HASC: Leave gay ban out of defense bill

[unhappycamper]

HASC: Leave gay ban out of defense bill
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday May 19, 2010 11:27:17 EDT

The military’s gay ban won’t be part of the House Armed Services Committee debate on the 2011 defense bill, the committee chairman said Wednesday as the panel launched a daylong effort to write the $700 billion measure.

Chairman Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., said he and Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon of California, the panel’s ranking Republican, “have agreed to support” the call by Pentagon leaders “for more time to study the issue.”

“We do not support this issue being raised in this markup,” he said.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. Mike Mullen asked Congress to hold off on voting to repeal the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy until the Defense Department completed a study about how such a change could be implemented.

With Skelton and McKeon agreeing to oppose amendments, it’s unlikely the House committee would approve an amendment to the 2011 defense authorization bill to repeal the gay ban. But it also leaves them headed in an opposite direction from the Senate.