Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, December 10, 1994 TAG: 9412130015
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
``There have been too many areas in which the president does not agree with her views,'' White House chief of staff Leon Panetta said. ``This is just one too many.''
Clinton asked for and received Elders' resignation, Panetta said. She had been warned to temper her remarks, he said, and ``if she had not resigned she would have been terminated.''
Elders was ousted a month after a Republican election landslide that was seen as a shift toward the right among voters. Since then, Clinton has been struggling to tailor himself to more centrist positions.
Incoming House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who repeatedly had attacked Elders for her outspoken views, said, ``It's good for the country and good for the president that she's departed.''
Sen. Nancy Kassebaum, R-Kan., the incoming chairwoman of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee, called Elders' ouster ``necessary and long overdue.'' Said Rep. Marge Roukema of New Jersey, the most senior Republican woman in the House: ``Great, what took her so long?''
However, the Planned Parenthood Federation said Elders ``brought to Washington a welcome dose of real-world wisdom that raised the stature of the office.''
Elders' firing resulted from her remarks Dec. 1 at a World AIDS Day conference in New York, when she was asked her views on masturbation.
She said, ``As per your specific question in regard to masturbation, I think that is something that is a part of human sexuality and it's a part of something that perhaps should be taught. But we've not even taught our children the very basics. And I feel that we have tried ignorance for a very long time and it's time we try education.''
by CNB