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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary


For Immediate Release February 24, 1997
          PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES RICHARD SOCARIDES AS SPECIAL     
            ASSISTANT AND SENIOR ADVISOR FOR PUBLIC LIAISON

     The President today named Richard Socarides as Special Assistant

to the President and Senior Advisor for Public Liaison.

Socarides was the liaison to the lesbian and gay communities for the White House in 1996, when he served as Special Assistant to the Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Political Affairs. In his new post, Socarides will serve the gay and lesbian communities as well as additional constituencies.

From 1993 to 1996, Socarides was White House Liaison for the Department of Labor, and prior to that was Senator Tom Harkin's (D-IA) political advisor. A native of New York, Socarides was a partner in the law firm of Squadron, Ellenoff, Plesent & Sheinfeld.

He has served on the Boards of Directors of the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD.) He was one of the principal organizers in 1995 of the first-ever White House Conference on HIV/AIDS.

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