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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release January 8, 2001

             PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES ESTEBAN TORRES TO THE
                     FANNIE MAE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

      President Clinton announced today his intention to appoint Esteban

E. Torres as a member of the Fannie Mae Board of Directors.

The Honorable Esteban E. Torres, of West Covina, California, is a former member of the United States House of Representatives. First elected in 1982, Congressman Torres served eight terms, representing California's 34th Congressional District until his retirement at the end of 1998.

Prior to his service in Congress, Congressman Torres in 1968 founded a community development corporation in East Los Angeles dedicated to fighting poverty by building and financing low-income housing, facilitating small business development and encouraging community economic development. Always active in the labor movement, he became Co-Director of the United Auto Workers' International Affairs Department in 1974. He was appointed U.S. Ambassador to UNESCO by President Carter in 1977 and joined the White House senior staff as a Special Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Hispanic Affairs in 1979.

During his 16 years in Congress, he was a prominent member of a number of committees, to include the House Appropriations Committee and the House Banking Committee, and played a key role in several pieces of legislation involving federal housing policies, international trade, environmental affairs and urban crime issues. Following his retirement from government service, Congressman Torres has been active in consulting and the development of private business ventures.

Congressman Torres attended East Los Angeles Community College and California State University at Los Angeles. He also studied Economics at the University of Maryland and International Labor at American University, and holds an Honorary Doctorate from the National University in San Diego, California.

Fannie Mae is a New York Stock Exchange company and the largest non-bank financial services company in the world. It operates pursuant to a federal charter and is the nation's largest source of financing for home mortgages. Since 1968, Fannie Mae has provided nearly $2.9 trillion of mortgage financing for over 35 million families.

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