[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 69 (Thursday, May 16, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H5275-H5282]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             TRIBUTE TO ADMIRAL BULKELEY AND ADMIRAL BOORDA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Skeen). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of May 12, 1995, the gentleman from California [Mr. Dornan] is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. DORNAN. Mr. Speaker, those that were watching the proceedings in 
this Chamber earlier saw some brief 5-minute or shorter tributes to the 
Chief of Naval Operations, the highest ranking naval officer in the 
world up until a few hours ago this afternoon when the early reports 
are telling us he took his own life in the Chief of Naval Operations 
traditional officer's home, just a few blocks from here in the Navy 
Yard on the Anacostia River.
  Mr. Speaker, I had been intending to come to the floor tonight to 
finish a tribute to Admiral John Duncan Bulkeley, who had served 55 
years on active duty, retired just a few years ago in 1988, and was the 
squadron commander of the PT boats that took General MacArthur off 
Corregidor. I pointed out that in an otherwise beautiful funeral 
ceremony on Patriots' Day, April 19, the only sad note was that there 
were no Cabinet officers, no Vice President. Bill Clinton had held the 
wreath with Admiral Bulkeley at the 50th anniversary of D-day, the 
Normandy invasions to begin the day at dawn.
  Together they held a wreath honoring all those who died at sea, the 
Coast Guardsmen driving the landing craft up to the beach, the few 
naval craft as they secured the waters of the English Channel for the 
Allied forces that died, those that died leading up to it, those that 
died in secret operations in the months leading up to it where we lost 
hundreds of sailors and soldiers, and it was kept secret for 25 years.
  That wreath was to commemorate all who were lost at sea, including 
those landing barges that were blown up by shore artillery and mortar 
fire sent out by the Germans. At the funeral, which I talked about here 
6 days ago, I said that the first eulogy for Admiral Bulkeley, this 
Medal of Honor winner, holder of two Distinguished Service Crosses, 
Navy Cross, two Purple Hearts, two Silver Stars, French Croix de 
Guerre. The first speaker was the CNO, the Chief of Naval Operations, 
Jeremy Michael Boorda, Mike to his friends.
  Mr. Speaker, I have in front of me the Congressional Record. How 
could I or anyone have known that, while praising Admiral Boorda here 
at this very lectern on the leadership desk, that 6 days later he would 
be joining Admiral Bulkeley in heaven? This is phenomenal that our 
country is getting hit with so many hammer blows of people dying. It 
must be tied into something to do with what the Holy Father in Rome 
calls the culture of death.
  I got through most of Admiral Boorda's eulogy for Vice Admiral 
Bulkeley, and I had the son of the actual PT boat, signal boat 
commander, PT 41, George Cox Jr., a late-in-life child is, I guess, the 
way they say it, not the grandson but the direct of son of George Cox, 
Ensign George Cox, who was actually at the helm of the PT boat when 
Admiral Bulkeley with the last of his two boats out of only six to 
begin with, when Manila, the Pearl Harbor of Manila was December 8, 
across the date line, when George Cox was watching Junior, he is an LA 
of Clay Shaw of Florida, legislative assistant.
  I opened with words of Ronald Reagan that I used the next day when I 
was the graduation speaker at a beautiful traditional Catholic 
Christian college in Front Royal out in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley 
of Virginia. I talked about what Ronald Reagan had told us all to do in 
his goodbye words on January 11, 1989, 9 days before combat Navy hero, 
58-mission George Bush was sworn in. And that is what I titled this 
piece, or our wonderful recorders that took the title from my words. It 
says President Reagan commands us, remember our heroes, remember our 
past.

  Mr. Speaker, I read beautiful moving passages of President Reagan's 
words, then told some history about Admiral Bulkely that was my tribute 
to him and to George Cox, Sr. with George, Jr. watching. Then I got 
into Admiral Boorda's remarks. And then I read the stunningly beautiful 
tribute to Admiral Bulkely from his second son, an active duty Navy 
captain, Peter Bulkeley, and my time ran out. So I was going to come 
back at some point this week and finish reading, because I promised 
Admiral Bulkeley's son and his three daughters, beautiful daughter-in-
law, that I would read it word for word, it was that good.
  That is what I thought Ronald Reagan wanted us to do, as Ron Klink on 
the other side performed a moving historical tribute to the people of 
Crete and how it might have been the key battle that, although lost, 
delayed Hitler's invasion of Russia and thereby turned the course of 
history in World War II.
  So I was going to come back tonight and finish Peter Bulkeley, 
Captain Peter Bulkeley's tribute to his dad. And now I have to do that 
and a tribute to Mike Boorda. I have Mike's biography in front of me. 
What a life. Just on two pages. Bulkeley served 55 years. Boorda served 
40. Fibbed about his age. The one time you can talk about fibbing, 
downgrade the word from lie. When you are trying to wear the uniform of 
your country and say you are older than you are, God must smile. That 
is certainly not a venial sin. That is a fib to serve your fellow man. 
He fibbed on his age in November 1938. He is my brother's age, 2 years 
older, younger brother, and he joined in November 1938. Was an enlisted 
man for 8 years, excuse me, 6 years, and was a Navy petty officer first 
class. Attack squadron 144, carrier airborne early warning squadron 11.
  My older brother's son, a Navy lieutenant commander who has served in 
the gulf 30 or some combat missions in one of these squadrons, he had 
all this enlisted experience and was selected for commissioning under 
the integration program in 1962, 34 years ago. I will get to Mike 
Boorda's tribute in a minute, but let me tell you again what Mike 
Boorda said about Admiral Bulkeley. Quoting myself, I finished talking 
about Sonny Montgomery, Sam Gibbons, World War II veterans in this 
House that had the only tribute to World War II other than about 10 or 
15 that I did, was a month after the war had passed its 50th 
anniversary.
  I finished talking about them and I said: Mr. Speaker, I just do not 
understand why people are not listening to what Ronald Reagan said 
about talking about history. So Admiral Boorda begins his remarks. Mr. 
Speaker, this is

[[Page H5276]]

his title of his tribute to Bulkeley on April 19, but I am saying it 6 
days ago. Admiral Boorda says: You may cast off when ready, Johnny. 
Those were MacArthur's words to Squadron Commander Bulkeley. I am sure 
Bulkeley, as I discussed with George, Jr., turned to Ensign Cox and 
said--I am sorry, those are my words.
  I am sure that when Bulkeley heard those words from MacArthur he 
turned to his PT boat skipper Ensign Cox and said: George, let's move 
it out of here, anchors aweigh. Those were my remarks. Admiral Boorda 
began, I say, this is Boorda. Will Rogers said that we cannot all be 
heroes. Then another aside of mine: Mr. Speaker, I say, by the way, 
Admiral Boorda beautifully delivered this, Mr. Speaker. Back to Mike: 
Some of us have to stand on the curb and clap as those heroes go by. 
When he made that statement, Will Rogers could only have had one type 
of person in mind, John Bulkeley.

