On June 13, 1997, President Clinton issued Executive Order 13050, which created the "Initiative on Race" and authorized the creation of an Advisory Board to advise the President on how to build "One America for the 21st Century." The Board was tasked with examining race, racism, and the potential for racial reconciliation in America using a process of study, constructive dialogue, and action. The Board also focused on the role race plays in civil rights enforcement, education, poverty, employment, housing, stereotyping, the administration of justice, health care, and immigration. Scientists and engineers have a unique contribution to make to the challenges identified by President Clinton's Initiative on Race, particularly in regards to the development of talent among groups traditionally underrepresented in science, mathematics, engineering and technology.In response to these challenges, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the Directorate for Education and Human Resources Programs of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) co-sponsored a One America panel session at the AAAS 150th Anniversary Meeting held February 13, 1998 entitled, "Meeting America's Needs for the Scientific and Technological Challenges of the Twenty-First Century." The OSTP-AAAS One America panel was co-chaired by The Honorable John H. Gibbons, then-Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, and David Hamburg, then-President Emeritus of the Carnegie Corporation of New York and former member of the President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). Hamburg also served as co-moderator of the conversation. The panel session brought together twenty prominent scientists and technological leaders from academia, industry, laboratories, professional societies, and government to discuss the need for participation by all Americans in science and technology, and the responsibilities and expectations of a diverse scientific and technological community in contributing to the national good through research and education. -- "First, science and its benefits must be delivered toward making life better for all Americans - never just a privileged few ... Science must not create a new line of separation between the haves and the have-nots, those with and those without the tools and understanding to learn and use technology ... Science can serve the values and interests of all Americans, but only if all Americans are given a chance to participate in science." -- President William Jefferson Clinton