The virus of hate threatens our safety, our institutions, our democracy, our freedoms, and not least, our common humanity. Let us commit ourselves to… - Gary Locke

Our nation's economic success is tied directly to America continuing to lead in technology and innovation, and in exporting those products, services and ideas to nations around the globe. The Department of Commerce plays a critical role in nurturing innovation, expanding global markets, protecting and managing our ocean fisheries, and fostering economic growth. The Department of Commerce can and will help create the jobs and the economic vitality our nation needs.

I really believe in picking top notch people and then sitting down with them, and making expectations very, very clear and insisting that they involve their employees. You know the top managers are political and they come and go. If processes and systems are to change for the better permanently you have to involve the line staff, the career people, so that they have ownership in it. It is one thing for the top political people to sketch out, like the drawing of an office tower or skyscraper. You sketch it out on paper, but the actual details and the engineering are done by others. You have to enlist the career people to fill in the blanks, because if they have ownership they will believe in it and they will carry it through.

The strength of America is our diversity of people, ethnicities, cultures, languages, religions — this is the secret sauce of our dynamism and resilience.