U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Remarks Prepared for Delivery by
U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao
WIPP [Women Impacting Public Policy] Reception
EEOB Indian Treaty Room
Monday, September 27, 2004

Thank you, Cindy [Williams].

It's great to see so many women leaders and to celebrate the second anniversary of Women Impacting Public Policy.

I want to thank Terry Neese, the Co-founder of WIPP, for her terrific leadership. I also want to recognize WIPP's other co-founder, Barbara Kasoff. And let me thank all the women business leaders here today, who have worked so closely with the Labor Department on our 5 women entrepreneurship summits. These summits were a tremendous success and have empowered thousands of women to make their dreams a reality.

Since I spoke to your last annual meeting, you have done so much to advocate for women small business owners on key issues such as tax relief and Association Health Plans.

So in addition to celebrating WIPP's second anniversary, we can also celebrate another milestone. Last week, the Congress extended part of the President's tax relief package, including marriage penalty relief, the $1000 child tax credit and relief from the alternative minimum tax. As small business owners, you may also benefit from the extension of the research and development tax credit and medical savings accounts. Hopefully, the Congress will build on this accomplishment by enacting the President's proposals for Association Health Plans, Health Savings Accounts and medical liability reform.

Today, I am also delighted to unveil the newly designed women's small business portal, www.women-21.gov This website is jointly sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Small Business Administration and you, our women business partners.

Over the past year and a half, we have heard from many of you about your preferences for this portal. You wanted an easily searchable site with more data. The new site is a user friendly tool for women entrepreneurs to continue their networking and resource building.

So now, let me introduce Karen Czarnecki, the Director of the Office of the 21st Century Workforce, who will briefly walk you through the navigation of this site.

But before she does, let me thank you again for everything you are doing to help women become our nation's entrepreneurial leaders.

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