Legislative Action Center

Links

The American Voice Institute of Public Policy Blogs the Issues!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

House Passes Repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

 By Joel P. Rutkowski, Ph.D., President

On Thursday, May 27, 2010, the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives, as an amendment to a defense bill (National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011(H.R.5136), delivered a major victory to radical homosexual activist groups, as House members voted 234-194 to repeal the policy of " Don't Ask, Don't Tell," (DADT) that bars openly homosexual service members from serving in the military.  Five Republicans voted for the amendment, while 26 Democrats voted against it

Also, voting for changing the policy on Thursday, May 27, 2010, was the Senate Armed Services Committee which voted 16-12 in favor.  Republican Senator of Maine Susan Collins voted with the Democrats to change the policy while Democrat Senator of Virginia James Webb voted with 11 Republicans in opposition to the change.  In a closed-door session the Senate committee debated the issue for more than an hour that was described as “vigorous and aggressive” by US Senator of Maine Susan Collins (R).  The issue is likely to be considered in June by the full Senate.  And it is very possible the amendment will face a filibuster when it reaches the Senate floor.  

In a statement, President Barack Obama hailed the votes and said that the "legislation will help make our Armed Forces even stronger and more inclusive by allowing gay and lesbian soldiers to serve honestly and with integrity."

 Pentagon's Perspective of DADT

 The policy change has been endorsed by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen.  However, they have emphasized that its impact on the troops must first be examined by the Pentagon.  In testimony before Congress in February Admiral Mike Mullen has said he supports repeal, calling it "the right thing to do.”

 However, Congress should wait for the Pentagon to finish its study said the heads of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. Studying the issues around gays serving openly as part of a broad review of homosexuality in the military, which will include surveys of thousands of service members and their families, has been started by a Pentagon panel. The report is tentatively to be delivered to Congress on December 1, 2010, from the panel led by General Carter Ham, the commander of the United States Army in Europe, and the Pentagon's top legal counsel Jeh C Johnson. According to the amendment passed by the House, once the report is finished, repealing the ban must be determined to be non-disruptive to the military and must be certified by the White House and senior Pentagon leadership.  Final repeal will occur within 60 days once that certification is made. 

It has been reported that some homosexuals worry that if they publicly acknowledge their sexual orientation how will the repeal process work and whether they will be treated differently. Concerns about being harassed, assigned to separate barracks or shunned by colleagues who had been friendly before have been raised by some.

The current policy actually allows for a lot of protections against homosexual serving in the military and it has been reported by the New York Times that a 29-year-old lesbian in the Army National Guard believes that “Getting rid of it completely without modifying it is kind of worrisome. The number of incidents against gays in the military is going to increase.”

Repealing of the ban leaves many questions unanswered.  For example, the commandant of the Marine Corps has advocated openly gay service members should be placed in separate housing.  Will this be the accepted protocol for homosexual service members? To prepare heterosexual officers and enlisted service members to serve with openly gay soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines, what training will they receive? If any, will partners of homosexual service members be accorded the same benefits as married service members?  And will homosexuals be treated the same by all military units?

 Currently, federal law prohibits same-sex partners from receiving the financial and health care benefits that heterosexual spouses receive from the military.  However, in 2009 the State Department offered equal benefits and protections to same-sex partners of US diplomats.

To ease concerns among U.S. troops about a legislative repeal of the military's ban on openly gay men and lesbians, passed by the House of Representatives, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates said in a video on Friday, May 28, 2010, that a long, careful review process lay ahead. Secretary Gates said he did not expect the Senate to pass a repeal for months, perhaps not until the end of the year. Even then, the legislation would have to be signed by President Barack Obama and final approval would have to be given by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen. However, all three are on the record in support of repealing the policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," that bars openly homosexual service members from serving in the military. Furthermore, in his January State of the Union address President Barack Obama declared that he would work this year "with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are."

