By
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - President Bush has chosen an openly gay Wisconsin man to direct his administration's policies on AIDS, the White House announced yesterday.
Bush selected Scott Evertz to head the new Office of National AIDS Policy, said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer. Evertz, leader of the Log Cabin Republicans in Wisconsin, is the first openly gay person nominated to an executive branch office by a Republican president.
"The president picks the best people for their jobs, regardless of what their backgrounds may or may not be, and that is why he has chosen Scott," Fleischer said. "The president respects him. He will be welcome at this White House."
Evertz is a political ally of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, former governor of Wisconsin.
The Human Rights Campaign, the country's largest gay political group, praised Evertz' appointment even while it criticized as inadequate the $1.8 billion allotment for AIDS programs in Bush's fiscal 2002 budget proposal.
"We applaud President Bush for this appointment," said Winnie Stachelberg, the group's political director. She also noted that Thompson had expressed a desire to be "personally and directly involved" in AIDS prevention efforts.
"This appointment is further evidence of his commitment," Stachelberg said. "With Evertz in place, we can now look ahead and focus on the myriad difficult issues that confront us."
Bush has faced criticism about his commitment to fighting AIDS, most recently when word surfaced that he would not seek increases for certain programs that address the disease. The White House sought to blunt those criticisms yesterday by announcing that Thompson and Secretary of State Colin Powell will head a task force, created by President Clinton, that focuses on fighting AIDS in other countries.
Bush has raised the AIDS scourge in Africa during his meetings with foreign leaders, Fleischer said, as well as with members of Congress. "It's on the president's mind, and it's something that he wants to combat," Fleischer said.
The White House said its new AIDS office will operate through a key domestic policy team and two Cabinet agencies. Evertz will be a member of the White House Domestic Policy Council, and his office will include one staff member from the State Department and another from the Department of Health and Human Services.