  We gather here today--this is the new chapel at Fort Myer, in this 
place meant for heroes and applaud a true American hero as he passes 
by. And we come together here as the rest of America stands up and 
cheers for a man who symbolizes the very best about our Nation. While 
we are saddened to no longer have the great John Bulkeley with us, 
Boorda continues, it is not a day of sorrow. He would not have liked or 
allowed that. Today is a day meant to remember, to give thanks.
  Then I point out that Admiral Boorda goes on page after page telling 
about his early years. I put it all in the Record later. He tells about 
the film, ``They Were Expendable,'' America's leading man John Wayne, 
America's sweetheart, Donna Reed. And Boorda talked about Admiral 
Bulkeley, how he lived his life for our navy and his country.
  This is what Boorda did for 40 years. Bulkeley did so with guts and 
heart and, most important, with honor. His service stands as a tribute 
to every sailor.
  This was obviously coming from Boorda's heart, Mr. Speaker, because 
he always considered himself a sailor. He said: Every American, every 
person on this Earth who cherishes freedom, Bulkeley's life touched 
more than just us. It touched the world. And so today America says--
boy, these are words from the grave. I give Mike Boorda's words back at 
him, Mr. Speaker: Thank you, shipmate, for giving us the very best. And 
while we knew that you were always special, too extraordinary to ever 
need our thanks, we just thought you would like to know.
  The words he ended with there were the way this legendary Admiral 
John Duncan Bulkeley would write a short memo, sign it and then write a 
four-page PS. He would always sign the PS: Just thought you would want 
to know.
  Now, I do not want to confuse, Mr. Speaker, anybody who follows these 
proceedings, but I think at this point I would like to do a tribute to 
Admiral Boorda, the highest ranking American naval officer in the world 
this morning.
  Talked to our colleague, Commander Duke Cunningham on the phone at 
10, and I think I have a right to say what he told Duke, that he was 
feeling pressure from the White House and Secretary Perry to undercut 
the Republican defense authorization budget that restores much 
modernization that is needed to our military, that he was under 
terrific pressure.
  He had an interview with the news magazine this afternoon, just an 
hour after he died. He was getting hammered in the press a little bit, 
but that would not have bothered someone with 40 years in our great 
Navy.
  But as I talk about Bulkeley later through the mouth of his son, 
Captain Peter Bulkeley, think about the fact that I will be back at 
that chapel in Myer for Admiral Boorda's funeral in a few days. This is 
amazing. Mike Boorda went through Officers Candidate School in 1962 in 
Newport, RI. Got his naval commission as a very experienced young 
ensign August 1962. So he would have been 24 years old. He served in 
destroyers, combat information center on the Porterfield, went to 
destroyer field in Newport, became a weapons officer on the U.S.S. John 
Craig and other destroyers, served on the Parrot and mine sweeper. Then 
he was a weapons instructor.
  There is just so much here. I am going to skip through it because a 
lot of it is the dry bio of years and years of superb service going 
everywhere your country and your Navy tells you to go.
  Mr. Speaker, here is where I first met him. After he was the 
commander of cruiser, destroyer Group 8, the Greyhounds of the Sea, and 
as carrier battle group commander embarked on the Saratoga, one of our 
first big angle deck carriers, he also served as the commander of 
battle force Sixth Fleet in 1987 in the Med.

                              {time}  1900

  And then he comes to D.C., and this is where I met him. In August of 
1988 he became chief of naval personnel, a teenager of 17 up through 
the ranks. Everyone thought this was the crowning glory of his career, 
vice admiral, 3 stars, going to take care of all the kids and gals in 
the Navy and all the chief petty officers in the officer corps. He 
served there for 3 years.
  In November of 1991, that is 5 years ago now, he got his fourth star. 
Has been a four-star general for what would have been 5 years this 
November, and in December 1991, 4 years ago last Christmas, he became 
the commander in chief of all the allied forces in southern Europe; I 
saw him there a year after that; and then commander in chief of all the 
U.S. naval forces in Europe, headquarters in London, England, in those 
traditional buildings that go all the way back to those D-Day 
victories, World War II.
  On February 1, 1993 while serving as commander in chief, he assumed 
the duty of commander, Joint Task Force Provide Promise, responsible 
for the supply of humanitarian relief to Bosnia-Herzegovina. He set up 
the air land and air drop dangerous night mission, C-130s coming at 
10,000 feet, trying to target air drops with parachutes of heavy 
medical supplies and food into the besieged people of that poor war-
torn land of Bosnia. He set all that up.
  He has the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished 
Service Medal, second time, Legion of Merit, third award, Meritorious 
Service Medal and a number of other campaign awards.
  He was our 25th Chief of Naval Operations.
  What a history from 1775, John Paul Jones. I have not yet begun to 
fight. John Burrey, an Irishman, the father of our Navy Marine Corps, 
born November 10, same year, 1775. What a history. Only 25 CNOs.
  His beautiful wife, Irishwoman Betty Moran, they have four children. 
It says nine grandchildren, but that is wrong. I was told today four 
more arrived just since this bio. No, 2 more. He has 11. I have 10. 
There is so much to live for, four children. Well, he has got exactly 
what I have. I have five children. So he has 15 children and 
grandchildren, I have 15 children and grandchildren. I want to get out 
of here some day and live for them to pass on everything that I hope is 
wise that I have learned in life.
  Two of his sons are naval officers, Mr. Speaker. What a tragic 
depression must have borne down on that naval officer's chest. What a 
tragedy.
  Just thought you would want to know that we have lost a great naval 
commander, a young teenaged boot going through probably Great Lakes 
Naval Center, where so many friends of mine went through. What an 
inspiration he was to the kids out there on the ships, and the young 
gals.
  How tall was he, Mr. Speaker? Could not have been more than five foot 
2, 3, 4; probably five-five. What a dynamite package. We are going to 
miss you, Mike.
  So over there at that beautiful new cathedral at Ft. Myers, 
resplendent in his white uniform, a pallbearer also, of course. Many 
vice admirals sitting in the front row, one three-star general. Should 
have been a lot bigger than that for Admiral Bulkeley.
  Mr. Speaker, FDR pinned on his Medal of Honor. We have got a Medal of 
Honor winner in the Senate. I think that should have dropped everything 
to be there. Got 2 or 3 Navy Cross holders, a former Navy Secretary 
over there. No Navy Secretary. Great Army three-star there, No. 2 man, 
but MacArthur pinned on his Distinguished Service Cross. Secretary of 
the Navy Frank Knox, under Roosevelt, pinned on one of his Navy 
Crosses, he got another Distinguished Service Cross, but at least he 
had Mike Boorda, CNO, speaking up for him.
  At this point what I would like to do so that it is a coherent record 
is put

[[Page H5277]]

back in, and I will bring this down and give it to the recorders, Mr. 
Speaker, all of the first part of Peter Bulkeley's tribute, which took 
his dad through his Annapolis years through China through meeting the 
beautiful English girl Alice, marrying her, the dark days in the 
Philippines, his days as the wild man of the Philippines, his clothes 
ragged, the both covered in grease and diesel fuel and held together 
with spit and wire and prayers, and Peter's beautiful words that will 
be in the Record, took him right up through the end of World War II, 
the stories of D-day, the stories that I told because I had heard it 
and forgotten it. It was in Peter's words about sinking two German 
Corvettes, capturing the Nazi commanders; maybe they were not Nazis, 
just naval officers, but they refused to salute Old Glory, a Naval 
tradition, as they were rescued and brought up on the deck of Admiral 
Bulkeley's first major combat surface ship, the destroyer Endicott, and 
he had them thrown back in the water.

