Statement by the President in Response to a Progress Report on the Neighborhood Youth Corps Program.

I HAVE just received a report that over 25,000 young Americans are already enrolled in the Neighborhood Youth Corps and at work on their jobs.

The 50th NYC project got actively underway this week in Harlan County, Ky. As a result, some 400 young boys and girls in that area are being helped to stay in school, performing meaningful work in their communities, earning a weekly paycheck, and preparing for their futures in terms of both education and job experience.

A year ago this month, I visited the eastern Kentucky area, of which Harlan County is a part. I saw personally the despair that can be written across the faces of people living in poverty. I can see, today, 400 of those faces turning upward, instead of down.

I am also advised that 237 NYC projects, for over 116,000 young Americans, have now been approved by the Department of Labor.

Coming just 3 months after the start of active implementation of the program, this record is highly satisfying. It is a clear demonstration of a most positive response from the American people in the great national effort to eradicate poverty from our land.