
mit to Congress in 1999 the first
balanced budget in 30 years, he is
right to caution against spending
any budget surpluses until we'
make some long-term Social
Security reforms, To talk about a
tax cut, which would most likely
disproportionately benefit the
rich, before we assure that Social
Security recipients are protected
would, in my opinion, be irre
sponsible.
A few of the president's policy
initiatives struck me as very
important for my constituents:
? I support his proposal to
strengthen public schools and
public education across the coun
try by investing in school con
struction, reducing teacher-pupil
ration, encouraging the training
of more teachers and expanding
high-tech job training.
? I also think it is important to
expand access to child care by
using tax credits and targeted
subsidies for low-income parents
and it's especially important to
increase the number of after
school programs for school-age
children. Many problems occur in
our cdmmunities because young
people are unsupervised between
the end of the school day and the
time parents get home from work.
? 1 am especially excited about
President^Clinton's proposals to
invest in our cities. Urban areas
and inner city families would
surely benefit from more tax
incentives -to develop housing,
from establishing more empower
ment and homeownership zones
and from expanding community
development banks.
i ve launcnca this
national initiative on race to help
us recognize our common interests
and to bridge the opportunity gaps
that are keeping us from becoming
one America, l-et us begin by rec
ognizing what we still must over
come. Discrimination against any
American is un-American. We
must vigorously enforce the laws
that make it illegal. I ask your help
to end the backlog at the Equal
Employment Opportunity
Commission. Sixty thousand of
our fellow citizens are waiting in
line for justice, and we should act
now to end this wait.
"We should also recognize that
the greatest progress we can make
toward building one America lies
lb the progress we make for all
Americans, without regard to race.
When we open the doors of col
leges to all Americans, when we
rid all our streets of crime, when
there are jobs available to people
from all our neighborhoods, when
we make sure all parents have the
child care they need, we're helping
to build one nation.
Ulll ? ,? ? ? ? ? ? -? '
we in mis cnamoer ana in tms
government must do all we can to
address the continuing American
challenge to build one America.
But we'll only move forward if all
our fellow citizens, including every
one of you is also committed
to this cause.
"We must work together, learn
together, live together, serve
together. On the forge of common
enterprise, Americans of all back
grounds can hammer out a com
mon identity."
I
?I
NEW AND FURTHER REDUCTIONS!
i
LADIES'
Shoe Clearance!
DRESS ? CASUALS ? BOOTS ? BOOTIES
L,w25-50%
ORIG. s39-$100, NOW 19M i75 j
Dillard's
On seasonal clearance merchandise,
selection varies by store Extra discount not ~
applicable to prior sales Original prices are
those at which merchandise was first marked
in our store Intermediate markdowns may
have been taken
H
MEN'S
SHOE
CLEARANCE
ORIG. s70-s150, NOW *35-112#0
25-50?
? OPEN MON.-FRI. 9:30 AM-9:30 PM ' SAT 9 AM-9.30 PM ' SUN 10:00 AM-7:00 PM ?
Dillard's welcomes Dillard's charge. Visa. Mastered., Am Express. Diner's & Discover
m PHONE 659-1515 Wt