Date: Wed, 10 Jul 96 15:51:51 EST From: "Phil Attey" Subject: Senate Passes Hate-Free 1997 Defense Authorization Bill ________________________________________________________ NEWS from the Human Rights Campaign 1101 14th Street NW Washington, DC 20005 email: communications@hrcusa.org WWW: http://www.hrcusa.org ________________________________________________________ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, July 10, 1996 UNLIKE HOUSE, SENATE PASSES HATE-FREE 1997 DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION Senate Bill Not Loaded with Anti-Gay Language FOR MORE INFORMATION GO TO THE HRC ONLINE ACTION CENTER http://www.hrcusa.org WASHINGTON -- The Senate version of the 1997 defense authorization bill, passed today by a vote of 68-31, is free of hateful, anti-gay amendments, according to the Human Rights Campaign. "The Senate bill is a stark contrast to the House version, which extremist members of Congress loaded with ugly, anti-gay measures," said Winnie Stachelberg, HRC's legislative deputy. "We are confident that when the two bills go to conference, that these House measures will be stripped out, as they should be." In May, when the House considered the defense bill, extremists led by Rep. Bob Dornan, R-Calif., used the legislation to push their obsessive, anti-gay social agenda, rather than deal with the nation's vital defense interests. At Dornan's behest, they attached the following irrelevant and inappropriate measures to the 1997 defense authorization bill: a mandate to discharge, within two months of diagnosis, all members of the armed services with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. A similar measure, enacted in January, was repealed by Congress on April 25; a gratuitous reopening of the ban on gays in the military and a reversion to the old anti-gay policy, including reinstating the policy of asking recruits their sexual orientation and sanctioning witch hunts of suspected gay men and lesbians. The Senate version of the defense bill makes no mention of the policy on gays in the military. It also includes an amendment, introduced by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that would instruct the services to treat all service members with chronic illnesses uniformly. "The Dornan provision singles out service members with HIV and treats them differently from those with other chronic medical conditions," said Stachelberg. Currently, service members with HIV are allowed to serve their country as long as they can perform their duties, but they are not deployed overseas. The same policy applies to service members who have other chronic medical conditions such as diabetes, asthma, heart disease or cancer. "Congress spoke on this issue already when it repealed Dornan's HIV discharge measure in April," Stachelberg said. "Spite and bigotry are the only conceivable reasons why Bob Dornan would have reintroduced this measure after seeing it resoundingly defeated." The Human Rights Campaign is the largest national lesbian and gay political organization, with members throughout the country. It effectively lobbies Congress, provides campaign support and educates the public to ensure that lesbian and gay Americans can be open, honest and safe at home, at work and in the community. - 30 -