20 December 1997
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Date: Thu, 18 Dec 1997 09:51 -0500
From: The White House <Publications-Admin@pub.pub.whitehouse.gov>
Subject: 1997-12-17 President Names Commission on Weapons of Mass Destruction
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Document-ID: pdi://oma.eop.gov.us/1997/12/18/2.text.1
URL: http://www.pub.whitehouse.gov/uri-res/I2R?urn:pdi://oma.eop.gov.us/1997/12/18/2.text.1
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release December 17, 1997
PRESIDENT CLINTON APPOINTS
JOHN M. DEUTCH, ROBERT L. GALLUCCI, DAVE McCURDY, AND DANIEL PONEMAN
TO THE COMMISSION TO ASSESS THE ORGANIZATION OF THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT TO COMBAT THE PROLIFERATION OF
WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
CONGRESS APPOINTS SENATOR
ARLEN SPECTER, JAMES EXON, ANTHONY C. BEILENSON, AND HENRY F. COOPER
TO THE COMMISSION TO ASSESS THE ORGANIZATION
OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
TO COMBAT THE PROLIFERATION OF WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
The FY97 Intelligence Authorization Act calls for the establishment
of a Commission to Assess the Organization of the Federal Government to
Combat to the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction. The
commission is charged with studying the current organization of the
U.S. government, including the intelligence community, to deal with the
threat posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and to
make recommendations to Congress on steps to improve the effectiveness
of the U.S. government in dealing with this threat.
The commission will be composed of eight members, four appointed by
the President and four by Congress.
President Clinton today announced that he is appointing John M.
Deutch, Robert L. Gallucci, Dave McCurdy, and Daniel Poneman to the
Commission.
John M. Deutch of Massachusetts has spent most of his recent time
in a variety of positions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Formerly, Mr. Deutch was the Director of Central Intelligence. Prior
to his appointment at CIA, Mr. Deutch served as Deputy Secretary of
Defense, and the Under Secretary of Defense, and Under Secretary of
Defense for Acquisition.
Robert L. Gallucci of Virginia is currently the Dean of the School
of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Before joining the
faculty at Georgetown, Mr. Gallucci was a career civil servant in the
Department of State and served as Ambassador at Large during his tenure
as Assistant Secretary of State for Political Military Affairs.
Dave McCurdy of Oklahoma is former U.S. Representative from
Oklahoma. During his time in the House, Mr. McCurdy was a member of
the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and worked issues
related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Daniel Poneman of Ohio is Counsel at the law firm of Hogan &
Hartson, resident in the firm's Washington, D.C. office. Mr. Poneman
recently served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior
Director for Nonproliferation and Export Controls at the National
Security Council and chaired the Interagency Working Group for
Nonproliferation and Export Controls.
The four Congressional appointments to the commission are Senator
Arlen Specter, James Exon, Henry Cooper, and Anthony Beilensen.
Senator Arlen Specter (appointed by Senate Majority Leader Lott)
is the senior United States Senator from Pennsylvania and author of
the legislation to create the Commission. He is the former Chairman
of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence where he directed the
Committee's attention to issues of proliferation and terrorism.
Senator Specter is currently Chairman of the Senate Committee on
Veterans' Affairs and a member of the Judiciary, Appropriations and
Government Affairs Committee.
J. James Exon of Nebraska (appointed by Senate Minority Leader
Daschle) retired from the U.S. Senate in 1997, after serving three
terms. He was a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and
an influential voice in the Congress on matters regarding the military,
particularly strategic issues. Senator Exon also served on the Senate
Budget and Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committees. He
previously served as the Governor of Nebraska from 1970-1978.
Henry F. (Hank) Cooper (appointed by House Speaker Gingrich) is
Chairman of Applied Research Associates, Inc., Chairman of High
Frontier, Senior Associate of the National Institute of Public Policy,
Visiting Fellow to the Heritage Foundation, and a private consultant.
He has spent about half of his career in government service and about
half in the private sector.
Anthony C. Beilenson of California (appointed by House Minority
Leader Gephardt) served twenty years in the U.S. House of
Representatives. Mr. Beilenson chaired the House Permanent Select
Committee on Intelligence for two years and promoted bipartisan
cooperation on that committee. Mr. Beilenson was also an influential
member of the House Rules Committee for nearly twenty years, active on
budget, intelligence and House floor issues.
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