CORRECTED: President Obama is flying back to California Tuesday night to appear at two fundraisers in San Francisco for Sen. Barbara Boxer’s re-election campaign. MSNBC describes Boxer as an “imperiled incumbent” as she seeks her fourth-term. The last time Obama stumped for Boxer, he was confronted by GetEqual protesters calling for an immediate repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell through an amendment to the Defense Appropriations Bill. Late Monday, Obama signed off on a compromise repeal amendment that would repeal the law, but not take effect until after the Pentagon’s study on Dec. 1 – as well as a host of other conditions that have since cause concern.
Rep. Patrick Murphy introduced a repeal DADT amendment to the DOD bill Tuesday – he’s scheduled to appear on Rachel Maddow’s Tuesday night to discuss the repeal. Murphy’s amendment is expected to be debated on Thursday, as is a similar DADT amendment, introduced in the Senate Armed Services committee by chair Sen. Carl Levin and Sen. Joe Lieberman.
Murphy released this statement:
Today, Congressman Murphy introduced an amendment to the Defense policy bill that would repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” In the seventeen years since the policy was enacted, over 13,500 well trained, able-bodied soldiers willing to take a bullet for their country have been kicked out of the military simply because they were gay. As a Captain in the 82nd Airborne Division who served as a paratrooper in the Iraq War, Rep. Murphy has fought tirelessly to repeal a policy he believes damages national security and hurts military readiness.
“Arguments for keeping this policy in place are weak and outdated,” said Rep. Murphy. “To remove honorable, talented and patriotic troops from serving contradicts the American values our military fights for and our nation holds dear.”
Murphy added that more than 20 nations, including Britain, Israel and others fighting alongside our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan today, allow gays and lesbians to serve openly, without any detrimental impact on unit cohesion. At a time when our military is stretched thin fighting two wars and servicemembers are being sent on fourth and fifth deployments, it makes little sense to kick out infantry officers, fighter pilots, and Arabic translators just because of their sexual orientation.
The Congressman’s amendment respects the timeline of the Pentagon’s Implementation Study Group. When the President signs the Department of Defense Authorization bill into law, DADT will not instantly be repealed. Repeal would take place only after the study group completes its work in December 2010 and after the President, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Secretary of Defense all certify that repeal will not hurt military readiness or unit cohesion.
Defense Secretary Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mullen have voiced support for repeal and said it’s no longer a matter of “if” but “when.” In recent testimony before Congress, Admiral Mullen stated, “It comes down to integrity – theirs as individuals and ours as an institution.” Further, in a letter dated May 24, 2010, the Administration said they support the amendment and noted that this approach “recognizes the critical need to allow our military and their families the full opportunity to inform and shape the implementation process through a thorough understanding of their concerns, insights, and suggestions.”
But some activists pushed back, including the activists who interrupted Obama’s first fundraiser for Boxer. Dan Fotou, David Fleck and Alan Bounville sent out an email saying they are organizing in response to the DADT compromise that was negotiated in DC yesterday.
Fotou wrote:
“Clearly, we’re VERY displeased and are tired of being a political football…even when the Administration and Pentagon take what are seemingly strong steps to do right by our community it turns out to be another attempt at pacifying us to secure votes in November. The question remains, does our President have any real interest in being our “fierce advocate” who will stand up for what is, without question, the right thing to do?”
GetEqual These activists think the repeal amendment language is “far from equal and removes any accountability to the people.” Based on their understanding of news reports, they believe the amendment would:
1. Eliminate any kind of timeline to implement the repeal
2. Put the decision-making power solely in the hands of the President, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Secretary of Defense
3. The decision as to “when” will presumably become a matter of “if”
4. Repeal will be based on certification that the new law will not have a negative impact on readiness, recruitment, retention and other key factors that affect the military. (What one considers “negative impact” is subjective and leaves plenty of room for indefinite delay on repeal)
5. Putting the decision making power solely in these hands will eliminate any oversight and accountability, as the Pentagon is not an institution that can be lobbied or voted out of office – WE LOSE ALL POWER TO PERSUADE
6. The President can now pass the buck and blame the Pentagon
7. This repeal provides cover for incumbents up for reelection in November as the buck has now been passed, and those running for office can say “I voted to repeal DADT”, failing to mention the compromise that screws our servicemembers – but, sadly, that’s all it will take for our politicians to get the “gay vote”.
