Dannemeyer Raps Bush on AIDS Stance

In a strongly worded letter to President Bush, Rep. William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton) lashed out Friday against the President’s personal physician and blamed the Administration for not supporting AIDS policies that might have prevented Lakers star Earvin (Magic) Johnson from becoming infected with the human immunodeficiency virus.

Dannemeyer, a strident critic of the gay rights movement, sent the letter in reply to a statement by Dr. Burton Lee, who attacked the conservative lawmaker this week for his controversial record on AIDS.

Dannemeyer told Bush that the Administration failed to back one of his amendments to an AIDS bill that would have required states to notify the sexual and needle-sharing partners of HIV-infected individuals.

Such measures have been recommended by the federal Centers for Disease Control and the American Medical Assn., Dannemeyer said, but have not been enacted into law.

“Yes, I believe Magic Johnson is a victim of the civil rights mentality that has pervaded the AIDS issue,” Dannemeyer said in his letter, “and I am convinced that he would be HIV-free today had your Administration fought for the CDC and AMA recommendations.”

Lee said in an interview printed Monday in the New York Post that Dannemeyer “takes a very subjective and prejudicial attitude” toward AIDS and federally funded research designed to help slow the spread of the lethal disease.

Lee criticized Dannemeyer and Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) for using their clout to block federally backed educational programs designed to promote safe sex practices and research into sexual behavior that might contribute to the transmission of AIDS.

Lee could not be reached for comment Friday.

In the letter mailed Thursday, Dannemeyer, who is running against Sen. John Seymour (R-Calif.) in this year’s GOP Senate primary, said that his views on AIDS are similar to those expressed by Health and Human Services Secretary Louis W. Sullivan on behalf of the Bush Administration.

Last year, Sullivan canceled a planned $18-million National Institutes of Health study of teen-age sexual practices after Dannemeyer and Helms announced their intention to fight the survey in Congress.

“Dr. Lee probably is unaware of your Administration’s official position on HIV prevention, which is very close to my own,” Dannemeyer wrote.