President Bush and Congress are showing "callous indifference" toward America's cities by ignoring problems such as homelessness, drugs and unemployment, says the head of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Boston Mayor Raymond Flynn, president of the mayors' organization, said Sunday the dominating attitude in Washington "directs itself more to foreign policy.""And that's the reason why we're seeing some of the problems that are being played out each and every night in our communities - problems of crime and problems of violence and homelessness and problems with our young people."
Flynn, interviewed on NBC-TV's "Meet the Press," said Bush and congressional leaders show "a really callous indifference toward America's cities. There has been no policy whatsoever dealing with building strong families, strong neighborhoods, strong American cities."
The two-term Democrat said Bush had not responded to a letter Flynn sent in early August asking for a meeting to talk about urban problems. But he added: "It would be a mistake to say that it's just the president alone that has been ignoring American cities."
Bush and his top aides have blamed congressional Democrats for a lack of action on an array of domestic issues, including a $105 billion highway construction and bridge maintenance bill. Democrats maintain that Bush has paid little attention to domestic problems.
Joining Flynn on the NBC program were Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson and Indianapolis Mayor William Hudnut.
Jackson, a Democrat, agreed with Flynn.
"We are a nation of failing cities. And therefore we are a failing nation, because 80 percent of the people in America live on 2 percent of the land," Jackson said. "We are a nation of cities. And we have an infrastructure . . . that is being completely ignored."
Hudnut, a Republican, was not as critical. He said Bush "is a master in the area of foreign affairs, and that's what he's had to deal with" during the Persian Gulf war and the crisis in the Soviet Union.