Democrats won't try to kill 'Don't Ask, Don't tell' until 2010: Frank RAW STORY

Published: Friday April 24, 2009





Print This Email This Speaking on behalf of Congressional Democrats, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) said Thursday that Democrats won't push for a repeal of the Pentagon's anti-gay "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy until at least 2010 and won't include a provision in the current Pentagon budget to drop the policy.



"I believe we should and will do 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' next year," Frank, a co-chairman of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Equality Caucus and the most prominent openly gay member of Congress, told Roll Call . "We haven't done the preliminary work, the preparatory work. It would be a mistake to bring it up without a lot of lobbying and a lot of conversation."



Opponents of the policy, under which gay servicemembers who come out of the closet or are outed by others are discharged from the armed forces, want to attach an amendment to a Pentagon budget bill to get the policy canned. Frank says he doesn't support that route, arguing that it "doesn't make sense."



Those who want the policy nixed "don't understand the best way to get it done," Frank said. "People have to understand the political pressures."



The Massachusetts Democrat announced his party will put forth a stand-alone bill aiming to kill the policy next year. Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), also openly gay, said her party doesn't appear to have the votes to strip the policy from the books.



"We don't even know the votes in committee, let alone the votes on the floor," Baldwin said. "So I think the prediction it will not happen in calendar year 2009 is probably accurate."



The nonprofit advocacy group Servicemembers Legal Defense Network will launch a push next week aimed at convincing President Barack Obama to abandon the policy, which was instituted in 1993 by President Bill Clinton as a compromise between those who wanted all gays barred from the military and those who wanted gays to be allowed to service.



"The logical place and time for presidential leadership on this issue is next month, when President Obama sends his defense budget to Congress. President Obama should cut 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' from his budget. It costs money to fire and replace discharged service members," an email from the group acquired by Roll Call states.



If Obama keeps the policy, they aver, "he will be effectively approving -- on his watch -- the firing of gays and lesbians from the military. 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' will then become his law, his albatross."





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