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The United States Presidency of Bill Clinton, also known as the Clinton administration, was the executive branch of the federal government of the United States from January 20, 1993 to January 20, 2001. Clinton was the first Democratic president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to win two full terms. Clinton was also the first president since FDR to have not served in the military in any capacity. ==Overview== The administration faced political opposition in 1994 when Republicans took control of both houses of Congress but Clinton was reelected in 1996, after a failed attempt at health care reform. The administration had a mixed record on taxes but produced the first federal budget surpluses since 1969, for fiscal years 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001, leading to a decrease in the public debt (though the gross federal debt continued to increase). Clinton supported the North American Free Trade Agreement, which he signed into law in 1994. His presidency saw the passage of welfare reform in Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act which ended Aid to Families with Dependent Children and reduced the number of welfare programs,〔(Food Stamps ). Democracy Now! (1997-08-25). Retrieved on 2013-08-16.〕 which received support from both political parties. He also signed the reversal of the Glass-Steagall Act which was designed to prevent financial institutions from getting too big to fail.〔(Bill Clinton's Legacy of Denial ). The Nation (2011-06-22). Retrieved on 2013-08-16.〕 He also signed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act which legalized over-the-counter derivatives.〔http://stroock.com/sitefiles/pub134.pdf〕 Socially, the administration began with efforts by Clinton to allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military, which culminated in a compromise known as "Don't ask, don't tell", allowing (at a statutory level) gays and lesbians to serve in the military if they did not disclose their sexual orientation (the policy was repealed in 2010). Clinton became the first President to appoint open gays to his Administration, issued executive orders ending the ban on security clearance for LGBT workers〔(Clinton Bans Sexual Orientation Discrimination in Security Clearances ). Apnewsarchive.com (1995-08-05). Retrieved on 2013-08-16.〕 and banning any job discrimination based on sexual orientation in civilian public sector employment〔(Clinton Grants Gay Workers Job Protection - New York Times ). Nytimes.com (1998-05-29). Retrieved on 2013-08-16.〕 (he unsuccessfully lobbied for the private sector Employment Non-Discrimination Act), and dramatically increased federal funding for HIV/AIDS prevention-research-treatment. However Clinton also signed the Defense of Marriage Act; while it came to his desk with a veto-proof majority, Clinton's failure to veto DOMA was considered by many to be a blow to the LGBT rights movement.〔("Defense Of Marriage Act" 5/96 H.R. 3396 Summary/Analysis ). Lectlaw.com (1996-05-07). Retrieved on 2013-08-16.〕 Various measures were also introduced to improve the effectiveness of the social safety net, including an increase in the number of child care places, a significant expansion of the EITC program, and the introduction of new programs such as SCHIP and a child tax credit.〔http://australianpolitics.com/usa/clinton/eightyears.pdf〕 The 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act, the first law that Clinton signed, ensured parents could take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a newborn or a sick relative without risking their job. Over the next eight years, more than 35 million workers took advantage of the protections of this law. That same year, the Earned Income Tax Credit was expanded to give a larger benefit to working families and allow childless workers to benefit as well. In 1996, Congress passed a 20% increase in the minimum wage, which boosted earnings for nearly 10 million Americans. As part of the Clinton Administration’s welfare reforms, over 200,000 people on welfare received housing vouchers to help them move closer to jobs, while a welfare-to-work tax credit encouraged businesses to hire long-term welfare recipients.〔()〕〔()〕 In addition, communities received federal support to design transportation solutions to help low-income workers get to work. Better housing and nutritional support was provided for low-income families, with Congress (under Clinton’s watch) increasing federal support for several critical nutritional and housing support programs. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children went from average annual funding levels of $2.7 billion in the eight years before Clinton took office to $3.9 billion under his presidency, while the Food Stamp program went from an average of $21.3 billion a year to $24.9 billion. In terms of housing, funding for federal housing assistance grew from an average of $20.4 billion a year in the eight years before Clinton’s term to an average of $29 billion a year during his presidency. In 1993, AmeriCorps was established, a community service program that provided young people with an opportunity to serve their communities and earn money for college or skills training. In just five years, nearly 200,000 young people were enrolled in the program. In 1997, a child tax credit was introduced that directly reduced a family’s income tax bill by $500 per eligible child. In addition, federal funding for the Head Start program rose from $3.3 billion (in constant 2000 dollars) to $5.3 billion in 2000.〔(Power of Progressive Economics: The Clinton Years | Center for American Progress ). Americanprogress.org (2011-10-28). Retrieved on 2013-08-16.