Finally, a Bill to Repeal DADT

Finally, we have a bill.

Just minutes ago, I stood with Senators Lieberman, Levin, Gillibrand, and Burris at a press conference and announced that we would be introducing the Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2010 in the Senate to repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

In a time of two wars, any policy that leads to the discharge of talented and capable troops threatens our national security and wastes resources. That's exactly what "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" has been doing for 17 years. And that's why, as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and original cosponsor of this bill, I'm proud to be leading the charge to finally -- and fully -- repeal this unfair and outmoded law.

Just last year, over 400 otherwise qualified troops, from Arabic translators to fighter pilots, were discharged for no reason other than their sexual orientation. That harms our national security, and it's why we need to make sure this bill passes.

This legislation accomplishes several key goals:

1. Full repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." It will allow the Department of Defense to continue its study to determine the best way to implement the repeal, but ensures that the study remains dedicated to implementing repeal, not considering whether to repeal.
2. Ends discharges for gay and lesbian servicemembers immediately. While the study period for implementation goes forward, no members of the Armed Forces will be discharged solely for their sexual orientation.

In other words, this bill ensures that we stop harming our military's effectiveness, but still takes a reasonable approach to ensure that the repeal is done in a responsible way. It's an excellent piece of legislation, but some opponents still claim it will spell disaster for our military.

The American people don't agree. In fact, the latest Quinnipiac Poll, released February 10, shows 57% of Americans supportive of repeal and only 36% opposed.

The wishes of the American people are clear, but some members of the Senate still believe our soldiers can't handle serving with openly gay and lesbian servicemembers. I couldn't disagree more.

That's why I'm asking you to join me in supporting this crucial legislation by becoming a citizen cosponsor to prove, once and for all, that Americans will no longer tolerate this unfair policy that hampers our fighting men and women.

Our Armed Forces are the best in the world, and it's high time we stopped handicapping them with "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Please join me and voice your support for repealing this harmful policy, right now.

Become a citizen cosponsor today!

 

Follow Sen. Mark Udall on Twitter: www.twitter.com/MarkUdall

Comments

[conniptionfit]

02:54 PM on 03/04/2010

Sign the Public Option letter, Senator, and make us proud of that, too.

[pa30]

10:22 AM on 03/04/2010

Bill Clinton was wrong to introduce this legislation.

[customgreen]

07:09 AM on 03/04/2010

I guess it is because of the law of don't ask don't tell that is out there now. It seems to me that this problem is somewhat similar to the intergration of African Americans into full integration by Harry Truman. Back then a lot of the same arguments were used claiming the fighting effectiveness would drop, and so on and so on. All turned out to be untrue. If the law were not in effect I would guess that President Obama could just order the policy into effect. Does the current law prvent Obama from ordering full integration of gay troops as well as the prventing the discharge of gays?

[itolduso]

12:59 AM on 03/04/2010

Thank You Senator, it is shocking to me that so many of our military leaders are willing to violate their own pledge of allegience to our nation's flag by denying freedom, equality, & justice to their fellow citizens. At a time when over 78,000 of our active duty troops (17%) are on their 3rd or 4th tour of combat - many of them suffering injuries and stresses from earlier tours that have not been given time to heal- and far too many soldiers with P.T.S.D.'s are given anti-depressants & sent back into combat - any military leader that would consider a soldier 'unfit' based solely on sexual orientation should himself be drummed out of the service.

[Janet Carter]

09:26 PM on 03/03/2010

FINALLY ! Let's all become "citizen co-sponsors" and get this finalized once and for all !!

[moosejaw]

08:44 PM on 03/03/2010

""Ends discharges for gay and lesbian servicemembers immediately. While the study period for implementation goes forward, no members of the Armed Forces will be discharged solely for their sexual orientation."

Wasn't that what the justification for imposing DADT in the first place? I have no doubt that we'll see cases soon enough where the limits are tested.

[Geronimo08]

06:40 PM on 03/03/2010

Finally we have Colorado Senators "LEADING" on issues. I didn't think it would happen in my lifetime and I am a registered Democrat! Udall leading on this issue and Bennett taking the reins of seeking reform for a HIGHLY DYSFUNCTIONAL (Actually NON-FUNCTIONING) SENATE!

[prog]

12:48 AM on 03/04/2010

Indeed! Bennett and Udall are doing their jobs.

[KeysDan]

03:28 PM on 03/03/2010

Was not sure about when the repeal, according to the proposed legislation, would be effective. After the study is complete? What if the study needs much more time? What if the study claims that the implementation is too difficult to achieve in this century? The repeal should be effective immediately, with implementation by a date certain, say one year, to enable implementation. The study is a ruse, the policy has been in place for 17 years, if the Pentagon does not evaluation its policies more frequently than that, then we need another bill to require all policies to be evaluated periodically--but the military is nothing if not data collectors and analyzers. Nice try senator, but now do the real heavy lifting, act decisively and now--that is what would be "responsible". Oh, and see what you can do to recruit Obama, that fierce advocate, to the task, other than to wait for it to arrive on his desk with new pens at the ready, and his chair pulled out for him.

[whitebeach]

04:30 PM on 03/03/2010

It's partly, and even largely, because of Obama's advocacy that this is finally going forward. He is doing it the right way, through congressional repeal of a bad law that is actually on the books and has been there for 17 years. The legislation proposed by Sen. Udall will immediately end discharges of military personnel simply for being gay. The study is not going to find anything contrary to that, but it's a good piece of politics, to bring the military along so that the right can't use that particular lever. Nothing in American politics is accomplished overnight. Even Truman's order racially integrating the armed services took five years to fully implement. Let's hope it doesn't take that long to finish off DADT, but at least we are now on the path to ending that ridiculous policy.

[KeysDan]

04:52 PM on 03/03/2010

Why have a study for implementation when the law has not been repealed? Repeal first, and then implement. Give a period of time for the implementation, but act now while the Democrats control the WH and both chambers of Congress. The study, no matter how it is cut, is a delay tactic and an ", at least some of us are trying approach, but we are afraid of the Republicans" Just another way to keep the issue at bay during this election year. Glad you are as optimistic and boosterish as you are, but this is just another form of a nice WH wine and wiener party to let you know we are, really, really on your side.

[girlwild]

03:19 PM on 03/03/2010

Great, we don't need one more second of "debate" to do the right thing.

[exhale09]

01:48 PM on 03/03/2010

Yes yes yes! Finally they are going to put an end to this obscene attitude.

[nitrokitty]

01:46 PM on 03/03/2010

All the arguments against repealing DADT are the same tired arguments they trotted out decades ago when they introduced blacks and women into the military. The military survived the addition of these supposedly destabilizing elements, and I seriously doubt that our military cohesion is so fragile that having gays and lesbians around will bring it crashing down. I have a number of close friends who are in the military, and they all say the same thing: if somebody arrives to pull their butts out of the fire when they get into trouble, the last thing on their minds is if that person is gay or not.

[jazzyldy]

05:02 PM on 03/03/2010

Here, here, nitrokitty, you are telling it like it is! I just got done becoming a citizen cosponsor, and hope others will do the same.