Jump to content

Ken Salazar: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
No edit summary
Line 122: Line 122:
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ken_Salazar Profile] at [[SourceWatch]] [[Congresspedia]]
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ken_Salazar Profile] at [[SourceWatch]] [[Congresspedia]]
* [http://votimus.com/user/Candidate_nonmember.aspx?UID=12&UT=3 Biography and issue positions] at Votimus.com
* [http://votimus.com/user/Candidate_nonmember.aspx?UID=12&UT=3 Biography and issue positions] at Votimus.com



{{s-start}}
{{s-start}}

Revision as of 20:13, 17 March 2009

Ken Salazar
50th United States Secretary of the Interior
Assumed office
January 20, 2009
PresidentBarack Obama
Preceded byDirk Kempthorne
United States Senator
from Colorado
In office
January 3, 2005 – January 20, 2009
Preceded byBen Nighthorse Campbell
Succeeded byMichael Bennet
36th Attorney General of Colorado
In office
January 12, 1999 – January 3, 2005
GovernorBill Owens
Preceded byGale Norton
Succeeded byJohn Suthers
Personal details
Born (1955-03-02) March 2, 1955 (age 69)
Alamosa, Colorado
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseHope Salazar
Residence(s)Denver, Colorado
Alma materUniversity of Michigan Law School (JD)
Colorado College (BA)
ProfessionLawyer

Kenneth Lee "Ken" Salazar (born March 2, 1955) is an American politician and rancher from the U.S. state of Colorado, currently serving as United States Secretary of Interior. Salazar, a Democrat, served as Attorney General of Colorado before winning a U.S. Senate seat in the 2004 election. He became the junior Senator from Colorado in January 2005 and became the senior Senator following Wayne Allard's retirement in January 2009. He and Mel Martinez (R-Florida) were the first Hispanic U.S. Senators since 1977. They were joined by Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey) in January 2006.

On December 17, 2008, President-elect Barack Obama announced he would nominate Salazar as Secretary of the Interior. The environmentalist movement's reaction to this nomination was mixed.[1][2] Previously, Salazar supported the nomination of Gale Norton to Secretary of the Interior,[3] President George W. Bush's controversial first appointee who preceded Salazar as attorney general, for this Cabinet position. On January 20, 2009, Salazar was confirmed by unanimous consent in the Senate.[4]

Early life and family

Secretary Ken Salazar was born in the town of Alamosa and grew up near the town of Manassa, Colorado in the community of La Jara in the San Luis Valley area of south-central Colorado to his parents, Emma M. and Henry (Enrique) S. Salazar,[5] Spanish Americans. Ken is a 5th generation Coloradan and 12th generation American.[6]

Salazar attended St. Francis Seminary and Centauri High School in La Jara, graduating in 1973. He later attended Colorado College, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1977, and received his Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the University of Michigan Law School in 1981. Later Salazar was awarded honorary degrees (Doctor of Laws) from Colorado College (1993) and the University of Denver (1999). After graduating, Salazar started private law practice.

State Cabinet member

In 1986, Salazar became chief legal counsel to then Governor Roy Romer; in 1990, Romer appointed him to his Cabinet as Director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. In this position, he authored the Great Outdoors Colorado Amendment, which created a massive land conservation program of which he became chairman. Salazar also created the Youth in Natural Resources program to provide for environmental education in public schools. In his cabinet role, he established reforms that forced mining and petroleum operations to better protect teBio">"Biography of Senator Ken Salazar". U.S. Senator Ken Salazar. United States Senate.</ref>

Colorado Attorney General

In 1994, Salazar returned to private practice. In 1998, he was elected state attorney general; he was reelected to this position in 2002. Police operations were streamlined under Salazar, and several new branches of law enforcement were created: the Gang Prosecution Unit, the Environmental Crimes Unit, and the General Fugitive Prosecutive Unit, which targeted murderers. He also worked to strengthen consumer protection and anti-fraud laws, as well as to protect children through new policy designed to crack down on sex offenders.[7]

As Colorado's Attorney General, Salazar actively opposed endangered species listing of the Black-tailed Prairie Dog, which, despite its population declines, is still listed as a "pest" by Colorado.[8]

U.S. Senator

File:Ken Salazar campaign logo 2004.png
2004 campaign logo. Salazar's slogan was "fighting for Colorado's land, water, and people."

In 2004, Salazar declared his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Republican Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell. Salazar considers himself a moderate and has at times taken positions that are in disagreement with the base of his party — for a number of years he opposed gay adoption. Salazar lost to Mike Miles at the State nominating convention. In spite of this loss, the national Democratic Party backed Salazar with contributions from the DSCC and promotion of Salazar as the only primary candidate. Salazar came back to defeat Miles in the Democratic primary,and he narrowly defeated beer executive Pete Coors of the Coors Brewing Company to win the general election for the senate seat. His elder brother John also had an electoral victory in 2004, winning a race for the U.S. House of Representatives from Colorado's 3rd congressional district.

