June 1, 1999

STATEMENT BY THE VICE PRESIDENT

                              THE WHITE HOUSE

                       Office of the Press Secretary
___________________________________________________________________________
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For Immediate Release                                   Contact:
Tuesday, June 1, 1999                                   202-456-7035

                      STATEMENT BY THE VICE PRESIDENT

     I want to express my deep appreciation to my close friend and trusted
adviser, Mark Gearan, for the outstanding leadership he has demonstrated as
the Director of the Peace Corps and for his many contributions to this
Administration.

     I wish him well on his new position as President at Hobart and William
Smith Colleges. I am confident that the wise counsel, vision, ideas and
dedication that I relied on in 1992 when Mark served as my campaign
manager, will make him a favorite with the students, faculty and
administrators in the years to come.

     Since President Clinton appointed him as the Director of the Peace
Corps in 1995, I have been enormously impressed with the new opportunities
he has created for Americans to serve as volunteers and the new spirit and
energy he has given the Peace Corps. I am confident that he will bring that
same leadership and spirit to Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

     Tipper and I congratulate Mark and thank him for his years of
distinguished service and his many contributions to our nation. We wish him
and his wife, Mary, and their two daughters, Madeleine and Kathleen, a
bright and promising future.

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