Subject: HRCF - URGENT ACTION ALERT
From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 22 Jun 1995 17:29:59 -0400

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URGENT                 ACTION ALERT                     URGENT
               THE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND                    

The Nation's Largest Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Political Group   
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To contact the HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND, please call us at     
(202)628-4160, fax us at (202) 347-5323 or write to us at PO Box 
1396  Washington, DC  20013.
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                              ACTION ALERT
                     HIV POSITIVE MILITARY PERSONNEL

Rep. Robert Dornan (R-CA) has included a provision in the
Department of Defense (DoD) Authorization bill that requires the
military to discharge all HIV+ personnel within 6 months of
diagnosis.  Current military policy allows HIV+ servicemembers to
serve as long as they are physically fit to perform their duties.

The Dornan provision would override the military's discretion in
these cases, forcing them to discharge healthy and productive
servicemembers.  Attempts to strip this language in the House
National Security Committee failed by a vote of 37 to 16.  The
provision was included in the bill passed by the full House of
Representatives.

The DoD Authorization bill now goes to the Senate Armed Services
Committee.  The full committee will consider the bill on
Wednesday, June 28.  It is not yet clear whether this provision
will be offered, but it is important that the Senators hear from
constituents before they are faced with a possible vote next
Wednesday.  Please call the following Senators to strongly urge
them to oppose any provision to require the immediate discharge
of HIV positive military personnel:

Sen. Strom Thrumond (R-SC)
Sen. John Warner (R-VA)
Sen. William Cohen (R-ME)
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)  
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)
Sen. Sam Nunn (D-GA)
Sen. James Exon (D-NE)
Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI)
Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
Sen. John Glenn (D-OH)
Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV)
Sen. Charles Robb (D-VA)
Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT)
Sen. Richard Bryan (D-NV)

Capitol Switchboard Number: 202-224-3121

Overall message: The Dornan provision is unnecessary, mean-
spirited, and is not supported by the military.

Talking Points Against the Amendment:

The Department of Defense strongly disagrees with the provision
as it only negatively affects military operations.  In the past,
all four services have declared that such an amendment is
unnecessary.  The policies currently in place for handling HIV-
positive soldiers are sufficient.  The physical readiness of the
forces are adequately addressed with the mechanisms and policies
already in place.

Current DoD policy was initiated and supported by both Reagan and
Bush DoD officials.  Current military policy has been in place
since the Reagan Administration and received the support of
senior military officials.  Dornan's attempt to dictate this
policy amounts to micromanagement of the military.

The administrative and retraining cost would impose a great
burden upon the military.  The burden of separating the HIV-
infected individuals from the services and then replacing them
and retraining new soldiers would add more inefficiency to the
armed services.  In addition, the VA benefits that would have to
be paid to the discharged servicemembers would be considerable in
addition to the loss of currently productive servicemembers with
HIV.

The presence of HIV infected soldiers in the military does not
adversely affect its combat readiness or efficiency.  These
troops are still physically healthy and are valuable to the armed
services.  The training and experience of these soldiers
positively adds to the military and should not be taken away as
long as they can still perform their duties.

The number of soldiers who are infected with HIV are a small
segment of the military.  Servicemembers who are HIV-positive are
less than one-tenth of one percent of the entire armed forces. 
This small group of people obviously is not affecting the combat
readiness of the whole military.

    (THANKS TO AIDS ACTION COUNCIL FOR THE TALKING POINTS.)

     1101 14th Street, NW  Suite 200  Washington, DC  20005      
          phone:(202)628-4160      fax:(202) 347-5323