19 July 1999 thru 11 July 1999

(These are national news stories that I have found and clipped to post here for your information. Follow the "next" image thru the archives to 11 June 1999)

Rapid Choice, Inc. and Pegasus Satellite Television Team up to Help Pine Ridge Reservation Tornado Victims

19-JUL-99

RAPID CITY, S.D.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 19, 1999--When recent storms ravaged areas of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Rapid Choice, Inc. and Pegasus Satellite Television knew residents needed help. This week, the two companies announced a program designed to replace lost or damaged satellite systems for free for affected storm victims.

Pegasus, the nation's largest independent provider of DIRECTV(R), will provide free replacement DIRECTV Systems to residents with lost or destroyed satellite equipment. In addition, Rapid Choice, Inc., an authorized Pegasus dealer in Shannon County and the surrounding areas, will coordinate replacement efforts and provide free installation to all qualifying residents.

"We want to do whatever we can to help with the recovery efforts," said John Di Dio, Senior Vice President of Pegasus Satellite Television, which is headquartered in Marlborough, MA. "Both Pegasus and Rapid Choice recognize the impact of such natural disasters. By providing replacement equipment to victims free of charge, we hope to speed up the recovery effort and help people regain some sort of normalcy in their lives."

As a community based business, Rapid Choice, Inc. knows first hand the devastation caused in the area. "From the day this happened, we wanted to help the community and give back to all the residents who have supported the business over the years," said Bill Teevens, owner of Rapid Choice, Inc., which is located in Rapid City.

For additional information, storm victims whose satellite television equipment was lost or damaged should contact Rapid Choice, Inc by calling (888) 441-7233. Representatives are available to assist with replacement efforts for qualifying residents.

Established in 1994, Pegasus Satellite Television is a wholly owned subsidiary of Pegasus Communications Corporation. Pegasus Communications Corporation is one of the fastest growing media companies in the United States. In DBS, Pegasus Satellite Television is the largest independent provider of DIRECTV serving in excess of 550,000 DBS subscribers in 36 states, after giving effect to pending acquisitions. In TV, Pegasus Broadcast Television operates and programs ten TV stations affiliated with FOX, UPN and the WB, giving effect to the pending launch of one TV station. Pegasus also operates a cable system in Puerto Rico. Visit Pegasus Satellite Television on the World Wide Web at www.pegsattv.com. Visit Pegasus Communications Corporation at www.pgtv.com. --30--mb/bos* CONTACT: Pegasus Satellite Television Rapid Choice, Inc.

Anita M. Dorf Bill Teevens

The White House: Remarks by the President on Health Care

13-JUL-99

JUL 13, 1999, M2 Communications - Harbor-UCLA Medical Center Torrance, California

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Well, good morning, and I want to thank Tecla Mickoseff for welcoming us here to Harbor-UCLA. Thank you, Ethel, for your powerful statement out of your personal experience. I want to thank my old friend, Jack Lewin, for, as usual, making the case. We're used to being in fights where the evidence is overcome by political power. (Laughter.) But we're determined to reverse it in this case.


I want to thank Congresswoman Juanita

Millender-McDonald; my friends, Ev Gerisloski (phonetic) and Yvonne Burke, and the mayors and other local officials who are here. I thank the leaders of the health care groups that are here, both consumers and providers. Thank you, Reverend Jackson, for coming. We're glad to see you this morning. (Applause.)

I have a couple of things I want to say about health care and about how this patients' bill of rights issue fits into our larger responsibilities to deal with the health of the American people. I have just finished a trip across our country, from Appalachia to the Mississippi Delta to the Pine Ridge Indian reservation to inner-city neighborhoods in East St. Louis, Illinois, South Phoenix and Los Angeles. The purpose of this was to shine a spotlight on the opportunity which exists in areas that our prosperity has completely passed by.

It was a remarkable four days, and I came in contact with all the health issues that you would be concerned about in the process of pushing an economic agenda. For one thing, when we left Washington and arrived in Appalachia, and arrived in the Mississippi Delta, and arrived in East St. Louis, and arrived in Phoenix, in all those places it was 100 degrees. (Laughter.) It was cool in Dakota when we got there at night, but the next day it was a mere 94.

And I'm very worried, I must say -- I want to say this today -- I've been very concerned because a lot of poor people depend upon the LIHEAP program -- the Low Income Health Assistance program, to pay for air-conditioning or get fans in the summertime. And I have, today, directed the appropriate people in our federal government to expedite the analysis we're required to do about the effects of the recent heat wave on the need for emergency assistance under this program. We could lose a lot of people who won't even get to the emergency room if we don't do it. So I do want you to know that I hope the message will go across the country to the places I visited and the other places that we know this is going to be a problem. (Applause.)

When we went on this tour we saw an awful lot of problems, and we saw a lot of promise -- enough promise to convince us all that we actually can succeed in building a bridge to the 21st century that all Americans can walk across. When we give economic opportunity to all, we're helping to build that bridge. When we give all of our kids a world-class education, we're helping to build that bridge. When we're dealing with health care challenges, we're helping to build that bridge.

Jack mentioned the Medicare proposal that I have made to stabilize the Medicare trust fund until 2027, provide a prescription drug benefit that we can afford, and provide much more preventive services, which I think are very, very important.

Now, how does the patients' bill of rights fit into all of this? I feel in a way that I have a special right, if you will, to advocate for this bill because I have defended the role of managed care in our health care system for years. When I became President, health costs had been going up at three times the rate of inflation for many years. And all of us knew it was totally unsustainable, that eventually, if it kept going up at three times the rate of inflation, we'd be spending all our money on health care.

We all knew that was completely unsustainable, and that there was nothing wrong with managing a system properly so that you could, at the lowest possible cost, achieve the objective, which was the highest possible quality of health care. And, yes, at the margins there will always be tough decisions, but fundamentally, no one who both believes in the American health care system and the professionals who provide that health care, and who believes in proper management, believes you should sacrifice basic quality of care to the decision made by an accountant to make the bottom line of an HMO bigger.

The purpose of managed care is to enhance quality of care by making it as affordable as possible, not to undermine quality of care by making the people who provide managed care as profitable as possible. And it's very important -- (applause.)

So, as has already been pointed out, I ask the Congress a year and a half ago to pass a strong enforceable patients' bill of rights, with all the things you've heard about -- the right to see a specialist, the right to emergency room care at the nearest emergency room, the right not to have to change health care providers in the middle of treatment, the right to enforce accountability for harmful decisions. And I have used my authority as President, as you said, not only to cover by executive order those people on Medicare with the protections of the patients' bill of rights, but also those people on Medicaid, those people served by the Veterans Administration, and the people in the federal health insurance plan, the federal employees and their families.

