June 23, 1998 STATEMENT OF FCC CHAIRMAN WILLIAM E. KENNARD APPLAUDING JIMMY SMITS' CALL FOR PROMOTING OPPORTUNITY IN THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY Bienvenidos y buenas dias. As Chairman, I have challenged the entertainment industry to bring me its best ideas to promote opportunity for minorities and women in the media. Jimmy Smits -- one of our most creative Americans -- heard my challenge. And he took action. A co-founder of the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts, an organization dedicated to establishing educational opportunities for Hispanic Americans pursuing careers in the entertainment industries, Jimmy asked me to join him in sponsoring a CEOs' forum on how to promote opportunities for racial and ethnic minorities in entertainment industries. This forum, which we announce today and which will be held in Washington on September 22, 1998, will bring together CEOs from the entertainment industries to think creatively and productively about increasing opportunities for minority companies interested in the entertainment industry. I hope the forum will address how to access capital, how to secure entry-level and management jobs for minorities and how to afford opportunities for training. I am pleased that HBO Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Bewkes has agreed to serve as host. I applaud Jimmy Smits and the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts for their initiative. And I look forward to joining many others in entertainment industries on such occasions as we work together to ensure opportunities for all Americans to own, to work, and to participate in these uniquely public, influential, and vital American industries. -- F C C --