Washington, D.C.—Winnie Stachelberg, Senior Vice President of External Affairs, and Rudy deLeon, Senior Vice President of National Security and International Policy at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement today:
"The U.S. Senate voted this afternoon to not proceed to debate the 2011 NDAA (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 DADT (the "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policy), which Secretary of Defense Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral 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 stand-alone 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."
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