Rep. Ellen Tauscher
will re-introduce a bill in Congress Tuesday to repeal
"don't ask, don't tell," an action that she
was supposed to take yesterday but was reportedly
delayed.
"This is an
important civil rights issue. We also need the strongest
military possible, and we need to recruit the best and
brightest Americans. Some happen to be gay," Tauscher said
Monday during a forum on the issue at the Center for American
Progress, a Democratic think tank, according to the San Jose
Mercury News.
Dr. Nathaniel Frank, an
expert on the policy who also spoke at the forum, called the
California Democrat's action "brave"
given the current climate in Washington regarding the economy
and other pressing concerns.
Though the Obama
administration has indicated in no uncertain terms its
intention to repeal the ban on gays serving openly in the
military, they have also wavered on timing.
At the forum,
Congresswoman Tauscher said Democrats would need some time to
make the case for repeal.
But Dr. Frank hoped
they wouldn't wait too long to take action. "I don't
begrudge the lawmakers and the President for wanting to be
cautious about this because of the other priorities the nation
faces and wanting to use political capital wisely," he
said. "I think though, the real question is what are the
costs and benefits of delay."
Frank noted that
President Bill Clinton stalled on the issue back in 1993 and
created a commission to study the effects of the military's
policy on gays at the time. "That was what allowed the
opposition forces to fester and rally to defeat him and it
caused enormous harm to his political fortunes, to his agenda
and to the military because the policy was a disaster," he
said.
Frank, whose book
"Unfriendly Fire: How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military
and Weakens America" is being released Tuesday, added that
"an enormous amount of research" already exists
indicating that "don't ask" has a negative effect
on military preparedness and troop morale.
"One thing that
concerns me is that there was some word out of the
administration that they should wait until the Iraq
war was over before they did this," Frank said.
"That's dangerous of course because we are not going to be
living in peace time any time soon. Obama's time frame for
getting the troops out of Iraq is August 2010, which is
election season for the midterms and we don't know if the
Democrats will be in control of Congress after this
session." (Kerry Eleveld, Advocate.com)
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