[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 17]
[House]
[Pages 23628-23636]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                REPEAL THE DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL POLICY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 2009, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Patrick J. 
Murphy) is recognized for 60 minutes.
  Mr. PATRICK J. MURPHY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous 
consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and 
extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of 
my Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. PATRICK J. MURPHY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, tonight, October 
6, at 10:03 p.m., we have a very special night. My colleagues and I 
stand here tonight to champion the repeal of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell 
policy. Repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell is important. It's important 
for three reasons.
  Number one, it is vital to our national security that we repeal Don't 
Ask, Don't Tell. We have kicked out over 13,000 troops since we enacted 
this law 16 years ago. We have kicked out over 400 troops just this 
year, in 2009. When our commanders on the ground are desperate for 
troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, now is not the time to throw them out--
not for any type of sexual misconduct, but just because they're gay.
  Number two, do we need to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell because it is 
doing right by our taxpayers? It is costing the American taxpayer $1.3 
billion to throw these young American heroes out of our military just 
because of their sexual orientation. It costs the American taxpayer 
$60,000 to recruit these young heroes to come in, to train them up, to 
make them warriors, and then we just disregard them just because of 
their sexual orientation.
  And, lastly, the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy goes against the very 
fabric of what makes our country the greatest country on Earth, the 
fact that we're all created equal.
  Mr. Speaker, we have colleagues, Members of this great House here 
tonight to argue about the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. There are 
176 cosponsors to repeal this act, but one of these Members is the 
highest-ranking enlisted soldier ever to serve the United States 
Congress. He was a command sergeant major. That is the highest rank you 
can become in the United States Army in the enlisted ranks. He is a 
sophomore Congressman from Minnesota. His name is Tim Walz. He is an 
American patriot and a hero, and I'd like to turn it over to my 
colleague and my friend, Tim Walz from the great State of Minnesota.
  Mr. WALZ. Thank you to my colleague, the gentleman from Pennsylvania. 
Thank you for your service in the military. Thank you for your 
leadership in this Congress and, especially, thank you for standing 
forward on this important issue. The colleagues who have joined us here 
tonight understand this issue is one of civil liberties, of basic human 
dignity and of national security.
  As my colleague said, I had the privilege and the honor to serve this 
Nation for 24 years in uniform. I can tell you, there is no greater 
privilege than putting on the uniform of the United States Army and 
trying to do the best you can to make sure that our personal liberties 
and our security of this Nation are maintained. The idea of denying 
that privilege and that honor to

[[Page 23629]]

any American is simply unfathomable to me. It makes no sense. I can 
tell you, approaching this from a perspective--I'm a schoolteacher by 
profession--I had students that I taught in the classroom, coached on 
the football field, trained in my Guard unit, and they went off to Iraq 
to fight for this Nation. They went off to Afghanistan to fight for 
this Nation. Not once, not once in my career did the question of sexual 
orientation come up. Not once was the ability of that unit to deliver 
the security and deliver their mission ever predicated on sexual 
orientation. Not once did I see that this Nation was safer because a 
soldier was removed because of sexual orientation.
  This issue and in the position I was in as a senior enlisted soldier, 
my whole purpose in life was to make sure our troops were trained; make 
sure they were prepared to do the mission and make sure their well-
being was taken care of; make sure they could pass their physical 
proficiency test, make sure they could fire their weapon to the best of 
their ability; make sure they understood the mission and they 
understood the tactics to carry out the mission that was assigned to 
them to protect this Nation.
  The professionalism of our troops is beyond question. The 
professionalism to be able to carry out a mission as assigned to them 
and to fall back upon their training has led us to have the most 
successful and proficient military in the world. The idea that these 
soldiers would be degraded because of the sexual orientation of someone 
doing the exact same thing alongside them is not only a fallacy; it is 
degrading to the professionalism of most soldiers there.
  We serve today, right alongside in Afghanistan, 12 nations that allow 
their military to serve as openly gay and lesbian soldiers. Not one 
incident in that conflict has arisen because of that. And as my 
colleague from Pennsylvania so clearly pointed out, as that generation 
of young people willingly raise their hand at a time of two wars to 
serve this Nation, we're turning out some of the most skilled warriors 
and turning them out of the military for a bias on sexual orientation 
that has no place, has no need, and is not undermining our security.
  My colleagues here tonight are going to make and have already made a 
very eloquent case for this. The United States public has a very strong 
preference that we allow people to serve in the military. We allow them 
to do their duty. We make sure that our Arab linguists are there, and 
we've sent many of them out the door because of this archaic and 
outdated policy. It doesn't reflect the values of this Nation. It 
doesn't reflect what we know in the military as a sense of trust 
amongst comrades.
  There is a very eloquent quote--I think one of the most powerful 
speeches ever given, and it was given by the Marine Corps' first rabbi, 
Rabbi Gittleshon on Iwo Jima. Rabbi Gittleshon was chosen and asked to 
give the eulogy over the dead at the Battle of Iwo Jima. There was a 
strong bias about having a rabbi give last rites over Christian 
soldiers. The decision was made to have three different services. But 
during Rabbi Gittleshon's remarks, he was very clear about this: an 
enlisted man and an officer lay dead together, black and white, rich 
and poor, sons of immigrants and fourth-generation Americans. Not one 
of those people asked the other why they were there. His point was, 
theirs was the purest democracy, arm in arm, brothers and sisters in 
arms fighting for this Nation. And for any of us to discriminate 
against another because of any perceived bias was to disregard and 
disrespect the valor and the memory of those who have served.
  So I want to thank my colleague from Pennsylvania, Captain Murphy, an 
Airborne soldier, served honorably in Iraq and has served this Nation 
well. He came to Congress to do the same thing and has courageously 
stood up time and time again for what's right, what's for the best 
security of this country and what keeps in the best traditions of civil 
liberties in this country.
  So I stand with my captain side by side on this. I can assure the 
American public, the professionalism of our force and the unwavering 
commitment to this country of the military is in absolutely secure 
hands, and to give other Americans the ability to serve and be a part 
of that is something that this Congress must do. So Captain Murphy, I 
congratulate you. I thank you for doing this. I'm proud to stand with 
you. You have over 170 of our colleagues with you on this. It's time to 
move this forward. It's time to erase this mistake for our security and 
for Americans. I'll be with you every step of the way. So thank you for 
that.
  With that, I yield back to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
  Mr. PATRICK J. MURPHY of Pennsylvania. I thank the gentleman from 
Minnesota. There are two points that he mentioned that I would like to 
highlight. The first is the fact that there are 27 other nations that 
allow their troops to serve openly. Some of our toughest allies--Great 
Britain, Israel, the Aussies--they all allow their troops to serve 
openly with no detrimental effects.

                              {time}  2210

  Secondly, the command sergeant major mentioned Iwo Jima. I spoke to 
250 senior leaders in the United States Army yesterday, and, 
unsolicited, I got an e-mail this morning from one of those colonels 
that I met with. And this Army colonel wrote me a note, and he said, 
``In fact, gay men and women have been serving honorably in our 
military for decades.'' He sent me a moving passage from a book about 
World War II entitled, ``Stories from the Pacific.'' Reflecting on his 
experiences, a Marine wrote:
  ``That lesson of tolerance was well learned by the men in our 
company. During three amphibious campaigns in which we took part in 
Bougainville to Iwo Jima, valor and unselfishness were commonplace. I 
saw bravery and sacrifice all around me.
  ``One of the most courageous men I met was our Navy corpsman, Billy 
Hauger, a teenage boy who always put our well-being ahead of his own. 
In combat, he cared for us. He bandaged our wounds and comforted our 
men as they died. Often he would leave his position of relative safety 
and move out into the hail of enemy gunfire to treat a downed marine or 
pull a man to safety.
  ``On Iwo Jima, he risked his life time and time again to take care of 
his fellow men. On his last rescue attempt, he was badly wounded when a 
Japanese Nambu machine gun put a round through his thigh and another 
high in his chest. Billy's wounds were life-threatening, and he was 
quickly transported out to the hospital ship for treatment. But Billy 
didn't make it.
  ``Billy was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross, our Nation's second 
highest honor for extraordinary heroism under fire. I loved Billy 
Hauger then and I will always love him. Billy Hauger was a homosexual. 
Every single marine in our company will be proud to stand with him and 
call him friend and brother.''
  He's looking down from heaven right now, and he's looking at us in 
this hall today. And I'm proud to stand with every one of you as we 
champion the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
  With that, I yield to my colleague, the congresswoman from 
California, Mrs. Lois Capps.
  Mrs. CAPPS. I thank my colleague from Pennsylvania, Mr. Murphy, for 
yielding.
  I am so honored to be with you this evening, and I thank you for 
organizing this time and for your leadership on this issue.
  It's a humbling experience to come to the podium and come to the well 
following the eloquent testimony that you and our colleague Tim Walz 
have given us, the two of you having distinguished yourselves in 
uniform serving our country on the battlefield. And your eloquence in 
your statements and also your testimony to the importance of this 
legislation gives credibility to it and credence to it that you alone 
uniquely, I believe, in this body have that ability to do, and I thank 
you that you are stepping up and leading this effort.
  I am honored to join you. I believe it takes those of you who served 
to express your leadership in this way, but I

[[Page 23630]]

also believe that the rest of us who didn't have that experience of 
serving but who are so grateful to those who did want to join you in 
this kind of effort. I am so honored to stand here this evening tonight 
with our colleagues from different parts of the country, from different 
backgrounds and experiences, all with this conviction that we have and 
lending our support to the Military Readiness Enhancement Act.
  It's been stated already, and it's going to be stated again, Don't 
Ask, Don't Tell is discriminatory, detrimental to the productivity of 
our Armed Forces, and it really contradicts the very foundation of 
equality that the United States of America is founded upon. Plain and 
simple, it is way past time for this prejudiced policy to end.
  As you stated before, over 12,000 men and women have been discharged 
from the military since 1993 because of their sexual orientation, 
because of their sexuality. That's over 12,000 gifted and qualified 
individuals our military could not afford to lose in the first place.
  We must keep the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell on our priority list 
in this Congress, and this issue must also remain on the national 
conscience as well. We have to seek out every opportunity that we can 
to educate our constituents that Don't Ask, Don't Tell threatens not 
only our national security but all of our inherent rights as Americans.
  I'm very grateful for the countless individuals who are working in 
our communities to do just that. Many of them are current and former 
members of the military, and they do their service and they do our 
country a great honor by doing that, but I want us to widen that. We 
can't leave it up to those who have served to tell their story out of 
their own personal experience. We have to also join them because we are 
part of that movement as well. And there are numerous organizations 
working across the country to inform people and citizens, all citizens, 
about the injustice of this policy.
  I am very proud that one of these organizations, the Palm Center, is 
located at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in my district. 
Nathaniel Frank is a senior research fellow at this center. I have 
listened to him and had him explain his research to me, but he has 
written also extensively about how detrimental this policy is in a book 
that he has published entitled, ``Unfriendly Fire.''
  He explains how Don't Ask, Don't Tell has added to the challenge of 
recruiting and keeping qualified soldiers in the military, and he also 
describes how the ban undermines the unit cohesion that it is 
supposedly designed to protect. The very reasons for establishing this 
policy have had the effect of undermining troop morale and troop 
discipline. And this is evidence that has been gathered now, 
substantial enough, that it is way past time, as I said, for us to act 
on it.
  With the assistance of organizations like the Palm Center, important 
volumes like ``Unfriendly Fire,'' and the testimony of our civilian and 
military allies, we can and really we must overturn the ban on gays in 
the military.
  I applaud our President's stance on this issue, and I look forward to 
getting the Military Readiness Enhancement Act to his desk as soon as 
possible. I believe that's our goal, and I'm grateful, again, for the 
effort of this hour to lay the groundwork for it.
  Every day that passes with the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy 
continuing in place, the United States military loses out on more and 
more qualified applicants. For a country at war, this is simply 
inexcusable, and it threatens the safety and security of our 
overstretched deployed troops today. Every effort needs to be taken to 
ensure that those serving in our Armed Forces have the materials, the 
support, and the work environment that they need to function most 
effectively.

