Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 18, 1993 TAG: 9311180043
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
By a vote of 77-22, the Senate adopted the budget measure for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1 - a package $2.6 billion less than the amount Clinton proposed and $12 billion below last year's level. Virginia senators Charles Robb and John Warner voted in favor.
The House approved the legislation Monday. Clinton is expected to sign it.
One day after a federal appeals court ruled that the military ban on declared homosexuals is based on prejudice and serves no legitimate purpose, the Senate voted for a military-gays policy designed to guide the courts.
The policy includes a series of findings that says Congress has the constitutional right to raise armies, maintain the Navy and set the rules for their operation.
The legislation states that military service is unlike anything in civilian life and "the prohibition against homosexual conduct is a longstanding element of military law that continues to be necessary in the unique circumstances of military service."
Forced to abandon his campaign pledge to lift the ban outright, Clinton set a policy of "don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue" on July 19 that says sexual orientation is not a bar to service, but open homosexuals will be forced out of the service.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sam Nunn, D-Ga., who supports the ban, wrote the policy that was adopted by the House and Senate.
The Nunn policy says to not ask about sexual orientation, but lets a future defense secretary reinstate the question. The policy also says open declarations of homosexuality pose an unacceptable risk to morale, good order and discipline.
The policy does not address the issue of whether the military should try to ferret out gays who have not made their homosexuality known.
The White House and Nunn have said the senator's policy is "fully consistent" with the president's plan. Clinton's policy is a directive to the armed services. Nunn's policy would have the force of law after the defense measure is signed by Clinton.
Final passage of the budget bill came as conservative Democrats and Republicans expressed serious reservations with the administration's pace of military reductions.
Both Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan., and Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., ranking Republican on the Budget Committee, opposed the bill although they voted last Wednesday for the companion defense spending bill.
"How can the Congress continue its slash-and-burn policy with our defense budgets?" Dole asked. Domenici said he simply wanted to cast a protest vote because the Clinton administration was cutting defense too quickly.
by CNB