Reid Supports Amendment Ending DADT

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday that he would support a measure being considered by some senators that would put an 18-month moratorium on investigations and discharges of gay soldiers in the military. But Reid said he would take the potential amendment to the Department of Defense reauthorization bill one step further.

"I would make it permanent," he added, suggesting that he would permanently suspend discharges. "We're having trouble getting people into the military and I don't think that we should turn down anybody that's willing to fight for our country, certainly [not] based on sexual orientation."

Reid's comments gave a boost to an amendment that Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is considering offering to the DOD legislation that would suspend investigations of soldiers suspected to be gay -- thereby stopping discharges of soldiers under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy -- until the end of the 111th Congress.

A spokesman for Gillibrand said Monday that the New York Democrat "wholeheartedly supports" full repeal of the military's gay ban. "This is one avenue she would consider pursuing if there is sufficient support," said Matt Canter.

Which is still a big "if" at the moment since Gillibrand would have to find 60 votes over a two-week span in which the Senate is consumed with climate change legislation, health reform, and the confirmation hearings of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.

But LGBT organizations generally favor the strategy.

"We are encouraging Senator Gillibrand to explore her options and to reach out to the other senators in the process," said Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, an organization that lobbies for repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

While Sarvis admitted the strategy is a "long shot," he noted that several other senators are also mulling the concept. "What's important here is that we have a small core group that's considering doing this," he said, declining to name specific senators.

A "don't ask, don't tell" repeal bill has never been introduced in the U.S. Senate, which means there's no point of reference on support for repeal. Gillibrand's potential measure would be even more of a wild card because it does not amount to full repeal but rather a temporary cessation of the policy. On the one hand, it could attract the senators who are leaning toward full repeal but want more time to study the long-term implications. On the other, senators who want to overturn the policy entirely might view the measure as an inadequate fix.

But Sarvis said it's one way to stop the discharges while a more thorough review process ensues.

"This would keep the pressure on Congress and the White House to vote on full repeal," Sarvis said.

Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, and Rep. Ike Skelton of Missouri, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, have both said they won't take action on full repeal until they've conferred with Defense secretary Bob Gates, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, who has yet to be nominated and will be charged with managing "don't ask, don't tell."

The Human Rights Campaign signaled cautious support for the idea. "HRC believes that this temporary repeal amendment should only be offered and voted on if we are confident that there are sufficient votes to advance the issue of permanent repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell," said HRC legislative director Allison Herwitt. "It is not yet clear that threshold can be achieved this week."

The following language is what SLDN has proposed could be attached to the DOD reauthorization bill in order to temporarily suspend investigations:

"Directs the Secretary of Defense to instruct the Secretaries of each of the armed services that there may be no investigations of or inquiry into, of any administrative action relating to, conduct described in 10 U.S.C § 654(b), 'Policy concerning homosexuality in the armed services,' until the end of the 111th Congress, provided that, this shall not limit the authority of the Secretaries of the armed services with respect to conduct that would violate the Uniform Code of Military Justice."

Sarvis said the general counsel's office at both the White House and the Department of Defense have the language, but he has not yet received feedback from them.