Afloat in a Sea of Change: Otto J. Reich Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit source - JosePertierra@aol.com THE WASHINGTON POST - October 17, 2001 http://washingtonpost.com/ Afloat in a Sea of Change: Otto J. Reich by Al Kamen The Sept. 11 attacks have scrambled the political backdrop to the long-stalled nomination of Otto J. Reich to be assistant secretary of state for Latin America, but it's unclear whether an end to the bitter stalemate is in sight. The White House late last week slapped down widespread rumors that it was looking for another candidate. Au contraire, an administration official said, the confirmation effort for the former ambassador to Venezuela was still in high gear. Insiders had described Secretary of State Colin L. Powell as lukewarm at best to the Reich nomination, a White House choice, but he sent the Senate Foreign Relations Committee a letter Monday putting Reich at the top of a list of 18 nominations needing prompt action. President Bush is said to be furious that Reich can't even get a hearing and worried that Latin American support for the war on terrorism could be eroded without someone minding the store. There's also been talk that, if Senate Democrats continue to block the nomination, the administration may give Reich a recess appointment. That would put him in the job until Congress adjourns next year. But recess appointments infuriate the Senate majority no matter who's in charge -- former president Bill Clinton was loath to make recess appointments when the GOP was running the Senate -- and they can cost the White House political capital. The rumors about Reich's pullout may have been fueled by a changing political climate in Florida, where the staunchly anti-Castro Reich's selection last spring was seen as a way to bolster Gov. Jeb Bush's flagging reelection effort by solidifying Cuban American support. But the Sept. 11 attacks have dramatically altered that landscape. Former representative Pete Peterson has dropped out of the Democratic primary, clearing the way for former attorney general Janet Reno, the true "Evil One" to Cuban Americans, to win the nomination. "Reno is so weak," said one source, "and Jeb is soaring, so [Reich's nomination] may not be as politically pressing as it was." Senate Democrats are brushing off administration pressure to hold a hearing for Reich. They say they object to Reich because of his work in the anti-Sandinista effort in the Reagan administration. They also note that four Clinton nominees for Latin American posts never got a hearing, including former Massachusetts governor William F. Weld, a Republican, for Mexico. If the Democrats hold firm and Bush doesn't opt for a recess appointment, some alternatives are floating about: Within the State Department, the candidates include acting secretary Lino Gutierrez, National Security Council Latin America chief John F. Maisto and Ambassador to Colombia Anne Patterson. Outside, Cresencio S. Arcos Jr., a career Latin America hand and former ambassador to Honduras who's working for AT&T in Florida, is being talked about as a possible pick. Bush recently named him to the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. NOT ENOUGH H IN HHS The threat of bioterrorism is rattling nerves around the country, certainly in newsrooms, and it's caught the Bush administration a bit short-handed in terms of having its national health top guns in place. As it turns out, the administration has not even nominated anyone to head the National Institutes of Health (which oversees the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and the Food and Drug Administration. Bush just yesterday picked Eve Slater, a senior vice president at Merck Research Laboratories, to be assistant secretary of health and human services for health. And U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, a Clinton holdover serving a fixed term that ends in February, is a well-known figure in the health field but not part of the administration team. Word is he was not turned to until recently to get out front on this. "The policymakers at the top are there," said Brookings Institution's Paul C. Light, "but there are pretty significant gaps in the delivery corps." There are qualified career people in acting positions filling in, he said, so "it should not scare Americans, but this is not comforting." These are the officials Americans would see on television when HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson finishes talking about general policies on bioterrorism and then turns the mike over to the pros. Perhaps with them on board, Thompson would be better able to avoid things like that most unfortunate speculation that the first anthrax fatality, Bob Stevens of Florida, may have contracted the disease when he drank from a stream in North Carolina. That assertion came as Florida health authorities said they were certain Stevens contracted the disease in Florida and despite Stevens's symptoms clearly showing airborne, not ingested, anthrax. Given that it takes three months on average from White House announcement of a nominee to Senate confirmation, the top health slots could be vacant until next year. IT'S OFFICIAL Bush yesterday tapped Arthur E. Dewey, who worked in State Department's refugee office in the Reagan administration, was a top official in the office of the U.N. high commissioner for refugees and more recently executive director of a nonprofit organization, to be assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration. Bush also picked Joseph Kelliher, now at the Energy Department and a drafter of the administration's electricity legislation, to be a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. (C) 2001 The Washington Post Company ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytcamer-10.21.01-01:18:13-19057