retreat. then remarks from the vice president at the symmetry. then, ron kirk and the housing secretary talked about the economy and jobs. >> president obama traveled into new york or he visited a general electric plant. the president's appearance include a tour of the facility with the ceo who helped the new council on jobs. this replaces the president's advisory board headed by paul volcker. he spoke to workers and officially announced the appointment. >> i know that is not for me. that is for our special guest. i know we have any number of members from the congressional delegation. i would like to thank our representatives. thank you for your help. welcome to the other guests. welcome to the birthplace of ge more than 100 years ago. [applause] i like to think that this is where capitalism and innovation was born. we are proud of this site and we are proud of all of you. this was one of the few businesses in the world to have positive earnings every year during the crisis. we did this because we are an exporter and we are a high-tech story. we have 4000 employees that work on power ge

introduce to you ambassador ron kirk, the u.s. trade representative and mayor of dallas from 1995 to 2001. he was a strong member of this organization, including heading our committee on economic policy. as u.s. trade representative, he looks at trade as a jobs- creating teller of the economic recovery for our nation. mr. ambassador, we appreciate your focus on job creation, as well as on trade policies that assist small and medium-sized businesses. please join me in welcoming our good friend and supporter, ambassador ron kirk. [applause] >> well, thank you for the warm introduction, but thank you again for your extraordinary leadership of your city but also your great devotion to the u.s. conference of mayors. it is always one of the highlights of my year when i have an opportunity to come back and be with our fellow mayors. my staff at ustr tells me that just about every other conversation i it begins with "when i was mayor." i think you can embrace the notion that once a mayor, always a mayor. they look like they're about to break out in hives over there. i think you understand. i

all of our winners. i am now pleased to introduce to you ambassador ron kirk, the u.s. trade representative and mayor of dallas from 1995 to 2001. he was a strong member of this organization, including heading our committee on economic policy. as u.s. trade representative, he looks at trade as a jobs- creating teller of the economic recovery for our nation. mr. ambassador, we appreciate your focus on job creation, as well as on trade policies that assist small and medium-sized businesses. please join me in welcoming our good friend and supporter, ambassador ron kirk. [applause] >> well, thank you for the warm introduction, but thank you again for your extraordinary leadership of your city but also your great devotion to the u.s. conference of mayors. it is always one of the highlights of my year when i have an opportunity to come back and be with our fellow mayors. my staff at ustr tells me that just about every other conversation i it begins with "when i was mayor." i think you can embrace the notion that once a mayor, always a mayor. they look like they're about to break ou

, ron kirk and well month lows in this room, a town of's -- john's the vice premier. i applaud and thank all three of you for the important work. [applause] secretary locke is a strong supporter of balanced and instructed u.s.-china relations. we are fortunate to have him representing our commercial interests here and around the globe. we're fortunate to hear his remarks today. ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming secretary of commerce, gary locke. [applause] >> thank you very much for the introduction and i'm very honored and pleased to be here representing president obama and his administration and to see so many familiar faces who have helped make the relationship between the united states and china the critically important one that it is today. i also know that there will bait introductions of some speakers who have contributed much to u.s.-china relations over the years. i would like to acknowledge some of them who are in the audience today. i would ask them to all stand. we have with us some of the former ambassadors to china from the united states to have contri

is coming. >> thank you. thank you, representative ron kirk. i think you are doing a fantastic job terrorist i would ask you if you would not mind working with the treasury the part -- fantastic job. i would ask you if you would not mind working with the treasury department. if they are coming hard -- coming down hard on banks scared every time i talk to a banker, they tell me they have to go back -- banks. every time i talk to a banker, they tell me they have to go back early from a break. he is stifling banks. in turn, they cannot lead to businesses. could you somehow let the president knows to have the treasury kind of -- >> i will share your comments. i will tell you, and i will use one of my lessons i learned as a mayor pivot to what i think as one of the bigger success stories. the first challenge was to stabilize the banking system. the asset recovery program has worked spectacularly well. the money has been paid back. police say the banking industry. we kept america from -- we save the banking industry. white america from bankruptcy. -- we kept america from bankruptcy. i kn

locke co-chair, u.s. trade representative ron kirk, and, of course, well known to all of us in this room, china's vice premier. i applaud and i thank all three of you for the important work. [applause] >> secretary locke is a strong supporter of balance and constructed u.s.-china commercial relations. we are really fortunate to have him representing our commercial interest here, and around the globe and fortunate to hear his remarks today. ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming secretary of commerce, gary locke. [applause] >> thank you very much for the introduction and i'm very, very honored and very pleased to be here representing president obama and his administration, and to see so many familiar faces who have helped make the relationship between the united states and china the critically important one that it is today. i also know that there will be an introduction of some of our, and speakers who have contributed much to u.s.-china relations over the years. but i would like to acknowledge some of them who were in the audience today, and ask them to all stand. but we