THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 27, 1996 TAG: 9601270267
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
The Clinton administration said Friday it would try to repeal a defense bill provision requiring discharge of service members who have the AIDS virus, and added it is also considering a legal challenge to the measure.
``These people are being tossed out without a job, without any security,'' said Patricia Fleming, director of the White House AIDS policy office. ``It's a travesty of their rights and we're going to pursue a repeal as vigorously as we possibly can.''
The White House announced Thursday that Clinton would sign the $265 billion defense bill despite his opposition to the provision regarding service members with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The new bill, approved by the Senate on Friday after passing the House previously, would force people with HIV out of the service six months after it is signed.
Friday, responding to a barrage of criticism by AIDS activist groups and its own AIDS policy office, White House officials met with experts from the Defense Department and the Veterans Administration to map out a strategy. It could include a Justice Department lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the prospective new law, White House officials said.
Several national AIDS advocacy groups also said they would sue.
The Defense Department said there are 1,049 male and female service members who are HIV-positive.
Under current law, people with the HIV virus are allowed to remain in the military as long as they can perform their jobs. They are prohibited from holding certain jobs, however. For example, they cannot serve aboard ships or overseas.
Under the new law, service members who have the HIV virus will have a complete package of medical benefits for themselves when they are discharged, but their dependents' coverage would be permanently dropped.
The law also affects disability and retirement pay for HIV-positive personnel because they would probably be forced out before they could collect such pay. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
LOCAL CASE
First Class Petty Officer Tim Nichols, 32, who is HIV-positive
and was named Sailor of the Year in 1994, retired this month with
substantial disability benefits not because he was sick, but because
he feared the pending legislation would hurt him financially if he
waited. With two children, ages 11 and 9, ``I just couldn't chance
it,'' he said Friday from Norfolk. ``I had to provide for my
kids.''
First Class Petty Officer Tim Nichols, 32, who is HIV-positive
and was named Sailor of the Year in 1994, retired this month with
substantial disability benefits not because he was sick, but because
he feared the pending legislation would hurt him financially if he
waited.
With two children, ages 11 and 9, ``I just couldn't chance it,''
he said Friday from Norfolk. ``I had to provide for my kids.''
KEYWORDS: AIDS HIV MILITARY PERSONNEL SERVICE MEMBERS PROPOSED LAW
DISCHARGE DISABILITY
by CNB