Despite being in a swing district and facing the Republican he defeated in 2006- Mike Fitzpatrick- in a rematch this year, and having one-on-one meetings with constituents hijacked by Mike Fitzpatrick supporters recently, Murphy has been, I would say, our fierce advocate on this, doing everything from liveblogging on DKos to pushing back strongly against the Gates letter to getting the votes in the House.
Patrick Murphy is going to be on The Rachel Maddow Show tonight for those of you who want to tune in.
Dear Colleague:
This week I will offer an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that repeals the discriminatory policy known as “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.
The arguments for keeping in place the misguided 1993 law that prohibits gays and lesbians from serving openly are weak and outdated. The most common red-herring is that lifting the ban on openly gay troops would be detrimental to unit cohesion – the same argument used against allowing African-Americans to serve in the military when President Truman desegregated the armed forces in 1948. This argument asserts that straight men and women in our armed forces aren’t professional enough to serve with gay troops while doing their jobs. As a former Army officer, that is an insult to me and more importantly to my fellow soldiers still serving – gay and straight alik
It’s time we let our troops be true to our American values and permit them to stop living a lie. It’s the right decision for our national security and our military.
The amendment I will offer this week represents an agreement that was reached after extensive consultation with Senator Levin, Senator Lieberman, the Pentagon and the Administration. Most importantly, it strikes a fair balance between ending the discriminatory “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy and heeding the guidance of military leaders on how best to implement the policy’s repeal.
I wanted to provide you with a detailed timeline as to how this bicameral, bipartisan amendment would repeal “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”:
* Once the President signs the Department of Defense Authorization bill into law, DADT will not instantly be repealed.
* Repeal will take place after two events have occurred:
o First, the Pentagon Working Group delivers a report on their implementation study to the Secretary of Defense (this report is due to the Secretary of Defense no later than December 1, 2010).
o Second, the President will send a certification signed by himself, the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees that certifies:
+ They have considered the recommendations contained in the Pentagon Working Group’s report;
+ The Department of Defense has prepared the necessary policies and regulations to implement repeal; and
+ The policies and regulations implementing repeal are consistent with military standards for readiness, effectiveness, unit cohesion, recruiting and retention.
* Once the Pentagon Working Group recommendations are delivered to the Secretary of Defense and the President has submitted the certification to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, the DADT law will be repealed.
The Administration, in a letter dated May 24, 2010, 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.”
Gay Americans have been killed in defense of our nation, fighting and dying for our country. As the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mullen so eloquently stated, “[I]t is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do. No matter how I look at the issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens. For me personally, it comes down to integrity – theirs as individuals and ours as an institution.”
I urge your support for this amendment. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Seth Frotman at 5-4276 or [email protected].
Sincerely,
Patrick J. Murphy
MEMBER OF CONGRESS
