THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATIONS IMPACT ON THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY

President Obama is focused on creating jobs and restoring economic security for African Americans and all Americans. He understands that too many African Americans have been hurt by a decade of declining wages and unemployment and hes fought for policies that give everyone a fair shot and the opportunity to succeed. Thats why hes pushing for job training and education reforms, ending health disparities and cracking down on credit card and mortgage abuses by the biggest banks. He knows that the American people live up to their responsibilities each and every day and its time that their leaders in Washington live up to theirs.

ECONOMIC ISSUES
Since his first days in office, President Obama has fought to restore the economic security that has been eroding for Americas families for a decade.

Through the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), the Obama administration helped African-American clients secure more than $929 million in contracts and financing in 2009 and $2.4 billion in 2010, thats helped businesses create and save jobs for African Americans.

When President Obama signed the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 it put more capital into the hands of minority-owned businesses, supporting more than $12 billion in small business lending. A 21 Percent share of Jobs Act loans went to minority-owned businesses, according to data from the Small Business Administration. President Obama established the interagency task force on federal contracting opportunities for small businesses to help ensure that that minority-owned businesses have a fair shot at securing work (doing what kind of work to improve the country and communities)

President Obamas White House Business Council launched a series of Urban Entrepreneurship Forums aimed at connecting local entrepreneurs to public and private resources to help them expand, grow and create jobs.

President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to get the economy moving again, create jobs, and make historic investments in our countrys transportation infrastructure to benefit African Americans and all Americans.

The Recovery Act that President Obama signed into law kept 1.4 million African Americans out of poverty through tax credits, improvements in unemployment insurance, an increase in food stamps, and relief for retirees, veterans, and people with disabilities. More than one billion dollars for job training and summer jobs programs for urban youth were provided through the Obama administrations Recovery Act.

The Presidents Recovery Act allotted $1.25 billion in funding to help re-train the unemployed so they could find work.

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The Recovery Act provided $750 million in funding for specialized worker training in growing industries like clean energy. $250 Million in Recovery Act funds were utilized to build and improve career training centers. The Recovery Act also provides earned income and child tax credits that will help an estimated 2.2 million African-American families and 4.7 million African-American children by allowing working Americans to keep more of what they earn.

EDUCATION
President Obama has called education equality the civil rights issue of our time and has made it a priority in his administration. Hes pushed for changes to improve our nations schools in order to put an outstanding education within reach of every American.

The Recovery Act included $5 billion for early learning programs, such as Head Start, Early Head Start, child care, and programs for children with special needs. The Obama administration launched Race to the Top, an initiative that allows schools to compete for $4.35 billion in federal school improvement money after they lift barriers to charter schools. Charter schools are an important investment, and currently educate 31 percent African-American students.

President Obama has focused on higher education opportunities benefiting the African American community.

President Obamas policies will benefit the significant number of African-American students who apply for Pell grants, by providing 820,000 more grants by 2020. 46 Percent of African Americans in undergraduate programs received Pell grantshigher than any other group. The President also secured a $2.55 billion investment in HBCUs and minority-serving institutions across ten years to ensure more African Americans have access to higher education. Loan Forgiveness and Income-Based Repayment Programs will help all students make school more affordable.

HEALTH CARE
President Obama pushed for and signed the Affordable Care Act, which improved access to health care for all Americans, because access to quality, affordable health care is at the very heart of a familys security and well-being. The Affordable Care Act also provides free access to preventive care for people with new insurance plans.

Expanded access to preventive care will reduce health disparities for 41 Million African Americans, by helping to prevent and treat many diseases and conditions that affect African Americans at a higher death rate, such as: heart disease, stroke, cancer, asthma, influenza, diabetes and HIV/AIDS.

Under the Act, nearly a quarter of African Americans will no longer be denied access to health insurance because of pre-existing conditions. The Affordable Care Act raises Medicaid eligibility, giving four million more African Americans access to health insurance coverage. President Obamas agenda provides $11 billion for infrastructure enhancements to community health centers, which will allow them to provide access and treatment to 40 million patients by 2019.

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URBAN POLICIES
President Obama has shown from day one a commitment to revitalizing urban communities around the country.

The President launched the first ever White House Office on Urban Affairs. The Obama administration has provided nearly $150 Million, the largest single round of Community Development Financial Institution Fund awards, to go directly to financial institutions in urban and rural communities for the purpose of increasing lending for low-income Americans and expanding access to affordable financial products and services.

The Obama administration launched the Strong Cities, Strong Communities pilot program focused on Three Key Elements to Enhance Local-Federal Relationships. - Improving the way federal government does business, by cutting through red tape to ease local governments interactions with federal agencies and programs. - Providing assistance and support by working with local communities to find ground up, not top down solutions tailored to local government needs. - Developing critical partnerships with key local and regional stakeholders that encompass not only municipal and state governments, but also new partnerships with the business community, and other public, private, and philanthropic leaders.

The Obama Administration is implementing the Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative, to combat poverty in American cities. - Critical to this venture are the Choice Neighborhood Program, which seeks to revitalize public housing, and the Promise Neighborhood Program, which looks to strengthen educational opportunities in distressed communities.

JUSTICE AND CRIME PREVENTION

From his days as a community organizer to his time as a civil rights lawyer, President Obama has a consistent record of fighting for fairness for all Americans. That commitment continues in his actions as President.

President Obama signed the Fair Sentencing Act into law, narrowing the disparity between those convicted of possessing crack cocaine and powered cocaine. The President also released the administrations national drug control strategy to cut drug use among youths, and decrease drug-induced death by 15 percent over five years. The Obama administration announced the settlement of the longstanding Pigford II litigation and signed a bill providing funding for African Americans who were discriminated against by the USDA.

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