By DARREN GOODE, CongressDaily
Gay and lesbian groups are pushing to have historic representation in President-elect Obama's Cabinet, including touting candidates to lead the Interior and Labor departments. As part of a larger program designed to appoint the first openly gay or lesbian Cabinet official, the Washington-based Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund is lobbying for Obama to appoint former Clinton administration Assistant Interior Secretary John Berry to take over that department and activist Mary Beth Maxwell as Labor secretary.
Berry, director of the National Zoo, was a former assistant Interior secretary for policy, management and budget from 1997 to the end of Bill Clinton's presidency.
In a statement, Berry said he has not been contacted, but he touted his experience at Interior. "I have a deep and abiding appreciation and commitment to the department's mission," he said. "This opportunity would allow me to advance issues that I am passionate about."
This includes working to reverse climate change, protect fish and wildlife and to "work with respect and in partnership to increase economic development and improve educational and health care opportunities" for American Indians, he said.
Maxwell in 2003 became the founding executive director of American Rights at Work, a nonprofit that seeks to improve working conditions. The chairman of that group -- former Rep. David Bonior, D-Mich., -- has been lobbying transition officials on her behalf. "I think she'd be a rising star in the administration," said Bonior, who was approached as a potential Labor candidate early on. On Tuesday, he touted everything from Maxwell's speaking skills and coalition-building to her personal history, including life as a single woman and lesbian.
Her sexual orientation could make a difference in her selection, Bonior said. "It all depends upon what they want in terms of diversity," he said, noting that the gay and lesbian community "was a very important part" of Obama's victory. Bonior said "very high level people" in Obama's camp "think very highly of her."
Berry and Maxwell are part of a larger set of potential nominees being compiled by the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund's Presidential Appointments Project, a spokesman for the group said. More than 1,400 applications and resumes have been collected since January. "We want to make sure we have given the transition team and administration every opportunity to consider qualified people from which to choose" from the gay and lesbian community, the spokesman said.
The list of Interior possibilities includes three House Democrats -- Reps. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, Mike Thompson of California and Jay Inslee of Washington. A fourth finalist -- former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber -- is believed to be out of the running, according to sources.
Some conservation groups have been touting former Clinton assistant Interior secretary for Indian affairs Kevin Gover for the job. Similar groups are suggesting that Clinton Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes could at least serve that role in an Obama administration. Hayes is a member of Obama's transition team.
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