Speeches by Secretary Elaine L. Chao

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Remarks Delivered by
U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao
Cheng Kung University Alumni Association of Greater New York
Flushing, New York
Sunday, October 22, 2006

Thank you, Dr. Tsay [President, Alumni Association], for that introduction. I also want to thank you for coming to Philadelphia this week to attend the DOL-sponsored fourth annual Opportunity Conference.

It's a pleasure to join this 2006 conference.

It's nice to see Ambassador Andrew L.Y. Hsia, Director General, TECRO, his lovely wife, and his staff.

And, it's good to see Peter Koo, President of the Flushing Chinese Business Association. We appreciate Peter sharing his small business expertise at the Opportunity Conference last week.

And I see James Kuo-Ann Chiao of the Chinese Institute of Engineers. I was just at the CIE event last month.

Lastly, let me congratulate the many awardees and scholarship recipients who are here tonight.

The Cheng Kung University Alumni Association of Greater New York embodies the volunteerism that has strengthened our community and our country. Strong, private voluntary organizations have always been important in mainstream America. In fact, in the early 1800s, a visiting Frenchman touring a young America, Alexis de Tocqueville, noted the unique American phenomenon of citizens forming voluntary association outside of government to address community issues. The members of your association have shared many experiences, including coming to America to build better lives for their families.

America has always provided abundant opportunities, and continues to provide unprecedented opportunity today. Our country's economy has grown 4.1 percent so far in 2006, which is better than any other major industrialized nation. The economy has seen 37 straight months of job creation. Over 6.6 million net new jobs have been created in the last three years. In fact, this week, initial unemployment insurance claims dropped to their lowest level in 3 months. This signals continued, robust job growth.

The national unemployment rate is 4.6 percent — a full percentage point lower than the 5.7 percent unemployment rate in the decade of the 1990s. And New York State's unemployment rate is 4.4 percent, down from 4.7percent in August and, from 5.1 percent one year ago. New York has added nearly 74,000 new jobs since the beginning of 2006.

Today, our country is transitioning to a knowledge-based economy, in which higher education and specialized skills are needed. Two-thirds of the new jobs being created are in professions that require higher skills and more education, so by definition, these are better-paying jobs. But our nation is developing a skills gap. That's the mismatch between the skills of some of our workers and the skills needed for the new jobs being created. So education is more important than ever before to the competitiveness of our country. The Department of Labor spends more than $70 billion annually on employment and training services to help our nation's workers.

Europe and Japan, by contrast, have had stagnant job growth over the last decade. Germany and France have unemployment rates close to 9 percent and long-term unemployment rates triple that of the U.S. And gasoline prices are $6 per gallon in Europe, compared with an average of about $2.44 per gallon in New York State.

A crucial part of our economic success has been the economic policies of President George W. Bush. His tax cuts have allowed families and entrepreneurs to keep more of their hard-earned money. Overall compensation has increased 6.1 percent since 2001. This reflects the fact that more people are taking their pay in the form of benefits, such as health care and pensions, instead of wages. And real, per capita after-tax disposable income has risen 9.1 percent.

President Bush has appointed a record of more than 300 Asian Americans to top positions in the U.S. government. At the start of his Administration, for the first time in American history, he appointed two Asian Americans to serve in his Cabinet together at the same time.

The Department of Labor has the highest number of Asian Pacific American appointees in the federal government.

Since 2001, the Labor Department has been committed to helping the Asian American community — and other traditionally underserved communities — access opportunity in mainstream America.

For the first time in history, in 2002, the Bureau of Labor Statistics — which is a part of the U. S. Department of Labor — began to track the employment patterns of Asian Pacific Americans in a separate category.

Last year, the Department recovered a record 13 percent more in back wages for vulnerable, low-wage workers, many of whom are immigrants.

The Labor Department also oversees the hiring practices of government contractors and subcontractors. The Department recovered a record amount — a 56 percent increase over what was collected just four years ago — for workers who suffered employment discrimination from federal contractors.

Because the labor laws of our country can be complex and often difficult to understand, the Department has translated labor law materials into multiple languages, including Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean.

And for the fifth year in a row, the Department has sponsored an Asian Pacific American Federal Career Advancement Summit. When this summit was established in 2001, the goal was to help Asian Pacific Americans access career and advancement opportunities within the federal government. The Department has also released the Asian Pacific American Federal Career Guide, explaining the federal job search process. It is available online at www.dol.gov, and www.apasummit.gov.

The Department also just concluded its fourth annual Opportunity Conference, held in Philadelphia last Tuesday. More than 1,000 people attended. This conference was started in 2002 to help traditionally underserved communities access opportunity in mainstream America. They are free to the public and include workshops on small business development and accessing capital, as well as government grant and contracting opportunities, networking and communications. At the Philadelphia Opportunity Conference, a pamphlet was distributed that shows how to access government contracting. We have brought copies of this pamphlet, and other materials about Department of Labor programs that might be informative. For more information about the Opportunity Conference, please feel free to go on the website: www.opportunityconference.gov.

I have also started an internship program in the Office of the Secretary, in which many Asian American young people have participated. These internships are paid positions that can help develop the next generation of young people for our community and others, as well. For more information, please go to www.dol.gov.

This week, our country achieved an important milestone. The population of the United States reached 300 million. As our country grows, it is becoming more diverse and offering abundant new opportunities. This continued growth is a testament to our country's dynamism and a reminder that America's greatest asset is its people. It has carried our country to ever greater achievements in all areas of human endeavor and allowed our country to remain the world's most vibrant and innovative economy in the world.

Recently, I attended the G-8 Labor Ministers Conference in Moscow. This is the annual meeting of the Labor Ministers of the world's most developed, industrialized nations. The United States economy is the envy of the world. And other countries want to know how we do it.

For example, Russia is a huge country geographically. It is the world's number one exporter of natural gas, and the world's number two exporter of oil. Despite the fact that high energy prices are bringing in significant revenue, the country faces many difficult challenges. It is losing population — more than 700,000 people each year due to deaths exceeding births. Energy provides one-fifth of the country's revenue, but only one percent of its jobs. Central cities like Moscow are doing well. But other areas of the country are struggling with high unemployment. The economy is not diversified, so not enough new jobs are being created. And the education system produces many highly skilled scientists and engineers who cannot find jobs.

Each country in the G-8 faces its own, unique challenges. But these meetings underscore the importance of creating opportunity that can be accessed by all. The United States is strong because, among other reasons, it has a tradition of welcoming newcomers who come here seeking to build better lives for their families.

While I was growing up, my parents devoted so much of their time and attention to their family. I am where I am today because of the sacrifices and selfless contributions of my parents. In my current responsibilities, I am committed to ensuring access to opportunity for everyone in mainstream America.

Each generation builds upon the accomplishments and sacrifices of the previous generation. Previous generations have laid the foundation for us; we need to lay the foundation for the next generation.

Thank you again for the generous expressions of support given to me throughout the years.

Congratulations on a great conference! Enjoy the rest of the evening!

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