8. Worse of all, and the greatest concern is the REMOVAL of any non-discrimination language from the repeal language – essentially, returning authority for open service by gays and lesbians back to the Pentagon (this is code for allowing discrimination based on sexual orientation to factor into discharge but to effectively deny that it played any part of the discharge. Ironically, DADT at least provides a reason for discharge, whereas this absence of a discrimination policy will afford the military the right to discharge because of sexual orientation, but cloaked in a lack of “readiness”.)
In a post on AmericaBlog, Richard Socaraides, former senior advisor to President Clinton, at least partially agrees:
“I know we are all thrilled tonight that there may be a break in the logjam over DADT legislation. And it is always important to keep focused on the art of the possible. This has been a long fight and it is not over.
“I am concerned, however, that the bill released tonight is being mis-characterized. I was expecting to see a bill providing for repeal of DADT now with delayed implementation. As far as I can tell, the proposed legislation instead makes repeal conditional on a future discretionary certification which may or may not occur.
“It may be the best we can get, and if so, I say let’s grab it. But it is not repeal with delayed implementation. It’s conditional future repeal.”
Here’s GetEqual’s the activists call to action:
CALL TO ACTION: SAY NO TO DADT REPEAL COMPROMISE
Rejecting the latest compromise of DADT repeal, gay rights activists across the country will conduct a full communications swarm on President Obama, Senators Joe Lieberman and Carl Levin, Rep. Patrick Murphy, Human Rights Campaign’s Joe Solmonese, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network’s Aubrey Sarvis and Servicemembers United’s Alex Nicholson to demand a retraction of the latest compromise of the DADT repeal language that is near inclusion into the Defense Appropriations Bill and to accept nothing less than Full Repeal (specific information below).
What: Call, email, fax and visit the White House, Senators Joe Lieberman and Carl Levin, Rep. Patrick Murphy, LGBTQ Lobbying Groups, including HRC, SLDN,and SU
Who: Members of grassroots organizations from across the US, including GetEQUAL Obama hecklers and Queer Activist Network’s Dan Fotou and David Fleck, Queer Rising’s Alan Bounville and Natasha Dillon
Why: Demanding FULL DADT Repeal Language be included in the Defense Authorization Budget and a retraction of the latest compromise that is an assault on LGBT servicemembers’ long overdue inalienable right and freedom to serve openly, proudly and without compromise.
When: Tuesday, May 25 – Friday, May 28, ALL DAY
Where: Phone, Email, Fax, Visit
FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE AND MASS EMAIL: SAY NO TO DADT REPEAL COMPROMISE
CALL TO ACTION – WHAT TO DO ASAP:
SWARM – CALL, EMAIL, FAX THE INDIVIDUALS BELOW NOW DEMANDING THE FOLLOWING THREE PROVISIONS BE INCLUDED IN THE REPEAL LANGUAGE
1. Timeline with firm implementation date, no later than six months after the conclusion of the study in December 2010
2. Non-discrimination language be included to protect LGBT members from discrimination based on sexual orientation
3. Stop-Loss on all discharges under the current DADT law
WHEN CALLING PLEASE REMEMBER THESE ARE OUR ALLIES, SO BE SURE TO THANK THEM FOR THEIR ATTENTION TO DADT REPEAL, HOWEVER, LET THEM KNOW THAT THEIR COMPROMISE IS UNACCEPTABLE – FULL REPEAL NOW, NO COMPROMISES.
HOUSE DEADLINE:
Until 5pm EST today (Tuesday, May 25)
Rep. Patrick Murphy, who introduced the bill in the House and met with Administration officials yesterday, has until 5pm EST today (Tuesday, May 25) to include the compromised repeal languagE into the House version of the DAB. Our window is very short for convincing Rep. Murphy to retract the current compromise and include the provisions above.
