THE WHITE HOUSE

                     Office of the Press Secretary
                           (Istanbul, Turkey)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                  November 18, 1999

        PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES BOB ARMSTRONG AS CHAIR AND U.S.
          REPRESENTATIVE TO THE RIO GRANDE COMPACT COMMISSION

     The President today announced his intent to appoint Bob Armstrong

as Chair and U.S. Representative to the Rio Grande Compact Commission.

Mr. Bob Armstrong, of Austin, Texas, has served as Chair of the National Recreation Lakes Study Commission since 1998. From 1993 to 1998, Mr. Armstrong served as the Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management at the U.S. Department of Interior, where he was responsible for over 268 million acres of public land and minerals. Prior to Mr. Armstrong's appointment as Assistant Secretary, he served as the Natural Resources and Energy Advisor to Governor Ann Richards. Previously, Mr. Armstrong served on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission. In 1970, he was elected Land Commissioner for the State of Texas where he was responsible for managing 22 1/2 million acres of public land and mineral ownership. As a former member of the Texas House of Representatives, he was one of the state's early environmental legislators and created the state's Interagency Council on Natural Resources and the Environment.

Mr. Armstrong received his B.A. in Government and L.L.B. from the University of Texas.

The Rio Grande Compact Commission was established by Congress in 1938 among the States of Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. Its purpose is to administer the Compact among these three States with respect to the equitable apportionment and use of the waters of the Rio Grande Basin.

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