                              {time}  2220

  The brave men and women serving today in our Armed Forces deserve 
nothing less than the ability to be honest about who they are.
  Thank you again, Mr. Murphy. Thank you to my colleagues for 
organizing this hour for giving us the opportunity to speak out on this 
very important issue, for holding this special order to bring further 
attention to the Military Readiness Enhancement Act.
  Mr. PATRICK J. MURPHY of Pennsylvania. I thank the lady from 
California.
  I would like to highlight the fact that Nathaniel Frank and Aaron 
Bell can do a great job at the Palm Center. They are truly our battle 
buddies in this cause to do what's right by our soldiers, our marines, 
our airmen, our sailors, and our coastguardsmen. And that's our job 
tonight.
  Now it's my honor to turn it over to the gentleman from Colorado, Mr. 
Jared Polis, who happens to be my sister and brother-in-law's 
Congressman, and I know Brian and Kathy Mergolis out there in 
Westminster, Colorado, are probably watching, and I would like to turn 
it over now to their Congressman, Mr. Polis.
  Mr. POLIS. Thank you for highlighting some of the research that was 
done in your district regarding this matter. And I would like to thank 
Representative Patrick Murphy for taking this challenge on, making our 
military stronger, saving taxpayer money.
  I would like to bring the attention of our viewers to a very recent 
report that was published. It's called ``The Efficacy of Don't Ask, 
Don't Tell'' by Colonel Om Prakash. You can find it on the Internet. 
This was a study that was done by a student at the National War 
College. It actually won recently the 2009 Secretary of Defense 
National Security Essay Competition.
  One of the quotes on the cover is from General Omar Bradley, and it 
says, ``Experiments within the Army in the solution of social problems 
are fraught with danger to efficiency, discipline, and morale.''
  Now, of course this was not in relation to our current discussion. It 
was in reference to the racial integration of the United States 
military by Harry Truman in 1948.
  At some point the experimentation, the so-called experimentation, 
becomes the exclusion. At this point in the evolution of our society, 
it is more experimental to use the military as a social incubator to 
try and deny gay and lesbian soldiers from serving than simply allowing 
them to serve. The military isn't the place for evaluating whether or 
not we as a society accept or don't accept homosexuality. It should be 
designed as a fighting force to defend our Nation. And anything that 
compromises that weakens our military and is not in our interest as a 
country.
  The report by Colonel Prakash--allow me to quote from it--it says, 
``If one considers strictly the lost manpower and expense, `Don't Ask, 
Don't Tell' is a costly failure.''
  Colonel Prakash further quotes the GAO's estimates that the cost is 
$190.5 million for the previous 10 years of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Not 
only does it cost money, but it costs lives. Whenever we put anything 
other than our best foot forward in terms of the very most capable 
personnel for every particular mission, we jeopardize the lives of 
other men and women serving in our military. We owe it to the men and 
women serving in our military to ensure that the most capable person is 
in every job, regardless of the race or the sexual orientation of that 
individual.
  Colonel Prakash's report ends, ``Based on this research, it is not 
time for the administration to reexamine the issue; rather, it is time 
for the administration to examine how to implement the repeal of the 
ban.''
  We have a number of other speakers here tonight, Mr. Murphy, and that 
is a testimony to your leadership and the importance of this issue. I 
look forward to engaging in a discussion after we've all had a chance 
to say a few words.
  Mr. PATRICK J. MURPHY of Pennsylvania. I would like to highlight of 
this report--which is a terrific report--Colonel Prakash writes, 
``There are potential lessons to learn from other countries that have 
lifted the ban on homosexuals serving openly. There was no mass exodus 
of heterosexuals, there was no mass `coming-out' of homosexuals. Prior 
to lifting their bans, in Canada 62 percent of servicemen stated that 
they would refuse to share showers with a gay soldier, and in the

[[Page 23631]]

United Kingdom, two-thirds of males stated that they would not 
willingly serve in the military if gays were allowed. In both cases, 
after lifting their bans, the result was ``no effect.''
  In a survey of over 100 experts from Australia, Canada, Israel, and 
the United Kingdom, it was found that all agreed the decision to lift 
the ban on homosexuals had no impact on military performance, 
readiness, cohesion, or ability to recruit or retain. Nor did it 
increase the HIV rate among troops.''
  He concludes his article by saying, as you mentioned, ``Don't Ask, 
Don't Tell has been costly both in personnel and treasure. In an 
attempt to allow homosexual servicemembers to serve quietly, a law was 
created by this Congress that forces a compromise in integrity, 
conflicts with the American creed of `equality for all,' places 
commanders in difficult moral dilemmas, and is ultimately more damaging 
to the unit cohesion its stated purpose is to preserve.
  ``Furthermore, after a careful examination, there is no scientific 
evidence to support the claim that unit cohesion will be negatively 
affected if homosexuals serve openly. In fact, the necessarily 
speculative psychological predictions are that it will not impact 
combat effectiveness.
  ``Based on this research, it is not time for the administration to 
reexamine the issue; rather, it is time for the administration to 
examine how to implement the repeal of the ban.''
  And that, my friends, is from the Joint Force Quarterly. That is a 
publication from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of our 
country.
  With that, I would like to now turn it over to the congresswoman from 
California, Ms. Lynn Woolsey.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. I would like to thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania 
for organizing tonight's Special Order because the men and women who 
serve in our military deserve nothing less than our respect, our 
support, and our admiration, yet the Department of Defense continues to 
deny them the respect they have earned by pursuing a devastating policy 
that is nothing less than discrimination against gay servicemembers.
  Don't Ask, Don't Tell requires that the military discharge gay, 
lesbian, and bisexual servicemen and women because of their sexual 
orientation. A servicemember could be the best sharpshooter, the best 
medic, or the best language specialist in the military; it doesn't 
matter if he or she is a captain or a cadet having served 3 days or 30 
years. If that Member is openly gay, he or she is fired.
  Don't Ask, Don't Tell denies our Nation their service, it denies our 
Nation--makes us less safe because this terrible and open 
discrimination in the military does no good. It takes away great 
members that should be working in what they want to do and helping us 
be safer day in and day out.
  It's clear that Don't Ask, Don't Tell is a failed policy that not 
only punishes the thousands of highly qualified servicemembers who have 
been discharged from the military, but it wastes millions of taxpayer 
dollars as well. When you add up the cost of the training, the food, 
the lodging, the equipment, the uniforms, the staff support, and the 
transportation, our country makes a huge investment in our 
servicemembers to be the best in the world. But because of Don't Ask, 
Don't Tell, all of this training and funding is wasted if a trained 
servicemember is openly gay.

                              {time}  2230

  How can we invest the tens of millions of dollars in these young men 
and women, all of whom are desperately needed by the military, yet tell 
them they can't serve our country?
  This inflexible policy continues to weaken our Nation's ability to 
protect and defend itself by retaining qualified servicemen and -women. 
We must stop this. Don't Ask, Don't Tell has to go away. I was a 
freshman when we put this terrible policy in place, and believe me, I 
worked really hard trying to defeat it, but it's there. Let's get rid 
of it.
  Thank you, Patrick, for doing this.
  PATRICK J. MURPHY of Pennsylvania. I thank the gentlelady from 
California, and I look forward to partnering with her to do that, to 
right the wrong from 16 years ago in this Congress and to finally 
overturn that discriminatory piece of legislation and to make it right 
for our troops.
  With that, I would like to turn it over to a fellow hockey player 
from the great State of Illinois, although he is a Black Hawks fan and 
not a Flyers fan. By the way, the Flyers won their home opener tonight 
6-5 against the Washington Capitals, Mike Quigley.
  Mr. QUIGLEY. Thank you. I want to thank the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania for his service as well.
  Let me briefly try to put a human face on this. When you don't put a 
person on it, you can imagine it is hard to really understand the human 
cost with such a policy. I will give you two.
  First of all, Lee Reinhart, 4 years after graduating from high school 
and after spending time at both public and private universities, Lee 
Reinhart decided he had simply not found his calling. So in September 
of 1995, Lee surprised his friends and family by joining the Navy. Lee 
served on board the USS Cowpens as an operations specialist working his 
way up to becoming a second class petty officer in the Combat 
Information Center, tracking both surface and air contacts.
  While serving, Lee earned several medals and ribbons, including the 
Navy-Marine Corps Achievement Medal. Lee's tour of duty in the Navy was 
completed in August of 1999. After time in the Reserves and the events 
of September 11, 2001, Lee wanted to return to active duty, this time 
to make it a career. This time he chose the Coast Guard. But soon after 
joining, Lee became a target and was being investigated. Lee was given 
two choices: he could admit he was gay and be allowed to leave the 
military peacefully, or he could stay and undergo an investigation with 
the same end result, discharge.
  The point of this story is obvious. Lee had completed a full 
enlistment in one branch and earned an honorable discharge, but while 
serving in another branch, the uneven and inequitable implementation of 
Don't Ask, Don't Tell ended his career.
  The implementation of Don't Ask, Don't Tell is uneven and subject to 
individuals such as Lee to the whims and prejudices of individuals.
  Second Lieutenant Sandy Tsao, like the President of the United 
States, our dear friend Sandy is a fellow former South Sider, this time 
from the Bridgeport neighborhood. Sunday, February 8, 2009, marked the 
1-year service anniversary of her active duty full-time service to her 
country. Shortly thereafter she received an honorable discharge because 
of her orientation.
  Ms. Tsao wrote a letter to the President of the United States. She 
writes: ``I am a second lieutenant currently serving in the U.S. Army. 
In addition to being an officer, I am a Christian, a woman and a 
Chinese American. I am proud of all these identities. Lastly, I am also 
a lesbian. On September 21, 2007, I was appointed as an Army officer. 
In the oath of office, I swore that I would support and defend the 
Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and 
domestic. Unfortunately, I will not be able to fulfill this oath 
because the current policy regarding sexual orientation contradicts my 
values as a moral human being.
  Today is the Chinese New Year. I hope it will bring good fortune to 
you in your newly elect office. Today is also the day I inform my chain 
of command of who I am. One of the seven Army values is integrity. It 
means choosing to do the right thing no matter what the consequences 
may be. As a Christian, this also means living an honest life. I cannot 
live up to these values unless my workplace `provides an environment 
free of unlawful discrimination and offensive behavior.''' That is an 
excerpt from the U.S. Army's Equal Opportunity Branch.
  ``We have the best military in the world, and I would like to 
continue to be part of it. My mother can tell you it is my dream to 
serve our country. I have fought and overcome many barriers to arrive 
at the point I am today. This is the only battle I fear I may lose. 
Even if it is too late for me, I do

[[Page 23632]]

hope, Mr. President, you will help us win the war against prejudice so 
that future generations will continue to work together and fight for 
our freedoms regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national 
origin or sexual orientation.''
  For 24-year-old Sandy Tsao, we are too late. For the many other gay 
and lesbian servicemembers, our repeal may just be in time.
  In my mind, having gone to Iraq, I looked at the brave men and women 
willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for our country, many of them as 
young as my own children. And I will tell you what I didn't see. I 
didn't see those as black or white, men or women, straight or gay, 
Democrats or Republicans. I saw Americans. I saw warriors. Don't Ask, 
Don't Tell is a policy so fundamentally hypocritical that it encourages 
citizens to put their lives on the line to serve a country built on 
freedom and democracy as long as they lie about who they are.
  Lastly, I'm reminded always at times like this what President Lincoln 
said at Gettysburg. Now, it has been interpreted many ways, but I would 
like to think that the essence of what President Lincoln was getting to 
was, 87 years ago we created a country based on certain principles, the 
most important of which is that all of us are created equal.
  What he was saying in Gettysburg is, Did we really mean it? Did we 
really mean everyone? And I ask my colleagues to think about that, 
especially in time of two wars, with storm clouds gathering over North 
Korea and Iran. Did we really mean it? Do we really mean it today, that 
all of us are created equal? I think we all are warriors, at least that 
much. Thank you.
  PATRICK J. MURPHY of Pennsylvania. I thank the gentleman from 
Illinois. Those personal stories of our heroes that wrote to you are 
very powerful and very moving. I will tell you since I took over the 
leadership of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell by enacting the Military 
Readiness Enhancement Act, I have gotten letters from all over the 
country and from overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one of those 
letters that touched my heart and frankly broke my heart was from a 
soldier in Afghanistan. See, when I served in Iraq 6 years ago, I had 
19 of my fellow paratroopers in the 82nd Airborne Division that gave 
the ultimate sacrifice. But one of them committed suicide. One of those 
19 never made it home to see his family again. But this letter broke my 
heart because, and you will see, this hero was dealing with the Don't 
Ask, Don't Tell policy.
  He writes: ``Sir, as you know, military spouses and other family 
members are important parts of the larger `team' that is essential for 
our national defense. But such support is fundamentally closed off to 
the partners of gay servicemembers, even though these partners may be 
making the exact same sacrifices as their straight counterparts.
  ``And it's even worse. Gay servicemembers and their committed 
partners have to worry that an overheard phone call, an intercepted 
email, or other type of compromised private communication could lead to 
a humiliating, career-destroying investigation. This is no way to treat 
American patriots.
  ``I write of these matters from personal experience. When the 9/11 
terrorist attacks occurred, I was in a serious long-term relationship. 
The extensive active duty I did after 9/11 put a serious strain on this 
relationship. The relationship fell completely apart during my first 
deployment to Afghanistan in 2003.
  ``One of the big risk factors contributing to soldier suicides is the 
breakup of serious relationships. This is exactly what I experienced, 
and in the context of a combat zone deployment. I can still vividly 
remember sitting alone in Afghanistan, cradling my government-issued 
pistol in my hands and fighting the urge to blow my own brains out.
  ``What made that personal struggle in Afghanistan particularly 
difficult was the isolation that was imposed on me as a consequence of 
the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. A straight soldier in a similar state 
of crisis could go to his commander, his first sergeant, or his `battle 
buddy' for support. But if I as a gay soldier had gone to my commander 
with the details of my situation, he would have been obligated to start 
the process of kicking me out of the Army.
  ``The Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy is wrong. I say this not just as 
an individual soldier, but also as someone with extensive experience as 
both a platoon leader and company commander. When I have been in such 
leadership positions, I have had straight soldiers share with me some 
of the most shockingly intimate details about their personal lives. I 
was glad that these straight soldiers put their trust in me, because I 
was able to offer each one the counsel or moral support that he or she 
needed at that time.

