Mon. December 20, 2010
Washington, DC -
President Obama is expected to sign the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" on Wednesday according to White House press secretary Robert Gibbs in today's briefing.
The historic legislation was finalized in the Senate on Saturday with a bi-partisan vote of 65-31. Illinois Freshman Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Illinois) broke with the GOP on the crucial vote, supporting a repeal of DADT.
Kirk, who is considered a moderate, was joined by fellow Republican Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, George Voinovich of Ohio, John Ensign of Nevada and Richard Burr of North Carolina.
Following the President's signature, the Pentagon must then come up with a plan for implementation which must then be submitted to Congress for a sixty day comment period. It is unknown at this point how long the Pentagon will take to provide the plan with estimates ranging from weeks to months.
The repeal of DADT helps President Obama fulfill a campaign promise made to the LGBT community.
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