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THE WHITE HOUSE

                     Office of the Press Secretary
                         (St. Paul, Minnesota)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                        May 4, 2000
               PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES OWEN JAMES SHEAKS AS 
          ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR VERIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE

     The President today announced his intent to nominate Owen James

Sheaks as Assistant Secretary of State for Verification and Compliance.

Dr. Owen James Sheaks, of Reston, Virginia, began his career with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 1968. In 1969, he joined the faculty of the Nuclear Engineering Program in the Chemical Engineering Department of the University of Maryland, and became a tenured Associate Professor. He came to the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) in 1978 and served in three of ACDA's four Bureaus: as the Division Chief for the Nuclear Energy Division in the Bureau of Nonproliferation; as the Division Chief for the Science and Technology Policy Division in the Bureau of Multilateral Affairs and as Acting Deputy Assistant Director for that Bureau; and as the Division Chief of the Verification Division of the Verification and Intelligence Bureau. During his last four years with ACDA, Dr. Sheaks served as the Acting Assistant Director/Deputy Assistant Director for the Bureau of Intelligence, Verification and Information Management and as the Agency's Chief Information Officer. Presently, he serves as the Special Advisor to the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs.

Dr. Sheaks received his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in nuclear engineering from North Carolina State University.

The Assistant Secretary of State for Verification and Compliance is responsible within the Department of State for the overall supervision (including oversight of both policy and resources) of all matters relating to verification and compliance with international arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament agreements and commitments. The Assistant Secretary will advise the Secretary and the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security/Senior Advisor to the President on appropriate uses of the "Key Verification Assets Fund."

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