Hoyer Statement on Secretary Ken Salazar's Decision to Leave Department of the Interior

WASHINGTON, DC - House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statment today on Secretary Ken Salazar's decision to leave the Department of the Interior and return to Colorado:

“I join in thanking Secretary Ken Salazar for his service and leadership over the past four years.  Under his stewardship, the Department of the Interior made enormous progress in the areas of natural resources conservation, federal land use management, and expanding opportunities for Native Americans.  I was proud to have worked closely with him as Congress and the Administration completed work on the Cobell settlement to see justice served for Native American tribes whose trust assets were improperly managed.  I also had the pleasure of working with Ken in 2009 to pass the most significant land conservation legislation in fifteen years, which set aside 2 million new acres of wilderness, established three new national parks, protected 1,000 miles of wild and scenic rivers, and designated the Baltimore Heritage Area in my home state of Maryland.  Ken has been a faithful public servant and a voice for America’s rural communities, and I wish him well in his next endeavors.”