And I want to just tell you that we actually now have some experience with the patients' bill of rights. You know, the HMOs say, well, this all sounds very good, but we can't afford it, and if you -- and they always try to make you think only of yourself, your healthy self -- if you, your healthy self -- (laughter) -- who never gets sick, but has to pay health insurance, give these patients' bill of rights to them, all those sick people, you, your healthy self, will have to pay more for health insurance, and oh, how terrible it will be. That's their argument, right?

Well, we actually have done this now, and we have evidence -- and sometimes evidence overcomes interest groups in Washington, so let's talk about the evidence. Our evidence is that when we put the patients' bill of rights into the federal employees health plan, it raised the cost of health insurance -- by less than a dollar a month.

Now, I'm going to go over this one more time. You've already heard -- I'm going to go over it one more time, and I'm going to ask every American if he or she wouldn't be willing to pay something in that range on the off-chance that their healthy self might not always be that way, and out of a genuine concern for our fellow citizens and an understanding that the wealth and power and strength and quality of life of our country depends in no small measure on the continued advances in the health of all Americans. (Applause.)

And, yes, some states have done some things in this area. But until Congress acts, there will be more than 100 million Americans who won't have these full protections. I can only give it to 85 million by executive order. So next week, at long last, the Senate is going to take this up. I'll say more about that in a moment, but thank goodness, the Senate finally is going to take this up.

Last year -- all year the leaders of the Senate kept us from bringing the bill up. And there's a good reason why they did -- they're not for it, but they know they can't afford to be caught being against it. (Laughter.) We have 200 -- 200 plus medical and consumer groups are for the patients' bill of rights. The American Medical Association has allies it has never had before. (Laughter.) This is a very big tent.

And there is only one group on the other side, the health insurers. It's 200 to one, but the one is a big one, and so far has had enough support in the majority party in the House and the Senate to keep this from coming up.

But if you go out in the country, I have said this over and over and over again, if you go out in the country, this is not a partisan issue, because Republicans get sick just like Democrats. Even stubborn independents sometimes get sick. (Laughter.) And when you walk into the emergency room -- I would really like to know whether she's got a form she fills out in the emergency room that has a check for political party. (Laughter.)

Now, before I give you this medicine, are you a conservative or a liberal? (Laughter.) You know, we're laughing about this, but it makes a very important point. This is not a partisan issue, this is not even a philosophical issue, not anywhere in the wide world but Washington, D.C.

If you explained all the options to all the people in all the communities of this country, I promise you over 70 percent of Republicans, Democrats, and independents -- you know, when you got above those stratospheric numbers, maybe there would be some partisan difference -- but you'd have over 70 percent of all groups for this. How can it be -- how can it be that for over a year the American people have been deprived of even a full debate on this in the United States Senate?

Well, as I learned and Jack learned back in 1993 and '94, these folks have a lot of clout. But let's forget about the politics and look at the facts. I want to run through this -- look at this chart over here. I wish every American could just have this chart at home. If I had the ability through the Internet to send this to every American I would do it.

Our plan says, if you need to see a specialist, you can't be denied the right to see a specialist. Their plan doesn't give you that right. Our plan says, if you get hit driving out of this event today, on a hot Saturday morning in Los Angeles, you ought to be able to go to the nearest emergency room, not show up there and be told you've got to drive 25 miles to one that your plan covers. This is a real issue, as you know.

Our plans says -- and I was so glad to hear you mention this -- that if you're being treated with chemotherapy or if you're six months pregnant and your employer changes providers, you should be able to stay with the physicians that are treating you until the treatment is completed. Hugely important issue that most Americans are not aware of. (Applause.)

Our plan assures HMO accountants don't make arbitrary medical decisions. Now, let me just say, I've listened to a lot of stories about this. I've done a lot of research on this. A lot of times the HMO decision-making tree, you finally get high enough to get a doctor who makes the right decision and it's too late.

And I've said this over and over again -- I'm actually sympathetic with a lot of people at the first line of decision-making in the HMO. Why? They're not doctors and they're never going to get in trouble with the company for saying no. Right? They know -- I'm sympathetic with them. A lot of them, they're making a modest income, they're looking forward to their Christmas bonus, they want to please their employer like we all do. You're my employer -- I want to please you. (Laughter.) We're all like that. And these young people who are working in these companies, they know they are not going to get in trouble from saying no, because they know if they say no, the decision can always be kicked upstairs -- and maybe it's three levels upstairs, but eventually, somebody who actually understands this is going to make a decision. And if they say yes, they won't get in trouble for having said no, but, ah, if they say yes, and somebody above them says, you should have said no, they can get in a world of trouble.

So we try to fix that here and change the incentive so that there is no institutional bias to deny quality care. Should the health plans be held accountable? I think so. The framers of the Constitution understand that a right without a remedy is not a right at all. And should they cover all health plans? Absolutely. The other bill leaves out 100 million folks.

So that's what this is about. The "yeses" and the "nos." It simple evidence. It's about how people live. And, yes, the health insurance association may have some of its profit margin squeezed. And, yes, they may have to have modest increases, like we did -- the federal employees health plan -- I'll tell you it's less than a buck a month for a policy. That's what our experience is. But isn't it worth it to allow the system to work? To keep the benefits of managed care without having to shoulder these enormous burdens, these heartbreaking burdens. I don't know how many people I have seen -- I've seen nurses who work for doctors in their offices who have to make the calls to the HMOs to get told no break down and cry, telling me stories of people that they couldn't take care of. You know, these are not just isolated anecdotes. This is a systematic problem in American health care. And once we fix it, all the people will be happy -- the HMOs will do just fine and they'll be happy we did. And people will wonder what in the wide world we were doing all those years not providing these basic protections.

Think of how you'd feel if you were a doctor, you'd spend all those years going to medical school, all those years in residency, you go all those years without any sleep, and you're finally out there giving health care and all of a sudden you're told, here's a straight-jacket we'd like you to wear to work every day and still figure out how to make these people well. I mean, this is a big, big, big issue. And it should not be played out in a partisan political or special interest atmosphere.

Shouldn't we err on the side of health? What are we afraid of? (Applause.)

I saw today an amusing article in the paper which said that the leaders of the majority party had decided that instead of bringing up their bill and having to deal with 20 of our amendments, which would put people -- force them to put their members on record being against these things, they would bring up our bill and just beat it, in the hope that then there would be no specific record of accountability.

I thought to myself, what kind of a weird world am I living in? If this was just about something we had an emotional opinion about and we were on different sides, I would think that would be a clever thing to do and that's just politics. This is not whether you've got an emotional thing, this is about whether some people live and some people die. This is about whether people get well, or they don't. This is about whether people feel at least comfort when they're dealing with the challenges of life, or they're just knotted in anxiety all the time.

This is about all these doctors, these nurses, these health care professionals wake up every day happy to go to work because they think they're going to be able to do their job, or they're waiting for the other shoe to fall every single day because somebody is trying to strangle their ability to make decent decisions. This is, in other words, not a typical political decision. This is about life and the quality of life, and the fundamental decency of our society.

We should err on the side of humanity. We should err on the side of quality health care. We have evidence now from our own experience that we can well afford to do this. And this is an idea whose time has long since come.

So -- and there are members of Congress in the Republican Party, as well as the Democratic Party, who support this, who just want a chance to vote for it and bring the benefits of it to the American people.

You know, it's like anything else -- you can argue against anything on the grounds that it's not perfect. Well, if we never did anything because it wasn't perfect, we'd never do anything. And America wouldn't be here celebrating the 21st century. We wouldn't be around after 223 years. The Constitution wasn't perfect; it had to be amended.

So it is not an argument to vote against this bill that it might not be perfect, that there might be some unforeseen consequences that we might have to fix -- we take our cars to mechanics to fix things that aren't perfect, but we don't stop buying cars and go back to walking around. (Laughter.) I mean, none of these arguments make any sense at all.

We have to put people and principle and evidence ahead of raw political influence. Democracy has to work -- (applause.)

So, I thank you for being here. Remember, we're all preaching to the saved in this room today. Reach out to other members of Congress. Send a note or an e-mail today or Monday morning to every House member that represents anywhere around here, and both your senators are for this bill -- that's great. Send it to senators from other states. Give people a chance to do the right thing. Tell them what's at stake.

If people will listen to their hearts and their heads, we'll prevail next week. Thank you and God bless you.

First Americans Mortgage Corporation Pushes Ahead with George K. Baum Company Partnership

13-JUL-99

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., July 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Dustan R. Shepherd, president of First Americans Mortgage Corporation (FAMC), a subsidiary of AmeriResource Technologies, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: ARET), announced today that the company will utilize their Native American loan delivery system to assist George K. Baum & Company in originating their commitment announced last week by President Clinton during his visit to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. George K. Baum & Company and Bank One Capital Markets committed to underwriting $1.5 billion in residential loan financing over the next five years. FAMC and Baum entered into a strategic alliance on May 20 to deliver residential loan programs to Native American home buyers and tribal governments.

John Urbina, Senior Vice President, George K. Baum & Company, commented, "The President's comments last week were an important endorsement to our efforts to bring affordable housing to Indian Country. We will continue to work jointly with FAMC to make the vision of home ownership a reality for Native Americans."

Shepherd said, "Baum's commitment to issuing bonds in Indian Country is unprecedented, at no time in the history of this country has an investment banking firm made such a sizable pledge toward Native American housing. FAMC is proud to be associated with a firm with such a strong financial and social constitution." Shepherd continued, "The two companies have already conducted a joint presentation in New Mexico and have plans for additional presentations later this month in North Dakota. FAMC is currently developing a section on our website dedicated to tribal economic and housing development, and our partnership with Baum will be the first highlighted project. It should be noted that Baum's recently announced commitment will focus on home ownership, however, the two companies will also explore developing financing mechanisms for single and multifamily rental, equity financing for tax credit projects and construction period and infrastructure financing."

The release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risk and uncertainties, including with limitations, continued acceptance of the company's products and services, increased levels of competition, new products and technological changes, the Company's dependency on financing third party supplies and intellectual property rights, and other risks detailed from time- to-time in the company's federal filings, annual reports, offering memorandums or prospectus. SOURCE AmeriResource Technologies, Inc.

-0- 07/13/99

/CONTACT: Dustan Shepherd or Delmar Janovec of AmeriResource Technologies, Inc., 913-385-FAMC, or 913-341-ARET/

/Web site: http://www.nativeamericanlender.com /

(ARET) CO: AmeriResource Technologies, Inc.; George K. Baum & Company ST: Nevada, Kansas IN: FIN SU:

The White House: Vice President Gore Awards More than $200 Million for Clean Rural Water Projects

13-JUL-99

JUL 13, 1999, M2 Communications - Washington, DC -- Vice President Al Gore today awarded nearly $200 million in loans and grants for over 100 safe drinking water projects in 40 states.

The funds bolster the Administration's New Markets initiative, designed to help low-income communities share in the unprecedented prosperity most parts of the country are currently enjoying.

"These grants are another example of how we can continue to grow our economy without endangering our environment. The need for clean water is not only a critical public health issue, it is also a key factor in promoting rural economic development," the Vice President said. "Without safe, reliable drinking water, no community can attract the new businesses needed to provide America's families with good-paying jobs."

The U.S. Department of Agriculture awards target rural communities plagued by some of the nation's worst water quality and dependability problems. Children and the elderly are at particular risk from illnesses caused by unclean drinking water. The Administration's Water 2000 Initiative, launched in August 1994, has already invested in projects to improve drinking water for more than 2.8 million Americans.

The loans and grants announced today include:

$24 million for 12 projects serving low-income, rural towns in Appalachia;

$13.7 million for seven projects in seven Empowerment Zones or Enterprise Communities;

$12.3 million for impoverished colonias in four Southwest states; and

$7.2 million for five projects in impoverished Mississippi Delta communities.

President Clinton also announced $16 million for Water 2000 projects on American Indian tribal lands and Alaska Native villages in 8 states, including two projects on the Pine Ridge Reservation last week.

Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said, "USDA's financial assistance will leverage more than $75 million from local water districts, county governments, state agencies, and other federal sources." Since 1994, USDA has invested nearly $2 billion in Water 2000 projects in more than 1,600 rural communities nationwide.

At least 2 million rural Americans live with critical drinking water quality and availability problems, including an estimated 740,000 people who have no running water in their homes. An estimated 5 million additional rural residents are affected by less critical, but still significant, water-related difficulties. These include undersized or poorly protected water sources, a lack of adequate storage facilities, and antiquated distribution systems.

(C)1994-99 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

Gore Awards More than $200 Million for Clean Rural Water Projects

12-JUL-99

WASHINGTON, July 12 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Vice President Gore today awarded nearly $200 million in loans and grants for over 100 safe drinking water projects in 40 states.

The funds bolster the Administration's New Markets initiative, designed to help low-income communities share in the unprecedented prosperity most parts of the country are currently enjoying.

"These grants are another example of how we can continue to grow our economy without endangering our environment. The need for clean water is not only a critical public health issue, it is also a key factor in promoting rural economic development," the Vice President said. "Without safe, reliable drinking water, no community can attract the new businesses needed to provide America's families with good-paying jobs."

The U.S. Department of Agriculture awards target rural communities plagued by some of the nation's worst water quality and dependability problems. Children and the elderly are at particular risk from illnesses caused by unclean drinking water. The Administration's Water 2000 Initiative, launched in August 1994, has already invested in projects to improve drinking water for more than 2.8 million Americans.

The loans and grants announced today include:

-- $24 million for 12 projects serving low-income, rural towns in
Appalachia;

-- $13.7 million for seven projects in seven Empowerment Zones or
Enterprise Communities;

-- $12.3 million for impoverished colonias in four Southwest states;
and

-- $7.2 million for five projects in impoverished Mississippi Delta
communities.

