[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 5 (Monday, February 5, 2001)]
[Pages 235-236]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Executive Order 13199--Establishment of White House Office of Faith-
Based and Community Initiatives

January 29, 2001

    By the authority vested in me as President of the United States by 
the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in 
order to help the Federal Government coordinate a national effort to 
expand opportunities for faith-based and other community organizations 
and to strengthen their capacity to better meet social needs in 
America's communities, it is hereby ordered as follows:
    Section 1. Policy. Faith-based and other community organizations are 
indispensable in meeting the needs of poor Americans and distressed 
neighborhoods. Government cannot be replaced by such organizations, but 
it can and should welcome them as partners. The paramount goal is 
compassionate results, and private and charitable community groups, 
including religious ones, should have the fullest opportunity permitted 
by law to compete on a level playing field, so long as they achieve 
valid public purposes, such as curbing crime, conquering addiction, 
strengthening families and neighborhoods, and overcoming poverty. This 
delivery of social services must be results oriented and should value 
the bedrock principles of pluralism, nondiscrimination, evenhandedness, 
and neutrality.
    Sec. 2. Establishment. There is established a White House Office of 
Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (White House OFBCI) within the 
Executive Office of the President that will have lead responsibility in 
the executive branch to establish policies, priorities, and objectives 
for the Federal Government's comprehensive effort to enlist, equip, 
enable, empower, and expand the work of faith-based and other community 
organizations to the extent permitted by law.
    Sec. 3. Functions. The principal functions of the White House OFBCI 
are, to the extent permitted by law: (a) to develop, lead, and 
coordinate the Administration's policy agenda affecting faith-based and 
other community programs and initiatives, expand the role of such 
efforts in communities, and increase their capacity through executive 
action, legislation, Federal and private funding, and regulatory relief;
    (b) to ensure that Administration and Federal Government policy 
decisions and programs are consistent with the President's stated goals 
with respect to faith-based and other community initiatives;
    (c) to help integrate the President's policy agenda affecting faith-
based and other community organizations across the Federal Government;
    (d) to coordinate public education activities designed to mobilize 
public support for faith-based and community nonprofit initiatives 
through volunteerism, special projects, demonstration pilots, and 
public-private partnerships;
    (e) to encourage private charitable giving to support faith-based 
and community initiatives;
    (f) to bring concerns, ideas, and policy options to the President 
for assisting, strengthening, and replicating successful faith-based and 
other community programs;
    (g) to provide policy and legal education to State, local, and 
community policymakers and public officials seeking ways to empower 
faith-based and other community organizations and to improve the 
opportunities, capacity, and expertise of such groups;
    (h) to develop and implement strategic initiatives under the 
President's agenda to strengthen the institutions of civil society and 
America's families and communities;
    (i) to showcase and herald innovative grassroots nonprofit 
organizations and civic initiatives;

[[Page 236]]

    (j) to eliminate unnecessary legislative, regulatory, and other 
bureaucratic barriers that impede effective faith-based and other 
community efforts to solve social problems;
    (k) to monitor implementation of the President's agenda affecting 
faith-based and other community organizations; and
    (l) to ensure that the efforts of faith-based and other community 
organizations meet high standards of excellence and accountability.
    Sec. 4. Administration. (a) The White House OFBCI may function 
through established or ad hoc committees, task forces, or interagency 
groups.
    (b) The White House OFBCI shall have a staff to be headed by the 
Assistant to the President for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. 
The White House OFBCI shall have such staff and other assistance, to the 
extent permitted by law, as may be necessary to carry out the provisions 
of this order. The White House OFBCI operations shall begin no later 
than 30 days from the date of this order.
    (c) The White House OFBCI shall coordinate with the liaison and 
point of contact designated by each executive department and agency with 
respect to this initiative.
    (d) All executive departments and agencies (agencies) shall 
cooperate with the White House OFBCI and provide such information, 
support, and assistance to the White House OFBCI as it may request, to 
the extent permitted by law.
    (e) The agencies' actions directed by this Executive Order shall be 
carried out subject to the availability of appropriations and to the 
extent permitted by law.
    Sec. 5. Judicial Review. This order does not create any right or 
benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or equity by a 
party against the United States, its agencies or instrumentalities, its 
officers or employees, or any other person.
                                                George W. Bush
The White House,
January 29, 2001.

 [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:45 a.m., January 30, 
2001]

Note: This Executive order was published in the Federal Register on 
January 31.