Senate Repeals ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

New York Times ^ | DEcenber 18, 2010 | Carl Hulse

[lbryce]

The Senate on Saturday voted to strike down the ban on gay men and lesbians serving openly in the military, bringing to a close a 17-year struggle over a policy that forced thousands of Americans from the ranks and caused others to keep secret their sexual orientation.

By a vote of 65 to 31, with eight Republicans joining Democrats, the Senate approved and sent to President Obama a repeal of the Clinton-era law, known as “don’t ask, don’t tell,” a policy critics said amounted to government-sanctioned discrimination that treated gay, lesbian and bisexual troops as second-class citizens.

Mr. Obama hailed the action, which fulfills his pledge to reverse the ban, and said it was “time to close this chapter in our history.”

“As commander in chief, I am also absolutely convinced that making this change will only underscore the professionalism of our troops as the best-led and best-trained fighting force the world has ever known,” he said in a statement after the Senate, on a preliminary 63-to-33 vote, beat back Republican efforts to block final action on the repeal bill.

The vote marked a historic moment that some equated with the end of racial segregation in the military.

It followed an exhaustive Pentagon review that determined the policy could be changed with only isolated disruptions to unit cohesion and retention, though members of combat units and the Marine Corps expressed greater reservations about the shift. Congressional action was backed by Pentagon officials as a better alternative to a court-ordered end.

Supporters of the repeal said it was long past time to abolish what they saw as an ill-advised practice that cost valuable personnel and forced troops to lie to serve their country.

[jospehm20]

I always suspected that Lieberman is a queer.

[Paladin2]

Make them wear a pink beret.

[Jim Robinson]

Yup. This is going to open up one huge can of buttfugly. Idiots have finally totally FUBAR’d the military.

[Enterprise]

I have some helpful suggestions. See post #20.

[Texas Fossil]

HR2965 Bill renamed "Don't Ask Don't Tell"

New Text here __ http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:HR02965:

Grouped By Vote Position

YEAs ---65
Akaka (D-HI) Baucus (D-MT) Bayh (D-IN) Begich (D-AK) Bennet (D-CO) Bingaman (D-NM) Boxer (D-CA) Brown (D-OH) Brown (R-MA) Burr (R-NC) Cantwell (D-WA) Cardin (D-MD) Carper (D-DE) Casey (D-PA) Collins (R-ME) Conrad (D-ND) Coons (D-DE) Dodd (D-CT) Dorgan (D-ND) Durbin (D-IL) Ensign (R-NV) Feingold (D-WI)	Feinstein (D-CA) Franken (D-MN) Gillibrand (D-NY) Hagan (D-NC) Harkin (D-IA) Inouye (D-HI) Johnson (D-SD) Kerry (D-MA) Kirk (R-IL) Klobuchar (D-MN) Kohl (D-WI) Landrieu (D-LA) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI) Lieberman (ID-CT) Lincoln (D-AR) McCaskill (D-MO) Menendez (D-NJ) Merkley (D-OR) Mikulski (D-MD) Murkowski (R-AK)	Murray (D-WA) Nelson (D-FL) Nelson (D-NE) Pryor (D-AR) Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV) Rockefeller (D-WV) Sanders (I-VT) Schumer (D-NY) Shaheen (D-NH) Snowe (R-ME) Specter (D-PA) Stabenow (D-MI) Tester (D-MT) Udall (D-CO) Udall (D-NM) Voinovich (R-OH) Warner (D-VA) Webb (D-VA) Whitehouse (D-RI) Wyden (D-OR)

NAYs ---31
Alexander (R-TN) Barrasso (R-WY) Bennett (R-UT) Bond (R-MO) Brownback (R-KS) Chambliss (R-GA) Coburn (R-OK) Cochran (R-MS) Corker (R-TN) Cornyn (R-TX) Crapo (R-ID)	DeMint (R-SC) Enzi (R-WY) Graham (R-SC) Grassley (R-IA) Hutchison (R-TX) Inhofe (R-OK) Isakson (R-GA) Johanns (R-NE) Kyl (R-AZ) LeMieux (R-FL) Lugar (R-IN)	McCain (R-AZ) McConnell (R-KY) Risch (R-ID) Roberts (R-KS) Sessions (R-AL) Shelby (R-AL) Thune (R-SD) Vitter (R-LA) Wicker (R-MS)

Not Voting - 4
Bunning (R-KY) Gregg (R-NH)	Hatch (R-UT) Manchin (D-WV)

[huldah1776]

Aren’t tests done for HIV before basics/boot?

[Texas Fossil]

HR2965 Don’t Ask Don’t Tell

As passed by Senate

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:HR02965:

[Enterprise]

My prayer is the Tea Party will grow ever stronger to the point that there are enough conservatives in the House and Senate to re-institute DADT, or something even stronger. The sooner the better, and make it RETROACTIVE. This is so disgusting.

[djf]

I don’t see compromise as being a helpful suggestion.

They should not be allowed in the military at all.

Look. Our guys, when they are in the Armed Forces, can find themselves in some incredibly stressful situations.
And now we are ready to tell them that in addition to the stress and strain of modern warfare, they have to worry if the person next to them wants to get close and personal?

For some of the troops, this will be totally demoralizing. And if some of the troops are demoralized, the whole unit suffers.

Standard rules of civil and Constitutional rights simply DO NOT apply to the military. These guys aren’t on an assembly line making Shop-Vacs or something.

[Texas Fossil]

Republicans (term used loosely) voting for DADT

Brown (R-MA)
Burr (R-NC)
Collins (R-ME)
Ensign (R-NV)
Kirk (R-IL)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Snowe (R-ME)
Voinovich (R-OH)

Republicans Not Voting:

Bunning (R-KY)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hatch (R-UT)

[sergeantdave]

The traitors come out each day and name themselves.

Keep track. Find out if they’re in your neighborhoods...

[Texas Fossil]

Notice this vote for DADT:

Murkowski (R-AK)

What a pile of smelling crap.

[KC Burke]

“The world is trying the experiment of attempting to form a civilized but non-Christian mentality. The experiment will fail; but we must be very patient in awaiting its collapse; meanwhile redeeming the time; so that the Faith may be preserved alive through the dark ages before us; to renew and rebuild civilization, and to save the world from suicide.”
T.S. Eliot, Christianity and Culture

[yldstrk]

satan is pleased

[Radix]

Monty Python’s Military Fairy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol5Dfs7jqFI

[coldbluesteel]

I am surprised this thread has been allowed to continue this long unmolested (pun intended). When I first pulled upnthe home page, there was a vanity post suggesting that the states National Guards get together to form a Constitution/Christian based military entity. That was all I could get from the headline as when I clicked thru, the post had been cremated (no pun intended) by a friendly mod that suggested the poster post to another site (perhaps not a bad idea for all of us).

[Enterprise]

I do NOT want compromise. I want DADT reinstated. The new congress has enough House members to accomplish it, but it would not get through the Senate. These are amendments I would like to see adopted until then.

[Benchim]

I want an on going study of violence and attacks on straights. I want to know the number of sex acts in the open. I want this stopped.

[djf]

DADT itself was a compromise.

It was a compromise crafted to give gays a way to serve in the military and not face expulsion or discipline or discrimination.

Just keep your mouth shut about your sexual leanings.

That was all that was asked of them.

But that wasn’t enough. They want to be able to broadcast to the whole world about their perversions.
And yes, I do think it is a perversion.

[Cobra64]

So which is it? Did they end the ban or did they repeal DADT?

...there seems to be some confusion on what was actually done here.

In the wwords of Nanct Pelosi, "pass the bill so you know what's in it."