He took office on January 4, 2005. Salazar and his wife Esperanza "Hope" have two daughters, and one granddaughter.

Soon after arriving in the Senate, Salazar generated controversy within his party by introducing Attorney General nominee Alberto Gonzales and sitting by his side during Gonzales' confirmation hearings.

On May 23, 2005, Salazar was among the Gang of 14 moderate senators to forge a compromise on the Democrats' use of the filibuster against judicial appointments, thus blocking the Republican leadership's attempt to implement the so-called "nuclear option". Under the agreement, the Democrats would retain the power to filibuster a Bush judicial nominee only in an "extraordinary circumstance", and the three most conservative Bush appellate court nominees (Janice Rogers Brown, Priscilla Owen and William Pryor) would receive a vote by the full Senate. Salazar has skirmished with Focus on the Family, a Colorado-based conservative religious group of national stature, over his stance on judicial nominees.

In 2005, Salazar voted against increasing fuel-efficiency standards (CAFE) for cars and trucks, a vote that the League of Conservation Voters notes is anti-environment. In the same year, Salazar voted against an amendment to repeal tax breaks for ExxonMobil and other major petroleum companies.[9]

In August 2006, Ken Salazar supported fellow Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman in his primary race against Ned Lamont in Connecticut. Ned Lamont, running primarily as an anti-war candidate, won the primary. Salazar's continued support of Lieberman, who successfully ran as an independent against Lamont, has rankled the anti-war wing of the Democratic party.

In 2006, Salazar voted to end protections that limit off-shore drilling in Florida's Gulf Coast.[10]

In 2007, Salazar was one of only a handful of Democrats to vote against a bill that would require the United States Army Corps of Engineers to consider global warming when planning water projects.[11]

According to Project Vote Smart, Ken Salazar received a 25% vote rating for 2007 by the Humane Society of the United States [12], a 0% vote rating for 2005-2006 by Fund for Animals[13], and a 60% vote rating for 2007 by Defenders of Wildlife.[14] He also supported the Bush Administration's release of lands in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) for emergency haying in Colorado's Yuma and Phillips Counties.[15] Salazar has an 81% lifetime rating from the League of Conservation Voters, including a 100% rating for the year 2008.[16]

Salazar resigned his Senate seat on January 20, 2009, upon his confirmation by the Senate to become Secretary of the Interior under President Barack Obama.[17]

Electoral History

Colorado U.S. Senate Race 2004
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Ken Salazar 1,081,188 51.3
Republican Pete Coors 980,668 47.4
Democratic gain from Republican Swing

Secretary of the Interior

Salazar accepted Obama's offer to join his cabinet as the Secretary of the Interior.[18] His appointment required a Saxbe fix by Congress.[19] On January 7, 2009, Congress approved a bill, S.J.Res. 3, and President Bush signed it into law, providing such a fix by reducing the Secretary of Interior's salary to the level it was prior to the time Salazar took office in January 2009.

The Senate confirmed Salazar's nomination by voice vote on January 20, 2009, shortly after the swearing in of President Obama.[20] As Secretary of the Interior, Salazar is in charge of the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the United States Geological Survey, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and other federal agencies overseen by the Interior Department.

Salazar is one of two Hispanics currently serving in Obama's Cabinet, along with Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis of California. (There were three, but on January 4, 2008, Democratic New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson withdrew his name from the appointment of Secretary of Commerce). Salazar is the second Hispanic Interior Secretary after Manuel Lujan, Jr., who held the post from 1989 to 1993 under President George H. W. Bush.

Several prominent environmentalist groups are wary of Salazar, noting his strong ties with the coal and mining industries. Kieran Suckling, executive director of Center for Biological Diversity, which tracks endangered species and habitat issues states "He [Ken Salazar] is a right-of-center Democrat who often favors industry and big agriculture in battles over global warming, fuel efficiency and endangered species."[21]

The nomination was praised, however, by Gene Karpinski, President of the League of Conservation Voters. Upon the nomination, Karpinski said, "Throughout his career, Senator Salazar has campaigned on a pledge of support for 'our land, our water, our people.' With a perfect 100% score on the 2008 LCV Scorecard, he has lived up to that pledge. As a westerner, Senator Salazar has hands on experience with land and water issues, and will restore the Department of the Interior's role as the steward of America's public resources. We look forward to working with him to protect the health of America's land, water, and people in the coming years."[22]

Although Senate Republicans were expected to raise questions concerning Salazar's stances on oil shale development and drilling in environmentally sensitive areas,[23] Salazar was one of several Obama Cabinet appointees confirmed in the Senate by voice vote on January 20, 2009, shortly after Obama's inauguration. Salazar became the 50th Secretary of the Interior succeeding Dirk Kempthorne, who praised Salazar's appointment.[24]

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter appointed Denver Superintendent of Schools Michael Bennet to replace Salazar and to finish his term in the Senate, which expires in January 2011.

