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Representative Baldwin Thanks Senator Levin, Calls For Congress To Act On DADT

02/02/10-by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
Representative Tammy Baldwin has issued a statement regarding the hearings on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell today. Her statement is not as long as that by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, but the Wisconsin Representative has also been working on the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, which is to put an end to DADT. Representative Baldwin is one of three openly gay or lesbian members of Congress, and the only lesbian.

Here is Baldwin’s statement in full:

“President Obama has done the right thing in calling for an end to the un-American and discriminatory ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy. I thank Chairman Levin for holding today’s hearing and was pleased to hear Secretary of Defense Gates and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mullen, clearly state their support for ending the policy that prevents gay men and lesbians from serving openly in the military.

Since 1997, our armed forces have forced out nearly 11,000 dedicated, skilled, patriotic service members solely on the basis of their sexual orientation. At a time when we need them most, we have lost trained Arabic linguists and other specialists, putting all of our troops and our national security at greater risk. It is high time the U.S. catch up with many of our allies, including some fighting with us in Afghanistan, by ending ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ These allies have welcomed openly gay and lesbian service members into their ranks with no loss of morale, unit cohesion, or other adverse effect. Certainly we can do the same.

I hope today’s hearing marks the first step toward expeditiously ending the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy. I look forward to the results of the Department of Defense (DOD) 45-day review of policy to assess what can be done immediately. However, I believe an implementation study can occur in a much shorter time frame than the eleven months that is currently being proposed.

Secretary Gates testified, ‘We can only take this process so far, as the ultimate decision rests with you, the Congress.’ Secretary Gates is correct and I will continue my strong efforts to pass the Military Readiness Enhancement Act (H.R. 1283) to eliminate discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in our military.

It’s time for Congress to act. Every day this policy remains in place, it does further damage to individuals, to our armed forces, and to our national security.”

While hearings on the MREA are being held in the Senate, similar action is not occurring in the House due to the belief of Representative Ike Skellton that this law should not be repealed at a time of war. Skellton is the chair of the House Armed Services Committee, and controls when a particular hearing will be held. It is likely that the House will not begin hearings until after the Senate has moved strongly on repealing DADT via the MREA. One possibility brought up within the hearing today is that the MREA will be folded into the Defense Reauthorization Bill, or any particular Defense bill.

Representative Baldwin is one of many Senators and Representatives who believe that the study into how to implement a repeal could and should be shortened with regards to time it will take to fully find the information that they need to understand this. She is the co-chair of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus