A brief reference to the "assistant secretary of Commerce for Observation and Predictions" in the Washington Post this morning sounded almost too improbable to be serious except that it involves the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, which is in the Department of Commerce.  I  could not find a link to that specific office on the NOAA website but did identify the position of  Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Environmental Observation and Prediction in Kathryn Sullivan's biography.

Of course, the original brief reference was about Dr. Sullivan's appointment as NOAA head and Commerce undersecretary so none of this should be a surprise.  What makes this little side trip especially pleasing is that I learned about a very talented woman who has chosen a career in public service.  My hope meter went up a notch.

postscript

An earlier biography describes some of Dr. Sullivan's duties as assistant secretary of commerce for environmental observation.