                              {time}  2240

  ``Gay soldiers should also have that right to go to a commander, a 
first sergeant, or a battle buddy and not have to the worry about the 
ramifications of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. The Don't Ask, Don't 
Tell policy shackles the hands of leaders like me. It prevents us from 
giving all of our troops the supportive leadership they deserve. The 
Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy throws up walls between battle buddies. It 
is an ugly stain on our national honor.''
  I now yield to the new freshman, the gentlewoman from the great State 
of Maine (Ms. Pingree).
  Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Thank you so much, Congressman Murphy. Thank 
you for gathering us here at this late hour and also for taking on the 
leadership role in this extremely important issue. I am very proud to 
be here with you and my other colleagues tonight who are taking the 
time to talk about how important this is. And I would like to add a few 
words that can't come close to expressing what people have done in 
letters and stories that have already been told, but I do want to add a 
few words from my own perspective.
  In 1993, as we have talked about today, Congress passed the Don't 
Ask, Don't Tell law that mandates the discharge of openly gay, lesbian, 
or bisexual servicemembers. Under this law, as we all know and have 
been talking about, at least one individual a day on average is fired 
because they are gay or lesbian. Since 1994, that amounts to 13,000 
servicemembers who have been discharged under the authority of this 
discriminatory act.
  I am a freshman, as you mentioned, and I know this bill was passed in 
a different time, but as a freshman, coming in here with different 
eyes, as a new Member, nothing seems fair or reasonable about this 
policy. And as a member of the House Armed Services Committee, it is 
clear to me that this policy does nothing to keep our country safe. And 
it does nothing to move our country forward in protecting the very 
rights that the brave men and women of the military are fighting to 
protect.
  In fact, I believe this policy has the opposite effect. Don't Ask, 
Don't Tell has been responsible for the dismissal of highly qualified 
soldiers, as we said, almost 13,000 soldiers, that our country 
desperately needs at a time when we are engaged in two active conflicts 
overseas.
  We have talked a lot about this report which has just been recently 
released. And As Colonel Om Prakash recently said, as others have said 
in the Joint Force Quarterly, Don't Ask, Don't Tell has been costly 
both in personnel and treasure, and is ultimately more damaging to the 
unit cohesion its stated purpose is to preserve.
  We talk a lot about the numbers, about our need for trained members, 
like experienced Arabic translators, which we know this damages. 
Tonight we have heard thousands of stories of the men and women who 
willingly serve our country and, oh, by the way, happen to be gay.
  I heard a story recently of a soldier whose partner died while he was 
serving in Iraq. Because he was gay and because his partner was a male, 
he couldn't openly grieve or talk, just as you mentioned, to his 
commanding officer or to any other troops.
  I heard about a young woman who wanted to follow in her father's 
footsteps but because she was openly gay, a lesbian, she could not 
serve in the military, and it was her life goal.
  I, like many of my colleagues, have visited in Iraq and Afghanistan 
and I

[[Page 23633]]

have seen the chaos and the confusion, the danger that our soldiers 
take on every day in which many of them serve.
  In my State, like many other States, I attend the ceremonies where we 
send them off, where we welcome soldiers home, and I look at them, 
young and old, men and women. And I, like many others, attend the 
funerals when those soldiers don't come home, and I have hugged the 
parents of military members who don't come home and know the grief that 
they feel. But of all of those soldiers, whether you see them in Iraq 
and Afghanistan, you see them as they are going off, I just see young 
men and women, older men and women in the Guard who are willing to 
serve our country. I don't see anyone who is gay or straight. I see, as 
one of my colleagues said, Americans, people who are willing to serve.
  I stand here today in support of every single one of our soldiers, no 
matter what their sex, their ethnicity, or their sexual orientation. 
They deserve our respect and deep gratitude and support, and every 
single one of them deserves the honor just as they are to serve our 
country.
  Thank you so much for taking on this issue and being here tonight.
  Mr. PATRICK J. MURPHY of Pennsylvania. I thank the gentlelady from 
Maine. That was powerful. I tell you, you are doing a fantastic job as 
a new Member of Congress. We are proud to have you and lucky to have 
you in this Hall.
  With that, I would like to turn it over to gentleman from New York 
(Mr. Arcuri), the former prosecutor from Utica, an Italian Catholic 
like my mother, who came in in the 2006 class.
  Mr. ARCURI. I thank my friend from Philadelphia and for his courage 
and determination in being here.
  This issue, I was sitting there and I turned the TV on this evening 
and I didn't know you would be here, and I saw you on the floor and I 
really wanted to come down. My comments pale in comparison to some of 
the comments made and stories told, but I think it is very important 
that people weigh in on this issue. This is not the kind of issue that 
is just reserved for people who have been in the military, but this is 
an issue that affects all Americans. We are so proud of the freedom our 
country represents, and there are so many thousands of people who have 
given their lives over the years to protect that freedom, and they did 
it to ensure freedom for future generations and to ensure that 
prejudice and discrimination did not continue as a blemish upon our 
country.
  Don't Ask, Don't Tell is a blemish on our country and it needs to be 
repealed. It needs to be removed in the same way that any prejudice and 
any discrimination should be removed from the books of laws of our 
great country.
  I am here tonight to say, first off, for your leadership in this 
very, very important issue and for stepping forward in the courageous 
way you have, and for leading the charge to do not just the right thing 
but the important thing, the critical thing for the future of our 
country, I stand with you. I am proud to be a cosponsor of your bill, 
and I am proud to be with you here tonight.
  Mr. PATRICK J. MURPHY of Pennsylvania. I thank the gentleman from New 
York. As Mr. Arcuri said, we should all weigh in and we shouldn't just 
leave it to those who have served in uniform. I tell you, in the 
Congress 40 years ago, over 75 percent had military experience. Now it 
is 23 percent of us here have military experience. I will tell you that 
you don't need to be a veteran, someone who wore the cloth of our 
country, to weigh in. And that is why it is great to have patriots like 
Mike Arcuri, Chellie Pingree, and like Mike Quigley, from all over this 
country, to stand up and do the right thing.
  With that, I now turn it over to one of the true champions of 
equality in this Congress. The Congresswoman from Wisconsin has been in 
my home district in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and we keep asking her 
to come back because she has more fans there than I do, I think. 
Luckily, she is not running against me in a primary. But I will tell 
you, Ms. Tammy Baldwin is a true champion for all of us with what is 
right in America.
  Ms. BALDWIN. I want to thank my friend and colleague both for your 
service to your country and for your leadership on this very critical 
issue. And also thank you for yielding me some time this evening to 
talk about it.
  I join you in strong support of H.R. 1283, the Military Readiness 
Enhancement Act. We have heard throughout the evening in 1993 Congress 
passed Don't Ask, Don't Tell, a law mandating the discharge of openly 
gay, lesbian, or bisexual servicemembers.
  At the time, this law was intended as sort of a compromise to allow 
gay and lesbian servicemembers to serve in the military so long as they 
did not disclose their sexual orientation, so long as they hid being 
gay, lesbian, or bisexual. In other words, this compromise required our 
servicemembers to conceal, at best, or to lie, at worst. And in an 
organization such as our military where trust and unit cohesion is so 
important, this was just untenable.
  Fifteen years later, we know that Don't Ask, Don't Tell is misguided, 
unjust, and, flat out, it is a discriminatory policy. Not only does 
Don't Ask, Don't Tell damage the lives and livelihoods of our military 
professionals, it deprives our Armed Forces of their honorable service 
and needed skills.
  The armed services have discharged almost 800 mission critical troops 
and at least 59 Arabic and nine Farsi linguists under Don't Ask, Don't 
Tell in the last 5 years. This is just indefensible.
  Further, the financial cost alone of implementing Don't Ask, Don't 
Tell from fiscal year 1994 through 2003 was more than $363 million. 
Now, we can't afford to lose any more dedicated and talented 
servicemembers to Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and surely we can put these 
dollars, these resources, to much better use.

