John B. Breaux: “Mr. President, I thank my colleagues for making time available on this very important nomination as to who is going to…”

“Mr. President, I thank my colleagues for making time available on this very important nomination as to who is going to be the new Secretary of the Interior, a very important position for all Americans. We as a nation have a major interest in knowing that the person who is to be in charge of the managing of all of our public lands and much of our public resources is going to be a person who brings a balanced philosophy to that task. It is an immense task for which I imagine no one who would be nominated would ever be considered the perfect nominee. What I mean by that is it seems to me there will be some, and I think a minority of people in both camps, who would say they would perhaps like to have a Secretary of the Interior who would bring almost no management responsibilities to that task, who would basically say we should let the private sector develop the resources of this country in whatever way they saw fit. There is probably another group of people in the country--again a very small number--who would say no, when it is public lands, they cannot be utilized for private purposes ever; that it should be micromanaged by the Federal Government out of Washington; you can limit activity to only what is absolutely needed. I think the better philosophy for this very important job is to bring a balance. In my conversations with Gale Norton, I have come to the conclusion that she is a person who can bring a management-type philosophy to this job.”