From: Clinton-HQ@Campaign92.Org (Clinton/Gore '92)
Newsgroups: alt.politics.reform,alt.politics.usa.misc,alt.activism
Subject: CLINTON: Dee Dee Myers press briefing 1/27/93
Date: 27 Jan 1993 23:33:49 -0500
Organization: MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab
NNTP-Posting-Host: life.ai.mit.edu





                           THE WHITE HOUSE

                    Office of the Press Secretary

__________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                             January 27, 1993


                          PRESS BRIEFING BY
                            DEE DEE MYERS

                          The Briefing Room

4:55 P.M. EST


                                INDEX


SUBJECT                                                       PAGE   



ANNOUNCEMENTS

      Meeting with Democratic Senators of the 
         Armed Services Committee  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-3
      
      

DOMESTIC

      Gays in the Military Issue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-10
      Thurgood Marshall's Funeral. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2;6
      Codes or Standards of Conduct. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
      Ethics Orientations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
      Achtenberg/HUD Appointment?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
      Health Care Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10








                                 END                    5:20 P.M. EST

                                                        #7-01/27


                           THE WHITE HOUSE

                    Office of the Press Secretary

_____________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                January 27, 1993


                           PRESS BRIEFING
                          BY DEE DEE MYERS
      

                          The Briefing Room


5:02 P.M. EST
      
      MS. MYERS:  -- (in progress) -- we're not currently planning to
do an op.  That's all I have to report.
      
      Q  How long --
      
      MS. MYERS:  However long it takes.  I would assume it would go
at least an hour.
      
      Q  Are you going to -- come in this way, or are you going to
sneak him in the back?
      
      MS. MYERS:  We're going to sneak him through the underground
passage.  No, I don't know which way they're coming in.  I assume
they'll come into the front, as have all the other congressional
members who have met with the President today.
      
      Q  More importantly, which way will they go out?
      
      Q  -- Aspen and Christopher.
      
      MS. MYERS:  Oh, did they --
      
      Q  -- Southwest Gate.
      
      MS. MYERS:  Most of them -- most of the members have come in
through the front, and I haven't consulted them about their planned
routes of entry.
      
      Q  What's the goal?  Can you make them available at stakeout
afterwards, so that's --
      
      MS. MYERS:  I suppose that's up to them.  I think we'll have to
wait and see what the results of the meeting are, but --
      
      Q  What is the goal, Dee Dee, of the meeting?
      
      MS. MYERS:  The goal is to continue to consult on lifting the
ban on gays in the military.
      
      Q  Do you have a reaction to Nunn's speech today?  He did not
seem to back off at all from his opposition to your plan.
      
      MS. MYERS:  Well, I think he -- but he did say that he intended
to hold hearings, that he was committed to holding hearings.  He
promised Senator Moynihan that he would hold hearings before the
controversy; that he said those hearings would certainly have the
ability to change his mind; that he was not against stopping, asking
the question about whether or not people are gay on military
applications; and that I think the implication is that he's willing
to go forward with the process and to work in consultation with the
administration to get the questions answered.  He raised a lot of, I
think, important questions, and I think the process will be about
trying to answer those questions.
      
      Q  Well, it sounded like he was asking you not to do anything
until he holds those hearings.
      
      MS. MYERS:  Well, part of what -- the President's obviously
going to announce his policy on this soon.  The policy will create a
framework for continued consultation.  I think there are a lot of
very serious questions that need to be answered.  And I think what
the President wants to do is make sure that people, both military and
congressional leaders and others, have a chance to input into the
process and address those questions.
      
      Q  Also, other senators, like Senator Cohen, got on the floor
and said they were anxious to vote on amendments that would pretty
much reverse President Clinton's order on lifting the ban on gays and
attaching those to whatever piece of legislation comes along.  What's
-- has the President reacted to that?  What's your reaction?
      
      MS. MYERS:  No, I mean, obviously we're trying to avoid any
kind of battle on this in Congress.  I think that's why we spent
today -- the President spent today and Secretary Aspin spent the day
in consultation with members to make sure they know that their
concerns will be addressed and they'll continued to be addressed
throughout this process.  There are a lot of serious questions that
need to be answered.  The President recognizes that.
      
