Charge to the Second Class of Emerging Leaders

Thank you Dr. Sontag for that kind introduction. I worked for many years with Ed when I served as Governor of Wisconsin. When the President chose me for this position, Ed was the only one in my office who had any federal government experience, so I was sure to bring him along.

The Emerging Leaders is one of our most innovative and best programs. It is a successful program that has been written about many times. You will have tremendous challenges, but also opportunities to achieve some of your life goals.

I guess it would be appropriate for me to say: Welcome to the Department of Health and Human Services.

I know you've been hearing that from speakers all week in your orientations, but the entire department really does welcome you, and I personally welcome you to HHS. We developed this program last year because we wanted you, our future leaders to become involved with government early on in your careers and allow you the chance to grow, and develop your skills and make them better. I often hear comments from other cabinet secretaries about how great this program is. We've enjoyed having the first class of leaders and we're so excited to have another group of bright, intelligent, hardworking people working for us.

I am constantly bragging to other cabinet secretaries, and even the President, that I have the best employees in the federal government. And it's true. And I fully expect you to add to that dimension. We chose you from over 2000 applications. And we chose you because of the fine things you have already accomplished, your high level of education, the tremendous potential we see of you doing even greater things and your dedication to public service. I expect big things out of each and every one of you.

I would like to take a moment and thank the people who played a vital role in bringing you here. Evelyn White - Principal Deputy Assistant for Administration and Management, Rosemary Taylor - Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Resources, and Diane Thomas and Jason Barke from the human resources department

Why don't you four come up here. I'd like to award you the Secretary's Service Medal. I've only handed out one of these medals during my time in office, so you'll be numbers two, three, four, and five. These four people were on the front lines of organizing this group of Emerging Leaders. From what I have already heard from Ed about this class, they did a fantastic job of hiring some amazing young leaders.

As Secretary of Health and Human Services, I do everything I can to ensure Americans are strong, healthy, and independent. And I have over 65,000 HHS employees working along side me toward the same goal. Our budget is 525 billion dollars. That's bigger than the defense department budget. 23 cents out of every dollar goes to the Department of Health and Human Services. Only 5 countries have budgets larger than mine. The United States, Japan, Germany, England and Italy. And if Italy doesn't look out, we'll soon be larger than them.

We're also larger than the French, which gives me a great deal of pleasure. I told that to President Chirac when I met with him last week, however he didn't see the same humor in it as I did.

HHS includes more than 330 programs, represents almost a quarter of all federal outlays, and administers approximately $226 billion in grant money a year. That's more grant dollars than all the other federal agencies combined.

I'm sure many of you are eager to learn more about bio-terrorism, which we're leading the way on. We built a War Room, after 9/11 and anthrax. I wanted to build a state of the art facility where we could have a consistent message and watch how a disease could spread. It's almost like Star Wars in there with all the technology. It opened December second. The President hasn't been in there yet, but the Vice President has toured it. It is the best War Room of any type in the world. It can deploy 50 tons of supplies anywhere in the United States in under 7 hours.

One of my top priorities at the department is the message of prevention. 125 million Americas suffer from one or more chronic diseases. That's why I use my bully pulpit to spread the message of prevention. I put the whole department on a diet. We all have our pedometers. You'll all have to go out and get one. And walk your 10,000 steps each day. That's the equivalent of 30 minutes of good exercise. Pedometers are addicting. If I see I haven't walked as much as I should, I take the stairs, instead of the elevator.

That's what prevention is, eating right and getting exercise. Thirty minutes a day, five days a week. And reducing your weight by 10-15 pounds. And while you're doing that you can motivate others to do the same. And if you smoke, quit. And if you don't smoke, don't start. If I see you smoking around here, I'll take the cigarette out of your mouth and tell you I love you. People who smoke see me coming and they run. I've been slapped a few times, even threatened to be sued, but smoking isn't good for you. 400,000 people die each year from tobacco related illnesses.

Additionally, on my message of prevention, the fastest growing cause of death in the United States is obesity. Almost two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. Today's children are twice as likely to be overweight as children in the 1980s. And teenagers are now 3 times as likely to be overweight. Obesity costs us $117 billion annually and accounts for at least 300,000 deaths in the U.S. each year.

Obesity is a factor in diabetes. Diabetes is an epidemic in minorities. Ten years ago, type 2, or adult onset diabetes was almost never seen in children. Today, in many areas, youth make up nearly half of new diabetes cases. Currently, 17 million American have diabetes, with 6 million being undiagnosed. An additional 16 million have pre-diabetes. Diabetes costs America $132 billion each year in direct medical costs and indirect costs, such as disability, missed work and premature death.

Obesity also complicates asthma. Asthma is the number one reason for minority children to miss school. Every year, asthma causes 14 million missed school days, nearly half a million hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths ---at a cost of $12.7 billion. We need these children going to school and getting educated.

Our prevention message is also aimed at reducing the risk of various cancers. One-third of all cancers are preventable. But, every year, approximately 1.3 million Americans develop some form of cancer.

We're making progress with our message. In addition to the HHS programs, companies traditionally less health concerned have improved. Just recently I met with Kraft Foods, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo all of whom are taking "Steps to a HealthierUS."

We are doing everything we can to fight overweight and obesity and more and more companies are joining in our fight. But we need to do more. And that's part of the reason you are here.

This is an exciting time for you to be working at this wonderful department and within the federal government. We're working toward passing important pieces of legislation on Medicare, improving Head Start and preparing for bio-terrorism.

We've come a long way in health technology. We're making scientific discoveries and progress each and every single day. We've advanced from discovering penicillin to mapping the human genome. Each day we get closer to an AIDS vaccination, better treatments for cancer and an endless list of possible discoveries. No one knows what the next great discovery is going to be, but I guarantee it will be exciting and you will be a part of it. It will be up to your generation to decide what we do with these new discoveries.

The Emerging Leaders program is a great experience for you to serve your great country. My advice to you is: work hard and seize every opportunity. Ask questions to develop a more comprehensive understanding, and finally, treasure the people that you meet and work with.

As you immerse yourself in this city, remember your roots and the values you learned. Not a day goes by when I don't think about my small town of Elroy, Wisconsin. It's so small you could dial the wrong number and talk to the person on the other end for a half hour. I also go into the War Room every day and check the weather back on my farm there.

And don't forget to call your parents and friends every once in awhile. They are proud you made it through your schooling, but they will also be sad you're gone. Don't forget to serve them and yourself, too.

Winston Churchill captured the essence of service to others when he said: "We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give."

You are all giving a great deal of yourself by beginning this program. For me, it's a great feeling to go home every day knowing I made a difference in someone else's life. Sometimes the differences are small, or don't even seem like they are there, but by serving in your government, you are helping make this country a stronger and better place.

Thank you so much for being here.

God Bless You. And God Bless the United States of America.

Last Revised: August 7, 2003