(2012-0192-F) Jose Cerda III

The materials in FOIA 2012-0192-F are a selective body of documents responsive to the topics of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related materials. The email created by Jose Cerda III cover major issues within the Domestic Policy Council of the Clinton Administration. Namely he worked on drugs, crime, and community empowerment. Beyond specific issues and events his email dealt with coordinating and scheduling meetings; editing speeches; working with the Department of Justice, Office of Management and Budget, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy; drafting letters from President Clinton to congressmen and leaders; working on statements of administration policy (SAP); drafting and editing Q&As and talking points for President Clinton; and scheduling visitors for entrance in the White House through the WAVES system. Cerda regularly emailed the following: Bruce Reed, Carol Rasco, Lynn G. Cutler, Christopher C. Jennings, Karen Tramontano, Rahm Emanuel, Elena Kagan, Leanne A. Shimabukuro, Laura Emmett, Paul J. Weinstein Jr., Christopher Edley, Essence P. Washington, Ruby Shamir, Sean P. Maloney, Christa Robinson, Jordan Tamagni, Karin Kullman, and Janet Murguia among many others. A majority of Cerda’s email for the year 1993 are written on the following topics: the Brady Bill to allow local law enforcement to conduct background checks before handguns are sold, Police Hiring Supplement to hire 100,000 more cops, the Crime Bill, and drug strategy. A majority of Cerda’s email for the year 1994 are written on the following topics: the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 which included a "Three-Strikes-and-You're-Out" provision to put career violent offenders behind bars for life, an expanded death penalty for drug kingpins, murderers of federal law enforcement officers, funding for 100,000 more prison cells, and increased penalties for sex offenders and a registration requirement for violent sexual offenders; the 1994 Drug Strategy; Byrne Formula Grants; the Assault Weapons Ban; 100,000 COPS program; the Racial Justice Act; reauthorization of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP); drug courts; and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). A majority of Cerda’s email for the year 1995 are written on the following topics: the Crime Bill; the State of the Union; drug policy; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA); police hiring grants; the Economic Development Administration; National Crime Victims' Rights Week; the GunFree Schools Zones Act of 1995 to establish a policy of zero tolerance for guns in schools; Zero Tolerance for underage drinking; and the Cops More grants for larger cities to hire more cops through redeployment. Jose Cerda III left the Clinton Administration in May of 1995 and returned two years later in May of 1997. In between his White House assignments he was the Director for the City of Chicago’s Empowerment Zone. A majority of Cerda’s email for the year 1997 are written on the following topics: the ATF’s Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative; the Brady Bill background checks; the Mayor’s Summit on Drugs; the National Methamphetamine Strategy; the Race Initiative; the Juvenile Crime Bill an anti-gang and youth violence strategy to fund local prosecutors, expand after school programs, ban violent juveniles from owning guns as adults, and require child safety locks with every gun sold; immigration; gun safety; sex offender registry; race and minority enrollment; the Youth Handgun Safety Act to prohibit the transfer to or possession of a handgun by a juvenile; crack cocaine sentencing; the COPS grants; HUD's 2020 Conference on Race and Cities; the Race Crime Initiative; handguns with child safety locks; the Empowerment Zones to promote sustainable economic development through strategic planning in distressed inner cities and rural communities; the “Top Cops” awards event; the Low Income Housing Tax Credit; Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) reauthorization; the Directive on the Importation of Assault-Type Weapons; hate crimes; and NAFTA effect on the drug trade. A majority of Cerda’s email for the year 1998 are written on the following topics: hate crimes; drugs; criminal justice drug testing and treatment; the southwest border; the 100,000 COPS Program; the State of the Union; the New Community Prosecutors Initiative; the National Drug Control Strategy; the Coerced Abstinence in the Criminal Justice System strategy; homelessness; school safety; the Gun-Free Schools Act; the Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative (YCGII); modified assault weapons; youth and tobacco; the Jonesboro, AR school shooting; the President’s Initiative on Race Advisory Board; the Springfield, Oregon school shooting; school resource officers, the National Rifle Association; the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Act; the Care for Police Survivors Act; community empowerment; strengthening the Brady Bill; concealed weapons; Drug-Free Communities Grants; the White House Conference on School Safety; the School Emergency Response to Violence or Project SERV; medical marijuana; the Crime Bill II (1994 Crime Bill expired in 2000); preventing firearm sales to prohibited purchasers; gun show loopholes; the National Instant Check System for firearm purchases; and the Children Exposed to Violence Initiative (CEVI). A majority of Cerda’s email for the year 1999 are written on the following topics: the Zero Tolerance Drug Supervision for drug use by prisoners, parolees, and probationers; crime technology; the 21st Century Policing Initiative; the Brady Bill waiting period for handgun sales; limiting handgun sales; the ONDCP Drug Strategy; gun show loopholes; police brutality, misconduct, and abuse; racial profiling; the Hatch Crime Bill; deterring and reducing gun crime; student drug testing; protecting nursing home residents from neglect and abuse; bioterrorism in the Crime Bill; the Columbine High School shootings; the Gun Enforcement and Accountability Act; the White House Strategy Session on Children, Violence, and Responsibility; juvenile crime legislation; the 21st Century Law Enforcement and Public Safety Act; the Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative (YCGII); the National Instant Check System, and Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) on underage drinking. Jose Cerda III has no email after August 29, 1999 to September 7, 2000. A majority of Cerda’s email for the year 2000 to the end of the Clinton Administration are written on the following topics: the Firestone/Bridgestone Tire Recall Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation (TREAD) Act; the Brady Law; and preparing for the Bush Administration transition. Jose Cerda III served in many capacities at the White House. He served as Senior Policy Analyst, Special Assistant to the President, and Special Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy in the Domestic Policy Council; Special Assistant to the Director of the Office of the National Drug Control Policy; and Interagency Affairs Director in Public and Legislative Affairs. He also worked on the domestic policy staff of the 1992 Clinton-Gore campaign and of the 1992 Presidential Transition. He is a graduate of Harvard University.