 Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States. Well, please be seated and welcome to the White House. You know, today is the day I've been waiting for for eight years. About this time, eight years ago, I noted that home ownership is among the foremost values of the American people and that this value is seriously in danger. The danger I was addressing then was economic. According to real estate industry economists, the average family at that time was making only 75 percent of what it needed to buy a home. And as Secretary Pierce's predecessor said, for many hardworking families, housing is growing beyond their reach. Well, today, interest rates are down, real incomes are up, and the average family is making approximately 110 percent of what it needs. To buy a home. And once again, the American family can afford the American home. When it comes to housing for low and medium income families who rent, national vacancy rates today average just under 8 percent, up from 5 percent when we took office, with even more progress for low income units. This reflects that today we have an abundant supply of affordable rental housing for all Americans. Today we address at last the other important obstacle to home ownership and rental discrimination. Discrimination is particularly tragic when it means a family has refused housing near good schools, a good job, or simply in a better neighborhood to raise children. This bill is the product of years of bipartisan work and repairs of significant deficit, or defect, I should say, deficits on my mind too. In civil rights law, the Civil Rights Act of 1968 included for the first time in our history a fair housing provision. That was a major achievement, one that many members of Congress, including a young congressman named George Bush, had to show enormous courage to vote for. Unfortunately, the fair housing title didn't work as well as had been hoped. It lacked teeth. Its conciliation provisions were ineffective when used, and that's why our administration, and Secretary Sam Pierce in particular, has devoted eight years to redress the absence of penalties and the inability of the government to initiate actions, except when a pattern of discrimination could be proven. These were shortcomings that made the statute difficult to enforce. In my State of the Union address five years ago, I joined with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, in vowing that we will work to strengthen enforcement of fair housing laws for all Americans, and now we've achieved that goal. The bill I signed today has a number of significant features. First, the law extends protection to families with children, and persons with handicaps, and continues to recognize and protect the special needs of the elderly. Second, for the first time, aggrieved parties may avail themselves of an administrative enforcement procedure. Moreover, the administrative law judge may assess penalties against those who discriminate. The penalties are a $10,000 fine for the first violation, $25,000 for the second, and $50,000 for the third. Third, for the first time in cases initiated by the Department of Justice, the Department may obtain monetary relief for victims, and civil penalties of $50,000 for a first violation, and $100,000 for subsequent violations. Fourth, the constitutional rights of all parties are protected. Both defendant and plaintiff have the option of a jury trial, or they can agree to the faster, simpler administrative procedure. At the same time, I want to emphasize that this bill does not represent any congressional or executive branch endorsement of the notion expressed in some judicial opinions that Title VIII violations may be established by a showing of disparate impact on the discriminatory effects of a practice that has taken without discriminatory intent. Title VIII speaks only to intentional discrimination. There are so many people who deserve credit today. Secretary Pierce, of course, as well as the leadership of the Justice Department. When I signed the 1987 Housing Act, I called Sam the unsung hero of the administration. At this time, we all recognize Sam as the unsung hero of this, the most important civil rights legislation in 20 years. And then there's Representative Hamilton Fish, who has worked for decades to strengthen our fair housing laws. Ham Fish was the architect of the key provisions in the bill that protect the constitutional right of Americans to civil jury trials. Every senator and representative standing up here with me today plays an important role in the passage of this landmark civil rights bill. And I want to mention especially Representative John Lewis. 25 years ago, as a young leader of the civil rights movement, Congressman Lewis was standing in this very rose garden pressing for federal action to eliminate housing discrimination. John's hard work to achieve that has brought us one step closer to realizing Martin Luther King's dream. To thank you and to everyone involved in the passage of this legislation, the nation says thank you. Now I have a little signing to do. The youth has a cover for illegal domestic intelligence activity. What about that, sir? This is from the House, a new report on Iran Contra. A paragraph only about that long. It proves about Iran Contra, as I did. I have questioned it. I did not even know it existed, frankly. It's been a long time thing. But with the minute that this happened out there in the Don Hotel, without he made it plain that no, we were withdrawing from that policy. What are you going to do about the fire? Well, I'm getting a report today. Secretary Ling and Haudel and Deputy Assistant to the Defense Department were out there, and it would take an action already, but they're coming back with a report to me about adding forces. And we have now engaged Kennedy in a partnership where their command power association can be used, strengthening the fire line as much as they can.