>From: PMDAtropos@aol.com >Date: Tue, 9 Aug 1994 14:15:07 EDT [ Send all responses to cortinas@scarecrow.nssl.uoknor.edu only. All responses to the list or list owner will be returned! ] Remarks by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ronald H. Brown Department of Commerce Diversity Policy Statement Washington, D.C. July 21, 1994 [As prepared for delivery] Thank you very much for joining me on this timely and important occasion. I want to welcome all of you here in the Hoover building, as well as our colleagues with us today on our own information highway -- at NIST, Census, NOAA and PTO. As many of you know, I will present today an action program to promote greater diversity here at the Commerce Department. I am committed to continuing the critically important task of building what President- Elect Bill Clinton called "a government that looks like America." I have asked that you join me today to acknowledge the initial efforts we already have made to achieve diversity at the Department of Commerce and to launch a new, more comprehensive commitment to diversity in the structure, culture and programs of this great department. Diversity transcends race and gender, affirmative action and Equal Employment Opportunity. It must encompass a fundamental appreciation of one another and a respect for both our similarities and our differences. It must include a heartfelt respect in attitude and in behavior towards those of different race, gender, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity and those with disabilities all the facets that make each individual the unique and precious resource that each of us is. We have seen the extraordinary results that come from men and women of different races and backgrounds working together and sharing their knowledge and experience with one another. We have shown that a nation is not anything if it consists of each of us. It becomes great only when it consists of all of us. As President Clinton has said, if we are truly to reach our nation's great potential, we must embrace the talent and creativity of all our nation's people. All of us here today and our colleagues throughout the Department have a special opportunity and a profound responsibility to stretch our minds and to increase our efforts -- to think creatively and to act boldly to transform this venerable institution into a working example of diversity -- a showcase for all to emulate and a goal for all to achieve. Our special opportunity lies in our unique mandate. We are the Department of Commerce. Our mission is to promote economic growth. We are dedicated to ensuring and enhancing long term economic opportunity and a rising standard of living for all Americans. And so we must ask ourselves, "what does America look like?" Who are our workers, our managers, our consumers? The short answer is that our nation is becoming ever more diverse. More than half the U.S. work force now consists of minorities, and women. So called "minorities" actually now form the majority of our population. If this Department is to reflect the commercial face of America, we must increase the diversity of our workforce at all levels. As our fate becomes increasingly intertwined with those of other nations, it is also important to consider what our world looks like. The American people's standard of living in the 21st century will be increasingly dependent on our commercial relationships not only with Europe, but with Africa, Asia, and South and Latin America. If we are to compete and win in the global marketplace, we must use all of our human resources by creating a more diverse workforce that looks not only like America, but reflects the magnificent mosaic of our entire world. And let me remind you that we are the only nation in the world that truly reflects that mosaic. We are unique. Diversity is one of America's greatest assets. It gives us a tremendous advantage as we compete in the international marketplace. Diversity is first and foremost a moral imperative but it also makes bottom line business sense. If we are to champion economic growth at home, if we are to revitalize communities confronting economic dislocation and distress, if we are to greatly expand our trade with the nations of the world, if we are to continue as the world's most powerful economic engine, this department must transform its own workforce in the years ahead. We have started. But much remains to be done. Today, we make a new and deeper commitment. Since the beginning of my tenure as Secretary of Commerce, I have been aware that there are within our Department -- as there are elsewhere in our entire Government and throughout our society -- long standing concerns and endemic structural problems regarding diversity issues. A lack of minority representation at mid and senior management levels is a fundamental concern. For example, it is a fact that African Americans make up 19% of Commerce's 36,200 employees, but only 7% of our GS 13-15 employees, and less than 6% of our SES employees. Commerce ranks 47th out of 58 agencies in the percentage of women in professional positions, with women representing 46% of our total employees but only 13% of our SES employees. When we subtract the number of women political SES appointments I have made the number drops to less than 10%. And disappointingly, we rank last in the percentage of Hispanic employees, and a glass ceiling exists for Asian American employees. We must do better! It is clear that there are difficulties with the EEO process, and insufficient opportunities for upward mobility -- these obstacles hurt and weaken the Department. For the first time in the history of the Department of Commerce, we have tried to deal with such concerns comprehensively and tangibly. The process has been inclusive. Now we are ready to act. Career and political employees have come together under my direction to create a plan for confronting these challenges. Following appropriate consultation regarding any matter covered by union agreement, I intend to proceed with full implementation of this comprehensive initiative. The initiative we have developed reflects the views of virtually all levels of our department. We have performed both a statistical and a factual analysis of the present situation. I have met with a variety of groups to hear their views and consider their recommendations. And, we have begun consultations with our two national unions and want to solicit their input and involve them in a partnership. Our Diversity initiative consists of seven basic policy tenets. They are as follows. 