Office of the Secretary

For Immediate Release: February 23, 2000

Contact: Noel L. Gerson 202/208-6444

DAVID J. HAYES CONFIRMED BY THE SENATE
AS DEPUTY SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR

Last night the U.S. Senate voted to confirm the nomination by President Clinton of David J. Hayes as the new Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Interior. Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt will swear him into office shortly.

"It is a great pleasure that I am now able to have this creative and dedicated public servant officially recognized for his contributions to the Clinton Administration and the Department of the Interior," Secretary Babbitt said. "As Deputy Secretary, David Hayes brings enormous talent to the table on of issues that are central to achieving this Department's goals. David has played a lead role in many of the Department's most difficult and important matters, including, for example, the acquisition of the Headwaters Forest in California, the allocation of Colorado River water supplies, Pacific salmon restoration, the Calfed cooperative water project in California, and the acquisition and protection of important wildlife habitat and open space throughout the country."

The Deputy Secretary is the second in command post at the Interior and Hayes has been serving in this position in an acting capacity since April 1999. He is responsible for assisting Secretary Babbitt in supervising and administering the Department's bureaus and offices, including the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Minerals Management Service. The Department has approximately 70,000 employees, and an annual budget over$8 billion dollars.

Hayes joined the Interior Department in March 1997 as Counselor to the Secretary. Prior to that, he was a prominent attorney specializing in environmental and natural resource issues. He was a partner in the national law firm of Latham & Watkins (1990-97), where he chaired the firm's environmental department. Before joining Latham & Watkins, he was a partner in the Washington, D.C. law firm of Hogan & Hartson. He is a former chairman of the Board of the Environmental Law Institute, a nonprofit research and publication center for environmental law and management professionals. He was a member of the Clinton/Gore Transition Team for the Environmental Protection Agency in 1992-93.

Hayes is a native of Rochester, New York. He received an A.B. from the University of Notre Dame in 1975, summa cum laude, and a J.D. from Stanford Law School in 1978, where he was Notes Editor of the Stanford Law Review. He clerked for Judge William Jones and Judge Louis Oberdorfer on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Hayes currently serves on the Board of Visitors of Stanford Law School.

Hayes and his wife Elizabeth reside in Arlington, Virginia with their three children, Katherine, Stephen and Molly.

-DOI-

U.S. Department of the Interior