WASHINGTON – Scott Evertz, the openly homosexual director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, has broken ranks with President George W. Bush's stated opposition to needle-exchange schemes, endorsing government-funded "clean needle" programs in an interview that appeared in two homosexual newspapers.
During last year's presidential campaign, Bush assailed needle-exchange programs, saying they "signal nothing but abdication."
On Wednesday, White House spokeswoman Mercy Viana said that Evertz's comments do not reflect official administration policy: "We do not support federal funding of needle-exchange programs."
The next day, the administration issued this statement: "The president's advisers bring different perspectives to the table, but ultimately the president makes the decision, and he is opposed to needle exchange."
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