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Labor Secretary Chao Visits the Valley

Elaine Chao, right, with entrepreneur David Lee and his wife Cecilia Lee. Photo by Sam Chu Lin.

By Sam Chu Lin

When Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao left Washington, D.C., for her visit to California, 24 crewmembers of the U.S. spy plane had yet to be released by China. But by the time she reached Silicon Valley last Friday, all had arrived home safely after an 11-day standoff that, some say, was threatening U.S.-China relations.

“I obviously think that the President has done a great job in leading this country to a peaceful resolution of this issue,” Chao said to a group of Asian American high-tech business leaders. “I think Secretary of State Colin Powell has also done very well in providing leadership, patience, and wisdom,” she added. “But the President, first and foremost, has shown his steadfastness, his commitment to a peaceful end, and his determination. I think it’s a good beginning for his presidency.”

With most of the country breathing a sigh of relief, the Bush cabinet appears to be off to an auspicious start. It was with such optimism that Chao greeted the API community at a luncheon hosted by entrepreneur David Lee on April 13 at the Westin Hotel in Santa Clara, Calif. Chao used the opportunity to promote President Bush’s new budget and to express her desire to improve H-1B visa processing. She also thanked the API community.

“I’m very humble and very, very moved by everyone’s support,” she said. “I hope that I’ll do a very good job and that I will make everyone proud.”

Lee recounted that Chao once worked at the Bank of America in San Francisco. “She has always been helpful with Asian American causes,” he said. “Now, we have someone in Washington to represent us. With Norman Mineta and Elaine, that’s the best combination we got.”

Chao said that she and other cabinet members have been touring the country to push Bush’s new budget and tax plan.

His $196 trillion budget, released on April 9, seeks to put the new administration’s stamp on the federal government by rolling back many initiatives promoted by former President Clinton’s administration. Included in the plan is a recommendation to cut by 17 percent a key Clinton anti-crime program that aimed to put 100,000 new police on city streets. His proposal would also slash federal spending on libraries by $39 million and eliminate properties prone to repeat flood damage from coverage under the National Flood Insurance Program.

Outreach to Asian Americans is also threatened under the Bush proposal.

“One of the things that we’re considering is whether to continue the White House Commission on Asian Americans,” she said.

But Bush’s plan also includes an 11 percent increase in education spending nationwide.

The cuts make room for Bush’s signature proposal, a $1.6 trillion, 10-year tax cut, while also using a projected $5.6 trillion surplus over the next decade to pay down a record amount of national debt.

Said Chao: “The President wants to make sure that we meet all of our national priorities. Second, he wants to pay down our national debt so interest rates remain low. Third, he has this revolutionary idea that maybe people should be paying less taxes.

“When people tell you there’s a budget surplus, you know what that means,” she added. “That means you’ve been overcharged for the last eight years. It’s time that you got a refund.”

The budget also proposes cuts in 10 of the government’s 25 major agencies. “I have been asked to put up $2 million,” Chao said. “This is at a time when my budget has been cut 5 percent. I want to do it, but it’s a matter of how to do it.”

Chao said that she recognizes Silicon Valley and the high-tech industry “are going through a little slump, but I’m convinced that in the long term, high-tech holds the promise of our country. These jobs are safe, high-paying jobs, and they go begging because there are not enough workers to fill them.”

Chao promised to try to find solutions for the worker shortage and for the skills gap. In response to a question about H-1B visas, which permit overseas high-tech workers to come to the United States, Chao suggested that applicants should be evaluated through a joint task force between her department and the Department of Justice to eliminate fraud and abuses.

“We have just instituted a new computer program in the H-1B visa program,” she said, “and from all the complaints that I’m getting, I know it’s not working. But in the government, it takes forever to get things going. And so the good news is, we know it’s not working. That’s progress. We can now begin to shore up the new computer program, enhance it, improve it and hopefully make some progress soon.”

As the highest ranking Asian American woman in politics, Chao said she is working to help other Asian Americans get jobs in the administration. But she added, “I think Asian Americans have to develop some kind of political sense. There are cultural barriers. It is difficult, but I’m trying as best as I can to help in as many ways as I can.”

She called on the Asian American community to encourage young people to enter public service. Reflecting on her own youth, she acknowledged that her parents had their own rules and regulations.

“When I was growing up, I didn’t have a date,” she recalled. “I never had a date until my last year in college. I was so afraid what my parents would say. It took three years in a faraway college before I realized if I went out alone with a date, no one would know. Many of us don’t want to participate in internships because it’s too far away. We don’t want them to volunteer. So there’s a little tension.”