[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 18]
[House]
[Page 24395]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             IT IS TIME TO REPEAL ``DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL''

  (Mr. SESTAK asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. SESTAK. Mr. Speaker, the President correctly addressed the 
cratering of our economy at the beginning of his administration. And 
while it's intense, it's no longer intensifying, and we're on the road 
to economic recovery.
  He then took on health care reform, which was correct, with 14,000 
Americans losing their health care every day, to provide them 
affordable, accessible health care in the future.
  It's time to address an issue of our ideals, and that is the repeal 
of ``don't ask, don't tell'' in the military that discriminates against 
gays.
  I served 31 years in the military and rose to be a three-star 
admiral. I went to war, and we knew by public survey that those who 
went with me, a certain percentage, were gay. How could I, or anyone, 
come home and say they don't now deserve equal rights? It's time, Mr. 
President and this Congress, to hold up a national mirror and say 
that's not who we are; we are better than that, and repeal ``don't ask, 
don't tell'' this year.

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