President Clinton also announced $16 million for Water 2000 projects on American Indian tribal lands and Alaska Native villages in 8 states, including two projects on the Pine Ridge Reservation last week.

Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said, "USDA's financial assistance will leverage more than $75 million from local water districts, county governments, state agencies, and other federal sources." Since 1994, USDA has invested nearly $2 billion in Water 2000 projects in more than 1,600 rural communities nationwide.

At least 2 million rural Americans live with critical drinking water quality and availability problems, including an estimated 740,000 people who have no running water in their homes. An estimated 5 million additional rural residents are affected by less critical, but still significant, water-related difficulties. These include undersized or poorly protected water sources, a lack of adequate storage facilities, and antiquated distribution systems.

Rmic Initiates Financial Management Curriculum at Pine Ridge

12-JUL-99

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., July 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Republic Mortgage Insurance Company (RMIC) has committed funds and support to a Financial Management Curriculum for ninth grade and community college students at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The program is part of President Clinton''s "New Markets Initiative," which is intended to challenge corporate America to leverage resources to help underserved communities.

RMIC's announcement was made at the recently concluded Shared Visions Native American Homeownership and Economic Development Summit, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and held at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Pine Ridge, South Dakota. The event featured a visit and speech on homeownership and economic development by President Clinton.

"As part of the mortgage finance industry, we at RMIC realize financial education is the foundation for success of individuals, companies and society," said Bill Simpson, president and CEO of RMIC. "This foundation must be developed at a young age, not just when customers fill out their first loan application. Today's students are tomorrow's home buyers and young people need sound credit education and experience when they buy a home. Teaching high school students to manage their personal finances will give them a strong foundation as homebuyers and as successful adults."

RMIC will donate textbooks and provide instructor training to establish the curriculum for 1,000 students a year at the ninth grade level. RMIC will also establish and support the program for 1,000 students a year in the Tribal Community Colleges for the next five years, to accommodate students who will not have the chance to participate in the ninth grade program.

The curriculum is based on the textbook How Chuck Taylor Got What He Wanted (and how you can, too!). The Chuck Taylor textbook was written by William F. Staats, Professor of Banking and Finance at Louisiana State University, and E.D. Sledge, president of the Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The book chronicles the financial adventures -- and occasional misadventures -- of fictional teenager Chuck Taylor, his family and his friends. Using Chuck's story as a narrative that begins and ends each chapter, the textbook explores money management fundamentals including free enterprise, establishing realistic financial goals, buying and financing "big ticket" items such as a home or a car, using credit cards and learning the value of insurance.

Based on success of the Pine Ridge program, RMIC plans to expand the program to Reservations nationally and will seek local co-sponsors. To date, RMIC has funded the donation of more than 15,000 books into schools in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia to help establish basic financial instruction at the high school level.

RMIC is a national private mortgage insurer based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. RMIC offers mortgage lenders an array of innovative products including ZIP(R) Monthlies, OASIS(R) Contract Underwriting, Secondary Marketing, Professional Training, Quality Control, and Affordable Housing Programs. For more information on RMIC, contact Pam Curtis at (800) 999-RMIC (7642), write RMIC, 190 Oak Plaza Blvd., Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27105 or visit RMIC's Internet site at www.rmic.com . SOURCE Republic Mortgage Insurance Company

-0- 7/12/99

/CONTACT: Pam Curtis of Republic Mortgage Insurance Company, 800-999-RMIC -7642, or email, pam_curtis@rmic.com .

/Web site: http://www.rmic.com / CO: Republic Mortgage Insurance Company ST: North Carolina IN: INS FIN EDU RLT SU:

The White House: Remarks by the President to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation Community

12-JUL-99

JUL 12, 1999, M2 Communications - Pine Ridge, South Dakota

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you to all of you here from Pine Ridge and all the other tribal leaders who are here for HUD's Shared Vision Conference. I am profoundly honored to be in Pine Ridge and in the Lakota Nation. In fact, to try to demonstrate my appreciation and respect, I would like to try -- to try to say something in Lakota. (Applause.) Mitakuye Oyasin. (Applause.)

My neighbors, my friends, we are all related. (Applause.) Consider those who have come here today to join hands with you, along with Secretary Cuomo, Secretary Glickman, your great congressional delegation, our Democratic leader, Tom Daschle in the United States Senate and Senator Johnson, Congressman Thune. You don't know this, but we have members of Congress from all over America who have come here to express their support and their commitment to join you in building a better tomorrow.

Congressman Ed Pastor from Arizona; Congressman Dale Kildee, from the state of Michigan; Congressman Jim Clyburn, from South Carolina; and Congressman Paul Kanjorski, from Pennsylvania, he has come all the way from Pennsylvania to be here. (Applause.)

I want to thank the other people from the administration, especially Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Kevin Gover and Lynn Cutler, in the White House, who work with all of our Native American leaders around America, for what they do. (Applause.) I want to thank the CEO of Fannie Mae, Frank Raines; the CEO of Northwest, Mark Omen; the PMI President, Roger Horton; Mortgage Bankers Association President Don Lang; Champion Homes CEO Walter Young -- for all the work that they are prepared to do in building a better future and they're here today. (Applause.)

I want to thank my good friend, Jesse Jackson, for never letting us forget our common obligations. (Applause.) I thank the other members of our delegation today -- Bart Harvey, from Enterprise; Al From, from the Democratic Leadership Council. I'd like to thank the young AmeriCorps volunteers who are here today for all the work they do. (Applause.)

I would like to finally say a word of appreciation to all the people who live here on this reservation, who welcomed me into their homes, who talked to me today as I walked down their streets. I thank especially Geraldine Bluebird, who Secretary Cuomo mentioned -- she let me sit on her porch and she told me how she tries to make ends meet for the 28 people that share her small home and the house trailer adjoining.

I thank the children who stopped their playing and shook hands with me and listened to me while I encouraged them to stay in school and to go onto college and to live out their dreams. (Applause.) I want to bring you greetings from two people who are not here -- first, from Vice President Gore, who has headed our empowerment zone effort that Pine Ridge became a part of today. (Applause.) And, second, just a little over an hour ago, I talked to the First Lady, and Hillary has spent more time in Indian Country than any First Lady in history. She is intensely committed to this effort, and she asked me to say hello to you. (Applause.)

President Saulway said today I was the only President ever to come to an Indian reservation for a nation to nation business meeting. I remember back in 1994, I invited all the tribal leaders in America to the White House, and it was the first such gathering since the presidency of James Monroe in the 1820s. Now, I know that Calvin Coolidge came to Pine Ridge in the 1920s, and that President Roosevelt visited another Native American reservation, but no American President has been anywhere in Indian Country since Franklin Roosevelt was President. That is wrong, and we're trying to fix it today. (Applause.)

