September 2, 1992 PRESIDENT BUSH: MEETING THE NEEDS OF AMERICA'S WOMEN President Bush is deeply concerned about the stresses that are undermining the American family, and with regard to America's women, creating economic insecurity. The President's domestic initiatives are promoting American women's economic security -- giving them new opportunities to pursue professional goals, new incentives to save and invest for the future, and new choices in child and health care. Providing Economic Security o To ease the cost of raising a child and to make real the dream of home ownership the President is fighting for a $500 increase in the per child personal exemption, and creation of a $5,000 tax credit for first-time home-buyers. o Currently 32% of all small businesses are owned by women; there are now about 6 million women-owned businesses, up from 4.1 million in 1986. To help these women entrepreneurs, the President has proposed a cut in the capital gains tax rate and creation of an investment tax allowance. Also, the Bush Administration is expanding technical and export assistance to small business owners, including women. o To help women in the workplace, the President's job training reforms will provide vouchers for skills retraining, and lines of credit and loan eligibility for part-time workers or older women who want to improve their skills while continuing to work. o While keeping the government's commitment to maintain a strong Social Security system, the President has proposed to increase the amount of money seniors can earn while receiving benefits. This will encourage many senior women to take part-time jobs and continue to be productive, improving at the same time their financial security and their independence. Strengthening the Family The President's initiatives to strengthen the family will give working mothers, and those women who choose not to work, new choices in determining their children's futures and new assistance to make those choices real and affordable. The President has: o Fought for and won a landmark Child Care Act that preserves parents' ability to choose their child's care. Democrats had pushed a bill that would have subjected "informal care arrangements" -- care offered by friends, relatives, and religious organizations -- to federal licensing requirements. The President also provided economic help in the form of tax credits to low- and middle-income Americans to make choice in child care affordable. o Increased child support enforcement, recovering $6.9 billion in support payments in 1991, more than double what was recovered in 1986. The Bush Administration has also expanded coordination of wage withholding and parental locator activities. o Proposed new legislation allowing families on welfare to save more before becoming ineligible for welfare to increase the chance that they will stay off welfare permanently. Increasing Access to Jobs President Bush recognizes the varied and unique contributions women are making to American society -- from business, to politics, to the home. The President has increased appointments of women in his Administration to record levels, and, through the Labor Department's Glass Ceiling Initiative, is working to improve public awareness of unfair barriers to women's professional advancement. The President has: o Signed the Civil Rights Act of 1991, which provides new remedies for employment discrimination. o Appointed more women in his administration than any previous President. He has appointed nearly 3000 women to positions in the government, including 699 to executive positions, 356 (or more than one-fifth) to senior policy-making positions, and 53 women to the Federal Bench. All told, the President has appointed women to 42% of all full-time government positions, on target with women's share of the U.S. executive, managerial, and administrative workforce. o Established a Glass Ceiling Initiative to address barriers that keep women from achieving parity at the senior executive level in business. Promoting Women's Health The President's health care reform plan will cure the major problems with the present system -- access and affordability -- while preserving the high quality of care Americans now enjoy. The President has also increased federal resources to meet women's special health needs. President Bush has: o Proposed affordable, accessible health care for all Americans using direct tax credits and deductions. o Created the Women's Health Initiative to study women's special health problems related to cancer, heart disease, stroke and osteoporosis; requested funding is $45 million in FY 1993, up 80% from FY 1992. o Increased the federal government's commitment to combatting and detecting breast, ovarian and cervical cancer. The President has requested an increase in funding for breast and cervical cancer screening to $515 million -- the highest level ever, and more than double funding during FY 1991. o Expanded the Women, Infants, and Children Program which provides nutritional and prenatal support to low-income women and their children. o Provided, through his Healthy Start Initiative, health care services that are reducing infant mortality rates in high-risk communities. o Appointed women to top health care posts: U.S. Surgeon General and Director of the National Institutes of Health. # # #