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OPA News Release: [05/14/2005]
Contact Name:
Stephanie Cathcart
Phone Number: (202) 431-3239
Release Number:
05-860-NEW
U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao Receives the
Ellis Island Medal of Honor
WASHINGTON -- An immigrant to this country at the age of eight
who became the first Asian Pacific American woman to serve in the President's
cabinet, U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao today received the Ellis Island
Medal of Honor from the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO) Inc.
The medal was presented Saturday, May 14, in a ceremony on Ellis Island.
The Ellis Island Medals of Honor are presented to Americans of diverse
origins for their outstanding contributions to their own ethnic groups and to
American society. Honorees include U.S. Presidents, Nobel Prize winners,
leaders of industry and government, artists, performers and athletes. The U.S.
House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate have unanimously passed
resolutions sanctioning the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations and the
Ellis Island Medals of Honor.
"When my mother, my two sisters and I came to New York to join my
father, who had come to America three years earlier, the freighter that brought
us to the New York City harbor passed the Statue of Liberty," said U.S.
Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. "Lady Liberty was a welcome sight to our
young family who didn't speak English but who had such hopes and belief in the
promise of America."
"It is also gratifying to see the committee award the Medal of Honor to
my father whose courage and determination to pursue a life of opportunity and
freedom has served as a constant reminder to me as Secretary of Labor to
promote hope and opportunity to newcomers, the vulnerable and those without a
voice in our country," Secretary Chao added.
Elaine L. Chao is the nation's 24th Secretary of Labor. Since her
confirmation by the United States Senate on January 29, 2001, she has been
dedicated to carrying out the Department of Labor's mission of inspiring and
protecting the hardworking people of America. Her family's experience
transitioning to a new country, supported by one another and the kindness of
friends and neighbors, taught her that encouragement is the key to fostering
independence. This inspired her to dedicate most of her professional life to
ensuring that people have the opportunity to pursue lives of dignity and
financial independence.
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