On January 23, 2009, Salazar stated that he is considering reopening the Statue of Liberty's crown to tourists. The crown has been closed to the public since the September 11, 2001 attacks. "I hope we can find a way," Salazar said in a statement. "It would proclaim to the world—both figuratively and literally—that the path to the light of liberty is open to all."[25]

On March 6, 2009 Interior Secretary Salazar agreed to move forward with the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) decision to remove the Rocky Mountain gray wolf from the Endangered Species list in Montana and Idaho, but not Wyoming. Minimum recovery goal for wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains is at least 30 breeding pairs and at least 300 wolves for at least three consecutive years, a goal that was attained in 2002 and has been exceeded every year since. (There are currently about 95 breeding pairs and 1,600 wolves in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming.)[26]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ Brady, Jeff (16 December 2008). "Environmentalists Fuming Over Salazar's New Post". National Public Radio.
  2. ^ Broder, Jim M. (17 December 2008). "Environmentalists Wary of Obama's Interior Pick". The New York Times.
  3. ^ http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200812161644DOWJONESDJONLINE000713_FORTUNE5.htm
  4. ^ http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/dailydigest
  5. ^ "Kenneth Lee Salazar". RootsWeb. ancestry.com.
  6. ^ Ken Salazar
  7. ^ "Biography of Senator Ken Salazar". U.S. Senator Ken Salazar. United States Senate.
  8. ^ "Is the state of Colorado working to help preserve the black-tailed prairie dog?". Save the Prairie Dogs.
  9. ^ "2005 National Environmental Scorecard" (PDF). League of Conservation Voters.
  10. ^ "2006 National Environmental Scorecard" (PDF). League of Conservation Voters.
  11. ^ "2007 National Environmental Scorecard" (PDF). League of Conservation Voters.
  12. ^ "The Humane Society of the United States". Project Vote Smart. 2007.
  13. ^ "Fund for Animals". Project Vote Smart.
  14. ^ "Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund". Project Vote Smart. 2007.
  15. ^ "Sen. Salazar Lauds USDA's Decision to Allow CRP Haying in Yuma, Phillips Counties" (Press release). U.S. Senator Ken Salazar. 2008-08-07.
  16. ^ "Senator Ken Salazar (D-CO)". League of Conservation Voters.
  17. ^ "Ken Salazar Resigns From Senate". Associated Press. 200-01-19. Retrieved 2009-01-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ Lowery, Courtney (2008-12-17). "Salazar, Vilsack: The West's New Land Lords". NewWest.
  19. ^ "Congress to cut Cabinet salaries -- again". Yahoo! News. Yahoo! Inc. 2008-12-19. Retrieved 2008-12-20.
  20. ^ Abrams, Jim (209-01-20). "Senate confirms 6 cabinet secretaries, puts off vote on Clinton". Associated Press. Retrieved 2009-01-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. ^ Broder, Jim M. (17 December 2008). "Environmentalists Wary of Obama's Interior Pick". The New York Times.
  22. ^ "New Cabinet Choices Reaffirm Obama's New Direction on Energy and the Environment" (Press release). League of Conservation Voters. 2008-12-07.
  23. ^ Sprengelmeyer, M.E. (17 December 2008). "Interior Secretary Salazar: Confirmation outlook smooth". Yahoo! News. Yahoo! Inc.
  24. ^ "Dirk Kempthorne says Sen. Ken Salazar will make a fine Interior secretary". Idaho Statesman. 17 December 2008.
  25. ^ "Salazar Visits Statue of Liberty, May Reopen Crown". Bloomberg.com. 2009-01-23. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
  26. ^ "Secretary Salazar Affirms Decision to Delist Gray Wolves in Western Great Lakes, Portion of Northern Rockies". doi.gov. 2009-03-06. Retrieved 2009-03-05.


Template:U.S. Secretary box
U.S. Senate
Preceded by U.S. senator (Class 3) from Colorado
2005 – 2009
Served alongside: Wayne Allard, Mark Udall
Succeeded by
Legal offices
Preceded by Attorney General of Colorado
1999 – 2005
Succeeded by
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by
Eric Holder
Attorney General
United States order of precedence
Secretary of the Interior
Succeeded by
Tom Vilsack
Secretary of Agriculture
United States Presidential Line of Succession
8th in line

{{subst:#if: Salazar, Ken|}} [[Category:{{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:1955}}

|| UNKNOWN | MISSING = Year of birth missing {{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:LIVING}}||LIVING=(living people)}}
| #default = 1955 births

}}]] {{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:LIVING}}

|| LIVING  = 
| MISSING  = 
| UNKNOWN  = 
| #default = 

}}