THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary _________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release anuary 19, 1995 PRESIDENT CLINTON'S RECORD OF ACCOMPLISHMENT ON THE TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF HIS INAUGURATION (Part 3) ***PROMISE: SPACE - Launch more ventures with Europe, Japan and Russia. STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Congress approved funding for the international space station. Signed US-Russia Space Launch Trade Agreement. ***PROMISE: SPACE - Maintain NASA's fleet of space shuttles. STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Reduced operational costs of shuttle fleet while continuing safe flight program. ***PROMISE: SPACE - Develop new, less costly launch systems. STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Presidential Directive (NSTC - PDD4) signed establishing new launch policy to develop systems to lower costs. ***PROMISE: SPACE - Increase environmental research through NASA's "Mission to Planet Earth." STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Funding increased approximately 30% since January 1993. ***PROMISE: SPACE - Continue to use unmanned probes and robots to explore other planets. STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Supported reforms at NASA for faster, better, cheaper space science missions. ***PROMISE: SPACE - Back away from Bush plans for exploration of the moon and Mars by U.S. astronauts, but continue scientific studies or internationally financed missions. STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Refocus NASA resources on affordable programs in space flight, aeronautics, earth sciences, and space science. ***PROMISE: TAXES (Personal): Raise tax rates on joint-filers whose adjusted gross incomes are more than $200,000 or individuals whose AGIs are more than $150,000. STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT LATEST POLICY/RESULT: * Income tax rates were raised on the top 1.2% of tax payers. * Joint tax-filers making over $180,000 in adjusted gross income -- saw their income taxes increase. * Objective sources -- including H&R Block, the Wall Street Journal and the Congressional Budget Office -- confirm that only the top 1.2% saw their income tax rates increase.TAXES (Personal): Increase the Alternative Minimum Tax rate from 24 to 26 or 27 percent. STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Increased alternative minimum tax rate from 24 to 26 percent (and to 28 percent for high-income individuals.) ***PROMISE: TAXES (Personal) - Require millionaires to pay a 10 percent surtax. STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT LATEST POLICY/RESULT: An additional 10 percent surcharge was imposed on taxpayers with taxable income in excess of $250,000. ***PROMISE: TAXES (Personal) - Offer middle-class families $60 billion in tax cuts over four years in the form of a $300 tax cut per couple or a $300 per child tax credit. STATUS: PENDING LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton has proposed a Middle-Class Bill of Rights that includes a $60 billion tax break for middle-class families that would provide: * a tax credit of up to $500 per child for families making less than $75,000; * a tax deduction for post-high school education expenses of up to $10,000 per year for families making under $100,000; * an expanded IRA that allows people to withdraw money tax-free and without penalty for education, medical expenses, or the purchase of a first home; and * a new re-employment program that makes individuals eligible for skill grants of up to $3,000 and income contingent loans -- while consolidating the web of 50-60 federal training programs. ***PROMISE: TAXES (Personal) - Increase the Earned Income Tax Credit for the working poor. STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton included in his Economic Plan an historic expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit(EITC) that will: * expand the EITC by $21 billion over 5 years to reward work over welfare; and * provide more than 15 million households with incomes of $27,000 or less with either a new or increased EITC when the program is fully implemented. ***PROMISE: TAXES - Encourage private investment by providing a targeted investment tax credit. STATUS: PARTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT LATEST POLICY/RESULT: After originally proposing an increase in the small business expensing limit to $25,000, President Clinton signed into law an increase to $17,500 as part of his Economic Plan 1993. The change allows small business owners to expense 75% more of their purchases of depreciable assets, a measure that small businesses had sought unsuccessfully for years. The Treasury Department estimates that 1.3 million small businesses will benefit from the provision this year, and millions more in years to come. The Administration also has supported private investment by securing a three-year extension of the Research & Development tax credit. ***PROMISE: TRADE - Continue international talks to renew the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade while strengthening U.S. "Super 301" laws to punish nations with unfair trading practices unilaterally. STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT LATEST POLICY/RESULT: * Reached GATT agreement and signed GATT into law December 8, 1994. The WTO took effect on January 1, 1995. * President Clinton reinstituted Super 301 through an Executive Order and has used it to bring our trading partners to the table. * Extended "Super 301" in GATT legislation. ***PROMISE: TRADE - Support the North American Free Trade Agreement as long as other accords can be reached on the environment and labor standards. STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT LATEST POLICY/RESULT: * Signed NAFTA into law December 8, 1993. * On January 1, 1994, the US opened a National Administrative Office to handle NAFTA-related labor issues. ***PROMISE: TRADE - Urge trading partners to abandon unfair trade subsidies in shipbuilding and aerospace. STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton restarted talks on ship building that resulted in an agreement reached in July 1994 to eliminate foreign subsidies and other unfair trade practices by 1996. An aerospace agreement is pending. ***PROMISE: TRADE - Ban U.S. trade negotiators and all senior administration officials from working as lobbyists for foreign governments or businesses. STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Signed Executive Order 12834 on January 20, 1993, prohibiting all senior appointees from working as lobbyists for foreign governments or businesses within five years of their employment termination. ***PROMISE: VETERANS - Oppose opening VA hospitals to non-veterans. STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT LATEST POLICY/RESULT: VA hospitals remain closed to non-veterans. ***PROMISE: VETERANS - Decrease waiting periods for outpatient care. STATUS: PARTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT LATEST POLICY/RESULT: To reduce waiting times, VA is developing telephone systems to make it easier for patients to make appointments so that outpatient care can be scheduled. To increase capacity, President Clinton's 1995 budget included funds for more outpatient facilities and VA is converting some underused inpatient facilities to outpatient cares. ***PROMISE: VETERANS - Notify disabled veterans of benefit changes in advance. STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Initiated aggressive effort keep disabled vets informed of benefits changes. Veterans whose benefit payment is to change are now notified at least 30 days in advance. In addition, for changes affecting many veterans service organizations and the media to publicize the change. ##### CLINTON CAMPAIGN PROMISES From Putting People First ***PROMISE: NATIONAL ECONOMIC STRATEGY - Cut the deficit in half within four years. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton signed into law the largest deficit reduction plan in history August 10, 1993. Under the plan: * the deficit, as a percentage of GDP, will be cut by more than one-half from 4.9% in 1992 to 2.4% in 1995; * the deficit will drop by more than $700 billion dollars over 5 years; and * the deficit will drop 3 years in a row for the first time since Harry Truman was President. ***PROMISE: PUTTING AMERICA TO WORK - Ask the very wealthy to pay their fair share of taxes. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Income tax rates were raised on only the top 1.2% of tax payers -- joint tax-filers making over $180,000 in adjusted gross income -- saw their income taxes increase. Objective sources -- including H&R Block, the Wall Street Journal and the Congressional Budget Office -- confirm that only the top 1.2% saw their income tax rates increase. ***PROMISE: PUTTING AMERICA TO WORK - End tax breaks for American companies that move plants overseas. STATUS: Partial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Two Clinton Administration initiatives have advanced this pledge: * President Clinton's 1993 Economic Plan added a provision in the Internal Revenue Code that imposes a current tax on U.S. shareholders of controlled foreign corporations that invest their earnings in an excessive amount of passive assets abroad. By reducing the opportunities for unlimited deferral, the incentive to shift plants overseas is significantly reduced; and * transfer pricing initiatives have reduced the opportunity to shift income to foreign tax havens. ***PROMISE: PUTTING AMERICA TO WORK - Eliminate deductions for outrageous executive pay. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: As part of his 1993 Economic Plan, President Clinton signed legislation that denies a deduction to any publicly held corporation for compensation exceeding $1 million paid to CEOs or certain other high- ranked officers. Some forms of compensation, such as qualified retirement plan contributions and performance based awards approved by shareholders, is exempt from the cap. ***PROMISE: PUTTING AMERICA TO WORK - Crack down on foreign companies that manipulate U.S. tax laws. STATUS: Partial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: July 1994 the Treasury issued final regulations governing transfer pricing. These rules, backed by severe penalties, are expected to ensure that an accurate amount of multinational company profits are subject to tax in the United States. In addition: * President Clinton's 