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THE WHITE HOUSE

                     Office of the Press Secretary
                           (Santiago, Chile)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                     April 17, 1998
                PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES JONATHAN SPALTER 
                 AS ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR INFORMATION 
                AT THE UNITED STATES INFORMATION AGENCY

The President today announced his intent to nominate Jonathan Spalter as Associate Director for Information at the United States Information Agency (USIA).

Mr. Jonathan Spalter, of New York, New York, currently serves as Vice President Gore's Foreign Policy Spokesman and Chief Speechwriter. He previously served on the staff on the National Security Council as Director of Public Affairs, and Assistant White House Press Secretary for International Affairs. Prior to joining the White House staff, Mr. Spalter was at the Pentagon as the Special Assistant in the office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, where he focused on a broad range of international security issues. Prior to joining the Administration, Mr. Spalter was a broadcast journalist covering diplomatic and national security affairs as the senior reporter at the MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour, and later as a correspondent at the Monitor Channel.

Mr. Spalter received a bachelor of arts degree from Harvard University and a Master of Philosophy in International Relations at the University of Cambridge, in the United Kingdom.

The United States Information Agency is an independent foreign affairs agency. Engaged in the conduct of public diplomacy, USIA explains and supports U.S. foreign policy and national security interests to overseas audiences and promotes mutual understanding between the United States and other countries through a wide range of cultural, educational and information programs. Created as a Reinvention Laboratory in 1995, the Bureau of Information is responsible for managing the tools of public diplomacy. Whether through the latest in information technology, or more traditional means, the bureau sends people, information and ideas around the world based on U.S. Government policies and priorities, as well as in response to the needs of USIA's posts and the issues facing publics abroad.

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