From Our Mail: Senate Protects Military With Vote to Block Gays-in-the-Military Law Repeal

From: The Center for Military Readiness

Re: Vote to Block Gays-in-the-Military Law Repeal

In response to today’s vote to prevent hasty and premature legislative action on the National Defense Authorization Act for 2010, Elaine Donnelly, President of the Center for Military Readiness, issued the following statement:

“The vote today was a huge victory for the United States military. Forty-three senators, on a bi-partisan vote, stepped up to fulfill their constitutional responsibility to provide oversight in matters affecting the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps.

She continued, “The military is a strong institution, but the fact that it is subject to civilian control makes it vulnerable to political pressures from civilian activist groups that do not understand the military’s unique culture and mission. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Barack Obama tried to use the defense bill to score political points with LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) activists and other groups they are counting on to get re-elected.

“The annual Defense Authorization Act should be used to strengthen our armed forces, not to provide political payoffs to liberal constituency groups. We are grateful that 43 responsible senators rejected this self-serving attempt to force a pre-election vote on legislation that would have imposed an LGBT policy on our military, authorized abortions in military hospitals, and circumvented orderly systems for legal immigration.

“Today’s vote protected the right of our military men and women to be heard in this debate—an opportunity they would have been denied otherwise. We hope that we will never again see such a blatant attempt to use the Defense Bill for political payoffs and misguided expediency. Our military is the finest in the world, and we intend to keep it that way.”

From Our Mail - Center for Military Readiness

From: Elaine Donnelly, President of the Center for Military Readiness


Re: Joint Chiefs Letters Should Deter Reckless Vote for Gays in the Military

In response to reports that both the House and Senate will rush to repeal the 1993 law regarding gays in the military, Elaine Donnelly, President of the Center for Military Readiness, issued the following statement:

“Some members of the House and Senate reportedly are prepared to capitulate to President Barack Obama’s latest push for gays in the military—made desperate by the ticking of the electoral clock. This is not a ‘compromise’-- Repeal is the whole deal. The price will be paid by military men and women whose voices have yet to be heard.”

On Tuesday all four uniformed service chiefs─Marine Commandant Gen. James Conway, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead, and Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey─wrote separate letters imploring Congress to defer any legislation to repeal the 1993 law until the Defense Department completes its review.

Donnelly continued, “If Congress betrays the military during the current war and on the eve of Memorial Day, history indeed will be made, but the legacy will be one of which Congress will not be proud.”

Commenting on the May 24 letter announcing the president’s “Repeal Deal,” which was signed by Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag, Donnelly noted, “Mr. Orszag’s official responsibilities do not include policy-making for the military. A letter signed by the president’s helicopter pilot would have been more credible. If the Budget Director is now a military leader, perhaps he will take the place of President Obama at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day.

“I doubt that there has ever been an incident in history comparable to this. Military leaders have the duty to follow orders from civilian authorities, but Congress has a corollary responsibility to give appropriate respect to the professional opinions of uniformed leaders on a matter of policy that is still unresolved.

“Nothing has changed since Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen said in a strongly-written letter that a hasty vote to repeal the law would “send a very damaging message to our men and women in uniform” that their views “do not matter.” For these reasons and more, we trust that members of Congress will take this issue seriously, and decline to take any action rushing to repeal the 1993 law.”

Brief summaries and detailed information on this issue are available in a specific section of the CMR website titled Problems with Gays in the Military.

1,000+ Retired Officers Affirm Support for Law on Homosexuals in the Military

From the Center for Military Readiness

More than 1,000 respected retired Flag & General Officers for the Military, including 47 four-star leaders from all branches of the United States military, have taken a firm stand in support of the 1993 law stating that homosexuals are not eligible to serve in the military.

That law, Section 654, Title 10, U.S.C., frequently is mistaken for the administrative policy known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

On March 31, 2009, the independent Flag & General Officers for the Military project delivered 1,050 hand-written signatures, reproduced on 54 printed pages, endorsing a concise and respectful Open Letter addressed to the White House, Pentagon, and Members of Congress. A list of the statement signers, which has since climbed to 1,099 as of this date, is posted here:

We, the Undersigned Flag & General Officers

The Flag & General Officers for the Military website presents the brief statement of support for the law that the officers endorsed with handwritten signatures. It also posts an Issue Overview setting forth reasons why the Flag & General Officers for the Military are concerned about the impact on recruiting, retention, and overall readiness if Congress passes legislation to repeal Section 654, Title 10. The law passed in 1993 with bipartisan, veto-proof majorities in both houses, and federal courts have upheld it as constitutional several times. An introduction to the open letter notes:

“Among us are a former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, several Service Chiefs, a number of combatant command, theater, and other major U.S. and allied force commanders, together with a Medal of Honor recipient and hundreds of flag and general officers who have led the men and women of our armed services at every echelon, and in both peace and war, past and present.”

The 1,000+ star-studded letter, which was prompted by the re-introduction of legislation into the 111th Congress to repeal the 1993 law, could be decisive in refocusing the course of the debate:

“…Our past experience as military leaders leads us to be greatly concerned about the impact of repeal on morale, discipline, unit cohesion, and overall military readiness. We believe that imposing this burden on our men and women in uniform would undermine recruiting and retention, impact leadership at all levels, have adverse effects on the willingness of parents who lend their sons and daughters to military service, and eventually break the All-Volunteer Force.

“As a matter of national security, we urge you to support the 1993 law regarding homosexuals in the military, and to oppose any legislative, judicial, or administrative effort to repeal or invalidate the law.”

Administrative support for the Flag & General Officers for the Military project was provided by the Center for Military Readiness, an independent public policy organization that concentrates on military/social issues.

From Our Mail: Congress Will Uphold 1993 Law Regarding Gays in the Military

To: Sunlit Uplands

From: Elaine Donnelly, President, Center for Military Readiness

Date: March 4, 2009

Elaine Donnelly, President of the Center for Military Readiness, predicted today that efforts by liberals in Congress to repeal the 1993 law regarding homosexuals in the military would not succeed. “Members of Congress are starting to take this issue seriously,” she said. “Indications are that repeal of the 1993 law would hurt the ‘Three R’s,’ recruiting, retention, and overall readiness in the volunteer force.”

On Monday Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) announced that she will soon re-introduce legislation to repeal the 1993 law, Section 654, Title 10, which is commonly mislabeled “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” In response, Donnelly predicted that an “illusion of momentum” would not be enough to overcome opposition among military people and doubts among members of Congress on both sides of the aisle who support the military.

She added, “The issue here should not be civilian polls, anecdotes, misguided priorities, or fixation on numbers of discharges that were very small compared to separations for pregnancy or weight standard violations. Most separation cases start with voluntary admissions of homosexual conduct, not investigations. Clarify the law, and such losses could be zero. Repeal the law, and personnel losses could be huge.”

Donnelly emphasized that the annual Military Times Poll of almost 2,000 active duty subscribers found that 58% of respondents supported current law—for four years in a row. The 2008 survey also found that 10% said they would not re-enlist if Congress repeals the 1993 law, and an additional 14% said they would consider leaving.

“This survey does not claim precision,” she said, “but when major efforts are underway to increase the Army and Marine Corps, we cannot afford to lose almost a quarter of the volunteer force, including skilled careerists who cannot easily be replaced.

“The issue is eligibility to serve, not “sexual orientation”—a vague phrase not in the actual law. A future-oriented Congress will support the statute, which the courts have declared constitutional several times. I am confident that they will not allow social engineering to make military life more difficult and more dangerous.”