<p>Andrew Card has resigned his COS position. Film at 11. Does this mean the Prez' visit is off?</p>
<p>I'm not sure. Mr. Card gave Admiral Stewart a letter from the president saying he was coming, but you never know.</p>
<p>I heard the landscaping team is moving in, although the chapel will not be painted (something about asbestos and contractors again!) in time for the still expected CIC graduation visit.
Meanwhile, the Maritime Administrator nominee David Sanborn withdrew his nomination - probably something to do with the ports deal. ;)</p>
<p>It is indeed a cool thing to see the ticker tape thingee at the bottom of Fox news read, "President Bush to speak at four academies." It said he will speak at yada yada yada academy, some other colleges and THE UNITED STATES MERCHANT MARINE ACADEMY. Oooops. Musta had my caps lock on. ;)</p>
<p>Ouch! I got carried away. I shoulda put, it read "President Bush to speak at two colleges & two academies". Sorry.</p>
<p>It's official now!
BY PETER CLARK
Newsday Washington Bureau</p>
<p>April 14, 2006</p>
<p>WASHINGTON -- Every year since 1950, the senior class president of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy has written a letter to the president of the United States asking him to deliver the commencement speech. And, every year since 1950 the president of the United States has declined the invitation - until now.</p>
<p>President George W. Bush announced yesterday that he will deliver the keynote speech to the graduating class of the Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point on June 19, making him the first sitting president to visit the institution since its creation in 1943.</p>
<p>"This is a very exciting event," said Martin Skrocki, the public information officer for the academy. "We've had people visit the academy who went on to become president, but we've never had a U.S. president come to the academy."</p>
<p>Though Richard Nixon attended a function when he was vice president and Gerald Ford spoke there when he was a congressman, Dan Quayle remains the highest-ranking official to speak at the academy. That was in 1991, when he was vice president to George H.W. Bush.</p>
<p>The current president has good reason to end this presidential embargo. Merchant mariners carry 95 percent of military supplies to the Persian Gulf, making them important to the war on terrorism.</p>
<p>When Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta gave the commencement speech at the academy in 2004, he noted the role its members played during the relief effort in the days following Sept. 11, 2001. For nine days following the attacks, merchant mariners transported food, emergency personnel, and medical supplies from locations in Brooklyn and New Jersey to Ground Zero.</p>
<p>Bush also has personal ties to the academy.</p>
<p>Outgoing White House chief of staff Andrew Card attended the academy and David Sanborn, whom Bush had nominated to head the Maritime Administration, is an alumnus. Sanborn, who was Dubai Port World's director of operations for Europe and Latin America, withdrew as nominee during the controversy over DP World controlling operations at six U.S. ports.</p>
<p>A White House spokeswoman declined to say whether any of these factors contributed to Bush's decision to speak at the graduation.</p>
<p>Bush also announced yesterday that he will speak to the graduating classes at Oklahoma State University on May 6, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College on May 11 and the U.S. Military Academy in West Point on May 27.</p>
<p>Those four will be the most college graduations he will have spoken at during his time in office in a single year.</p>