Secretary Gates decided to make the video to address "a lot of political posturing and maneuvering on this issue this week," said Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell according to a Reuters report.  Morrell added that, "He wanted to make it clear that the department's review of how to smartly implement a change in the law is more important than ever, and their participation in it is absolutely critical to its success."

Reuters reported on May 29, 2010 that Mr. Gates said, "Every man and woman in uniform is a vitally important part of this review. We need to hear from you and your families so that we can make these judgments in the most informed and effective manner.  So please let us know how to do this right."

Also, Secretary Gates said, "current law, policies and regulations remain in place, and we're obligated to abide by them as before" despite current legislation under consideration in Congress.

Also, reiterating their support for completing review of the current policy prior to Congress acting are the chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines -- all members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  And they also believe that delaying legislative action until the review is complete would indicate to service members their views matter. 

A Baptist Press report on May 27, 2007, said that Chief of Staff of the US Army George W. Casey Jr. said, "I remain convinced that it is critically important to get a better understanding of where our soldiers and families are on this issue, and what the impacts on readiness and unit cohesion might be, so that I can provide informed military advice to the President and Congress. I also believe that repealing the law before the completion of the review will be seen by the men and women of the Army as a reversal of our commitment to hear their views before moving forward."   Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead said. "My concern is that legislative changes at this point, regardless of the precise language used, may cause confusion on the status of the law in the Fleet and disrupt the review process itself by leading sailors to question whether their input matters." Chief of Staff of the Air Force General Norton Schwartz said, "I believe it is important, a matter of keeping faith with those currently serving in the Armed Forces, that the Secretary of Defense commissioned review be completed before there is any legislation to repeal the DADT law.... To do otherwise, in my view, would be presumptive and would reflect an intent to act before all relevant factors are assessed, digested and understood."  And Commandant of the Marine Corps General James Conway said, “I encourage the Congress to let the process the Secretary of Defense created to run its course. Collectively, we must make logical and pragmatic decisions about the long-term policies of our Armed Forces -- which so effectively defend this great nation."

Religious Liberty Protections

Religious liberty concerns are not resolved by the “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” law.  A robust statutory religious liberty protections to ensure that service members do not lose their liberties must accompany any repeal of current law at a minimum. 

In a letter to President Barack Obama and Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates in late April, forty-one chaplains from several denominations wrote that the careers of many, if not most, military chaplains would end if the policy is overturned, either because they would be pressured to leave or would leave voluntarily.   And the biblical texts that chaplains are permitted to preach on could be affected by a policy change.

Service Members' Concern

The Associated Press reported that troops with concerns about the repeal are less willing to speak freely because the vote makes the outcome clear, a senior defense official said on May 28, 2010.  The official, who is knowledgeable about the troop consultations, was not authorized to discuss the Pentagon response and spoke on condition of anonymity.  Service members had been told that nothing would happen quickly and were assured that the Pentagon would take their individual concerns into account.  Some feel double-crossed, the official said.  Over the past week at town-hall style events, troops were encouraged to share any doubts about the repeal, and they aired misgivings about the political process.

Recent Poll

The Family Research Council (FRC) said in a report released on Wednesday, May 26, 2010, that secret homosexuals in the military are three times more likely to commit sexual assaults than heterosexuals.  The report found 8.2 percent were homosexual in nature, mostly male on male after analyzing the Armed Forces' own data on more than 1,600 sexual assaults.  And by using the assumption that 2.7 percent of the military is homosexual — a statistic derived from surveys of the general population — FRC based its estimate of the likelihood of homosexual assaults on a comparison to those by heterosexuals.

A Zogby International poll, commissioned by the FRC, surveyed 2,063 voters between May 14 and May 17 and had a 2.2 margin of error. It found 59 percent of Americans believe military leaders would be best suited to decide whether homosexuals should be allowed to serve openly in the military compared with 23 percent who said Congress would be best at making that decision. And 18 percent reported they were unsure or thought neither should decide.

Final Thoughts

President Barack Obama, as a political payoff to radical homosexual activists, is willing to sacrifice the greatest military in the world. To appease these groups the President and the Democratic-controlled Congress are willing to conduct a massive social experiment to see if the open presence of homosexuality works within a high-pressure combat environment.  Prior to the Pentagon completing its study on repealing DADT, the Congress should not pass legislation pressuring the military to embrace a radical revolution blindly forcing the rank-and-file military into an environment of compromised morale.

The policy that requires gay men, lesbians and bisexuals to keep their sexual orientation secret if they want to serve was denounced by US Representative of Massachusetts Barney Frank (D), who is openly homosexual, in a floor speech on May 27, 2010. He indicated that the Israeli military, which he called “as effective a fighting force as has existed in modern times,” does not bar gay men or lesbians from service.” However, the Israeli military, which Mr. Frank called “as effective a fighting force as has existed in modern times,” was unable to defeat the Islamic terrorist group Hamas in the war in Gaza in late 2008 and was unable to defeat the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah in Lebanon in the 2006 Lebanon War (Israel-Hezbollah War ).   Unfortunately, Democrats like Mr. Frank are trying to use the military to advance a liberal social agenda to erode high morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion regardless of the fact that the military is a unique institution and its rules must differ from civilian society.

President Obama opposes the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the 1996 law that defines marriage as between a man and a woman and gives each state the option of not recognizing "gay marriage." The State Department said in 2009, that it will offer equal benefits and protections to same-sex partners of US diplomats as it does to its married diplomats.  Previously, the State Department invoked DOMA, which limits federal recognition of same-sex unions and restricted benefits.  One must be concerned that DADT is just another attempt to render DOMA by de facto null and void.

The current legislation that has been passed by the House of Representatives and will be considered by the Senate, distracts service members from their critical mission to defend this nation and adds to the strain on the military stretched by two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and possible conflicts with Iran and Communist North Korea.  Also, when a Pentagon review is still ongoing, it is untimely and unwise to take up the issue.  Such actions will only be viewed by many members of the military as disrespectful to the importance of their roles in this process.  Furthermore, repeal of the ban will only harm military readiness, cohesion, privacy, recruitment and retention, as well as the religious freedom of many service members and chaplains

Congress' actions have all but rendered service members feedback irrelevant by the House passing and the Senate considering legislation on the repeal of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy without first hearing from the troops.

End Notes 

1. Perry Bacon Jr. and Ed O'Keefe,“House votes to end ‘don't ask, don't tell' policy,” The Washington Post, May 28, 2010.
2. Jim Abrams, “Senate Panel Votes End to 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' “Boston.com, May 27, 2010.
3. James Dao,  “As ‘Don't Ask' Fades, Military Faces Thorny Practical Issues,” The New York Times,” May 28, 2010.
4.  “Defense secretary addresses concerns over repeal of ban on gays in military,”  Washingtonpost.com, May 29, 2010 .
5. Tom Strode, “Military chiefs oppose repeal as 'Don't Ask' votes near,” Baptist Press, May 27, 2010.
6. Hillary May, “Poll: Gays in military not Congress decision, ”The Washington Times, May 25, 2010.
7. Robert Burns, “Joint Chiefs head wishes Congress had waited on gay-ban vote,” The Washington Times, May 30, 2010.
8. David M. Herszenhorn and Carl Hulse, “House Votes to Allow Repeal of ‘Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Law, “ The New York Times,  May 27, 2010.
9. “Unready? Go!.” Investors Business Daily , Tuesday, May 25, 2010.
10. Michael Foust , “Nominee Kagan has record supporting gay causes,” Baptist Press, May 10, 2010.
11. Mark Landler, “Diplomats' same-sex partners to get benefits State Department ,”SFGate.com, May 24, 2009.
12. “State Department offers same-sex benefits,” United Press International, May 24, 2009.

 

 

Back to the American Voice Institute of Public Policy Home Page