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Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas welcomed the captain of the Submarine Texas, which will be commissioned as the USS Texas at a ceremony in Galveston on September 9.

"I would like for the public to know that we expect at least 10,000 guests to attend," Thomas said.  "A number of hotel rooms have already been reserved - as of today 1,300 room nights."

Captain John Litherland, who will be commanding officer of the USS Texas upon the commissioning, thanked Thomas for the city's hospitality.

"I cannot tell you how excited we are to be bringing Texas to Galveston to be commissioned," Litherland said.

First Lady Laura Bush, who officially christened the ship with a bottle of sparkling champagne in July 2004, will be the honored guest at the commissioning ceremony, "to man the ship and bring the ship to life."

Litherland would not say whether any other members of the Bush family will attend the ceremony.

"Well obviously, for reasons of security, they hold those arrangements very closely," Litherland said.

He said there will be no tours of the ship for the general public, but Litherland said that members of the crew will participate in several public activities while the ship is in port.

Neal Stevens, who publishes Subsim.com, attended the news conference and will be publishing additional articles about the commissioning ceremony.  His report on Wednesday's events are at http://www.subsim.com/articles/article_usstexas1.php