|
 Printer-Friendly Version
Remarks Prepared for
U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao
National Equal Opportunity Professional Development Forum
Washington, D.C.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Thank you, Annabelle, and thanks to your staff in the Civil Rights Center for putting this conference together.
I would also like to recognize the Commissioner of Labor for the State of Nebraska, Fernando Lecuona III — better known to most of you as, "Butch."
Thank you all for coming. For some of you, this is your first conference. For others, this is a chance to refresh your skills. Either way, the chance to share best practices and effective strategies is key to delivering on our nation's promise of equal opportunity for all.
One of the highest priorities of the U.S. Department of Labor is to help ensure that the doors to equal opportunity remain wide open for everyone. So today, let me share with you some of the Department's efforts to strengthen its equal opportunity programs and expand their reach to traditionally underserved communities.
Currently, our nation's workforce is among the strongest, most productive and flexible in the world. According to the International Labor Organization, American workers out-produce their counterparts in all other countries, which is a tribute to the strength of our workforce.
Although we are seeing some challenges in the economy, the underlying fundamentals of our nation's economy remain healthy. GDP grew at a strong 4 percent in the second quarter of this year. Unemployment is near record lows at 4.6 percent. And employers have added 8.2 million jobs over the past four years. Furthermore, employers are reporting 4.3 million unfilled job openings as of the latest report. And real disposable per capita income is rising, up 11.9% since January 2001.
At the same time, America's workforce is more diverse than ever. Since 1970, the number of women in the labor force has more than doubled. And our country is much more diverse than it was just twenty years ago, with Hispanic Americans, Asian Pacific Americans and many other communities making significant contributions to our workforce. As our country increasingly becomes part of a worldwide economy, our diversity is a tremendous competitive advantage. Our country's diversity allows us to understand and appreciate other cultures and to build bridges of understanding that foster growth and prosperity for all.
Our country is becoming part of the worldwide economy, it is transitioning to a knowledge-based economy. Industries that didn't even exist a generation ago have created high-value, high-paying new jobs and are demanding workers with higher skills and more education. The transition has resulted in not so much a wage gap as an education and skills gap.
The demand for skilled and educated workers will continue to grow. And the more advanced the workplace becomes, the more valuable high-level skills will become. In the next 10 years, nearly two-thirds of the estimated 18 million new jobs will be in occupations that require some post-secondary education.
That is why workforce training and the workforce investment system are so important. This Administration has launched many new initiatives to increase workers' access to relevant education and training that will land a real job, especially through community colleges, technical schools and apprenticeships. These are excellent sources of assistance to help workers get the skills they need because they are affordable and accessible. Through our major initiatives, the Department to date has awarded more than $864 million in grants to expand workers' access to higher education and skills training.
The Department has also initiated new efforts to ensure greater access to opportunity for traditionally underserved populations and communities. On February 1, 2001, President Bush announced the New Freedom Initiative. This landmark program is helping to remove the obstacles Americans with disabilities face in fully integrating themselves into their communities. The U.S. Department of Labor is proud to play a leadership role in implementing this initiative.
The President also launched another key effort to reach out to traditionally underserved communities by creating Offices of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives throughout the Executive Branch of government. Your organizations can help level the playing field so that faith-based and community organizations can compete within the grant and contracting community to deliver services.
The Department has also reached out to many other traditionally underserved communities. The Department helped sponsor 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. The Department has sponsored partnerships that help Hispanic workers access opportunities in high growth fields, improve their workplace skills and strengthen their English language proficiency. And the Department has reached out to the Asian Pacific American community to make them aware of growth opportunities, as well.
And this Administration believes that the government has a responsibility to be a model equal opportunity employer. So the Department has hosted summits to provide training and networking opportunities for underserved communities, including Hispanic Americans, Asian Pacific Americans and, veterans, who wish to advance in the federal government.
Let me also mention another venerable and important program to help traditionally underserved communities — the Job Corps Program. This program teaches young adults the skills they need to become independent and to secure meaningful jobs or access higher education. Recently, I visited the New Orleans Job Corps Center to celebrate its reopening and recognize their contributions to helping the region recover and rebuild after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
This is why the workforce investment system is so important. It is how we are delivering on the promise of these programs, by linking workers up with these new opportunities.
And these are just a few of the initiatives that this Department has launched to ensure that the doors of opportunity remain wide open for everyone.
As you know, the Department enforces the non-discrimination and affirmative action requirements for federal contractors, as well. Over the past five years, Departmental recoveries for those discriminated against by Federal Contractors jumped by 78 percent. During that time, the Department has focused on rooting out the most difficult type of discrimination, which is systemic discrimination.
To ensure that the doors of opportunity remain wide open, we need to keep our economy growing, so that new jobs will continue to be created. Our workforce grows by more than 1 million each year. And we all know that the best assistance program for workers is a real job. So a growing economy, nourished by pro-growth policies that let workers keep more of their hard earned money, is the foundation of everything that we provide.
So let me finish by thanking you for your continuing commitment to preserving and strengthening equal opportunity for all. When I was growing up in the 1960s and 70s, America looked very different. The population was much more homogenous and my family and I were often the only Asian in town. Now, our country is so much more diverse. And I want to ensure that the doors of opportunity are open to all.
You are the partners in our efforts to ensure equal opportunity. You expand the reach of our programs to all corners of America, so that everyone has the opportunity to reach his or her full potential. Your energy, enthusiasm, and leadership are critical to fulfilling the promise of America and ensuring that the benefits of our nation's prosperity are shared by all.
# # #
| 
