    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book I)]
    [June 1, 1999]
    [Pages 865-866]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on the Resignation of Mark D. Gearan as Director of the
    Peace Corps
    June 1, 1999

        Today I am announcing that my good friend and trusted adviser Mark
    Gearan will be leaving his position as the Director of the Peace Corps
    later this summer. Mark has accepted the exciting challenge of serving
    as the next president of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, one of our
    Nation's most distinguished academic institutions. The trustees of the
    colleges have made a very wise decision in selecting Mark Gearan as
    their new president. He is gifted, humane, a leader, and deeply
    committed to the education of young people. I know that he will bring
    great vision to the colleges as they enter the next century.
        I have relied on Mark Gearan's skills, wisdom, and talents for many
    years. He was a close aide to me from the time I first sought the
    Presidency; he served as Vice President Gore's campaign manager in the
    1992 election; and he served me in the White House as Deputy Chief of
    Staff and Director of Communications.
        One of the best personnel decisions I have made as President was to
    appoint Mark Gearan as the Director of the Peace Corps. I believe he has
    been one of the most successful Directors since President Kennedy
    established the Peace Corps in 1961. He has rejuvenated the Peace Corps
    and demonstrated a deep commitment to its legacy of service and the
    women and men who serve as Peace Corps volunteers. He can be proud that
    the Peace Corps will

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    soon have more volunteers serving overseas than at any time in a
    generation.
        Mark strengthened the Peace Corps in many ways. He has established
    the Crisis Corps, a new program within the Peace Corps that enables
    former volunteers to help people in other countries recover from the
    effects of natural disasters and humanitarian crises. He established new
    volunteer programs in South Africa, Jordan, and Bangladesh, and has
    managed the Peace Corps with great skill and care. This record of
    performance has convinced me, and the Congress, that the Peace Corps
    should field 10,000 volunteers, and I was proud to sign into law an
    authorization bill that will put us on the path toward achieving this
    goal by the year 2003.
        I thank Mark for his friendship and service. Hillary and I will miss
    Mark, his wife, Mary, and their two daughters,
    Madeleine and Kathleen. We wish them the very best as they take this new
    step in their lives.