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 The web site is no longer updated and links to external web sites and some internal pages will not work.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 October 2, 1997

                PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES JOSEPH THOMPSON 
                AS UNDER SECRETARY FOR BENEFITS AT THE 
                   DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS' AFFAIRS

President Clinton today announced his intent to nominate Joseph Thompson for Under Secretary for Benefits at the Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA).

An Air Force veteran and career VA employee, Mr. Thompson, of New York, is currently director of the VA Regional Office in New York City. Under his direction, the New York office oversees the delivery of more than $700 million in benefits and was the first recipient of Vice President Gore's Hammer Award. Mr. Thompson began his VA career as claims examiner at the New York Regional Office and as an education consultant in VA's Education Service. Later, as an administrative officer for the Veterans' Benefits Administration (VBA), he reviewed operations and allocated resources for VA regional offices from Maine to Puerto Rico. Mr. Thompson was then named assistant director at the Philadelphia Regional Office and Insurance Center before assuming his current position in 1990.

Mr. Thompson received a B.A. in psychology from Pace University and an M.P.A. from George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. He was honored with the Presidential Rank Award in 1994.

The head of VA's Veterans' Benefits Administration oversees the delivery of non-medical benefits through a network of regional offices in every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Phillippines. The VBA has a potential clientele of approximately one-third of the nation's population, and includes GI Bill education, home loan guaranty, disability compensation, pension, vocational rehabilitation and life insurance programs.

-30-30-30-