THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release April 28, 1994 PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES GARY KIMBLE COMMISSIONER OF THE ADMINISTRATION FOR NATIVE AMERICANS IN THE ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES AT HHS President Clinton today announced his intention to nominate Gary N. Kimble, a 52-year-old lawyer from Jersey City, New Jersey, to be commissioner of the Administration for Native Americans in the Administration for Children and Families. Kimble, a native of Fort Belknap, Montana, and a member of the Gros Ventre Tribe, comes to the Department of Health and Human Services post from the Association on American Indian Affairs in New York where he has been executive director since 1989. A former member of the Montana House of Representatives from District 94, Missoula, Kimble has spent most of his professional career in work related to Indian Affairs. Kimble will be responsible for overall direction, management and legislative activities for all components of ACF's Administration for Native Americans. He will also provide advice to the secretary and other officials on matters involving the social and economic development of Native Americans. ANA represents the concerns of the Tribes and Organizations of American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and other Native American Pacific Islanders. Additionally, he will serve as a liaison to other federal agencies and Congress on policies and programs that impact Indian affairs. Kimble received a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Montana in 1966 and his law degree from the same university in 1972. He concentrated on labor and employment relations, environmental matters, and public health and welfare issues during 1972-1978 while a member of the Montana House of Representatives. In 1979-1982, he was executive director of the Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission in Portland, Oregon. Kimble served as advisor on Indian affairs in the Office of the Governor of Montana between 1983-1986. During most of that period he also was chairman of the board of directors for the Missoula Indian Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program. In 1987-1988, he was with the Northwestern School of Law, Lewis and Clark College, as adjunct professor of federal Indian law and director of the affirmative action program. Kimble also worked as counsel in 1979 for the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs, served as assistant professor of Native American studies at the University of Montana and represented the State Department as a delegate to the U.S. - Canada treaty negotiations on Pacific fishery. He has been affiliated with the consulting firm of Kimble and Associates since 1982. Kimble was an army journalist in 1966-1968 and served with the 4th Infantry Division in Vietnam. -30-30-30-