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Remarks Delivered by
U.S. Secretary of Labor
Elaine L. Chao
4th Annual Opportunity Conference
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Thank you, Senator [Rick Santorum, Pennsylvania].
You are doing a great job for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Thank
you for being with us today.
Welcome, everyone, to the U.S. Department of Labor's Fourth Annual
Opportunity Conference!
We decided upon Philadelphia because of its historical significance for
freedom and opportunity in America. I hope you will enjoy the many different
programs we have planned for you today.
So many people have shared their time and talents to make this event
possible. Let me give a special thanks to:
- Ken Wong, Commissioner of the White House Initiative on Asian
Americans and Pacific Islanders;
- Sharon Pinder, Maryland Special Secretary for Minority Affairs;
- Rosa Rosales, National President of LULAC;
- Brent Wilkes, Executive Director of LULAC;
- Donald Bowen, Senior Vice President of Programs for National Urban
League; and
- David Bibb, Deputy Administrator of the General Services
Administration.
And let me also acknowledge our terrific conference co-sponsors:
- The Pan Asian-American Leadership Caucus (PALC);
- The League of United Latin America Citizens (LULAC); and
- The National Urban League
And I want to recognize our two dozen conference partners who helped
advertise this conference and provided so many hardworking volunteers.
I see that Chiling Tong, of the Minority Business Development Agency, is
here with us today. And there are also several officials from the Labor
Department here, as well. They include:
- Emily DeRocco, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and
Training;
- Sam Mok, the Department of Labor's Chief Financial Officer, and the
first Asian American Chief Financial Officer of the Labor Department in
history;
- Shinae Chun, Director of the Department of Labor's Women's Bureau,
and the first Asian American to ever head that agency; and
- Jedd Medefind, Director of the Department of Labor's Center for
Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
Finally, let me to thank Karen Czarnecki, Director of the Office of the
21st Century Workforce, and Anna Hui, Special Assistant to the Secretary for
Asian Pacific American Outreach, and all of their colleagues who worked so hard
on this conference.
As you may know, I started this Conference in 2003 to help traditionally
underserved communities grow and access opportunity in mainstream America.
My own experience is that traditionally underserved communities may not
be aware of the tremendous resources available to help them achieve their
dreams. That's why I developed an annual conference to address the information
gap. The goal is to level the playing field and ensure equal access to
opportunity for everyone. America is the land of abundant opportunity,
compassion and generosity. The spirit of those who came before us, and built
this great country, is reflected in the enthusiasm and energy of everyone in
this room.
This conference is just one of many initiatives the Department has
developed to reach out to your communities. Let me mention just a few of the
other programs we have developed.
The Department sponsors partnerships to help Hispanic workers develop
greater English proficiency and workplace skills. The Department sponsored a
leadership summit with Historically Black Colleges and Universities to help the
African American community learn about new opportunities in the high-growth
sectors of our economy. And we have reached out to the Asian Pacific American
community in many forums to make them aware of these growth opportunities, as
well.
As some of you may know, a key mission of the Labor Department is to
protect workers and ensure that they are safe on the job and fully and fairly
compensated. So this Administration has made a special effort to target
enforcement of our nation's wage and hour laws on low-wage industries that
employ large numbers of vulnerable immigrants. As a result, the Department has
recovered record back wages for immigrant workers.
Our nation's labor laws can be very complex. The Department has reached
out to previously underserved communities who may not be familiar with them.
The Department sponsored the first-ever Hispanic Health and Safety Summit.
Labor law materials have been translated into multiple languages, including
Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean. And the Labor Department is reaching
out to the rapidly growing number of African American small business owners.
Among other initiatives, the Department distributes labor law materials through
Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
The Opportunity Conference is an important part of the Department's
outreach efforts. It has grown each year. This year more than 1,000 people from
32 states are attending!
Each year, we try to improve the conference by adding panels and
workshops based on your feedback. This year we have added several new
workshops. There is a new panel on workforce competitiveness. There is a panel
featuring electronic tools for youth employment strategies. This is an
initiative of First Lady Laura Bush, so I am especially delighted to add this
program for youth to our conference. The panel on "Reducing Barriers and
Simplifying the Home Buying Process" is also back by popular demand from two
years ago.
And, of course, this conference emphasizes programs to help small
businesses grow and prosper. This is important because, historically,
entrepreneurship has provided a path to success for traditionally underserved
communities. The latest Census Bureau report notes that the number of
businesses owned by women has risen by 20 percent. Asian American business
ownership has risen by 24 percent. Businesses owned by Hispanics have risen 31
percent. And African American business ownership has risen by 45 percent! That
is real progress! And it's a tribute to the entrepreneurial opportunities that
our country provides. I am very concerned about this because small businesses
create two-thirds of the new jobs in our country today.
That's why today, we are distributing a new small business pamphlet
developed especially for this conference. Entitled "Doing Business
with the U.S. Department of Labor," this pamphlet offers
concrete, practical advice on how to register with the government so that your
business or organization can bid on Labor Department federal contracts.
Registering your business is an important and necessary step in accessing
government-sponsored opportunities. This is true not only for the Labor
Department, but for all federal government departments. As you may know,
federal government contracts are competitively bid.
Last year, the federal government awarded nearly $80 billion in
contracts to small businesses and $22 billion to small, disadvantaged
businesses. During the same period of time, the Department of Labor awarded
over $557 million in contracts to small businesses and $185 million to small,
disadvantaged businesses.
The Departments of Defense, Energy and Homeland Security and NASA
account for 35 percent of all federal procurement. They have significant
subcontracting opportunities available to small businesses in areas such as
military supplies, IT, base maintenance, administrative services and
construction.
75 percent of the Labor Department's procurement is for the operation,
construction and maintenance of Job Corps Centers. These centers train nearly
65,000 students each year in 122 Job Corps centers in 48 states, including the
District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Since the mission of the Job Corps is to
help at-risk youth, the expertise offered by traditionally underserved
communities is especially important.
This Administration also welcomes the involvement of faith-based and
community organizations. The President has done a great deal to eliminate the
barriers to full access to federal government opportunities. Today, there is a
permanent structure in place in each government department and agency to help
faith-based and community organizations access government-provided
opportunities.
Last year, the federal government awarded $14.8 billion in competitive
grants to faith-based and community organizations. And the Labor Department
awarded $151 million in competitive grants to faith-based and community
organizations. This Administration values the contribution of faith based and
community organizations to our nation, and to our nation's workers.
Let me conclude by thanking all of you for coming and for taking this
opportunity to invest in yourselves and your future. I hope you will enjoy this
conference, and find the many panels informative and useful. As our nation
becomes more diverse, the expertise of traditionally underserved communities is
becoming more and more valuable. You are making a significant contribution to
our nation's economic security. And by creating hope and opportunity, you are
enhancing our nation's diversity, which is one of America's greatest strengths.
Have a great conference! God bless you, and God bless America.
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