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Conyers on Obama

DETROIT –
U.S. Rep. John Conyers, the Detroit Democrat who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, says it is time to repeal the 16-year-old ban on openly gay service members in the U.S. military. The controversial policy has become an issue for the White House since President Obama took office in January. During the 2008 campaign, Obama had promised to end the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, but recently, the president has appeared to be backing off that statement.
"Why is he becoming so conservative now that he's got the job?" Conyers asked at a gathering of progressive activists on May 16. "I think he is getting a lot of pressure put on him from the right, from conservatives. And he is trying to prove to the Republicans that he is bipartisan."
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was grilled last week about the Obama administration's support for repeal during daily press briefings.
According to a recent study by Santa Barbara, Calif.-based Palm Center, the president has the executive authority to stop the use of the law to kick out gay service members through the controversial stop-loss policy, which forcibly extends the duration of service for members of the military beyond the original end date.
"That use of stop-loss forcibly extends service by those who wish to leave the military," said Diane Mazur, professor of law at the University of Florida College of Law and co-author of the new study. "(S)uspending discharges for homosexuality would do the opposite (and) allow ongoing service by those who wish to remain in uniform."
The Obama administration has declined to use the stop-loss policy to cease the discharge of gay service members.
"(T)he president's determined that that's not…the way to seek any sort of lasting or durable solution to the public policy problem that we have," Gibbs said last week, saying legislative action is necessary to end "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

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