Democrats are convening the first congressional hearing on the military's ''don't ask, don't tell'' policy since its enactment 15 years ago. But they acknowledge there's no chance of repealing it this year.
Indeed, their only hope of success in the near term, they say, is if Barack Obama is elected president.
''We need a new president in order to get this passed'' -- specifically, a President Obama, Rep. Ellen Tauscher, a California Democrat, told reporters Tuesday on a conference call convened by the Human Rights Campaign and the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.
Obama wants to repeal ''don't ask, don't tell'' and will work with military leaders to get it done, his campaign website says. Republican opponent John McCain supports ''don't ask, don't tell.''
Tauscher's legislation to overturn the policy has 133 cosponsors. But key Democrats, including House Armed Services Committee chairman Ike Skelton of Missouri, support the status quo, and there are no plans to bring the bill to a vote this year.
Tauscher said she has no interest in a ''show vote'' before the political climate is right for repeal. "I'm not willing to take a House vote with no Senate companion bill," she said, adding that if the vote were taken today, "I actually believe that we could get to 218" -- the number of votes needed to pass the legislation in the House.
Instead, the hearing Wednesday in the Armed Services Committee's military personnel panel is meant to draw attention to the issue and to the growing public sentiment in favor of gay people serving openly in the military, Tauscher said.
In a Washington Post–ABC News poll over the weekend, 75% of respondents said openly gay people should be allowed to serve, up from 62% in early 2001, and 44% in 1993.
''We believe that this is a good first step to have this hearing, but we don't believe that this bill will come forward until we have a new president,'' Tauscher said.
Even if Obama wins, overturning ''don't ask, don't tell'' might not be his first order of business.
The policy was enacted shortly after Democrat Bill Clinton became president and sought to make good on a campaign pledge to open the military to gays. After a divisive debate that gave fuel to social conservatives and little political benefit to Clinton, ''don't ask, don't tell'' was the result. It was intended to keep the military from asking recruits their sexual orientation and to prevent service members from being openly gay.
If elected, Obama's key task would have to be trying to end the Iraq war while maintaining military and public support. Despite the seemingly strong promise on his campaign site, in a recent interview with The Advocate, Obama stopped short of promising to lead the way for change, saying only that he can ''reasonably see'' a repeal of the current ban if elected president.
Wednesday's hearing, convened by subcommittee chair Rep. Susan Davis, a Democrat from California, includes three former military officials who want to overturn ''don't ask, don't tell'' and two witnesses who oppose gays serving in the military.
No current Pentagon official or military officer was invited to testify, Tauscher said, because ''it's a waste of time.... They always have the same answer,'' which is that they'll follow the law. (Eric Werner, AP with additional reporting by The Advocate)
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