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Gates to Levin: Pentagon committed to repealing ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ law
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has made it clear the Pentagon remains committed
to scrapping the law that bans openly gay people from serving in the military.
Gates’ confirmation comes days after he caused a stir in Congress and within
the gay rights community when he told the chairman of the House Armed Services
Committee to hold off on repealing the law until the Pentagon finishes its
study.
Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) had asked the defense chief to
justify the purpose for the yearlong study, questioning if it was meant to
determine whether the ban should be repealed or whether it is meant to assess
how to implement a repeal of the Clinton-era law known as “Don’t ask, don’t tell.”
Gates had created some confusion over the Pentagon’s views last week after he pressed House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) to hold off on scrapping the ban, known as “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” until the Pentagon finishes its yearlong review.
Skelton does not support scrapping the ban, but many
Democratic members of his committee support the repeal of the law.
Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.), the main sponsor of the House repeal
legislation, indicated he would not
back away from his efforts to scrap the law this year, despite the
Obama
administration’s push to see the study finished first. Murphy a former
member of the House Armed Services Committee has been named to the
House Appropriations Committee.
Levin, a strong supporter of scrapping the ban, co-sponsored Senate repeal legislation with Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.). Both the House and Senate Armed Services panels are getting ready to consider the 2011 defense authorization act during the next couple of weeks. The repeal of "Don’t ask, don’t tell" is likely to be one of the most intense topics of negotiations this year.
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