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Bush Taps Ashcroft For Attorney General
contributions by J.D. Riviere
AUSTIN, Texas (AFP) - President-elect George W. Bush on Friday tapped defeated Missouri Senator John Ashcroft to become the next U.S. attorney general, handing one of the most high-profile cabinet jobs to an ardent conservative.
"John Ashcroft will perform his duties guided by principle not by politics," Bush said. "He will be faithful to the law pursuing justice without favor. He will enforce the law and he will follow the truth."
Ashcroft, a favorite of the Christian right, was defeated in November by a Democrat who died just days before the election. Such a defeat "brings perspective," he said, and on Friday it also brought him what he called a "renewed and noble call to public service."
"We will strive to be a guardian of liberty and equal justice," Ashcroft said during a brief news conference at the Driskill hotel in Austin.
"For freedom, as President-elect Bush has noted, can flourish only in a culture defined by the rule of law, a rule of law that knows no class, that sees no color and bows to no creed."
A staunch foe of abortion and supporter of school prayer, Ashcroft was defeated in November just days after his Democratic opponent, governor Mel Carnahan, died in a plane crash. Mel Carnahan’s Senate seat will be filled in by his widow, Jean Carnahan.
Ashcroft had mulled a run for the presidency himself this year, with backing of Christian conservatives. He was among the most vocal critics of Bill Clinton during the impeachment process, calling the president an example of "the self-indulgent 1960s."
His appointment as attorney general, which requires Senate confirmation, is sure to please conservatives, who have been lukewarm to other Bush appointees, including Treasury Secretary-designee Paul O'Neill and Secretary of State-designee Colin Powell.
As chief national law enforcer, Ashcroft will oversee the administration of the federal death penalty. Both Ashcroft and Bush said they saw no reason for a moratorium on the death penalty, which is under review by the Clinton administration.
Bush, who oversaw a record 40 executions this year as Texas governor and some 150 over six years, said he believes capital punishment "saves people's lives."
"I support death penalty when it's administered fairly and justly and surely," Bush said. "I see no reason for there to be a moratorium at the federal level." Ashcroft said Bush's views are "the correct views."
Ashcroft is the sixth cabinet appointment Bush has made since becoming president-elect, and it comes just hours before another scheduled announcement in Austin.
Bush later named New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman to head the most important federal environmental position, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Bush said that Whitman, the first woman governor of New Jersey, would hold cabinet-level rank in his new administration in recognition of her talent and ability.
"I know Governor Whitman well. She is a strong person. She is plenty capable of taking on this difficult, but important, assignment," said Bush.
"I told her how much I will value her advice, to the point at which I'm going to name her position as a cabinet officer."
Whitman, 54, is a mother of two who is viewed with suspicion by the right wing of the Republican Party for her pro-abortion views. She has been credited with revitalizing the economy while preserving open spaces in New Jersey during here tenure as governor.
"Governor Whitman has had a really good record as the governor of that state," Bush told reporters here.
Bush, whose pro-business policies and preference for oil and natural gas exploration have worried environmentalists, used the occasion to defend his environmental credentials.
"My administration will work with state and local governments in protecting our land and air and water. In partnership and in mutual respect, we will meet our common obligations as citizens and stewards of our Earth," he said.
Citing Theodore Roosevelt (U.S. president from 1901 to 1909), whom she described as "our first conservationist president," Whitman recognized a "duty" to develop natural resources, "but I do not recognize the right to waste them for the generations that come after us."
"Our new president understands that as well," she added. "It's been a hallmark of his leadership in Texas, and I know it will be a hallmark of his leadership for America."
Bush earlier named Virginia's conservative governor Jim Gilmore as chairman of the Republican National Committee.
"After consulting with the chairman and other Republican leaders, I'm going to ask the Republican Party to make Jim Gilmore the next chairman of our party," Bush told a press conference here.
He said the committee would meet next month and he hoped members would ratify his choice of Gilmore, 51, to replace retiring two-term chairman Jim Nicholson.
Bush continued to contemplate other cabinet officers, including the key defense secretary post. Speculation has focused on former senator Dan Coats of Indiana. Pressed about his choice, Bush told reporters he would not be rushed into anything.
"I would characterize my search as deliberate," Bush said. "Until I'm absolutely certain ... I'm not going to move."
Bush was asked about his recent statements on a potential economic downturn. Bush said reports that he was purposely giving a negative view of the economy to avoid being blamed later were "foolish talk."
"All of us in the Bush administration will want the economy to be strong," he said. "But there are some clear warning signs that will require what we believe is important action in the halls of Congress such as tax relief."
Bush said what works for the U.S. economy might not apply elsewhere. Though he promised to promote free trade as a way to stimulate the global economy, Bush said each country must make "its own economic decisions."
He also said his foreign policy would be "humble."
"We should not be divining prescriptions for people's ills," Bush said. "If they want to work with us fine. But our country cannot try to impose our prescriptions on nations."
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