The Senate must vote to repeal ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ in 2010

Actions in the U.S. Senate during the next several weeks will determine whether this policy is repealed in 2010 or if it remains on the nation’s books for years to come.

The Senate Armed Services Committee and the House of Representatives passed identical measures in May that provide a path to ending DADT by linking its repeal to the successful completion of an ongoing Pentagon study on how to implement open service of gay men and women. This measure is included in the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA. But the motion to proceed on this bill failed in the Senate in late September due to a Republican-led filibuster. This has pushed the bill into the post-election legislative session, which starts next week.

Yet there is a chance that the NDAA may never come before the Senate for a vote due to the short legislative calendar and competition with other issues that need the Senate’s attention before the end of the year. This could delay legislative repeal until 2013 at the earliest given that many DADT repeal supporters will not return to Congress next year. And legally, the future of DADT remains precarious as a federal court case — in which a judge ruled DADT unconstitutional — slowly moves through the appeals court system and maybe even to the Supreme Court, where its fate is uncertain.

The best option for ending DADT is for the Senate to begin debate on the NDAA as soon as the chamber begins its post-election session and to expeditiously pass the bill with the DADT repeal language intact. This language calls for the careful implementation of open service by gay men and women by respecting the Pentagon’s current review process and acknowledging that implementing DADT repeal is best left in the hands of the Pentagon.

Here is how repeal will happen if Congress passes the current DADT language. The Pentagon will complete its ongoing comprehensive study on how to best implement repeal. President Barack Obama will then transmit a written certification to Congress saying that he, Secretary Gates, and Chairman Mullen have considered the recommendations contained in the Pentagon report and that moving forward with open service will not jeopardize the military’s readiness or effectiveness. Congress has 60 days to review this certification and the policy recommendations contained in the Pentagon report. The Pentagon, after those 60 days are up, finally begins to develop and implement the regulations that will allow gay men and women to serve openly.

A majority of senators supported repealing DADT at the time of the failed motion to proceed on the vote earlier this fall. The number of supporters should increase as more information about the Pentagon study is made public because several senators have stated that their decision on the matter is based largely on what the Pentagon study recommends. And early reports from the Pentagon’s report suggest that most troops support open service and that repeal’s implementation will require only modest changes to existing military rules and regulations.

Even if the Senate begins work on the NDAA when Congress returns in mid-November, senators will still be debating the bill on Dec. 1 when the Pentagon releases its report. Practically speaking, this means that all senators will have the opportunity to review the Pentagon study, assess the evidence, and then decide if the DADT repeal language should stay in the NDAA. But to get to that point, they must vote in mid-November to allow the NDAA to come up for consideration before the full Senate.

DADT is a discriminatory policy that needs to be repealed as soon as possible. A growing body of research, expert opinion, and the experiences of U.S. allies — including Israel and Great Britain — show that gay men and women can serve openly without jeopardizing military readiness or effectiveness. If the Senate fails to move the NDAA forward, the DADT policy will likely remain on the books for years to come.

The time to act is now.

Jeff Krehely is the Director of the LGBT Research and Communications Project at American Progress Action Fund. Crosby Burns is Special Assistant is to the Project.