                              {time}  2250

  Earlier this summer I had the pleasure of meeting Air Force 
Lieutenant Colonel Victor Fehrenbach. He's an exceptional serviceman 
who's being discharged under the Don't Ask, Don't Tell law. Lieutenant 
Colonel Fehrenbach has honorably served his country for 18 years as an 
F-15E pilot. He received nine Air Medals, including a medal for heroism 
during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. And he was handpicked to protect 
airspace over Washington, D.C. after the Pentagon was attacked on 
September 11, 2001.
  Lieutenant Colonel Fehrenbach, who has flown combat missions in Iraq 
and Afghanistan, against the Taliban and al Qaeda, continues to serve 
while the recommendation for his honorable discharge moves forward to a 
review board and eventually to the Secretary of the Air Force. Just 2 
years away from his 20-year retirement, this dedicated serviceman 
stands to lose $46,000 a year in retirement and medical benefits for 
the rest of his life if he's discharged.
  There are approximately one million lesbian and gay veterans in the 
United States today, as well as 65,000 lesbian and gay servicemembers 
currently serving in our Armed Forces. Like Lieutenant Colonel 
Fehrenbach, these brave servicemembers are fighting and dying for their 
country in two wars. They're making sacrifices, and some are making the 
ultimate sacrifice, just like their straight counterparts. It makes no 
sense, and I just believe it's flat out wrong to discharge capable 
servicemembers for something as irrelevant as their sexual orientation.
  Now, as my colleagues have discussed this evening, the Military 
Readiness Act would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual 
orientation against any member of the Armed Forces or any person 
seeking to become a member. Further, the Act would authorize the re-
accession into the Armed Forces of otherwise qualified individuals 
previously separated under Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
  Finally, the Act would require that regulations governing the 
personal conduct of members of the Armed Forces are written and 
enforced without regard to sexual orientation. It's long past time for 
Congress to act to end discrimination against gays, lesbians and 
bisexuals in our Armed

[[Page 23634]]

Forces by passing the Military Readiness Enhancement Act. So I stand 
ready to join my colleagues in repealing this dishonorable law as soon 
as possible and restoring justice and equality in our Armed Forces.
  Mr. Speaker, before I conclude, I really do want to commend you, my 
colleague from Pennsylvania, Congressman Patrick Murphy, for your bold 
leadership and your work in helping us move closer to repealing Don't 
Ask, Don't Tell. You have taken the lead in advancing this bill, and I 
look forward to working with you to see that day come.
  Mr. PATRICK J. MURPHY of Pennsylvania. I thank the gentlelady from 
Wisconsin. And as she mentioned Lieutenant Colonel Fehrenbach, the fact 
that we trained him and spent millions of dollars on his training to do 
what's necessary to keep our family safe here at home and in a faraway 
place like Iraq and Afghanistan, and just to throw him out and just 
discharge him like that is really a stain. It is a stain on our 
military. And it's a stain on this Congress for not acting quick 
enough.
  It reminds me--you know, I had the great honor to teach at West 
Point. I taught constitutional law at the United States Military 
Academy at West Point. I was there from 2000 to 2003. And Forbes 
Magazine just rated West Point the number one college in America. It 
costs the American taxpayer about a quarter-million dollars to train 
each one of those cadets to become second lieutenants, to become 
leaders of character, not just for the 5-year active duty military 
commitment, but for a lifetime of service.
  One of those cadets when I taught there was Lieutenant Dan Choi. 
Lieutenant Choi is an Arabic speaker, an Army officer, an Iraq war 
veteran and another one, one of the 13,000 that we just threw out of 
the military, not for any type of sexual misconduct. And let's be 
clear. If there's sexual misconduct, whether homosexual or of a 
heterosexual nature, throw them out. But just because he was gay, just 
because of his sexual orientation, and that is wrong. I'd now like to 
turn it over to my colleague, Mr. Jared Polis, for any comments that he 
may have.
  Mr. POLIS. You know, I'm struck by the sharing of the number of 
stories, a lot of similarities, many service men and women over the 
last decade and a half since this policy has been implemented, kicked 
out for no good reason. You know, what company, and I come from the 
business sector, could do this kind of thing? It doesn't increase your 
competitiveness. If you have people that you put hundreds of thousands 
of dollars into training, and then you don't like who they date and so 
you say, you're fired. You have people with excellent performance 
ratings, top of the category and you are saying, sorry, we're going to 
put somebody who might have a lower rating in your job because, again, 
we don't like who you date.
  That's no way to run a company. It's no way to run a country. It's no 
way to run the best military. And what we owe to every one of our men 
and women who are in uniform, who put their lives at risk every day, is 
to make sure that we put our best foot forward militarily and do 
everything in our power to protect every life of every man and woman 
who serves. And when we remove people who would perform better, who are 
needed for certain functions, who have to cost more to retrain, we 
jeopardize the lives of other soldiers who are serving with them.
  This also has an effect on recruitment and retention within the 
military. I heard a few weeks ago from somebody who's currently 
serving. He was facing a decision of whether to reenlist for another 
few years. He said, You know, when do you think don't ask don't tell 
will end? If you think it's going to end soon I'm going to re-up for 
another 5-year period. If not, I'm probably going to get out now.
  I didn't know what to tell him. I said, well, Representative Murphy's 
working on it, and I have every degree of confidence in him. I said, I 
hope that we will get it done in the next year or two. I think we will.
  If he chose to leave the military, that's our loss. That's our 
military's lost. The cost of replacing that individual, the cost of 
training somebody to get up to speed at a time when we need more men 
and women to serve in uniform, is a cost to taxpayers and a cost to our 
national security. All of these stories resound that we are engaging in 
an extremely short sighted policy. How can be it be argued that all of 
these excellent men and women with great command, great evaluations 
that are kicked out for no particular reason other than who they date, 
how can it be argued that that makes our military stronger? It simply 
doesn't. And we need to correct this policy to ensure that we have the 
very best military to defend our national interests here and abroad.
  Mr. PATRICK J. MURPHY of Pennsylvaia. I thank the gentleman from 
Colorado. I know our time is almost over. But I will tell you, you 
know, one way to run a company, one way to run the military, but I will 
tell you that there are military leaders that have served our country 
that are adamantly opposed to discriminating and going further with 
this Don't Ask Don't Tell policy. I will note one of them was the 
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a four-star general, General 
John Shalikashvili. He's written two op-eds, and I particularly want to 
point out the one where in 2007 he wrote an op-ed in The New York Times 
entitled ``Second Thoughts on Gays in the Military.''
  He particularly points to a generational shift in the attitudes of 
our servicemembers towards gays and lesbians. So he writes: ``When I 
was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, I supported the current 
policy because I believed that implementing a change in the rules at 
that time would have been too burdensome for our troops and commanders. 
I still believe that to have been true.
  ``The question before us now though is whether enough time has gone 
by, 16 years, to give this policy serious reconsideration. Much 
evidence suggests that it has.
  ``Last year I held a number of meetings with gay soldiers and 
marines, including some with combat experience in Iraq, and an openly 
gay senior sailor who was serving effectively as a member of a nuclear 
submarine crew. These conversations showed me just how much the 
military has changed, and that gays and lesbians can be accepted by 
their peers.
  ``I now believe that if gay men and lesbians served openly in the 
United States military, they would not undermine the efficacy of the 
Armed Forces. Our military has been stretched thin by our deployments 
in the Middle East, and we must welcome the service of any American who 
is willing and able to do the job.
  ``By taking a measured, prudent approach to change, political and 
military leaders can focus on solving the Nation's most pressing 
problems while remaining genuinely open to the eventual and inevitable 
lifting of the ban. When that day comes, gay men and lesbians will no 
longer have to conceal who they are, and the military will no longer 
need to sacrifice those whose service it cannot afford to lose.''

