Obama names Vilsack as Agriculture chief

CHICAGO, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- U.S. President-elect Barack Obama Wednesday introduced former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack as his nominee to lead the Agriculture Department.

"As our next Secretary of Agriculture, Tom will not only help ensure that rural America has a true partner in implementing the Farm Bill and pursuing agricultural research, but that Washington is looking out for everyone from the small family farms that are feeding our communities to the large farms that are feeding the world," Obama said during a news conference in Chicago.

Vilsack, 58, was governor of Iowa for two terms and spent a few months in the hunt for the White House this year. A lawyer, he spent the fall semester as a political fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is a native of Pittsburgh.

Obama also introduced his nominee for the U.S. Interior Department, former Senate colleague Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo.

"Together, they will serve as guardians of the American landscape on which the health of our economy and the well-being of our families so heavily depend," Obama said of Vilsack and Salazar.

Vilsack said he looked forward to working with congressional members who "share the president-elect's vision of bringing hope to rural America (and) of being good stewards of our natural resources, (and who) are providing American leadership on climate change and making America a nation truly dedicated to health and nutrition."