1993 Economic Plan included a provision that will make it more difficult for multinational companies to strip earnings out of the U.S. through deductible payments such as interest; and * the Clinton Administration has budgeted significant resources to the enforcement of these rules governing transfer pricing. ***PROMISE: PUTTING AMERICA TO WORK - Create a Rebuild America fund that focuses on transportation n, a national information network, environmental technology, and defense reinvestment. STATUS: Partial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: * President Clinton announced a five-year $20 billion Defense Reinvestment initiative in March 1993 that is centered on four major areas of new investment: (1) worker training and adjustment; (2) community reinvestment; (3) "dual- use" technologies with both commercial and military applications; and (4) new civilian technology investments that provide diversification opportunities * EPA's enacted budget for environmental technology doubled over the FY1993- FY1995 period, to $139 million. Other new funding for private sector technology partnerships are 1) U.S. Climate Change Action Program -- $232 million FY1995 enacted -- and 2) Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (Clean Car) -- $269 million FY1995 enacted. * Both the FY1994 and FY 1995 budgets have provided funding for new Information Infrastructure grants. * The President's FY 1996 budget will propose establishing a network of State Infrastructure Banks that will allow states to leverage federal funding, thereby achieving a greater amount of investment from a given level of federal resources. * The President's FY 1996 ***PROMISE: PUTTING AMERICA TO WORK - Target funding to rebuild America's urban infrastructure e. STATUS: Partial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton's first attempt to fulfill this promise was stymied by Congress. However, several other Administration initiatives target federal funds for urban infrastructure: * funding for mass transit programs has risen 21% between 1993 and 1995; * funding for the Economic Development Administration has risen 32% between 1993 and 1995; and * President Clinton's FY1996 budget proposal calls for reinventing the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which will involve creating new flexible block grants for community economic development and consolidating a number of current formula-based and competitive programs. ***PROMISE: PUTTING AMERICA TO WORK - Create a nationwide network of community development banks. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton proposed and signed into law the Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act in August 1994 which authorizes $500 million to encourage a network of new and existing Community Development Banks and Financial Institutions (CDFIs) across the country. The Treasury Department projects that the act will: * lead to approximately $5 billion in new credit for economically distressed communities; * provide financial and technical support for as many as 75 new insured community development banks; and * support as many as 916 new well-capitalized community development corporations and over 4,000 community development loan funds. ***PROMISE: PUTTING AMERICA TO WORK - Put 100,000 new police officers on the streets. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton's Crime Bill, which he signed into law on September 13, 1994, will put 100,000 new police on the street. More than 1,200 communities have already received grants to hire nearly 10,000 cops. $1.5 billion has already been appropriated (1993-1995). ***PROMISE: PUTTING AMERICA TO WORK - Establish a national police corps. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: The Crime Bill created a police corps to give young people money for college and train them in community policing. A total of $100 million has been authorized for the Police Corps program and $100 million has been authorized for in-service law enforcement scholarships. ***PROMISE: PUTTING AMERICA TO WORK - Expand community policing STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: A total of $1.3 billion was appropriated in FY1995 for cities to hire new police if they agree to establish a community policing plan. As much as 15% of the funds can be used to promote community policing in other ways, such as, redeploying existing officers (i.e., through overtime and new equipment), developing new technologies, and offering specialized training to officers. ***PROMISE: PUTTING AMERICA TO WORK - Fund drug treatment. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton is expanding treatment availability through 3 initiatives: * a $1 billion Drug Courts program in the Crime Bill, for which Congress appropriated $29 million in FY1995; * $383 million authorized by the Crime Bill to treat offenders in prison, including $270 million in formula-based grants for states; and * a $42 million increase in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Block Grant. ***PROMISE: PUTTING AMERICA TO WORK - Expand boot camps. