For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 29, 2001
Gov. Ridge Names Deputy Director of Homeland Security
Director of the Office of Homeland Security Announces Several Staff Appointments Including Admiral Steve Abbot to be Deputy Director of the Office of Homeland Security
Governor Tom Ridge, the Director of the White House Office of Homeland
Security, today announced several staff appointments including Admiral
Steve Abbot to be Deputy Director of the Office of Homeland Security.
"I am pleased and gratified that these experienced individuals have
agreed to serve their country at this critical time in the White House
Office of Homeland Security. Each will play an important
role in our coordinated approach to providing a seamless defense of
America on the homefront," said Governor Ridge.
Abbot is currently serving as Executive Director of the Vice
President's National Preparedness Review. Last May, the
President asked the Vice President to review and make recommendations
to strengthen preparedness against an act of domestic terrorism,
particularly one using a weapon of mass destruction. Abbot
led the staff that supported the Vice President in this effort.
The Naval Academy graduate and Rhodes Scholar served in the United
States Navy from 1966 until his retirement as a four-star admiral in
2000. His final military assignment was serving as Deputy
Commander-in-Chief of the US European Command during the recent
conflict in Kosovo. He was a naval aviator, commanding a
carrier-based squadron and serving as a test pilot for the F-18 and
other aircraft. He commanded the aircraft carrier THEODORE
ROOSEVELT from 1990 to 1992, a period that included the Persian Gulf
War. He subsequently commanded the Roosevelt Carrier Battle
Group.
Admiral Abbot also served as the Deputy Director of Operations for
the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the end of the previous
Bush administration and the outset of the Clinton administration and as
Commander of the SIXTH Fleet.
Governor Ridge has named Mark A. Holman to be Deputy Assistant to
the President for Homeland Security. Holman served Governor
Ridge during his time in the U.S. Congress as Chief of Staff and
Administrative Assistant from 1983 to 1991 and in the Governor's Office
as Chief of Staff until December 2000. Holman joins the
White House from Blank, Rome, Comisky and McCauley in Washington, D.C.
Becky Halkias has been named Deputy Assistant to the President for
Legislative Affairs for the Office of Homeland
Security. Prior to joining the White House, Halkias served
as Deputy Chief of Staff for Federal Affairs in Governor Ridge's
Washington Office.
Carl M. Buchholz will serve as Special Assistant to the President
and Executive Secretary for the Office of Homeland
Security. Mr. Buchholz was previously Special Assistant to
U.S. Senator John Heinz and joins the White House from Blank, Rome,
Comisky and McCauley in Philadelphia.
Barbara Chaffee has been named Special Assistant to the President
and Public Liaison for the Office of Homeland
Security. Chaffee has served Governor Ridge since 1995, most
recently as the Deputy Secretary at the Pennsylvania Department of
Community and Economic Development.
Susan Neely will serve as Special Assistant to the President and
Director of Communications for Homeland Security. Neely has
served as the Senior Vice President for Communications of the
Association of American Medical Colleges since 1996. From
1982 to 1987, she served Iowa Governor Terry Branstad as Press
Secretary, Communications Director and then as Manager of the
Governor's successful reelection campaign.
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