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OPA News Release: [07/30/2004]
Contact Name: Dirk
Fillpot
Phone Number: (202) 693-4676
U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao Delivers
Commencement Address to Georgetown University’s Fund for American Studies
Graduates
WASHINGTON—U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao, who
delivered the commencement address Friday to graduates of the Fund for American
Studies at Georgetown University, told them that protecting the economic and
personal freedoms America offers today is vital to ensuring them opportunities
they seek for themselves in the future. The Fund for American Studies is a
nonprofit educational organization based in Washington, D.C., that educates
young leaders on the values of freedom, democracy and free market
economies.
“America is a land of opportunity because of our free enterprise
system and our cherished values of individual liberty and individual
responsibility,” Secretary Chao said in her address. “I hope this
experience has helped you appreciate how fortunate we are to live in a country
that provides such abundant opportunities to realize our dreams.”
Secretary Chao also discussed improving the state of the American
economy with graduates, pointing out that tax relief is helping those who are
looking for jobs.
“Because economic freedom is the best defense against recession,
President Bush pushed an ambitious tax cut plan through Congress,” Chao
said. “The economy was responding to the President’s first round of
tax cuts when the attacks of September 11, 2001, occurred. In the aftermath,
more than 1 million jobs were lost.
“True to the principles of economic freedom, the President
jump-started the economy with second and third rounds of tax cuts and a jobs
and growth package, thus making the recession one of the shortest and
shallowest in recent history. Today, we have enjoyed 10 straight months of job
growth, with 1.5 million new jobs created since last August. The unemployment
rate today is 5.6 percent, which is lower than the average unemployment rate of
the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s.”
Secretary Chao received her M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School and
her undergraduate degree in economics from Mount Holyoke College. She also
studied at M.I.T., Dartmouth College and Columbia University. She is the
recipient of 24 honorary doctoral degrees from colleges and universities around
the world.
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