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Remarks Prepared for Delivery by
U.S. Secretary of
Labor Elaine L. Chao
Utah Conference for Women
Salt Palace Convention
Center
Salt Lake City, Utah
Monday, October 6, 2003
Thank you, Senator Hatch.
First of all, I want to say what a delight it is to be here today with
Senator and Mrs. Hatch. Orrin is doing such a great job for the State of Utah
and for the people of the United States. Elaine is helping Orrin to represent
you in our nation’s capitol. My husband, Senator Mitch McConnell, and I
are so grateful for their friendship and our country is so fortunate to have
the benefit of Orrin’s leadership in the U.S. Senate.
It is always a thrill for me to speak to women leaders—women who
are making a difference in the workplace, in the home and in the community.
I’m especially delighted that this conference includes so many
women who work in the home, raising the families who are the future of our
country. My mother was a homemaker, whose job was bringing up a family of
girls. Let me tell you, raising children in New York City was not
easy—especially when you are a newcomer to this country! I will always be
grateful for the example she set and the strong values she instilled in us.
They have guided me every day of my life, and have inspired me as I have
advanced in my career.
Today, women all across our country are leading a powerful revolution
and changing our society for the better.
As Secretary of Labor, I often remind people that women pressed for
enactment of our country’s first labor laws. Women have shattered the
glass ceiling in corporations and hold nearly half of all executive and
managerial jobs in the United States. And today women are at the forefront of
entrepreneurship, creating millions of new jobs and building our nation’s
economic security.
Women are also pioneers in volunteerism and philanthropy. I know this
firsthand as the former President and CEO of United Way of America and Director
of the Peace Corps. Women now make up the majority of CEOs of non-profit
organizations. This should come as no surprise, since recent studies show that
women are more likely than men to volunteer.
I am proud to work for an Administration and a President that values the
accomplishments of women and has put so many accomplished women in positions of
leadership.
President George W. Bush appointed the first American woman of Asian
descent in our country’s history to serve in the cabinet. I have two women
colleagues in the cabinet—Interior Secretary gale Norton and Agriculture
Secretary Ann Venneman. And of course, National Security Advisor Condoleeza
Rice is one of the President’s closest foreign policy advisors, and
Margaret Spellings is his Assistant for Domestic Policy. Everywhere you look in
this Administration, women are making history.
At the Department of Labor, a full 50% of the top leadership is
women—this gender parity is more than any other cabinet department in the
administration and a record in the history of our country.
We don’t just talk about women’s progress—we make it
happen!
The gains that women have made could not have been achieved without hard
work and sacrifice and the paths that women blazed before us.
Women owned businesses are growing at twice the rate of all U.S. firms,
employing over 9 million workers and generating more than a trillion dollars
annually in revenue.
And women-owned businesses are not only growing in number, they’re
growing in strength. From 1997 to 2000, women-owned businesses with $1 million
or more in revenue grew 31%, while their male-owned counterparts grew by 19
percent.
They are proof that nothing is off-limits to the limitless talents of
women.
Today, I’d like to talk about what this Administration is doing to
meet two key challenges in our society. The first is growing the economy so
that everyone who wants to work can find a job. And the second is ensuring that
faith-based organizations are welcomed as full partners with the federal
government to help those in need.
As Senator Hatch knows so well, the President is very focused on
improving the economic recovery. President Bush came into office during a
recession—although it was not widely reported at the time. He acted
immediately by proposing a growth package that is widely credited with making
the recession shorter and shallower. Our country was just coming out of the
recession, when the devastating attacks of September 11th occurred
and revelations about corporate accounting scandals further weakened the
economy.
To jump-start the economic recovery, the President—with the help of
Senator Hatch—fought hard for the jobs and growth plan that he signed this
year.
As a result of the President’s leadership, we are seeing
encouraging sings of growth.
Retail sales are trending up. Housing starts are at a 17-year high. And
interest rates are at a 40-year low. Even the much-battered high-tech sector is
making a comeback. That’s very good news for Utah—your high-tech
corridor rivals Silicon Valley!
The recent up tick in the number of new jobs created in our economy in
September—57,000 or the highest level in 8 months—is another
indication that the President’s plan is working.
But neither the President—nor I—will not be satisfied until
the economy is growing fast enough to create jobs for everyone who wants to
work. That’s why the President has a 6-point plan—a full agenda for
the creation of jobs in America—to ensure that no one is left behind.
The plan includes:
- Making health care costs more affordable.
- Reducing the burden of abusive lawsuits that take resources away from
creating new jobs.
- Ensuring an affordable, reliable energy supply.
- Opening up new markets for American products.
- Enabling families and businesses to plan for the future by making the
temporary tax cuts permanent, and
- Streamlining government regulations, especially for small
businesses.
The President and I are also mindful that while the economy is growing
and changing, there are many people out there who need help making the
transition. That’s why the Labor Department has distributed over $500
million dollars in National Emergency Grants over the past two years to help
workers who have lost their jobs due to plant closures or natural disasters.
These grants pay for job training, counseling, transportation, child care
expenses, health insurance premiums and other services. In addition, the
President has extended unemployment insurance benefits 3 times. We want to
ensure that the safety net remains strong as our economy improves.
As Secretary of Labor, I know that government has a vital role to play
in helping workers during challenging times. Yet there are some people in our
society who are struggling with special problems that government alone cannot
address.
As some of you may know, the President is a man of strong faith whose
own life has been deeply affected by his beliefs. He knows firsthand the power
of faith to change lives and make our communities a better place. That’s
why President Bush has turned to faith-based organizations and invited them
into full partnership with the government to help Americans in need.
Just last month, the President announced a series of sweeping regulatory
changes to clear away the lingering bias against faith-based institutions in
every agency of the federal government.
As part of that effort, the Labor Department issued new regulations to
end discrimination against faith-based organizations in federal contracting and
in job training.
Previously, faith-based organizations could be barred from competing for
federal contracts if they hired staff in accordance with their religious
beliefs. We have changed those regulations so that faith-based organizations
that contract with the government are now free to hire according to their
beliefs. And the Department revised its job training regulations to conform
with Pell grants—and other tuition assistance programs—that allow
these funds to be used for faith-based training and education.
These much-needed changes will level the playing field for faith-based
and community organizations, which can play such a vital role in helping
Americans in need.
They are part of the President’s comprehensive plan to ensure that
no one is left behind and that all members of our society feel valued.
Women are key to that effort not only because of our considerable
economic clout, but because we are the guardians of our society’s core
values generation.
Thank you for inviting me here today.
God bless you and God bless America.
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