‘87 Raise Goes to 3 Charities : Dornan Now Makes Good on Promise

Finally true to his word, Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) Tuesday donated his 1987 congressional pay raise to charitable organizations, including two AIDS hospices.

The money--about $9,300 after deductions for taxes and social security and including interest--will be divided about equally among a World War II airplane museum in Chino and hospices in Long Beach and New York City.

Dornan announced last March that he would refuse to accept his portion of the 1987 raise. He joined in a lawsuit to have the raise invalidated, but that effort failed Nov. 28 when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that Congress’s pay-raise system is constitutional.

Members of Congress are paid $89,500 annually and receive numerous perquisites. The salary is scheduled to rise to $135,000 Feb. 8 unless Congress votes to stop it.

While the lawsuit over the 1987 raise was pending, Dornan told a group of homosexual activists Sept. 18 at a town hall meeting in Garden Grove that he had donated his last raise to AIDS hospices. As it turned out, however, the 1987 raise was in an escrow account pending the outcome of the court case.

It was at that community meeting that Dornan’s wife, Sallie, defended her husband’s record in regard to homosexuals and added dramatically that her brother was gay and dying of acquired immune deficiency syndrome. The brother later surfaced to deny the assertion. He also voluntarily took an AIDS test, whose results were negative.

In choosing the charities that would receive the funds, Dornan pointedly left out the Visibility League of Orange County, whose members had confronted Dornan at the community meeting.

Brian Bennett, Dornan’s chief of staff, said the league was not included “because they are a militant organization that promotes the legalization and legitimization of the homosexual life style. The emphasis is on militant. “

Disappointment Expressed

Jeff Le Tourneau, co-chairman of the Visibility League, said his group was disappointed with Dornan’s choice of recipients.

“We had requested that the money be donated for the foundation of an Orange County AIDS hospice,” Le Tourneau said. “Once again the congressman has show that he is willing to neglect the needs of his own constituents in order to fulfill his own political and ideological agenda.”

The Long Beach hospice Dornan selected is run by Beyond Rejection Ministries and has about 30 beds. Dornan said the hospice is operated under the auspices of Courage, which he described as “a Catholic support group dedicated to helping homosexuals live their lives in accord with Judeo-Christian teachings.”

Bennett said the hospice “encourages abstinence for people who believe they are homosexuals (and) encourages giving it up for people who do not believe they are homosexuals but engage in the practices.”

The New York hospice, called the Gift of Love, was founded 3 years ago by Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

The third check for about $3,100 was mailed Tuesday to Planes of Fame in Chino, a nonprofit museum that maintains about 100 operational airplanes, most from World War II. Dornan was an Air Force pilot in the 1950s and served in the Air Force Reserve from 1958 to 1975.

“The museum serves as a reminder of the courage and sacrifice of the men and women in our nation’s military air services,” Dornan said in announcing the donation.

No Decision on 1989 Raise

Now that the matter of the 1987 pay raise has been tidied up, Dornan is faced with the prospect of deciding what to do about the even bigger one due to begin this month.

Bennett said Dornan opposes the current raise but has not yet decided whether to accept it. Dornan’s decision will depend on whether members of Congress also will be restricted in accepting honorariums, Bennett said.

If Dornan “decides not to accept this pay raise but they also say ‘no honorariums’ as a result of the pay raise--that really is a serious cut in salary for him,” Bennett said.

Bennett said Dornan received about $5,000 in honorariums last year--less than in previous years because Dornan campaigned heavily for George Bush.