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                         THE WHITE HOUSE
                  OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WEDNESDAY, September 1, 1993

STATEMENT BY VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE

I am extremely pleased and honored to host the inaugural meeting of the U.S.-Russian Joint Commission on Energy and Space and to welcome to the United States my co-chairman, Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin.

Through this Joint Commission, the United States and Russia will embark on a new high-technology partnership. Combining the vast intellectual capabilities and complementary technical expertise of our two countries, the United States and Russia will secure new technology advances, productivity gains and cost savings now and for future generations of Russians and Americans.

The mutual commitment of the United States and Russia to work together on these important issues is a reflection of the new era of cooperation and partnership between Russia and the United States. It is our aim to elevate economic and technology issues -- issues vital to our common future -- to the same order of importance as our security and political dialogue.

Over the next two days, the Prime Minister and I will discuss specific steps the United States and Russia can take together, as partners, to expand trade and investment in the energy sector, to address environmental concerns and to benefit from increased cooperation in space. We will work in particular to help increase private trade and investment between our two countries. We believe that this is one of the best ways the United States can continue our support for reform in Russia.

THE JOINT COMMISSION ON ENERGY AND SPACE

The Joint Commission was established as a result of an agreement between President Clinton and Russian President Yeltsin during their summit in Vancouver last spring. At that time, the two Presidents agreed that the United States and Russia should work together to expand dramatically American trade and investment with Russia and to advance our cooperation in energy and space and other areas of advanced technology.

By naming Vice President Gore and Russian Prime Minister Chernomyrdin to lead this effort, the two Presidents hoped to give this forum the high-level impetus needed to attain these goals.

Over the next two days, the Vice President and Prime Minister Chernomyrdin will tackle an ambitious agenda. They will be working toward signing a number of agreements on Thursday which will provide the framework for joint cooperation on a range of high-technology issues.