Executive Order 13397

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to help the Federal Government coordinate a national effort to expand opportunities for faith-based and other community organizations and to strengthen their capacity to better meet America's social and community needs, it is hereby ordered as follows:

. Establishment of a Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at the Department of Homeland Security.

. Purpose of Center.
 * The purpose of the Center shall be to coordinate agency efforts to eliminate regulatory, contracting, and other programmatic obstacles to the participation of faith-based and other community organizations in the provision of social and community services.

. Responsibilities of the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
 * In carrying out the purpose set forth in section 2 of this order, the Center shall:

. Reporting Requirements.

. Responsibilities of the Secretary.
 * The Secretary shall:

. General Provisions.

, March 7, 2006. [FR Doc. 06–2362 Filed 3–8–06; 11:05 am] Billing Code 3195–01–P