I was profoundly moved by the pipe ceremony, just as I was when your congressional delegation took me last night not only to Mount Rushmore, but to the Crazy Horse Memorial, and to the museum that is there with it.

But I ask you today, even as we remember the past, to think more about the future. We know well what the failings of the present and the past are. We know well the imperfect relationship that the United States and its government has enjoyed with the tribal nations. But I have seen today not only poverty, but promise.

And I have seen enormous courage. I came here today for three reasons. First of all, to celebrate the empowerment zone and the housing projects that are going on here now. Second, to talk about my New Markets Initiative and what else we can do. But, third, with the business leaders who are here -- and I've already introduced them, but I'd like to ask the business leaders I just mentioned to stand up. We want to send a message to America that this is a good place to invest. Good people live here. Good people live in Indian country, they deserve a chance to go to work. (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you. (Applause.)

You've already heard President Saulway and Secretary Cuomo recite the statistics. It's a hot day out here and I know you're suffering in the sun. But I want to send a message to America. So I just want to say a few things, and I want you to think about this. Think about the irony of this. We are in the longest period of economic growth in peacetime in our history. (Applause.)

We have in America almost 19 million new jobs. We have the lowest unemployment rate ever recorded for African Americans and Hispanics. For over two years our country has had an unemployment rate below 5 percent. But here on this reservation, the unemployment rate is nearly 75 percent. That is wrong, and we have to do something to change it, and do it now. (Applause.)

When we are on the verge of a new century and a new millennium where people are celebrating the miracles of technology, and the world growing closer and closer together, and our ability to learn from and with each other and make business partnerships with each other all across our globe, and there are still reservations with few phones and no banks, when still three or four families are forced to share two simple rooms, where communities where Native Americans live have deadly disease and infant mortality rates at many times the national rate, when these things still persist, we cannot rest until we do better. And trying is not enough; we have to have results. We can do better. (Applause.)

Our nation will never have a better chance. When will we ever have this kind of opportunity where unemployment is low, inflation is low, there's a lot of money in our country, the value of our stock market has tripled and then some. Business people are looking for new places to invest, and people who have done well feel a moral obligation to try to help those who are less fortunate, who have not fully participated.

And we see it from Appalachia to the Mississippi Delta to the inner cities of our country, to the Native American communities. If we can't do this now, we will never get around to doing it. So let us give ourselves a gift for the 21st century -- an America where no one is left behind and everyone has a chance. (Applause.)

We will do our part. You have suffered from neglect, and you know that doesn't work. You have also suffered from the tyranny of patronizing inadequately funded government programs, and you know that doesn't work. We have tried to have a more respectful, more proper relationship with the tribal governments of this country to promote more genuine independence, but also to give more genuine support. And the empowerment zone program, as the Vice President and I designed it six years ago, is designed to treat all communities that way. We're not coming from Washington to tell you exactly what to do and how to do it, we're coming from Washington to ask you what you want to do, and tell you we will give you the tools and the support to get done what you want to do for your children and their future. (Applause.)

President Saulway and a number of tribal leaders came to me at the White House a couple of months ago. You may have heard in the national press that I repeatedly referred to this profoundly emotional meeting. I have given a great deal of thought to what was said then and what I heard now. We can do better. I would like to mention just a few specific things, for you have all heard years of pretty words.

There is no more crucial building block for a strong community and a promising future than a solid home. Today, I want to talk about a number of things the government and the private sector are going to do to increase homeownership. Our whole team visited those new homes that are being built not far from here. We talked to the families that are moving into those homes. I had a little boy take me through every room in the home, tell me exactly where every closet was, tell me what his sister's room had that he didn't have, and why it was all right, because she was older and she needed such things.

This is important. So what are we going to do? Private lenders, like Bank of America, Northwest, Bank One, Washington Mutual, are going to work with the Mortgage Bankers Association and HUD, to more than double the number of government-insured or guaranteed home mortgages in Indian country in each of the next three years. (Applause.)

Right here in Pine Ridge, Fannie Mae, under Frank Raines' leadership, has set aside millions of dollars to help you buy those homes at below-market rates. And they are spending hundreds of millions of dollars all across this country to help people just like you become homeowners for the first time. (Applause.) And Secretary Cuomo's Partnership for Housing is giving financial incentives and counseling to help families figure out how to actually get this done, how to buy their own homes and pay for them.

But, as I heard over and over today, even if we went in and tried to repair or rebuild or build new homes for every family here, and in every Indian community throughout the United States, we must have jobs if we want these communities to work. (Applause.) Adults need to have something to look forward to every morning when they get up. And if they want their kids to stay in school, and stay out of trouble, and look to tomorrow, their lives have to be evidence that looking to tomorrow pays off. It is appalling that we have the highest growth rate in peacetime in our history; that we have an unemployment rate below 5 percent for two years, and the unemployment rate on this hallowed reservation is almost 75 percent. That is appalling, and we can do better. (Applause.)

No community in America, can grow, however, without basic blocks. No community in America should be without safe running water and sewer systems. So the Department of Agriculture will put nearly $16 million in water projects throughout Indian country, including two right here in Pine Ridge, that will also help you get jobs, as well as improve the quality of life. (Applause.)

As you can see, in this Big Sky country, it is rather warm and it gets windy from time to time, as the Natives will attest. The Department of Energy will help you harness the power and profits of wind and solar energy, to save money and make money. (Applause.) Owens Corning and North American Steel Framing Alliance will provide skills training and the promise of quality jobs. And Citibank and Gateway Computer Company will work with Oglala Lakota College and other schools to help Native American students get the computer skills that will allow them to get 21st century jobs. (Applause.)

And our Federal Communications Commission will work with you to improve telephone service throughout Indian Country, an absolute prerequisite for getting any new business in here.

Let me just say that one of the things that we have learned is that the computer and the Internet make it possible for many people to do many kinds of work in any community, anywhere in the United States; indeed, increasingly, anywhere in the world. The fact that this reservation is a long way from an urban center would have been an absolute prohibitive barrier to a lot of economic development just 10 or 15 years ago.

The explosion of computer technology and the Internet, if you know how to use it and you know how to deliver for others with it, has literally made the distance barrier almost insignificant for many kinds of economic activity. So I want to implore you to use your tribal college and work with these companies and make the most of the skills they are offering, and we can get the jobs to come here once you can do them. (Applause.)

Finally, we must seize the vast potential of tourism right here in Pine Ridge by building a Lakota Sioux heritage cultural center. Every year, millions of families travel long, long distances to see Mt. Rushmore -- 2.7 million last year. The Crazy Horse Memorial, about a million and a half, even though only the head has been finished. The Crazy Horse Memorial last year had 1.5 million visitors; only the head has been finished. I went there late last night. And the Badlands National Park.

