[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 77 (Thursday, May 30, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E973]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           TOO MANY CAPTAINS

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                        HON. PATRICIA SCHROEDER

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 30, 1996

  Mrs. SCHROEDER. Mr. Speaker, Adm. Jeremy Boorda's suicide was a 
tragedy for his family and the Navy. But that hasn't stopped the 
vultures from circling. They were out in force before he died, and 
they're still hovering.
  First, former Navy Secretary John Lehman, who was fired by the Reagan 
administration, has been making the rounds--the Wall Street Journal and 
the Sunday morning television talk shows--with the spin of spins: He 
blames Boorda's suicide on the Navy's enemies. Guess who the Navy's 
enemies are? Anyone, myself included, who tried to clean up the 
Tailhook scandal.
  With friends like Mr. Lehman, the Navy needs no enemies. Left out of 
his disengenuous assertion is the fact the he participated in and 
condoned the Tailhook debaucheries. Gregory Vistica relates in his 
recent book, ``Fall From Glory, The Men Who Sank the U.S. Navy,'' that 
then-Secretary Lehman gyrated with a naked stripper in a room full of 
Naval officers at the 1986 Tailhook convention. That is the tawdry 
standard Mr. Lehman set for the Navy on his watch. Is it any wonder the 
orgies continued until they involved assaults on female Naval officers? 
Is it any wonder that by the time Tailhook hit the fan in 1991 it 
splattered Navy leaders at the highest echelons?
  Worse, once Tailhook became public, senior Naval officers who has 
known of and ignored the Tailhook excesses tried to contain the scandal 
and shift blame down ranks. The admirals were first into the lifeboats, 
leaving junior officers to go down with the ship. It is any wonder that 
Tailhook generated a storm of bitterness that continues to this day?
  On ABC's This Week with David Brinkley last Sunday, Mr. Lehman 
responded to questions about his behavior by accusing reporters of 
``gutter journalism.'' He was half right. He was in the gutter, not the 
reporters.
  Mr. Lehman went on to add to the Navy's list of enemies the White 
House--I don't know if he meant the Reagan White House, which forced 
his resignation, the Bush White House, or the Clinton White House. 
Probably all three--and the Senate Armed Services Committee, headed up 
by Strom Thurmond (R-SC) and Sam Nunn (D-GA). He implied that the 
committee did my bidding. Don't I wish.
  In the final analysis, Mr. Lehman, whose motto as Secretary was 
loyalty is agreeing with me, can't tolerate anyone who disagrees with 
him.
  Then we have former Secretary of the Navy James Webb, who replaced 
Mr. Lehman in 1987, but abruptly quit his post 2 years later when 
things didn't go his way. He wanted a larger Navy and a smaller Army 
and Air Force--no surprise there. And a bigger Navy with no women. In a 
recent speech--April 25--at the Naval Academy, Mr. Webb erupted with a 
volcanic attack on today's Navy, Mr. Lehman, and Admiral Boorda. The 
audience cheered. Go figure.

  Finally, we have the disgraceful case of Comdr. John E. Carey. After 
being relieved of his command for improper conduct, Commander Carey 
wrote an anonymous letter that the Navy Times unfortunately published. 
Did Commander Carey take issue with the action of his superiors? Did he 
argue the merits of his dismissal? No, he didn't mention that he had 
been sacked. Instead he launched a personal attack, a tabloid mugging, 
on Admiral Boorda, ridiculing his short stature--referring to him as 
little Mickey Boorda. Acting as if he represented the entire Navy, 
rather than one disgruntled, bitter individual, he made the lunatic 
claim that not a single officer in the Navy respected the admiral.
  So there you have it, a debaucher, a malcontent, and a calumniator. 
One was fired by President Reagan, one quit in a huff, and the other 
was relieved of his command. Yet they all claim to represent the Navy. 
They can't all be right.
  The Navy suffers from a command fixation. Everyone thinks they are 
captain of the ship. The ship is the Navy. It goes where the captain 
commands it. We've got a rabble of captains, some like Lehman and Webb 
outside the service and others inside, all jockeying to speak for the 
Navy, but all denouncing it and each other because the Navy's not 
sailing where they want it to go.
  Compare the antics of this trio with the thoughts expressed Tuesday 
by Bettie Moran Boorda, the admiral's widow. Her statement apparently 
sprang directly from Admiral Boorda's final message to the Navy he 
loved. ``Take care of each other. Be honorable. Do what is right.''

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