Reid expects swift Senate action on 'Don't ask, don't tell'

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), asked Tuesday if he expects swift action by the Senate to overturn the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, sidestepped the question but firmly stated his opposition to the current policy.

"I am someone that doesn't believe that the military kicking competent men and women out of the military because they are gay serves any purpose," Reid said. "I think that my experience in talking to people is that these men and women fight very hard.  They go through the same training.  And I think the administration's focus, and the military's focus, should be on finding out who they want to come into the military. And let's not have taxpayers spend all this money training these people, and because of their being gay, they kick them out.  I just think -- I don't know why we would need a year to study this.  It doesn't really make a lot of sense to me."

Asked if the Senate could forego the study and simply change the policy, Reid noted that Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) plans to hold hearings on the policy first.