DADT Fails in The Senate

Senator Scott Brown voted against repeal of DADT

Senator Harry Reid was unable to get the 60 votes needed to repeal the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" (DADT) policy that the military adopted seventeen years ago during the Clinton administration.  This fall the House voted to repeal the law, and a "Yes" vote in the Senate would have enabled Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and the Pentagon to begin working on the  lengthy and complicated process to lift the ban. 

In light of the failure to pass in the Senate, it is likely that the courts supporting lifting the ban will soon  begin the appeal process, thereby creating the chaotic atmosphere that Secretary Gates was attempting to avoid.   Opponents of repeal feel that enacting a new law would disrupt the process of combat readiness. 

Polls show that two thirds of Americans approve of  the repeal of DADT. The majority of polled servicemen and their families also agreed that the ban should be lifted. 

"I believe it would be unwise to push ahead with full implementation of repeal before more can be done to prepare the force -- in particular those ground combat specialties and units -- for what could be a disruptive and disorienting change,'' Gates told reporters Nov. 30.

The chiefs, of the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Army, have opposed DADT repeal in the past. In their new, separate letters they wrote that the deal, which would repeal the law now but allow the Pentagon to implement repeal after they complete a policy review, undermines the policy. They disagree with Admiral Mullen, the head of the Joint Chiefs who favors the repeal.

Most advocates of repeal feel that the law will not be taken off the books during the lame duck session of Congress.  Repeal of the DADT law was one of Barack H. Obama's campaign promises, and many in his liberal base are angry that in two years he has not been able to fulfill his promise.

Republican Senators Murkowski and Brown, who is still in the Military Reserves,  had supported repeal. but voted against it in the Senate, exclaiming that the issue of tax cuts should be solved first

Although Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins voted with the Democrats to repeal DADT, she would have liked to have held more debates in the Senate.  However, Senate Majority Leader Reid made it clear he would allow for no amendments or debate.

Her counterpart, Maine Senator  "Olympia Snowe voted with the majority of her Republican colleagues in voting against proceeding to the bill, but released a statement that said she still had not finished reviewing the recently released military study on the impact of repealing the 17-year-old policy. "My vote today against cloture was on the basis that the majority prohibited any amendments from being offered to the $725 billion Defense Authorization bill; it did not relate to the provision incorporated in the underlying legislation to repeal the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy," she said in the statement. "Unfortunately, these shenanigans have short-circuited consideration of this repeal and any opportunity to move forward with this discussion has been undermined by the majority's desire to score political points in the remaining days of this legislative year."

There are many Americans who don't realize that the bill to repeal DADT will not only cost the American taxpayer $725 billion, but it comes with other provisions attached.   The bill also contain to some little known provisions:

1. The DREAM Act, which would allow illegals who join the military or college to have a path to citizenship.

2. It would repeal the ban on abortions at military hospitals overseas.

3. I also  includes a 1.4% pay raise for troops and $159 billion to continue funding the U.S. campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.


After the vote, Obama appealed to the Senate to reconsider.  Senator Lieberman of Connecticut,  an advocate of repeal also asked for another vote, and Senator Collins asked for more time for discussions.  
 
It concerns us that these bills presented to the House and Senate have totally unrelated provisions attached to it. We agree with Senator Snow that it is political grandstanding during their final hours.  It is our opinion that DADT should remain the law as it has been for the last seventeen years. 
 
We are very much in favor of the pay raise for the military, and very much opposed to abortions being performed in Military hospitals, either abroad or at home.
 
We feel that each issue should be presented and voted upon separately instead of making them so complicated that it makes it impossible for elected officials to vote on behalf of the majority of their constituents and their wishes.
 
We would like to make just a few observations.  It is amazing how those who have been elected to office to represent the people, completetly ignore the expert advice of the Joint Chiefs.  Those men know the military as others can't.
 
The results of the polls asking voters as well as members of the Military and their families how they felt about repealing DADT was a revelation.  According to various sources, some 70% of soldiers support repeal of the ban.  That was an amazingly unexpected statistic.  Personally we know of no soldier now serving, or any veteran who has served who agrees.
 
As post WWII baby boomers, we came of age during the Vietnam War Era.  Then we did not have an all voluteer military as we do now.   Many avoided the draft by many means, and often objectors would attempt to get out of serving in the Military or going to war by pretending to be gay.
 
 Younger generations are now more accepting of alternative lifestyles, hence the poll results.  In the words of singer/ songwriter Bob Dylan, "The Times, They Are A-changing.".......not necessarily for the better good.