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Skriven 2006-04-19 23:33:14 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0604198) for Wed, 2006 Apr 19
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Vice President's Remarks at the 2005 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality
Award Ceremony
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Vice President
April 19, 2006

Vice President's Remarks at the 2005 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality
Award Ceremony
The Hilton Washington Hotel
Washington, D.C.



3:21 P.M. EDT

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you all very much. It's a pleasure to
join all of you today. These are always very special occasions as we
recognize the newest recipients of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality
Award. This is a proud moment, and all of us are privileged to share in it.

And I want to thank Carlos Gutierrez, my good friend and our outstanding
Secretary of Commerce, for his introduction and for his service to the
nation, as well too. Carlos is a man who had a tremendous career in the
private sector, starting at the very bottom of Kellogg's and working his
way up to the top job as chairman and CEO. And he gave all that up to join
us here in Washington where we're having so much fun in the public sector.
(Laughter.) And you get beat up on like all the rest of us. But it's a
special privilege to be able to share public service with a man like
Secretary Gutierrez. He does a great job.

I also want to greet all those who have come from out of town -- especially
the employees and the partners of the honorees. We're glad you're here, and
on behalf of President Bush I want to welcome you to the Nation's Capital.

The Baldrige Award is the highest presidential honor given to an American
organization for quality achievement and for performance excellence. The
award has, in the space of 18 years, become one of the most recognized,
respected, and prestigious distinctions in our country. It's been rightly
pointed out that "more than any other program, the Baldrige Quality Award
is responsible for making quality a national priority, and disseminating
best practices across the United States." And more and more, that influence
is reaching beyond the United States, as other countries look to the
Baldrige criteria as the way to measure quality and performance, and to
chart paths to future success.

To receive Baldrige recognition, an organization must also operate by high
ethical principles, showing integrity in matters of corporate governance
and in public responsibilities. In this way, the Baldrige Award is a
personal tribute to the men and women of each organization that receives
it.

I was a member of Congress when this award was created, and in my view we
greatly enhanced the value of the prize by giving it the good name of
Malcolm Baldrige. I was proud to know Secretary Baldrige, and I want to
thank his sister Letitia, who is here today for all of her work in the
Baldrige Foundation over the years.

Mac Baldrige was, as you've been told, the 26th Secretary of Commerce,
named to the Cabinet by President Ronald Reagan and serving until his
untimely death in 1987. I've been fortunate to know a good many public
servants over the years, and it's the rare one who has the breadth of
experience, and the wisdom, and the insight of Mac Baldrige. He made his
reputation as a leader in manufacturing -- and when Mac was in charge you'd
have a quality product and you'd see black on the bottom line. In his life
Mac was also a military combat veteran, a family man, a devoted public
servant, and if he were here today, I think he would appreciate my pointing
out that he was also a professional rodeo cowboy. (Laughter.)

It was said that Mac's staff had standing orders to interrupt him for a
phone call from one of two people: the President of the United States -- or
any cowboy who happened to ring up. (Laughter.)

On the rodeo circuit, as well as in business and in government, Mac is
remembered very fondly as a confident, decent, respectable man who did not
have an ounce of attitude or affectation about him. He was a great leader
and a great human being.

Secretary Baldrige was, like the President who appointed him, a fundamental
optimist about American enterprise, and about America's ability to succeed
in the global marketplace. These ideas were not always easy to sell back in
the 1980s. The country had struggled through a period of economic
stagnation, and then went straight into an era of intense global
competition in many different industries. But President Reagan and
Secretary Baldrige knew that we could not maintain our high standard of
living by walling ourselves off from the rest of the world, and they were
convinced that in the new economy America could thrive and prosper as never
before. So they gave this nation an economic program built on the
foundation of limited government, free enterprise at home, and expanded
markets abroad. And those choices, made a generation ago, helped to produce
astounding gains in productivity, innovation, and wealth all across the
country.

Those results bear a lesson for our own time. They remind us that if
America stays engaged in the global economy, and if our policies continue
to reward hard work, investment, and enterprise, our nation will remain the
world's economic leader, and our children and grandchildren will lead lives
of opportunity, and prosperity, and hope.

If anyone has doubts about America's ability to lead in the global economy,
I would simply ask them to look at the Baldrige criteria, and look at the
enterprises that have won this award. This year, as before, the Board of
Examiners has identified a group following very diverse missions, but
powered by the same basic qualities of teamwork, a problem-solving mind
set, impatience with the status quo, a focus on the customer, and an ethic
of responsibility and trust throughout the enterprise.

Sunny Fresh Foods of Monticello, Minnesota provides food products to
several thousand large-scale customers, including restaurants, hospitals
and the U.S. military. The company has an almost flawless delivery record,
along with a growing market share. The firm is a repeat winner of the
Baldrige Award.

DynMcDermott Petroleum Operations of New Orleans is the company in charge
of maintaining and operating the Strategic Petroleum Reserve at sites in
Louisiana and Texas. During last year's hurricane season, company
facilities took direct hits from the storms. At the same time, the needs of
our economy required a drawdown of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and
President Bush so directed. The people of DynMcDermott restored operations
quickly and smoothly; the company made its first delivery of crude oil to
refiners just a few days after Hurricane Rita struck. The company has shown
the height of skill and professionalism, and has earned the nation's
gratitude.

Park Place Lexus of Plano and Grapevine, Texas has set a near-perfect
standard of customer satisfaction, attained through intense focus on detail
and an idea-oriented culture throughout the firm. Park Place is the first
auto retailer ever to receive the Baldrige Award.

On five campuses, the Jenks, Oklahoma Public Schools have built a spirit of
excellence and an ethic of community service. Student performance
consistently ranks above national and state averages. These students are
fortunate to have superb teachers and coaches, including four who have been
named national coach of the year.

Richland College of Dallas serves an incredibly diverse student body --
with some 20,000 students from countries all around the world. Each year,
the fine faculty and staff of Richland College produces a graduating class
of life-long learners who are ready to pursue their dreams and rise to
positions of leadership. Richland College is the first two-year community
college ever to receive a Baldrige.

The Bronson Methodist Hospital, founded more than a century ago in the city
of Kalamazoo, is a highly-regarded leader in technology, extremely
effective care, and patient satisfaction. Its record of innovativeness and
quality control has made a difference in the lives of patients and families
across nine counties in southwest Michigan, and that record has become a
model for healthcare providers across the country.

All six of these organizations have risen to a level of performance that
deserves the respect and the admiration of us all. The Baldrige Award is an
annual prize, but it represents much more than a single year of
distinction. It also signifies all the years of striving, and focus, and
sacrifice that made this moment possible. By reaching for a higher
standard, and never settling for second-best, and facing the future with
confidence, the men and women of these organizations rank among the most
exceptional achievers in our nation today. You have made our nation proud.
And it's my great honor to congratulate you today on your success.

Thank you. (Applause.)

END 3:30 P.M. EDT

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