Push-Excel Martin Luther King Breakfast Release No. 0023.98 Remarks of Secretary Dan Glickman Push-Excel Martin Luther King Breakfast Chicago, IL -- January 19, 1998 I want to thank Reverend Jackson and all the folks at PUSH-EXCEL for having me here today. I'm very impressed by your organization and the educational opportunities you open up for our young. Last week, on Martin Luther King's birthday, President Clinton said "Until every child has the opportunity to live up to their God-given potential, free from want, in a world at peace, Dr. King's work, our work is not yet done." PUSH-EXCEL is helping to create those opportunities. For the 23 scholarship recipients this is a moment of opportunity. That reminds me of a story about the President of a big company who was speaking to a high school graduating class. In closing, the President said, I have one piece of advice for all of you: You have to jump when opportunity knocks.' A student stood up and said, Well that's easy for you to say, you're the President of a big company. How are we supposed to know when opportunity's knocking?' The President said, You don't. That's why you need to keep jumping all the time.' There's an old saying about opportunity being what you make of it. And, sometimes it may have nothing to do with what you had planned -- opportunity just knocks. But first you've got to recognize it, then you've got to do something about it. In the spirit of this holiday, I would like to share with you how it was for me, when I became Secretary of Agriculture. When you think about the Department of Agriculture, the first thing that comes to mind is probably not civil rights. Frankly when I took over USDA, civil rights was not something I expected would be a monumental issue. But it was. There were, and still are, a lot of problems -- internally and in our farm programs. It was a sobering reminder that however far we've come, we've still got a ways to go. What I found was not a good situation, but for me, it was an opportunity to really make a difference. At USDA we seized the day and created a civil rights action team that traveled the country and listened to farmers, USDA employees and rural Americans. Almost a year ago, they issued their report; which I believe will prove an historic document. Our civil rights report was not about the problems, but about the solutions. And we didn't get one idea, not 10, but 92 -- almost all of which are now in place. It is now the policy at USDA that every employee treat every customer and every co-worker fairly and equitably, with dignity and respect and we've only just begun. I made a personal commitment to President Clinton that USDA will emerge in the new century as the federal leader in civil rights. We all must make the most of whatever opportunities come our way, but we all need genuine opportunities. At USDA we have an ongoing initiative to develop stronger ties with the land grant colleges that were established in 1890 to open the door to education for minorities in agricultural, mechanical and technical fields. I'm particularly proud of our scholarship program which is designed to encourage youngsters to enter agriculture related fields that they might not have considered. For example, in the field of nutrition, which is very under-represented by minorities, we have four scholars with grade point averages of 3.5 or higher and of our 16 summer interns in the past five years, 3 are still in school and 13 are in, or have completed, their masters degree programs. The 1890's initiative is also targeted at helping to develop research and teaching capacities by establishing a USDA center on every one of the 17 campuses. So far we have 7. I'm also working with Congress to see that the 1890 universities finally get some guaranteed state matching funds. There's a world of opportunity in feeding the world and I encourage all young people to look at the many facets of agriculture - from biotechnology to food safety to growing the food we eat. When Martin Luther King spoke of his dream he said, "It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream." The work you do at PUSH-EXCEL and the work we do at USDA is about breaking down barriers, leveling the playing field and giving people the opportunity to rise to their fullest potential -- to live the dream. So as we congratulate today's scholarship recipients, and as we all work to create opportunities for others, let us remember that one way we can all help make Dr. King's vision a reality is by making the most of our opportunities. Thank you. # NOTE: USDA news releases and media advisories are available on the Internet. Access the USDA Home Page on the World Wide Web at http://www.usda.gov