Speeches by Secretary Elaine L.Chao

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Remarks Prepared for Delivery by
U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao
LATINA Style 50
Washington, D.C.
Thursday, February 9, 2006

Good afternoon, and thank you for that kind introduction, Robert [Robert Bard, President and CEO, LATINA Style].

It's good to see Latinas here from President George W. Bush's Administration. Heidi Marquez Smith, Special Assistant to the President for Cabinet Liaison and Maria Pia Tamburri, Director of Specialty Media in the White House Office of Media Affairs.

And let me also acknowledge Shinae Chun, the first Asian American Director of the Labor Department's Women's Bureau.

I am so pleased to join you every year for this event. These awards not only encourage companies to hire and promote Latinas, but they raise the profile of positive role models for others to follow. The women we honor today are an asset to their community, their employers, and to our nation.

Some of you may know that I am an immigrant to this country, as well. I know first hand the challenges and sacrifices necessary to overcome barriers and blaze new paths. That's why I am so pleased to work for a President who has done so much to reach out to America's diverse communities. He knows that diversity makes our nation strong. And he does not hesitate to celebrate diversity, by tapping Americans from all communities for high-level positions in his Administration.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, for example, is the first Hispanic in our nation's history to be appointed Attorney General. His story is known to many here — the grandson of Mexican immigrants, and the son of hard working parents who sacrificed to build a better life for their family.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez is another example well-known to the Hispanic community. He was born in Havana, Cuba, and came to this country when he was only seven. He rose from a humble position at one of America's most well-known corporations to become its Chief Executive Officer. And the former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development — now Senator — Mel Martinez, also immigrated from Cuba under the Peter Pan program.

Other notable Hispanic American appointees include Hector Barreto, Administrator of the Small Business Administration; Cari Dominguez, Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; and Alicia Castaneda, Chairman of the Federal Housing Finance Board. And of course, I'm very proud of our own Ronnye Vargas Stidvent, Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor. In fact, President George W. Bush has appointed more Americans of Hispanic heritage to top positions in the federal government than any other President in history.

Today, I'd like to share with you the President's plan to ensure that our nation remains the most competitive in the world and a continuing beacon of hope and opportunity. The President knows that it is the private sector, not the government that creates jobs. And that the role of the government is to create the conditions for the private sector to create new jobs. His strategy is straight forward: to reduce the excessive taxation, over regulation and abusive litigation that hamper growth and job creation.

And, as the employment numbers proved last week, the President's plan is working. It is remarkable that despite all the challenges of the past five years, our economy is strong and getting stronger. 193,000 net new jobs were added to our economy in January for a total of more than 4.7 million net new jobs in the last 2 1/2 years. And the unemployment rate has fallen to 4.7 percent, lower than the average of the 1990s, which was 5.7 percent!

This tracks with our economy's growth rate, which was 3.7 percent in 2005, stronger than any major industrialized nation. But, as the President said in his State of the Union address, we cannot be complacent. We live in a worldwide economy. That's why the President announced the American Competitiveness Initiative in his State of the Union address last week.

The President pledged $136 billion over ten years to increase investments in research and development, to strengthen math and science education and to encourage entrepreneurship and innovation. These steps, in turn, will spur the innovation that is key to creating the new products and services that create new jobs.

The jobs of the future will require a solid foundation in math and science. Over the next ten years, there will be more than six million new and replacement job openings in engineering, science, computer, health care and technical occupations that require strong math and science skills. So the President proposes to invest an additional $380 million to ensure that every child in grades K-through-12 has a strong foundation in these disciplines.

Let me tell you a sampling of other sectors needing workers with higher skills. Our country will need more than 3 million new workers in the health care sector, including 1.2 million registered nurses in the next ten years. Other sectors include aerospace, biotechnology, energy, financial services, geospatial technology, homeland security and information technology. In addition, our country will need skilled trade workers, such as 405,000 carpenters, 213,000 plumbers and 207,000 electricians. Even the skilled trades often require higher skills, such as the ability to do math and read blueprints.

So it really pays to stay in school! Today, the average high school graduate earns $660 a week and the average college graduate earns $1243 a week — almost twice as much! In addition, the unemployment rate for high school graduates is about twice that of college graduates. And the unemployment rate for high school drop-outs is nearly four times as high. Education opens the doors of opportunity, and provides better wages and employment security for everyone. Education is the fastest path to advancement in our country.

The President recognizes the invaluable contributions that Hispanics and other immigrants make to our nation's workforce. So another element of the President's American Competitiveness Initiative is asking Congress to make it easier for foreign-born students to study in the United States and remain here to work. This is part of the President's comprehensive immigration reform plan. The goal of this plan is to secure our nation's borders, while honoring our nation's tradition of welcoming hard-working immigrants seeking opportunity.

That's why one feature of the President's comprehensive immigration reform is a Temporary Worker Program. It will match willing temporary workers with willing employers, when no American worker is available. The process will be streamlined, fair, and efficient, so people can find jobs and employers can find workers in a timely and legal manner.

The Department of Labor is following the President's leadership by ensuring that vulnerable immigrants are protected, regardless of their status. The Department has published and distributed health, safety and employment materials in a wide variety of languages, including Spanish. The goal is to help vulnerable immigrants learn about their rights under our nation's labor laws.

The Department has targeted enforcement of our nation's wage and hour laws on low-wage industries that often employ large numbers of vulnerable immigrants, including Hispanics. And it has hired more Spanish-speaking enforcement officers. As a result, the Department has recovered record back wages for immigrant workers, many of them Hispanics.

To help Hispanic immigrants build strong career paths, the Department has also launched a Hispanic Worker Initiative. The goal is to help Hispanics improve their language proficiency and gain the occupational skills needed to access jobs in rapidly growing industries. To help get the word out, the Department is reaching out to a wide variety of community-based Hispanic organizations.

The Department of Labor also launched a program to help Latinas learn more about financial security and how to plan their financial futures. Conferences were held in Phoenix, San Antonio, Miami, Philadelphia, Seattle, Hartford, Kansas City, Columbus, Denver and New York, and more than 4,000 Hispanic women attended. Shinae Chun of the Women's Bureau deserves a great deal of credit for initiating this program.

Today's program is a testament to the promise and opportunity that America provides. There is always more to be done. The best way to ensure this legacy continues is to help others make the same journey. So I ask you to help spread the word about a very special opportunity for Hispanic Americans, and other traditionally underserved communities. It is the Opportunity Conference, which I launched several years ago to help traditionally underserved communities access opportunity in mainstream America.

This conference is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor in collaboration with private and non-profit partners. It is free and open to all. It focuses on networking, communications and accessing government grant and contracting opportunities. The response has been so overwhelming, that we're moving beyond Washington and taking the conferences on the road. Last year, the conference was held on November 9th in Chicago, and more are coming. You can learn all about the past conferences and upcoming ones by going to www.opportunityconference.gov, or www.dol.gov.

I would also encourage you to help spread the word about job opportunities with the Department of Labor and other Federal agencies through the federal job website www.USAJOBS.gov. Our nation faces a retirement wave in the Federal civil service — and this is a tremendous opportunity for Americans from every community, especially the Hispanic community, to consider service to their country.

Thank you for inviting me to join you today. Congratulations to all the winners. Thanks to all the employers who have given these outstanding women the opportunity to achieve their dreams. Working together, we can continue to ensure that the doors of opportunity remain wide open for everyone.

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