  I am told last Friday how the story was repeated to me by several of 
the crewmen from the Endicott that were there to pay tribute at the 
funeral to John Duncan Bulkeley, and, Peter, I got to the point where I 
read his words telling that story, a true story how the German on the 
third time around worked the trick, as Captain Peter said, and he 
finally saluted Old Glory, and then I told something that was not in 
Peter's remarks told to me by the helmsman Joe Caine, who was about 20, 
and that was about 50 years ago plus 2, so he is about 72 years old 
now, spry and as chipper as ever.
  He told how Admiral Bulkeley took two Jewish members of the crew from 
Brooklyn, from the Bronx, and gave them Thompson submachine guns and 
took them into the officer's ward where they had these two German 
Corvette commanders, captains, and said, ``Now, do you speak English?'' 
And they did. They were educated. And he said, ``Well, these two 
fellows here have a good Bronx background, and they're Jewish. I 
thought you might want to know that if you make a move, you're in a lot 
of trouble. Cover him, guys.'' One was named Gottleib and the other, 
they said it was either Rosenburg or Rosenstein. It was quite a story.
  So that is where my time ran out, and I pick up admiral--not admiral. 
Maybe some day another admiral in the Bulkeley family because Peter had 
also talked about all the naval officers and heroes going all the way 
back to the battle of Trafalgar and the victory and Lord Nelson. So I 
picked up Peter Bulkeley's words in his eulogy for his dad, and I will 
continue from here, and it will have his full eulogy in the record.
  Let me pause, Peter says. The admiral was a strong believer in 
standards. Some may say he was from the old school, as the enemy 
captain of one of the Corvette soon learned. I have not read this, so I 
will do this. Coming up the sea ladder, the German commander would not 
salute the colors of the Endicott. He was promptly tossed back into the 
sea. On the third time, that did the trick, and he was taken prisoner 
and allowed on deck.
  I heard this story a long time ago, but last year, this would be 
1995, I had the privilege of attending one of the Endicott ship's 
reunions and was told the same story over and over by the crew that 
served and loved their captain so well, John Bulkeley.
  World War II closed, and the admiral emerged as one of the Navy's and 
America's most decorated heroes, having been awarded the Medal of 
Honor, the Navy Cross, the Army Distinguished Service Cross with Oak 
Leaf Cluster in lieu of a second award, two Silver Stars, Legion of 
Medal with Combat V, the Purple Heart twice over, the Philippine 
Distinguished Conduct Star, and from France the French Croix de Guerre, 
which by the way, my father earned the hard way, with three wound 
chevrons that are now called Purple Hearts, in World War I, Mr. 
Speaker.
  Asked about his many decorations, John Bulkeley would only comment, 
``Medals and awards do not mean anything. It is what is inside of you, 
how you feel about yourself, that counts.''
  With an eye to the future, John Bulkeley looked forward to the day he 
would become an admiral in the Navy he loved so much. As President 
Kennedy in the early months of his administration dealt with an ever 
increasing crisis over Cuba, the admiral got his wish and, for a 
quarter of a century, would serve as a flag officer in the Navy.
  As I am reading this, Mr. Speaker, I am picturing Boorda, Admiral 
Boorda, sitting there in the front row. How many days ago? Eleven? 
Twenty-seven days ago.
  Challenged in his first assignment as commander of the Guantanamo 
Naval Base, Bulkeley met and defeated the challenge of Fidel Castro's 
threats of severing the water supplies of the base. Today Guantanamo 
stands as a symbol of American resolve because men like John Bulkeley 
stood up and refused to bend and took the initiative to stare down 
belligerent threats of lesser men not friendly with America. Perhaps a 
tribute of the time was a wanted poster offering 50,000 pesos for 
commander--Captain Bulkeley, dead or alive, by the Communist leadership 
of Cuba, along with the description a guerrilla, the worst species. I 
take it back. He was a flag officer by this time.
  At Guantanamo, for those that have visited, there is a hill that 
overlooks the northeast gate, a gate with a sign that reads ``Cuba, 
Land Free from America.'' I remember standing there with former members 
Bob Lagomarsino and Eldon Rudd of Arizona.
  Peter says, ``I stood with my dad on that hill almost 32 years ago. 
Cuban troops began moving about. They were armed. My dad's 19-year-old 
driver, a Marine lance corporal, comes running over and stood directly 
in front of the admiral ready and willing to take the bullet that could 
end the life of his commander.''
  The admiral loved his Marines, and the Marines loved and respected 
him in return. He would be with them day and night in fatigues ready to 
conduct war, if necessary, but more, to defend Americans and the land 
of the free against the Communist yoke of tyranny.
  Colonel Stevens, the former commanding officer of the Marine barracks 
at Guantanamo, wrote just recently adding three more stories to the 
legend of John Bulkeley. The admiral had the compassion of the men in 
the field, taking time again and again to bring them relief, whether 
cookies on Christmas morning or visiting with them at odd hours of the 
night to ease their nerves. They loved this man, the young men--not so 
young. The 70-year-olds at his funeral from the Endicott told me he 
knew every man's name on the ship; every nickname and would pop up in 
the dead of night to have coffee with whoever was on watch in the wee 
hours of 2, 3 and 4 o'clock in the morning.
  The admiral would construct on that hill, his hill overlooking the 
northeast gate in Guantanamo, would construct the largest Marine Corps 
insignia in the world as a quiet reminder that the U.S. Marine Corps 
stood vigilant over this base, and in tribute a Marine would write John 
Bulkeley, Marine in sailor's clothing. Camp Bulkeley is still there in 
Guantanamo today, and that Marine anchor and globe has a fresh coat of 
paint.
  John Bulkeley never forgot his early years, the hard iron-like 
discipline, the poor material condition of the fleet and the need to 
always be ready. He was talking about the '30s, 1930's. In this own 
words, to be able to conduct prompt, sustained combat operations at sea 
assigned as the president of the Board of Inspection and Survey, 
inspector general position unique to the Navy. The Army and Air Force 
do not have this as you know, Mr. Speaker; a post held by many 
distinguished naval officers since its inception almost since the 
beginning of the Navy. Bulkeley's boundless energy would find him 
aboard every ship in the Navy from keel to the top of the mast, from 
the fire control system to inside a boiler discussing readiness and 
sharing sea stories and a cup of coffee with the men who operate our 
ships, our planes and our submarines. This throughout the end of this 
55-year career. He was relentless in his quest to improve the safety 
and material condition of the fleet and the conditions for the health 
and well-being of those men. He conducted his inspections by the book 
and strict accordance with standards, as many a man well knows, but his 
love for the sailors always came through.
  His ``Just thought you'd like to know'' memos was another invention 
of his that was designed to be a, quote, unofficial report, unquote. 
But of

[[Page H5278]]

course they were often greeted by a groan by the recipient in the 
Navy's leadership knowing that John Bulkeley had another concern that 
needed attention, and the number of information addresses receiving the 
same ``Just thought you'd like to know'' letters often were longer than 
the letter itself. The admiral would laugh about his informal invention 
less than 30 days ago. That is last March.
  After 55 years of commissioned service, John Bulkeley retired to 
private life. I was there at his retirement ceremony with Admiral 
Trost, then Chief of Naval Operations.

