Prospects for repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' murky in Congress
Tue. November 9, 2010 7:45 AM by GoPride.com News Staff
Washington, D.C. -
Congress goes back to work next week and it isn't clear whether lawmakers will have the time-- or the will-- to repeal the ban on gays in the military.
The Senate would have to come up with a legislative end to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and then reconcile its version with the House.
"He, of course, can't do it alone," a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told the New York Times. "The senator needs Republicans to at least agree to have a debate on this issue, a debate he firmly believes the Senate should have."
Many lawmakers want to wait and see the Pentagon's report on ending the policy, which is due on Dec. 1.
And many military leaders are reluctant to end the policy. Last week, Marine Gen. James Amos wondered aloud what would happen to troops living in close quarters.
"There is nothing more intimate than young men and young women — and when you talk of infantry, we're talking our young men — laying out, sleeping alongside of one another and sharing death, fear and loss of brothers," General James Amos said last week. "I don't know what the effect of that will be on cohesion. I mean, that's what we're looking at. It's unit cohesion, it's combat effectiveness."
The Senate would have to come up with a legislative end to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and then reconcile its version with the House.
"He, of course, can't do it alone," a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told the New York Times. "The senator needs Republicans to at least agree to have a debate on this issue, a debate he firmly believes the Senate should have."
Many lawmakers want to wait and see the Pentagon's report on ending the policy, which is due on Dec. 1.
And many military leaders are reluctant to end the policy. Last week, Marine Gen. James Amos wondered aloud what would happen to troops living in close quarters.
"There is nothing more intimate than young men and young women — and when you talk of infantry, we're talking our young men — laying out, sleeping alongside of one another and sharing death, fear and loss of brothers," General James Amos said last week. "I don't know what the effect of that will be on cohesion. I mean, that's what we're looking at. It's unit cohesion, it's combat effectiveness."