The Roosevelt Room

9:44 A.M. EST

PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you. Good morning. Today I am announcing my nomination of Sam Bodman as Secretary of Energy. I am pleased to welcome Sam's wife, Diane, and all his family members -- I emphasize "all" -- who have come today. Welcome to the White House.

Sam Bodman is an experienced executive who has served in my administration as Deputy Secretary of Commerce and Deputy Secretary of the Treasury. During his varied and distinguished career in the private sector, Sam has been a professor at MIT, president of an investment firm, the chairman and CEO of an industrial company with operations worldwide. In academics, in business, and in government, Sam Bodman has shown himself to be a problem solver who knows how to set goals and he knows how to reach them. He will bring to the Department of Energy a great talent for management and the precise thinking of an engineer.

I thank him for agreeing to serve once again.

The Department of Energy has responsibilities that directly affect all Americans, from the security of nuclear facilities to reducing the risk of nuclear proliferation around the world to environmental clean up to enhancing conservation and developing new sources of energy for the future. Every day, employees at the Department of Energy are working to protect the American people and to ensure that our country's homes and businesses have reliable, safe and affordable supplies of energy.

During the last four years, the Department of Energy has been active and effective and has delivered important results for the American people. We've taken vital steps to upgrade the nation's energy infrastructure. We have begun an ambitious research program to develop a viable hydrogen powered automobile. We have strengthened cooperation between the United States and foreign governments, to safeguard nuclear materials and to fight proliferation.

For these achievements, and more, the nation is grateful to Secretary Spencer Abraham. As a United States Senator, and a Cabinet Secretary, Spence has shown himself to be a man of integrity and wisdom. He's a good man, a superior public servant and a friend, and I thank Spence for leading his department so ably. And I wish him and Jane all the best.

During the next four years, we will continue to enhance our economic security and our national security through sound energy policy. We will pursue more energy close to home, in our own country and in our own hemisphere, so that we're less dependent on energy from unstable parts of the world. We will continue improving pipelines and gas terminals and power lines, so that energy flow is reliable. We will develop and deploy the latest technology to provide a new generation of cleaner and more efficient energy sources. We will promote strong conservation measures.

In all these steps, we will bring greater certainty of costs and supply, and that certainty is essential to economic growth and job creation. And we will continue to work closely with Congress to produce comprehensive legislation that moves America toward greater energy independence. I'm optimistic about the task ahead, and I know Sam Bodman is the right man to lead this important and vital agency. So I urge the Senate to confirm his nomination without delay.

Congratulations, Sam.

MR. BODMAN: Thank you, Mr. President. President, with me today is my wife Diane, my daughters, Beth and Sarah, their husbands, Charles Mott and Bob Greenhill, my stepson, Perry Barber, and five of our eight grandchildren, Sam, Colin, Eliza, Liza, and Lindsey. On behalf of my entire family, Mr. President, I thank you for the opportunity to continue serving you as a member of your administration.

I also want to thank the extraordinary employees of the Department of Treasury and the Department of Commerce, with whom I have served these past four years. Their dedication and efforts on behalf of your administration, sir, have allowed Secretary Snow and Secretary Evans and me to do our jobs that much better.

Mr. President, the job as Energy Secretary, in many ways, combines all aspects of my life's professional work. I started as a teacher in chemical engineering at MIT, spent 17 years helping create and manage Fidelity Investments, and then spent 14 years managing Cabot Corporation, a globally- deployed chemical company. Each of these activities dealt with the financial markets and the impact of energy and technology on those markets.

Mr. President, in May of 2001, you presented to our country the first comprehensive national energy plan in a decade, that promoted affordable, reliable, and secure energy supplies through conservation, investment in new technology, and finding and producing new domestic sources of energy. Thanks to your leadership, sir, and the work of so many, particularly Secretary Abraham, nearly 75 percent of the recommendations put forward in your energy plan have been implemented, and our nation is the better for it.

I have tremendous respect for Secretary Abraham, and I look forward to building upon his outstanding record at the Department of Energy. If confirmed by the Senate, my colleagues and I at the Department of Energy stand ready to carry forward your vision of sound energy policy to ensure a steady supply of affordable energy for America's homes and businesses, and to work toward the day when America achieves energy independence.

Mr. President, thank you for this great honor and opportunity and for your continued confidence and trust in me. I appreciate it, very much.

END 9:50 A.M. EST SOURCE White House Press Office