                              {time}  1915

  ``John Bulkeley, as you recall, did not like notoriety and wanted to 
keep a low profile, throughout his life, even his last day in his Navy. 
His ceremony, as requested, was brief and to the point. Held in the 
CNO's office, with family present, all he sought after giving his 
entire life to his country and his service was to have the CNO's flag 
lieutenant open the door so he could slip his mooring line and leave 
quietly.
  ``Today we celebrate the final journey of a great American, John 
Bulkeley, and let him sail away.''
  Ironically, we should have all the flags in D.C. at half mast today, 
Mr. Speaker, for Adm. Jeremy ``Mike'' Boorda.
  ``We should not mourn, for he would not want that, preferring we 
celebrate his long life, fruitful life, and the life he chooses to 
lead. When asked to describe his own life he said,'' listen to this, 
Mr. Speaker, `Interesting, Fascinating, and Beneficial to the United 
States.' ''
  Would not every Congressman and Senator like to say their career was 
interesting, fascinating, and beneficial to the United States of 
America?
  ``The spirit of John Bulkeley is here. You can see it everywhere. You 
can see it in the faces of our young sailors and marines, the 
midshipmen and our junior officers who will be challenged to live up to 
his standards of integrity, loyalty, bravery, and dedicated service to 
country and to service.
  ``John Bulkeley's career and service to the Nation spanned six 
turbulent decades of this century, he saw firsthand desperate times and 
the horrors of war. Yet he was also a father, marrying the woman he 
loved, and in his own words, `It was the best thing I ever did.' '' He 
said that to my face at D-day when he introduced me to his wife and 
several of his grown children.
  Peter continues: ``And raised the family he could be proud of, 
because we are proud of him.'' Then, in a tearful moment in the 
audience for us, Mr. Speaker, Capt. Peter Bulkeley looked at his 
mother, and he says, ``Mom, you were his right arm, his closest friend 
for a long and full life. You gave him your love and your support. You 
truly were the Wind beneath his Wings,'' and they had played that hymn. 
``Yellow roses and his Colt 45 that he gave to you on your wedding 
night, while he stood watch out in Swatow Harbor, China provide us 
comfort of this love for you and his service to country. Before he 
passed away, every member, child, and grandchild, sons and daughters-
in-law all came to be with him in his last days. This by itself is 
testimony of the legacy he leaves behind and the love his family had 
for him.

  ``Today we face a different challenge than what John Bulkeley did. 
Old enemies are our allies. But now there are new foes who challenge 
our country's interests and our way of life sometimes, even inside our 
own borders.'' Narcotics.
  ``Admiral Bulkeley's efforts and sacrifices for a better world, a 
free world, his integrity and honor, and a combat-ready fleet, ready to 
conduct prompt, sustained combat operations are his legacy to our 
Nation.
  ``Seated before me are many of the warriors that fought alongside the 
admiral, shared in his beliefs, his determination, his losses, his 
grief, and his unfailing lover of family, service, and country.
  ``With his passing, the watch has been relieved. A new generation 
takes the helm and charts the course. His Navy, he shaped for so many 
years, is at sea today, stronger and better because of him, operating 
forward in faraway places, standing vigilant and engaged in keeping 
peace and helping our fellow man, but ready for war.
  ``In his own words, he leaves this with you: `Be prepared. Your day 
will come, heaven forbid, when you will be called to go forward to 
defend our great Nation. Your leadership, bravery, and skill will be 
tested to the utmost.' '' He continues with his dad's words: ``You 
should never forget that America's Torch of Freedom has been handed 
down to you by countless others that answer their country's call and 
often gave their lives to preserve freedoms so many take for granted. 
This torch is now in your hands. You have a great responsibility to 
uphold duty, honor, country. God bless each of you and protect you.
  ``Just thought you'd like to know.''
  ``So, we gather together today to say farewell to a man we love, a 
man we respect and cherish, a man that did his duty, that made his mark 
in life, and left the world a better and safer place. Peter Bulkeley 
looked toward his father and said, `God bless you, Dad. All lines are 
clear.' A beautiful tribute. I could look over about 6 people, see the 
tears in the eyes of the Naval CNO, Chief of Naval Ops.''
  So I will just make Peter's tribute to his legendary father a tribute 
to your 40 years, Admiral Boorda: God bless you, Mike, all lines are 
clear. I will see your family over at Fort Myer Cathedral.

  Mr. Speaker, this has been a tough week. My honor has been challenged 
more than once by some of the biggest papers in this country: U.S.A. 
Today, New York Times, L.A. Times. People who are ignorant of what I am 
trying to do for our military have been taking cheap shots at me all 
week long. They just bounce off my back, because I am the one who has 
done the research on this moral crisis in our country and in my beloved 
military, all the services. I have never felt parochial about the Air 
Force, I belonged to all the forces.
  I will spend all day tomorrow at West Point. I have four or five 
cadets up there from my little California, Orange County, district. I 
will have lunch with them, I will meet with the instructors. I come 
back here Saturday, and I am going to the ordination of 12 priests, the 
biggest ordination of priests anywhere in this country this year in a 
diocese, Arlington, across the river, that is on fire with the Holy 
Spirit; great priests. One of them is my son-in-law's priest from the 
Mission San Juan Capistrano, Joe Dressler. He is coming back here to 
meet with some of his underclassmen from the seminary that he studied 
at.
  Then on Sunday, I am taking my wife and the Air Force is driving me 
down to an Air National Guard base at Richmond, and I am going to fly 
the F-16, if I pass my morning physical down there, with an Air 
National Guard squadron of great tradition; flew the F-105 Thunder 
Chief after Vietnam for years, and now flies the F-16 Falcon.
  They have been given the duty of working out the tactical 
reconnaisance mission in pods on F-16's, instead of taking over the 
whole aircraft of the F-101 Voodoo, the RA-5 Vigilante in Vietnam, or 
the RF-4 Phantom in Vietnam and all over the world, all over the world, 
right up through Desert Storm.
  Now, instead of a dedicated reconnaisance fighter aircraft, we are 
going to have a pod and a mission where in every fighter squadron, or 
in handpicked squadrons, there will be a few aircraft capable of 
reconnaisance and fighting if they get in trouble and have to jettison 
the pod; quite an airplane, that single-engine single-seat single-tail 
F-16. I will be doing that.
  Next weekend, depending on our votes, I am going up to Greenland to 
close the circle on trips that I have made to the North Pole with 
Admiral Mauz, another great four-star nuclear engineer who runs all the 
nuclear programs in the Navy. He took Al Gore and I up to the North 
Pole to go under the North Pole ice cap on the U.S.S. Sea Horse.

  Navy officer Bart Roper, back seat radar intercept officer who is now 
the AA of the gentleman from Florida, Joe Scarborough, who was earlier 
doing a tribute to Admiral Boorda; Lt. Comdr. Bart Roper, now working 
as one of our allies on the Hill, he took me down to Antarctica. I flew 
with the greatest Navy pilots I have ever flown with in my life, old 
Huey helicopters, ski-equipped LC-130's. They call themselves the ice 
pirates. I have a great patch of theirs on one of my flight jackets.
  I want to see how our Air Force operates at Greenland. I have wanted 
to do

[[Page H5279]]

that all my life, since when I had a young commander who said, ``I am 
sending you to Thule, Greenland, Dornan, if you don't shape up.'' So I 
am going to go up there to see one of our young men and women up there 
who was on one of our key flights with one of our C-141 aircraft, the 
stretch B model that is aging.
  This is what I did all the time as a regular back-bencher, a minority 
member activist, a ranking minority member, and now on the Permanent 
Select Committee on Intelligence, and chairman of Subcommittee on 
Military Personnel, I know what I am doing on this floor, Mr. Speaker, 
when I put forward an amendment not to have homosexuals in the 
military.
  It won so big in full committee they did not even vote, and it won so 
big here Wednesday nobody would challenge me with a vote, but behind 
the scenes they are talking about dumping it in conference, in a secret 
star Chamber session, with Senators who either had never served or do 
not work their tail off the way I do visiting with the men and women in 
the field at all ranks, from sailors and boot camp young men going 
through paratrooper training in Benning or Special Forces senior heroic 
Delta Force master sergeants and first sergeants.
  I visited the graves of our two Medal of Honor winners, Randy Shugart 
and Gary Gordon, Gary up in the land of his birth in Lincoln, ME, 
Shugart born in Lincoln, NE, but buried up in Carlisle, PA. I took my 
son Mark to both of their graves, so he could see what heroes were sent 
to their death by a stupid foreign policy in the filthy alleys of 
Mogadishu.

  I only learned in the last few weeks that they held up the arms and 
legs of our men to show to the crowd. I saw pictures this week of young 
punks wearing the sunglasses of our aviators, or Durant's crew after 
they had murdered all of them. Durant, fortunately, came home. I met 
with him at Fort Knox. It is just amazing that people will ascribe to 
me motives for what I am doing without ever talking to a man or woman 
in uniform.
  I called a smart-alecky reporter, David, and I will not mention his 
whole name, he writes for Armed Forces Journal International. He starts 
off and says, ``Dornan is now a bad joke because he has done all the 
social stuff in the military.'' I got him on the phone, he was very 
respectful last night, I called him from an Intel secure phone, because 
we had a briefing going up there about the dangerous world we live in, 
and I said, ``Where do you get off? Have you worn a uniform?'' ``No, I 
haven't. You have got me there.''
  ``Where do you get off telling me that and ripping me up in the 
press?'' I said, ``I'm not bothered by the heat. I kind of like Harry 
Truman's line, take the heat or move on, but you don't follow me 
through the Pentagon, you don't go to the funeral with me at Arlington, 
where I got 5,000 people the Armed Forces the Expeditionary Medal by 
myself; no help in the Senate, none, nobody.''
  They fought me. Senior four stars fought me in the Pentagon, but I 
was there to meet Colonel Pickett, whose son, Lieutenant Colonel 
Pickett, was executed with a bullet to the back of his head by the 
Communist FMLN, the Faribundo Marti, down in El Salvador. I met his 
grandson. I listened to them play taps standing on his grave at 
Arlington, the only one of our 21 men killed in a battle with 
communism, where we were not going to give them decorations for even 
showing up, just an Expeditionary Medal.
  None of these reporters were with me. They do not know anything about 
the military, anyway. They do not know that my heart goes out to these 
thousand people who have been given a slow, long death sentence with a 
fatal venereal disease; no matter how they caught it, that is what it 
is, it is syphilis II, and it is fatal.
  And they all know that they serve in the military, restricted in 
duty, not worldwide deployable, not deployable anywhere, never again to 
be trained. All their combat training, if they had it, has gone down 
the drain. one hundred thousand healthy men and women have been 
discharged, Mr. Speaker, and we politically protect a little group of 
1,000, all because of the homosexual lobby trying to drive the agenda 
here.

                              {time}  1930

  Let me just tick off some items here. Item this month--World News 
Washington Post. Spread of AIDS in China Alarms the Chinese. The 
prediction here is identical to the prediction I brought to the floor 
10 year ago about Bangkok, Thailand and the Indian cities, huge 
population centers along the Ganges, Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta and it has 
all happened in southern Asia, it has all happened in Thailand.
  Look at this article here. None of the centers know anything about 
this but it is in the papers today.
  In the L.A. Times today, Mr. Speaker:
  ``House Okays Defense Bill with Dornan Provisions.'' They say that I 
have renewed the ban on abortion. I did not renew anything. It is law. 
Clinton was forced to sign it on February 10. It is law. The other side 
brought it up. The same people who want us to have so-called partial 
birth execution style organized crime. I agree with some Italian-
Americans who called me and said, ``Bob, we love you, please don't use 
the word Mafia. It is an unfair word.'' It is organized crime. It is in 
every country. It is organized crime in Moscow and they call it Mafia. 
We ought to just call it organized crime unless it is Sicily where it 
is specifically Mafia. But this is ridiculous, what they write. I did 
not bring up the abortion issue. HIV, I am right. Homosexuals in the 
military. I am right. Then it says the bill would renew provisions 
contained in previous defense bills. No; it is law. Then it says 
staffers for Senate Republicans who oppose inclusion of all these 
social agendas, the HIV ban, the homosexual ban, the ban on Hustler 
magazine on military bases, PX's, and commissaries.
  It says those who oppose it said they gained assurances from the 
House GOP leadership that at least the AIDS provision would be 
eliminated. Oh, they are not so sure about going back to George 
Washington and Ronald Reagan and George Bush's homosexual ban.
  None of my leaders better have done this. I went to all of their 
staffer here, my pal Mr. Armey's staff, my classmate from my comeback 
in 1984, Tom DeLay's staff, another member of the class of 1984. I 
said, did anybody talk to them, to the L.A. Times, to Norman Kempster 
and tell anyone?
  Well, actually, it is the Senate staff saying this, not Members, 
staffers saying our leadership is going to dump on Dornan. Well, I am a 
conferee this time. This is not like the appropriations bill where 
Republicans gutted out for the first time in 20 years that I know of, 
undid public law that was fair to men and women in the military. Listen 
to this. Here is why I am going to make my case in conference and take 
names. Nothing says we have to be secret in conference.
  ``African Armies Weakened by AIDS Virus.'' This is in the Stars and 
Stripes May 5. Weakened is hardly the word for it, Mr. Speaker. 
Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwean Army has been declared by the United Nations 
no longer acceptable for deployable duty. That means more duty for us. 
Do you know why? Three out of every four soldiers, officers, enlisted 
men, NCO's are infected with the AIDS virus. They are all going to die 
within the next few years. The former commander is dying of AIDS, the 
commander before him is dead of AIDS and he has the AIDS virus, the 
current commander, three out of four.
  How about Kenya? Uganda? They are pushing 70 percent, or 6 our of 
every 10. How about Thailand, 3 or 4 out of every 10 soldiers in 
Thailand infected with the AIDS virus. When we test people coming to 
our command and staff schools, artillery schools, armor schools, if 
they test HIV positive, we send them home. The armies around the world 
are being ruined by the AIDS virus.

