U.S. Senate Should Pursue Other Options to Repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

SOURCE: AP/Alex Brandon

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, right, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen have urged the Senate to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in the current lame duck session. Without today's vote on the National Defense Authorization Act the Senate should find other legislative options to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

By Winnie Stachelberg, Rudy deLeon | December 9, 2010

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The U.S. Senate voted this afternoon to not proceed to debate the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act. This was a vote against our national security and the men and women fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was also a step backward in efforts to repeal the "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policy, which Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen have urged the Senate to do in the current lame duck session.

The Center for American Progress strongly urges the Senate to pursue other legislative options including a standalone bill calling for DADT’s repeal in the remaining days of the current session of Congress. A growing number of senators from both parties have recently indicated they support repealing DADT. They agree that the policy is ineffective, discriminatory, and costly. It is time for it to be erased from our nation’s laws.

Winnie Stachelberg is the Senior Vice President for External Affairs and Rudy DeLeon is the Senior Vice President of National Security and International Policy at the Center for American Progress.