1. Inclusion. Diversity at all levels of the Department of Commerce is a priority of President Clinton and of mine. Diversity means the inclusion of all employees, regardless of race, gender, color, religious belief, age, disability or sexual orientation. All employees are valued for their contributions to the Department. 2. Opportunity. Through recruitment and promotion at all levels, the department will create and broaden opportunities for an increasingly diverse workforce. The Department will establish aggressive career development programs to assure that a diverse pool of qualified candidates is available for all job opportunities. 3. Comprehensiveness. Diversity will be taken into consideration in every aspect of the business of Commerce -- in training, seminars, procurement, in our grant process, in trade missions, regulatory work, business liaison and in every other program area of the Department. 4. Accessibility. All employees are entitled to transparent, fair and timely processing of their complaints. DOC's administrative grievance procedure will be strengthened immediately. 5. Training. The Department will require all managers to participate in training on DOC's Diversity Policies and Conflict Resolution techniques. 6. Management. Diversity is a management issue. Therefore to ensure accountability, each manager will have a diversity critical element added to his/her performance plan. The element will set forth the criteria by which the manager will be evaluated including but not limited to the proactive recruitment, training and career development of qualified employees and diversification of Department program areas. 7. Evaluation and Communication. The Department will establish a Diversity Council which will have the responsibility of monitoring the implementation of diversity policies and programs, evaluating their effectiveness and facilitating communication on a continuing basis throughout the Department about our diversity initiatives. Each bureau will be represented. The Council will be chaired by a new Deputy Chief of Staff. We are also undertaking an immediate nationwide search for a new Director of the Office of Civil Rights who will work closely with the Deputy Chief of Staff as Vice Chair of the Diversity Council. Courtland Cox, from our International Trade Administration, will serve as Acting Director of OCR in the interim. Courtland, who specializes in Africa, the Near East and South Asia in ITA has been engaged in civil rights issues for over thirty-three years. I also want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the hard work and creative insights in the development of these policies by Ginger Lew, our General Counsel and Gloria Gutierrez, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration. Their wisdom, hard work and sage advice has been instrumental in our efforts. I have asked both of them to continue providing leadership on these issues. We believe this policy will bring increased opportunity and real diversity to our Department. We do not imagine it is a panacea, but rather an important first step. We know that if this policy is to work the commitment of every person at every level of Commerce is essential. It will require effective, continual communication and cooperation. During the next 120 days, I expect that our senior managers will have completed diversity training, that the diversity critical element will be in place, that proposed action plans will be received from the bureaus to diversify our program initiatives, and that I will receive a full report on the steps the Office of Civil Rights and the Diversity Council have taken to implement all of the initiatives I have outlined today. This policy will mean real change and I am not unaware that it might well create a certain level of anxiety among some members of our Commerce team. Such concerns are natural, but they cannot impede our determination nor will we let them. This Department is filled with many talented people whose commitment and important contributions are respected and appreciated. We seek not to exclude but rather to expand the circle...to recognize and reward talented individuals who may have been overlooked or unnecessarily left behind. I am confident that you will join me in helping to change a structure that is not working at full capacity because it is not yet using our full human potential. I am heartened by the feedback I already have received from the employees of this Department. Only by working together, with respect and dedication and commitment, can we construct a greater Department of Commerce, and effectively serve the people and the President of the United States. We must never cease working towards our goal, but we will also need to be patient. Our actions will be implemented rapidly but fairly, and incrementally. And when we look for progress we will find it: real, tangible progress accumulating every day. We have come far already: we have listened, we have studied, and now we are acting. This moment is not so much the beginning as the continuation of a process already showing tangible results. Expansion, inclusion, opportunity is not a zero sum game. If we are to succeed, we must learn not to think in terms of "us" and "them," but of "we". Diversity is not about privileging one individual or group at the expense of another; it is about creating an environment that is a level playing field for all, benefiting everyone and paving the way to excellence. If we are to succeed, diversity should be embraced and perceived as an opportunity rather than as an obstacle; our differences as sources of enrichment rather than as barriers. Just as trade with other nations allows us to enjoy benefits of differences among countries, diversity within the Commerce Department allows us to reap the benefits of differences among people. Department of Commerce but of our nation. As the late author Ralph Ellison wrote: "America is woven from many strands. I would recognize them and let it so remain. Our fate is to become one and yet many." I intend for us to succeed. I intend for this Department to become a model for our Government -- and the fulfillment of both the promise of this Administration, and the promise of America. Thank you.