Gates, Mullen: Time To Repeal 'Don't Ask' Is Now

Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, testified before a Senate committee on Thursday. The subject: the Pentagon study of "don't ask, don't tell," the law barring gays from serving openly in the military.

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Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is urging Congress to pass legislation repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy before the end of the year.

Today, he and the country's top military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, went to Capitol Hill to make their case. But opponents in the Senate said the timing could not be worse, as NPR's Rachel Martin reports.

RACHEL MARTIN: For Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the issue is personal. He told a Senate committee that he served with closeted gays and lesbians since the Vietnam War.

Admiral MIKE MULLEN (Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff): Society on the whole wasn't as accepting or as tolerant as it is now. So we didn't speak of such things or of how little it really mattered that the sailor next to you was gay. But America has moved on. And if you look closely at this study, I think you'll find that America's military is, by and large, ready to move on as well.

MARTIN: The House of Representatives passed legislation earlier this year that would repeal the 17-year-old ban on gays serving openly. But it stalled in the Senate and several members, Republicans and Democrats, said they didn't want to decide on the issue until the Pentagon completed its own internal review. The study released this week showed that 70 percent of service members think that repealing the law would have a positive, mixed or no effect on the force.

But a majority of combat troops, especially Marines, said it would have a damaging effect. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said he takes those concerns seriously. However...

Secretary ROBERT GATES (Defense Department): In my view, the concerns of combat troops as expressed in the survey do not present an insurmountable barrier to a successful repeal of "don't ask, don't tell." This can be done and it should be done without posing a serious risk to military readiness.

MARTIN: Republican Senator John McCain pushed Gates on why most combat troops surveyed have a negative view of serving with homosexuals. Gates said it's a matter of experience. When troops said they had served with someone they believe to be gay, they were more likely to support repeal.

Sec. GATES: Most of the Marines who are in combat are 18 to 24, 25 years old. Most of them have never served with women either, and so they've had a very focused, very limited experience in the military and it's been a tough one. But I think that with time and adequate preparation we can mitigate their concerns.

Senator JOHN MCCAIN (Republican, Arizona): Well, I couldn't disagree more. We send these young people into combat, we think they're mature enough to fight and die, I think they're mature enough to make a judgment on who they want to serve with.

MARTIN: Several times Senator McCain and others raised questions about the integrity of the Pentagon's survey - mainly, why the survey didn't ask troops outright, do you think "don't ask, don't tell" should be repealed or not? Gates, who's known for his cool-handed approach, gave his most emotional response of the day.

Sec. GATES: I can't think of a single precedent in American history of doing a referendum of the American armed forces on a policy issue. Are you going to ask them if they want 15-month tours? You gonna ask them if they want to be part of the surge in Iraq?

MARTIN: Gates says he's confident that with the proper amount of time for training, "don't ask, don't tell" can be repealed without any long-term negative impact. General Carter Ham is the top army commander in Europe and helped lead the review. Today he told senators that repeal can and should happen.

General CARTER HAM (U.S. Army Europe): I was cognizant every day of this review that I might have to actually lead the changes included in our report. As a serving commander, I'm confident that if this law changes, I and the leaders with whom I serve can do just that.

MARTIN: But not all his peers agree. The heads of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines will have their say when they go to Capitol Hill tomorrow.

Rachel Martin, NPR News, Washington.

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