ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, December 21, 1996 TAG: 9612230063
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
Juggling candidates in an eleventh-hour bid for diversity, President Clinton shifted Transportation Secretary Federico Pena to the Energy Department Friday and nominated Arkansan Rodney Slater, who is black, to succeed him.
Plugging the last holes in his second-term Cabinet, the president also selected Andrew Cuomo, son of former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, for housing secretary and White House aide Alexis Herman, who is black, to be labor secretary.
The nominees must be confirmed by the Senate.
The nominations give Clinton three blacks in the 14-member Cabinet. But it was the abrupt addition of Pena that showed how much Clinton wanted to appoint a Cabinet that, as he said in 1992, ``looks like America.''
In a series of late-night meetings Thursday, the president had settled on a tentative list of nominees that had federal regulator Elizabeth Moler penciled in as Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary's replacement.
After the names seeped outside his tight inner circle, Clinton decided to reconsider because no Hispanics were slated for Cabinet posts. Hispanic Rep. Esteban Torres, D-Calif., had been mentioned for labor, but he wasn't getting the job.
With Thursday turning into Friday, the president swapped Pena for Moler. Aides argued that Pena, 49, is a stronger manager with more agency experience, but conceded that Clinton was looking for a Hispanic. Though Pena wanted out of Transportation, he was never ruled out for other Cabinet posts, aides said.
The president said he did not buckle to special-interest groups.
``The pressure was pressure I put on myself,'' he said at a news conference unveiling domestic policy appointments. ``I believe that one of my jobs at this moment in history is to demonstrate with the team I put together that no group of people should be excluded from service to our country.''
The about-face overshadowed his other choices:
Slater, 41, has been a rising star since Clinton brought him into his Arkansas administration. As federal highway administrator, he traveled more than 300,000 miles and operated a $20 billion budget. Slater told reporters that the agency ``is more than about concrete, asphalt and steel. It's about people - how they get to work, how they visit friends. It's about how they pursue happiness.''
Herman, 49, runs the White House's public liaison office, charged with energizing and soothing Democratic constituencies, including minorities. ``She is my eyes and ears'' to the business and labor communities, Clinton said. Herman, once dubbed ``the queen of schmooze'' for winning over roomfuls of political types, said, ``I understand work, and I understand workers.''
Cuomo, 38, is an assistant secretary at HUD. Stepping from his father's shadow, Cuomo pledged to help Clinton fulfill ``the promise of a stronger and sweeter tomorrow.'' His marriage to a Kennedy heiress, Kerry Kennedy, was dubbed ``Cuomolot.''
Clinton bucked labor groups to appoint loyal aide Herman. And Cuomo was considered too abrasive and inexperienced by a faction within the administration.
Clinton put four blacks, two Hispanics, three women and no Republicans in his 1992 Cabinet. Counting newly nominated, returning members and Friday's choices, the second-term Cabinet would have three blacks, one Hispanic, four women and a Republican.
In another nod to Hispanics, Clinton named Aida Alvarez, director of federal housing enterprise oversight at HUD, to replace Small Business Administration Director Phil Lader.
Clinton already had nominated Rep. Bill Richardson, a Hispanic Democrat from New Mexico, to be U.N. secretary. Although not traditional Cabinet posts, the U.N. and SBA have been given Cabinet-level status by presidential fiat.
In other developments, Clinton selected:
Federal Reserve Board member Janet Yellen to replace Joseph Stiglitz as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.
Bruce Reed, a centrist Clinton aide, to be domestic policy adviser, replacing Carol Rasco, who is moving to the Education Department.
Former chief of staff Mack McLarty to be special envoy to Latin America, with a seat on Clinton's influential National Economic Council.
Clinton also formally extended the terms of returning Education Secretary Richard Riley, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman, Veterans Affairs Secretary Jesse Brown and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt. Last week, he gave Attorney General Janet Reno, Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala extended terms.
With those members returning, Clinton had seven vacancies to fill after winning re-election. Going into Friday's announcement, he already had nominated Madeleine Albright for secretary of state, William Cohen for defense secretary and Bill Daley for commerce secretary.
LENGTH: Medium: 99 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Friday's nominees included (from left) Rodney Slaterby CNBas transportation secretary, Andrew Cuomo as housing secretary and
Alexis Herman (hugging Clinton) as labor secretary. color.