Sen. Salazar says goodbye to U.S. Senate

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) officially said goodbye to the U.S. Senate Friday morning as he prepares for his new role as interior secretary.

Salazar spoke Friday morning, looking back on his years in office and thanking the people of Colorado.

"The five million people in the state of Colorado have given me a great honor to serve as their attorney general and to serve on their behalf," he said.

He also gave a nod of approval to President-elect Barack Obama, saying he would set America back on track as "one nation."

"There is a new hope, when with a growing sense that we are all in this together. We are again becoming the one nation that the first president of the United States of America imagined.

Our next president, Barack Obama, embodies this historic change. He is asking us not to think of ourselves first as red states and blue states but as Americans first with obligations of service to one and other. We can solve our problems no matter how difficult they are.

We can reach the horizon of human possibilities no matter how difficult it might seem. But in order to do that we must all work together," Salazar said.

Salazar will officially step down once the Senate votes on his nomination which could happen as early as Friday afternoon.

Governor Bill Ritter (D-Colo.) has said he plans to fill Salazar's seat with Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who spoke just before Salazar, highlighted some of Salazar's accomplishments, calling him both a problem-solver and a peacemaker.

"I can't help but feel that Senator Salazar's time in the United States Senate was a little short. But I know that his service to our nation will be in no way diminished - indeed, it will be greatly enhanced - in his new role," Reid said.

Reid also spoke this week before Senator Joe Biden (D-Delaware) who will become Vice President and Senator Hilary Clinton (D-New York) who will become Secretary of State after confirmation. Reid said while their accomplishments are more well known than Salazar's, his are "no less remarkable."