President Clinton has addressed the concerns of the Hispanic-American
community by:
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Winning passage of the largest deficit-cutting plan
in history with his 1993 economic package. The President’s
policies have grown the economy and created 10.5 million new jobs,
over one million in manufacturing and construction. The
unemployment rate for Latinos in May of this year was 8.8%, down
from 11.3% when the President took office.
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Helping to create over 220,000 new businesses owned
by Hispanic Americans. The Clinton Administration has made new tax
cuts available to over 90 percent of all small businesses.
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Expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to
provide tax relief for 15 million working families so parents do
not have to raise their children in poverty.
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Standing up for the government’s affirmative action
programs and concluding that they are still effective and
important tools to expand education and economic opportunity for
all Americans. President Clinton wants to “mend, not end”
affirmative action.
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Appointing the most diverse Cabinet and
Administration in history. The President reached out to the Latino
community to fill hundreds of positions in our government. From
Henry Cisneros, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Frederico Peña, U.S.
Secretary of Transportation, to the hundreds of other Latinos who
help run our government, there are now more Hispanics in
senior-level positions than at any time in our nation’s history.
The President has also appointed a record number (16) of Latinos
to the federal, district, and circuit courts.
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Signing the Health Insurance Reform Act (Kassebaum-Kennedy
Bill) which expands and protects access to health insurance by
limiting exclusions for pre-existing conditions and allowing
individuals to take their health insurance with them when they
change or lose their jobs..
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Fighting for and signing into law the first
increase in the minimum wage in five years to reward work and
responsibilty.
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Increasing access to college by reforming student
loans and expanding Pell Grant scholarships and work study.
President Clinton’s national service program, AmeriCorps, is
giving young people the opportunity to serve their communities
while earning money for college. Latinos comprise 14 percent of
all AmeriCorps participants.
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Signing into law the Goals 2000 Act, which supports
standards of excellence for students and encourages grassroots
reforms to improve our schools.
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Proposing his Hope Scholarship plan to make the
first two years of college as universal as high school. All
students would receive a $1,500 refundable tax credit for
full-time tuition in their first year and another $1,500 in the
second year if they work hard, stay off drugs, and earn at least a
B average in their first year.
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Signing an Executive Order on Educational
Excellence for Hispanic Americans to improve education and give
institutions that help Hispanics more input on educational goals
and issues. The President has successfully fought all attempts to
stop funding this initiative.
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Implementing the School-to-Work Opportunities Act,
which increases educational, career, and economic opportunities
for students not enrolled in college.
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Opposing California’s Proposition 187 which would
have denied education and health access to children of illegal
immigrants. President Clinton continues to oppose similar
legislative efforts currently being led by the Republican
Congress.
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Signing into law the toughest, most comprehensive
Crime Bill ever, putting 100,000 new police on the street, banning
19 different kinds of assault weapons, and preventing over 60,000
fugitives, felons, and other criminals from buying guns.
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Developing community policing programs to make our
neighborhoods safer and keeping guns and drugs out of our schools.
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Signing NAFTA, which created a free trade zone
between Mexico, the United States, and Canada, and established the
largest and richest market in the world.
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Signing into law the Family and Medical Leave Act
so workers can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for an
ill family member without fear of losing their jobs.
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Signing a comprehensive Child Immunization Plan to
help parents raise healthy children and avoid preventable
illnesses.
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Establishing the Office of Minority Health Research
and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health.
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Funding supplemental unemployment and food
assistance programs to help 1.9 million unemployed American
workers and their families.
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Creating nine Economic Empowerment Zones and 95
Enterprise Communities to provide urban and rural communities with
grants and tax incentives that are spurring economic growth,
attracting businesses, and creating jobs for millions of
Americans.
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Helping more Hispanic Americans buy their own
homes. The Clinton Administration helped to increase the number of
mortgage loans to Latinos by 42 percent from 1993 to 1994. The
Administration made the low-income housing credit permanent,
increasing opportunities for affordable housing development by the
private sector.
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Passing the Family Support and Preservation Program
to strengthen families and protect our children.
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Signing into law the National Voter Registration
Act (Motor Voter) to expand voting rights for all by creating more
accessible voter registration locations.
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