A Capital Start for Interior Secretary

A hearty Loop welcome to the newest Bush Cabinet member, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne , former senator and Idaho governor, who was formally sworn in on Wednesday.

Midst all the ceremonial hoopla surrounding these first days, there's always the nuts 'n' bolts to take care of. For example, we got a note the other day from Fay S. Iudicello , director of Interior's Office of the Executive Secretariat, about how the new boss wants papers submitted for his signature to look.

She writes that "the complimentary close" -- stuff like "sincerely" -- "and signature block must begin at the center of the document" and that "the secretary's name must be typed at least five lines below the complimentary close."

"The Secretary prefers that every letter of his name be capitalized."

It's All in the Segue

Meanwhile, even before he was sworn in, KEMPTHORNE was planning a fine trip -- let's hope in winter -- to the U.S. territories in the Pacific -- American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, which are part of Interior's bailiwick.

In a brief speech here Tuesday night to an annual gathering of hundreds of government and business leaders and other Pacific Islanders, KEMPTHORNE promised to visit the islands as soon as possible.

And he showed that he didn't need that guidance outlined in a recent Loop column about how to work the war in Iraq into any and all speeches.

After noting the aid money that Interior gives the islands each year, KEMPTHORNE said: "Finally, I'd like to say that whatever we've given the Pacific community, you've given us back much more." Very nice segue. Seamless.

"We're grateful for the enormous sacrifice the Pacific has made fighting the war on terror," he said, meaning the war in Iraq. The number of American Samoans "killed in Iraq, on a per capita basis, is almost thirteen and a half times the U.S. national average," he said of the five from there who've been killed. And the "per capita death rate in Iraq" for the Northern Mariana Islands -- a former Jack Abramoff client and a place where policies on sweatshops and the commercial sex trade were dictated by former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) -- is nearly five times the national average. Three troops from the Northern Marianas have been killed in Iraq.

KEMPTHORNE went on, singling out some of the dignitaries, or their relatives, who served in Iraq, before concluding: "On behalf of the United States of America, I just want to say: Thank you, and God bless you, and God bless those we have lost and their loved ones."

Neatly done.

What's That Guy Doing Here?

Speaking of Interior, department spokesman John Wright is retiring after a long military and department career. His agency colleagues paid tribute to the highly regarded Wright at a May 25 send-off at the south penthouse of the main Interior building. There was even a surprise visit from former deputy secretary J. Steven Griles .