Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” imminent

By Zach W On May 31, 2010 · 8 Comments · In Equality, News

By a vote of 229-186, the House of Representatives voted on Friday to support a repeal of the military’s “don’t ask don’t tell” (DADT) policy that prohibits gays from serving openly in the military, while the Senate Armed Services Committee voted 16-12 in favor of that body’s version of the change. Both versions of the repeal, which were offered as amendments to a defense spending bill, would remove DADT only after the Pentagon completes a study, due in December, on the impact of the repeal on the military. Following the vote in the House, Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA), who introduced the amendment, issued a statement, saying, “I will not rest until the repeal of this discriminatory policy that hurts national security is signed into law.”

It’s important to note the repeal would go into effect only after the results of the military’s study of the issue is released, with the president, the defense secretary and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff having the ultimate authority to implement repeal if and when they are satisfied that the military’s readiness, recruiting, retention and morale would not be adversely impacted by repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

Speaking about the possibility of a repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” Sen. Russ Feingold issued a statement:

“We are now a couple steps closer to repealing a law that wrongly discriminates against patriotic Americans who want to serve their country. Discrimination has no place in American society, especially when it undermines our national security by hampering military readiness. I applaud my colleagues on the Senate Armed Services Committee and the House of Representatives for voting to repeal the law banning gays from the military and I look forward to an end to this harmful policy.”

A repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” is long overdue, and I’m glad lawmakers have taken action to bring a lot more equality to the United States armed forces.

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8 Responses to Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” imminent

Laurie G says:

May 31, 2010 at 9:31 am

Unfortunately, the House tied DADT to the F-35 engine that both Gates & Obama do not want and threatened to veto the defense bill if legislation crosses his desk including the continued funding of the F-35. (Even if it contains DADT.)

The Senate bill does not have the F-35 in it….so if passed and the bills go to reconciliation, the House engine amendment needs to be dropped and the House needs to re-vote to approve the changes.

By adding in the F-35 funding amendment, was the only way DADT passed the House with enough votes. It was done to 1) move it to the Senate for a vote and 2) to put Obama in the situation of having to veto DADT to deny funding the F-35…welcome to equality.

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2010/5/28/204454/110
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- Zach W says:
  
  May 31, 2010 at 10:13 am
  
  Yeah, I did read that they had included the F-35 engine in the bill, so it will be interesting to see if it will be removed through reconciliation. However, even though the Senate version does not have the F-25 engine in it, I wouldn’t be surprised if it got added, because if memory serves me Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio is a proponent of the extra F-35 engine.
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  - Laurie G says:
    
    May 31, 2010 at 10:16 am
    
    Yes…it is built in his state.
    
    http://brown.senate.gov/newsroom/press_releases/release/?id=7a0a055f-409b-4e71-8537-20138af48bf8
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    - Zach W says:
      
      May 31, 2010 at 10:17 am
      
      Yeah, so like I said, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if it ended up in the bill. This is one of those situations where a line-item veto would sure be a great thing.
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Shiva says:

May 31, 2010 at 9:38 am

A thought. Remove the words “and other purposes” that pervades every single bill put in, and force them to make bills that only have one subject in them. The majority of gays dont use jet engines on a regular basis even in the military
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bofcudahy says:

June 1, 2010 at 2:59 pm

It’s really irritating they can link completely unrelated things in bills, but I suppose that’s politics and necessary for compromise.
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- Shiva says:
  
  June 1, 2010 at 5:54 pm
  
  aye you may be right.
  
  But then again sticking to one subject might help the helpless
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- Laurie G says:
  
  June 1, 2010 at 5:59 pm
  
  It is all grouped under the “Defense Spending Bill”. Jet engines for fighter jets and repeal DADT for military personnel.
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