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Remarks as Delivered
Women Entrepreneurship in the 21st
Century Pennsylvania Convention Center Philadelphia, PA April 3,
2003
Thank you, Renee Amoore [President and Founder of The Amoore Group &
member of Presidents Advisory Council to the Office of the
21st Century Workforce].
And thank you for the outstanding job you are doing as a member of
President George W. Bushs Council of the 21st Century
Workforce and for helping to plan this wonderful conference.
It is always a thrill for me to speak to women entrepreneurs and women
professionals.
You are leading a powerful revolution. Once the workplace opened up to
American women in the beginning of the last century, things have never been the
same.
Women pressed for enactment of our countrys first labor laws.
Women broke the glass ceiling in corporations and hold nearly half of all
executive and managerial jobs in the United States. And today women are at the
forefront of entrepreneurshipcreating millions of new jobs and building
our nations economic security.
Were here today to talk about how this Administration is working
to help you consolidate the gains youve made and to help you grow in your
business or profession. But before we begin, Id like to pay special
tribute to our women and men in uniform, especially the women.
Women are flying Apache helicopters over Iraq. Women are medical
warriors. And women are on the battlefield. Our thoughts and our prayers are
with these courageous heroes, their families and their friends.
Our country is so proud that freedom has found such valiant
defenders.
Many in this audience can identify with these pioneering women. As women
entrepreneurs and women business leaders, you know the sense of satisfaction
that comes from individual liberty and personal achievement.
Consider the tremendous contributions that women are making to our
economy:
Women-owned business are growing at twice the rate of all U.S.
firms, employing over 9 million workers and generating over $1 trillion in
revenue. You are the engine of Americas economic growth!
And women owned businesses are not only growing in number, but
theyre growing in strength. From 1997 to 2000, women-owned
businesses with $1 million or more in revenue grew 31 percent, while their
male-owned counterparts grew by just 19 percent.
Were catching up!
Since 1997, the largest increase in women-owned firms came in
non-traditional industries, such as construction, finance, and
transportation.
Soon nothing will be off-limits to the limitless talents of women in
business.
Women entrepreneurs are re-shaping the economic landscape, creating jobs
and bringing about seismic changes in our nations business culture.
These gains could not have been achieved without hard work and
sacrifice. Today youve heard success stories from women who made it to
the top despite many obstacles. Id like to add my own story to
theirs.
I came to the United States from Taiwan as an eight-year old immigrant
who spoke no English. My father had left three years before my mother and
myself, to forge a new life in this country. My parents came here because they
had tremendous confidence in America. And they had confidence in the abundant
opportunities and the basic decency of the American people.
The old adagethat you can make it in America by working
hardis not a slogan to me. My own experiencesand those of my
familyhave certainly found it to be true. And today its true for
all women, as professional and economic barriers have been torn
down.
A sign of our growing influence is the record number of women
President George W. Bush has
appointed to high-level positions. Im proud to be the first Asian
American woman in history to serve in the Presidents cabinet. I have
three women colleagues in the cabinetInterior Secretary
Gale Norton, Agriculture Secretary
Ann Venneman,
EPA Administrator Christine
Todd Whitman and of course, National Security Advisor
Dr. Condoleeza Rice.
Im also proud of the nine remarkable women Presidential Appointees
on our leadership team at the Department of Labormore than any other
cabinet department in the administration. In fact, the Labor Department has the
highest number of women in top leadership positions of any cabinet department
in the history of our countryfully half!
We dont just talk about womens progresswe make it
happen!
This Administration also recognizes that women entrepreneurs and women
business leaders are vital to job creation and economic security. Thats
why were implementing new policies aimed at helping you succeed.
With nearly three-quarters of all women in the workforce, you know
better than anyone how difficult it is to balance work and family. So the Labor
Department is putting the finishing touches on a proposal to encourage flexible
arrangements in the workplace to help balance work and family needs.
And you know how difficult it is to attract and retain quality
employees
especially when an attractive benefits package means
double-digit increases in health-insurance costs.
Thats why this Administration supports Association Health Plans.
These plans will help small businesses pool their resources, spread their risk
and offer quality, affordable health care coverage for their workers.
AHPs can close the coverage gap for workers employed by small
businesses.
And the President has proposed a jobs and growth plan specifically
designed to meet the needs of small business, which are increasingly owned by
women and minorities. The size of the presidents jobs and growth package
is still being negotiated on Capitol Hill. But the objectives of his economic
plan remain the same. The President wants to:
- Accelerate the reductions in individual tax rates, so you can have
more money in your own pocket.
- Eliminate the death tax so you can pass you business to
your childrenyour daughterswithout tax penalties.
- Eliminate the double taxation of dividend income, which is an
important source of income for retired women.
- Expand the expensing limits on equipment purchases for small
businesses, so you can create more jobs.
- Deliver critical short-term assistance to the unemployed through
Personal Re-Employment Accounts.
And you can count on this Administration to find other ways to help
women succeed.
President George W. Bush has issued an Executive Order mandating
competition in services and contracts. It calls for unbundling large federal
contracts whenever possible, to level the playing field for small
entrepreneurs. The President believes that small business owners must have a
fair shot at competing for federal contracts!
And recently, the U.S. Department of Labor and the
Small Business Administration created a
website www.women-21.gov specifically designed
for women entrepreneurs.
This one-stop-shop for women in business includes information on
procurement, access to capital, health insurance and retirement security. All
of todays events will be webcast on this site in the near future, so you
can get information from the sessions you may have missed.
And just yesterday the Labor Department launched a new interactive
web-based toolthe FirstStep Employment Law Advisor. This tool will
help employers and employees understand and comply with our nations labor
laws. This compliance assistance resource is available at
www.dol.gov/elaws and will be
particularly useful for small business owners.
The goal of compliance assistance is to reach out and help the regulated
community understand the more than 180 laws that cover almost every aspect of
the workplace. By going online and answering a few questions, business owners
can find out which laws apply to them and how to meet the laws
requirements. Booklets describing the compliance assistance program are
available at the Labor Departments exhibit booth at this conference.
These are just a few of the special tools this Administration has
created to help you grow your business, expand your knowledge base and
strengthen your skills.
I know many of you have traveled from other parts of Pennsylvania, from
New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Delaware to be here today. Thank you so
much for coming. I also want to thank our distinguished panelistsand the
women entrepreneurs who prepared the Taste of Philadelphiafor helping to
make this conference a success.
The energy and enthusiasm of todays women in business has inspired
a whole new generation to aim for the top and to be satisfied with nothing less
than success. Thank you for being such tremendous role models. And thank you
for everything you are doing to ensure that our economy remains strong
and that our country remains a beacon of opportunity and hope for generations
to come.
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Archived Speech Caution: Information may be out of date.
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