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Skriven 2006-04-10 23:33:40 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0604104) for Mon, 2006 Apr 10
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Mrs. Bush's Remarks to the Urban League of Greater New Orleans
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For Immediate Release
Office of the First Lady
April 10, 2006

Mrs. Bush's Remarks to the Urban League of Greater New Orleans
The Marriott Renaissance Arts Hotel
New Orleans, Louisiana



11:50 A.M. CDT

MRS. BUSH: Thank you very much, Madam Secretary. Thank you all very much,
everyone out here, for being here. A special thanks to Mark Morial and to
the members of the National Urban League who are here. Congratulations to
the National Urban League on winning this grant.

I'm so glad to be back in New Orleans. President Bush and I hold a special
place in our hearts for the people of this city, and for all Americans who
were affected by the hurricanes. It's a privilege to be with you, and it's
great to be able to witness your accomplishments as you work to help the
Gulf Coast recover. And I will say that this is maybe my eighth or ninth
trip here since the hurricane last fall, and that today I really did notice
a lot of activity. I noticed a lot of houses being cleaned up and
renovated, really more than any other time that I've been here, and that's
very, very encouraging.

I also want to thank the young people who are participating in the Urban
League Youth Empowerment Program who are here today, and those who are
ready to start participating. Thank you for coming. I want to thank LaToya
for sharing with me how much she's learned from this program and from her
new job as a nurse assistant.

I also want to tell both LaToya and Jeremy how proud President Bush and I
are of both of you for respecting yourselves and the people around you, and
for working to build a successful life for yourself.

And thank you, Secretary Chao, for your kind introduction. Last week we had
some great news about jobs in the United States: hundreds of thousands more
Americans have found work this spring, and the U.S. unemployment level is
at its lowest in the last four years. So congratulations, Secretary Chao.

These jobs mean more than numbers in the newspaper. A job means an
opportunity for a person to realize his or her talents. A job means getting
up every morning with dignity and a sense of purpose. And a job means
self-reliance and self-respect. And for many young people, a job also means
a second chance. So I'm thrilled to be here today with the National Urban
League as you receive this $20 million grant for the Youth Empowerment
Program.

Employment is critical for young people who are trying to turn their lives
around. Employment helps young people help themselves, and it gives them
the confidence and the skills they need to realize their dreams.

Last year in his State of the Union address, President Bush announced the
Helping America's Youth Initiative and he asked me to lead it. The goal of
helping America's youth is to guide our young people toward making wise
decisions for their lives so that they can fulfill their potential and live
a productive and a happy life.

And to help young people, adults across the country must take action in
three important areas in children's lives: their family, their school and
their community. America's young people face many more dangers today than
children did just a generation ago -- drugs and gangs, predators on the
Internet, violence in real life and on television are just some of the
negative influences that are present everywhere today.

And as children face greater dangers, they often have fewer people to turn
to for help. More children are raised in single-parent families, most often
without a father. Millions of children have one or both parents in prison.
Many boys and girls spend more time alone or with their peers than they do
with a member of their family. Young people must have positive influences
in their lives.

And so we want every child to be surrounded by caring adults who provide
love, advice and encouragement and who can serve as good role models.

And one of the best places for young people to get encouragement and
support, and to encounter good role models is on the job. Over the last
year I've traveled to many parts of our country, visiting with young people
and with the adults who are important to their lives. I've been to schools
and to after-school programs. I've met with mentors and Big Brothers and
Big Sisters. I've visited gang intervention programs where I met with
people who are leaving gangs and finding jobs.

Recently, I heard from the directors of a program in Los Angeles that I
visited last year. That program, Willpower to Youth, uses the performing
arts -- performances of Shakespeare, actually -- to teach youth employable
skills. They wrote to me about a young man, Jesus, who was on the verge of
homelessness when I met him. Since then, with his experience building sets
for these performances, Jesus is now working at Home Depot, and he was just
named the Home Depot Employee of the Month. (Applause.)

Jesus is just one example of how a positive employment experience can help
our young people break patterns of risky behavior. Each of the young people
here today with the Urban League Empowerment program is another example.
There are thousands more young people like them across the country, and in
the 15 cities where the National Urban League is already working to help
youth build the self-respect and the self-control to stay away from
violence, gangs and drugs.

Your program is also an example of how important community involvement is
to our children's lives. Under the Youth Empowerment program, the National
Urban League forms partnerships with faith and community-based
organizations to connect young people with career skills, on-the-job
training and paid internships that lead to full-time employment. And under
the Gulf Coast Employment Initiative, local businesses -- like Marriott New
Orleans -- are reaching out to people to help their companies rebuild.

When local organizations work together to take an active interest in young
people, it tells young people that the adults in their community believe in
them and that they're needed in our communities. It's a powerful message,
and one our children need to hear. When adults believe in children,
children learn to believe in themselves. And when children believe that
they can do something great with their lives, they're far less likely to
engage in behavior that puts their success at risk.

That's why communities are so vital to helping America's youth, and why
we're encouraging the formation of community coalitions, which are an
important step in reaching children who need help. Community coalitions
bring together everyone -- from teachers, to mentors, to pastors, to
parents, to police officers, to substance abuse experts, to social service
providers, to business leaders -- like Mark Sanders of Marriott. Anyone who
has the ability and the desire to make an impact on a child's life should
be part of a community coalition.

At the White House Conference on Helping America's Youth last fall, we
introduced an online, interactive community guide. The guide allows
communities to assess their unique local needs and then to find programs
and resources to meet them. The information is available at the website,
www.helpingamericasyouth.gov -- g-o-v, that's "gov." I urge everyone to
look at the Community Guide to Helping America's Youth, and to learn about
other opportunities to support our young people, because the benefits of
helping America's youth don't end with America's youth.

Here in New Orleans, you're helping young people by providing them with
opportunities -- but these young men and women are helping us, too, because
they're doing the very important work of reviving the Gulf Coast. Young
people want us in their lives, and young people need us in their lives. And
as this partnership shows, we also need them. And as I've witnessed as I've
traveled across the country, and here today, each one of us has the power
to help America's youth.

So thank you all very much, and congratulations to the National Urban
League on receiving this grant. I wish you the very best as you use these
resources to help young people in cities like New Orleans and across
America, and the very best as you all work here together to rebuild this
wonderful city.

Thank you all very, very much, and congratulations. (Applause.)

END 12:00 P.M. CDT
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