    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book I)]
    [June 7, 2006]
    [Pages 1096-1098]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Swearing-In Ceremony for Dirk Kempthorne as Secretary of the Interior
    June 7, 2006

        Thank you all. Please be seated. Welcome to the White House.
    Laura and I are thrilled you are here to witness
    the swearing-in of Dirk Kempthorne as our Nation's 49th Secretary of the
    Interior.
        We welcome Dirk's family, particularly his wife,
    Patricia, and his children,
    Heather and Jeff. Thank you all for being here. I'm really happy Dirk's
    dad, Jim, is with us. I sure appreciate
    you being here, Mr. Kempthorne. I want to thank all the other friends of
    the Kempthorne family and members of the family who have joined us here
    today.
        I found it interesting that when Dirk and Patricia were married, they chose a wedding ceremony at
    sunrise high atop Idaho's Moscow Mountain. It's an interesting
    commitment to make, isn't it? [Laughter] And

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    an interesting place to make the commitment. It shows a love of--Dirk's
    love for his wife and their mutual love for nature. And one of the
    reasons I picked Dirk Kempthorne is because of his love of the beautiful
    country that we are fortunate to call America. That's why I picked him.
        I want to appreciate the Vice President
    joining us today. Mr. Vice President, welcome. Thank you for being here,
    sir. I want to thank Justice Scalia for
    joining us, to administer the oath of office.
        Dirk, you must be given a lot of these, kind of, swearing-in
    ceremonies, and we generally don't have a man of such esteem join us in a situation like this. [Laughter]
        I appreciate Lynn Scarlett, the Deputy
    Secretary of the Interior, joining us, as well as all those who work for
    the Secretary of the Interior. I want to thank members of my Cabinet for
    being here. Thank you all for coming. Appreciate you taking time out of
    your day to be here, and I know Dirk does as well. I appreciate Members
    of the United States Senate who join us, starting with the Senate
    President pro tem, Ted Stevens. Thank
    you, Senator, proud you're here--as well as the two Senators from Idaho,
    Larry Craig and Mike Crapo. Thank you both for joining us. We have the House majority
    whip with us, Roy Blunt. I see former colleagues
    of Dirk Kempthorne have joined us as well. Thank you all for coming.
        We have the privilege of living in a land of unparalleled beauty.
    We've got vast mountain ranges and mighty rivers and open plains and
    spectacular coastlines. These open spaces are shared--are the shared
    heritage of everybody. They just don't belong to a few people; they
    belong to all of us. It's the job of the Secretary of the Interior to
    manage these natural resources in such a way that we can pass them on to
    future generations, in good shape. That's Dirk's job. There's no doubt
    in my mind he'll be able to do it well.
        Dirk Kempthorne is uniquely qualified for this important position.
    He is the first Secretary of the Interior to serve as a Governor, a
    Senator, and a mayor. And each of these positions prepared Dirk well for
    his new responsibilities.
        As Governor of Idaho, Dirk was responsible for managing Idaho's 30
    State parks and recreational trails. He proved himself to be an
    outstanding steward of his State's open spaces. He launched a statewide
    initiative to fund improvements in the State's parks and public spaces.
    He created the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality. He established
    the Governor's Office of Species Conservation. He's a true
    conservationist, with a track record to prove it.
        As a United States Senator, Dirk chaired the Subcommittee on
    Drinking Water, Fisheries, and Wildlife, and built bipartisan support to
    enact comprehensive reforms to the Safe Drinking Water Act.
        As a former mayor of Boise, Dirk understands that those who live
    closest to the land know how to manage it best. He understands that
    while people here in Washington may care deeply about the land, it's the
    people that's closest to the land that we're going to rely upon to
    manage those resources. We're going to work closely with local and State
    leaders to ensure our natural resources are managed wisely.
        Dirk takes up his new responsibilities at an important time in our
    Nation's history, and he follows an outstanding Secretary of the
    Interior in Gale Norton. Gale was
    instrumental in establishing the Healthy Forests Initiative to safeguard
    our forests and woodlands against fire damage. And thanks to her
    leadership, our administration has reduced the danger of fires by
    treating or removing hazardous fields from 11 million acres of Federal
    land so far. Gale also led the effort in Washington to improve our
    national parks and reduce the park maintenance backlog that we found
    when we came into office. Dirk is going to continue focusing on our
    national parks.
        After Hurricane Katrina devastated our Nation's gulf coast,
    Gale helped lead the

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    effort to restore offshore energy production. She worked tirelessly to
    prevent a massive energy disruption that could have crippled our
    economy. America is a better place because of Gale Norton's leadership.
        Dirk Kempthorne is going to build upon the strong foundation left by
    Gale Norton. He's going to continue my
    administration's effort to conserve our land and water and air
    resources. He's going to work to improve our national parks. He's going
    to preserve our Nation's historic and cultural sites. He'll carry
    forward our approach of cooperative conservation by encouraging
    conservation on both public and private lands in close collaboration
    with local communities. As we work to reduce our dependence on foreign
    sources of energy, he will make sure that any exploration on Federal
    lands and in Federal waters is done in an environmentally sensitive way.
    As the Secretary of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorne will make certain that
    our Nation's natural spaces are cleaner and safer and more productive.
        I want to thank Dirk for agreeing to serve our country again. I want
    to thank his family for supporting him. And now it's my honor to witness
    the swearing-in of Dirk Kempthorne.

    Note: The President spoke at 3 p.m. on the South Lawn at the White
    House. The transcript released by the Office of the Press Secretary also
    included the remarks of Justice Antonin Scalia and Secretary Kempthorne.