Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Floor Speech

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Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, I start by noting it has been a pleasure to work with Senator Lieberman, Senator Collins, Chairman Levin, Senator Gillibrand, and others in the effort to repeal this outmoded law.

I have spoken many times about the repeal of don't ask, don't tell and how it improves our national security, but I would like to make a few additional short points today before we take this important vote at 10:30.

First, repealing this law is not about scoring political points or catering to a special interest group. Rather, it is about doing the right thing for our national security, especially during a time of two wars. Instead of turning away qualified interpreters, mechanics, infantrymen, and others, we need every able-bodied man and woman who is willing to fight for their country.

An exhaustive study by the Pentagon recently revealed what numerous reports have shown, that don't ask, don't tell can be repealed without harmful effects. In fact, what it shows is our national security will be enhanced by this repeal. That is one of the reasons our Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mullen, have strongly urged us to repeal the law this year, before we adjourn this week.

Second, the United States lags--sadly lags--behind the world's other top militaries which allow open service by gays and lesbians. Our troops fight next to servicemembers from many of these countries every single day. There is no evidence showing that our military operations in Afghanistan or Iraq are negatively affected by allowing gay servicemembers to serve openly alongside U.S. servicemembers.

Third, the vast majority of Americans support repealing this harmful law. As the Pentagon study showed, our servicemembers are complete professionals. They will comply with the repeal, and they will not allow open service to negatively affect the jobs they do.

Finally, if the Senate does not act to give the Department of Defense and the President the authority to end this policy, then we are leaving the issue in the hands of the courts. Secretary Gates has said it makes far more sense to bring certainty to don't ask, don't tell through legislation rather than through lawsuits.

Let me end with the words of a Marine captain who wrote a courageous opinion piece this week that was in the Washington Post. He said:

It is time for ``don't ask, don't tell'' to join our other mistakes in the dog-eared chapters of history textbooks. We all bleed red, we all love our country, we are all Marines. In the end, that is all that matters.

I yield the floor.

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