  Am I not entitled to say I want my military mercifully with honorable 
discharges and the best medical treatment in the world hopefully, if 
people would work with me, the same doctors, the same 35 to $40,000 a 
year spent on each of these 1,000 people that have it in the military, 
I am entitled to say, if it is micro-redeployability for other people, 
even though it is only a thousand, a percentage of a percentage point 
in the world where there are only 191 nations and less than 100 fit for 
U.N. duty, where they even have trained and disciplined military, every 
Nation that is X'ed off by the United

[[Page H5280]]

Nations, by Boutros Boutros-Ghali, it means U.S. men and women who will 
never be deployed with AIDS, the AIDS virus, they are out when they get 
AIDS, the HIV AIDS virus, that means more deployability for us on a 
macro level.
  Look at this item. Column from last year by Jeffrey Hart. I just 
found it in my records. He writes about Michael Warner, this is a 
friend, Jeffrey Hart's column, an intelligent fellow who is HIV 
negative but a homosexual activist, he said, why gay men are having 
risky sex.
  On the assumption that the Voice, a New York City weekly, is not part 
of your regular conservative reading list, I will give you a brief 
outline of Mr. Warner's startling article. Warner reports that among 
large numbers of homosexuals, the risk of death is now part of the 
emotional appeal of sex, as something experienced and shared, and that 
sex under the threat of death is, well, better sex.
  More about that when I do my rebuttal to Mr. Gunderson next 
Wednesday.
  Look at this, Mr. Speaker. Baby flushed down the toilet of a 
Northwest Airlines airplane. Flight 25. Did you read where they found a 
little baby strapped in its seat at the tragic Valujet crash of Flight 
592?
  Well, here is a little baby that was not killed in a crash on God's 
call but the mother on a plane from L.A. to Manila at the Japanese 
stop, a big Boeing 747 of Northwest Airlines, the police find a baby. 
It appeared to be 2 days old. Was it born on board? Was it carried on 
board dead or alive, then disposed of? Was it wrapped in the toilet 
paper before the flight even left L.A.? We just do not know. This is 
last Friday. Northwest is working with the legal authorities. Plane was 
filled with passengers, 349. Two hundred sixty-six of them left the 
plane. Then for hours they had to hold the other 83 passengers there 
and finally they let them go on to Manila. All of that because of a 
little baby a few hours or a couple of days old, one little baby, part 
of the umbilical cord was still attached. How is that baby any 
different than what people in this House, including 33 Democrats who 
have Catholic in their biographies, how is that any different from 
killing that little baby with its head held in the birth canal, 
distressing the mother, I do not know how that is supposed to help the 
mother, she is in a forced birth situation, and they take the little 
baby's brain out with suction equipment.
  Here is an item, Mr. Speaker, ``Vatican Calls Clinton Abortion Veto 
Brutal Act of Aggression.'' Here is the exact statement on April 19, 
the day I am out, that Admiral Boorda is speaking at Admiral Bulkeley's 
funeral, the same day, Patriot's Day in the United States. This in 
practice amounts to an incredibly brutal act of aggression against the 
preborn. The fact that this Presidential decision legalizes this 
inhuman procedure morally and ethically imperils the future of the 
society that condones us. The Holy See completely supports the position 
taken by the cardinals of the United States and the National conference 
of Catholic Bishops.

  Today, Mr. Speaker, in Lincoln, NE, that same town where Medal of 
Honor winner Randy Shugart was born 37 years ago, today several dozen 
Catholics were excommunicated for belonging to Planned Parenthood, a 
phony Playboy magazine group called Catholics for a Free Choice and 
several other groups, about a dozen groups. The bishop there is named 
Fabian Bruskwitz. The clerical holy gauntlet has been thrown down, Mr. 
Speaker.
  I had hoped to come to the floor tonight to talk about happy things. 
Tom Tracy, a friend of mine, is a distinguished Irish-American leader. 
I have got his great tribute in front of me, how he has honored all 
Irish-Americans. I am going to save this for next week and do Tommy 
Tracy right.
  I will close on this item, Mr. Speaker. Time magazine, April 29. My 
friend from Crossfire, Michael Kinsley, did dozens of shows with him. 
He says:
  ``Character is a tempting issue and theme for the Republicans. Part 
of the answer lies with the media. Skeptical scrutiny of Presidents, it 
seems, is on a permanent upward ratchet. This is a good thing by and 
large but it is rough on any incumbent President. Part of the answer 
lies with Clinton himself. Not that his moral failings are worse than 
other politicians.'' Whoa, Michael, do not put me in that pack.
  ``But his relative youth which is not his fault and his occasional 
callousness, which is his fault, deprive him of gravitas.'' My 4 years 
of Latin tells me that means heaviness, weight, seriousness. ``The 
anonymous novel,'' which my wife is reading, ``Primary Colors, is 
especially good on the way Clinton's bad qualities and good qualities 
are two sides of the same coin. His ability to  deliver a moving speech 
on great occasions is related to his ability to talk utter baloney with 
seeming sin-cerity.  Reagan  was a great commu-nicator. Clinton, his 
opponents say dismissively, is a masterly politician. What's the 
difference?''
  Kinsley goes on. ``His enormous hunger for approval is what has led 
him to chase voters and to chase women and his enormous capacity for 
empathy helps explain why he is apparently so good at both. The empathy 
is genuine and for all the mockery of `I feel your pain,' for all the 
telling parallels between Clinton's political and personal promiscuity, 
it is his most valuable gift as a national leader.''
  And Congressman Bob Dornan wrote in the margin, ``Ugh.''
  We have got a tough time in this country. I have never seen so many 
important people dying in any administration and I am sure there is 
nothing related or conspiratorial about it but we have got a rough 173 
days ahead of us to the next election.

                  Excerpt From Record of May 10, 1996

       ``Admiral Boorda, thank you for your very kind remarks. As 
     our Chief of Naval Operations and as a personal friend of the 
     Bulkeley family, we really appreciate your deep concern, your 
     compassion, and personal kindness from all of us. Thank you 
     again. For everyone, please sit back and relax and let me 
     tell you a story about a very special man. Typical of the 
     Admiral, he would want me to come to the point, so this is 
     what he really wanted you to know. He had no regrets of his 
     life, that he lives a long time, married the woman he loved, 
     raised a family to be proud of, and served a Navy second to 
     none.''
       Mr. Speaker, I pause here in Peter Bulkeley's opening 
     eulogy to remind you and anyone listening to this Chamber 
     proceeding that Ronald Reagan asked me to do things like 
     this, that I may have my weird detractors who do not 
     understand why I am concerned about the social decay of our 
     country, why I want even defense publications like Armed 
     Forces Journal International, or Roll Call, or the Hill, 
     Marty, why I want you to pay attention to what Billy Graham 
     said, poised on the edge of self-destruction. That is why I 
     am doing this. I want people to hear these words about a real 
     hero. Why no one showed up from this administration, 
     unbelievably. The Army did send their No. 2 man, General 
     Reimer's deputy.
       I went to another tribute a few weeks later. It was not 
     written up in the Hill or Armed Forces Journal International. 
     It was not written up there. But I went to a ceremony at 
     Arlington last Sunday where I was given some small piece of 
     thank-you for getting 5,000 warriors--men and plenty of 
     women--the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for what they did 
     in El Salvador. No Senators, no Congressmen except myself, 
     nobody from the administration. As a matter of fact, the 
     Senate and some strange blockage at the highest levels of the 
     Pentagon did not want these 5,000 male and female warriors to 
     get that medal. And now I have kicked open the door and we 
     are going to get some Bronze Stars and some combat infantry 
     badges and combat medical badges for these people. Nobody 
     showed up there. A beautiful Sunday, playing taps from the 
     grave of Army Colonel Pickett. I got to meet his dad, a 
     retired Army Colonel Picket.
       How did Colonel Picket die? On his knees with a Communist 
     bullet from the FMLN shot into the back of his head, killed 
     this young enlisted man lying wounded on the ground, the 
     copilot Captain Dawson was already dead in the cockpit of 
     their helicopter.
       When did that take place? January 1991. Nobody noticed 
     because a week later the air war of Desert Storm started.
       I will close without any more interruptions, just sit back, 
     as Peter Bulkeley says, and listen to this story of a man who 
     was a legend, and when I told Buck McKeon of our House that I 
     could not believe nobody was there, he said, ``You mean he 
     outlived his fame.''
       He said, ``If Ron Brown had lived to be Admiral Bulkeley's 
     age, in his eighties, would anybody have remembered him or 
     his less than 4 years as Commerce Secretary?''
       No, I guess if you die young, on the line, you get 
     buildings named after you. But if God gives you a good long 
     life and a beautiful family, only a few remember and show up 
     to say goodbye.
       Peter continues:
       When I pressed dad on `no regrets,' he sheepishly told me 
     with a twinkle in his eye that that wasn't quite altogether 
     true. And he finally said, I do have one regret, Pete. I 
     should have gotten a bigger boat. A destroyer is not too bad, 
     but he was the kind of

[[Page H5281]]

     guy who could have handled a super carrier. So if you are 
     contemplating a bigger boat, you know what to do.
       I will not have in my lifetime a greater honor than today 
     as an officer in our Navy and as his son, because I get to 
     talk about my dad. Admiral Boorda, Admiral Larson, 
     Superintendent at Annapolis, Admiral Trost, General Dubia, 
     the number two man in the Army, General Blott, Assistant 
     Secretary Perry, Assistant Secretary, Medal of Honor 
     recipients, two of them from Army, Vietnam, another cause for 
     freedom that Reagan and I both believed in, and so did 
     Admiral Bulkeley, representatives of the Senate, none were 
     there, and the House, one, members of the diplomatic corps, a 
     couple, allied representatives from France, they were there, 
     Philippines, Great Britain, members of our armed forces, all 
     of them in uniform, friends from Hacketstown, New Jersey, and 
     around the globe, all of those who served and knew Admiral 
     John Bulkeley, and most especially my mom, my sisters, Joan, 
     Rigina and Diana and their husbands, my brother at the organ, 
     beautiful, my wife, all eight of the Admiral's grandchildren, 
     we have come together to honor a great man, a patriot, a 
     legend, a hero in the truest sense. A husband, a father, a 
     friend; a simple man that did his duty as God gave him the 
     ability to do, and the man that tried to keep a low profile, 
     but somehow always ended up in the limelight of life.
       Admiral John Bulkeley is a legend. He devoted his entire 
     life to his country and to his Navy. Six decades of his life 
     were spent in the active defense of America. Even after 
     retirement in 1988, he remained engaged in the direction of 
     our Navy and our country. he represented the Navy and the 
     veterans at Normandy during the D-Day celebrations, laying 
     wreaths and flowers of his and our fallen comrades. He 
     provided running parallel to Utah Beach, and picking up 
     wounded soldiers from the sinking minesweeper Tide and the 
     Destroyer Cory.
       His World War II exploits would not be complete without the 
     mention of his love for destroyers, of which he would command 
     many in his years to come. As Normandy operations wound up, 
     he got his first large ship, the Destroyer Endicott, a month 
     after D-Day. I told this story about the British gunboats, 
     the two German Corvettes charging in as dawn's light broke. I 
     told that story. I want to use every minute here. Peter tells 
     it better than I did.
       When I asked about dad about that action, he said ``What 
     else could I do but engage? You fight, you win. That is the 
     reputation of our Navy, then, now, and in the future. You 
     fight, you win.''
                                                                    ____


                      [From Catholic News Service]

    Vatican Calls Clinton Abortion Veto ``Brutal Act of Aggression''

                           (By Cindy Wooden)

       President Bill Clinton's veto of the bill banning partial-
     birth abortions ''in practice amounts to an incredibly brutal 
     act of aggression'' against the unborn, the Vatican said.
       ``The fact that this presidential decision legalizes this 
     inhuman procedure morally and ethically imperils the future 
     of a society that condones, it,'' said Vatican spokesman 
     Joaquin Navarro-Valls.
       In its April 19 edition, the Vatican newspaper printed an 
     Italian translation of the April 16 letter written by eight 
     U.S. cardinals and the president of the National Conference 
     of Catholic Bishops condemning Clinton's veto of the bill.
       ``The Holy See completely supports the position taken by 
     the cardinals of the United States and the National 
     Conference of Catholic Bishops,'' Navarro-Valls said April 
     19.
       ``As has already been stated by the American cardinals, 
     this presidential decision is `more akin to infanticide than 
     to abortion,' and thus it is not surprising that 65 percent 
     of those who call themselves `pro-choice' are opposed to 
     partial-birth abortions,'' he said.
       Navarro-Valls explained to reporters at the Vatican that 
     the bill vetoed by Clinton would have banned a procedure used 
     in late-term abortions. The spokesman, who is a medical 
     doctor, said the procedure involves the partial delivery of 
     the fetus before surgical scissors are stabbed into the base 
     of its head. The brains are removed by suction, allowing for 
     easier delivery of the rest of the fetus.
       Clinton's decision to veto the bill passed by Congress is 
     ``shameful,'' the spokesman said, and ``in practice, amounts 
     to an incredibly brutal act of aggression against innocent 
     human life and the inalienable right of the unborn.''
       Naturally, this situation makes even more urgent a greater 
     solidarity in defense of the life of the unborn who cannot 
     speak for themselves,'' he said.
       Navarro-Valls said the fact that the United States will 
     hold a presidential election in November played no part in 
     the Vatican's decision to comment on Clinton's veto.
       ``The Holy See cannot say nothing,'' he said. ``This is an 
     ethical and moral problem which is very clear and very 
     serious.''
       The same day the Vatican issued a statement condemning the 
     Israeli bombing of a refugee camp in Lebanon, killing many 
     civilians, he said. ``We must also say something about this 
     attack on defenseless, unborn babies.''
       Raymond L. Flynn, the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, said 
     he was informed April 18 ``of the Holy See's disappointment 
     with the president's veto.''
                                                                    ____


                       [From Time, Apr. 29, 1996]

                           Everybody Does It

                          (By Michael Kinsley)

       In every presidential election from 1968 through 1988, the 
     Democrats nominated a goody-goody (Hubert Humphrey, George 
     McGovern, Jimmy Carter, Walter Mondale, Michael Dukakis). And 
     they lost every election during those two decades except in 
     1976, when the Republicans also nominated a goody-goody 
     (Gerald Ford). In 1992 the Democrats finally got--well, you 
     might say cynical or you might say serious. They decided they 
     wanted to win this time. So they nominated a man who is no 
     one's idea of a goody-goody. They nominated a slippery 
     politician. Not coincidentally, he is also a morally flawed 
     character with personal and (perhaps) financial peccadilloes.
       Bill Clinton had not been President more than five minutes 
     before many Democrats began reacting in horror to the 
     realization that their man was not a plaster saint. Many 
     Republicans, meanwhile, seemed resentful that the Democrats 
     had stolen the election through the devious device of 
     nominating someone who knew how to win.
       It is pretty clear now that even if Clinton is re-elected, 
     he is destined never to enjoy a period, as even Richard Nixon 
     did, of genuine and heartfelt popularity while in office. The 
     best he can probably hope for is a couple of weeks of golden-
     glow nostalgia when he leaves office in 2001 and a historical 
     reevaluation some decades down the road. It is fortunate for 
     Clinton that our voting system doesn't measure intensity of 
     feelings, because his opponents dislike him with a seething 
     passion while his supporters can rarely muster more than 
     grudging acquiescence.
       But why is that? Is Clinton's opportunistic floppery on, 
     say, balancing the budget any more egregious than Bob Dole's 
     on, say, abortion? Ronald Reagan's California business chums 
     bought him a house while he was President, to barely a peep 
     of protest; yet we are in our fourth year of pawing through 
     the much smaller financial favors Clinton's Arkansas business 
     chums tried to do him 14 years ago when he was Governor.
       Yes, of course, repeat after your mother: `` `Everybody 
     does it' is no excuse.'' But why is Clinton's ``character'' 
     such a liability to him, when by any reasonable reckoning his 
     professional and personal failings average out to a level of 
     moral compromise so typical among Presidents and presidential 
     candidates that it almost amounts to a job qualification?
       Part of the answer lies in Republican strategy. With not 
     much cooking on the foreign front, and with the economic 
     issues that usually decide elections divisible into those 
     that look pretty good right now (growth, unemployment, 
     inflation, the deficit) and those for which the Republicans 
     have nothing much to suggest (wage stagnation, middle-class 
     angst), ``character'' is naturally a tempting theme. Part of 
     the answer lies with the media. Skeptical scrutiny of 
     Presidents, it seems, is on a permanent upward ratchet. This 
     is a good thing, by and large, but rough on the incumbent. 
     And part of the answer lies with Clinton himself. Not that 
     his moral failings are worse than other politicians'. But his 
     relative youth (which is not his fault) and his occasional 
     callousness (which is) deprive him of gravitas.
       The anonymous novel Primary Colors is especially good on 
     the way Clinton's bad qualities and good qualities are two 
     sides of the same coin. His ability to deliver a moving 
     speech on great occasions is related to his ability to talk 
     utter baloney with seeming sincerity. (Reagan was a ``great 
     communicator.'' Clinton, his opponents say dismissively, is a 
     ``masterly politician.'' What's the difference?) His enormous 
     hunger for approval is what has led him to chase voters and 
     to chase women, and his enormous capacity for empathy helps 
     explain why he is apparently so good at both. The empathy is 
     genuine. And--for all the mockery of ``I feel your pain,'' 
     for all the telling parallels between Clinton's political and 
     personal ``promiscuity''--it is his most valuable gift as a 
     national leader.
       It is hard to turn this point into a useful campaign 
     slogan. ``Vote for Clinton. He's Not So Bad.'' ``Re-elect the 
     President. He's No Worse Than All the Others.'' Or ``Bill 
     Clinton: You Can't Have the French Fries Without the 
     Grease.'' I don't recommend this theme to the Democratic 
     National Committee. But it is pretty close to the truth.
       As a Clinton supporter of moderate but steady enthusiasm, 
     I've been bewildered by those liberals who've veered from 
     wild ardor in 1992 to foaming dislike in the years since. The 
     intense hatred Clinton evokes among conservatives is less 
     puzzling but still a bit strange. Not since F.D.R., probably, 
     has a Democratic President inspired such emotions in his 
     opponents. But the F.D.R. comparison merely adds to the 
     puzzle, since Clinton's agenda is far more modest and less 
     ideologically charged.
       Maybe an explanation lies in that old joke about academia, 
     where, it is said, ``the disputes are so vicious because the 
     stakes are so small.'' The differences between Bill Clinton's 
     agenda and Bob Dole's agenda are negligible in comparison 
     with our political culture's huge need for rhetoric and 
     disagreement between now and November. That means it's 
     probably going to be an especially vicious campaign.
                                                                    ____


               [From the Stars and Stripes, May 5, 1996]

                 African Armies Weakened by AIDS Virus

       Mangochi, Malawi.--In some African armies, half of the 
     soldiers are infected with

[[Page H5282]]

     the virus which causes AIDS, a conference on the disease was 
     told 24 April.
       On a continent plagued by Acquired Immune Deficiency 
     Syndrome (AIDS), the military faces extra risks and in some 
     countries like Congo, the United Nations estimates every 
     second soldier is infected with the HIV virus that causes the 
     disease.
       ``Prevalence rates in many armies of the developing world, 
     especially in Africa, are exceptionally high,'' Malawian 
     Defense Minister Justin Malewezi told an AIDS conference for 
     high-ranking military officers from 13 South and East African 
     countries.
       He said highly trained army and air force officers seemed 
     to be particularly at risk and that countries might find it 
     hard to train enough men to replace them.
       ``When the military is weakened, so too is the security of 
     the country it is intended to defend,'' Malewezi said, 
     opening the three-day meeting in the northern town of 
     Mangochi.
       Many countries in the region estimate up to a tenth of the 
     population is infected with human immuno-deficiency virus 
     (HIV).
       The World Health Organization director for Africa, Ebrahim 
     Samba, said soldiers were a high-risk group because they were 
     young, mainly between the ages of 15 and 24, sexually active 
     and away from home for long stretches at a time.
       ``They are often in search of recreation to relieve stress 
     and loneliness,'' he said in a message read to the meeting.
       ``They feel vulnerable in a profession which excuses or 
     encourages risk-taking. Off-duty soldiers can be counted on 
     to have money, but not necessarily condoms, in their 
     pockets.''
       Samba said soldiers often paid prostitutes for sex or slept 
     with women from the local community wherever they were based 
     or deployed. Drug pushers also preyed on the military.
       Stuart Kingma, a UN adviser on AIDS in the military, said 
     Zimbabwe's army had an HIV infection rate three to four times 
     higher than that in the civilian population.
       One in two of the nearly 20 million people infected with 
     the virus worldwide were in sub-Saharan Africa, he said.
       Kingma listed Congo, Uganda, Gabon, Kenya and Zimbabwe as 
     African countries where the situation in the military was 
     particularly bad.
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