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Remarks Prepared for Delivery by
U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao
Job Corps 40th Anniversary Grand Finale Luncheon
Washington, D.C.
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Thank you, Grace [Kilbane, National Director, Job Corps]. And
welcome to Washington, everyone, for this celebration of the Jobs Corps
and its 40 years of public service.
The Earle C. Clements Job Corps choir was fantastic. Too bad you can't compete
as a group for American Idol!
Although he could not be with us today, President Bush sends his best wishes
to all of you. He remains focused on ensuring that everyone affected by Hurricane
Katrina gets the assistance they need to rebuild their lives and their communities.
I like to say that in the Katrina recovery effort, we are not simply giving
people help, we are giving them hope. I was in Houston, Baton Rouge and
Mobile visiting with Hurricane survivors and volunteers this past week. I
was so inspired by the tremendous outpouring of assistance from people all
over the country. In Houston alone, 40,000 people had shown up and volunteered
to help about 23,000 evacuees.
That trip reminded me that hope is the most important thing you can give
a person. People can and do survive against the toughest challenges and opposition,
provided they have hope. Hope is the oxygen that keeps our souls and our
spirits burning brightly.
Your fellow Job Corps members are hard at work helping the survivors of
Hurricane Katrina. Students from the Shriver Job Corps Center are helping
with evacuees to Devens, Massachusetts. The Flatwoods Job Corps Centers
from Virginia sent instructors and students to assist with evacuation and
transportation in New Orleans. The Mingo Job Corps Center from Missouri
sent a 20-person crew to Everglades Park to help the National Forest Service
clear trees knocked down by the hurricane. Eight days ago, a second Mingo
team headed to San Antonio to help with relief work.
In center after center, students and faculty have been helping to raise
funds or do the work needed to help the people of the Gulf Coast. Job Corps
students and staff are just great. You are not simply providing help, you
are providing hope.
The Job Corps has been providing hope to more than 2 million young Americans
since it was established four decades ago. The Jobs Corps understands that
some young people need extra help and a second chance when they have started
down the wrong path in life.
The Job Corps is there for them. It reaches out to let at-risk young people
know that they are not alone. The Job Corps teaches important skills to at-risk
young people, so they can build a brighter future. And it also helps instill
the workplace values that everyone needs to succeed in life. These values
include self-discipline, treating others the way you would want to be treated,
and taking responsibility for your actions. It includes the soft skills,
like good communications and understanding others, which are so important
to being ready for work and receptive to opportunity.
This was the goal when the Job Corps was founded 40 years ago. By the end
of 1965, 87 Job Corps centers were established and served 16,968. Today,
the Job Corps has grown quite a bit. Almost 65,000 students train each year
in 122 Job Corps centers in 48 states, including the District of Columbia
and Puerto Rico.
All of the centers now are co-educational and offer more than 100 trades.
These include building computer networks, filling pharmaceutical prescriptions,
servicing heating and cooling systems and operating heavy construction equipment.
I visited with President Mike Sacco of the Seafarer's Union recently, at
the union's training facility at Piney Point, Maryland. They are very appreciative
of the Job Corps and the many talented young people it has sent their way
as apprentices for careers in the maritime trades.
The theme for this Fortieth Anniversary celebration is: Integration, Transformation
and Celebration. It highlights the Job Corps' role in helping America's
workforce prepare for the ever-changing job market. The days of taking one
job with one company and staying for a lifetime are mostly gone.
The 21st century is the century of constant change. Technology affects
every field, and is constantly improving. So, it's gratifying to note
that the Job Corps is providing strong math and science courses to all
of its students. It may not seem like it now, but these skills are very important
in the 21st century workforce. Many of the new jobs being created require
more advanced technical skills and the math and science you are learning
will serve you very well for years to come.
I want to thank all of the Job Corps staff members who are here today for
the valuable training you are providing for these young people.
Assistant Secretary Emily DeRocco has been key in helping you achieve your
mission of serving others. So has the Director of the Jobs Corps, Grace Kilbane.
They and all of the staff deserve our thanks for their tireless efforts to
ensure this successful program will be providing training for young Americans
for another 40 years.
Finally, I want to thank all of you young people who are in the program.
When I look at the faces of all of you here today, I see renewed hope for
America. I see strong, smart, confident young people ready to go out and
make a place for themselves in the world. So, good luck to all of you! And
let me share with you something I have learned on my own journey. As you
progress in your new careers and new lives, you will face many obstacles
along the way. But it is important to keep believing in yourself. When you
make a mistake—and we all do—just pick yourself up and keep on going. If
you work hard, and never give up—I know you will achieve your goals.
So, God bless you. God Bless all of you who have given so much to these
young people and to our country. And God bless America.
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