THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release July 9, 1996 STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY National Security Adviser Anthony Lake announced today the appointment of Steven K. Pifer as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasian Affairs, effective August 1. Mr. Pifer will succeed Coit D. Blacker, who will leave government at the end of July to resume his duties at Stanford University, from which he has been on leave since February 1995. Mr. Pifer has been at the National Security Council since December 1994 as a Director for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasian Affairs. He is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and has served in Warsaw, Geneva, Moscow and London. A native of California, Mr. Pifer is a graduate of Stanford University. He and his wife, Dr. Marilyn Pifer, have one daughter. # # #