Executive Session

EXECUTIVE SESSION -- (Senate - January 24, 2005)

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Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I rise to express my support for Mr. Carlos Gutierrez as our new Secretary of Commerce.

Considering the global nature of the marketplace, Carlos Gutierrez is an outstanding choice for Secretary of Commerce. Without a doubt, Mr. Gutierrez possesses the necessary skills to assume this important position. His skillful leadership has brought strong growth and success to one of the world's most notable companies. Because of his many years with the Kellogg Company, Mr. Gutierrez understands how to create jobs and foster greater opportunity for all Americans. I believe that Mr. Gutierrez will do an excellent job in creating conditions for economic growth and opportunity by promoting innovation, entrepreneurship, competitiveness, and stewardship.

Consumer demand, rising sales, and increased profits are creating confidence in the growing economy. For example, in my home State, the Utah Department of Workforce Services confirms that Utah added 32,200 new jobs in 12 months ending on October 31, 2004, and the Salt Lake City-Ogden metro area topped the list of U.S. cities in the growth rate of women-owned businesses. According to the Department of Labor, Utah ranks third in terms of the largest one-year percentage gains in non-farm employment. And, just recently, Forbes magazine named Headwaters, Inc., a Utah-based alternative energy technology company, as second of the top 200 best small companies in the United States. These are just a few of many indicators proving that President Bush's policies are succeeding in creating jobs and expanding the economy.

I look forward to working with Mr. Gutierrez, as he is undoubtedly qualified and prepared to take the helm of the Commerce Department. Of course, Mr. Gutierrez has many challenges ahead of him, but I am confident that he will serve our country with dedication and distinction.

Mr. FRIST. Fortune magazine describes him as possessing ``disarming charisma, steely resolve, and an utter lack of pretension.'' The President of the United States hails him as a ``great American success story.''

It is my pleasure to support the nomination of Carlos Gutierrez, chairman and CEO of the Kellogg Company, to become America's next Secretary of Commerce.

Mr. Gutierrez is a true testament to the American Dream. From humble beginnings as a Cuban refugee, he has become one of the most respected and admired businessmen in America.

Mr. Gutierrez and his family fled Cuba when he was just 6 years old. His father ran a successful pineapple company in Havana. Then one day, there was a knock at the door. Fidel Castro's regime had named the elder Gutierrez an enemy of the state. Mr. Gutierrez's father was briefly imprisoned. The business was confiscated. Mr. Gutierrez recalls that, ``We were on a plane right after that.''

The family landed in Miami Beach in 1960. It was there that 6 year old Carlos learned English from hotel bellhops.

The family eventually settled in Mexico City, and at the age of 20, Mr.

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Gutierrez took a job driving a Kellogg van selling frosted flakes to small grocery stores.

Ten years later, he became general manager of Kellogg's Mexico operations. Within 3 years, he turned the Mexico plant from the company's least productive to most productive.

After stints in Asia and Canada, Mr. Gutierrez returned to the United States in 1990, and in 1999 became Chairman and CEO of the Kellogg Company.

In 5 short years, Mr. Gutierrez has steered the cereal maker into the number one spot in the U.S. cereal market. Under his leadership Kellogg has become a food industry powerhouse with industry leading sales growth.

Those who have studied his business techniques say that Mr. Gutierrez is successful because he is able to focus in on the key issues and convey his vision to everyone--from the assembly line worker to members of the board. He believes that every American should have the opportunity to succeed.

He also believes that America is, and should be, the best place in the world to do business.

Former Governor John Engler of Michigan, who has worked with Mr. Gutierrez, rightly points out that Mr. Gutierrez would be ``the most international leader that Commerce has ever had.''

Mr. Gutierrez says that one of his proudest accomplishments was helping his son and his wife become American citizens. From one American citizen to another, I can assure him the pride is mutual.

From his remarkable biography, to his meteoric success, Mr. Gutierrez is an inspiration to all. He took the American dream and ran with it--and, I should note, without ever having finished college.

I am confident that his accumulated wisdom, knowledge and skills will make Mr. Gutierrez an effective Commerce Secretary and eloquent advocate of our economic policies and ideals.

I urge my colleagues to support the nomination of this extraordinary American.

I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

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