Commerce Nominee Locke Sails Through Hearing

Gary Locke, President Obama’s third pick for commerce secretary, faced an amiable crowd during today’s confirmation hearing, the Washington Post reports. Locke’s background check was “clean and happy reading” or “boring,” depending on the senator, but not controversial. The former Washington governor—who, if confirmed, would manage a dozen bureaus tasked with economic growth—said, “We must rebuilt, retool and reinvent our national strategies for sustained economic success.”

"We need to move quickly on this nomination, needless to say, because you need to be in place," Sen. John D. Rockefeller at the hearing.
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