Subject: Senate Unanimously Passes Repeal of Discriminatory HIV-Discharge Measure
From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 19 Mar 1996 18:43:50 -0500

________________________________________________________

NEWS from the
Human Rights Campaign

1101 14th Street NW
Washington, DC 20005
email:  [email-masked]
WWW:    http://www.hrcusa.org
________________________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, March 19, 1996
                                
               SENATE UNANIMOUSLY PASSES REPEAL OF
               DISCRIMINATORY HIV-DISCHARGE MEASURE

                         Senators Cohen and Kennedy Offer
                       Amendment to Continuing Resolution

                   FOR MORE INFORMATION GO TO OUR
                        WEBSITE AT http://www.hrcusa.org

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Senate unanimously agreed to an amendment tonight to
repeal the discriminatory HIV-discharge provision of the recently enacted
Department of Defense authorization. Led by Sens. William Cohen, R-Maine, and
Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., 56 U.S. Senators had agreed to co-sponsor the repeal
legislation, but decided to put it forth as an amendment on a stopgap
spending measure with the agreement of the Senate leadership. That measure,
H.R. 3019, the Omnibus Rescissions and Appropriation Act, also known as the
Continuing Resolution (CR) which funds many parts of the U.S. Government,
passed by a vote of 79-21.
     The amendment repeals the provision that singles out HIV-positive
service members for mandatory discharge and cuts off health benefits to their
families.  Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz.,
Sam Nunn, D-Ga., Alfonse D'Amato, R-N.Y., and Alan Simpson, R-Wyo., were
among the bill's co-sponsors, according to the Human Rights Campaign, which
has been leading the effort to repeal the provision.
     "The U.S. Senate closed ranks with the Pentagon, veterans and military
organizations to overturn this pernicious and discriminatory measure," said
Winnie Stachelberg, HRC's senior
health policy advocate. 
     The discriminatory measure, authored by Rep. Bob Dornan, R-Calif.,
forces the discharge of the 1,049 HIV-positive service members currently in
the armed forces.  A similar effort to
repeal it in the House currently has more than 145 co-sponsors.
     The focus now shifts to the conference committee that will hammer out
differences between the House and Senate versions of the CR. "Given the
unanimous support of the U.S. Senate, the
prospects are good for the repeal amendment to prevail in the conference
committee," said Stachelberg.
     The Dornan provision singles out service members with HIV and treats
them differently from those with other chronic medical conditions.  Prior to
its enactment, service members with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, were
allowed to serve their country as long as they could perform their duties,
but they were not deployed overseas.  The same policy applies to service
members who have other chronic medical conditions such as diabetes, asthma,
heart disease or cancer. 
     The Pentagon has said that about half the HIV-positive service members
are married, and on average, have served for a decade. Nearly 20 percent of
them are officers.
     The repeal effort has the support of Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen.
John Shalikashvili, Secretary of Defense William J. Perry, Secretary of
Veterans Affairs Jesse Brown, the Veterans of
Foreign Wars, the Disabled American Veterans, and the Air Force Association.
In addition, Barry Goldwater and conservative columnists Charles Krauthammer
and George Will oppose the Dornan provision.
     The VFW in its statement asserted that "to forcibly separate
HIV-positive personnel while other service members with equally serious
medical conditions are allowed to remain on duty seems unfair, punitive and
unjust."
     Gen. Shalikashvili and Secretary Perry have dubbed the Dornan provision
"both unwarranted and unwise," and "unnecessary as a matter of sound military
policy."
     In addition, President Clinton has characterized the discharge provision
as unconstitutional, and has put the full force of his administration behind
the drive to repeal it.
     "It's looking like just about the only person who doesn't want Bob
Dornan's mean-spirited measure repealed is Bob Dornan,"  commented
Stachelberg.  "Like troops with other chronic medical conditions,
HIV-positive service members should be allowed to continue performing their
duties as long as they are able -- and that decision should remain in the
hands of military experts,
not political extremists."
     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.

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