This is historical material, "frozen in time." The web site is no longer updated and links to external web sites and some internal pages will not work.

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release December 12, 1994

STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY ON ANTHONY LAKE

Anthony Lake, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, will lead a delegation of senior Administration officials and Africa experts that will travel to eight African countries from December 13-22. The delegation plans to visit Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burundi, Mozambique, Zambia, Angola, Benin and Senegal. Mr. Lake will also meet with officials of regional organizations, including the Organization of African Unity in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Mr. Lake's travel reflects the Administration's firm commitment to work with African nations to address the political, economic and humanitarian crises affecting the continent, as well as to support African nations that are making good progress toward peace, national reconciliation and democratic reform.

In addition, the delegation will review ways to address the key challenges facing all African nations. These include the President's Horn of Africa initiative to address the root causes of food insecurity in this ten-country region, support for the Organization of African Unity's conflict resolution mechanism, and means of relieving the crushing burden of debt.

Mr. Lake's delegation will include senior Administration officials from the Department of State, Department of Defense and U.S. Agency for International Development. Accompanying the delegation will be African-American Institute President Vivian Lowery Derryck, Lincoln University President Niara Sudarkasa and Center for Strategic and International Studies Africa Specialist Shawn McCormick.