Main | Sunday, July 12, 2009

Gillibrand Considers Bill To Suspend DADT

Over at the Daily Beast, Jason Bellini reports that Sen. Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY) is considering introducing a bill this week that will suspend enforcement of DADT for 18 months.
It would be the first time since the implementation of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in 1993 that senators are forced to declare their position on the gay ban. A Senate staffer familiar with the matter says Gillibrand may introduce her amendment on Tuesday to the Defense reauthorization bill. If the amendment were to pass, gay-rights leaders expect it would stand a strong chance of being approved by the House and could be signed into law by President Obama, who has expressed his desire for the ban to be lifted. Rep. Patrick Murphy is trying to build support for a bill that has already been introduced in the House that would repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell".

But Gillibrand's move would circumvent a long legislative process at a time when an average of two gay soldiers per day are being discharged. A press representative from Gillibrand's office said the decision to introduce the amendment is not final. "Senator Gillibrand is working with Senator Kennedy's office to garner support for a repeal of ‘Don't Ask, Don't Tell,’ and this is part of an ongoing effort to repeal this policy," said Bethany Lesser, a spokeswoman for the senator.
According to Bellini, both the HRC and the SLDN had been "shopping the idea" for a suspension amendment to various Senators before deciding on Gillibrand.

RELATED: Sen. Gillibrand was appointed to her position replacing Hillary Clinton by NY Gov. David Paterson and faces what may be a tough primary election in 2010. Very gay-friendly U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) has already announced her plan to run against Gillibrand. Scoring a major coup with the suspension of DADT could cement Gillibrand's position with New York's important LGBT vote.

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