[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 14 (Monday, April 10, 2000)]
[Pages 760-761]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Memorandum on Leadership of the Emergency Response Assistance Program

April 6, 2000

Memorandum for the Vice President, the Secretary of State, the Secretary 
of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, the 
Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 
the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary 
of Veterans Affairs, Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency, 
Director, Office of Management and Budget, Director of Central 
Intelligence, Director, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Assistant 
to the President for National Security Affairs, Assistant to the 
President for Science and Technology, Under Secretary of State for 
Public Diplomacy, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Director, Federal 
Bureau of Investigation, Director, United States Secret Service

Subject: Designation of the Attorney General as the Lead Official for 
the Emergency Response Assistance Program Under Sections 1412 and 1415 
of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997 (Public 
Law 104-201) (the ``Act'')

    Under sections 1412(a) and 1415(a) of the Act, the Secretary of 
Defense is responsible

[[Page 761]]

for implementing the Emergency Response Assistance Program, commonly 
known as the ``Domestic Preparedness Program,'' to provide civilian 
personnel of Federal, State, and local agencies with training and expert 
advice regarding emergency responses to a use or threatened use of a 
weapon of mass destruction or related materials, and for testing and 
improving the responses of such agencies to emergencies involving 
chemical or biological weapons and related materials.
    Under the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of 
the United States, including sections 1412(a)(2) and 1415(d)(1) of the 
Act, I designate the Attorney General to replace the Secretary of 
Defense as the lead Federal official with responsibility for carrying 
out these programs.
    These designations are effective October 1, 2000, and constitute 
designations pursuant to sections 1412(a)(2) and 1415(d)(1) of the Act.
    The Attorney General is authorized and directed to publish this 
memorandum in the Federal Register.
                                            William J. Clinton

Note: The memorandum was released by the Office of the Press Secreatry 
on April 7.