17 December 1997
(To combat proliferation of weapons of mass destruction) (880) Washington -- President Clinton announced December 17 that he is appointing John M. Deutch, Robert T. 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. The commission will be composed of eight members, four appointed by the President and four by Congress. The four Congressional appointments to the commission are Senator Arlen Specter, James Exon, Henry Cooper, and Anthony Beilensen. The White House announcement said the FY97 Intelligence Authorization Act called for the establishment of the Commission. "The commission is charged with studying the current organization of the U.S. government, including the intelligence community," the White House said, "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." Following is the White House text: (begin text) THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary December 17, 1997 PRESIDENT CLINTON APPOINTS JOHN M. DEUTCH, ROBERT 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 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 T. 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 as 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 20 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 20 years, active on budget, intelligence and House floor issues. (end text)