HOUSTON, Texas, August 8, 1999–In the rousing keynote address he delivered on the first day of his organization’s 1999 annual conference, National Urban League President Hugh B. Price outlined a plan political leaders must adopt for closing what he calls the nation’s "opportunity gap," the disparity between the nation’s "haves" and "have nots," along economic, academic and racial lines.

As the mechanism for rating how serious year 2000 political candidates are about following the tenets of his plan and creating solutions for leveling the economic, academic and social playing field for African-Americans, Price announced the publication of the National Urban League’s Opportunity Watch tabloid.

Using a system similar for rating movies, Opportunity Watch will award its logo – an equal sign encompassed by a circle – as the symbol for ranking each candidate on a scale of one equality logo (least serious) to five logos (most serious). The League will distribute it’s tabloid periodically to all of its 115 affiliates and to media organizations nationwide.

"To make our nation work – the most diverse and interdependent country in the history of humankind–America must lower the gangplank and help everyone on board. The most dangerous thing we can do is to hoist the gangplank of opportunity and try sailing off into the 21^st century without all hands on deck," Price said. "The National Urban League\'s agenda lays the groundwork for putting equality into practice. "

Following, Price’s Ten Opportunity Commandments for the 21^st Century:

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1. Provide quality pre-school education for all children.
2. Provide affordable health care for all Americans who are uninsured.
3. Transform every public school serving poor children into accountable institutions whose pupils are equipped for self-reliance and citizenship. Expand the availability of after-school and summer programs that promote achievement, polish youngsters\\\' social skills and keep them out of trouble.
4. Vastly increase support for proven programs that get school dropouts back on track.
5. Guarantee universal access to affordable higher education by reversing the alarming disinvestment in public colleges and universities and slashing tuition for needy students.
6. Maintain national economic policies that promote economic growth in poor communities.
7. Eliminate the digital divide by utilizing tax credits for families or tax write-offs for corporations to make the acquisition of computers and use of the Internet affordable for every American family.
8. Assure full participation of minorities in higher education, employment and contracting.
9. Eradicate the homeownership gap along ethnic lines by providing 100 percent mortgage guarantees for credit-worthy, working class minority families.
10. Equalize access to capital by totally eliminating discriminatory business loan practices.

"Closing the opportunity gap isn\\\'t Washington\\\'s responsibility alone," Price said. "Governors and mayors love reminding us that they are principally responsible for services like public education. Let them step up to the plate as well. The job of the next president of the United States is to galvanize leadership at every level of government to close the opportunity gap once and for all."

The National Urban League’s 1999 Annual Conference is in session until Wednesday, August 11. Monday’s agenda features Vice President Al Gore speaking at the organization’s Federal and State Resources Luncheon, from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. For more information, call the Conference hotline number at 713-393-8743, or visit the National Urban League’s Web site at www.nul.org.