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Remarks Prepared for Delivery by
U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao
SES Leadership Training Conference
July 28, 2004
Thank you, Steven [Law, Deputy Secretary].
I am so pleased to be here today at this very special leadership training
conference.
This is something I look forward to every year—bringing together the top
career and non-career leadership of the Department to thank you for what
you are doing for our country.
The last three and a half years have seen tremendous changes and tremendous
challenges for the Department of Labor and for our country.
A recession, terrorist attacks, and now a strengthening recovery. Workers
who need updated skills and training to take advantage of emerging opportunities.
All these mean that our country needs you — and the programs and services
you offer—more than ever before. I'm proud of the way each agency in
this Department has stepped up to these challenges and made a real difference
for America's workers.
When the film crew shot the video you just saw, they asked me why I am proud
to be at Labor. My immediate response is simple and bears repeating: I can
think of no mission more important, and no job more rewarding, than helping
people fulfill their dreams.
The Labor Department is the peoples' department. The issues you deal with
are the issues that families discuss around the kitchen table-jobs, retirement
security, health and safety. The “Proud to Be” video highlights why I am
so excited to come to work every day and why this is the best job in the
cabinet: because of our mission and the enthusiasm, creativity and dedication
of this team.
As the leadership of this department, you are
the reason for its long tradition of managerial and programmatic excellence.
Hopefully, through the President's Management Agenda and other initiatives,
this Administration has given you new tools to build on the Department's
strengths.
One of the principles behind the President's Management Agenda is that good
management is not just a goal in itself. The purpose of better management
here at the Department of Labor is to better serve workers.
This conference is designed to make the link between better management and
better services for workers. One of the most important tools is compliance
assistance. Many of you are familiar with the OMB scorecard that rates departments
on their progress in fulfilling the President's Management Agenda. The Labor
Department has its own internal scorecard to rate agencies, and has added
measurement on compliance assistance.
Compliance assistance is a powerful tool because its goal is to prevent
problems, accidents and injuries from happening in the first place. It frees
up resources to target the worst actors who habitually violate our laws.
The Office of Compliance Assistance was created with an SES-level Director
to ensure continual focus and progress on this initiative. So I hope you
will incorporate compliance assistance into everything you do.
Another important management initiative is the consolidation of all DOL
communications services. Web sites, e-correspondence, call centers and
Intranets are powerful tools to exchange information and deliver services.
In some cases, they are the only access the public
has to the Department. It is critical that this interface be accessible and
easy to use.
That's why the Department will consolidate all of these communications functions
under a new, long-term plan called the Enterprise Communications Initiative.
In order to achieve its full potential, all agencies will need to work cooperatively.
I ask each of you to make this initiative a top priority as we roll it out
in the months ahead.
Looking back on the past three and a half years, I am proud of what the
Department has accomplished for the workforce. One of the highlights for
our Department was the President's visit to the Frances Perkins Building
in October 2001 to announce his post 9/11 “Back to Work” stimulus package.
This is just one indication that the President recognizes the importance
of the work you do, which touches the lives of every family in America.
So I want to take this opportunity to express how much I appreciate and
value each one of you and what you are doing for our country. We have accomplished
so much together much over the past several years, that it is impossible
to mention every achievement today. But if someone asks you why you are
proud to be at Labor, here are just a few of the things worth mentioning.
Tell them that our team:
- Worked in dangerous conditions to aid the victims of 9/11;
- Led efforts
to ensure greater transparency and accountability when financial mismanagement
threatened the economy;
- Completed the first update of a fundamental
workplace law in 40 years;
- Came to the aid of transitioning workers
with major reforms of the workforce training system;
- Brought 9 out
of 9 miners home safely to their families in Que Creek, Pennsylvania;
- Helped drive down fatalities among Hispanic workers for the first
time in seven years;
- Volunteered for hazardous duty in Iraq to build
a free and democratic society;
- Made heroic efforts to rescue of child
soldiers and other vulnerable and exploited children worldwide, and
- Set new record for enforcing federal worker protections laws.
These are just a few of the reasons why I'm proud to be at Labor and why
I'm so proud of you. Thank you for all that you do for our country.
Enjoy the rest of the conference!
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