Now, if you look at that, you have to ask yourself: How can you have -- how many people, if you did everything right down here, if we built
this cultural center, of all the people that go to see Crazy Horse, of all the people that go to see Mt. Rushmore, of all the people that go to Badlands National Park, how many would come here. I'll tell you -- a whole lot. An enormous percentage, if you give them something to come and see. That is nothing more than the simple, profound, powerful story of your eloquent past and your present, of your skills and your heritage and your culture and your faith.

These commitments that we are making today are just the beginning. Thirty-one years ago this spring, Senator Robert Kennedy came to Pine Ridge. Many of you probably still remember that visit. Senator Kennedy, seeking medical care for his child, lying sick in the back of an abandoned car, refusing to sit and begin an important meeting until all of the tribal leaders had their proper seats.

You may remember his message of hope. Let me say that all across America, people were watching that. I have to say, on a purely personal note, one of the most touching things about this day for me is that the wife of our HUD Secretary is Robert Kennedy's daughter, and she is here today and this is a proud day. I'd like to ask her to stand. Kerry, please stand. Thank you. (Applause.)

We lost all those years. There were a lot of reasons, and a lot of things are better than they were 30 years ago. But this is the first time since the early 1960s when we had this kind of strong American economy, and we have no excuse for walking away from our responsibilities to the new markets of America.

I have asked the members of Congress to go back and pass legislation that will give major tax breaks and government-guaranteed loans to people who will put their money in Indian Country, to lower the risk of taking this chance. (Applause.) We are going to do everything we can to make your empowerment zone work. But remember -- there is nothing that we can do except to help you to realize your own dreams.

So I say to every tribal leader here: The name of the conference you are attending is Shared Visions. We must share the vision, and it must be, fundamentally, yours -- for your children and their future. If you will give us that vision and work with us, we will achieve it.

Thank you, and God bless you. (Applause.)

(C)1994-99 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

Transcript of Clinton Remarks in Jesse Jackson Interview

11-JUL-99

WASHINGTON, July 11 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following is a transcript of remarks by President Clinton in an interview with Reverend Jesse Jackson (1 of 2):

11:35 A.M. PDT

Q Welcome to Both Sides. Last week, there was a phenomenal mission across our nation, led by President Clinton. A kind of journey from Wall Street to Appalachia to the Delta, to Indian reservations, to Watts, to South Phoenix, across the country, building that bridge to share the wealth, the growth, the prosperity, called a New Markets Initiative.

This week, we have as our very special guest, our esteemed Mr. President, President Bill Clinton. Welcome.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.

Q In this trip last week -- Hazard, Kentucky; Appalachia, the Delta, East St. Louis, Pine Ridge Indian reservation, South Phoenix, Watts, Anaheim -- what stuck out in your mind the most?

THE PRESIDENT: That in all those places where our prosperity has not reached, there are good people, smart people, people with dreams and good opportunities for American business. This is a moment when we can do what is morally right, to give everybody a chance to walk into the 21st century together, and do it in a way that will actually be good for the American economy and good for the people who invest there.

Q They've missed this booming prosperity. Is something wrong with the people?

THE PRESIDENT: I wouldn't say something's wrong with the people. A lot of them don't have as much education as they need and that's a part of our strategy to do better, and they're going to have to have specific job training skills. But what happened is that all these places either never had a self-supporting economy or the basis of economic life, which once was there, moved away and nothing was ever brought in to replace it. And now, we've got a chance just to keep our own economy going -- just to keep our own economy going with no inflation, we have a chance to bring investment to these areas, put these people to work, give them better lives, and in the process help everyone else in America.

Q But last week, there were Republican and Democratic congresspeople on the trip. There were corporate business leaders, Democratic and Republican.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes.

Q They seem to have found a common accord on this idea of new markets. The War on Poverty seemed to -- would have been divisive -- poverty, reaction; affirmative action -- division, reaction. But new markets seem to have bound Appalachia and Delta, black, white, red. What's kind of magic about this notion of New Markets Initiative?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, first of all, it's not charity. It's a hand up, not a handout. Secondly, the people who are being asked to invest in these new markets should do so with the expectation that they will actually make a profit out of it, that by helping people in areas which haven't participated in this prosperity. By starting businesses, giving people jobs, having these job training programs, they'll actually make money.

Q So it's a kind of war for profits, not just a war on poverty?

THE PRESIDENT: That's right.

Q And, therefore, you incentivize broadening the base of investment.

THE PRESIDENT: We're not asking anybody to do anything that isn't a good business decision. It's a good business decision. And that's one of the things -- you know, we saw that everywhere. Everyplace we went -- do you remember that little -- that first place we visited in
Appalachia, a guy starts out with 40 employees; a few years later, he's got 850. And, yes, you know, Appalachia's fairly isolated, but he makes those parts and those various component electronic parts and he's got 850 people. He's fixing to expand again because of the incentives that he has in our empowerment zone program that the Vice President's run for us for the last six years. That's the kind of thing we want to go nationwide with.

We believe if we give, in the New Markets Initiative, if we give the same tax credits and loan guarantees to Americans to invest in America's new markets, we give them to invest in new markets in Africa, Latin America, Asia or the Caribbean, that our people will do very well.

Q You take, for example, the black and brown market alone is maybe $800 billion in consumer power. How has corporate America -- what has been missing? How have they missed these markets -- markets, money, talent, right under their noses?

THE PRESIDENT: I think there are two reasons. I think, first of all, they've been doing very well by doing what they're used to doing and expanding in ways they're used to expanding, so our economy's grown quite a lot in the last six years --

Q Even though they've missed markets?

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, by taking the nearest thing at hand, the thing they're used to doing. Secondly, I think that there is something that the economists would call in purely economic terms, imperfect knowledge. That is, I think that a lot of people really don't know how well they could do if they gave people in inner-city America, in rural America a chance. I think they just don't know, which is one reason that it was so important that these business leaders went on the trip. You know, remember, when we started out, the Chief CEO of Aetna Life Insurance Company said, you know, I may not be happy about this, because I had this deal figured out; and now all my competitors are going to know there's money to be made out here.

Q So something about imperfect knowledge and our cultural blindness, we just don't even look toward those unexplored markets.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, when you see a place so depressed for so long, or you see the figures and the education levels low, or you look at the maps in and out of a place and you realize it's physically isolated, and you think, I've got all these other ways to make money that are near at hand, you don't get around to it. But now, the unemployment rate in America has been under five percent for two years. Everybody is wringing their hands, you know, from Wall Street out here to California about how can we keep this economic growth going without inflation. The answer is, invest in these places.

Q It's interesting in politics there's a zero sum game -- you have 435 Congress seats. You might change faces, but the seats don't change, and so it's forever tight and competitive. But in economic, inclusion leads to growth.

THE PRESIDENT: That's right.

