Bill Bennett: “General Babbitt agreed that he would do whatever he could within the constraints of the policy laid down by the Air…”

“General Babbitt agreed that he would do whatever he could within the constraints of the policy laid down by the Air Force to give us intelligent management of this problem. That is the first sign of cooperation that I have seen out of this administration since this issue first arose. So, Mr. President, because General Babbitt has made it clear, now that we have had our hearings in the Armed Services Committee, we have had our hearings in the Appropriations Committee, we have had our meeting with the Secretary of the Air Force, and we have had our meeting with him, that he will do what he can to address the issue within the constraints placed upon him by his civilian superiors to try to solve the problem, I am announcing my willingness to no longer insist that his nomination be held up. ... I am in no way backing down from my conviction that this administration is shamelessly playing politics on this issue and has involved the uniformed services in a way that is totally inappropriate.”