November 3, 2006
HP-160
Remarks of U.S. Treasurer Anna Escobedo Cabral Before the Kansas City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Kansas City, Mo.- Thank you, Miguel, for those kind words, and thank you all for your warm welcome. It's great to be in Kansas City, Missouri, this afternoon. This is a popular state to be in– President Bush is also visiting the "Show Me State" today.
I want to thank you for inviting me to be a part of the 29th Gala Awards Dinner and Business Summit. I'm especially excited to be here today because there is so much good news to share on our economy – such as increased jobs, higher wages, decreasing gas prices. And the Hispanic community really has something to celebrate today. But before I get into more detail on that, I want to recognize first the important work of the Kansas City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and all of you here today who help promote Hispanic businesses. On behalf of Secretary Paulson and President Bush, I applaud you for all your hard work to keep our economy growing.
I'm truly excited for this opportunity to share with you the wonderful work this Administration is focused on to help our economy remain prosperous. Now, I'm privileged to work for two men – President Bush and Secretary Paulson – who really understand the importance of looking beyond two or three years and recognizing the fact that the decisions we make today will impact us and other generations in the future.
I know the theme of this year's summit is, "Building Relationships, Creating Opportunities." That's exactly the goal of the President's economic policy – to create more opportunities for people to grow and continue to take advantage of our strong economy.
That is why the President and Secretary Paulson are committed to advancing pro-growth economic policies that ensure continued prosperity both for our country and for our partners throughout the world. The fact is, the U.S. economy is strong. We've seen a 3.7 percent growth in the Gross Domestic Product over the past three years.
Over the first half of this year, our economy grew at a 4.1 percent annual rate – faster than any major industrialized country.
Today, the Department of Labor announced that 92,000 more jobs were created in September and the unemployment rate dropped to 4.4 percent. Over the last three years – since the President passed the Jobs & Growth Act in August 2003 – more than 6.8 million jobs have been created. That's more than all the other major industrialized countries combined.
And more important to the people in this room, today Hispanic unemployment hit an all-time low at 4.7 percent, breaking a record set just this summer. This has been quite a year!
We've seen growth and productivity despite the many challenges our country has faced in recent years – from terrorism to a recession to the burst of the stock market bubble and the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina which reminded us of the ever powerful force of Mother Nature. We're also seeing gas prices fall which helps take economic strains off many Americans.
A key reason we've been so successful is because the President has been committed to advancing policies that would help us get through these challenges. One important way he has done this is by lowering taxes for all Americans. The President made the decision to put more money in the pockets of American workers, families and businesses by lowering taxes and giving Americans the opportunity to save that extra money, invest it, or even use it to start a small business.
Some people doubted that lowering taxes would actually bring our economy wealth. They worried that it would take money away from the federal government. But we're seeing just the opposite. In fact, we're seeing record tax receipts. The IRS recently found that Americans of every income have benefited from a drop in income taxes since the President enacted the tax cuts in 2000.
See, the President believes that when we allow people to keep more of their own money to invest, buy a home, or save for a rainy day, we actually strengthen our economy. That is why it's important that we work to make tax cuts permanent so that Americans can continue to benefit. At the same time, lower taxes means that small businesses can have the opportunity to grow, expand, and create more jobs. More jobs mean more people prosper.
The President has worked with Congress to double the child credit, reduce the marriage penalty, cut taxes on capital gains and dividends, and create new incentives for businesses – particularly small businesses – to invest and expand.
It is also important that we exercise fiscal restraint. The President signed the Deficit Reduction Act into law last February, which will save our nation almost $40 billion over the next five years.
Additionally, we have to continue to work on opening markets around the world. This will expand opportunities for Americans as well as our partners overseas. Because at the end of the day, we recognize that we're all interdependent, and when one country prospers we all benefit.
If you think about it, 95% of our customers live outside the United States so we really need to look beyond our borders to promote growth for everyone. That is why we must welcome competition just as eagerly as we welcome growth. It's also why expanding free trade and lowering barriers to the sale of U.S. goods and services is so important.
But even in this atmosphere of economic vitality, we face an important challenge. And that is in the area of education.
One of the reasons I enjoy my work as Treasurer so much is that I have the opportunity to promote the importance of education. This is a topic that is extremely important – especially in the Latino community. Simply put, our country has so many great opportunities to offer, but we must teach young people and others in our communities how to take advantage of them. After all, Hispanics represent over 14 percent of the U.S. population with a purchasing power of nearly $700 billion – that's 8.5% of total U.S. purchasing power.