Q And it seems that they have missed growth. In baseball, for example, we thought we had a great Major Leagues before we let Jackie Robinson and Cap Nell and Hank Aaron and Willy Mays in. But once they opened up the market, they now will go to Cuba, they'll go to the Dominican Republic and find Sammy Sosa, they'll go to Japan, the basketball team. Now, we'll go to Yugoslavia, go to Croatia -- that the baseball owners seem to have gotten it, the basketball owners seem to have gotten it. Now the rest of corporate America must get that inclusion leads to economic growth.

THE PRESIDENT: And the important thing in your sports analogy is that as we have broadened the pool of talent, we've had more teams. There are now more baseball teams than there used to be. There are more basketball teams than there used to be. More people get interested as you broaden the pool of talent and you get more people in. That's what is happening here.

So that if somebody invests in these new markets, they don't have to quit investing where they were. This is not a zero-sum game. You're right -- we'll just widen the circle of opportunity.

Q But why are they so much more likely, say, to invest in Indonesia, Taiwan, South Korea, Eastern Europe, than in Appalachia or East L.A., in South Phoenix? What is the incentive factor there?

THE PRESIDENT: I think that we look at Indonesia -- let's just take Indonesia. We look at Indonesia and we say, gosh, there's a market of 200 million people; it's the biggest Muslim country in the world, fairly moderate country historically, although they've had some problems lately, and we'll invest there and we'll sell to that market.

What we miss in America is that if you put people who are unemployed to work in distressed areas, you create a new market first. Second, as you just pointed out, even in places with very high unemployment, if you go into an inner-city neighborhood with 15 percent unemployment, that's high. That's three times the national average plus. That still means 85 percent of the people are working there, they've got money to spend. In almost every city in America in the inner city areas, the people have more money to spend than they can spend in their neighborhoods.

Q That means breaking down stereotypes. For example, if you look at Hazard, Kentucky, you look at Watts, most poor people are not on welfare.

THE PRESIDENT: They're working.

Q They work every day, and most are not black or brown; they're white --


THE PRESIDENT: That's right.

Q -- female, young, invisible. So perhaps when you speak of markets, you kind of transcend the color, cultural barriers that divide and make people terribly anxious.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I think that's really important. One of the things that we've felt, I think all of us in this week is that -- like there in the Mississippi Delta, we were walking down the street in Clarksdale -- you've got an African American congressman and a white mayor, and
they're working together. I met in a store with an African American woman and a Chinese grocer who had been in that community for 40-plus years.

This is a way of bringing people together. It's about much more than money. It's about cementing a quality and fabric of life that is absolutely essential.

Q What is it about period that allowed this mission to go from Hazard, Kentucky, Appalachia to Clarksdale, Mississippi, to the reservation, and yet, there was no evidence of racial rancor or division? What was it about this period that allowed at least that body of people to look toward another agenda, another formation of problem-solving?

THE PRESIDENT: First of all, I think the American people, it's a great tribute to the people in those areas that they've kind of gotten beyond that. And they understand that if they can build a common economic framework, they can build a home together in their communities.

Secondly, I think the business leaders who went, the political leaders who went were genuinely intelligent, savvy and human people who saw that they could do the right thing and do very well.

Q You know, when you were speaking to the Native Americans in Pine Ridge and one of the corporate business leaders looked out and he saw the 7,000 people, and he said, I've always just seen Indian reservations, which meant something, but he said, now, I see two supermarkets. I see a car dealership, I see 7,000 people wearing clothes, I see a market -- he had never seen them as a market, he'd just seen them as Indians.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, and a lot of these people, if we put more stores, for example, in these Native American areas and hired the people there to work in the stores, then even in -- and they're the poorest parts of America, they have the highest unemployment rate -- but if you get their unemployment rate just down to 20 percent, then you have 80 percent of the people working and you make a whole market. So by creating the jobs, you create the market to buy the products that the jobs provide.

Q What I thought was kind of mystical to me, frankly, was when we left Appalachia and got to Memphis, and after we had eaten at the Blues Cafe and had big fun eating much too much --

THE PRESIDENT: We did that.

Q -- and you, on one of your sleepless nights, decided we were going to go to the Lorraine Motel, we went through this whole museum -- Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. We ended up the spot that Martin Luther King was killed. And there you stood, and we prayed, and there was a somber spirit.

But what struck me about it was that what you did this past week was to fulfill Dr. King's last great mission. He knew that slavery was the race gap, denial of public accommodations the race gap. We won that -- public accommodations bill -- the lack of the right to vote, the race gap.

We now argue that that was a resource gap, it was a North-South resource gap, not just a race gap. So his last great movement was to pull together people from Appalachia. Al Lowenstein, Jewish allies from New York, Hispanics from the farm workers, from Chavez. He pulled all these groups together and that was his last great mission, was to tour these areas to focus on a shared resource gap. So in some sense, this week, you've fulfilled that last leg of his journey.

THE PRESIDENT: If we can make that so, I would be very proud, because he was right about that. You know, it's funny how much time we lost as a country after he and Senator Kennedy were killed, because both of them were trying to -- I remember when Bobby Kennedy went to Appalachia, went to the Indian reservation in Pine Ridge in '68. They understood that the last shreds of our racial problems would be mired forever in our economic insecurities until everybody had a chance to make it. And now, our country has this phenomenal prosperity for which we are very grateful, but interestingly enough, it is becoming the enlightened self-interest of the investor community to keep this thing going to finally --

Q So profits, not fear.

THE PRESIDENT: That's right. Finally, to give all these folks a chance to play again.

Q Now that you have put the light on it, I mean, a presidential entourage creates that -- you put focus on America's under-served markets, its under-utilized talent, untapped capital. We saw in Clarksdale, Mississippi a man and his wife, both of whom are Stanford graduates, MIT engineers, graduates --

THE PRESIDENT: Yes.

Q -- selling McDonald's.

THE PRESIDENT: McDonald's, yes.

Q Very talented people, and that was -- they found a niche there. But now you put light. What must the Congress do to make this real? And then what must the business sectors -- we have focus, we need legislation and we need business -- what's the next two pieces?

THE PRESIDENT: Congress should do two things. First of all, they should fund the second round of these empowerment zones, because in the empowerment zones, we give special tax incentives for people to put business there and to hire people from there, and we give the communities extra money to educate and train people -- first thing. And the Vice President's done a great job of managing that program.

In addition to that, we have some more money for these community development banks. They give capital to first-time business people who couldn't get it other places. That's the first thing. The second thing that Congress should do is to pass the new markets legislation which, as I said, basically gives American businesses the same incentives to invest in poor areas, urban and rural, in America that we today give them to invest overseas.

Q What do we give them overseas?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, we give them tax credits, we give them loan guarantees, we give them other things to try to lower the cost of capital.

Q OPIC and the like?

THE PRESIDENT: Right. Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the Export-Import Bank.

Q So you propose APIC -- American Private Investment --

THE PRESIDENT: American Private Investment Companies, and here's how it would work.

Q Do you think it would pass, likely to pass?

