The Senate just passed cloture on the standalone bill to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” by a vote of 63-33. Six Republican Senators joined all but one Democratic Senator in voting yes. The final vote on the bill will be today at 3:00 PM.
This is a developing story and may be updated throughout the day.
After two House votes, two Senate votes, seventeen years of forced lies and witchhunts, over 13,000 discharges, twenty-three military studies — the most recent costing $4.5 million — untold hours and millions of dollars worth of of lobbying and debate, Congress has, albeit reluctantly, come closer to repealing a law already ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge months ago, one that many Americans felt was never a good idea from the start, and now 78% of Americans agree must end.
In what has to be seen as the most-egregious dereliction of their fiduciary duty, Senate Republicans yesterday, in a last-ditch effort and in a continuation of their no-holds-barred hostage-taking and extortion, threatened to defeat the START treaty to regulate and inspect nuclear weapons that exist around the world, potentially putting the very existence of the country at stake.
Republican Senators up until the last minute invoked false concepts, claiming, as Senator John McCain, the leading advocate against repeal, said, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repeal will cause “great damage” and “harm the battle effectiveness.” McCain actually, falsely, said, as did General Amos earlier in the week, that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal would actually cost limbs and lives.
Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), upset about the perfectly legal procedure the Senate used, called “Rule XIV,” threatened, “this game can be played by both sides…next year we’re going to insist on it.”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, commenting about the upset of Republican Senators about procedure, said their comments “bring a big yawn to the American people,” who know the obstruction the Republicans have been practicing all year, and said, “to suggest that there hasn’t been hearing after hearing on this is just nonsensical.”
It’s important for all to remember that with this historic vote, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” as a law and policy is closer to coming to an end, but the military and the Commander in Chief would still have to “certify” when — and if — the military is ready to allow openly-gay and lesbian service members to serve.
Justin Elzie, the first U.S. Marine discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” wrote to me about today’s vote. He says,
“I feel hopeful that this vote for cloture today and the final vote in the next day or two will finally get rid of this egregious policy. People need to know that this is an important first step, but this is not over until after a 60 day waiting period, a certification by the President, Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and an implementation plan started by the Pentagon that needs to be rolled out. Most importantly the discharges need to stop and that doesn’t happen yet with today’s vote. This is not over until all of that happens. This vote is happening today thanks to the tireless efforts of many veterans and activists from groups like Servicemembers United to GetEqual. Let’s celebrate after today’s vote but realize we will need to roll up our sleeves and get the discharges stopped and an implementation plan finished before this is over.â€
Lt. Dan Choi, the posterboy for repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” who is reportedly now in a Veterans’ Administration facility after suffering from PTSD which he attributes in part to the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” fight, released a statement via Twitter as this morning’s debate was taking place. “‘No army can withstand the strength of an idea whose time has come.’ Victor Hugo #DreamAct #DADT”
Not voting today were Senators Bunning (R-KY), Gregg (R-NH), Manchin (D-WV) and Hatch (R-UT). The six Republicans voting to move the bill forward were Brown, Snowe, Collins, Murkowski, Voinovich, and Kirk.