Eric Massa NY29: Ending Don't Ask/Don't Tell Right Now.

[trillian]

Eric is live blogging at dkos between 3:00PM and 6:00PM

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/19/141734/948">Join in the conversation

I'd like to start this week by again thanking all of you in the netroots community for your tremendous support of my candidacy for Congress in New York's 29th District. My race has been a constant whirlwind of events and activities since a few minutes before I boarded my flight to Chicago for the YearlyKos convention. In the airport, I was informed that my primary opponent had officially announced that he was retiring from the race. Now that I am the sole candidate, the DCCC is giving us much more attention. In fact, Chairman of the DCCC, Congressman Chris Van Hollen, will be coming to Rochester NY to hold a fundraiser in support of our race.

In 2006, I lost by 1%, but this time we're starting strong and early. With the support of the Grassroots, the Netroots, and the National Democratic Party on our side I know that we will win in 2008. I thank all of you for your support. I believe that we should be the party of the people and because of that, I don't accept Corporate PAC contributions. Instead, I ask you, the people, for your support. I apologize, but I am unable to live blog today as I’m attending a house party with a number of supporters in the District (and hopefully a few new supporters), but please do let me know what you think about this topic. I’ll try to answer all questions as soon as I return from the party.

1. Our military is stretched thin already.

In the Bush years, our military has been stretched to the limits. With President Bush's reckless policies, we've been forced to implement a stop loss program to prevent members of our military from retiring when their time is up. We've sent www.nytimes.com/2006/02/27/politics/27govs.html?ex=1298696400&en=a7ec19fa9b989f54&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss|thousands of members of the National Guard to Iraq and Afghanistan] when they should be protecting our borders. During the same time frame, (with the exception of this past July) we've seen the military struggling to meet it's recruiting goals. Finally, we have our new War Czar, Lt. General Douglas Lute, suggesting that we should consider a draft.

As a 24 year Navy Veteran, it truly pains me to see our forces being so deeply depleted and harmed by a reckless administrations failed policies and stubborn ways. This brings me to the topic of today's blog- The Military's Don't Ask/Don't Tell policy.

2. DADT makes this even worse.

Every day, the military fires two servicemen or servicewomen for no reason other than their sexual orientation. When you look at the statistics on who's being fired for their sexual orientation, it's clear that we are kicking out some of our brightest and best trained men and women. Here are some statistics from the Human Rights Campaign:

•Nearly 800 specialists with critical skills have been fired from the U.S. military under DADT, including 323 linguists, 55 of whom specialized in Arabic (Government Accountability Office report).
•At least 65,000 gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans are already protecting our homeland (Urban Institute report). More than 10,000 have been discharged under DADT since the policy was implemented in 1993.
•American taxpayers have paid between $250 million and $1.2 billion to investigate, eliminate and replace qualified, patriotic service members who want to serve their country but can’t because expressing their sexual orientation violates DADT (Government Accountability Office report). That money could be better spent on at least a dozen Blackhawk helicopters, armored plates for tanks and Humvees or Kevlar body armor for troops.
•U.S. military forces cannot afford to lose any troops who can do their jobs, as evidenced by recent call-ups of the Army Reserve.

55 Arabic translators... This is just appalling considering our desperate shortage of these skilled soldiers. The presence of these interpreters often means the difference between life and death for our troops as well as Iraqi civilians, and I for one will not stand by and remain silent while my brothers and sisters in arms perish so that a homophobic Pentagon can maintain their status quo.

3. DADT is unnecessary.

What's even worse is that DADT does not have any actual benefits to the military. There is absolutely nothing positive about it. When you look at the British Military (which not only allows openly gay troops, it actively recruits them), it's clear that homosexuals do not harm the command structure, camaraderie, or morale as Colin Powell insisted in 1993 to President Clinton. Again I turn to the Human Rights Campaign for some statistics:

Sixty-seven percent of civilians support allowing gays to serve openly (Annenberg 2004 survey). In 2003, Fox News reported 64 percent support, and the Gallup organization 79 percent, on a similar question.
•Nearly three in four troops (73 percent) say they are personally comfortable in the presence of gays and lesbians (Zogby International & the Michael D. Palm Center 2006 study).
•One in four U.S. troops who served in Afghanistan or Iraq knows a member of their unit who is gay. More than 55 percent of the troops who know a gay colleague said the presence of gays or lesbians in their unit is well-known by others (Zogby International). The DADT policy serves no purpose, as troops already know and are comfortable serving alongside gays and lesbians.
•All published Pentagon studies, including the 1993 Rand Report, conclude that there should be no special restrictions on service by gay personnel.
•Twenty-four other nations, including Great Britain, Australia, Canada and Israel, already allow open service by gays and lesbians, and none of the 24 report morale or recruitment problems. Nine nations allowing open service have fought alongside American troops in Operation Iraqi Freedom. In addition, 12 nations allowing open service fought alongside U.S. troops in Operation Enduring Freedom.
•Twenty-three of the 26 NATO nations allow gays and lesbians to serve openly and proudly. The United States, Turkey and Portugal are the only NATO nations that forbid gays and lesbians to serve openly in the armed services.
•Federal CIA, FBI, Defense Intelligence Agency and Secret Service agents all serve proudly as openly gay and lesbian personnel fighting the war on terrorism.

4. What next? Where are Congress and the American people on this issue?

This policy came into effect during the early part of Bill Clinton's first term, and while it is fundamentally a bad idea, it was a compromise. Prior to Clinton's DADT policy, there was a complete ban on any GLBT members of the military. Often progressive policy moves in baby steps, but now 14 years later, I think we're ready for a complete revision and repeal of any policy that prevents anyone of any sexual orientation from serving in the military. As Senator Clinton recently said, "courage, honor, patriotism and sacrifice -- the traits that define our men and women in uniform -- have nothing to do with sexual orientation. This is a matter of national security." I couldn't agree more.

Recently in the House of Representatives, H.R. 1246, The Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2007, was presented on the floor. This bill eliminated the DADT policy and allows servicemen and servicewomen to serve regardless of their sexual orientation and without a need to hide it. The bill already has five co-sponsors including my good friend and fellow Navy man, Congressman Joe Sestak. Thus far, Sestak is the highest ranking Veteran to come out against DADT, and this represents a huge change from the policies of the past. Joe knows that nothing is more important than our national security.

And not so surprisingly, the American Public agrees that it's time for a change. Recent polls suggest that opposition to DADT remains strong:

A recent CNN poll shows that 57% remain opposed to policies that would keep homosexuals from serving openly in the military, even when the question seems oddly worded: “Do you favor or oppose the plan in which the U.S. military does not ask new recruits whether they are homosexual, but would still prohibit homosexuals from serving if they reveal their sexual orientation?"
•Another CNN poll from May worded the question differently and showed a much stronger opposition to DADT. When the question was "Do you think people who are openly gay or homosexual should or should not be allowed to serve in the U.S. military?" 79% said they should be allowed to serve openly.
•In March of this year, Newsweek asked the same question and 63% said that troops should be allowed to serve openly.

5. A challenge to my opponent.

I challenge my rubberstamp opponent, Congressman Randy Kuhl, to take a stand on this issue. Obviously, I believe he should co-sponsor this bill, but I suspect that, as he did numerous times during his first term and continues to do during this term, he will remain without an opinion until the last minute and then do whatever the President tells him to.

It is a sad state of affairs when a sitting member of Congress can't act on their own to represent the people of their district. Representing the public is exactly why I am running for Congress in New York's 29th District however. It is time that we demand change and work to put an end to the George Bush legacies in Congress.

Conclusion

I know from my experiences in the military, as well as from a number of conversations with friends who are still in the service, that we absolutely cannot allow this policy to continue. At a time of war, we can't afford to be tying one hand behind our collective back. This is a matter of National Security.

I thank you for reading and hope you will stick around to discuss why Don't Ask/Don't Tell must be reversed. Also know that I do not shy away from taking positions on anything, so please ask me whatever is on your mind. As I mentioned earlier, I’m away from the computer, but I’ll be back online later this evening to answer your questions.



-Eric Massa
Commander US Navy (ret.)
Congressional Candidate, NY-29</div]

[Adelante]

1. He was short what four points last year?

I bet he pulls it off this time.