〕 Additionally, greater funds were allocated to education. Federal funding for primary and secondary education rose from an average of $8.5 billion (in the eight years before Clinton's inauguration) to $11.1 billion. This increase was supported by the Improving America’s Schools Act, which reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to improve accountability in schools by helping low-income students and allowing for the incorporation of technology into curricula so every student could benefit from the technological revolution. Federal support for higher education was expanded, with the maximum Pell Grant award increased and funding levels for student financial assistance increased by 20% by the end of Clinton’s term. Also, the 1993 Student Loan Reform Act introduced direct federal student loans, leading to lower borrowing costs for students and billions in savings for the federal government. In 1997, two tax credits were passed to help defray the costs of higher education: the Hope Scholarship tax credit and the Lifetime Learning tax credit. Federal funding for scientific research was boosted, with funding for the National Science Foundation increased by more than 30%, and the annual budget for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science nearly doubled to $2.8 billion.〔 The GEAR UP college preparation program, launched in 1998, started to provide federal grants to high-poverty middle schools and high schools. All students within those schools were provided with services to help them succeed in school and enter college, and as of 2000-2001, 200,000 students were served by GEAR UP.〔https://books.google.com/books?id=yk5NI69ZO9sC&pg=PA644&dq=1998:+GEAR+UP+college+preparation+program&hl=en&sa=X&ei=wM0hUo7oDqLb7Ab9vYCwCQ&ved=0CD4Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=1998%3A%20GEAR%20UP%20college%20preparation%20program&f=false〕 The National Institutes of Health spent approximately $9 billion a year under Reagan, but under Clinton, Congress boosted NIH funding by 40 percent to average $12.7 billion. By 2000 federal NIH funding had surpassed $15 billion a year, a 50% increase over NIH spending when Clinton first took office, and the highest level of funding ever given for research on health and disease. To increase Internet access and reduce the “digital divide”, funding for Community Technology Centers (which were located in urban and rural neighborhoods that had little or no Internet access) was tripled. Expanded Educational technology was expanded, with the amount spent on educational technology increased from $27 million in 1994 to $769 million by 2000. As part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, “E-Rate" subsidized Internet access for schools and libraries. Under Clinton’s direction, lenders covered under the Community Reinvestment Act stepped up their efforts, with banks and thrifts subject to CRA making $800 billion in sustainable home mortgage, small-business, and community development loans to low- and moderate-income borrowers and communities from 1993 to 1999. In 2001, the New Markets and Community Renewal initiative was passed by Congress; it invested $25 billion in new incentives for growth in low-income communities to create nine new Empowerment Zones, bringing the total created under Clinton to 40. The low-income housing tax credit was increased to build an additional 700,000 units of affordable housing, and the New Markets Tax Credit was created, which encouraged venture capital firms to support small-business startups and rural development. In addition, 40 Renewal Communities were created with targeted, pro-growth tax benefits to spur robust outside investment. As a means of creating a nationwide network of community development banks, the Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund was established. By 2000, the CDFI Fund had issued $436 million in total grants, loans, equity investments, and technical assistance to local financial institutions, banks, and thrifts, which increased their community development activities by upward of $2.4 billion.〔 In 1999, the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act, designed to help beneficiaries of SSI who wished to work to join the workforce without losing their Medicaid benefits, was signed into law.〔(Social Security / Work Incentives / Ticket to Work ). Pacer.org. Retrieved on 2013-08-16.〕 The administration took office less than two years after the fall of the Soviet Union, and the administration's foreign policy addressed conflicts in Somalia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Haiti. The Clinton presidency also saw the passage and signing of the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 which was a bipartisan measure expressing support for regime change in Iraq. On three separate occasions, in 1996, 1998, and 2000, the administration unsuccessfully attempted to capture or assassinate Osama Bin Laden, who was eventually killed by U.S. special operations forces in 2011. Clinton considered himself a "New Democrat" and was a founding member of the Democratic Leadership Council, a centrist group of Democrats, who promoted moderate social positions and neoliberal economic policies. Clinton left office with the highest end-of-office approval rating for a US president since World War II, but he was the first US president to be impeached since Andrew Johnson (mainly as a result of the Lewinsky scandal) and only the second in US history. Like Johnson, however, he was acquitted by the Senate. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Presidency of Bill Clinton」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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