THE WHITE HOUSE

                      Office of the Press Secretary
                             (Pittsburgh, PA)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                 September 24, 1997

           PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES JOSEPH B. DIAL AS A MEMBER 
               OF THE COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION

President Clinton today announced his intent to nominate Joseph B. Dial, of Victoria, Texas, as a Member of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Commissioner Dial was originally appointed by President Bush in 1991 to serve on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and he currently chairs the Commission's Agricultural Advisory Committee. Prior to joining the Commission, he owned and managed a multi-faceted cattle, crop, and agricultural products and services business in South Texas. He was also active in banking and international trade. He served on the United States Trade Representative's Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee, the Foreign Trade Committee of the National Cattlemen's Association, and as the Chairman of the Citizens Advisory Committee for the Environmental Protection Agency's Gulf of Mexico Program. Commissioner Dial presently serves on the Board of the Gulf of Mexico Foundation, and as a Member of the Group of Experts United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Committee on Commodities. He is a graduate of the Texas Military Institute and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Management from the University of Maryland.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) was created by Congress in 1974 as an independent agency with the mandate to regulate commodity futures and option markets in the United States. The CFTC is responsible for ensuring the economic utility of futures markets by encouraging their competitiveness and efficiency, ensuring their integrity, and protecting market participants against manipulation, abusive trade practices, and fraud.

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