President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts:

• Thomas Carper – Director, Amtrak Board of Directors
• Avi Garbow – General Counsel, Environmental Protection Agency

President Obama said, “These dedicated and accomplished individuals will be valued additions to my Administration as we tackle the important challenges facing America. I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.”

President Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts:

Thomas Carper, Nominee for Director, Amtrak Board of Directors

Thomas Carper served as a Director of the Amtrak Board of Directors, from March 2008 to March 2013.  In 2009, he was elected Chairman of the Board.  From 2003 to 2010, Mr. Carper served as Regional Director of the West Central Region for Opportunity Returns, an Illinois economic development program. From 1991 to 2003, he served three terms as the Mayor of Macomb, Illinois. From 2000 to 2001, Mr. Carper was appointed by the Amtrak Board of Directors to serve as Chair of the Amtrak Mayors’ Advisory Council.  Prior to his first election in 1991, he was a bar and nightclub owner in Macomb, and he served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam and Thailand from 1967 to 1970.  Mr. Carper received a B.A. from Western Illinois University.

Avi Garbow, Nominee for General Counsel, Environmental Protection Agency

Avi Garbow is currently the Deputy General Counsel at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a role he has held since September 2009.  Prior to this, he worked at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC from 2005 to 2009, most recently as a partner, and from 2002 to 2005 he served at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, most recently as a junior partner.  Prior to that, Mr. Garbow was a trial attorney with the Department of Justice from 1995 to 2002, where he worked in both the Environmental Crimes and Wildlife and Marine Resources Sections.  From 1992 to 1995, he was an attorney and Special Assistant to the Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance at EPA.  Mr. Garbow received a B.A. from the University of Michigan, and a M.A. and J.D. from the University of Virginia.