President-elect Barack Obama announced the final selections for his Cabinet today, naming Rep. Hilda L. Solis (D-Calif.) as labor secretary, former Dallas mayor Ron Kirk as U.S. trade representative and Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) as transportation secretary.

In introducing Solis, Obama said the Labor Department under the Bush administration “has not lived up to its role either as an advocate for hard-working families or as an arbiter of fairness in relations between labor and management.” Solis will change that, he said.

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In remarks accepting the nomination, Solis said she would “work to strengthen our unions and support every American in our nation’s diverse workforce.”

With his selection of Solis, a liberal member of Congress, the president-elect also appears to be moving toward his goal of promoting “green-collar jobs,” which are aimed at increasing energy efficiency through projects such as retrofitting. Solis has placed a high priority on expanding such jobs during her tenure in Congress.

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