WASHINGTON – Politico and the Associated Press have reported that later today the President will announce his nominee for Secretary of Commerce. The President will nominate John Bryson to be Secretary of Commerce. Mr. Bryson was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Edison International, the parent company of Southern California Edison and Edison Mission Group, from 1990 to 2008.
The Commerce Department includes the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) which includes the National Marine Fisheries Service also known as NOAA Fisheries.
At the start of his career, Mr. Bryson was a co-founder and attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a national and international environmental group. In an April 21, 2011 post on the NRDC's staff blog "Switchboard," NRDC's Oceans Program Attorney David Newman called efforts by New York Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand to reform the Magnuson-Stevens act "misguided".
In 2000, NRDC was a lead litigator in a major fisheries case brought against the summer flounder rebuilding plan. They have been active in court cases opposing fishing industry interests on both coasts.
Mr. Bryson is a director of The Boeing Company, The Walt Disney Company and Coda Automotive, Inc., and is a senior advisor to KKR. He is chairman of the board of BrightSource Energy, the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), and the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) Board of Overseers. He also serves as co-chairman of the Pacific Council on International Policy (PCIP).
Mr. Bryson is a trustee of the California Institute of Technology and a director of The California Endowment and the W. M. Keck Foundation. He serves on the Advisory Board of Deutsche Bank Americas. He also previously served on a number of educational and environmental boards, including as chairman of the California Business Roundtable, co-chairman of the Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA), trustee of Stanford University, and as a member of the U.N. Secretary-General's Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change (AGECC).
Bryson also served as president of the California Public Utilities Commission, chairman of the California State Water Resources Control Board, and on the board of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a graduate of Stanford University and Yale Law School.
Read the Associated Press story
Terry Garcia Nominated as Deputy Secretary earlier this month
On May 13, 2011, President Obama announced the nomination of Terry D. Garcia as Deputy Secretary of Commerce. Mr. Garcia served as Deputy Administrator and General Counsel of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under President Clinton.
At the time of his appointment, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke made the following comments: "For Terry, this is a welcome return to the Hoover building. He served as Deputy Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under President Clinton, among other positions. While working for NOAA, Terry led the implementation of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Restoration Plan for Prince William Sound and the Gulf of Alaska – work that served him well when President Obama asked him in June 2010 to serve on a similar national commission following the BP Deepwater oil spill. Terry currently works for the National Geographic Society as the group's Executive Vice President for Mission Programs. In this role, he is in charge of programs that support more than 400 scientific field research, conservation and exploration projects every year."
Locke continued "Terry's return to the Commerce Department will allow Dr. Rebecca Blank to resume her role leading the Economics and Statistics Administration, although she has graciously agreed to remain as Acting Deputy Secretary until Terry is confirmed by the Senate, having ably served in that role since November. Becky began working here as my principal economic advisor, and has since performed admirably in a wide variety of important responsibilities at the Department."
The Secretary concluded: "As Deputy Secretary, Garcia will, if confirmed by the Senate, function as Commerce's chief operating officer, overseeing matters of management and policy in all of the Department's 12 bureaus. He's a great choice, and we're looking forward to him hitting the ground running!"
Mr. Garcia is currently Executive Vice President for Mission Programs at the National Geographic Society. In that role, he is responsible for the annual management of more than 400 scientific, conservation and exploration projects. In June 2010, Mr. Garcia was appointed by President Obama to serve on the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Deepwater Drilling. Prior to joining the National Geographic Society in 1999, Mr. Garcia was Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Deputy Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at the U.S. Department of Commerce. He also served as General Counsel of NOAA. Before entering government service, Mr. Garcia was a partner in the law firms of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips and Hughes Hubbard & Reed. Mr. Garcia has served on various boards and commissions, including the Institute for Exploration/Mystic Aquarium, the Amazonian Center for Environmental Education and Research, the U.S. National Committee for the Census of Marine Life and the Harte Research Institute of Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University. He is also a trustee emeritus of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation and has served on panels convened by the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Public Administration. He holds a B.A. from American University and a J.D. from The George Washington University.
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