September 12, 2006
HP-94

Remarks of Anna Escobedo Cabral,
U.S. Treasurer
U.S. Department of the Treasury
Before the Detroit Economic Club

Dearborn, MI- Thanks very much for your warm welcome.  It is great to be in Dearborn, Michigan today and to speak before such a distinguished group of community and business leaders.  I really do appreciate that the Detroit Economic Club invited me to join you.  I particularly want to thank Beth Chapelle, your President and CEO, Steve Grigorian, your COO and Eleanor Josaitis, a Co-founder, for asking me to participate in today's meeting.

You know, today I come to share with you Treasury's commitment to creating an environment that ensures continued economic growth for our whole country and to realize our fullest potential. 

Additionally, I also want to share some information about many of the initiatives my Department is continuously working on to help improve the financial literacy skills of all people across the country.

But before I continue with today's discussion, it's important to take a moment to remember all of those who lost their lives in the terrible attacks of September 11 five years ago. 

Despite this terrible tragedy, we must truly be thankful for the blessing of living in a free and democratic country – in a country where, no matter the challenge we might face, we know that we have options we can exercise freely, and there are always opportunities to improve our lives, to start all over again, and aspire to achieve greater and better things for ourselves. 

We truly can be thankful, that despite the continued threat that still exists, terrorists have failed in their malicious efforts to harm our country and its citizens since then.  More importantly, they have failed to divide us as a nation – and we remain united.  

President Bush yesterday proclaimed September 11 as "Patriot Day."  And I just want to briefly read for you a brief portion of his proclamation.  In it the President stated:

"In the face of these unspeakable attacks, we were reminded that the great strength of America is found in the hearts and souls of our citizens. We witnessed firefighters, police officers, other public safety officials, and ordinary Americans demonstrate extraordinary courage, risking their lives to save innocent victims. We saw our country united in compassion as Americans came together to provide relief and bring hope to others.

"Today, America is fighting a war that is testing our Nation's resolve. We are once again answering history's call with confidence, and we know that freedom will prevail. Our brave men and women in uniform have stepped forward to fight our enemies abroad so that we do not have to face them here at home, and we are grateful for the courageous individuals bringing terrorists to justice around the world.

"We are also confronting the extremists in the great ideological struggle of the 21st century. September the 11th made clear that, in the long run, the only way to secure our Nation is to advance liberty and democracy as the great alternatives to repression and radicalism."

Indeed, it is amazing that despite major challenges like the attacks of September 11, on the whole our economy has really shown some significant growth.  That is because we've faced our challenges head on.

Despite the fact that we've witnessed continued economic growth in 48 states over the past 12 months and that our national economy has grown at a 4.2 percent annual rate – faster than any other major industrialized country – there is still much work ahead of us. 

As I earlier mentioned, it is critical that we remain focused on policies that encourage job growth, investment in businesses and in workers – so that American workers have the means to obtain the skills and qualifications to fill the jobs of the 21st century.  In short, we need to stay focused and committed to ensuring we maximize the number of Americans benefiting from the unprecedented national economic growth the country as a whole is experiencing.  In essence, we cannot afford to sit on our laurels.  It will be important to our survival and well-being to maintain our competitive edge.

In order to ensure continued growth, not just for the majority, but for every state in this great nation of ours, it will be very important to continue advancing the pro-growth economic policies which have helped us remain the most powerful economy in the world.

This Administration has set out a plan to do this.  First, the President has a strategy to sustain economic growth and keep the American economy competitive.  One important way to do this is by making tax relief permanent for all Americans who pay taxes.  When people and businesses are in a position to keep more of the money they earn, there is more money available to invest. 

We've already taken important steps in this area – important steps to sustain and increase economic growth. 

First, the President worked with Congress to double the child credit, reduce the marriage penalty, cut taxes on capital gains and dividends, and to create new incentives for businesses – particularly small businesses – to invest and expand. 

Second, it will be important to exercise fiscal restraint.  The President is also working with Congress in this area.  In February of this year, he signed the Deficit Reduction Act into law.  This legislation will save our nation almost $40 billion over the next five years.  He's also urging Congress to pass the line-item veto – a very important tool to target wasteful spending in large bills.

Third, we must focus our efforts in training and education, to ensure we remain a competitive in the global marketplace.  The President has developed the American Competitiveness Initiative, which will encourage more aggressive investment by businesses in research and development, increase Federal support for vital basic research, and improve math and science education for America's students.

