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STATEMENT OF THE VICE PRESIDENT

The President and I believe we have an historic opportunity to systematically reinvent the agencies which implement the nation's foreign policies in order to ensure that they can effectively confront the new and pressing challenges of the post-Cold War world. To that end, the President has approved a two-year reorganization plan for these agencies.

The process of reinvention and integration will occur in phases, taking into account: the central and immediate importance of reforming the State Department; the relative complexity of other agencies; and the need to preserve the unique skills and capabilities in each of those agencies.

The Administration is committed to working closely and cooperatively with the Congress in this historic effort.

The plan, which I developed in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Director of the United States Information Agency, the Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and the Administrator of the Agency for International Development, is an important new step in our broader effort to reinvent the way the federal government does business.

I am proud of this achievement. And I am confident that through this historic reinvention process, we will create leaner and more effective structures in order to ensure American leadership around the world for a new century.