Friday, November 19, 2010
Thirteen Democratic senators signaled strong support Thursday for ending the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy and said they are willing to work well into December to ensure passage of a defense bill that would end the ban on gays openly serving in uniform.
The show of support came as Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said this week that he plans to bring the bill up for a vote again after the Thanksgiving recess despite the objections of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who opposes an end to the policy.
Other Republicans, including Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), have said they will vote to move ahead with the bill if Reid allows for a fair debate and others could also support it, senators said Thursday.
"I'll go through Christmas Eve, and I think we all will if it takes that," said Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.).
"The eighth day of Hanukkah," joked Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.), a devout Jew.
"The seventh day," suggested Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.). "I'm not giving up my eighth day," he said to laughs.
read:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/18/AR2010111806547_pf.htmlrelated:
President Obama jumps in on DADT; Reid agrees to stay the coursePresident Obama and the White House this week became much more actively involved in pushing the Senate to repeal the law that bars openly gay people from the military.
The president called Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin on Wednesday to urge him against stripping DADT repeal language from the Defense Authorization bill. White House officials then met with senior staff to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, as well as the Human Rights Campaign, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, and the Center for American Progress to discuss strategy . . .
read more:
http://www.keennewsservice.com/2010/11/18/obama-jumps-in-on-dadt-reid-agrees-to-stay-the-course/
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