Gillibrand Lays Out Strategy for DADT Repeal: Moratorium or Repeal, Tucked into Defense Bill

[kpete]

Source: Firedoglake

Gillibrand Lays Out Strategy for DADT Repeal: Moratorium or Repeal, Tucked into Defense Bill
By: David Dayen Friday February 12, 2010 7:03 am

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand described on Thursday the Congressional strategy to end the military discharges of gay and lesbian service members under the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy, saying that a repeal or an 18-month moratorium would move inside the defense authorization bill later in the year.

Gillibrand spoke on a conference call for supporters of the progressive advocacy group the Courage Campaign, joined on the call by Lt. Dan Choi, who has become a leading advocate for repealing the policy after coming out as a gay soldier on The Rachel Maddow Show last year.

Gillibrand, who has stepped into the lead on repealing the policy, said that she spoke today with Carl Levin (D-MI), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He maintained that the most effective way to advance this forward is to put an 18-month moratorium into the defense authorization bill, where it would take 60 votes to remove it, and where it would be more safely attached to a must-pass measure funding the Pentagon. The reason that this could take the form of an 18-month moratorium on discharges, as opposed to repeal, is because that would accommodate the Pentagon’s proposed one-year study of the impact of eliminating the policy, and some Senators may be more willing to vote for a moratorium to respect that process rather than a repeal. This would allow for that implementation lag, while ending the policy of discharging gay and lesbian service members.

The other option would be a bill Gillibrand has proposed to cut off funding for implementation of the DADT policy (it costs roughly $20-$30 million a year in prosecution and retraining). That cannot go through Armed Services because they don’t have jurisdiction, so Gillibrand is looking for a separate legislative vehicle for that. “I don’t want to see one more man or woman kicked out,” the Senator from New York said. “Whether it’s a moratorium, cutting funding, or full repeal, whatever can go the quickest and get the most votes is what I want to do.”






Read more: http://news.firedoglake.com/2010/02/11/gillibrand-lays-out-strategy-for-dadt-repeal-moratorium-or-repeal-tucked-into-defense-bill/

[mdmc]

1. good for her

:toast:

[robcon]

2. Sounds like a good plan.

n/t

[Arkana]

3. We knew that this was how this was gonna go down.

Stick the repeal in somewhere where Repubs can't block it.

[bluestateguy]

4. This is the way to do it

nt

[pinto]

5. Kick

:kick:

[w4rma]

6. Impressive. (nt)

[No Elephants]

7. I'm happy, however it happens, but Gillibrand's taking the lead on this is very

conveeeeenyent.

Like her potential rival, fellow "centrist" DLC Chair Ford, plans to run for Senator of NY seems to have changed a lot of the positions Gillebrand had espoused when running for Congress from a relatively conservative district. Both candidates have to carry NYC, which is thought to be liberal, despite years of electing Guiliani and Bloomberg.

So, I don't like the apparent cynicsim. Still, change for the better is far, far better than change for the worse, and I like her current positions. (She even voted against the unconstitutional ACORN bill.) Nonetheless, I will recall her history:


"In 2007, Gillibrand received an 80 out of 100 rating from the LGBT advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign—the lowest score out of New York’s Democratic representatives.<74> She declined to cosponsor legislation repealing the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. She voted against legislation to grant same-sex partners of U.S. citizens and permanent residents the same immigration status of married couples.<75>

In an interview with the editorial board of the New York Times following her appointment to the Senate, Gillibrand insisted that she had supported same-sex marriage since shortly before her re-election to the House in 2008.<76> On the morning of her appointment to the Senate, she called the Empire State Pride Agenda<77> to reiterate her full support for same-sex marriage.<73> According to the ESPA, as a member of the Senate, Gillibrand will also support a repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act and the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.<77> On April 16, 2009, Gillibrand endorsed Governor Paterson's proposed legislation to legalize same-sex marriage in New York.<78>

In July, 2009, Senator Gillibrand announced she was considering introducing an amendment to the defense authorization bill that would impose an 18-month moratorium on the discharge of gays serving in the military.<79> She ultimately decided against introducing the amendment, as she could not amass the 60 votes required to avoid a filibuster, but told the blog The Daily Beast that she was able to secure the commitment of the Senate Armed Services Committee to hold hearings on "don't ask, don't tell" in the fall of 2009.<80> However, the hearings were postponed<81> and began on February 2, 2010.<82>

In December, 2009, the LGBT publication The Advocate, citing Senator Gillibrand's position on gay marriage and her work toward repealing "don't ask don't tell", declared her one of its five "People of the Year".<83>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirsten_Gillibrand




As of roght now, though--Go, Gillibrand!