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: The Crime Bill includes a grant program for state corrections agencies to build correctional facilities, including boot camps, to ensure that additional space will be available so that violent offenders can be and will be incarcerated for an adequate amount of time. ***PROMISE: PUTTING AMERICA TO WORK - Create urban empowerment zones. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton proposed and signed into law legislation for empowerment zones in August 1993 that will award $3.5 billion to 104 empowerment zones and enterprise communities. President Clinton announced in December 1994 which communities will be designated Empowerment Zones in 1995: (1) 6 urban communities will each receive $100 million in block grants and business tax breaks; and (2) 3 rural communities will receive $40 million in assistance and block grants. ***PROMISE: PUTTING AMERICA TO WORK - Improve the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). STATUS: Pending LATEST POLICY/RESULT: The federal banking regulatory agencies, at the request of the Clinton Administration, are in the process of approving final regulations which will: * provide clearer and more objective evaluation standards; * eliminate unnecessary documentation requirements; and * improve the consistency of the Community Reinvestment Act examinations and enforcement efforts. ***PROMISE: PUTTING AMERICA TO WORK - Encourage private investment by providing a targeted investment tax credit. STATUS: Partial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: After originally proposing an increase in the small business expensing limit to $25,000, President Clinton signed into law an increase to $17,500 as part of his 1993 Economic Plan. The change allows small business owners to expense 75% more of their purchases of depreciable assets, a measure that small businesses had sought unsuccessfully for years. The Treasury Department estimates that 1.3 million small businesses will benefit from the provision this year, and millions more in years to come. The Administration also has supported private investment by securing a three-year extension of the Research & Development tax credit. ***PROMISE: PUTTING AMERICA TO WORK - Help small businesses and entrepreneurs by offering a 50 percent tax exclusion. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: The Administration enacted, as part of its 1993 Economic Plan, a 50% capital gains tax exclusion targeted at investments in small businesses. The provision allows investors who buy newly issued stock in small businesses and hold that stock for more than 5 years to receive a 50 percent cut in the capital gains tax on the profit from the sale of the stock. ***PROMISE: PUTTING AMERICA TO WORK - Make permanent the Research & Development tax credit. STATUS: Partial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: The Administration secured a three-year extension of the Research & Development tax credit, retroactive to June 30, 1992 (when it had expired) and effective through June 30, 1995. ***PROMISE: PUTTING AMERICA TO WORK - Create a Civilian Research and Development Agency. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton has focused defense-related Research & Development on "dual-use" technologies by: * working along with the ARPA to launch the Technology Reinvestment Project, the largest multi-agency technology program ever, to stimulate dual-use development; and * increasing budgetary support of civilian- related research & development. For example, funding targets for the Advanced Technology Program, which takes economic growth as its sole goal, have increased from $68 million in 1993 to $450 million in 1995. ***PROMISE: PUTTING AMERICA TO WORK - Open up foreign markets to quality American goods and services. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: The Administration has led the following set of successful initiatives to increase trade: * signed GATT/WTO into law December 8, 1994 (WTO took effect January 1, 1995); * signed NAFTA December 8, 1993, making North America the world's largest free- trade zone; and * has won commitments to open APEC markets to free trade by 2020 and all of the Americas to free trade by 2005. ***PROMISE: PUTTING AMERICA TO WORK - Urge our trading partners to abandon unfair trade subsidies in key sectors like shipbuilding and aerospace. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton restarted talks on ship building that resulted in an agreement reached in July 1994 to eliminate foreign subsidies and other unfair trade practices by 1996. An aerospace agreement is pending. The President has also proposed a maritime reform program to revitalize our shipbuilding and ship operating industries. ***PROMISE: PUTTING AMERICA TO WORK - Pass a stronger, sharper "Super 301" trade bill. STATUS: Partial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton reinstituted Super 301 through an Executive Order and has used it to bring our trading partners to the table. The United States and Japan reached Framework agreements on government procurement (telecommunications, medical technologies) and insurance October 1, 1994 and on flat glass December 12, 1994. President Clinton has also demonstrated his determination to act under Super 301 by instituting investigations of the practices governing Japan's auto parts industry and China's piracy of intellectual property. Also extended Super 301 in GATT legislation. ***PROMISE: PUTTING AMERICA TO WORK - Support a free trade agreement with Mexico. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: The Administration secured Congressional approval for the largest free trade area in the world after negotiating labor and environmental side agreements for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). ***PROMISE: PUTTING AMERICA TO WORK - Create an Economic Security Council. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton issued an Executive Order establishing the National Economic Council (NEC) to help coordinate both domestic and international economic policy January 25, 1993. ***PROMISE: PUTTING AMERICA TO WORK - Reform the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative e, banning trade negotiators from cashing in on their positions. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton signed Executive Order 12834 prohibiting all senior appointees from working as lobbyists for foreign governments or businesses within five years of their employment termination January 20, 1993. ***PROMISE: REWARDING WORK AND FAMILIES - Expand the Earned Income Tax Credit. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton included in his 1993 Economic Plan an historic expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) that will: * expand the EITC by $21 billion over 5 years to reward work over welfare; and * provide more than 15 million households with incomes of $27,000 or less with either a new or increased EITC when the program is fully implemented. ***PROMISE: REWARDING WORK AND FAMILIES - Lower the tax burden on middle-class Americans. STATUS: Pending LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton has proposed a Middle-Class Bill of Rights that includes a $60 billion tax break for middle-class families that would provide: * a tax credit of up to $500 per child for families making less than $75,000; * a tax deduction for post- high school education expenses of up to $10,000 per year for families making under $100,000; * an expanded IRA that allows people to withdraw money tax-free and without penalty for education, medical expenses, or the purchase of a first home; and * a new re-employment program that makes individuals eligible for skill grants of up to $3,000 and income contingent loans -- while consolidating the web of 50-60 federal training programs. ***PROMISE: REWARDING WORK AND FAMILIES - Empower people on welfare with the education, training, and child care they need for up to two years so they can break the cycle of dependency. STATUS: Proposed LATEST POLICY/RESULT: To reform welfare, President Clinton introduced the Work and Responsibility Act in June 1994 that includes several critical components. The act: * limits welfare for those able to work; * expands funding for training programs and child care to help people get off welfare as quickly as possible in order to work; and * contains the toughest child support enforcement reforms ever proposed. ***PROMISE: REWARDING WORK AND FAMILIES - Pass and sign into law the Family and Medical Leave Act. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Though President Bush vetoed Family and Medical Leave legislation twice, President Clinton signed this legislation into law February 5, 1993, which offers employees 12 weeks of unpaid, job-guaranteed leave for childbirth, adoption, or personal or family illness. More than 40 million American workers will be covered under the legislation. ***PROMISE: REWARDING WORK AND FAMILIES - Strengthen child support enforcement. STATUS: Partial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: In its first national push to crack down on deadbeat parents, the Department of Justice filed 28 child support cases seeking over $1 million in overdue payments in December 1994, and more than 200 cases are under review. Also, each of the 94 U.S. attorneys has designated a child support enforcement coordinator, and prosecution guidelines have been developed to assist them in going after the most egregious violators. President Clinton's Work and Responsibility Act, introduced in June 1994, includes the toughest child support provisions ever. These provisions would double child support collections to $20 billion by 2000 and place more emphasis on the responsibility of fathers, regular award updates, and the withholding of wages of those who do not regularly pay their child support. ***PROMISE: LIFELONG LEARNING - Improve the way parents prepare their children for school. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton has pursued a comprehensive strategy to helping parents in their effort to become more actively involved in their children's education. Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT:s to date: * signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act Reauthorization which promotes partnerships between schools and families that recognize that each is mutually responsible for promoting student learning; * signed Head Start reform and Goals 2000 legislation that expand and enhance the role of parents in pre-school programs and schools; and * Secretary of Education Richard Riley, at President Clinton's request, is leading a national campaign to promote parental participation in their children's education, which includes gaining the support of religious, community, and business leaders. ***PROMISE: LIFELONG LEARNING - Fully fund Head Start. STATUS: Partial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Increased funding for Head Start by $760 million over 2 years that will help improve program quality and make it possible for thousands more children to participate in the program. ***PROMISE: LIFELONG LEARNING - Fully fund the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton and Congress placed WIC on a full-funding path. Funding is projected to increase by $610 million from 1993 to 1995 -- a 21% gain. As a result, an additional one million people will have the opportunity to get the nutrition and care they need to stay healthy. ***PROMISE: LIFELONG LEARNING - Dramatically improve K-12 education. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton has signed three acts that will help transform K-12 education: (1) the Goals 2000: Educate America Act; (2) the Improving America's Schools Act, reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; and (3) the Safe Schools Act. Together, these acts authorize more than $13 billion in new support for reform and will: * codify the national education goals; * encourage states and schools to develop high standards for all students and schools; * develop comprehensive, bottom-up reform programs, including technology development, teacher training, and curriculum reform; * cut through tangled bureaucracies in order to get the education system to focus on enabling students to achieve high standards; and, * enable schools to become safer, with violence prevention efforts and new security measures. Some 41 states are planning their reforms right now--and more will follow soon. ***PROMISE: LIFELONG LEARNING - Provide funds for violence- ridden schools to hire security personnel and purchase metal detectors. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Passed the Safe and Drug Free Schools and Community Act and the Safe Schools Act, which provide over $480 million in FY1995 to help schools fight violence and drug abuse. Schools can use funds for activities such as conflict resolution, after school programs, and drug prevention programs. Schools can use up to 25% of their funds to purchase metal detectors, develop safe zones, and hire school security personnel. ***PROMISE: LIFELONG LEARNING - Help communities open youth centers for teenagers who drop out of school. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: The Crime Bill includes several provisions that fulfill this promise: * the Community Schools Youth Services and Supervision effort will support academic and extracurricular programs after-school, on weekends, and in the summer for children and adolescents (For 1995, $25.9 million will be available and $541 million is authorized for 1996-2000); and * the Family and Community Endeavor Schools initiative will improve opportunities for at-risk children ($11 million is available for 1995 and $232 million is authorized for 1996-2000). ***PROMISE: LIFELONG LEARNING - Develop a national apprenticeship-style system that offers non- college-bound students training in valuable skills. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton signed the School-to-Work Opportunities Act on May 4, 1994 that provides $250 million in 1995 for all 50 states to plan and develop their own diverse school-to-work initiatives. ***PROMISE: LIFELONG LEARNING - Create a national service program that allows young people to earn money for college. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton proposed and signed the National and Community Service Trust Act creating AmeriCorps September 21, 1993. AmeriCorps, within its first year, is already: * giving young people the chance to spend a year or more helping those within our communities grow safer, smarter, and healthier -- while earning an award of $4,725 per year of service to pay for college or job training; * engaging 20,000 Americans as AmeriCorps Members in its first year -- more than the Peace Corps at its height; and * consolidating existing Federal agencies and supporting local efforts to meet community needs. ***PROMISE: LIFELONG LEARNING - Offer every American the opportunity to pay college loans back as a small percentage of income over time. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton incorporated student loan reform in his Economic Plan signed in August 1993, which included creating Individual Education Accounts. Individual Education Accounts will: * enable any student to get loans to pay for college or job training and to repay them in one of four ways, including "pay-as- you-go" repayment as a small percentage of income over time; * reduce borrowing fees; * cut red tape dramatically since more and more students will be given the option to borrow directly from one lender; and * save taxpayers more than $4.3 billion. 