Political Quotes

“I rise today with other colleagues to express my strong support for President Bush's nominee to be Secretary of the Interior, Gale Norton. I have had a brief opportunity to visit with this distinguished American, and I heartily endorse the President's nomination. She has the qualifications, in my judgment, to serve in this important post. As many of my colleagues have detailed, she is an effective litigator, with over 20 years of experience in environmental and natural resources law. Prior thereto, she was a law clerk to a judge. And I had the privilege in my lifetime to have that experience. Her professional experiences and successes as Colorado attorney general, I believe, have given her a solid foundation and, indeed, the temperament--and it requires temperament because there will be a lot of heated issues in the course of her duties that she will have to resolve--necessary to be an outstanding Secretary. She has served on, as we say, 'both sides of the fence'--in the Federal Government and State government. She is skilled in the law and knows that States can be effective partners in preserving our public lands and managing its valuable resources. From her testimony before the committee, I was compelled by her recognition that the primary responsibility of Secretary of the Interior is one of protecting and fostering our public lands, our natural resources, and the treasures that make up our national park and wildlife refuge system.”