Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

President Clinton's plan brings an end to bureaucracies 
originally designed for the Cold War, streamlines the Executive 
Branch's policy-making process, and enhances our nation's ability 
to meet the growing foreign policy challenges of the 21st 
century.  It puts matters of international arms control, 
sustainable development, and public diplomacy where they belong, 
at the heart of our foreign policy within a reinvented Department 
of State.  It incorporates key lessons from the private sector.
The Plan:
* The State Department will undertake a new round of internal 
reinvention to incorporate new organizations and to manage new 
responsibilities.  This reinvention will make the new State 
Department more effective and efficient and better able to 
defend American interests and promote American values abroad.
* The Arms Control and Disarmament Agency will be fully integrated 
with State within one year by merging both agencies' related 
arms control and nonproliferation functions.  The ACDA Director 
will be double-hatted as the Under Secretary of State for Arms 
Control and International Security Affairs, and then the two 
positions will be merged as Under Secretary/Senior Advisor to 
the President and Secretary of State, which will be able to 
communicate with the President through the Secretary of State.  
ACDA's unique advocacy role will be preserved and the policy 
process supporting those efforts will be strengthened through 
additional interagency responsibilities.  Along with ACDA's 
technical and policy expertise, its verification, compliance, 
and legal functions will be preserved.
* The United States Information Agency and the State Department 
will be integrated over a two year period.  During that 
process, the Director of USIA will be double-hatted as the new 
Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy.  This process 
will likely begin with an integration of related functions, 
such as legislative and public affairs; after that, the 
integration process will turn toward USIA's overseas press 
expertise and State's press offices.  The distinctiveness and 
editorial integrity of Voice of America and the broadcast 
agencies will be respected.  A new bureau will be created 
within the State Department to handle cultural and exchange 
issues.
* The Agency for International Development will remain a distinct 
agency, but will share certain administrative functions with 
State and will report to and be under the direct authority and 
foreign policy guidance of the Secretary of State.   Within two 
years, AID will integrate its press office and certain 
administrative functions.  The International Development 
Cooperation Agency, created in 1979, will be abolished.  The 
Secretary of State and AID administrator will recommend what 
further steps might be taken to eliminate duplication.
The President's plan was the result of a long and deliberative 
process under the leadership of Vice President Gore.  This 
reorganization plan enjoys the support of the Secretary of State 
and the heads of ACDA, AID and USIA.  In developing this plan, 
the Vice President worked from three guiding principles:
* The programs of ACDA, USIA, and AID must be preserved.  
Sustainable development, nonproliferation, and public diplomacy 
are now more central than ever to American foreign policy; our 
institutional arrangements should reflect that.  Moreover, 
there is no better time than the present to launch this 
process, at the outset of a new term , a new Congress, and with 
a new Secretary of State.
* Complexities must be fully acknowledged.  Reinvention and 
integration should take into account the central and continuing 
importance of reform of all of the agencies including the State 
Department, the relative complexity of the smaller agencies and 
anticipated level of difficulty in merging and integrating 
them, and the need to preserve the unique skills and 
capabilities inherent in each of the agencies.  Any 
reorganization plan should be designed around our greatest 
strength -- the abilities and expertise of the dedicated public 
servants who work in those agencies.
* The Executive and Legislative Branches must cooperate on foreign 
affairs.  The need for reorganization in the foreign policy 
agencies is also recognized by key members of Congress.  Their 
views and expertise on these matters should inform our process.  
Our ability to work together with the Congress on this endeavor 
should encourage our bipartisan approach toward foreign policy 
matters.
After much deliberation, the plan the Vice President devised 
strikes a sound balance between the need for greater policy 
coherence and effectiveness with the necessity of preserving the 
special missions and skills of the three smaller agencies.
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