105 schools are already participating in the new direct lending program. Some 20 million Americans will be able to benefit nationwide when the program is fully implemented. ***PROMISE: LIFELONG LEARNING - Require every employer to spend 1.5 percent of payroll for continuing education and training, and provide training for all workers. No Action President Clinton has pursued providing training and reemployment assistance for all workers in a number of different ways: * increasing funding for reemployment services by 150 percent, enabling 400,000 more workers to participate in 1995 than in 1993; * offering individual skills assessments and help with business start-ups to those applying for unemployment services; and * helping states to plan or assemble networks of one- stop career centers to offer efficient, customer- driven access to counseling, labor-market information, job listings, training and education, and other reemployment services (about one-half of the states are doing so already). ***PROMISE: LIFELONG LEARNING - Streamline the confusing array of publicly funded training programs. STATUS: Partial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: A substantial number of the states are in the process of streamlining federal education and training programs and labor market information systems through state design and development of convenient one-stop career centers. The Administration's education and training agenda for the next two years includes the following objectives: * consolidate over 50 separate training programs into a streamlined system featuring customer- centered financing options that put workers in control of their own learning; * boost worker's purchasing power through Skill Grants that can cover tuition and fees at a community college for up to two years; * provide for common points of access at community colleges so all workers can get easy access performance data on training providers and skills training; and, * provide some income support to those dislocated workers in retraining. ***PROMISE: HEALTH CARE - Establish annual health care budget targets. STATUS: Proposed LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton submitted his Health Security Act (HSA) to Congress September 1993. The HSA called for caps on health insurance premiums. ***PROMISE: HEALTH CARE - Ensure access to local health care alliances, comprised of insurers, hospitals, clinics and doctors. STATUS: Proposed LATEST POLICY/RESULT: The Health Security Act included provisions that: * create regional health care alliances that will be required to incorporate into the organization any state-certified health insurer that is willing to enroll all eligible individuals; * ensure that each health care alliance offers recipients the opportunity to choose their health plan and means of payment; and * encourage regional alliances to use prospective budgeting in establishing their fee schedule. ***PROMISE: HEALTH CARE - Eliminate tax breaks for drug companies that raise their prices faster than Americans' incomes rise. STATUS: Partial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton proposed and signed legislation, as part of his 1993 Economic Plan, that will eliminate drug price gouging. Subsequently, 17 pharmaceutical industry executives, representing two- thirds of the U.S. pharmaceutical market, agreed to hold price increases at or below the general inflation rate. The Health Security Act included provisions which require that manufacturers of drug products rebate part of their Medicare sales to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to provide an incentive for manufacturers to keep prices at reasonable levels. ***PROMISE: HEALTH CARE - Reduce the administrative costs of health insurance companies. STATUS: Proposed LATEST POLICY/RESULT: The Health Security Act included provisions which require that: * the National Health Board develop standardized forms for insurance companies, including a single claims form; * health insurers accept all those eligible and seeking enrollment, ban underwriting practices that help seek out the best risks, and prohibit insurers from denying coverage for those with pre-existing conditions; and * health insurers charge everyone in a region a community rate that can only differ by family type. ***PROMISE: HEALTH CARE - Streamline the billing systems of health insurance companies to control costs and reduce billing fraud. STATUS: Proposed LATEST POLICY/RESULT: The Health Security Act included provisions that: * provide for the simplification of claim forms; * require that Health Security Cards or "smart cards" containing essential health information are distributed to everyone; and * toughen penalties for fraud and abuse. ***PROMISE: HEALTH CARE - Ensure that every American is guaranteed a basic health care benefits package. STATUS: Proposed LATEST POLICY/RESULT: The Health Security Act called for establishing a National Health Board that would be responsible for ensuring universal health care coverage and included provisions that: * require that every health insurer provide for all enrollees a basic health care package that includes specific services; * ensure that each health care alliance offers recipients the opportunity to choose their health plan; * amend the Medicaid statute to specify that all Medicaid enrollees are eligible to receive long term care covered under their state's medicaid plan; and * require that all eligible individuals enroll in a private health insurance plan and pay a share of their health insurance premium; and * require that each employer pay 80 percent of the health insurance premium for each employee. ***PROMISE: HEALTH CARE - Protect small businesses from excessively high health care costs. STATUS: Proposed LATEST POLICY/RESULT: The Health Security Act requires that health insurers charge those within a particular region a community rate that can only differ by family type. ***PROMISE: A REVOLUTION IN GOVERNMENT - Reduce the White House staff by 25% and challenge congress to do the same. