AIDS Action Network Alert

AIDS Action Network Alert

AIDS Action Council asked President Clinton to veto the 1996 Department of Defense Authorization bill and with it the accompanying provision mandating the discharge of 1,049 otherwise healthy active duty service members who are HIV-infected. This provision, championed by Rep. Robert Dornan (R-Calif.), should never have been legislated and allowed to reach the President's desk for signature. It did. President Clinton does not need to, although it is indicated that he will tomorrow, sign into law a bill codifying such a blatantly discriminatory and un-American provision. He did. Given that the Republican congressional leadership allowed this disastrous measure to pass, and that the President intends to sign this bill despite vociferous community opposition, AIDS Action is heartened that the Clinton administration is taking appropriate steps to right the grievous wrong that has been committed against patriotic men and women whose only "sin" takes the form of an insidious virus coursing through their veins. Today marks a sad day in the history of the AIDS epidemic.