SENATE DEADLINE:
Senators Lieberman and Levin: Timeline is currently unknown when language needs to be included, but we expect within the week
WHO TO CALL ALL WEEK – WE ALL MUST MAKE LOTS OF CALLS AND SEND LOTS OF EMAILS AND FAX WHEN ABLE:
House Member – Patrick Murphy – Pennsylvania
Washington Office
1609 Longworth HOB
Washington, DC 20515
PH: 202-225-4276
Fax: 202-225-9511
Bristol Office
414 Mill Street
Bristol, PA 19007
PH: 215-826-1963
Fax: 215-826-1997
Doylestown Office
72 North Main Street
Doylestown, PA 18901
PH: 215-348-1194
Fax: 215-348-1449
Senator – Joe Lieberman – Connecticut
Email: http://lieberman.senate.gov/index.cfm/contact/email-me-about-an-issue
Washington DC Office
706 Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-4041
Fax: 202-224-9750
Connecticut Office
One Constitution Plaza
7th Floor
Hartford, CT 06103
PH: 860-549-8463
In CT: 800-225-5605
Fax: 866-317-2242
Senator – Carl Levin – Committee Chairman – Michigan
email: http://levin.senate.gov/contact/
Washington DC Office
269 Russell Office Building
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510-2202
Ph: 202-224-6221
Fax 202-224-1388
TTY 202- 224-2816
Sen. Levin has seven district offices, click here for the listing:http://levin.senate.gov/contact/offices.html
President Obama – www.whitehouse.gov
Email: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500-0004
Ph:(202) 456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TTD: Comments: 202-456-6213
HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN (HRC)
Joe Solmonese – President, Human Rights Campaign
202-216-1500 – x1
HRC Front Desk: 202-628-4160
TTY: 202-216-1572
Toll-Free: 800-777-4723
Fax – 202-347-5323
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN)
Aubrey Sarvis – Executive Director -
PH: 202-328-3244 or 202-328-FAIR
Fax: 202-797-1635
Servicemembers United (SU)
Alex Nicholson –
PH: 202-349-1125
anicholson@servicemembersunited.org
PLEASE NOTE:
WHEN SPEAKING TO SLDN, SU and HRC:
Demand they represent the community and our LGBT servicemembers by NOT compromising, but insisting that the above three provisions be included in the repeal language. Let them know that it is unacceptable to agree to the current terms knowing that several of the political players and pentagon officials involved are not working in our best interest.
SOME BACKGROUND ON THE COMPROMISE:
DADT repeal language will very likely be inserted into the Defense Appropriations Bill in both the House and Senate with the President’s backing. Sounds good, right? NO! THE REPEAL LANGUAGE IS FAR FROM EQUAL AND REMOVES ANY ACCOUNTABILITY TO THE PEOPLE, AMONG OTHER THINGS.
WHAT WE KNOW FROM THE LATEST REPORTS:
The repeal language will do several things that are EXTREMELY UNFAVORABLE for our LGBT servicemembers. It will:
1. Eliminate any kind of timeline to implement the repeal
2. Put the decision-making power solely in the hands of the President, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Secretary of Defense
3. The decision as to “when” will presumably become a matter of “if”
4. Repeal will be based on certification that the new law will not have a negative impact on readiness, recruitment, retention and other key factors that affect the military. (What one considers “negative impact” is subjective and leaves plenty of room for indefinite delay on repeal)
5. Putting the decision making power solely in these hands will eliminate any oversight and accountability, as the Pentagon is not an institution that can be lobbied or voted out of office – WE LOSE ALL POWER TO PERSUADE
6. The President can now pass the buck and blame the Pentagon
7. This repeal provides cover for incumbents up for reelection in November as the buck has now been passed, and those running for office can say “I voted to repeal DADT”, failing to mention the compromise that screws our servicemembers – but, sadly, that’s all it will take for our politicians to get the “gay vote”.
8. Worse of all, and the greatest concern is the REMOVAL of any non-discrimination language from the repeal language – essentially, returning authority for open service by gays and lesbians back to the Pentagon (this is code for allowing discrimination based on sexual orientation to factor into discharge but to effectively deny that it played any part of the discharge. Ironically, DADT at least provides a reason for discharge, whereas this absence of a discrimination policy will afford the military the right to discharge because of sexual orientation, but cloaked in a lack of “readiness”.)
We must do all we can to insist that the repeal be a full repeal – not another bogus attempt at pacifying our community.
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