Rep. Solis said to be Obama's Labor choice

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- U.S. Rep. Hilda Solis is President-elect Barack Obama's choice to head the Labor Department, a labor source said Thursday.

Solis was elected to Congress in 2000, and previously served two years in the California Assembly and six years in the California Senate, where she was the first female Hispanic state senator, The Washington Post reported.

In Congress, Solis has pushed for more training for so-called green-collar jobs that move industries toward greater energy efficiencies.

While in the California state Senate, she successfully sought to increase the state's minimum wage from $4.25 to $5.75 an hour, the newspaper said.

Solis sits on the House Energy and Commerce committee, the Natural Resources committee, the select committee on energy independence and global warming, and the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee.

"Hilda Solis is outstanding," said Stuart Applebaum, president of the 100,000-member Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. "She has demonstrated a life-long commitment to working people..."