Tuesday, December 14, 2010
U.S. Senate blocks gay ban repeal
From The Hindu
The repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” the law banning gays from serving openly in the United States military, suffered a setback in the Senate on Thursday as it failed to clear a procedural vote and move closer to being passed into law.
A clutch of Democrats, along with a few Republicans and independents, could muster only 57 votes, three shy of a filibuster-proof majority needed to move the repeal forward.
Speaking after the vote, President Barack Obama said, “I am extremely disappointed that yet another filibuster has prevented the Senate from moving forward with the National Defence Authorisation Act.” He said though the “discriminatory” law's repeal enjoyed bipartisan support, a minority of Senators were standing in the way of this.
Mr. Obama in particular made reference to a recent official survey of armed forces families, which found that more than two-thirds of the armed forces in the U.S. do not object to gays and lesbians serving openly in uniform.
Security
He said a great majority of the American people agreed that the law “weakens our national security, diminishes our military readiness, and violates fundamental American principles of fairness, integrity and equality”.
Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who has been in favour of repealing “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” said he was “disappointed in the Senate vote, but not surprised.” He had not been optimistic, he added.
The repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” the law banning gays from serving openly in the United States military, suffered a setback in the Senate on Thursday as it failed to clear a procedural vote and move closer to being passed into law.
A clutch of Democrats, along with a few Republicans and independents, could muster only 57 votes, three shy of a filibuster-proof majority needed to move the repeal forward.
Speaking after the vote, President Barack Obama said, “I am extremely disappointed that yet another filibuster has prevented the Senate from moving forward with the National Defence Authorisation Act.” He said though the “discriminatory” law's repeal enjoyed bipartisan support, a minority of Senators were standing in the way of this.
Mr. Obama in particular made reference to a recent official survey of armed forces families, which found that more than two-thirds of the armed forces in the U.S. do not object to gays and lesbians serving openly in uniform.
Security
He said a great majority of the American people agreed that the law “weakens our national security, diminishes our military readiness, and violates fundamental American principles of fairness, integrity and equality”.
Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who has been in favour of repealing “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” said he was “disappointed in the Senate vote, but not surprised.” He had not been optimistic, he added.
Labels: gay ban, United States military
# posted by Narayan Lakshman @ 8:24 AM 
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