Bush names Veterans Affair secretary nominee

Bush names Veterans Affair secretary nominee

Washington- President Bush on Thursday named Ambassador Jim Nicholson as his nominee to replace outgoing Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi.

“Jim Nicholson is a patriot, a man of deep conviction, who has answered his country’s call many times,” Bush said of his nominee.

Nicholson has been ambassador to the Holy See in Vatican City since August 2001.

“Jim has worked with the Vatican to advance many vital foreign policy goals, including fighting poverty, hunger, AIDS, expanding religious liberty around the world and ending the brutal practice of human trafficking,” Bush said.

Nicholson also is a former chairman of the Republican National Committee.

“For me, it is because of the opportunities that my country gave me as a cadet at West Point and as a soldier. These experiences have defined my life, shaped my abilities and my desire to serve,” Nicholson said.

“Our military is the pride of our country, ” he said. “We can’t pay them enough to do the things that we ask of them: the sacrifices, the separations, the heroics.

“They answer the call for one reason: Their country needs them. Our country depends on them and they have never, ever let us down. We must not let them down either.”

The White House also said Thursday that Bush had asked Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, Interior Secretary Gale Norton, Transportation Secretary Norman Minetta and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson to remain for his second term, and all agreed to stay.

Nine of 15 Cabinet secretaries have announced plans to leave the administration.

Principi submitted his resignation letter to Bush on November 16, saying it is “time to move on” for him personally and praising the president for giving veterans “dramatic increases to quality health care.”

“I have unbounded gratitude for the confidence you displayed in entrusting me with stewardship of your commitment to the men and women who now wear, or once wore, the uniforms of America’s armed forces,” Principi said in his resignation letter. “I am deeply honored by the opportunity to serve you and your administration.”

Principi, 60, did not give a reason for his resignation but said that after four years of dedicated service “it is now time for me to move on to fresh opportunities and different challenges.”

“I am, therefore, submitting my resignation as secretary, effective upon confirmation of a successor,” he wrote.

As secretary of Veterans Affairs, Principi directed the federal government’s second largest department in charge of 219,000 personnel, responsible for a nationwide system of health care services, benefits programs and national cemeteries for America’s veterans and dependents.

CNN’s Dana Bash contributed to this report.

Bio Box for Jim Nicholson

NAME: Jim Nicholson.

AGE-BIRTH DATE: 66; Feb. 4, 1938.

EDUCATION: Bachelor’s degree, United States Military Academy; master’s degree in public policy, Columbia University; law degree, University of Denver.

EXPERIENCE: Eight years as a paratrooper and Army Ranger in Vietnam, earning Bronze Star Medal; 22 years in the Army Reserve, retiring with rank of full colonel; practiced law with firm in Denver until 1978; residential real estate developer with Nicholson Enterprises, Inc. and Renaissance Homes; committeeman from Colorado to the Republican National Committee, 1986-1993; RNC vice chairman, 1993-1997; RNC chairman, 1997-2001; inducted as a Knight in the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, one of the highest awards for Roman Catholics, 1999; U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, Vatican City in Rome, 2001-present.
   
FAMILY: Married, three children.