From: HRCFCOMM@aol.com Date: Thu, 22 Jun 1995 17:29:59 -0400 Subject: HRCF - URGENT ACTION ALERT ***************************************************************** URGENT ACTION ALERT URGENT THE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND The Nation's Largest Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Political Group ***************************************************************** 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. ***************************************************************** 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