Additionally, we also have to continue to work on opening markets around the world to American businesses.  This will expand opportunities for America's farmers, ranchers, workers and businesses.  That is why expanding free trade and lowering trade barriers to the sale of U.S. goods and services is so important.

And finally, we also have to take on the significant challenge of meeting America's energy demands.  Developing clean, domestic and affordable supplies of energy is very important, and I know this is an important issue for the automotive industry.  While we must safeguard the environment, we must all reduce our foreign energy dependence and help keep prices reasonable for consumers.  This Administration continues focused on initiatives like the President's Advanced Energy Initiative, which aims to promote alternatives to oil and seek clean ways to power our homes and our cars. 

Now I understand, sometimes the benefits of pro-growth policies, such as more jobs and a higher standard of living for many Americans, are not as immediately obvious in all areas of the country.  As Secretary Paulson has said, "Unfortunately the clear benefits . . . sometimes take longer to manifest themselves and are less visible . . . These dislocations are very real and painful . . ."

I agree with the Secretary.  We must think more creatively about how we can be more competitive and how we can assist those who face hardships.

I also had a humble beginning when I was growing up. But my parents always set the example that we must learn to take control of our own futures and to seize every opportunity we get.

I carry that message with me today.  We must encourage individuals, particularly those in our respective communities, to acquire the necessary skills necessary to manage their money wisely and invest it intelligently.

At the micro level, this Administration and Treasury have also focused on finding ways to help Americans better manage their personal money situations – whether they have more money to keep and invest, or whether they are facing considerable fiscal challenges. I'd like to talk to you now about some of the work we've done at Treasury to improve financial literacy rates across the country.

I often say that education is more than attractive packaging.  It must be delivered by trusted sources in the community.  And that is why I ask your help, and that of the Detroit Economic Club, to help get the message out about some of the personal finance education resources available to consumers for free.

We're committed to improving financial literacy through the work of a federal commission – The Financial Literacy and Education Commission.  The commission has an important role to play in helping citizens gain the knowledge and tools they need to compete and succeed in the 21st century.  It recently released a strategy to improve financial education during Financial Literacy Month, in April of 2006.  

The Commission, now led by the Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson, was created in 2003, and the 20 agencies that form it were tasked with developing a plan to improve the money management skills of people in the U.S.  The Commission was also tasked with developing a federal financial education web site and toll-free hotline, which were launched in English and Spanish in October of 2004 – MyMoney.gov and 1-888-MyMoney. 

Very soon, the Commission will turn its attention to developing a multimedia campaign addressing financial education needs in the U.S.  Since the strategy addressing the campaign has just been completed, the work on this campaign is just in its earliest phase.

The web site and hotline offer quite an array of financial education tools in English and Spanish to help you, your family and your clients obtain basic information to help them make wise personal finance decisions – whether their current interest is in saving, investing, paying for a college education, purchasing a first-time home or even starting a business. 

This information is easily accessible in this one-stop shop – these resources and the strategy I mentioned earlier are all accessible at www.mymoney.gov.  I encourage you to visit it, and even add the link to your resources list on your web sites!

I also think that given this club's activities, you can help make this information available in your respective communities.  And I hope it will help spark some creative thoughts about how groups like this organization and Treasury can partner in future common efforts. 

Just to give you a quick overview of the strategy: the strategy looks at a variety of other important topics, such as homeownership, credit management, retirement savings, in addition to "banking the unbanked" – an issue on which my office has been particularly active. 

The strategy is really a blue print – it is a first step.  However, it is a significant first step toward addressing the issue of tackling the challenge of assisting the more than 10 million individuals that are currently "unbanked" or who do not have a relationship with a traditional financial institution.

It also describes the challenges and guideposts for possible solutions.

The strategy encourages Americans to take advantage of the many tools to help them save money to buy a home, properly plan for retirement or better manage their monthly household income. 

It also puts forward examples of financial education programs that community leaders, private companies and volunteers can all look to as they design programs of their own to enhance financial literacy.

Sometimes the solutions come from the Federal government, but often nonprofit organizations, businesses and other private sector players provide important resources for those wishing to learn more about financial matters.

At the end of each chapter in the strategy, you will notice that Calls to Action are highlighted. As a result, Treasury will be coordinating multicultural financial literacy forums to identify the needs of local communities, but also identify some of the best practices in financial education that are quite literally producing positive results. 

I hope to hear from all those in the audience, especially those interested and involved in working on these issues.  And I look forward to working with each of you in the future.

Thanks again for your attention. Now I believe we have a few minutes for some questions, which I will be happy to take.