Bush selects new agriculture secretary

WASHINGTON -- President Bush moved Wednesday to fill the second of two vacancies in his Cabinet, announcing he would nominate Edward T. Schafer, a former Republican governor of North Dakota, to be the secretary of agriculture.

Schafer, if confirmed by the Senate, would be responsible for winning congressional approval of an updated farm bill, which would have a broad reach across the economy and is one of the top remaining elements on the administration's domestic agenda.

"With Ed's leadership, we will work with Congress to pass a farm bill that provides farmers with a safety net, protects our lands and the environment, and spends federal tax dollars wisely," Bush said at a ceremony in the White House Roosevelt Room, with Schafer at his side.

One day earlier in the same setting, Bush announced he was nominating retired Lt. Gen. James B. Peake as secretary of Veterans Affairs.

Schafer, 61, served two terms as North Dakota's governor, elected by a wide margin in 1992 and reelected in a landslide four years later. His tenure coincided closely with Bush's governorship in Texas.