President-elect George W. Bush has announced his choice of former Senator Spencer Abraham (R-MI) to become the new Secretary of Energy in his administration. Abraham, a one term Senator, was narrowly defeated for re-election in November.

Abraham was a member of the Committee on the Budget, the Committee on the Judiciary, and the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and its Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space.

He has been one of a handful of Senators sponsoring proposals to abolish the Department of Energy, calling it a "wasteful umbrella organization." As a senator representing Michigan, home to the U.S auto industry, Abraham voted with a Senate majority to kill a measure that would have imposed fuel economy standards on sport utility vehicles and trucks and endorsed legislation to open the Alaskan Wildlife Reserve to oil drilling. He was not popular with environmental groups. The League of Conservation gave his Senate voting record a rating of zero.

Abraham, 48, a Harvard-educated lawyer and a grandson of Lebanese immigrants, once served as Deputy Chief of Staff to Vice President Dan Quayle.

In nominating Abraham, president-elect Bush said, Abraham "knows the issues of energy policy, and he understands the opportunities and challenges before us." In accepting the nomination, Abraham said, "As we know, many significant Energy Department-related issues face us at this time, ranging from the adequacy of supply to affordability to the development of new technologies to the issues of security at our facilities and more. Fortunately, this administration is comprised of many individuals with incredible expertise in these areas. And I look forward to helping the president-elect to effectively address these challenges in the days ahead."