Alcoa’s chairman tapped for treasury

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, December 20, 2000

By KAREN GULLO

Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas — Warning of a possible economic downturn, President-elect Bush named businessman Paul O’Neill as his treasury secretary on Wednesday, saying O’Neill’s corporate experience and steady hand will guide the country if times turn rough.

In a second installment of Cabinet nominations later in the day, Bush named Californian Ann Veneman to be the first female secretary of agriculture; Mel Martinez, a Cuban refugee and county government leader in Florida, as secretary of housing and urban development; and his "lifelong friend" and campaign chairman Don Evans, secretary of commerce.

The treasury nomination stood alone, with a Bush message on its importance to the new administration.

"Our economy is showing warning signs of a possible slowdown," said Bush. "So it is incredibly important for me to find someone who has vast experience, who is a steady hand, who when he speaks, speaks with authority and conviction and knowledge. I found such a man in Paul O’Neill."

In between filling his Cabinet, Bush was closing a chapter of his life. The two-term Texas governor cleared his things out of his office at the Texas Capitol. "I’m going to miss this place," he said.

Bush also met with some 30 leaders of religious and charitable organizations, about a third black, at a church in Austin to talk about his initiative to make it easier for faith-based groups to get government contracts to provide social services for the poor and needy.

Bush fared poorly at the polls among blacks, losing their votes 9-to-1 to Al Gore. After the meeting, which was closed to the media, Bush noted, "Not everybody here voted for me … I’m hoping to find one or two."

He said he wanted to "rally the people of good faith and good heart" to put "their faith and their love and their compassion into action."

The 65-year-old O’Neill is chairman of aluminum giant Alcoa, ran another giant company, International Paper Co., and was deputy budget manager during the Ford administration.

He said he decided to return to public life to help Bush "achieve the greatness that I believe he aspires to for America."

Bush has been sounding warnings about a weakening economy and talking up his proposal to cut tax rates across the board to put more money in people’s wallets. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill of both political stripes have expressed reservations about whether his proposed $1.3 trillion, 10-year tax cut, rather than incremental reductions, is the right approach, but Bush reiterated Wednesday that he wants a broad tax cut.

"I believe strongly that tax relief is part of the prescription for any economic ill that our nation may have," said Bush, flanked on either side by O’Neill and Vice President-elect Dick Cheney, who worked with O’Neill under President Ford.

Asked if talking about an economic downturn increases the chances it will happen, Bush said, "One of my jobs is to think ahead, just in case."

White House spokesman Jake Siewart said the economy was much stronger than it was when President Clinton took office eight years ago. "Talking the economy down can become a self-fulfilling prophecy," he warned.

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