                              {time}  2300

  In conclusion, Mr. Polis, I am proud that you are my battle buddy in 
this endeavor. Again, there are 176 of us. We are hoping to get more of 
our colleagues. We need 218 votes. I will yield to you for 30 seconds 
and any closing comments you may have.
  Mr. POLIS. In addition to General Shalikashvili, one of the original 
cosponsors of the bill, former Representative Barr of Georgia, has come 
out in favor of the repeal. The former Commander in Chief of the United 
States military, President Bill Clinton, who signed Don't Ask, Don't 
Tell, has come out in favor of a repeal. The times have changed, and 
what was, in our judgment at one time, a decision of military 
preparedness, it might have been that good minds disagreed with whether 
it was in our interest back in the early nineties, that idea has 
changed. The tone of the country has changed, and it is more than time. 
The time has long passed to end this policy of discrimination within 
our military.
  Mr. PATRICK J. MURPHY of Pennsylvania. I appreciate those comments.

[[Page 23635]]

Also, another former chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Colin Powell, has 
actually come out and said that it is now time to reevaluate it. So in 
conclusion, Mr. Speaker, to the men and women at home, across our 
country and overseas in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, now is the 
time to act in the sense of urgency to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell. It 
is vital to our national security. No longer can we afford to let go of 
13,000 qualified and honorable troops. We must do right by our 
taxpayer. It makes no sense that we spend $1.3 billion to train these 
heroes up and then to just kick them out because of their sexual 
orientation.
  And lastly, this policy is simply un-American. It goes against the 
very fabric which makes our country great, that we're all created 
equal.
  Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to express my support for 
repealing the United States military's ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' 
policy.
   I want to thank my colleague, Congressman Patrick Murphy for 
organizing this Special Order Hour on the importance and urgent need 
for repealing ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell.''
   I have long been a friend and an ally of the lesbian, gay, bisexual 
and transgender (LGBT) community and I am committed to the cause of 
equality.
   I understand first hand discrimination based on racial prejudice, 
war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership. President Franklin 
Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 on February 19th, 1942 
which forced 120,000 Japanese Americans into internment camps during 
World War II.
   Many of these families, including mine, lost their property and 
possessions during the several years they were jailed behind barbed 
wire.
   Once again we find ourselves in perilous times. Our country and our 
civil liberties are constantly in jeopardy after the attacks of 
September 11th launched our nation in a ``war'' against terror.
   It is more important than ever to speak up against unjust policies. 
There is much to be learned from my experience during World War II, as 
well as the experience of other groups about the destructive 
consequences of discrimination.
   For over 60 years, it has been the U.S. military's official policy 
to exclude individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender 
identification. Reflecting one of our country's last officially 
sanctioned forms of bigotry, this policy stigmatizes patriotic 
Americans by excluding them from military service.
   In 1993, President Clinton introduced the ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' 
policy as a `compromise' when he was not able to overcome Congressional 
opposition to lifting the ban on LGBT participation in the armed 
forces. Unfortunately, this policy works to silence LGBT personnel 
among the ranks of our military, making them invisible to the American 
public they bravely volunteer to protect and defend.
   Notwithstanding the ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' policy, countless 
veterans have served and continue to serve selflessly in the defense of 
our nation. Yet while thousands of our men and women continually serve 
to protect our freedom and liberty and put their lives on the line to 
do so, many are dismissed once their orientation or identification 
becomes known.
   This policy is not only unfair to LGBT individuals, it also hinders 
our military's ability to perform its mission. Despite our need for 
language specialists, almost 800 mission-critical troops and at least 
59 Arabic and nine Farsi linguists have been discharged under ``Don't 
Ask, Don't Tell'' in the last five years solely based on their sexual 
orientation.
   It is the right of all Americans to live open lives within society, 
free from prejudice, intolerance, and fear, irrespective of race, 
ethnicity, age and perceived sexual orientation and gender. The 
contributions made by LGBT veterans, and those in active duty in an 
atmosphere hostile to them, underscores the tremendous sacrifices they 
make to serve this nation and I commend and thank them for their 
commitment and perseverance.
   I have the honor of knowing Ashwin Madia, a former Marine Corps JAG 
officer now living in Minnesota, who was one of the first attorneys to 
successfully defend a fellow Marine from treatment under the ``Don't 
Ask, Don't Tell'' policy and who told me about his work on this case. 
If convicted this Marine would have faced an ``Other Than Honorable 
Discharge'' and lost his benefits.
   When this Marine returned to service, he was welcomed by his 
comrades and was treated with respect and honor. Sadly, since the 
``Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' policy went into effect in 1994, nearly 
13,000 servicemembers were not as fortunate and were discharged.
   Today there are over one million gay and lesbian veterans and over 
65,000 LGBT members of the military serving in fear of being discharged 
for simply being themselves.
   Repealing ``Don't Ask Don't Tell'' is long overdue. On this the 
military courts have spoken, military leaders have spoken, 
servicemembers have spoken, and our President has spoken. Today 
Congress is speaking as well. The Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 
2009, H.R. 1283, has 176 cosponsors united and committed to ending this 
discriminatory policy.
   It is time to support our troops by honoring their right to live and 
serve as their true selves. It's time to ask, it's time to tell, and 
it's time to get over it.
   As policy makers, we are often faced with choices between what is 
urgent and what is important. But it's a false choice. The urgent 
issues of the day should never drown out what's important. Full 
equality for every person under the law is both urgent and important.
   Thank you to our active military and to our veterans for their 
service to this great country. It is in your honor that this Congress 
will ensure every women and man wishing to serve can do so, without 
fear or prejudice.
   I look forward to working with my colleagues to end discrimination 
of LGBT people in the workplace and in our immigration policies as well 
expanding hate crimes to include perceived sexual orientation and 
gender identity and providing Federal recognition of the commitment 
between same-sex couples.
  Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Speaker, thank you, Congressman Patrick J. 
Murphy of Pennsylvania, for arranging this special order on ending the 
outdated and discriminatory policy of ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell''.
  Thank you for taking up, H.R. 1283, which was originally introduced 
by our former colleague Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher.
  I'm proud to serve as a vice chair along with several of my 
colleagues of the Congressional Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and 
Transgendered Equality Caucus which we established last year under the 
leadership of Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin and Chairman Barney Frank.
  We've made a lot of progress as a nation, in terms of society's 
recognition of the need to support basic fundamental human rights for 
all people--regardless of what their sexual orientation or gender 
identity happens to be.
  I am pleased that we will finally take up legislation to extend hate 
crimes protections to the LGBT community.
  However, we still have a long way to go to achieve the very simple 
and basic goal that we all seek--equal treatment for all under the law.
  One critical step on the path to that goal is ending discrimination 
based on sexual orientation in our military.
  The experience of our allies shows that having openly gay 
servicemembers does nothing to reduce the capability or effectiveness 
of the military. Our strongest allies have ended the ban in their 
militaries and have not suffered the exaggerated fears about weakening 
``unit cohesion'' or lowering morale.
  The misguided concerns about gays in the military, which precipitated 
the adoption of ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' have proven to be completely 
unwarranted.
  Our military served as a leader in ending discrimination and 
segregation of minority troops in their ranks and helped to lead the 
nation as a model of fairness.
  It should do so again, by ending this policy and giving every 
American the opportunity to proudly and openly and equally serve their 
nation.
  It makes no sense to kick out thousands of trained and capable 
soldiers even as recruiters pay huge bonuses to find new recruits.
  Just look at the numbers, since 1993:
  Numbers of Don't Ask Don't Tell discharges--13,000;
  ``Mission Critical'' soldiers discharged--800;
  Arabic linguists discharged--58;
  Estimated LGBT currently serving--65,000.
  Fixing the clear discrimination of ``Don't Ask Don't Tell'' doesn't 
end the fight.
  We've got to go further.
  We must:
  Pass the Employee Non-Discrimination Act;
  Pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation that ends 
discrimination against the LGBT community;
  We must ensure that federal benefits are extended to cover LGBT 
partners;
  Repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.
  Despite the challenges ahead, I know that as a nation, we will 
continue down the road of progress and equality under the law.
  I will continue to do my part to support the rights of the LGBT 
community.
  Let me, again, thank Congressman Patrick J. Murphy of Pennsylvania 
for this important Special Order.
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
voice my support

