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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release July 23, 1997

          PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES SHIRLEY ROBINSON WATKINS AND 
         AUGUST SCHUMACHER AS MEMBERS TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
                    OF THE COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION

The President today announced his nomination of Shirley Robinson Watkins and August Schumacher as Members of the Board of Directors of the Commodity Credit Corporation.

Ms. Watkins, of Hope, Arkansas, currently serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs (MRP), U.S. Department of Agriculture. In this position, Ms. Watkins provides leadership and policy for agencies under the MRP. Ms. Watkins was recently nominated by the President to serve as Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Prior to this appointment, Ms. Watkins served as Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services. She assisted with shaping food assistance programs and consumer outreach. Before coming to the Department of Agriculture, Ms. Watkins served as the Director of Nutrition for Memphis City Schools for 17 years. She received a B.S. degree from the University of Arkansas and a Masters of Education in Supervision from the University of Memphis.

Mr. Schumacher, of Lexington, Massachusetts, currently serves as Administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service. In this capacity, Mr. Schumacher provides leadership in the administration of programs to foster exports of American agricultural, fish and forest products. Mr. Schumacher was recently nominated by the President to serve as Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services, U.S. Department of Agriculture. Prior to his appointment as Foreign Agricultural Service Administrator, Mr. Schumacher served as Commissioner of Food and Agriculture for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts from 1985 to 1990. He also worked for the World Bank's agricultural lending group on a series of agricultural projects in Central Europe, the former Soviet Union, China, Mexico, the Middle East, and Africa. Mr. Schumacher holds an A.B. in economics from Harvard College and attended the London School of Economics. He was also a research associate with the Agribusiness Department of the Harvard Business School.

The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) is a $30 billion Government-owned and operated entity within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) which was created to stabilize, support and protect farm income and prices. The CCC also helps maintain balanced and adequate supplies of agricultural commodities and assists in their orderly distribution.

The Board of Directors manages the CCC, subject to the general supervision and direction of the Secretary of Agriculture, who is an ex-officio director and chairperson of the Board.

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