[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book I)]
[May 18, 1999]
[Page 802]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Statement on Withdrawal of the Nomination of J. Brian Atwood To Be Ambassador to Brazil
May 18, 1999

    Today Brian Atwood asked me to withdraw his nomination to be the 
United States Ambassador to Brazil. I have accepted his request with 
reluctance and regret.
    Few people in public life have better combined the qualities of 
professional competence and moral purpose. Brian Atwood has served with 
distinction as Administrator of the Agency for International 
Development, making it more effective while tenaciously defending its 
mission and its independence. He has helped put the fight against 
poverty, civil strife, and disease in the developing world at the heart 
of our foreign policy, where it belongs, and where I am confident it 
will stay. When I asked him last month to lead America's effort to bring 
aid to the refugees escaping Kosovo, I knew we would be getting the very 
best. That is what America gets every time Brian Atwood goes to work.
    In his statement today, he said that Washington owes us nothing but 
the ``opportunity to serve.'' I believe we owe Brian Atwood something 
more: our gratitude for continually making a difference in the lives of 
millions of people around the world.
    I thank him for his many contributions and for his willingness to 
stay on as our AID Administrator, where he is doing an outstanding job 
as our Kosovo humanitarian coordinator. And I am confident he will have 
many opportunities to serve our Nation again.