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Statement Of Jimmy I. Palmer, Jr.
Environmental Protection Agency
Aging Initiative Public Listening Session
Tampa, Florida
April 3, 2003
Region 4
EPA Regional Administrator
Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Jimmy Palmer. I am the Regional Administrator for Region 4 of the US Environmental Protection Agency. It is a pleasure for me to also welcome you here. It is a distinct privilege for Region 4 to have the opportunity to host this very first inaugural listening session, one of six that will be held around the country. A lot of folks have worked very hard to make this event happen. We say a very hearty thank you to all of them and especially to Charlotte McHenry and Ginger Phillips for the tremendous amount of work they invested in making this happen.
We are here to listen to all of you but in order to get this event underway, who better to ask than Christine Todd Whitman, who has devoted many years of her life and her career to public service in a number of elected capacities in the state of New Jersey initially and now in service to the entire country. When she was asked by President Bush to serve as EPA administrator and she replied in the affirmative, she had already established a solid, documented record of environmental accomplishments in New Jersey. The day she stepped out of that role into her national role, I said to her - and I know even now - she has to reflect back on those days - that she indeed had left her legacy of cleaner air, purer water and better protected land to New Jersey and brought both her vision and vitality to the US Environmental Protection Agency. It is an honor for me to present to you now Governor Christie Todd Whitman, administrator of the EPA.