      Q  Do you still expect to go ahead with this tomorrow?
      
      MS. MYERS:  I think it should happen by tomorrow, yes.
      
      Q  Can you give us any idea of what time tomorrow -- a.m.,
p.m.?
      
      MS. MYERS:  No final decision has been made on when or how.
      
      Q  -- he's going to Marshall's funeral tomorrow, is he not,
which is at 11:00 a.m.?
      
      MS. MYERS:  Correct.
      
      Q  So that pretty much --
      
      MS. MYERS:  I believe that's at 11:00 a.m., right?
      
      Q  That ties up the morning, does it not?
      
      MS. MYERS:  Of -- well, 11:00 a.m.  I think we'll just have to
wait and see.  I mean, I think we'll wait and see what happens at the
meeting at 6:00 p.m. and make a decision following that meeting.
      
      Q  Were Republicans asked to come to this meeting or were they
not asked to come --
      
      MS. MYERS:  No, I don't believe so, just Democrats.
      
      Q  Do you know why that was, or --
      
      MS. MYERS:  Well, I think he wants to continue to work with
Democratic leaders on it.
      
      Q  Does he not want to work with Republicans leaders on it?
      
      MS. MYERS:  No, but I think for this particular meeting he
wants to meet with the Democrats on the committee.  And Senator Nunn
will be there as well.
      
      Q  Dee Dee, you said that the announcement would create a
framework for continued consultations.  But will the end result be
foreordain?
      
      MS. MYERS:  Well, the President is committed to lifting the ban
on gays in the military, on the basis of orientation.  And I think
he's been very clear about that.  The question is -- what he's said
all along is he wants to continue to work with military and
congressional leaders to do that in a way that is not disruptive and
that continues to protect morale and integrity issues that are unique
to the military.
      
      Q  Some folks on Capitol Hill say that that's the problem, that
if the result is foreordain, then that starts the fight, that there
will be a floor amendment and you've got an early showdown on this
issue --
      
      MS. MYERS:  Well, we're working with people on the Hill, with
members of Congress, to try to avoid that.  But the President has
made his position clear.  He intends to move forward with lifting the
ban.
      
      Q  Is he going to tell them, is he going to inform the
Democrats in the Senate Armed Services Committee, in tonight's
meeting, that he's going to make an announcement tomorrow, and what
will be in it?  Will he go into detail about what he will say
tomorrow?
      
      MS. MYERS:  I think it'll be a two-way conversation.  I don't
know whether they'll work out specific details of when and how the
announcement will be made.  I assume it will come up.  
      
      Q  Is this a notification meeting?
      
      MS. MYERS:  It's part of a two-way conversation.  I mean, I
think that it is -- the President has made it very clear what his
intention is in this.  But he wants to work with Congress.  I think
he's gone -- he's really taken -- made a great effort today to reach
out to them and to continue to consult with the members, to invite
them here this afternoon to have one final conversation on this
before he says anything about what his policy is.
      
      Q  How did he make a great effort to reach out?
      
      MS. MYERS:  I think there have been numerable conversations
between the White House, Secretary Aspin and members of Congress,
both today and yesterday, phone calls.  This is the second meeting
with congressional leaders.  There have been meetings on other
topics, but there's been a lot of contact back and forth on this.  
      
      Q  Did he make any modifications to his policy?
      
      MS. MYERS:  I think that there's been a lot of input into this. 
And I don't know of any specific modifications.  I'm not saying that
there aren't any, I just don't know of any specific modifications. 
But I think that there will be plenty of time to continue to have
input into this.
      
      Q  Are you still looking at the two-step plan that's been
widely discussed?
         
      MS. MYERS:  The President will announce his policy, but I would
say that's not far off.  
      
      Q  Dee Dee, let me ask you this question.  What Sam Nunn, at
least the way I heard him say it, he's asking the White House not to
do anything yet; let there be this cooling-off period for him to hold
hearings; and then some months down the road when they can answer
these questions systematically, then the White House can do what it
wants to do; and then those members of Congress, if they want to seek
legislation, they can do what they want to do.  Will the President do
anything tomorrow that changes the status quo on how the U.S.
military deals with homosexuals?
      
      MS. MYERS:  Without announcing the President's policy for him,
and without putting words in Senator Nunn's mouth, I think the
Senator said -- and I don't have a transcript in front of me, so I
will refer you back to that -- but I think he said he wouldn't have
any problem if the military stopped asking questions about status.
      
      Q  Dee Dee, all this concern about status and orientation,
minus conduct, is the President not really saying it?  And you all
have declined to address the issue of conduct, at least from the
podium, leaving that for tomorrow or later.  But it is presumed the
President will not deal with that until later -- that will be a part
of the overhaul of the military's code of conduct.  Is it not
somewhat less than ending discrimination against gays in the service
to say the ban is dropped based on status, what you say -- what a
person declares his sex -- his or her sexual preference to be --
we're still thinking about conduct and homosexual and heterosexual
conduct may in fact be treated differently?
      
      MS. MYERS:  But I don't think any of those decisions have been
made yet.  I think that's what -- those are among the complicated and
difficult decisions that have to be made.  I think there's always
been a code of conduct.  I think they call it Standards of Behavior
in the military that are different than those in civilian life.  And
there are a lot of things that, I think Senator Nunn pointed out,
that there are standards of behavior in the military that are very
specific.  And how you go about integrating homosexuals into the
military and creating a standard of conduct or what have you that is
workable is a complicated question, and I think one that will be
addressed in the coming weeks and months.

      Q  Then let me follow that by asking if the President has made
a personal decision -- whether or not it's a part of policy he'll lay
out tomorrow -- about whether homosexual conduct should be treated
differently in the military.
      
      MS. MYERS:  I think that that is part of what has to be
explored.  I think the President wants to continue to work with
people to address their concerns and to look at all sides of the
issue before he makes a decision on that.
      
      Q   Do you know whether he knows himself personally, though?
      
      MS. MYERS:  No, I think he's -- I think that that's part of
what this process will be about -- is addressing complicated
questions like that.
      
      Q  Dee Dee, you've said that this would be a -- the
announcement will include a framework for continued consultations and
then you said the two-step plan is not far off.  Would you describe
tomorrow as -- tomorrow's policy as a first step, a preliminary step,
something like that?
      
      MS. MYERS:  He'll outline his policy -- it will not be -- I
think it's the beginning rather than the -- I don't want to
overcharacterize, but I would say that it -- it's not -- it will not
be -- it will not answer every single question.  It is not intended
to answer every single question about conduct and behavior.  There
needs to be additional consultation, and I think it will take more
time for all the questions to be worked out.
      
      Q  But it will do something or will it just be a framework for
consultation?
      
      MS. MYERS:  I think you'll have to wait -- it will -- he will
take some action tomorrow.
      
      Q  -- from what you said that the President does not have very
many answers to all these questions, that a lot remains to be worked
out.  Why is he then going ahead with even step one at this point? 
Why not wait until he can answer the question?
      
      MS. MYERS:  Well, because that's what the process is about,
answering the questions.  You have to start before you can end.  And
I think tomorrow -- I mean, what he said he would do is to action
with this quickly and to move toward ending the ban on gays in the
military based simply on orientation.  That's what he will do, and
you'll have to wait and see what the details of his policy are, but I
don't think anyone should expect that all the questions will be
answered tomorrow.
      
      Q  The military is currently processing several people for
discharge because they have been identified as homosexuals.  Will the
action tomorrow address that question -- what happens to those
pending cases?
      
      MS. MYERS:  I don't know.  I'll have to get back to you on
that.
      
      Q  Dee Dee, has some question, ethical question, been raised
about members of the administration attending tonight's Congressional
dinner?
      
      MS. MYERS:  I think that we're all going through a process of
ethics orientation right now.  As you know, the President is very
committed to high standards.  And all new staff members are required
to go to an ethics orientation.  In fact, I'm late to mine now, but I
think there was some question about interpretation of that, and I
think it's being reevaluated.
      
      Q  You mean that -- will members of the administration be
allowed to go to the dinner tonight?  I mean --
      
      MS. MYERS:  I think so, yes.  I think so.  
      
      Q  Is he going to the dinner tonight?
      
      MS. MYERS:  I don't believe so.  
      
      Q  Is he going -- for those of us who are designated poolers,
is he going anywhere tonight?

      MS. MYERS:  I don't believe he has any travel plans tonight,
but I always leave that caveat open.  No, obviously we'll put a lid
on as soon as we can.
      
      Q  There's a pretty widespread rumor that Roberta Achtenberg is
going to be appointed to a position at HUD.  Is that true?
      
      MS. MYERS:  I can't comment on that until an announcement might
be ready.  
      
      Q  There have been suggestions by some that the President does
not fully understand the feelings of the military on this issue -- on
the gay issue -- because he did not serve in the military.   Would
the President disagree; and is that relevant?
      
      MS. MYERS:  I think he would disagree.  I think he's had a
number of conversations with people, starting with Colin Powell,
several days after the election.  He's talked to a number of people
throughout this process as have members of the staff.  I think he's
well aware of people's feelings, and I think he's sensitive to them. 
But I also think he believes that it's never easy to make progress on
civil rights issues; that this was going to be difficult; he knew it
would be difficult when he made the decision to overturn the ban. 
And he's still committed to moving forward with it.
      
      Q  Dee Dee, what's he planning on doing tomorrow besides the
Marshall funeral and maybe action on this?
      
      MS. MYERS:  He'll have -- I don't believe he has any other
public events on his schedule.
      
      Q  What issues is he going to be working on?  Attorney general
or --
      
      MS. MYERS:  I'm sure he'll spend some time on Attorney General. 
He'll spend some time on domestic policies, some time on economic
policy.  He's spending --
      
      Q  National Security Council?
      
      MS. MYERS:  Not that I know of.  
      
      Q  And you would expect him to have no sort of public meetings
with the possible attorney general candidates, is that correct?
      
      MS. MYERS:  I don't know.  I don't know of any that are on his
schedule right now.
      
      Q  Any news conferences scheduled in the near future?
      
      MS. MYERS:  Nothing scheduled, but we'll have one soon.
      
      Q  This week?
      
      MS. MYERS:  I don't know.  Probably not.  
      
      Q  Ronald Reagan used to say that, too. (Laughter.)
      
      Q  Would say that the Joint Chiefs at this particular -- would
you say at this particular point that the Joint Chiefs are happy or
satisfied, let's put it that way, with the two-step process?
      
      MS. MYERS:  I don't want to characterize their opinion about
this process, but I do think that they had a good meeting with the
President; they felt that he listened to them; that they had a
meaningful exchange; and that they'll continue to be consulted in
this process.  So I think that they're satisfied with the level of
communication.  And I think that they'll be consulted throughout this
process.
      
      Q  Who's idea was it to make it this sort of process or was
that.  I mean, did this come from the military, this two-tracked
approach, or --
      
      MS. MYERS:  I think there have been a number of people who have
contributed to this.  And I think they've -- the President has taken
opinions from every -- ultimately, it's his decision.  But he has
entertained advice and counsel from a number of people in Congress,
in private life, in the military on this.
      
      Q  Dee Dee, how much has the content of his announcement on
gays in the military changed as a result of all of this consultation
in recent days with the military and the Congress?
      
      MS. MYERS:  I think that certainly he hesitated or waited to
make final decisions on things because he wanted to make sure the
people had a chance to input, and his goal is still the same.  I
think that there will  -- again this is the beginning of the process
in some ways and there will continue to be ample avenue for
consultation.  This isn't something that he's going to do without
looking carefully at the implications in terms of the military's
ability to do its job and to carry out its function.
      
      Q  I'm trying to get to how much influence or impact on him all
this consultation has had.
      
      MS. MYERS:  Again, he withheld making final decisions until he
had a chance to talk with a number of people, both in the military,
in Congress, in other places.
      
      Q  So it changed the timing, but did -- can you say whether it
changed the content -- 
         
      MS. MYERS:  Not without -- because we never said what the
content was.  He didn't make final decisions on it.  And so it has
had impact on him, of course.  I mean, that's what this process is
about.
      
      Q  But just to make sure on terminology, you and George keep
using the term "status" when referring to this.  I assume when you're
using the word "status", you mean sexual preference, sexual
orientation?
      
      MS. MYERS:  Correct.
      
      Q  Dee Dee, are you now guiding us away from the widespread
reports today and over the past few days that he is going to announce
this two-step plan that --
      
      MS. MYERS:  No, I think we're just trying not to announce the
plan before the President has a chance to announce the plan.
      
      Q  So you're not guiding us away from the idea that this plan
is going to include the halt to asking recruits about their sexual
preferences and stopping any legal proceedings against those who are
in the process of being kicked out?
      
      MS. MYERS:  I would not guide you away from that.  I would only
say that the President will announce his plan tomorrow.
      
      Q  But then what has materially changed here to -- I mean, in
the process of getting this input and this guidance and this
consultation, this is what we've expected him to do all along,
granted --
      
      MS. MYERS:  Correct.
      
      Q  -- may be slightly different at the margins, but where's the
result of all this input?
      
      MS. MYERS:  Well, there's a process that will begin and I think
is important for people to know -- members of Congress and others --
that they will be thoroughly consulted throughout the process, that
this isn't something that's going to be ordained upon them, that it's
something that they'll be expected to participate in, that their
concerns will be addressed, that their questions will be answered.  I
think certainly the Joint Chiefs had a lot of questions that need to
be answered in this process.  Senator Nunn raised a lot of questions
that he has and said he would hold hearings on it.  All of those
opinions will be considered.  And I think that the consultation, in
addition to sort of listening to how they think this should be
handled, was to reassure them that they will be -- the President
expects to work with them throughout this process.
      
      Q  You mean, in the implementation of an executive order, but
not in the short-term steps that he plans to take?
      
      MS. MYERS:  Well, there's not -- he has made up his mind about
the issue itself.  He believes that the ban should be overturned
against gays serving in the military on the basis of status.  He was
not open to changing his mind on that.  That's something he'd given a
great deal of thought to before, had talked to a number of people
about before, and made a decision on and talked about throughout the
campaign.  Now, once you go -- then you talk about how you implement
it in a way that recognizes the issues that are particular to the
military.  That's a complicated question.  It's something that he
will continue to work on.
      
      Q  Has the administration done anything on this that you
regret?  Any mistakes you've made in handling this issue since the
election?
      
      MS. MYERS:  No, I think he's gone forward in as forthright a
manner as possible.  It's certainly taken up a -- as he pointed out,
a lot of your time and attention, but I think he feels like he's
moving forward, working with the people he needs to work with.  And
he's committed to this.
      
      Q  Flawlessly handled in terms of who you consulted with and
the timing of when you consulted with everybody?
      
      MS. MYERS:  You know, the consultation process has been
ongoing.  I think George pointed out today that John Holum has spent
more than 40 hours in meetings with Congress just during the
transition.  Certainly there's been a lot of contact -- phone calls
and meetings -- in the last couple of days.  I think there's been an
enormous amount of consultation.  And it's certainly our intention to
continue that.  It's not always perfect.  As hard as you try, there
are a lot of members and a lot of people who have thoughts and strong
feelings about this.  And so it's not always possible, I think, to do
as good a job as you start out to.  But I think the President feels
he's reached out, he's worked very hard to do that.  And he is moving
forward with this as well as could be hoped.
      
      Q  Dee Dee, will your policy change deal at all with this whole
issue of security clearances where the questions about sexual
preference are a lot more penetrating than they are merely when you
go through the recruiting process?
      
      MS. MYERS:  I don't know the answer to that.
      
      Q  Dee Dee, do you know how your calls are running on this?
      
      MS. MYERS:  I don't have specific numbers on it.  We're
receiving quite a few calls on it.
      
      Q  Trend?
      
      MS. MYERS:  I would say that they're not all in favor. 
(Laughter.)  There's -- certainly, this is controversial, and there's
some opposition and some organized opposition to it, as there are on
issues of this nature.
      
      Q  Is Stan Greenberg or anyone else polling for the White House
on this issue?
      
      MS. MYERS:  Not that I know of.  There's been a lot of
independent polling -- I mean, non -- your guys polling on it.  
      
      Q  --
      
      MS. MYERS:  Not that I know of.
      
      Q  And are you keeping track of the phone calls?
      
      MS. MYERS:  I don't know what procedure's been set up for that
yet.  There's some.  I mean, there's some tracking, but I don't know
how we're -- exactly how that works yet.
      
      Q  Dee Dee, during his first meeting with members of Congress
after the election, the President said that Pennsylvania Avenue would
once again be a two-way street.  Here you have Democrats in Congress
saying this is the wrong fight at the wrong time.  And yet you said
just a moment ago that Clinton is not open to changing his mind on
the basic issue.  How is that -- how does that make Pennsylvania
Avenue a two-way street?
      
      MS. MYERS:  I think it is a two-way street.  I think members
have had enormous ability to input, not only on this issue, but today
he had members in of the House and Senate budget committees in to
talk about his economic plan.  He's talked to them about a variety of
other issues.  As you know, yesterday he had a meeting with the
leadership on health care.  He's already established a process where
he'll meet with bipartisan leadership every other week -- or actually
every week -- to discuss a wide range of issues.  
      
      I think that Congress feels like the communication between the
White House and the Hill has been excellent so far.  And I think
members have been very impressed by the President's commitment and
breadth of knowledge.  I think there's a lot of people on the Hill, a
lot of members who believe that this is the right thing to do, and
there are some who disagree with that.  I don't think you'll ever get
consensus on timing on controversial issues.  That's not possible. 
But in terms of general approach, I think the President's getting
very high marks for his communication with Congress.
      
      Q  Isn't this only a case of the President welcoming input as
long as it's on doing things his way and doing the things that he
wants?
      
      MS. MYERS:  On the broad question of this particular issue --
civil rights issue -- the President has made a decision.  A civil
rights decision changing those kinds of policies are difficult.  They
do not lend themselves to unanimity. That's a fact of life.  But, in
general, I think there are broad areas of consultation on everything
from health care to economic policy.  I think there's been a
tremendous amount of exchange of information in the last week since
the President was inaugurated, and I think that will continue.  And I
think that they're not going to agree -- Congress and the President
are not going to agree on every single element of every single issue. 
But I think the American people believe that people should not be
excluded from serving their country on the basis of their sexual
orientation; and I think there's a lot of people in Congress who feel
that way; and the President certainly feels that way.  And so he's
moving forward with a policy that not everybody agrees with.  But he
believes it's the right thing to do.
      
      Q  Will members of Congress -- dealing with the President -- in
the course of the next four years encounter other subjects on which
the President has already made up his mind and is not open to change
--
      
      MS. MYERS:  Well, I think he's made up his --
      
      Q  -- discussion on how to implement his wishes.
      
      MS. MYERS:  Health care reform is certainly an issue that's
like that.  He's made up his mind that he's for health care reform. 
He's going to push a broad health care reform package.  Now, there's
going to be a lot of opportunity for input on that as there was
yesterday.  Most of yesterday's meeting with the bipartisan leaders
focused on health care issues.  I think you're going to see a lot of
consultation.  Not everybody's going to agree with the final package,
but there will be a lot of opportunity for input, and I think that
people at the end of the process will feel like they've been broadly
consulted.  And I think that's what Congress hopes for and that's
what they'll -- that's what they're going to get.  The President's
committed to it.
      
      THE PRESS:  Thank you.

                                 END                    5:20 P.M. EST


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