Tue. July 14, 2009
Washington, D.C. -
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) is considering proposing an amendment to the 2010 defense authorization bill which would put an 18 month moratorium on enforcement of the current military policy of discharging openly gay and lesbian service members. Gillibrand was appointed by New York Governor David Patterson to fill the seat vacated by now Secretary of State Hilary Clinton.
Additionally, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), also presented plans today to attach the Matthew Shepard Act (S-909) to the defense authorization bill. He was joined in his announcement by Shepard's mother.
The Shepard bill extends and expands current Federal hate crime legislation already on the books to cover "gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disabilities".
Still in committee, the defense spending bill could be sent to the Senate floor as early as tomorrow according to sources of committee chairman Senator Carl Levin (D-MI). The House markup is slated for Thursday.
Complicating the passage of the defense authorization bill is included funding for several additional F-22 fighter planes, totaling $1.75 billion. Many claims suggest the F-22 is outdated and untried in actual combat. The Obama administration vigorously opposes this funding and has threatened a veto of the entire bill if it is not removed. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, is urging Obama to veto the bill if the funding is included.
Congressman Mike Quigley (D-IL) provided ChicagoPride.com with this statement today: "As I've said before, ‘Don't Ask' is not only morally repugnant, but it's making us less safe as well. In addition, funding for more F-22s is fiscally imprudent and won't make us any safer either. These two issues are as significant as they are separate, and I hope we can deal with them as such. At this point, we do not know if the F-22 funding will make it out of the Senate, nor do we know if Sen. Gillibrand will file an amendment. Either way, I remain committed to doing what's right – and that means equal rights and fiscal sanity."
HRC (Human Rights Campaign) president Joe Solmonese is asking all concerned with the Hate Crimes legislation to call their Senator and urge passage.
Calls for comment from Sen. Gillibrand and Sen. Dick Durbin had not been returned at writing.
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