By Samantha Swindler / Managing Editor

U.S Labor Secretary Elaine Chao spoke in London Monday, asking Laurel Countians to support the “entrepreneurial spirit” of America as well as her husband, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Chao spoke during the London-Laurel Chamber of Commerce’s Women in Business dinner Monday evening, sharing a little about her life story — from arriving in America as part of a cargo ship, to becoming the nation’s 24th Secretary of Labor.

She also attended a meet and greet reception at the north London Hampton Inn hosted by the Laurel County Republican Party, where she talked about McConnell’s reelection campaign and the presidential race.

“This is going to be a tough, tough season for Republicans,” she told the crowd, “and I think when you are talking with your various friends and neighbors, and they want change, we need to ask them, ‘what kind of change are you talking about? What kind of change do you want?’ ... We need to be very careful that we’re actually opting for the right kind of change.”

Chao was born in Taiwan, where her parents had fled from mainland China after the country’s civil war in 1949.

“My parents grew up in war-torn China, alternatively running from the Communists or running from the Japanese,” she said. “Throughout their teenage lives they never, ever had security, and their lives were constantly in turmoil.”

Her parents dreamed of coming to America, “a land of opportunity,” and her father went first, sending for his wife and children three years later. Chao, then 8 years old, and her mother and siblings arrived aboard a freighter as part of the ship’s cargo.

“For a young 8-year-old kid like me, at the time it was great fun, you got to roam the whole ship,” she said, “but then I think about my mother, a young woman of 27 at that time, for her to be the only female on that ship with three young children, how frightening that must have been.”

The family was reunited in America, but times were initially tough. Chao said her family lived in a one bedroom apartment, and her father held three jobs.

“And yet we were happy because we had each other, we had hope, and we believed in the promise of America,” she said. “For those who are willing to work hard and plan ahead and be very determined, good things are likely to happen. We need to preserve America and preserve this entrepreneurial spirit.”

Chao told those in attendance that the November election would come down to a decision between “one side that really does believe the government should take care of everything from cradle to grave, and there’s our side, that believes the government does not create jobs, the government creates an environment through which all of us are able to fulfill our dreams.”

Chao certainly fulfilled hers, obtaining her MBA from Harvard Business School in 1979. She came to Washington D.C. as the deputy administrator of the Maritime Administration in the U.S. Department of Transportation. After notable positions as head of the U.S. Peace Corps and chief executive officer of the United Way of America, she was appointed Secretary of Labor in 2001, becoming the first Chinese American and first Asian-American woman appointed to a president’s cabinet.

McConnell, who is running a close race with Democratic challenger Bruce Lunsford, has been in the senate for 24 years, and Chao said his seniority means “clout and influence” for Kentucky.

“It doesn’t make sense to trade him in for a rookie who is only a few years younger than he is who will never accumulate the seniority because of his age,” she said.

She also said McConnell was devoted to Kentucky and his family.

“When we got married, he said, ‘We’re going to go home to Kentucky every single weekend and we’re also going to visit my mother every Saturday.’ And I thought to myself, ‘you know, a man who’s that good to his mother is going to make a good husband,’” she said.

Nelda Barton-Collings, former member of the Republican National Committee, also spoke during the meet and greet, saying she was impressed with Chao during their first meeting more than 16 years ago, when Chao was director of the U.S. Peace Corps.

“I was so impressed with her, and I followed her along,” Barton-Collings said. “When I heard Mitch and she were dating, I thought ‘oh my, wouldn’t that be wonderful.’”

Barton-Collings called McConnell a “crowning star” and announced an upcoming fundraising reception Oct. 21 in Corbin for McConnell’s campaign.