The historic National Press Club in Washington, D.C. is known throughout America and the world as an important news forum. Each week, members of American and the international news media hear from key news and policy-makers on topics of interest to the nation.

Anyone may attend the Secretary's National Press Club address. Tickets, which include lunch, are $28 per person. Lunch will begin at 12:30 PM, and Secretary Martinez is scheduled to speak at approximately 1 PM. A Q&A period, with questions from the audience, will take place following the Secretary's formal remarks.

For reservations, contact Pat Nelson at the National Press Club, (202) 662-7539.

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Where ever you live, if you want to learn more about how to own your own home, visit HUD's National Homeownership Month page. You can get valuable information in English or Spanish - and begin to live your own American Dream!

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Left to Right: Paul Venosdel, California's State Director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Agency; Ann Marie Sudduth, Field Office Director, HUD, Fresno; Josh Valdez, Secretary's Regional Representative, Region IX, San Francisco, Health and Human Services; and Lily Lee, Deputy Region IX Director, HUD, San Francisco.

Despite its agricultural accomplishments, however, Valley faces significant challenges and has been left behind. Its population of 3.2 million has grown an average of 20% per year, since 1990. The Valley has an average poverty rate of 23.5%, and poverty rates among children are 30%. The Valley also has persistent unemployment rates of 13%. 13 of California's 19 poorest cities are found in the San Joaquin Valley. Less than half of Valley 9th graders ever graduate from high school, and of those graduates, only 23% enroll in college. The area has a severe shortage of affordable housing, is rapidly losing farmland to real estate development, struggles with the third worst air quality in the country, lacks the transportation infrastructure needed to serve the growing population, and faces pervasive health problems, including the country's highest asthma rates. One of the keys to overcoming these and the other economic development challenges facing the San Joaquin Valley is the coordination of the many Federal programs that provide resources and solutions for these issues.

On Friday, May 31, 2002, representatives from Federal Agencies kicked off the first meeting of the Central San Joaquin Valley Interagency Task Force to discuss strategies and plans for coordinating, collaborating, and addressing the many challenges faced by the Central San Joaquin Valley. President Bush reinitiated a Presidential Executive Order, requiring all Federal Agencies to work together to help the Valley. The eight counties that make up the San Joaquin Valley are all located in the Fresno HUD Field Office's jurisdiction. Ann M. Sudduth, Fresno's Field Office Director, will coordinate HUD's activities for the Interagency Task Force which consists of representatives from United States Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Interior, Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Energy, Labor, Transportation, Attorney General, the Directors of National Drug Enforcement and Control Policy, and the Office of Management and Budget, the Administrators of the General Services Administration, Small Business Administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Over 300 business leaders, City and County officials, public agencies, and nonprofit directors attended the half day meeting to hear from Federal officials. Fresno Mayor Alan Autry, Congressman Radanovich, and Congressman Dooley addressed the audience, then Federal agency representatives discussed their programs and resources. HUD's Acting Regional Director for Region IX, Lily A. Lee, addressed the group on behalf of HUD, and emphasized the local impact of HUD/FHA programs. The Task Force discussed specific goals and interagency activities to be accomplished this year, including coordinating Early Literacy roundtables with school districts, organizing multi-disciplinary health and housing fairs, integrating planning projects for transportation infrastructure, and implementing business development loan programs. Other goals include organization of rural housing projects, helping the Colonias (through faith-based organizations build capacity, and the development of a Community Development Financial Institution who will make loans to low income people and businesses in distressed neighborhoods. The Task Force is also developing a web site for "one stop shopping" for all federal government services and grant opportunities.

The May 2002 meeting was the first of the monthly meetings that will bring the Federal Task Force together. The Task Force will run for five years, and the lead agency will rotate annually between the Departments of Agriculture, HUD and the Department of Commerce (SBA). The U.S. Department of Agriculture (Rural Development) is the current lead agency.