THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of Press Secretary

               PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES BERNARD J. HANSEN
             AS COMMISSIONER OF THE UNITED STATES SECTION 
                OF THE GREAT LAKES FISHERIES COMMISSION

     The President today announced his intent to appoint Bernard J. 

Hansen as Commissioner of the United States Section of the Great Lakes Fisheries Commission.

Mr. Bernard J. Hansen, of Chicago, Illinois, was first appointed to the Commission in 1993 and is currently completing his two-year term serving as Vice Chairman. Mr. Hansen is currently serving his fifth term as Alderman and second term as Democratic Committeeman of Chicago's 44th Ward. He is also Chairman of the City Council Committee on Economic Development, working to expand Chicago's economic base and attract new business and industry to the area. Several years ago, acting as a representative of the City of Chicago, Mr. Hansen traveled to South Korea and Taiwan on a trade mission, helping to generate new business for the city. Mr. Hanson is a recognized city leader on environmental and recycling legislation. In addition to his work in Chicago, Mr. Hansen has been a guest lecturer at the University of Chicago, for the International Association of Rhodes Scholars, and at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

The Commission was created by a convention signed by the U.S. and Canada in 1956 in order to administer a sea lamprey control program for the Great Lakes. The Commission became necessary as a result of the elimination of the lake trout and salmon populations of the Great Lakes by the sea lamprey. In the fulfillment of its mission, the Commission seeks to find ways to control the sea lamprey population, and works with the states of the Great Lakes region to ensure that the Lakes are amply stocked with lake trout and salmon.

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