Bush picks a Democrat to complete his Cabinet

11:30 AM

AUSTIN, Texas - President-elect George W. Bush has rounded out a Cabinet diverse in race, gender and politics, fulfilling a pledge to include a member of the opposition party by choosing a high-level Democrat to serve as his transportation secretary.

Bush plucked Norman Mineta from President Clinton's Cabinet, nominating the current commerce secretary to the new post in his own administration.

At a news conference, Bush also announced he had chosen defeated Sen. Spencer Abraham of Michigan, aged 48, as energy secretary and conservative political commentator Linda Chavez, aged 53, as labor secretary. All three require Senate confirmation.

Bush thus completed his Cabinet less than a month after he became president-elect following the bitter post-election dispute over Florida.

His Cabinet nominees include two African Americans, two Hispanics, one Asian American, one Arab American, four women - and one Democrat. By picking Mineta, Bush ended the debate over whether he would be able to find a Democrat to serve.

"It's important to send a signal that this is an administration that recognizes talent when we see it regardless of political party," Bush said. He called his Cabinet "one of the strongest any president has been ever able to assemble."

Abraham's family has Lebanese roots and Chavez is a Hispanic. Mineta, 69, had been held in a Japanese-American internment camp as a child during World War Two.

A former California congressman, Mineta became the first Asian-American Cabinet member last July when the Senate confirmed Clinton's nomination of him as commerce secretary. He represented the Silicon Valley area surrounding San Jose, for 21 years until stepping down to become a lobbyist in 1995.

The White House said Mineta informed Clinton and Vice President Al Gore in recent days that the Bush team had contacted him about a job and that Clinton and Gore gave him their blessings.

Mineta made clear he was not switching parties but that he was committed to building a bipartisan consensus in Washington in the wake of the disputed election.

"Over the last year, this country has witnessed a very hard-fought election, and I was proud to stand with my party," Mineta said. "I have been honored to serve in President Clinton's Cabinet as secretary of commerce. I am a Democrat, with both a small 'd' and a large one.

"And I am proud of and committed to my party's principles and it's heritage. However, the campaign is over," he said. "And under our constitutional system, a decision has been rendered. And we are now in the essential transition period when we move from campaigning to governance."

Abraham would preside over a department being asked by Bush to boost production of domestic energy, including finding more sources of oil and gas, and tighten security at nuclear weapons laboratories.

"We understand our national security depends on our energy security," Bush said as he announced the nominations, which brought the number of named Cabinet posts to 15.

Abraham, who described himself as "the grandson of poor Lebanese immigrants," noted that his department faced serious and immediate issues, ranging from "the adequacy of supply to affordability to the development of new technologies to the issues of security at our facilities and more.

"We have vast resources within the United States, and these are crucial to our country's security. We can make good use of them, while at the same time, I believe, meeting our responsibilities as good stewards for the land, the air and the water," he added.

Environmental groups are concerned that Bush and his Vice President-elect Dick Cheney, who are both former oil company executives, will pay less heed to environmental protection than to drilling for new oil.

Mineta, 69, a transportation specialist, became an expert in airline safety. He chaired the National Civil Aviation Review Commission that warned in December 1997 of rapidly approaching gridlock in the nation's crowded skies.

Chavez, an outspoken opponent of "affirmative action" to give minorities preferential treatment, has been Bush's immigration adviser during his presidential campaign. She served in a number of jobs in Ronald Reagan's administration.

"I hope to seek out new opportunities to increase the skills and productivity of all Americans," she said, noting that she had been the daughter of a poor house painter who had been unable to complete his school education.

Bush said the diversity and the strong personalities he has brought into his Cabinet showed he was "not afraid to surround himself with strong and competent people."

He added: "I fully expect to be given straightforward talk, honest opinion, and I expect people to work with one thing in mind, that which is best for America."

Bush still has two important non-Cabinet jobs to fill and there are Democratic candidates for those -- to head the Central Intelligence Agency and represent the United States at the United Nations.

Bush could keep the current CIA Director, George Tenet, or give the job to former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton of Indiana, who also is a contender for the UN position.

Bush also needs to pick a US trade representative.

To get advice on handling the economy, Bush will meet with his financial team and business leaders in Austin later this week.

The forum takes place against a backdrop of vigorous debate over US economic growth, with the Bush team insisting that a slowdown is in sight and the outgoing Clinton administration saying the economy remains robust.

- REUTERS

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