THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2000, 1:15 P.M.
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)

MR. BOUCHER: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

If there is just one thing I can mention off the top and
that's good news from Poland. We are closing our Agency for
International Development mission. The Administrator of the
agency, Brady Anderson, will be traveling on July 11 on a
five-day trip to Poland and Romania, and he will close the
USAID mission in Poland and get a first-hand look at the
agency's programs in Romania.

Closing this mission in Warsaw marks a successful end to US
foreign aid programs in Poland and we always consider it a
success when we can help out and support people in their
development needs but then see them reach a stage of
development where that kind of mission is no longer
necessary. The Prime Minister will join Administrator
Anderson at the time in honoring the many governmental and
nongovernmental partners who contributed to Poland's
accomplishments over the last 11 years. You will all
remember that when the Secretary was in Poland, she also
spent a lot of time with the nongovernmental organizations
and people who work there.

QUESTION: Will there be champagne involved in the closing
ceremony?

MR. BOUCHER: We'll have to see about that. I'm sure it
wouldn't be funded by public funds.

QUESTION: The prime minister's wife will be there as well.

MR. BOUCHER: No ships that I know of.

QUESTION: Do you know how much aid we've given to Poland?

MR. BOUCHER: I can give you fact sheets. Do I have a total?
Agency for International Development will have to get you a
total. Basically, in '98, it was $35.5 million and in '99 it
was $19.1 million. The program closes out in September 2000.