From: HRCFCOMM@aol.com
Date: Wed, 5 Apr 1995 11:39:09 -0400
Subject: NSC MEMBERS BLAST GINGRICH

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PRESS RELEASE            PRESS RELEASE            PRESS RELEASE

               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     
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE    
TUESDAY, APRIL 4, 1995

            NATIONAL SECURITY COMMITTEE MEMBERS BLAST GINGRICH 
           FOR EFFORT TO RESTORE OLD BAN ON GAYS IN THE MILITARY

           Bipartisan Group Speaks Out at HRCF Press Conference

     WASHINGTON -- Members of the House National Security
Committee today blasted House Speaker Newt Gingrich for
advocating that the Republican Congress restore the military's
old policy against lesbian and gay service members.  Republican
and Democratic members of the House committee that oversees the
armed forces joined a Capitol Hill press conference today called
by the Human Rights Campaign Fund (HRCF), the nation's largest
lesbian and gay political organization.  

     Appearing at today's press conference were Rep. Marty Meehan
(D-Mass.), who hosted the event in his Congressional office, and
Reps. Peter Torkildsen (R-Mass.), Gerry Studds (D-Mass.), Jane
Harman (D-Calif.) and Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii).  Staff members
for Sens. John Warner (R-Va.), a high-ranking Republican on the
Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), ranking
Democrat on the committee, have told HRCF that no plan exists for
reviving the old policy while the issue remains before the
courts.  Similar positions were stated by Reps. Floyd Spence
(R-S.C.), chairman of the House National Security Committee, Sen.
Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), chair of the Senate Armed Services
Committee,* and Dan Coats (R-Ind.) of the Senate Armed Services
Committee.

     "Newt Gingrich seems to be the only person in Washington who
wants to revive the old policy on gays in the military," said
HRCF Public Policy Director Daniel Zingale.  "The Speaker is
obviously trying to score points with the extreme right wing by
singling out gay and lesbian people for discrimination."

     In a weekend interview show, Gingrich said that Congress
should reverse the Clinton Administration's "don't ask, don't
tell" policy and return to the outright ban on gays in the
military, stating on ABC's This Week With David Brinkley: "The
fact is that we're going to probably go back to the rules that
existed prior to President Clinton changing them."  

     "The 'don't ask, don't tell' policy is the same ban on gays
in the military, except that the government now admits that gay
and lesbian serve with distinction in the armed forces," Zingale
said.  "Both of these policies discriminate against qualified
personnel, and both of them should be scrapped."
                                     
     Several of the speakers noted that Gingrich seems to be
playing to the radical right special interest groups in reviving
the issue that Congress dealt with in 1993.   

     "The Speaker lost favor with radical right special interests
when he voted against the ban in 1993," Zingale said.  "He should
stop playing politics with the lives of service members and stop
singling out gay people for discrimination.  All troops should be
held strictly and equally to the same high standards of conduct. 
They should be treated based on their job performance.  No one
should be discriminated against for reasons unrelated to their
abilities."

     The Human Rights Campaign Fund (HRCF), the nation's largest
lesbian and gay political organization, works to end
discrimination, secure equal rights, and protect the health and
safety of all Americans.  With a national staff, and volunteers
and members throughout the country, HRCF lobbies the federal
government on lesbian, gay, and HIV/AIDS issues; educates the
general public; participates in election campaigns; organizes
volunteers; and provides expertise and training at the state and
local level. 

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          phone:(202)628-4160      fax:(202) 347-5323