In many ways, education opens doors and shows us how to take these opportunities for granted. I know it did for me. See, I came from very humble beginnings. Three generations before me worked in the fields picking fruits and vegetables to put on people's tables.
In fact, I was the first in my family to graduate high school and the first to go to college. A high school teacher took a special interest in me when he heard that I was going to graduate high school early to work and help support my family. Before I knew it, I was off to college and a whole new world of opportunity opened up for me.
As Treasurer, I travel to cities throughout the country, and when I do, I often ask to meet with school students at every level. And what I've noticed is that when I ask elementary school students how many of them want to go to college, they all raise their hands. Every single one of them. They all have dreams, and they all believe that they can achieve those dreams.
Now when I ask high school students the same question, I'm surprised if half the hands go up. Somewhere along the line, we're losing too many of our young people. We can't afford this because these are our future leaders. As parents and community members we need to promote the importance of education for our young people. We need to set high standards for them and encourage them to work hard to achieve their dreams.
And I think a key way to do that is to lead by example. That means we must constantly challenge ourselves to learn more.
As the global economy broadens, American workers need to be able to fill the jobs of the 21st century. One hundred years ago, 98 percent of our country's income was in crops. Today, it's only 2 percent, but we out-produce in that 2 percent what we did with 98 percent. The majority of our jobs are in technology and services which require higher and higher levels of education. In fact, the average person will change careers more than seven times throughout their lifetime. Now more than ever education is critical.
One of the ways we're working at Treasury to teach Americans about how they can improve quality of life for themselves and their communities is through financial education. When we talk about financial education in today's terms, what we're really talking about is improving quality of life. But achieving our common goals will require us to work together. The business community can play an instrumental role in this important task. And this sort of education in which we're all engaged is really about helping to create new opportunities for people – opportunities like paying for a child's college education, purchasing a home, starting a business or planning for a secure retirement.
Now this is where I call on your help as trusted business leaders in your communities. You all are the best messengers to helping us get the word out about the many useful tools and resources that are available to help people make smart choices about how they mange their money. We need your help and your leadership to spread this message throughout our communities – communities that are contributing significantly to our economy, and that unfortunately have been traditionally underserved.
A significant number of government leaders in Washington and corporate leaders are acutely aware that minority markets in the U.S. represent an important area of growth for the American economy. They also have a sincere interest in optimizing opportunities in these communities. More and more, the financial services community is looking to minority markets as areas for demonstrable growth – and that includes the Hispanic market. One of the ways we're working at Treasury to improve financial education throughout the country is through the Financial Literacy and Education Commission.
The fact is people between the ages of 20 and 29 are now filing for bankruptcy because they don't have the understanding and resources they need to protect and build their wealth. Similarly, the babyboomer generation is about to retire. Only 42 percent of Americans have actually calculated what they will need to live comfortably in retirement and reach their retirement goals.
The Financial Literacy and Education Commission for the first time brought together experts from across the federal government to one table to share ideas and find out what we were all doing. Now the right hand is talking to the left.
We've partnered with the public and the private sectors to strengthen this message and to help bring together resources to better serve our citizens. Earlier this year, the Financial Literacy and Education Commission released The National Strategy for Financial Literacy. 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. I urge you to visit and spread the word about MyMoney.gov. The Strategy that I just mentioned can be downloaded from the web site as well.
The Strategy looks at a variety of important topics, such as homeownership, credit management, retirement savings, and "banking the unbanked" – all topics of concern as we've seen for the Hispanic community. It also describes the challenges and some possible solutions. The solutions may come from the Federal government, but often nonprofit organizations, businesses and other private sector players provide important resources for those who want to learn more about personal finance issues. It also lists examples of financial education programs that community leaders, entrepreneurs, and volunteers can all look to as they design programs of their own to enhance financial literacy. It's a wonderful resource that I hope you all will take a look at.
But this is just one step. We need leaders like you who are committed to delivering this important message, giving back to your communities, and improving quality of life. I've shared some very positive economic news with you today. But the reality is that statistics don't always do justice to the valuable contributions of business leaders like you. All of you in this room have the potential of bringing about positive change and improving people's lives.
It has been a true pleasure for me to share with you just a few of the efforts we're involved in at Treasury and to highlight the President's priorities to keep our economy and businesses going strong. With your help and contributions, I'm confident we will continue to open doors of opportunity for those who seek them. If we are successful, the American economy will remain the envy of the world.
Thank you.
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