Senator Abraham is Chairman and CEO of The Abraham Group, an international strategic consulting firm based in Washington, DC and is a Senior Advisor at Blank Rome Government Relations. After being nominated by President-elect George W. Bush, Spencer Abraham was sworn in as the tenth Secretary of Energy in United States history on January 20, 2001. He began his tenure in the midst of a severe energy crisis that included the California blackouts, declining domestic energy supplies and insufficient international energy trade opportunities. In response, he helped President Bush devise America's first national energy plan in over a decade and oversaw its implementation. According to the Presidential Management Agenda scorecard, the Department of Energy went from "worst to first" of well-run agencies under Secretary Abraham's leadership. Prior to being named Secretary of Energy, Abraham served as an effective and highly productive U.S. Senator from Michigan for six years, where he was the author of 22 pieces of legislation signed into law - an unprecedented accomplishment for a freshman senator. He also chaired two subcommittees: Manufacturing and Competitiveness and Immigration. He authored three particularly ground-breaking pieces of technology legislation: the Electronic Signature in Global and National Commerce Act, the Government Paperwork and Elimination Act, and the AntiCybersquatting Consumer Protection Act. All three were landmarks in the governance of cyberspace and the use of important new technology. Abraham is on the Board of Directors of several companies, including Occidental Petroleum and NRG Energy. He is the author of “Lights Out: Ten Myths About (and Real Solutions to) America’s Energy Crisis”. Spencer Abraham and his wife, Jane, are the parents of three children. He holds a law degree from Harvard University, and is a co-founder of the Federalist Society. He is a native of East Lansing, Michigan.
