Statements of Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and S. Elizabeth Birnbaum

Washington, DC – S. Elizabeth Birnbaum today submitted a letter of resignation as Director of the Minerals Management Service. Below are statements from Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and S. Elizabeth Birnbaum.

“Elizabeth Birnbaum is a strong and effective person and leader,” said Secretary Salazar. “She helped break through tough issues including offshore renewable development and helped us take important steps to fix a broken system. She is a good public servant. She resigned today on her own terms and on her own volition. I thank her for her service and wish her the very best.”

“I'm grateful to the President and to the Secretary for allowing me to serve this Administration and the country,” said Liz Birnbaum. “It's been a great privilege to serve as Director of the MMS. I have enormous admiration for the men and women of the MMS who do a difficult job under challenging circumstances. I'm hopeful that the reforms that the Secretary and the Administration are undertaking will resolve the flaws in the current system that I inherited.”

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