Hastings says White House, colleagues pressed him to drop “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” amendment
by George Bennett | July 29th, 2009
Hastings
Hastings’ amendment to a defense appropriations bill would not have repealed the policy that allows the military to discharge a servicemember for homosexual conduct, but would have withheld the use of federal money to investigate or discharge military personnel for revealing their sexual orientation.
“Due to pressure from some of my Congressional colleagues and from the White House, I have withdrawn my amendment. I would, however, like to note that it is most unfortunate that we are not addressing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell at this time. We should not be appropriating funds to enable qualified service members to be booted out just because they are honest about whom they are,” a Hastings statement late yesterday said.
Read his entire statement after the jump……
Hastings’ statement on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” amendment:
“I introduced an amendment to H.R. 3326, now withdrawn, prohibiting the use of funds in this bill to investigate or discharge our dedicated service men and women on the grounds of ‘telling’ their sexual orientation. The Policy Concerning Homosexuality in the Armed Forces – commonly called ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ – provides that a service member can be separated from the Armed Forces for stating that he or she is a homosexual or bisexual. Due to pressure from some of my Congressional colleagues and from the White House, I have withdrawn my amendment. I would, however, like to note that it is most unfortunate that we are not addressing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell at this time. We should not be appropriating funds to enable qualified service members to be booted out just because they are honest about whom they are.
“I realize that this issue is considered controversial. But, it shouldn’t be. The vast majority of Americans not only support the inclusion of gay service members in the military, but also the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. As many as 75 percent of Americans support openly gay service members in the military. This support commands undeniable majorities for men and women, liberals and conservatives, veterans and non-veterans, all age groups, and across the religious spectrum. It is far past time to eliminate Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. While my amendment would not have repealed the law, withholding this funding would have made it that much easier.
“Americans recognize that forcing men and women out of the military on the basis of sexual orientation is not only blatantly discriminatory, but harms our national security and, indeed, runs counter to the values of our Armed Forces. We cannot afford to lose any more of our soldiers to the vagaries of outdated bigotry. Every day, we lose approximately two service members to Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Our country is engaged in two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our military has spent over $95.1 million on retraining soldiers because of this law. What is the holdup, then? Last month, 76 of my colleagues and I sent a letter to President Obama urging him to take leadership on this issue and to work together with Congress to repeal this law. More than a month later, I have yet to receive an official response.
“I continue to hear the phrase, ‘next year, next year’ with regard to repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. That is absurd. This law is plain wrong. It is wrong now and it will be wrong then. How many more soldiers are we going to force to suffer through the humiliation of a so-called ‘investigation?’ How many more Arabic- and Farsi-speaking soldiers are we going to remove from duty, depriving our country of valuable, even life-saving intelligence? How many more combat veterans are we going to tell that we don’t need their experience because their sexual orientation somehow precludes them from serving their country? If we know we are going to repeal this law eventually, then why not take action right now?”
Tags: gays
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July 29th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
This man should not be an elected official. He is one of the great scumbags in American politics, and certainly has not stopped exploiting the system. Hastings was one of 6 federal judges to be removed from office in 220 years! Then due to gerrymandering, he is able to win a black majority district which is D+28. In his time as a Congressman, he has used tax payer dollars for the MOST expensive vehicle Lexus makes. I can certainly understand the need for a vehicle, but he has no right to waste taxpayer dollars on this. The $30k he could save is a job someone in his district could get.
July 29th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
Meethinks we’ll soon find out about Alcee’s meanderings at Twist on Miami Beach sooner rather than later. Come out, come out, Alcee!
July 29th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
A former judge impeached for for corruption is using the word “honesty” that is really funny.
July 29th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
With all due respect to Rep. Hastings, I would beg you to believe that no one’s heart hurts worse than the President’s on the bigoted issue of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”. I fully understand why everyone who wishes to see this outrageous policy outlawed would expect it to have been addressed from the day President Obama said, “So help me God.”
But may I respectfully suggest there’s far more at peril here than even the thousands of wonderful servicemen who have been unceremoniously evicted from the military because they are gay, there are rather 50 million Americans without health insurance and 14,000 more losing their policies DAILY.
The President cannot afford to add even a single point to his disapproval rating at a time so critical, and that he’ll definitely do by moving at this time on ANYTHING other than health reform.
It is a time for not only Blacks but all destitute Americans to understand that this man is inches from engineering the greatest reform in American history in a century. If he should somehow fail, it is likely his entire administration could suffer.
We all need to look beyond our personal selves just now. For every gay kicked out of the Army there is a gay kicked out who also has no insurance. For every gay kicked out who has no insurance there is a gay kicked out who has no insurance and is missing two legs. For every gay kicked out who has no insurance and is missing two legs there is a gay kicked out with no insurance, missing two legs, has no job, has no degree but the one he invested as a career in the military, etc., etc., etc.
You get the point.
We all need to see how incredibly close we are to catching up to rest of the free world of which a huge number have national health, meaning they pay NOTHING. Obama’s plan isn’t extreme. We all still have to pay something. It’s just if you’re poor you won’t have to pay 3x what you don’t have and be left in the cold.
People in our country with no insurance have a great deal more to cry about than gays who have lost the investment of a lifetime. Cold as that may seem to sound, it is not — at least not compared to those who are sick and have no money to see a doctor.
August 2nd, 2009 at 12:19 am
[...] strange news on the gay rights front this week, as Representative Alcee Hastings (D-Humanity) introduced an amendment in the US House of Representatives that would have halted enforcement of DADT — only to [...]