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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary


For Immediate Release July 24, 1998

STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY

PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES AMBASSADOR RICHARD L. MORNINGSTAR TO BE SPECIAL ADVISOR TO THE PRESIDENT AND THE SECRETARY OF STATE

FOR CASPIAN BASIN ENERGY DIPLOMACY

President Clinton has named Ambassador Richard L. Morningstar of Newton, Massachusetts to be Special Advisor to the President and the Secretary of State for Caspian Basin Energy Diplomacy.

Ambassador Morningstar will be responsible for assuring maximum coordination within the Executive Branch of U.S. policy and programs relating to the development of oil and gas resources in the Caspian Basin. Development of the Caspian and open commercial access to its energy resources are key priorities of the Administration.

Since April 1995 Ambassador Morningstar has served as Special Advisor to the President and Secretary of State on Assistance to the New Independent States, where he had oversight over all assistance and cooperative activities of the 16 U.S. government agencies with programs in the NIS. Prior to that, Ambassador Morningstar served in the Administration as Senior Vice President for Policy and Investment Development at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. He has served as an advisor to the Department of Commerce on international trade and technology issues, and served on the Economics and International Trade Cluster of the 1992 Presidential Transition. Previously, he was Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer at Costar Corporation. He practiced law for more than ten years with the Peabody & Brown firm in Boston, Massachusetts and was also a partner and administrator of the Litigation Department. Ambassador Morningstar has been Adjunct Professor of Law at the Boston College Law School and Commissioner of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. He earned a B.A. Magna Cum Laude from Harvard College and a J.D. from Stanford Law School.

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