[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 71 (Thursday, June 9, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 9, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
       CALLING FOR RESIGNATION OF SURGEON GENERAL JOYCELYN ELDERS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House the 
gentleman from California [Mr. Dornan] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DORNAN. Mr. Speaker, today circulating on this side of the aisle 
is a letter started by my colleague, the gentleman from Florida [Mr. 
Stearns] asking the White House to seek the resignation of Surgeon 
General Joycelyn Elders. I suggested on this floor in the colder days 
of early spring that five people should be fired at the White House.
  Two of them left shortly thereafter, Mr. Nussbaum and Mr. Web 
Hubbell. One of them was reduced in his duties, which included security 
clearances at the White House. That was William Kennedy II. One person 
still remains undiscovered by the national media, and that is Buddy 
Young, who was the chief of troopers during all of the final years 
during Mr. Clinton's serving as Governor. Buddy Young flew up to the 
White House from Denton, TX where he was promoted on July 21, 1993. By 
way of reference, that was the day after the Vincent Foster suicide, so 
things were hot. His pay was doubled from that of a trooper in the mid-
$45,000 range to about $95,000 as an executive for FEMA, the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency, a job for which he had absolutely zero 
experience. And he came up to the White House, and among other things, 
was photographed, filmed on ABC taking a call from the White House 
where the attempt was made to manipulate and suppress troopers who were 
popping out of the woodwork with hair-raising stories about what went 
on in the government in Arkansas that was run like a Third World 
oligarchy.
  The fifth one that I called for resignation way back then was 
Joycelyn Elders. Her conduct since then has gone from bad to absolutely 
horrific.
  Cardinal Hickey, the Cardinal for the Archdiocese of Washington, 
wrote to the President asking him to denounce her remarks in a 
homosexual paper called ``The Advocate.'' The Cardinal had to wait 6 or 
7 weeks for a response from the White House. The White House kept 
saying they would respond. Finally they did. Cardinal Hickey said the 
response was totally unacceptable, and he wrote another tough, hard-
hitting letter back to the President to which Cardinal Hickey has yet 
to receive a response.
  Here is the Sunday Times. It is one of those insert magazines that 
Sunday papers across the country have, 37.5 million readers every 
weekend, the highest circulation weekly publication. On the cover is 
Joycelyn Elders with rather a smug expression on her face. That may not 
be her fault, because with these automatic cameras clicking away, they 
can catch you looking any way they want you to. It says, ``Out on the 
Limb with Outspoken Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders.''

       Question: At what age should schools offer condoms to kids?
       Answer: Whenever they need them.

  The interview was very revealing, and I understand that since I was 
over in Europe with Sonny Montgomery and his excellent congressional 
delegation to honor the heroes of 50 years ago, and that is also where 
Mr. Clinton was for the last 8 days, and I hope our dominant media 
culture will be going to the President to confirm or deny what Mrs. 
Elders and my brothers, and sons and daughters tell me she said to the 
press during this week when we were all out of town, that the President 
stopped her before he left and said words to the effect, ``I'm 
following you, Joycelyn. I'm proud of you. Excellent work. Keep 
going.''
  That is hardly the response he gave to Cardinal Hickey in his weak 
first response. And I think that weekly if not daily she comes up with 
something irresponsible. If this woman is the caretaker of the Nation's 
health, we are in more desperate trouble than I had thought.
  Mr. Speaker, I just got off of the phone with Time magazine. A story 
is going to be breaking all around this city in the next week or so and 
on television about what is probably the major scandal to hit the 
administration. In the beginning, just clouds, and as they like to say 
at the Supreme Court, the penumbra of the scandal. If Whitewater, or 
what our excellent prize-winning columnist Bill Safire calls 
Whitewatergate, if Whitewater involves tens of thousands, up to the 
most serious charge being former municipal court judge David Hale who 
is turning over state's evidence on a daily basis, up to $300,000 
involving a phony SBA loan where money was circulated around, then the 
Dan Lassiter deals involve tens of millions, upward to $160 million, a 
factor of a thousand to one. This, Mr. Speaker, is going to be 
discussed by the gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Burton] and myself for 1 
hour shortly tonight.
  Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record the letter my colleague is 
circulating to send to the President, as follows:

                                     House of Representatives,

                                     Washington, DC, June 9, 1994.
     The President,
     The White House,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. President: We are writing to request that you ask 
     for the resignation of Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders.
       Throughout her careers, Dr. Elders has repeatedly made 
     remarks and taken stands outside the mainstream of American 
     thought. In contrast to previous Surgeons General, she has 
     not chosen to utilize her position to advance the general 
     health and welfare of all Americans, but rather to advocate 
     views antithetical to the majority of Americans.
       Most recently, Dr. Elders denounced the Boy Scouts and Girl 
     Scouts of America for their alleged discriminatory policies 
     against homosexuals. Not only were her comments offensive in 
     mischaracterizing the policies of the Girl Scouts, but they 
     also displayed an inexplicable hostility to two of the most 
     valuable character-building institutions in this Nation. In 
     the past, Dr. Elders has also recommended that the United 
     States legalize narcotics, stated that ``I tell every girl 
     when she goes out on a date--put a condom in her purse,'' and 
     condemned those opposed to abortion for ``their love affair 
     with the fetus.''
       Whether one agrees with these statements or not, and I 
     suspect that the majority of Americans do not, they clearly 
     serve to divide Americans rather than unite us behind our 
     common interest in public health and welfare. That is 
     directly contrary to the role that the Surgeon General should 
     perform for the country.
       There are many outstanding individuals who could perform 
     this important role without sending America's children 
     messages that do not reflect the values of most Americans. We 
     ask you to request the resignation of Dr. Joycelyn Elders and 
     hope that you nominate a Surgeon General dedicated to 
     bringing Americans together behind our common values and 
     interests.
           Sincerely,

                          ____________________