Senate DADT Hearings Set For Next Week

Today the Senate Armed Services Committee announced that hearings on the repeal of DADT will begin next week. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the Joint Chiefs of Staff are expected to testify.

Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade:

In a notice, the committee announced it would hold hearings on Dec. 2 and Dec. 3. regarding the Pentagon’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” working group report, which is now scheduled for release on Monday. The hearings on both days are set to take place in Room SD-G50 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building and are scheduled to begin at 9 am. For the Dec. 2 hearing, the witnesses are set to include Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen as well as the co-chairs of the Pentagon working group: Jeh Johnson, the Pentagon’s general counsel, and Gen. Carter Ham, commander of U.S. Army Europe.

In February testimony before the committee, Mullen has said he supports allowing openly gay people to serve in the U.S. military. Gates has already told reporters that he wants Congress to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” On Dec. 3, the committee is set to hear testimony from Vice-Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Corps Gen. James Cartwright and the military service chiefs: Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey; Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead; Marine Corps Gen. James Amos; and Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz.