Bill Richardson nominated as U.S. secretary of commerce

　　U.S. President-elect Barack Obama nominated on Wednesday New Mexico governor Bill Richardson as the next secretary of commerce.

　　"Last week, Vice President-elect Biden and I began the process of announcing our economic team," Obama told a news conference at his transition office headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. "Today we are pleased to name another key member of this team -- our nominee for secretary of commerce, my great friend, Gov. Bill Richardson."

　　Obama described Richardson as a leading "economic diplomat for America" who "has been seen from just about every angle what makes our economy work and what keeps it from working better" during his time in state government and Congress, and in two tours of duty in the cabinet.

　　Richardson, 61, has served as United Nations ambassador and energy secretary during the Clinton administration. He is currently in his second term as New Mexico's governor.

　　As a Hispanic, Richardson launched his bid for the White House early this year, but gave it up after the second Democratic presidential primary in New Hampshire.

　　He then threw his support for Obama and campaigned for his bid to become the first African-American president in the country.

　　美國當選總統奧巴馬３日提名新墨西哥州州長比爾·里查森為新政府商務部長人選，并稱里查森將成為美國未來經濟外交的主要人物之一。

　　奧巴馬說，里查森有在國會、聯邦和地方政府工作的豐富經驗，對經濟事務有全面了解，并懂得解決經濟問題之道。里查森將加入以財政部長人選蓋特納為首的新政府經濟團隊。

　　里查森是奧巴馬迄今為止提名的首位拉美裔內閣成員，也是繼副總統拜登和國務卿人選希拉里之后，第三個進入奧巴馬內閣的奧巴馬前預選對手。

　　里查森現年６１歲，民主黨人。他父親是美國人，母親是墨西哥人。曾任國會眾議員，美國常駐聯合國代表和能源部長。２００２年當選新墨西哥州州長，２００６年獲得連任。他曾參加今年民主黨總統預選，但在預選首站艾奧瓦州失利后退出，之后宣布支持奧巴馬。

　　奧巴馬自從在１１月４日舉行的美國總統選舉中獲勝后，正著手進行組建新政府和權力交接的工作，陸續任命白宮官員和提名內閣成員人選。此前他已任命白宮主要官員并宣布了經濟團隊和國家安全團隊人選。