THE PRESIDENT: I think so. I mean, the Republicans ought to love it because it's a tax incentive thing, you know, it's not a big government program. But here's how it would work. Suppose you and I were trying to build a shopping center development in East St. Louis where we visited, and suppose the costs of that were -- I'm making this up -- about $300 million, and suppose we could raise $100 million in capital.

Well, if we could do that, we could get a 25-percent tax credit with that $100 million investment, which takes our risk down to $75 million right off the bat. We've only got $75 million at risk, not $100 million. We could then go borrow the other $200 million from the bank with a government guarantee on the borrowing, which would dramatically cut the interest rates and save us another several million dollars over the life of the project.

Q So you've got tax incentive, investment incentive and loan guarantees and markets.

THE PRESIDENT: That's right. So, first of all, you've got a profit opportunity. We're not asking anybody for charity here. If there's no opportunity there, don't do it. But if there is an opportunity but you're worried a little about the risk, we will cut the relative risk of this investment as compared with others with the tax incentives and loan guarantees. It's a real good deal.

Q We've found in each of these markets invariably two new buildings, a new ball park and a new jail. In all of these schools where we visited, the schools were unwired. Those in the jails, 90 percent are high school dropouts, 92 percent are functionally illiterate. The question of lack of education can breed the crime thing.

Senator Bradley put an article in The Post this week about proposals to reduce guns. Just briefly, he says that we should ban the distribution and sale of Saturday Night Specials, registration for all 65 million handguns, a licensing and safety course for everyone who owns guns, ban gun dealers from selling guns in residential neighborhoods, insist on mandatory gun locks. Are these common-sense measures from your point of view?

THE PRESIDENT: Sure. You know, we've got the gun locks provision in the Congress and that still might pass. But I have said, we ought to have registration. We register our cars. If your car gets stolen while you're doing this interview with me, and somebody drives it halfway across the country and leaves it in a parking lot -- let's say in Lincoln, Nebraska -- and the police find it, as soon as you report your car stolen, it will go into an international computer system.

As soon as he, the person who finds your car in Lincoln, Nebraska, says, here, I've found this stolen car and here is the license plate and the registration, within 30 seconds, the local police in Chicago will be able to call you and say, Reverend Jackson, we found your car. And so, of course we should do these things.

Q So the drive to reduce easy access to guns and gun registration and gun education become factors in reducing the --

THE PRESIDENT: Yes. And I think it's interesting -- I think the NRA ought to support this. I don't think it's in their interest what they're doing, because nobody's trying to say we shouldn't have hunting and sport shooting, and if I were -- they never listen to me, obviously, but I used to work with them sometimes in Arkansas. One of the best things they ever did were their hunter education programs, and they really try to teach young people to safely use firearms -- why shouldn't we say if you're going to have a gun and you're a young person, you ought to be licensed and you ought to be taught how to use it, they would teach it.

Q But you don't hunt rabbit with AK-47s.

THE PRESIDENT: No, you don't. Well, we ought to ban those. You know, I'm in favor of getting rid of all that and all those big clips and all that kind of stuff. But if they have those guns, they ought to be able to use them. And NRA ought to be out there certifying teachers to teach them.

If somebody steals your gun, you ought to be able to find it, just like your car. Then the other thing I disagreed with them about, we ought to close the loophole on selling these guns at gun shows and flea markets in big cities so that the same background checks are done. These background checks work; we keep those guns out of the wrong hands by doing that.

Q In this dialogue, we've talked about all of the easy stuff -- I mean, how to wipe out poverty without wiping out the poor, how to begin to close the resource gap and the skills gap. Now, the ultimate question: Is Hillary going to run for the Senate? (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT: I honestly don't know. She's having the time of her life in New York this week and the people have been very good to her, and if she decides to do it, I will strongly support her in every way I can. She would be a fabulous senator if she decides to do it. I honestly don't know what she's going to do, but she's obviously interested in it. If the people of New York were to vote for her and elect her, she would be magnificent.

Q So you don't think the presidential issue will last in the heat of the campaign?

THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn't say that. I think that she believes that it's a legitimate issue; at least, she believes that if she presents herself as a candidate, she would have to demonstrate to the voters of New York that she understands the state, that she is capable of learning about all the local issues, that she cares about them as well as the big national things on which she and I spent our lives. And so that's why she's up there on her listening tour. And she's going to go back every week this summer.

Q How do you think she has done this week on her listening tour? Because she's had to do some talking while listening.

THE PRESIDENT: I come back at night from our tour, I'd come back at night and flip on the TV and see what she had done, and I think she's done really well. I'm really proud of her. If this is what she wants to do, I'm 100 percent for it.

Q When do you think she will decide?

THE PRESIDENT: I think she wants to complete this -- I think she at least wants to complete her summer schedule and listen to these folks and assess where she thinks it is. But I'm happy for her; it's a very exciting thing.

Q Let me say to you, I thank you for this interview. This trek around America was most historic this week because we measure our strength politically by following opinion polls, about how well Wall Street is doing, but you made the point over and over again that in the end, you measure character by how you treat the least of these. And your dissatisfaction with 15 million children in poverty and 40 million without health insurance, your discomfort level with the poverty-stricken is a great moral statement and challenge for all of us.

I hope that in this season that we can, in some bipartisan basis, move from the bickering racial battleground to economic common ground, a kind of -- I lived in Mississippi and saw whites and blacks on a shared economic security agenda, you know, patients' bill of rights and increased teacher pay and cut the infant mortality rates. I mean, it seemed that is -- this is a certain pregnant moment with possibility that all of us should seize.

THE PRESIDENT: You know, the thing that was so touching to me -- and we got out there in the country -- you know, there were a lot of Republicans with us as well as Democrats, and in these areas we went, we met a lot of Republicans as well as Democrats.

These issues, these sort of common ground economic issues, I don't think there are partisan issues out there in America. And if we can keep them from becoming a partisan issue in Washington, then I'm going to reach out to the leadership of the Republican Party in Congress next week to talk to them about this trip and ask them to help me pass something that will really make a difference out there.

Q So beyond the historic economic petitions and political petitions and racial petitions, you see this bridge building as ultimately your legacy -- building bridges to the under-served, the unutilized and the untapped.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes. I think that this country ought to go whole into the new century and we can't do it if not everybody has a chance to make a living, get an education.

Q Well, thank you, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you for going with me. You were fabulous.

Q Well, it was a great trip. It was the fulfillment of Dr. King's last mission. To me, it was mystical, it was delightful to see Americans find in their Americanness their common ground.

Thank you for watching a very special edition of Both Sides this week, to be with the President of the United States as he shares his vision as we unfold now from focus to legislation, to incentives, for the one big American tent, where all of us are under one big tent, many races, many faces, many places, but we have a common bond that makes us essentially people of goodwill and people of conscience.

See you this week -- another special edition with Both Sides, 5:30 p.m. Eastern. Keep hope alive.

END