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton had fulfilled this promise by September 1994: 350 jobs were cut from a staff of 1,394 during the Bush Administration. However, the new Congress has only accepted President Clinton's challenge in part. House leaders have promised to reduce committee staffs by one-third, with no cuts in personal staffs. The Senate has committed to no cuts. ***PROMISE: A REVOLUTION IN GOVERNMENT - Cut 100,000 federal government positions through attrition by FY 1995. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton issued an Executive Order in February 1993 requiring federal agencies and departments to eliminate 100,000 positions by FY1995. Federal employment has already been reduced by 100,000 positions. The Administration is now projecting that 272,900 positions will be eliminated from the federal workforce over five years, bringing it to its smallest level since the Johnson Administration. By 1999, the workforce will be the smallest it has been since the Kennedy Administration. ***PROMISE: A REVOLUTION IN GOVERNMENT - Require federal managers and workers to achieve 3 percent across-the- board administrative savings in every agency. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton signed Executive Order 12837 in February 1993 which requires that federal government reduce its administrative expenses 14% by FY 1997. Already, administrative costs are down by more than 3 percent. ***PROMISE: A REVOLUTION IN GOVERNMENT - Eliminate taxpayer subsidies for narrow special interests. STATUS: Partial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton and Vice President Gore established the National Performance Review (NPR) unveiled in September 1993. At least 90 percent of NPR's recommendations are already in place, including the elimination of subsidies for such goods as honey and mohair. ***PROMISE: A REVOLUTION IN GOVERNMENT - Reform defense procurement and foreign aid. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: * Procurement reform has been a central goal of the Administration's reinventing government initiatives. President Clinton signed a Presidential Memorandum on Electronic Commerce to automate the procurement system in October 1993 and the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act in August 1994. Defense Secretary William Perry has ordered dramatic procurement reforms as well. * The Administration undertook an extensive review and restructuring of foreign aid programs and policies, which now include democracy promotion as a major foreign aid priority that includes information and exchange programs as well as major programs in South Africa, the Newly independent State of the former Soviet Union, Central and Eastern Europe and countries in transition. Increased funding for the National Endowment for Democracy. ***PROMISE: A REVOLUTION IN GOVERNMENT - Ask Congress to give the president line item veto authority. STATUS: Pending LATEST POLICY/RESULT: In the 104th Congress, President Clinton is supporting the strongest version of the line item veto, with the broadest scope and effective immediately. OMB Director Alice Rivlin has already testified in favor of the line item veto and Associate Attorney General Walter Dellinger is also scheduled to testify. In the 103rd Congress, President Clinton supported expedited rescission authority, which was adopted in the House but never reached the full Senate for consideration. ***PROMISE: A REVOLUTION IN GOVERNMENT - Eliminate the tax deductions for special interest lobbying expenses. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton's 1993 Economic Plan repealed the tax provision, dating back to 1962, that allowed businesses to deduct the cost of their lobbying expenses. ***PROMISE: A REVOLUTION IN GOVERNMENT - Stop the revolving door for top appointees. STATUS: Substantial Accomplishment LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton has required all top appointees to sign a pledge that they will refrain from lobbying government agencies within their responsibilities for five years after leaving office. He has also required senior officials to pledge never to become registered agents on behalf of any foreign government. ***PROMISE: A REVOLUTION IN GOVERNMENT - Lobbying reform. STATUS: Proposed LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton fought for the Lobbying Disclosure Bill. ***PROMISE: A REVOLUTION IN GOVERNMENT - Campaign finance reform. STATUS: Proposed LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton fought for the Campaign Finance Reform Bill, versions of which passed both houses. On the first day of the current Congressional session, President Clinton called on the Congressional leadership to quickly enact campaign finance reform measures. #####