WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Clinton promised on Wednesday to
resolve the issue of homosexuals in the military quickly but said he is
still awaiting a recommendation from the Pentagon.  
   "My sense is there's still some difference of opinion even among the
service chiefs about what they want. But I hope they'll come up with
something that everyone can agree is fair," Clinton said.  
   The president vowed during the campaign to end the 50-year-old ban
on homosexuals serving openly but encountered formidable opposition
from the military and members of Congress in January. He is expected to
announce his decision by week's end.  
   Clinton had asked Defense Secretary Les Aspin to draft an executive
order on ending the prohibition by July 15.  
   The president said his final decision "won't take long at all" once
he has received the proposal. Clinton, who spent the day touring
flooded regions of the Midwest, spoke in an interview on Cable News
Network. 
   Meanwhile at the Pentagon, Aspin met with White House adviser David
Gergen and George Stephanopoulos. Reps. Barney Frank, D-Mass., and
Gerry Studds, D-Mass., two openly homosexual lawmakers, also were
expected to attend the session.  
   Aspin has told White House officials that the Joints Chiefs of Staff
will only accept a policy that allows homosexuals to serve as long as
they refrain from public or private declarations of their sexual
orientation, sources in the gay community said Tuesday.  
   The policy would allow some latitude for gay service men and women
to confide in close friends.  
   The sources said they received their information from senior Defense
Department officials.  
   The Joint Chiefs of Staff voted two weeks ago for a policy that
retains the current statement that "homosexuality is incompatible with
military service." They disagreed over differing versions of that
language.  
   Aspin's policy would include a variation that describes homosexual
conduct as incompatible with military service but recognizes that gay
people have served honorably and will do so in the future.  
   Four members of a House Armed Services panel urged Clinton to reject
any compromise on homosexuals in the military that "legitimizes
bigotry."  
   In a letter to the president, the lawmakers said any policy that
contains the provision that homosexuality is incompatible with military
service is "explicit approval of discrimination against gays and
lesbians."  
   Signing the letter were Reps. Martin Meehan, D-Mass., Patricia
Schroeder, D-Colo., and Sam Farr, D-Calif., as well as Robert
Underwood, a Democratic delegate from Guam.  
   The debate over the language on incompatiblity reflects the Clinton
administration's "policy in search of a political solution," said Sen.
Dan Coats, R-Ind., a proponent of the ban, said Wednesday.  
   The president faces possible strong congressional opposition to any
policy change that lacks the backing of the military.  
ASPIN PUSHES "DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL" FOR GAY SOLDIERS
    By Charles Aldinger
    WASHINGTON (Reuter) - Defense Secretary Les Aspin will
recommend that President Clinton end a ban against gays in the
U.S. military, but only if they remain silent about their sexual
orientation, a gay rights group said Wednesday.
    The Campaign For Military Service and other gay rights groups
quickly condemned the "don't ask, don't tell" compromise, which
reportedly would prohibit gay men and lesbians in the military
from homosexual acts both on and off military bases.
    "It's an outrage, a new coat of paint on the old policy of
restricting free speech and private conduct," said David Smith,
a spokesman for the Campaign for Military Service.
    Aspin has been given a Thursday White House deadline to
report to Clinton, who last year promised to issue a sweeping
order ending the ban. But that plan has run into strong
opposition from military leaders and some members of Congress.
    Smith earlier confirmed a New York Times report that Pentagon
officials met with representatives of the gay rights group
Tuesday to discuss the "don't ask, don't tell" compromise
endorsed by Senate Armed Services Committe Chairman Sam Nunn,
D-Ga.
    Under the compromise supported by Aspin, the military would
not ask recruits about their sexual orientation and would drop
invasive investigations of homosexuality, the gay rights
advocates said.
    But gay men and lesbians would be prohibited from openly
stating their sexual preference or taking part in homosexual acts
on penalty of being dismissed from the service.
    Defense officials have stressed that Clinton could come up
with a different policy.
    In Des Moines, Iowa, where he was inspecting flood damage,
Clinton said he understood the military leaders were still trying
to resolve some differences among themselves but he expected to
make his own decision quickly once he had reviewed their
recommendation.
    "My sense is there's still some difference of opinion even
among the service chiefs on what they want," he said in an
interview with CNN. "But I hope they will come up with something
that everyone can agree is fair and that we can all live with.
We'll just have to see."
    Asked how long it would take him to make his decision after
reviewing the military leadership recommendation, he replied: "It
won't take long. It won't take long at all."
    White House policy advisers David Gergen and George
Stephanopoulos late Wednesday spent more than two hours at the
Pentagon discussing the issue with Aspin and other officials
including Democratic Reps. Barney Frank and Gerry Studds of
Massachusetts. Both men are gay.
    After the meeting, Frank told reporters there were still
questions about how homosexuals might discuss their sexuality,
but that he felt the controversy over the current military rule
that makes homosexuality "incompatible" with service had been
settled.
    A senior administration official confirmed that Tuesday's
meeting with gay rights advocates had taken place, but refused to
give details or to say what the secretary's recommendation might
be.
    The Times reported Pentagon officials suggested at that
meeting that the Aspin compromise might change current military
policy to state that "homosexual conduct" instead of
"homosexuality" is incompatible with military service.

Clinton to tackle ban on gays in military
   WASHINGTON (UPI) -- White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers
said Wednesday President Clinton will look at a Pentagon report
on lifting the ban on homosexuals serving in the military on
Thursday and decide the issue as early as Friday.
   Clinton said earlier Wednesday he was hopeful his chief
military advisers could devise a policy "we can all live with."
   "It won't take long. I won't take long," Clinton said of the
controversial decision that faces him.
   During an 11-day Far Eastern trip, vacation in Hawaii and two
visits to the nation's flood-battered midsection, Clinton kept
the issue at arms' length as part of a White House command
decision to focus his trip on jobs and boosting the American
economy.
   Speaking to CNN after a day-long inspection of flood damage in
the Midwest, Clinton indicated he had yet to review any specific
recommendation, despite reports that Defense Secretary Les Aspin,
whom he charged with drafting a plan by Thursday, is urging that
homosexuals be allowed to serve in the military so long as they
do not make public or private declarations of their sexual
orientation.
   That policy, dubbed "don't ask, don't tell" on Capitol Hill
and backed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Senate Armed Service
Chairman Sam Nunn, D-Ga., would fall well short of Clinton's
pledge to sign an executive order overturning the ban on gays and
lesbians in the military.
   "My sense is there is still some difference of opinion even
among the service chiefs about what they want," he said. "But I
hope they'll come up with something that everyone can agree is
fair and we can all live with. We'll just have to see."
   Published reports indicate the military chiefs worked out
wording that homosexual behavior was "incompatible with the
military."
   Asked if he had already made up his mind, Clinton added, "I
think they're still debating it a little among themselves and I
want to see what they say."
   Any move by Clinton, however, is sure to anger advocates on
either side and could cost dear political capital as he begins
another struggle to win approval of his economic plan.
   Although promising to move promptly upon taking office,
Clinton was quickly derailed by opposition to the move, including
polls showing that a majority of Americans opposed lifting the
ban.
   He set the July 15th deadline to allow the Pentagon six months
to review options and hear out those who point to privacy and
discipline concerns for enlisted men, as well as security
problems for the gays themselves.
   Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who angered gay rights advocates
earlier in suggesting a compromise would have to be made short of
a full lifting of the ban, has proposed a modification of the
Nunn-backed solution, called "don't ask, don't tell, don't
investigate."
   Frank's plan, like the one in effect until Thursday, would not
ask recruits about their sexual orientation.
   In addition, it would require gays to keep mum on the question
while serving in the military and also would limit investigations
into whether a soldier or sailor is homosexual.