Whereas there are an estimated 66,000 members of the Armed
Forces who are gay or lesbian and approximately one million veterans who are
gay or lesbian;
Whereas these brave men and women serve in the Armed
Forces as highly trained linguists, aviators, medics, and soldiers and are
involved in valuable operations that have nothing to do with their sexual
orientation and everything to do with protecting American lives and advancing
the national security interests of the United States;
Whereas the current policy concerning homosexuality in the
Armed Forces, which is referred to as the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy and is
codified as section 654 of title 10, United States Code, continues to hurt
members of the Armed Forces, runs counter to the values exemplified by the
Armed Forces, and threatens national security;
Whereas in 2009, 428 members of the Armed Forces were
discharged or released as a result of application of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
policy, at the estimated cost of over $12 million;
Whereas since the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy was
implemented in 1994, more than 13,000 members have been discharged or released
solely as a consequence of their sexual orientation;
Whereas President Obama called for the repeal of the Don’t
Ask, Don’t Tell policy during his 2010 State of the Union address and pledged
to work with military leaders this year to finally repeal the law that
denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who
they are
;
Whereas the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate held
a hearing on the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy on February 2, 2010, and heard
testimony from Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Admiral Michael G. Mullen,
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff;
Whereas Secretary Gates declared his full support for the
repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don't Tell policy;
Whereas Admiral Mullen stated the following: My
personal belief is that allowing homosexuals to serve openly would be the right
thing to do. I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a
policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to
defend their fellow citizens. For me, it comes down to integrity—theirs as
individuals and ours as an institution.
;
Whereas Admiral Mullen is the highest ranking military
officer in American history to publically support permitting gay and lesbian
Americans to serve openly in the Armed Forces;
Whereas Secretary Gates, working in close consultation
with Admiral Mullen, has appointed a high-level working group within the
Department of Defense, led by Pentagon General Counsel Jeh Johnson and General
Carter Ham, to review issues regarding the proper implementation of a repeal of
the Don’t Ask, Don't Tell policy;
Whereas the mandate of this working group is to
thoroughly, objectively, and methodically examine all aspects of these issues
and report its findings and recommendations to Congress in the form of an
implementation plan by the end of 2010;
Whereas the working group will reach out to the force to
authoritatively understand their views and attitudes about the impacts of
repeal, undertake a thorough examination of all the changes to the department’s
regulations and policies that may have to be made, and examine the potential
impacts of a change in law on military effectiveness;
Whereas Secretary Gates has directed the Department of
Defense to quickly review the regulations used to implement the current Don’t
Ask, Don’t Tell policy and, within 45 days, present him with recommended
changes to those regulations that would enforce the policy in a more human and
fair manner within existing law;
Whereas the Department of Defense will ask the RAND
Corporation to update its 1993 study on the impacts of allowing homosexuals to
serve openly in the Armed Forces;
Whereas top leadership is critical to the successful
implementation of a repeal plan, however, full and final repeal of section 654
of title 10, United States Code, remains up to Congress;
Whereas the 1993 RAND study recommended that changes to
the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy be decided upon and implemented as
quickly as possible
;
Whereas several studies suggest that the repeal of section
654 of title 10, United States Code, can be implemented more quickly than
indicated by Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullen;
Whereas the Subcommittee on Personnel Management of the
Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives will hold a hearing
regarding the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy on March 3, 2010, and the Committee
on Armed Services of the Senate intends to hold additional hearings regarding
the policy;
Whereas in his testimony, Secretary Gates stated that the
working group will need to engage men and women in uniform and their
families
in order to assess their views regarding the effects of repeal
of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy and implementation of the repeal;
Whereas current members of the Armed Forces, regardless of
their sexual orientation, have valuable insight to share with military leaders
and Congress regarding the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy and any repeal
implementation plan;
Whereas the discriminatory nature of section 654 of title
10, United States Code, prevents members of the Armed Forces from speaking
openly, and both the Armed Forces and Congress will need a way to obtain
information from members to move forward with implementing repeal; and
Whereas all avenues to allow members of the Armed Forces
to participate in the upcoming Congressional hearings, and to protect them from
retribution for doing so, need to be explored: Now, therefore, be it
That the House of Representatives—
(1)recognizes the hearing of the Committee on
Armed Services of the Senate on the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, and the
testimony of Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates and Admiral Michael G. Mullen
at the hearing, as an important first step in bringing about the repeal of the
Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy concerning homosexuality in the Armed Forces and
in permitting gay and lesbian Americans to serve openly in the Armed
Forces;
(2)expresses the sense of the House of
Representatives that the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, as codified in section
654 of title 10, United States Code, should be repealed in 2010 and that repeal
legislation should be promptly brought to a vote in the Senate and House of
Representatives;
(3)expresses the hope that President Obama
will continue his leadership on this issue;
(4)urges the Pentagon working group to deliver
a repeal implementation plan to Congress as soon as possible while ensuring
that the needs and concerns of members of the Armed Forces are taken into
consideration;
(5)pledges to do its part to move the repeal
planning and implementation process forward on a timeline that is best for all
members of the Armed Forces; and
(6)strongly recommends that the Committee on
Armed Services of the Senate and the Subcommittee on Personnel Management of
the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives include members
of the Armed Forces, regardless of their sexual orientation, in the upcoming
hearings regarding the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy.