Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York is announcing Monday that the Senate Armed Services Committee will hold hearings this fall on "don't ask, don't tell" -- the first ever held in the Senate since the military's gay ban was instituted in 1993. The House held hearings in the summer of 2008.Gillibrand secured the pledge from the Armed Services Committee Chairman, Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, but a repeal bill has yet to be introduced in the Senate.
“This policy is wrong for our national security and wrong for the moral foundation upon which our country was founded,’” Senator Gillibrand said in a statement. “I thank Chairman Levin for agreeing to hold this important hearing. Numerous military leaders are telling us that the times have changed. ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ is an unfair, outdated measure that violates the civil rights of some of our bravest, most heroic men and women. By repealing this policy, we will increase America’s strength – both militarily and morally.”
Gillibrand had been considering offering an amendment to the Department of Defense authorization bill that would have suspended discharges for the balance of the 111th Congress, but she determined that she did not have the 60 votes necessary to successfully attach the measure.
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