Buck McKeon, House Armed Services Committee Chairman, Says Gays In The Military Issue Is Settled
By DONNA CASSATA 06/21/12 02:24 PM ET
WASHINGTON — The Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said Thursday that allowing gays to serve openly in the military is a settled issue that he won’t try to reverse even if Mitt Romney wins the presidency in November and the GOP captures the Senate.
Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon of California said his focus is on restoring money for the military after the latest round of defense cuts – a planned reduction of $487 billion over 10 years that could nearly double if Congress fails to avert automatic, across-the-board cuts that begin in January. Pressed on the divisive issue of gay rights that roiled Congress two years ago, McKeon said he wouldn’t revisit it.
“We fought that fight,” McKeon told defense reporters at an hourlong breakfast interview. He said his goal is to “get the things that our war-fighters need.”
The committee chairman said other GOP lawmakers might try to reinstate the “don’t ask, don’t tell policy” that was in effect for nearly two decades. “That’s not something that I would personally bring up,” he said.
He recalled that in 1994, when Republicans took control of the House after 40 years, there were high expectations for ambitious changes. “They expected us to pull off miracles. That’s not how things work. I’d rather focus on money for defense,” McKeon said.
It would be unwise to suddenly make illegal what was legal - people have rights too. But we can make the environment less inviting by formalizing the PDA expectations most of us have respected for years. Defending DOMA would keep military people from getting homosexual partner rights/marriage, etc. One small pet-peeve I have is that people who are HIV positive are given a waiver and kept in instead of being medically boarded. If you can’t serve worldwide, you shouldn’t be allowed to serve.