January 10, 2005

(Washington, DC) Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs Chairman Larry Craig (R-Idaho) announced today that the committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Jim Nicholson on Monday, January 24, starting at 10:00 a.m. in room 418 of the Russell Senate Office Building.

Nicholson was nominated by President Bush in December to replace Anthony Principi as Secretary of Veterans Affairs. The VA has more than 230,000 employees and is the nation's second largest federal agency.

For the past three years Nicholson has served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican. He is a graduate of West Point and served 8 years as an Army Ranger. In Vietnam he earned the Bronze Star Medal, the Combat Infantry Badge, the Meritorious Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Vietnamese Cross for Gallantry and two Air Medals. After 22 years in the Army Reserve, he retired with the rank of full colonel. In 1999, Nicholson was honored by induction as a Knight in the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, one of the highest honors awarded to a Roman Catholic.

Nicholson holds a master's degree in public policy from Columbia University in New York and a law degree from the University of Denver. A successful Colorado businessman and community volunteer, Nicholson was elected Chairman of the Republican National Committee in 1997, a post he held until his appointment to the Vatican.

?Jim Nicholson is a remarkable man and I look forward to asking him probing questions about the future of the VA. I expect that other members will ask him insightful questions as well,? said Sen. Craig, who recently took over the chairmanship of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee.

U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs members for the 109th Congress include: