By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have reached an agreement to vote on repealing a law banning homosexuals from serving openly in the armed forces provided the new bill includes a provision saying it will not take effect until the Pentagon completes a study about its impact on the troops.
The Washington Post is reporting that the compromise was finalized Monday in meetings at the White House and on Capitol Hill and will now allow lawmakers to vote on amendments that will repeal the Clinton-era policy known as “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.”
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle wanted to wait until the Pentagon completes a study about the impact of repeal on the troops, which is due to Congress by December 1.
However, it is still not certain if the deal will secure enough votes to pass both houses of Congress. Republicans have vowed to maintain the policy and conservative Democrats have said they would join them in opposing repeal unless military leaders made it clear that they approved of the change.
The Pentagon is also less than enthusiastic about passing the bill before the military has a chance to fully assess the implications. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell suggested Tuesday that Defense Secretary Robert Gates remained less-than-pleased that congressional action would come before the Pentagon finishes its report.
“Secretary Gates continues to believe that ideally the DOD review should be completed before there is any legislation to repeal the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell law,” he said in a statement. “With Congress having indicated that is not possible, the secretary can accept the language in the proposed amendment.”
Some homosexual activists worry that this endorsement will not be enough to persuade members of the Senate Armed Services Committee to agree to attach the repeal to a defense authorization bill now moving through Congress.
“The Gates statement was spineless and maybe not even enough to get the bill through. The administration is not showing any leadership here,” said Richard Socarides, a prominent gay rights activist and former Clinton administration official.
Even if the compromise language does manage to pass, however, a legislative repeal would take effect only after Obama certifies that the change would not harm the nation’s military readiness.
“The White House had initially hoped that Congress would wait until after the Pentagon study was completed before bringing up a repeal, but senior lawmakers made it clear that they intended to push ahead on the issue, with or without administration support,” the Post reports. “Now the controversial issue will return to the national conversation as fall reelection campaigns gear up.”
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins accused the President and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of making a back room deal that disregards the views of the troops and uses the military to advance the political agenda of a radical special interest group.
“This rushed deal is a tacit admission that after the November election, the Democrats are likely to lose a working liberal majority. They want to get what they can now, and also far enough away from the election that it won’t be prominent in the mind of voters,” Perkins said in a press release.
“President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, and Senator Levin know that the American people oppose forcing the military to embrace homosexuality just to pay off political supporters. We call on Congress to protect the military, listen to our troops and the American people by rejecting this outrageous deal that politicizes the military at the expense of our national security.”
© All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace® http://www.womenofgrace.com