[[Page 23636]]

for the repeal of the Department of Defense's policy of ``Don't Ask, 
Don't Tell'' that bans openly gay men and women from serving in the 
military.
  Under this law, our military loses on average one person a day, and 
since ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' became law in 1994, almost 13,000 
servicemembers have been discharged. It is startling to think that we 
are allowing some incredibly qualified and thoroughly trained 
individuals to fall out of the armed services simply for being 
themselves. Honesty and integrity are two of our highest ideals, and 
the notion that our servicemembers sacrifice their personal integrity 
and capacity to be honest simply to serve our country seems unhealthy 
and hypocritical. At this time, the contributions of every service man 
and woman should be highly valued, and it is important that Americans 
embrace these openly gay individuals as equal and essential to our 
nation's armed services.
  Furthermore, I believe that we must work towards ending 
discrimination against every racial, religious, and sexual minority. It 
is imperative that we create more opportunities for all Americans, 
rather than intensify existing divisions. ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' is 
discrimination at its very worst, and we must end this policy that 
violates the fundamental American values of fairness and equality.
  Truly, this law does harm to so many individuals, and it is time to 
see its end. I ask my fellow colleagues to join me in supporting the 
repeal of the antiquated policy ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' so that our 
military can reach its highest potential.
  Ms. BERKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Congressman Murphy 
for providing me with the opportunity to speak on this important issue. 
As a cosponsor of the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, I fully 
support the repeal of the unjust, unnecessary, and unsound ``Don't Ask, 
Don't Tell'' policy. I believe we must reject current practices that 
have institutionalized discrimination against many valuable members of 
our armed services for too long. Instead, we must establish a new 
policy of nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
  ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' is simply unjust. It flies in the face of 
the fundamental American value of equality for all. No individual, 
including those in our armed forces, should be discriminated against 
based on his or her sexual orientation. Members of our armed services 
have fought honorably to protect our safety and freedom, so the least 
we can do in return is to fight to protect their freedom and equality 
as well. My hometown of Las Vegas includes Nellis Air Force Base, one 
of the premier Air Force facilities in the U.S., and I believe the 
courageous men and women who serve there deserve to be treated with 
equality and respect, regardless of their sexual orientation.
  The ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' policy is also completely unnecessary. 
The vast majority of Americans believe our troops deserve the 
opportunity to serve with honesty and honor. And most importantly, a 
majority of servicemembers have said they would have no reservations 
about serving alongside gay and lesbian troops, proving the problems 
this policy supposedly prevents are not, in fact, problems at all.
  Not only is this practice unjust and unnecessary, it is also unsound. 
Our military should not fire valuable servicemembers simply for being 
gay, particularly during a time of war when we need every American who 
is willing and able to serve. Furthermore, repealing ``Don't Ask, Don't 
Tell'' would increase, not undercut, unit cohesion by fostering 
openness and trust among troops.
  Ultimately, ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' does nothing to contribute to 
our national security. In reality, it only undermines the strength and 
integrity of our military system. I believe this practice should be 
repealed immediately, not only for the benefit of our armed forces, but 
for the safety of Nevada and our Nation as a whole.

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