Norman Mineta to quit as Transportation Secretary

Mineta to quit as Transportation Secretary




WASHINGTON - Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta,
the only Democrat in President Bush's Cabinet and
one of its three remaining original members, will step down July 7.


Mineta, who oversaw the huge transportation security buildup after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, had been plagued at times by back problems and spent months working from home and the hospital. But he has since recovered.

He is "moving on to pursue other challenges," his spokesman, Robert Johnson, said Friday.

White House press secretary Tony Snow announced the resignation. Asked why Mineta, 74, decided to leave, Snow said: "Because he wanted to."

"He was not being pushed out," Snow said. "As a matter of fact, the president and the vice president and others were happy with him. He put in five and half years that's enough time."

Snow credited Mineta with establishing the Transportation Security Administration, cutting regulations and red tape to liberalize the commercial aviation market, helping shape the legislation that finances the nation's highways, and injecting "sound economic principles" into the nation's passenger rail system.

Snow also paid tribute to Mineta's long history in public life: his service in the Army, his elections to local positions in California, his 20 years representing California in the U.S. House, and his tours in two Cabinet positions, the first as commerce secretary under former President Clinton.



Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060623/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/mineta_resigns_7



Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta

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McCain: Go nuclear, 'We've got to get over it,'

McCain: Go nuclear, 'We've got to get over it,'


The United States needs to overcome its fear of nuclear power and embrace the technology as a way to wean itself from fossil fuels, Sen. John McCain told an audience in Manchester this week.

Nuclear power "is safe. The technology is here," McCain said, speaking to a crowd of about 200 at a breakfast hosted Monday by The New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women. "It's a NIMBY (not in my backyard) problem, and a waste-disposal problem. It is not a technological problem."

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http://www.cmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060527/REPOSITORY/305270001/1217/NEWS98



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