A group of more than 30 top leaders of the conservative movement sent a letter to President Trump pushing a terrific idea: Appoint former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli as the next secretary of homeland security.

Cuccinelli, who lost a close race for Virginia governor in 2013, is an accomplished administrator, well versed in the law, superb at communications, and philosophically in line with Trump. He is a principled conservative, unwavering but with a practical bent. He’s also politically fearless, with enough backbone to handle a tough and controversial job.

Yet he also has a record of compassion. As a student at the University of Virginia, he helped convince the administration to create a position for a full-time coordinator of education against sexual assault. Later, as attorney general, he worked tirelessly to exonerate a 27-year prison inmate after new evidence indicated the man’s innocence. He also worked to pass laws against human trafficking, and for better public access to mental healthcare.

“In this time of national crisis and emergency over national security and immigration, Ken’s background as a non-nonsense law enforcement officer and a major constitutional lawyer, along with his reputation as a fighter, combined with his extensive media experience, including television, make him ideally suited to carry out the duties of the Department of Homeland Security,” wrote the conservative leaders.

Among the signatories were former Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, former U.S. senator and Heritage Foundation President Jim DeMint, longtime conservative publisher Al Regnery, pioneering direct-mail impresario Richard Viguerie, Leadership Institute President Morton Blackwell (no relation to Kenneth), Ronald Reagan biographer Craig Shirley, and leading conservative lawyer Cleta Mitchell.

They closed the letter extolling Cuccinelli’s “tough on crime stance, his solution-oriented approach, his dedication to the rule of law, his love for America, and most importantly, his loyalty to the cause of making America great again.”

In conversations and interviews both on and off the record over the years, I’ve been equally impressed. If Trump wants a smart, take-charge guy to protect the American homeland, Cuccinelli should be his man.