Patricia Schroeder, US House of Representatives, sent me a form letter
dated "August 1993" on the July 19 "don't tell" policy which Clinton

supported.

It reads in part--

"The policy, which was perhaps a well-intentioned modest step forward,
was spelled out in Les Aspin's July 19 directive.... Unfortunately,

contrary to what you might have heard in the news, the July 19

directive has since been substantially weakened by both the Senate and
House Armed Services Committees.


On July 23, Seantor Sam Nunn introduced an amendment to the 1994 Dept.
of Defense Authorization Act that all but mirrors the 1982 Weinberger

directive in the following ways:

** allows the Sec. of Def. to reinstate questioning regarding sexual

orientation when "necessary," thereby weakening the "don't ask

compromise."

**eliminates the Clinton requirement that military sexual misconduct

policies be uniformly enforced, whether the conduct is heterosexual or
homosexual.

** allows witchhunts to continue because it creates an ambiguous

"credible information" standard for investigations.  In other words,

according to the Joint Chiefs, if an individual attended a gay church,
that would not be grounds for investigation, but repeat attendance

would indicate a "pattern of behavior" that meets the credible
information

standard for investigation of sexual orientation.

**includes a list of fifteen findings that reaffirm the pre-Clinton

ban and close any legal loopholes that might be challenged in court.
Among these the ludicrous assertion that

homosexuals "create an unacceptable risk to high standards of morale,
good order and discipline, and unit cohesion."

Ike Skelton (D-MO) included the Nunn Amendment in the House version of
the bill on July 27. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ron

Dellums (D-CA) offered an amendment, which I supported, to lift the

ban entirely, but it failed 13 to 43."


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