The repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't tell" will most likely be an amendment to next year's Defense Authorization, Rep. Barney Frank tells the Washington Blade.
Frank said in an interview with the Blade that repealing the 1993 law barring gays from serving openly in the military would happen as part of the fiscal year 2011 defense authorization bill. 'The House will take up and the Senate will take up ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ repeal,' he said. 'That will again, like hate crimes, even more so, will have to be done, I believe, in the context of the defense authorization. You can’t do the standalone bill. It belongs in the defense authorization.' Frank said lawmakers would seek to amend the defense measure to include a provision repealing 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.' Such a move would mimic the way Congress recently enacted the hate crimes measure."
The openly gay congressman tells The Advocate's Kerry Eleveld this has been the "strategy" for overturning the policy all along. That may be news to Pennsylvania Democrat Patrick Murphy whose DADT repeal bill that has 177 co-sponsors. The White House and Senate leadership have not confirmed this strategy.
Frank criticized Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (IL), who recently re-suggested that Congress was "too busy" to repeal the "controversial" DADT: "Frank is among the supporters who have asserted Congress would take up repeal in 2010. 'I think that’s a terrible mistake for him to say that and I believe that it will be a great injustice to wait any longer,' Frank said. 'I don’t think he has that option.'"
Hmm. Wonder why Barney randomly dropped this tidbit ...
In related news: The RAND corporation and the University of Florida release a new study which shows support for "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" has declined within the military ranks. "The study surveyed military personnel who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan and found that having a gay or lesbian colleague in their unit had no significant impact on their unit's cohesion or readiness. Just 40 percent of the military members surveyed expressed support for the policy, while 28 percent opposed it and 33 percent were neutral—less support than seen in previous surveys."





