Thursday March 4, 2010
Lieberman Submits Military Gay Ban Repeal Ahead of Pentagon Study
By Peter J. Smith
WASHINGTON, DC, March 4, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Instead of waiting for the results of a Pentagon study on the consequences of allowing openly gay servicemen, Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut filed legislation on Wednesday to repeal the Congressional ban on open homosexuals in the armed forces.
Lieberman and a group of other Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee announced the “Military Readiness Enhancement Act” to repeal the 17 year-old ban and the Pentagon’s accompanying policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Lieberman is an independent who caucuses with Senate Democrats.
“If Americans want to serve, they ought to have the right to be considered for that service regardless of characteristics such as race, religion, gender or sexual orientation,” declared the Connecticut Senator.
Opponents of the ban have said that more than 13,000 homosexual members of the military have been discharged under the ban since 1993, arguing that it deprives the military of specialized personnel, including much-needed Arabic translators.
But Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel, showed at a hearing panel on Wednesday that DADT discharges did not cause “a significant loss from an overall manpower perspective” of the armed forces.
Pentagon data cited by Wilson showed that 1.9 million people were discharged by the Department of Defense between 1999 to 2008. Of these, 8,300 were discharged because they revealed themselves to be homosexual. In other words, less than 0.44 percent of military discharges over that decade were related to DADT.
The heads of a Pentagon study told Congress on Wednesday that they have pledged their study would strive for complete objectivity in evaluating the effectiveness of the ban on the military. Gen. Carter Ham, head of U.S. Army Forces Europe and Pentagon General Legal Counsel Jeh Johnson both told Congress that members of the working group were asked to set aside personal opinions concerning repeal, and would solicit the input of others.
The working group would also examine the Uniform Code of Military Justice’s ban on sodomy and oral sex, which applies to all members of the military regardless of marital status. The UCMJ also forbids adultery.
The Pentagon study is expected to be completed and made available to Congress by December 1.
Yet many Democrats, including Lieberman, have indicated that the time to strike is now, and will not wait for the Pentagon to finish its study – to the dismay of some military leaders.
Johnson asked lawmakers on Wednesday to refrain from voting until the Pentagon study was complete, saying, “Our work would not just be relevant to implementing any regulations, but it may be relevant to how you legislate the approach.”
But for Democrats, the prevailing political winds may sweep many of their caucus out of office in the November general election, and they face losing control over both houses of Congress. The Republican caucus opposes repeal of the military ban, leaving Democrats little time to act before the new Congress is sworn in January.
US Army, Air Force, and Navy chiefs testified before Congress last week in hearings, expressing grave reservations – although not outright opposition – against repealing the rules, citing their concern for the troops who are already under strain fighting two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, in addition to maintaining America’s outposts all over the globe.
Only Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway took that stance a step further, telling the Senate Armed Services Committee last week that “the current policy works.”
All discussion over the ban, he said, had to take place from the perspective of answering the question: “do we somehow enhance the war-fighting of the United States Marine Corps by allowing homosexuals to openly serve?”
See related coverage by LifeSiteNews.com:
Head of Marines Defends Military Ban on Open Homosexuals
Colin Powell Throws Support Behind Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
Veterans, Former Army Legal Chief Defend “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
Defense Secretary Gates to Phase Out Ban on Openly Gay Military