THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 8, 1994 TAG: 9407080598
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY WARREN FISKE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ARLINGTON LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Oliver L. North criticized Democratic incumbent Charles S. Robb on Thursday for casting a vote to allow homosexuals to serve in the military.
During a news conference at American Legion Post 139, North also blasted Robb for opposing a constitutional amendment to ban desecration of the American flag and for supporting President Clinton's proposed cuts to the defense budget.
``Chuck Robb has traded in his military uniform for a cheerleader's outfit for the Clinton administration,'' North said, referring to Robb's stint 25 years ago as a Marine officer in Vietnam.
In 1993, Robb supported Clinton's efforts to end a longtime ban against homosexuals joining the armed forces. Under heavy fire from military leaders, Clinton eventually settled on a ``Don't ask, don't tell'' compromise that barred the armed services from inquiring about a recruit's sexual orientation but retained the tradition of making openly homosexual conduct grounds for dismissal.
North, a former Marine lieutenant colonel, has based some of his national fund-raising efforts in recent years on his staunch opposition to allowing gays in the military.
``It debilitates the readiness of small units,'' he said. ``The kinds of relationships forged in combat are intense and cannot afford this type of interruption. . . . There are no private bedrooms on a ship.''
Even service members who conceal their homosexuality and are good soldiers should be banned from service, North said.
``It's for the same reasons we don't take diabetics in the military,'' he said. ``You can treat diabetes with insulin. But you don't take them in because of the potential of a problem. Why create another problem in a combat setting?''
North also claimed Robb opposes giving military personnel the same cost-of-living pay raises granted to other federal employees. Robb, in a prepared statement, dismissed the charge as untrue.
Robb, North and independent candidates L. Douglas Wilder and J. Marshall Coleman are scheduled to speak Saturday to the American Legion's state convention in Richmond.
KEYWORDS: U.S. SENATE RACE VIRGINIA CANDIDATES
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