U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige announced today that A. Clayton ("Clay") Boothby III will serve as deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Legislation and Congressional Affairs.

As deputy assistant secretary, Boothby will be responsible for assisting with the general direction and supervision of all of the department's legislative activities.

Prior to joining the Education Department, Boothby served as the associate director for the Washington, D.C., office of Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge. In that capacity, he worked with Pennsylvania's congressional delegation and Cabinet agencies on policy issues related to education, transportation, defense and veterans affairs. In addition, Boothby took a lead role in urging the adoption of the Education Flexibility Partnership Demonstration Program (Ed-Flex) by the U.S. Congress and helped to make Pennsylvania the first state to have an approved Ed-Flex program with the U.S. Department of Education.

A native of Brunswick, Maine, Boothby attended the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla.

President Bush previously announced the nomination of Rebecca O. Campoverde as the assistant secretary for the Office for Legislation and Congressional Affairs.

###