THE WHITE HOUSE

                     Office of the Press Secretary
                         (Baltimore, Maryland)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                  February 19, 1998

                 PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES GEORGE MCGOVERN 
          AS U.S. REPRESENTATIVE TO THE UNITED NATIONS AGENCIES 
            FOR FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, WITH RANK OF AMBASSADOR

The President today announced his intent to nominate former U.S. Senator George McGovern as the U.S. Representative to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture in Rome, with the Rank of Ambassador.

Senator McGovern represented the State of South Dakota in Congress for 22 years -- 18 years in the Senate and four years in the House of Representatives. In addition, he served as the U.S. Food for Peace Director in the Kennedy Administration and was the 1972 Democratic Presidential nominee. As a bomber pilot based in Italy during the Second World War, Senator McGovern flew 35 bombing missions over Nazi Germany and was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross. He earned a Ph.D. in American History at Northwestern University and taught history at Dakota Wesleyan for several years prior to his election to Congress in 1956. Senator McGovern resides in Mitchell, South Dakota and the District of Columbia.

The U.S. Representative to the UN Agencies for Food and Agriculture represents the United States in the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Food Program and the International Fund for Agricultural Development. The Representative plays a key role in developing and implementing U.S. policy on the broad spectrum of food security issues, including agricultural development and humanitarian assistance.