sojourner
05-27-2010, 09:49 PM
The Senate Armed Services Committee voted Thursday to allow gays to serve openly in the military.
The committee voted 16-12 to repeal the 1993 law known as "don't ask, don't tell." Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, was the only Republican to vote in favor of repeal while Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., was the only Democrat to vote against the initiative that was attached to a $760 billion defense spending bill.
The full House planned to take an identical measure later Thursday or Friday.
House Republicans were strongly against it, citing letters from armed services chiefs urging Congress to wait until the Pentagon completes a study of the impact of the repeal on military life and readiness.
The gay rights amendment, supported by President Obama, is the product of a compromise with Pentagon leaders: It will not go into effect until the Pentagon completes a study, expected in December, on the ramifications of the policy change and until the president, the defense secretary and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff certify that it won't hurt the military's ability to fight.
The "don't ask, don't tell" policy, itself a compromise worked out during the Clinton administration, states that military leaders will not investigate a service member's sexual orientation as long as the member does not openly acknowledge that he or she is gay or engage in same-sex relations.
Some 14,000 people have been forced out of the military since then because of their sexual orientation.
Source (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/05/27/senate-panel-votes-lift-military-gay-ban/)
The committee voted 16-12 to repeal the 1993 law known as "don't ask, don't tell." Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, was the only Republican to vote in favor of repeal while Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., was the only Democrat to vote against the initiative that was attached to a $760 billion defense spending bill.
The full House planned to take an identical measure later Thursday or Friday.
House Republicans were strongly against it, citing letters from armed services chiefs urging Congress to wait until the Pentagon completes a study of the impact of the repeal on military life and readiness.
The gay rights amendment, supported by President Obama, is the product of a compromise with Pentagon leaders: It will not go into effect until the Pentagon completes a study, expected in December, on the ramifications of the policy change and until the president, the defense secretary and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff certify that it won't hurt the military's ability to fight.
The "don't ask, don't tell" policy, itself a compromise worked out during the Clinton administration, states that military leaders will not investigate a service member's sexual orientation as long as the member does not openly acknowledge that he or she is gay or engage in same-sex relations.
Some 14,000 people have been forced out of the military since then because of their sexual orientation.
Source (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/05/27/senate-panel-votes-lift-military-gay-ban/)