by Bob Roehr
Seventy-seven members of Congress have written President Barack Obama requesting that implementation of the antigay military policy known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" be suspended until Congress can repeal that law.
"We ask that you direct the Armed Services not to initiate any investigation of service personnel to determine their sexual orientation, and that you instruct them to disregard third party accusations that do not allege violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. That is, we request that you impose that no one is asked and that you ignore, as the law requires, third parties who tell."
The letter said, "Our LGBT service members and our country's national security will continue to suffer if initial action (on repeal) is delayed until 2010 or 2011." It argued that those soldiers "offer invaluable skills that enhance our country's military competence and readiness."
It specifically mentioned Lt. Daniel Choi, a West Point grad, Arabic linguist, and Iraq War vet "who is under investigation for refusing to lie about his identity." And also highly decorated Air Force pilot Lt. Colonel Victor Fehrenbach, who is two years away from retirement and "stands to lose $46,000 a year in retirement and medical benefits for the rest of his life if discharged."
The lead signatures on the letter were Alcee L Hastings (D-Florida), Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts) and John Conyers, Jr. (D-Michigan). Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Florida) was the only Republican among the primarily liberal Democrats who signed on.
Democrats whose signatures did not appear on the letter included Speaker Nancy Pelosi (California), Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (Maryland) and Armed Services Committee chairman Ike Skelton (Missouri). It is not clear whether any of them refused to sign or were even asked to sign.
The legal basis for the Congressmen's request to the President was outlined in a June 11 document prepared by the Palm Center at the University of California Santa Barbara.
Also on June 22, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network wrote to its supporters estimating that 265 members of the military have been discharge under DADT since Obama took office. It plans to boycott a Democratic National Committee fundraiser on Thursday and march on the White House on Saturday, June 27.
Writing in a June 19 column in the Washington Post, retired chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General John. M. Shalikashvili said, "Research shows conclusively that openly gay service members would not undermine military readiness."
He cited the experience of allies such as Israel, Britain and Canada where allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly has not led to problems, and that "enforcement of the ban was suspended (by the U.S. military) without problems during the Persian Gulf War."
"Conversations I've held with service members make clear that, while the military remains a traditional culture, that tradition no longer requires banning open service by gays," General Shalikashvili said. "It is evident to me that a policy change is inevitable."
