For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
July 10, 2001

Nominations Sent to the Senate

President George W. Bush today announced his intention to nominate three individuals and his nomination of three individuals to serve as members of the federal judiciary.

The President intends to nominate Mark W. Olson to be a Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, representing the 9th District for the remainder of a fourteen-year term expiring January 31, 2010. Most recently he served as Staff Director of the Securities Subcommittee for the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. From 1988 to 1999, he was a Partner with Ernst and Young, LLP where he managed the firms Financial Services Regulatory Consulting practice. Olson was President and CEO of Security State Bank in Fergus Fall, Minnesota, from 1976 to 1988, and was elected President of the American Bankers Association in 1986. He is a graduate of St. Olaf College.

The President intends to nominate Elsa A. Murano to be Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food Safety. She has served at Texas A&M since 1995 in a variety of positions. She is presently a Professor in the Department of Animal Sciences, holding the Sadie Hatfield Professorship in Agriculture, and she is the Director of the Center for Food Safety. From 1990 to 1995, she served at Iowa State University in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Preventive Medicine and was then the Professor-in-Charge of Research Programs at Iowa States Linear Accelerator Facility. Murano is a graduate of Florida International University and received both her Masters degree and Ph.D. from Virginia Polytechnic University.

The President intends to nominate Jay S. Bybee to be Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel. He has served as a Professor of Law at the University of Nevada Law School since 1999, and served at Louisiana State University Law School from 1991 to 1998. From 1989 to 1991, Bybee was Associate Counsel to the President, and from 1984 to 1989 he was at the Department of Justice, first in the Office of Legal Policy and then in the Civil Division. He received both his undergraduate and law degrees from Brigham Young University.

The President will nominate James E. Gritzner to be a United States District Judge for the Southern District of Iowa.

The President will nominate Michael J. Melloy to be a United States Circuit Judge for the Eight Circuit.

The President will nominate Michael P. Mills to be a United States District Judge for the Northern District of Mississippi.

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