Emily Stover DeRocco Speech

Greater Houston Partnership Luncheon

Hilton America's
Houston, TX
September 24, 2004

Thank you. It's good to be back in Texas. Some of my favorite people are from Texas. Top on the list are our President and First Lady.

It is a privilege and an honor to serve the President at the Department of Labor, and to work each day to help accomplish his goals for America's workforce. President Bush won't rest until every American who wants to work has a job. And he is committed to ensuring that every worker has the education and training they need to succeed in the economy of the 21st century.

The president knows the source of American greatness is the hopes and dreams and enterprise of the American people.

At the core of the American dream is the idea of ownership - the opportunity to own one's own home or business, and to have a stake in the future of a community, and a nation. The President summed up the idea in a speech earlier this year. He said, "If you own something, you have a vital stake in the future of our country. The more ownership there is in America, the more vitality there is in America."

Because the President understands the transforming power of ownership, and its centrality to the American dream, he has made creating an Ownership Society a core element of his domestic vision for the future. His Ownership Society encompasses home ownership, owning your own retirement and medical accounts, and possessing the skills and education needed to succeed in the world's most dynamic economy.

In the final analysis, the President's vision is about individual Americans having an ownership stake in their futures. That is the guiding principle behind the President's policies. That principle is driving change in the way we view workforce development and the role of the federal government in workforce development.

I want to talk briefly today about our efforts to ensure that American companies have the workforce they need. We have talked to businessmen and women all across America, including many of you, and these conversations have helped us craft policies for the 21st Century economy.

You have made it clear that we live in an economic era that is significantly different than when I was getting my start. Back then, we optimized our organizations for efficiency and quality. We still do that, of course, but now there is that third major factor, and that factor is innovation. We live in an innovation economy, and the cardinal rule for this economy is this: Innovate or Perish.

You know that better than anyone. You know your innovations must not only compete with innovations from the company down the street. Your innovations must be world class, or the world will pass you by.

The same thing is true for our workers.

We cannot reap the fruits of innovation without simultaneously producing a workforce capable of putting those innovations to work. We cannot lead into the future unless we have a workforce that can quickly adapt.

With your help, we are creating a flexible system of job training, support, and portable benefits.

At your urging we are redoubling our efforts to involve more American students and workers in the fields of science, math, and engineering.

And we know we must find ways to attract the best and brightest from around the world.

We have made a great deal of progress over the past four years. You know, we invest over $23 billion a year in employment and training programs for all Americans, from entry-level to older workers to those finding themselves looking for a new start after a job dislocation. And we are committed to doing a better job with that investment. We all succeeded because of this President's commitment to getting the job done.

I have seen his commitment first-hand. Let me give you one example.

This example involves college.

We all know that politicians like to visit campuses. They are especially fond of showing up at Ivy League schools to give speeches and maybe receive an honorary degree.

Our President does that sometimes, but he is more likely to visit a community college, because he knows our community college system is playing a central role in training workers for our innovation economy.

His enthusiasm for this system is profound, and it is infectious.

His reception at these schools is overwhelmingly positive. He rolls up his sleeves and gets right into the middle of things, whether the program involves the automotive industry or advanced manufacturing or emerging industries like biotechnology and geospatial engineering.

These students, workers and their families know the President is on their side. And they know that when they come out of these programs, they are prepared to take their place in the global economy and achieve their part of the American dream.

To help more Americans take advantage of this tremendous system, the President proposed the Jobs for the 21st Century Initiative during the State of the Union this year. This Initiative would provide funding for our community colleges to improve their faculty and facilities and create what's called Innovation Training Accounts that would give workers the chance to gain skills in demand in this 21st century economy.

And then, to highlight his commitment to this, he spent the day after the State of the Union visiting two community colleges in Ohio and Arizona and meeting with the faculty and students that would benefit from the Initiative.