Inhofe Emphasizes Concern With Don't Ask, Don't Tell Amendment

Press Release

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), again expressed his frustrations over the inclusion of language to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2011 (FY11). If approved by the full Senate, as was done by the full House, the NDAA for FY11 would repeal the 1993 law and allow homosexuals to openly serve in the U.S. military.

"If approved by Congress, this law would break faith with our military telling them their opinion does not count. As every Chief of Staff of our Armed Services and the Commandant of the Marine Corps stated, we need to complete the review and fully assess any impact on our force before making any changes in the current law. This is not the way Congress should legislate. We need a true assessment of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell on battlefield effectiveness prior to taking legislative action. We need to understand impacts such as the loss of personnel, reduced recruiting, impact on morale and readiness, housing, health care, and legal issues such as state recognized same sex marriages."

Inhofe continued, "The Secretary of Defense directed policy review will soon be complete with the results and recommendations presented to both Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullen on December 1st, 2010. The only reason why I can see for pushing this legislation prior to seeing the results of the survey, is to fulfill a campaign promise. That is unacceptable. Our focus must be on what is in best interest of our service members and our national security."

The Don't Ask, Don't Tell amendment passed with a roll call vote of 16-12 in SASC. Inhofe joined ten republican Senators and U.S. Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) to reject this amendment.

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