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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release April 27, 1998

                           PRESIDENT CLINTON 
       NAMES VICE-CHAIR AND MEMBERS OF THE SPECIAL OVERSIGHT BOARD 
                FOR DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE INVESTIGATIONS 
              OF GULF WAR CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL INCIDENTS

The President today announced his intent to appoint Jesse Brown as Vice-Chair and Vinh Cam, Marc Cisneros, David Moore, Alan Steinman, and Elmo Zumwalt as Members of the Special Oversight Board for Department of Defense Investigations of Gulf War Chemical and Biological Incidents. They will join former Senator Warren Rudman, who has been appointed Chair.

Mr. Jesse Brown, of Chicago, Illinois, served in President Clinton's Cabinet as Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs from 1993 to 1997. As Secretary, he undertook an aggressive research initiative to determine the causes of the illnesses of Persian Gulf War Veterans, and was successful in aiding the enactment of laws authorizing payment to those Veterans' undiagnosed illnesses. Mr. Brown grew up in Chicago, where he was an honors graduate of Chicago City College. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1963, and was wounded in combat in Vietnam in 1965. Following military service, he spent his professional career with the Disabled American Veterans, serving as their Executive Director from 1989 to 1993.

Dr. Vinh Cam, of Greenwich, Connecticut, is a Consultant working with companies and non-governmental organizations on airborne toxins, hazardous waste management and environmental and occupational health matters. Among her professional work experiences, Dr. Cam was Adjunct Professor of Management Science at Pace University, did clinical research on autoimmune diseases at Rockefeller University and worked in the Environmental Protection Agency for 11 years, developing an expertise in air toxics and health risk assessments. Dr. Cam has also participated in medical missions to Vietnam, in the Commission on the Status of Women for the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen and the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo. She has a Doctorate in Cellular Immunology/Immunotoxicology from New York University, and a Masters in Business Administration from Bernard M. Baruch College.

General Marc Anthony Cisneros, of Premont, Texas, is a retired Lieutenant General, United States Army. He entered the Army as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1961, and over the course of 34 years had a number of assignments throughout the United States and abroad, including two tours in Vietnam. From 1992 to 1994, he was the Deputy Inspector General for Investigations and Oversight in the Office of the Secretary of the Army before his service as Commanding General of the Fifth Army, and subsequent retirement in 1996. General Cisneros currently works as a General Manager with Flour Daniel, Inc. General Cisneros graduated from St. Mary's University in San Antonio.

Mr. David W. Moore, of Aurora, Illinois, is Lead Criminal Investigator assigned to the State Attorney's Office and a Deputy Sheriff for Kane County, Illinois. In his 28 years in law enforcement, Mr. Moore has had a wide variety of assignments, including criminal investigations and commanding the bomb squad. Additionally, he is a Command Sergeant Major in the United States Army Reserve and is scheduled to retire May 3, 1998 with 35 years service. Sergeant Major Moore was on active duty in both Vietnam and the Persian Gulf War, and has received multiple decorations for his service. Mr. Moore received his Bachelor of Arts in Criminal/Social Justice from Lewis University, Romeoville, Illinois.

Admiral Alan M. Steinman, of Arlington, Virginia, is a retired Rear Admiral with the United States Public Health Service and the U.S. Coast Guard, and the former Surgeon General of the Coast Guard. For his contributions to health care in this capacity, Admiral Steinman received the United States Armed Forces Distinguished Service Medal. He is an expert on the management of wilderness and environmental emergencies, and has published and presented extensively on the topic. Over the course of his 25 year Coast Guard career, Admiral Steinman developed and conducted numerous testing procedures for survival under hostile circumstances. He also established a Wellness Program for Coast Guard beneficiaries and employees. Admiral Steinman received a Bachelor of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a Masters of Public Health from the University of Washington, and a Doctor of Medicine degree from Stanford University. He currently works as a consultant in occupational and environmental medicine.

Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr., of Arlington, Virginia, is a retired Admiral with the United States Navy and a former member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Born on November 29, 1920 in San Francisco, California, Admiral Zumwalt graduated from the United States Naval Academy and became both the youngest four-star admiral in history and the youngest person ever to serve as Chief of Naval Operations. He was Commander of United States Naval Forces in Vietnam from 1968 to 1970, where he served with his son, Naval Officer Elmo Zumwalt III. In 1988, Admiral Zumwalt's son died of cancer related to contact with Agent Orange in Vietnam. My Father, My Son was co-authored in 1986, by Admiral Zumwalt and his late son, and is an account of their Vietnam experiences and the tragedy that resulted. He retired from the Navy in 1974. Admiral Zumwalt now serves as a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board and is a Director of a number of corporations, including Dallas Semiconductor, Magellan Aerospace and NL Industries. He also serves as Chairman of the Marrow Foundation, the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation, and the Ethics and Public Policy Center. He is a member of the Hudson Institute and Council of Foreign Relations.

President Clinton established the Special Oversight Board by Executive Order to provide recommendations based on its review of Department of Defense Investigations into possible detections of, and exposures to, chemical or biological weapons agents, and environmental and other factors that may have contributed to Gulf War illnesses. It will report to the President through the Secretary of Defense.

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