THE WHITE HOUSE

                     Office of the Press Secretary
                           (Auburn, New York)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                  September 1, 1999

PRESIDENT CLINTON DECLARES AN EMERGENCY EXISTS IN THE STATE OF TEXAS

The President today declared an emergency exists in the State of Texas and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area struck by extreme fire hazards on August 1, 1999, and continuing.

Federal funding has been authorized by President Clinton for direct Federal assistance for emergency protective measures, authorized under the Stafford Act, as coordinated with other Federal agencies to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, and lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe throughout the State of Texas. The assistance includes the reimbursement for eligible costs associated with the pre-staging of Emergency Management Assistance Compact and State fire suppression assets.

The assistance is for the counties of: Anderson, Andrews, Angelina, Archer, Armstrong, Austin, Bailey, Bandera, Bastrop, Baylor, Bell, Bexar, Blanco, Borden, Bosque, Bowie, Brazoria, Brazos, Brewster, Briscoe, Brown, Burleson, Burnet, Caldwell, Calhoun, Callahan, Camp, Carson, Cass, Castro, Chambers, Cherokee, Childress, Clay, Cochran, Coke, Coleman, Collin, Collingsworth, Colorado, Comal, Comanche, Concho, Cooke, Coryell, Cottle, Crane, Crockett, Crosby, Culberson, Dallam, Dallas, Dawson, Deaf Smith, Delta, Denton, DeWitt, Dickens, Donley, Eastland, Ector, Edwards, El Paso, Ellis, Erath, Falls, Fannin, Fayette, Fisher, Floyd, Foard, Fort Bend, Franklin, Freestone, Gaines, Galveston, Garza, Gillespie, Glassock, Gonzales, Gray, Grayson, Gregg, Grimes, Guadalupe, Hale, Hall, Hamilton, Hansford, Hardeman, Hardin, Harris, Harrison, Hartley, Haskell, Hays, Hemphill, Henderson, Hill, Hockley, Hood, Hopkins, Houston, Howard, Hudspeth, Hunt, Hutchinson, Irion, Jack, Jackson, Jasper, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Johnson, Jones, Kaufman, Kendall, Kent, Kerr, Kimble, King, Kinney, Knox, Lamar, Lamb, Lampasas, Lavaca, Lee, Leon, Liberty, Limestone, Lipscomb, Llano, Loving, Lubbock, Lynn, Madison, Marion, Martin, Mason, Matagorda, McCulloch, McLennan, Medina, Menard, Midland, Milam, Mills, Mitchell, Montague, Montgomery, Moore, Morris, Motley, Nacogdoches, Navarro, Newton, Nolan, Ochiltree, Oldham, Orange, Palo Pinto, Panola, Parker, Parmer, Pecos, Polk, Potter, Presidio, Rains, Randall, Reagan, Real, Red River, Reeves, Roberts, Robertson, Rockwall, Runnels, Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, San Saba, Schleicher, Scurry, Shackelford, Shelby, Sherman, Smith, Somerveil, Stephens, Sterling, Stonewall, Sutton, Swisher, Tarrant, Taylor, Terrell, Terry, Throckmorton, Titus, Tom Green, Travis, Trinity, Tyler, Upshur, Upton, Uvalde, Val Verde, Van Zandt, Victoria, Walker, Waller, Ward, Washington, Wharton, Wheeler, Wichita, Wilbarger, Williamson, Wilson, Winkler, Wise, Wood, Yoakum, Young.

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